Corrected entry: In the scene where Alex comes home after his first night out, he removes a tape to put in Beethoven on his stereo, but then it cuts to a close-up and he removes another tape from the same slot.
Corrected entry: Near the end of the movie where Charlie gives the gobstopper back, Gene Wilder's hair is all screwed up, but the next second it's fine.
Correction: This is not necessarily a mistake: It was done on purpose to show how crazy he is.
Corrected entry: There are several versions of this film, in one when Kowolski stops at the desert house to get drugs he put the car into park with a column shift yet there are numerous scenes of him shifting the 4spd pistol grip throughout the film.
Correction: To my knowledge, there are only two versions of tyhe film (ignoring TV-censored edits). Both are included on the official DVD - the US version and the longer UK version. I checked both and they use the same footage for this shot and in it, Kowalski can be seen putting some real force into throwing the manual shifter forward to put the car in 1st gear (a safety technique in case the parking brake slips). No column shifter is evident (and neither type can be seen from the distant, rear-quarter camera angle). No error here.
Corrected entry: When Dennis Weaver is in the cafe a shadow of a person is cast across the table he is sitting at, the shot then changes to a wider angle to reveal that there isn't anyone near him.
Correction: That was actually the camera man moving up to the table so he moved out of the way when that wide shot came.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Jack Carter stabs Albert Swift to death (in the toilets at the back of the betting shop) we only see a teaspoon-sized bloodstain on Albert's shirt. If you stab someone through the heart with a knife, you'd usually see more blood then that. (There were at least two takes of this scene - one with lots of blood, and a 'toned down' version with very little. At the request of the BBFC Censors, the 'toned down' version was the one used)
Correction: He doesn't get stabbed in the heart. Jack stabs him in the left side of his stomach/gut area.
Corrected entry: The blackmail note Harry finds after the first murder is pinned to an antenna. When the note is projected at the Mayor's office there is no trace of the rather big hole in the middle. (00:05:30)
Correction: The note wasn't pinned, it was held on by a clip on the side of the note. There was never any hole.
Corrected entry: After Dr. Hasslein shoots the baby chimp, Zira pushes the baby over the side of the ship. The baby chimp lands in the water and floats. It floats as if it were made of plastic and weighed nothing. Had it been a real chimpanzee baby it would have had some weight to it and gone under water.
Correction: Not really. Bodies don't immediately sink once they hit water. Some may float for hours.
Corrected entry: Dr. Phibes kills Dr. Hargreaves at a costume ball by crushing his head inside a frog mask. But one of the plot's main points is that Dr. Phibes is presumed dead following the car crash in Switzerland many years ago. So whose house is the costume ball at? If Phibes is presumed dead by all his friends and colleagues, why would they show up to a party at his house? Or did Phibes simply crash someone else's party, knowing (or hoping) that Dr. Hargreaves would be there?
Correction: Yes, one presumes that's exactly what happened.
Corrected entry: Towards the beginning, when Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd meet the helicopter in the desert, they await a helicopter. After the helicopter lands, while it's rising off the ground, the red stripe across the side of the chopper gradually fades into green. And then, as it pulls away, the stripe abruptly changes back to red.
Correction: It does no such thing. The stripe is always red. There are moments when the helicopter passes through a shadow, which makes the stripe darker, and then passes into a lighter area, which makes the red stand out more. The Blu-ray of the film confirms it is red throughout the sequence. The lower-resolution quality of other video formats might make it seem green.
Corrected entry: When the police investigate the car in which they suspect drugs are being hidden, they really tear it apart - they rip out linings, pull apart fittings, pry off bits and pieces, etc. However, when, after a short period of time, it is returned to the actor who brought it in, he does not notice that it has been tampered with. It really would have taken a much longer time and a lot of the right fittings and materials to put it back together again in such good condition.
Correction: The car which is returned to the owner is a different car that is identical to the original.
