Best thriller movie factual errors of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

The Bank Job picture

Factual error: We see Jason Statham walking into a shop in 1971 which has a Visa/Barclaycard logo on the door. Only problem with that is that the name Visa wasn't brought in until 1977.

Jon Sandys

More The Bank Job factual errors
Goldfinger picture

Factual error: When Oddjob has the Lincoln crushed at the junkyard, it is smashed into a small rectangle, and dropped into the little falcon pickup. Even though the crushed car fits into the bed of the Falcon, it still weighs at least 2 tons. That weight would have dropped the back of the truck to the ground, but the truck doesn't even squat a few inches, let alone being able to handle that load with the tyres it has. (01:16:55)

More Goldfinger factual errors
Fast & Furious 6 picture

Factual error: In the scene where Shaw is talking to a goon while fixing his car he states the simplest things cause the most problems while holding a spark plug. We know this can't be right as Brian concludes the car is a turbo diesel like a Le Mans car, which would actually use a glow plug and not a spark plug. (00:19:50)

bigjimmyauk

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: That's exactly the problem that Shaw is referring to, a member of his team installed the incorrect plug which caused a problem, i.e. a Spark Plug and not a Glow Plug (a simple thing, causing the problem), along with the 'good' being simple minded and causing the rest of Shaw's team a problem.

The glow plug isn't what causes combustion in a diesel like how a sparkplug does for gas. The wiring harness for a spark plug vs a glow plug is completely different and they aren't interchangeable. You can't just accidentally put a spark plug in a diesel, it doesn't work like that.

More Fast & Furious 6 factual errors
American Gangster picture

Factual error: If you pay attention to the backgrounds of the scene where Frank is in the airport and when Frank is being arrested as he walks from the church, you can see two cars pass by which weren't produced until at least 2000.

More American Gangster factual errors
Eagle Eye picture

Factual error: There is no possible way to cause a power line to drop from its support pylons and hit a person on target. These wires are fastened extremely securely, designed to withstand extremely high tension through all kinds of weather, and they are not equipped with some sort of explosive charges to release them.

throcko

More Eagle Eye factual errors
Airport picture

Factual error: When Joe Patroni is attempting to move the stuck 707, Bakersfeld is standing beside his car watching, very close to the plane. Without some form of hearing protection, he would have been very quickly deafened by the noise - a 707 at takeoff thrust is incredibly loud. I once watched a 707 take off from about a half mile away and forgot to cover my ears - it was so loud it actually hurt.

More Airport factual errors
Ocean's Twelve picture

Factual error: The scene where Nightfox steals the Faberge Egg is all wrong. A laser security system must have a photoelectric receptor at the other side to detect if somebody pass between the two devices. As shown in the film, the laser beams points everywhere, so the system can't work and somebody could cross a beam without starting the alarm. Even if it was some weird system based on measuring distance it wouldn't work - if the laser hits the floor at an angle it won't bounce back to the source, it will reflect towards the ceiling.

Dr Wilson

More Ocean's Twelve factual errors
The Untouchables picture

Factual error: In the warehouse scene with the wooden crates with maple leaves, even though a correction has been submitted saying a maple leaf was valid, the real mistake is the type of maple leaf used. The film shows a modern graphic style of leaf that did not come into use until the 1960s and appeared on the new Canadian flag in 1965. In the time of Capone, the maple leaves used to depict things Canadian looked like actual maple leaves and not like a stylized graphic.

More The Untouchables factual errors
Die Hard picture

Factual error: The cops try to get in the building by cutting some metal part of the door, it might be the lock. All they have to do is break the glass. SWAT teams aren't going to worry about a bit of property damage with hostages' lives on the line.

More Die Hard factual errors
Godzilla picture

Factual error: The Apaches in the film are depicted with dual machine guns on each side of the cockpit, mounted directly on the windows. In real life, Apaches cannot mount such cannons, and instead use an M230 Chaingun in a turret underneath the helicopter, which the film Apaches have, but for some reason do not use. (00:49:25)

Razvaluha

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Yes, we can all see they are supposed to be Apaches but not once are they mentioned by name. The US Army obviously didn't allow for real Apaches to be used. This isn't a mistake as there would have been no official licence to use the real deal.

More Godzilla factual errors
Speed 2: Cruise Control picture

Factual error: In one scene they attempt to divert the ship by manually activating the ship's bowthruster. A thruster is a propeller in a transverse direction. This allows the ship to turn more efficiently when docking. However the thruster loses any efficiency above approximately 5 knots. In the film they use it at 17 knots. Secondly, a thruster is powered by an electric motor of at least 500 kW, yet they manage to turn it by hand. That handle does not exist in real life, and no one would be able to turn it anyway.

More Speed 2: Cruise Control factual errors
Licence to Kill picture

Factual error: When the air hose on the truck is severed, the brakes release. In reality, on an air-braking system, if the air hose is severed, the brakes lock on as a safety measure.

wizard_of_gore

More Licence to Kill factual errors
The Day After Tomorrow picture

Factual error: When Sam climbs outside the ship he grabs the frozen metallic pipes and rails with both hands - one half covered with a glove, one is bare. He has no problem gripping the cold metal and he can get his hands free every time. If the moisture froze before contact, his hands would be frozen too, so that can't be the reason.

More The Day After Tomorrow factual errors
I Am Legend picture

Factual error: The grenade Robert Neville uses at the end of the movie has a blue and brown colored lever. This feature is only used on the M69 practice grenade and not the real M67. The lethal grenade lever is completely green.

More I Am Legend factual errors
Live Free or Die Hard picture

Factual error: During the chase with the semi, McClane is shown struggling to keep the truck under control with the freeway collapsing/blowing up all around him. He is shown making a left turn on a ramp, and the truck going up on 9 wheels, almost rolling. The shot cuts back to McClane steering left to to try to control the truck. If he were to steer left, as depicted, he would be guaranteed to roll the truck. If he was trying to get the wheels back down, he'd have to steer into the roll, or right, to bring it back on the wheels. At the end of the shot, you can actually see the stuntman brings the wheels down with a short right turn of the steering wheel. The similar entry in corrections is right, the person making the correction is wrong. During 15 years of driving a semi, I had a very similar situation with the truck almost rolling. I had to steer into the roll to bring the truck back on the wheels, not away from it, as the film showed McClane doing.

More Live Free or Die Hard factual errors
Captain America: The First Avenger picture

Factual error: When the action moves to England after the failed award ceremony, the British Union Flag hanging from the wall is upside down. The broad white band should be at the top left (nearest the top of the flag pole).

More Captain America: The First Avenger factual errors
Hearts in Atlantis picture

Factual error: The movie is supposed to take place over the course of a single summer. In one section of the film, Bobby is reading a story about VP Nixon's recent Presidential nomination, which took place in 1960. Later, he is reading a story of Maury Wills base stealing record, which occurred in 1962. (00:25:00)

More Hearts in Atlantis factual errors
Miami Vice picture

Factual error: As the two fast boats start heading up river towards the finale shootout, one boat has its navigation lights reversed. It has a red light on the starboard/right side, and a green light on the port/left side. It should be the other way around. (The lights on the other boat are correct.)

More Miami Vice factual errors
Jason Bourne picture

Factual error: When Bourne first arrives in London, the Audi he is driving is quite obviously left hand drive. In the UK his car would be a right hand drive.

More Jason Bourne factual errors
The Glass House picture

Factual error: The picture of the brakeline leaking is actually a fuel filter. The car would run out of gas. It would not have brake problems.

More The Glass House factual errors

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.