Best sci-fi movie factual errors of all time

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Overlord picture

Factual error: During the plane ride into France, the Paratroopers are holding/carrying their weapons by their sides. In reality, their weapons (M1 Garands, B.A.R.s, etc.) would be carried in special "bags" strapped to their parachute harness. This not only protected their weapons, but also secured them to their person.

Matdan97

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2012 picture

Factual error: In the poster shot and in the film, the wave from the Atlantic carrying the carrier JFK into a collision with the White House comes crashing in from the west because the south portico of the White House is seen. The Atlantic Ocean is east of Washington, so the wave should come from the other direction. And even a wave coming from the east could not have made the JFK (CV-67) crash into the White House because the carrier was retired in 2005 and is berthed in Philadelphia, which is northeast of Washington DC. (01:30:10 - 01:30:40)

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Godzilla picture

Factual error: In the cardiac resuscitation scene with Brian Cranston, someone says "he's in atrial fibrillation... Give him 1 milligram of epinephrine." Wrong drug, in fact one that would very likely kill him immediately (maybe that's why he didn't make it!).

Terry Fotre

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Alien picture

Factual error: When the crew shoots Kane's body out into space, the door opens up and "explosive decompression" causes Kane's body to fly out into space. At the beginning, the body slowly rotates. Then as it moves further away, the body begins flipping much faster. The reason something would increase speed in rotation like that is due to aerodynamics. An object traveling through space would simply keep the same rotational velocity it begins with since there is no air or other influences (gravity, etc.). The explosive decompression may cause it to increase rotation speed, but by the time it begins to flip, any air would have dissipated into space and not work as a column of air/wind to force the body into a flip.

12o

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The Core picture

Factual error: The ship, VIRGIL, is diving straight down from the crust to the core. Although the interior of the ship pivots to make the cockpit perpendicular to the descent, the ship itself is "digging" straight down so when people move from compartment to compartment they should be climbing up and down rather than simply walking back and forth.

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Equilibrium picture

Factual error: When they first pick up the Mona Lisa, they show the back. There you can see a canvas sheet over a wooden framework. However, the Mona Lisa is painted directly onto wood, no canvas at all. The scan they run even says it's painted onto wood, despite visual evidence to the contrary. (00:06:35)

stupidonlinename

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Left Behind picture

Factual error: When TCAS sounds on an airliner, it should include instructions for the pilot to climb or descend. The pilot should not have to call another plane to inform that pilot. It would take too much time.

majorlagg

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Ex Machina picture

Factual error: When Caleb is entering the estate in the helicopter, the pilot mentions they had been flying over the estate for the past two hours, indicating that it was two hours to Nathan's house plus any time elapsed after that conversation. Calculate another two hours minimum back to the airport. The Eurocopter EC 130 pictured in the film has a maximum range of about four hours max. The helicopter quite possibly could've crashed before reaching the airport to refuel. (00:02:01)

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story picture

Factual error: When they are trying to navigate the shuttle through Eadu, the shuttle abruptly collides with a rock, which causes Bodhi to jolt backwards. If the shuttle hitting the rock had caused the shuttle reduce speed so abruptly, in the way that was shown, then Bodhi would have jolted forwards, not backwards. (00:57:05)

Casual Person

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Avengers: Endgame picture

Factual error: New Asgard is in Tonsberg, Norway, but was filmed in Scotland. The truck Hulk and Rocket use to get there has a UK licence plate (SW61 5PN), whereas Norwegian plates use two letters followed by 4 or 5 numbers. Plus the pizza boxes in Thor's house have a phone number in UK format (01632 960776) not Norwegian. In fact, the 01632 area code is specifically designated for fictional use in the UK. Norwegian telephone numbers use fewer digits. (00:48:50)

Jon Sandys

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Capricorn One picture

Factual error: The whole conspiracy is doomed from the start! They show a Lunar Module on the set representing Mars; the astronauts were supposed to use this to 'land' on the Martian surface. This is insane. The Lunar Excursion Module cannot operate in an atmosphere; it would burn up on entry. It has no heat shield - the engine nozzle and landing legs would have to poke through it if it had. Exterior protrusions like antennae and steering engines would burn off during descent through the Martian atmosphere. While Mars' atmosphere is thin, it is still more than sufficient to burn up a Lander designed this way. All three recent Mars Landers, Spirit, Opportunity, and Phoenix, had heat shields and parachutes to facilitate safe re-entry. This is not a radical redesign of the LEM; it simply cannot be the shape it is if it is to work in an atmosphere. Any schoolkid would know that, and the world's media would not be fooled for a second.

