Best history movie deliberate mistakes of all time

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Dunkirk picture Dunkirk mistake picture Video

Deliberate mistake: The Messerschmitts have painted yellow fronts, this wasn't done by the Germans until after Dunkirk. Christopher Nolan has admitted doing this deliberately so the audience could tell the difference between the Spitfire and the Messerschmitt during the combat scenes.

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Midway picture

Deliberate mistake: In the film, American aircraft carriers carry no fighter planes. It was a weird choice...pilots who were naval fighter pilots were edited out of the story, and Wade McClusky, who in reality was previously a fighter pilot but moved into dive bombers had his story changed for the film to have him previously had been a torpedo plane pilot instead.

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Troy picture

Deliberate mistake: During the Trojan attack on the Greeks at the beach, before Hector and "Achilles" have at it, there are two separate close-ups of Hector's sword slicing across a man's face, who promptly spins around and spews blood. This particular man is enjoyed twice in two takes of the same shot, just before and after Odysseus' close-ups. Then as if that's not enough, a few shots later this spewing man is actually seen a third time, but this time from another angle. (01:42:30)

Super Grover

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Chariots of Fire picture

Deliberate mistake: When we first see Eric Lidell, it is 1920 and he has just returned from China to his homeland of Scotland. Eric would've been 18 years old in 1920. Ian Charleson, who was 31 at the time the film was made, looks his own age.

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Marie Antoinette picture

Deliberate mistake: In the scene where Marie is trying on shoes, a pair of powder blue high top Converse sneakers can be seen next to her feet. It must have been done intentionally, but since there is no trace of modern apparel anywhere else in the film (the closest would be the mere mention of hot pink dress fabric but, as it's not shown, we don't know what exactly Marie calls "hot pink") these shoes (and the fabric) can't be considered part of a thematic element or artistic license. (00:55:35)

Phixius

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Miracle picture

Deliberate mistake: It wasn't Mike Eruzione shouting his own name that finally convinced coach Brooks to stop making the players do sprints. It was Mark Johnson, who smashed his stick against the glass in a fit of rage.

Matty Blast

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Suggested correction: This is not a documentary. This is a movie based on the events that happened. Therefore since it's not a documentary, they can make any changes to events they want.

lartaker1975

I had the chance of skating with Ken Morrow and he confirmed that Johnson was the one who stopped the sprints. Morrow said the Brooks knew if he had gotten to Johnson, he got to all the players.

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The Mission picture

Deliberate mistake: During the gunfire of the Portuguese soldiers at the end, seconds before Jeremy Irons is killed, an old Indian woman is shot in her chest, but the actress/extra forgets to react and continues walking.

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Zulu picture

Deliberate mistake: This is a mistake which is a function of the limitation of the special effects at the time and what the censors would allow in the cinema but the wounds suffered by the Zulus do no justice to the horrific injuries that the Martini Henry rifle would have caused. The Martini Henry fired a big .45 inch soft nosed bullet that usually shattered on impact. It would have caused massive gaping wounds rather than the little red dots and trickles of blood shown on the Zulus and left many of them limbless as the bullets tore off arms and legs.

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King Arthur picture

Deliberate mistake: When Arthur follows Guinevere to the meeting with Merlin, her and the trees' shadows point at the viewer. Only Arthur has two shadows, one points to the left. The source of the moonlight is below the next ridge, and it's bright like a floodlight. Later, when Arthur is talking to Merlin, his face is always illuminated, even after a 180°-turn. (00:59:00)

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Apollo 13 picture

Deliberate mistake: Near the end of the movie, there is a shot of the "Iwo Jima" with the two recovery helicopters taking off. For a moment, you can see the number 11 on the inboard side of the ship's island, which identifies it as the USS New Orleans (LPH-11), a sister of the Iwo Jima. Admittedly, it was the best the producers could do, since by the time the movie was made, the Iwo Jima (LPH-2) had been decommissioned.

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Midway picture

Deliberate mistake: The majority of the Japanese planes were actually done-over North American AT-6 Texans and their Navy counterpart, the SNJ.

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The Beast of War picture

Deliberate mistake: As the Soviet tank starts rolling, the tank commander obviously uses a hidden step to mount the tank. Soviet T-55/T-62 type tanks did not have steps for mounting by the wheels and axles; to mount a rolling tank using the moving wheels or spinning axles would result in the mounter being immediately crushed and killed.

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The Elephant Man picture

Deliberate mistake: Joseph (John) Merrick's speech was never as audible as shown in the film, and several operations were needed before he could speak at all. Even after that, Frederick Treves often had to "translate" what Merrick said because the majority of people still had problems understanding him. [Probably changed to simplify the storytelling, but still inaccurate].

David Mercier

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Gods and Generals picture

Deliberate mistake: When the two Confederate and Union soldiers meet across the river and trade coffee/tobacco, you can see the other side of the bank behind them. It looks at least 50 feet away, yet before they were able to talk to each other without shouting. Also, the Union soldier raises the pipe to his mouth in his right hand, which switches to his left in the next shot. There is also a mist present at the beginning and end of the meeting, but not in the middle. (00:37:55)

Daz

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Hero picture

Deliberate mistake: Although the first account of what happened in Zhao isn't completely true, the arrows penetrating the calligraphy school are sometimes flying at angles that make their trajectory impossible, such as arrows flying perpendicular to the ground or even flying upward.

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United 93 picture

Deliberate mistake: After takeoff, an exterior shot of the plane switches from a Boeing 757 to an Airbus A320.

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Cleopatra picture

Deliberate mistake: In order to get to Julius Caesar and evade her nasty brother Ptolemy's assassins, Cleopatra concealed herself in a rug that she has a slave carry to Caesar. Look at the furled rug the slave carries on his shoulder. Then watch Cleopatra fall out as the slave tosses the rug to the floor and unfurls it. The slave would have needed wall-to-wall carpeting to hide her.

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1776 picture

Deliberate mistake: In the film, Martha Jefferson visits Thomas in Philadelphia. While this is factually inaccurate (she was actually at home recovering from a miscarriage), it was changed for the sake of drama.

Cubs Fan

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Flags of Our Fathers picture

Deliberate mistake: During the scene on the train in lounge car, a picture on the wall prominently shows an ALCO PA locomotive. The movie was set in 1945, but this locomotive was first produced in 1947.

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