Best western movie mistakes of all time

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Back to the Future Part III picture

Factual error: Though extremely modest on today's standards, the dress worn by Clara to the hoedown shows far too much cleavage for the time. No schoolteacher would ever wear a dress like that in the 1880s.

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Westworld picture

Plot hole: There is a barely credible explanation for the fact that a guest cannot be injured or killed by being shot in Westworld, but what about the vicious fistfight we see in the bar? People are injured or killed in bar brawls all the time, and this one was incredibly violent. How do they prevent guests from being injured or killed by the cutting and stabbing weapons we see in Medieval and Roman World? Guests are supposed to fight each other, not just robots - they cannot be 'programmed' to lose! Delos is going be sued into bankruptcy within a week of the first guest arriving. Quite apart from the legal position, think about the bad publicity! Who is going to pay the huge fees demanded by the parks owners when the media is constantly reporting on the guests who wound up dead or with life changing injuries?

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Suggested correction: The explanation given in the TV show would seem to easily apply to the original film as well: guests can be injured, but not to the point that it would leave a lasting mark. The park has access to futuristic medical techniques, so they can heal most non-life-threatening injuries easily. Also the guests almost certainly sign waivers, so in the event of serious injury the park isn't liable.

Suggested correction: It's easy to nitpick the factual details of "Westworld," the screenplay of which was written on-the-fly on a fairly limited budget, even by early 1970s' standards. Author Michael Crichton (who also wrote "The Andromeda Strain," "The Terminal Man," "Congo," "Sphere," "Jurassic Park" and several other technological thrillers) himself acknowledged that Westworld was more a visual story (like a comic book) than a cerebral piece of science fiction, and he learned on this movie that suspension of disbelief outweighed technical or even factual details, if he wanted to expedite the story in an hour-and-a-half. Crichton said he was having more fun and devoting more time to shooting the film than actually writing it, comparing the experience to playing cowboys and indians as a child. So, yes, Westworld is not much more than an adult fantasy with a number of plot holes that we are supposed to gleefully overlook, rather than analyze.

Charles Austin Miller

Except for blatant continuity mistakes you just invalidated every single entry on this site.

Suggested correction: Westworld ensure that any interactions with the robots are entirely safe for the patrons of the park. They cannot prevent humans fighting amongst themselves, just as Disneyland can't prevent people fighting there. People are also injured or die all the time in horse-riding accidents, but that won't lead to people suing Westworld. Due to the nature of the park, all the guests likely sign a waiver stating that any injuries are not the fault of the park.

Utter rubbish. Guests who were completely innocent bystanders could be killed or injured by the actions of other guests, notably in the bar brawl or by the explosion used in the jailbreak. We see one guest smash a barstool against the back of another guest - not a robot - which could easily have broken his spine. There is no question whatever that the owners and managers of the park would be held liable in this and many other cases, just as amusement park owners and managers nowadays are held liable when roller coasters or other rides go awry, injuring or killing guests.

The most plausible explanation would be a waiver that visitors to the park have to sign. The waiver would explain that while the robots cannot harm humans, other humans can, and the park is not held responsible. In the event of death or serious injury, the guest who caused it would face criminal charges and possibly a civil lawsuit. But a waiver would protect the park. Also, the rules of the park may be similar to those in the HBO Westworld series, where the robots cannot cause a "permanent mark", meaning they can injure guests as long as the injury is repairable.

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The Revenant picture

Factual error: When Glass saves the Indian girl from the Frenchmen the flintlock pistol he gets off the Frenchman fires multiple times without reload, as it does later while being chased by the Indians.

Terry Gragg

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Hell on the Border picture

Visible crew/equipment: At the beginning of the film when being rescued from the quicksand you can see someone's legs and hand behind the horse, holding it. (00:10:00 - 00:11:00)

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High Noon picture

Factual error: During the gun battle, Gary Cooper runs behind a building that has an air-conditioner or swamp cooler installed in a second-floor window. (01:17:30)

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Shane picture

Other mistake: During the final shootout in the saloon, young Joey yells, "Shane, look out!" Alan Ladd whirls around and his gun goes off. But the gun isn't pointed anywhere near the bad guy who is standing on the second floor balcony. Shane more than likely shot the furnace that was off to the right. Yet, the bad guy still manages to do a face plant on the barroom floor.

