Best war movie mistakes of all time

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Born on the Fourth of July picture

Visible crew/equipment: When the guys walk from the deli, talking about which girl they are taking to the prom, you see a reflection in the cars parked along the side, of a crew member walking with a boom mic.

NephYou

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Carry On England picture

Revealing mistake: When the toggle on the gun is pulled back that supposedly injures Captain S. Melly's fingers, it doesn't actually make contact with them.

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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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Joyeux Noël picture

Factual error: A very common error in First World War films. British soldiers were not permitted to shave their upper lips until 1916 - in 1914 almost all (unless physically unable to grow them) would have had moustaches.

Necrothesp

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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 picture

Continuity mistake: At the end, the blanket wrapped around the baby changes. In the wide shots, the red stripe is near the feet, but in the close up shots, the red stripe is around the body, next to Katniss' hand. And in the wide shot and first close up shot, the baby's right arm is lying on the blanket, but in following shots, the arm is under the blanket without Katniss doing anything.

Bishop73

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Mine picture

Factual error: When Mike is being questioned, he calls himself a soldier. Marines always refer to themselves as Marines - soldiers are the army. (01:01:20)

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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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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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Sand Castle picture

Factual error: M60A3 tanks and AH-1 were no longer in service at the time of the invasion in 2003, replaced by the M1 Abrams. The AH-64 humvees have crew protection that did not exist prior to 2005.

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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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Stop-Loss picture

Plot hole: The whole concept of how Brandon was stop-lossed was obviously done to further the plot and is in no way accurate on how a soldier was stop-lossed in reality during the Iraq War. Apparently, he returned from Iraq, was scheduled to leave the Army a few days later, and was told he was stop-lossed on his ETS (discharge) date and was going back in a matter of weeks. First of all, no soldier returned from Iraq and got discharged a few days later, there are mandatory procedures required that usually take up to 90 days after return to complete. As for the stop-loss itself, it was implemented a minimum of 90 days prior to a planned deployment. If you can forget those oversights by the writer, then when at the end of the movie Brandon returned to deploy after all he wouldn't have just been let back in with open arms by his chain of command. Considering the charges he could have received (Disrespect to a Commissioned Officer, Disobeying a Lawful Order, Assault, and Absent without Leave), he would have at a minimum been demoted one rank. More than likely, instead of deploying, he would have faced a court-martial or been discharged. A Lieutenant Colonel wouldn't have been able to save him from the charges at that point like he claimed in the deal he would give Brandon for returning to base. Facts about the actual process of stop-loss were either not researched or were blatantly ignored to further an anti-war agenda from the writer of the movie.

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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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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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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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