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Black Widow picture

Factual error: The sisters run out of fuel for the helicopter, which is then shown slamming down on the ground and essentially destroying itself. All helicopters are capable of autorotating safely to the ground in the event the engine(s) quit. Of course, that would not have been as dramatic. (01:05:15)

toroscan

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Suggested correction: You may have noticed the helicopter was severely damaged, it may not have any rotating capabilities left after the fuel was gone.

lionhead

I did notice it, but it did not look that any damage would prevent it from autorotation.

toroscan

Perhaps the sisters (not being experienced helicopter pilots) couldn't use the autorotation properly.

OK, while that may be a possibility, if they have a helicopter pilot's license they would have had to demonstrate autorotation as part of both the curriculum and the practical exam. But listen, it's just a movie. The way they did it makes it more dramatic.

toroscan

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X-Men 3 picture X-Men 3 mistake picture

Factual error: Take a look at Google Earth - the section of the Golden Gate Bridge Magneto breaks off (about a mile - tower to tower plus a section each end) isn't anywhere near long enough to reach Alcatraz from anywhere on the mainland.

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen picture

Factual error: In the original Transformers, Tyrese Gibson's character is credited as and wears the rank insignia of a USAF Technical Sergeant. In Revenge of the Fallen, set two years later, Gibson's character now wears the insignia of a USAF Chief Master Sergeant, three ranks higher than his rank in the first movie. The USAF would not jump someone three grades into the top 1% of the enlisted force no matter what his heroics or experience (that does not even happen to Medal of Honor awardees). Clearly the screenwriters recognized this as Captain Lennox is bumped only one grade to Major despite his actions in the first film and Gibson's character, as noted in another mistake, is credited as Master Sergeant Epps, a reasonable promotion. The costume department simply got the insignia wrong.

Guy

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The Thing picture

Factual error: Winter in Antarctica would not have a night and day as portrayed, with the amount of light changing so much during the course of 24 hours.

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Star Trek: First Contact picture Star Trek: First Contact mistake picture

Factual error: In the scene where Picard opens a viewing port and shows Lilly that she is in a starship orbiting Earth he shows her New Guinea and Australia. New Zealand is missing. (00:42:45)

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Suggested correction: Actually when you look at Australia and New Zealand from orbit, New Zealand is a lot further away from Australia then shown on a map, also a lot more south of Australia. A map is a 2D image of a sphere, causing proportions to be off (its well known Africa is a lot smaller on maps than it is in real life). Especially the further south or north you go distances are way off. The depiction shown in the movie is actually correct, in that angle New Zealand is just outside of the frame. There are plenty of pictures from orbit to compare.

lionhead

I looked at the same angle of this area in Google Earth, and the northern part of New Zealand should definitely be in the frame.

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D.A.R.Y.L. picture

Factual error: While the problem with refuelling the SR71 is a real one for D.A.R.Y.L., he is never going to get that far. The SR71 had no self starters and required a trained crew with a starter generator mounted on a truck to get the engines going in the first place. D.A.R.Y.L. just pushes a button and away he goes. Not likely.

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Superman IV: The Quest for Peace picture Superman IV: The Quest for Peace mistake picture

Factual error: If the Russian cosmonauts need special suits to survive out in space, so should Lacy when she is abducted by Nuclear Man. (00:02:50 - 01:20:20)

Sacha

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The Thing picture

Factual error: As the gun-toting Norseman approaches the buildings, Garry smashes the single-pane window with his handgun. It is inconceivable that the glazing in a structure near the South Pole would be single-pane glass, that would provide minimal insulation and which could be broken so easily.

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Godzilla vs. Kong picture

Factual error: Let's go by the movie geography; our planet is a big matrioska. By diagrams shown, this Hollow Earth would be by the Earth's core, thousands of miles deep. They enter from a portal in Antarctica. And yet, Godzilla later in the movie burns a random hole in the ground in HK deep enough to reach it, roars through it and Kong hears it, and the ape easily climbs it to poke back to the surface. Even admitting you can do the magic "1,000 miles in 2 seconds" warp anywhere, the scale is ludicrous.

Sammo

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