Corrected entry: When Neville gets back to his fortress-apartment, he boots up the video surveillance system, switching on several closed-circuit monitors. The very largest screen, however, shows himself, looking toward the screen. As he turns about his image on the screen doesn't turn the correct way; it moves like a mirrored image: he turns to the right, the image turns to the left. The image ought to turn in the same direction. The image in the video screen was photographed separately (and not quite inaccurately), and added later in post-production.
Correction: You need only use your phone video of yourself to see, that if you walk right, the video *you* walks *left*. The idea expressed in this is based on a mirror, in which your image follows you left and right. Not a live point-of-view of yourself, which is then turned 180 to face you. As in this scene.
Corrected entry: After the gunfight in the hotel room where the bad guys try to steal the strongbox, the Duke returns to the room and the box is now open, revealing the contents. Sam Sharpnose says, "Shotgun blast broke the lock, Jacob." But the bad guys didn't have shotguns, they had revolvers. Michael had a shotgun, but the lock was facing away from him.
Correction: In the scene where sam says a shotgun broke the lock it could be true because after just watching the movie again, if you look closely as the bad guys go up the stairs towards the room you will notice one is holding a shotgun, you can see it better when they split up the one bad guy heading towards the window is holding the shotgun in hand.
Corrected entry: During the football match, the camera moves back and forth over the field, and sometimes Dr. Brown completely disappears.
Correction: This only occurs in the "pan and scan" version. He does not disappear in the widescreen version.
Corrected entry: I know that this is a kiddie's movie and this was done for cuteness, but there are several anachronistic items, like modern toothbrushes, baseballs and baseball gloves, and 20th century-style alarm clocks; Jim's barrel boat even features a steam engine. In the latter case, if steam engines are known already, why didn't anyone else - especially the pirates - install them into their own ships as well?
Correction: This is a fantasy adventure. As such, historical accuracy isn't a consideration anymore than talking animals can be considered a 'mistake' here.
Corrected entry: When the scientists arrive at Wildfire, Dr. Leavitt's glasses are taken away. She is told that they will be treated and returned. She says, "Good, because without them I would need a white cane." Minutes later, she reads a passage from the Wildfire documents with no glasses and no trouble at all.
Correction: I am legally blind without my glasses, but I can easily read documents. What I can't do is see anything clearly if it's further away than my elbow.
Corrected entry: The unmarried daughters wearing head scarves is inaccurate - married women wore head coverings (orthodox women still do) for modesty - to keep other men from seeing their hair, but unmarried girls would have been trying to advertise their "crowning glory."
Correction: Yes, it is true that unmarried girls do not cover their hair. However, in the film the daughters' hair is exposed around the scarves, most likely those scarves are to keep their hair out of their eyes while working. Their hair is uncovered at their sister's wedding, as it should be. Married orthodox women wear scarves, snoods or wigs to cover all of their hair, none would be showing.
Corrected entry: A race car comes around a corner and slides out of control towards the camera. The next shot is from another camera farther down the track and as the car slides towards the guard rail you can see the first camera and its operator who leaps back in surprise. The next shot is from the first camera as the car accelerates away and back onto the track.
Correction: A film cameraman in shot is realistic, even if accidentally so. In those days it was normal for film cameramen to be employed by the marketing departments of a race's automotive sponsors to make publicity films of major races to be shown free of charge at motor club evenings around the world.
Corrected entry: When John Le Mesurier calls for 5 rounds rapid fire from the van, towards enemy on the left, the soldiers deliver three "rounds", then when called upon to deliver 5 to the sky above, they deliver four.
Correction: The Warmington on Sea platoon is not an efficient military outfit. This could be a character mistake, rather than a film mistake.
Corrected entry: The people in the movie are supposed to be underground unexposed to daylight, yet they have very nice suntans.
Correction: Even we have tanning beds,creams and pills... it's not very unrealistic.
Corrected entry: When Mary is walking back home from school in one of the first scenes, you can see quite clearly that she is wearing a black/brown skirt, but when she is in the desert, she is wearing a white/grey skirt throught thoes desert scenes.
Correction: Australian schools have a winter and summer uniform for girls. In spring and autumn, they are worn more or less alternately.
Correction: He removes the Beethoven tape from a box; the second tape is removed from the player.