Best war movie mistakes of all time

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Brothers picture

Other mistake: Capt Cahill was declared dead after the helicopter he was in crashed and then taken captive. I spent almost 24 years in the military and know that if a body is not found, even though presumed dead, the official status is Missing in Action (MIA). The notification to Capt Cahill's family should have been MIA not dead.

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Mister Roberts picture

Factual error: When Roberts makes a deal with the Captain, he demands that the Captain grant liberty to both sections (i.e., the entire crew), leaving only Roberts and one enlisted man aboard as the deck watch. All U.S. Navy ships must have enough personnel aboard at all times to get the ship underway immediately, if necessary, which is why the crew is divided into watch sections.

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A Walk in the Clouds picture

Continuity mistake: Near the beginning of the film, Keanu Reeves gives Victoria a fake wedding ring from one of the chocolates. Previously, you can see that he is wearing his real one. When he puts another ring from the chocolate on his own finger, his original one is gone.

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Run Silent Run Deep picture

Factual error: The film was released in 1958 but depicts a 1943 World War II mission in the Pacific by a US submarine capatain played by Clark Gable and his first officer played by Burt Lancaster. In two separate scenes the crew listens to a "Tokyo Rose" broadcast on radio and the background music is "Kiss Me Once, Kiss Me Twice, It's Been a Long Long Time" by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. The song was not released until September 1945, one month AFTER the end of the war in the Pacific in August 1945. The song was famous for celebrating returning troops and therefore also makes no sense in the context of 1943.

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Force 10 from Navarone picture

Revealing mistake: In one of the river flooding scenes after the dam bursts, you can see a modern day vehicle (most likely a pickup truck) for a few seconds on a highway next to the river. (01:50:30)

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The Pianist picture

Factual error: An old man appears with children following him. This is supposed to be pedagogue Janusz Korczak. It appeared as if he was just wearing a suit and a Jewish arm band. In the Warsaw Ghetto, Mr. Korczak never wore an arm band and wore his WWI Polish Army Uniform, both as acts of defiance. He was beaten and almost put to death (he had connections) for not wearing an arm band so having one on in the movie is inaccurate.

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Kolberg picture

Other mistake: In the opening scene of this German movie from 1944, a panoramic view of the city of Potsdam is shown with the subtitle "Potsdam 1813". In the background, the two high radio masts of the Potsdam Military Communication Central can be seen very clearly before the sky.

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Malta Story picture

Continuity mistake: There is genuine wartime footage of Spitfires of the the right type for the period, but other scenes have later (maybe even postwar) versions flying about.

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Iron Eagle II picture

Revealing mistake: Near the end of the film, a B-52 seen flying across the screen. The bracket holding up the model is visible.

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World picture

Factual error: After Stephen Maturin comes back with a small portion of findings from the Galapagos Islands, he presents a stick insect to Captain Aubrey, but stick insects (Phasmids) don't exist in the Galapagos Islands. (01:41:20)

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Shining Through picture

Continuity mistake: Near the end of the movie, when Ed Leland is about to enter the Customs Office, the insignia on his hat is intact, but when he enters it has disappeared.

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Enigma picture

Continuity mistake: After the "car chase" the white car gets put in the barn. When the black car arrives it is covered in mud (so much they have to wipe it off the windscreen) from the dirt track. The white car only has a few specks of dirt.

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Biggles picture

Continuity mistake: The film is supposed to take place in 1917, but several of the german soldiers our heroes encounter are armed with Bergman M18 sub-machineguns which didn't appear until a year later. To make things even worse all the guns comes with a magazine-type that didn't appear until the mid-thirties.

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Oh! What a Lovely War picture

Factual error: At the end of the 'Goodbye' the men all board a train which leaves along a track on a seaside pier. The shot changes from this stylised vision to a shot of an Edwardian Lady alone on a railway platform. In the background is a 1970s, ie. modern, diesel train.

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South Pacific picture

Continuity mistake: Nellie is called into Captain Brackett's office one day. Later, one of the girls asks her "What did the old man want this morning?" However, the scene at night between Billis and Cable shows that a whole day and night must have passed in between these two scenes. Therefore the nurse should have asked "What did the old man want yesterday?"

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The War picture

Other mistake: The kids dare each other in a decrepit water tower which is mysterious in a number of ways: 1) Draining the water causes a powerful vortex, but the water level is not going down. 2) No one seems to work the bottom valve, but the vortex comes and goes. 3) It is absolutely impossible that anyone could swim through such a vortex, but Stu does. 4) The rotten roof breaks under the weight of little Billy (the ice-cream excess?) but carries his brother who weighs about 4 times as much. (01:27:00)

NancyFelix

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Shoulder Arms picture

Continuity mistake: Charlie, disguised as a tree, enters a pipe to escape a German. When the German tries to pull Charlie out he separates the lower part of the tree costume along with Charlie's shoes. When Charlie emerges from the other end of the pipe he is still wearing shoes.

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South Pacific picture

Other mistake: In the opening scene on the airplane, one of the men tells Lt. Cable, "The captain wants to know if you'd like to sit up in the cockpit with him?" Buzz Adams, the "captain" referenced in this line, is only a lieutenant. Admittedly, "captain" is a standard aviation term for the pilot of an aircraft, but it would be unlikely to be used in this situation, since the term has a specific military meaning.

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Sunshine picture

Continuity mistake: When the Austrian Emperor and Gustav's father die on the same day Gustav puts their photographs on a sideboard. The close-up of Gustav's father's picture shows a white background, in contrast to all wide shots. (00:44:15)

NancyFelix

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