SoCalRuss

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McLintock! picture

Character mistake: On the day Rebecca arrives home, Junior Douglas says that he was "Valedictorian, Class of '95." Earlier, Drago talked of almost killing Running Buffalo "during that trouble back in the '40's," which would have been about 50 years earlier. That would mean Drago and McLintock were fighting Indians when they were babies, or possibly before they were born!

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The Last Outlaw picture

Other mistake: The film is about a gang of Confederate soldiers after the Civil War, so a black man in the gang would seem a bit out of place.

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The Book of Eli picture

Factual error: The type of book that Eli is protecting would actually be just a fragment. The complete Bible, in braille, occupies as many as 18 volumes.

eirik

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Tombstone picture

Continuity mistake: When Curly Bill is shooting up the town while drunk, he fires about 10 more rounds than his six shooter can hold without reloading (so too many shots even if he had a second gun), and still has a round remaining when he shoots Marshal Fred White. In the 1880 court hearing held after Marshal White's death, Curly Bill still had 5 rounds remaining in his pistol.

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Hang 'Em High picture

Continuity mistake: At the beginning, Eastwood dismounts from his horse to rescue the calf lying in the river. His horse is left standing in the river with the water up to his knees. When Eastwood places the calf on dry land, his horse is standing nearby. The horse's legs are dry.

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Shenandoah picture

Factual error: After the birth of the baby, James Stewart and "Doc" Witherspoon are discussing the course of the war. "Doc" relates that he has always lived in Virginia and that his son died at Gettysburg at Little Round Top. No Virginia regiments fought at Little Round Top - only Alabama, Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas regiments.

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Carry On Cowboy picture

Audio problem: When we see the can-can dancers perform on-stage, the music is played by a full band including brass and drums, despite the fact that there's only a pianist on-stage. (00:22:10)

Madstunts

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Suggested correction: This error is not unique to Carry On Cowboy. It seems that in very many western movies (and TV shows) there might be a scene in a saloon, in which a singer or some dancers are performing on a stage. In nearly all such occasions they seem to be accompanied by a full orchestra which is nowhere to be seen.

Rob Halliday

This is not a valid correction. To say the error exist in other films does not invalidate this error.

Bishop73

Sorry, I think I got that wrong. I was not trying to invalidate the error, far from it! What I meant to say was that I agree that this is quite an obvious error in Carry On Cowboy, and that this also seems to be a common, and rather amusing, error in many other western films as well.

Rob Halliday

Unfortunately at this time, valid mistake entries are not subject to forum discussion where one agrees or discusses the mistake. Just give the mistake a thumbs up if you agree with it.

Bishop73

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Django Unchained picture

Factual error: Dr Schultz pays with 12 $1000 bills, but $1000 bills were not created until 1861, after the time period of this movie.

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Fort Apache picture

Factual error: After the first encounter with the Apaches, the covered wagon is headed to the Fort at full speed. The camera pans to the Apaches on the ridge and you can see a truck driving at the bottom right corner. (00:32:00)

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Pale Rider picture

Factual error: As Preacher and Hull ride out of town for first time, Hull offers "3 hots and a cot." Earliest reference of this term is in the 1930's.

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Shanghai Noon picture

Factual error: The evil man request 100,000 pieces of gold for ransom. Each gold piece looks to be about 10 ounces, and 100,000 of those would make the entire thing weigh about 31 tons, but 2 guys are carrying it around in a little chest throughout the movie.

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The Searchers picture

Visible crew/equipment: The scene where Martin and Ethan watch the Cavalry ride in through the river, a car or truck is seen driving up a road to the right and comes to a stop.

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The Man from Snowy River picture

Continuity mistake: Near the end after the mob goes over the cliff and Jim is chasing the horses through a snow patch, another rider on a light colored horse can be seen on the right. (01:36:00)

jimba

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