Best action movie mistakes of 1984

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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom picture

Continuity mistake: When Indy tries to grab the antidote vial from the table, in the closeup just as the vial falls off the table the camera follows the vial as it lands in the empty area to the left of Lao Che's chair where Kao Kan's chair should be, but it's not, and the rug's edge with wood floor beside Lao Che's chair though it shouldn't be. Then Indy hits Kao Kan who is again seated closely to Lao Che's left, as he should be, and when Kao Kan falls backward we see the rug edge is nowhere near Lao Che's chair, also as it should be. (00:08:20)

Super Grover

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Suggested correction: Actually it appears the vial falls to the left of Kao Ken's chair, not Lao Che's. It appears after Indy pierces the other guy with the shishkebab, Kao Ken, off camera, takes the vial and puts on his left side. Indy jumps on the table and after missing the vial he slides further and then elbows Kao Ken who is on the right side now. The vial is still on the left side of Kao Ken's chair when it's kicked onto the wooden floor.

lionhead

You're very much mistaken. Lao Che is wearing an embroidered dinner jacket and has a pinky ring on his left pinky, and Kao Kan's left hand is bandaged in gauze. After Indy skewers Chen, in the closeup of Indy's hand just as it knocks the vial off the table, it's Lao Che's hand (note the pinky ring, etc) that we see on the table next to Nurhachi's urn, the stack of money, and the vial. That is not Kao Kan's hand/arm, remember his left hand is bandaged. And as this closeup continues to pan down it follows the vial as it lands on the floor in the empty space where Kao Kan's chair should be, but it isn't.

Super Grover

Yep, you're right I see it. There are 2 shots of Indy trying to grab the vial off the table and the second one is followed through with the vial falling off it and that one is wrong. Alright.

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Dune picture

Other mistake: There is a scene in which Piter DeVries is talking about the Landsraad (one of the governmental organizations in Dune). Twice he mispronounces the name, saying "Lansdraad" instead.

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Beverly Hills Cop picture

Revealing mistake: In the scene where Axel throws the art dealer's henchman onto the buffet table, if you watch carefully (or use slow-mo) you can see the stunt double pulling off that manoeuvre. There is also a stunt double being thrown over the table.

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Romancing the Stone picture

Revealing mistake: When Michael Douglas attempts to swing on a vine over a deep abyss, the rock that he runs into on the other side moves like a marshmallow, indicating that it's a fake rock. (00:39:10)

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Cannonball Run II picture

Continuity mistake: When Dean Martin's car passes the military-looking Imperial, his red Corvette is suddenly a red and silver Dodge Daytona. It switches back to the red 'Vette in the car's next shot.

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The Pope of Greenwich Village picture

Audio problem: When Mickey Rourke visits Darryl Hannah while she's instructing at the aerobics studio and pulls her away, Darryl puts another girl in charge who begins barking orders to the class. But we can see her reflection in the mirror; her lips aren't moving.

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Ghostbusters picture

Revealing mistake: There's a scene where Dana's building is falling apart and stones and stuff are falling to the street below. One of the huge boulders bounces off a wooden police barricade in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, and then off a person. (01:29:14)

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Repo Man picture Repo Man mistake picture

Continuity mistake: The first car he jacks is a white 4 door Oldsmobile Cutlass salon, and a 2 door Olds Cutlass Supreme in the next. (00:09:30)

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Conan the Destroyer picture

Factual error: In the very beginning sequence, as the riders are galloping triumphantly across the mighty windswept plains of yore to capture Conan, you can see power lines in the background in one brief shot at the very left of the screen.

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Star Trek III: The Search for Spock picture

Factual error: According to "The Doomsday Machine", full impulse drive is one-quarter the speed of light. In the first two movies, Enterprise used thrusters as opposed to impulse drive to leave Spacedock, confirming the notion that impulse drive is far too fast to leave such a (comparatively) small structure. Styles, however, orders Excelsior to one-quarter impulse, which is 18,750 km/s. In one second, she will travel half again Earth's diameter. From the time he gives the order to the time we see Excelsior clear spacedock's doors is approximately 40 seconds. Even allowing 30 seconds to go from rest to one quarter impulse, spacedock must be 13-15 times bigger than Earth! That's some serious engineering. (00:23:45)

Grumpy Scot

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Suggested correction: I reckon the writers always refer to levels of "impulse power" precisely so they don't have to worry too much about particular speeds (personally I always thought of it as roughly analogous to gears on a vehicle, but your mileage may vary). They use impulse to leave dock in both Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (it's implied to be unusual in both cases, for what it's worth). If all of that contradicts an earlier episode, I think we're looking at more of a retcon situation than a mistake.

TonyPH

Suggested correction: The warp scale has been adjusted several times, so it is impossible to say precisely how fast this fictional technology is, and by extension, how fast impulse is.

Impulse drive speed on starships have been consistent. Although sometimes quarter impulse on a shuttle refers to quarter power and not speed. Even if the speed of quarter impulse is 10 times slower than suggested (and used in the series), spacedock would still be 1.3-1.5 times bigger than Earth, which it wasn't. "It's fictional technology" is usually only a valid correction if the technology isn't explained in-universe. However, when certain parameters regarding fictional technology are established (even if they set wide parameters such as warp speed velocities) violations or contradictions (through bad script writing or whatnot) are valid mistakes.

Bishop73

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Sword of the Valiant picture

Revealing mistake: When the guy on the horse pulls out his sword, he has trouble getting it out of the sheath at first and it bends severely. It is clear that it is not a real sword.

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Supergirl picture

Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the movie, Selena drives her car to the right side of the house. When the shot changes, the car is several feet further back and is now heading across the front of the entrance.

Sacha

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The Toxic Avenger picture

Continuity mistake: Just before Melvin has sex with Sarah, Sarah's red dress straps fall down off of her shoulders, yet are back up in the next shot.

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The Last Starfighter picture

Visible crew/equipment: When the Starcar lands for the second time, there is a shot where the car comes to a stop in front of the camera. In this shot, the wooden rafters of the sound stage can be seen. (Noted in the director's commentary).

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Tank picture

Revealing mistake: When the sheriff is going to whip Sarah, he tells her to take down her drawers. Bad editing, you see her hand reach back and make the motion as if she is pulling down her panties but it is visible they are still up.

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Against All Odds picture

Continuity mistake: When Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward are on the beach in the grass hut on the video version you clearly see the overhead boom mike swinging back and forth to face the character who is speaking at the moment. This continues through the whole scene.

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Wheels on Meals picture

Visible crew/equipment: During the car chase, when the taxi drives over the gas can and does the two wheel driving, you can see the ramp that flipped it up behind it. (01:01:25)

Mortug

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