Best movie factual errors of 1984

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Purple Rain picture

Factual error: Right after The Kid's father shoots himself, The Kid is seen in the basement being interviewed by two police officers in uniform and one detective. One of the police officers is asking the questions while the detective is writing in his notepad. Standard procedure is for a "Lead Detective" to be assigned to the case and he conducts all interviews. (01:18:49)

MCKD

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Footloose picture

Factual error: When Ariel is playing a tape in her boyfriend's boombox in the parking lot of the diner, when her dad comes over he pushes a button once and the tape ejects. However, on this type of boombox, the stop and eject button are the same button. So in order to eject the tape, he would have had to push the button twice.

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The First Olympics: Athens 1896 picture

Factual error: During their transatlantic boat trip, on their way to Athens, the American athletes are having fun naming various foods from back home that they already miss. One of them claims he misses chocolate chip cookies. Oops. That particular cookie didn't exist until Ruth Wakefield invented it in 1930.

Jon Nicholas

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Tank picture

Factual error: When the crowd and sheriff are waiting at the GA/TN state line we see a road sign that says GA. Hwy 16. GA. Hwy 16 runs east to west (Tennesee is north of Georgia) and is approximately 150 miles south of the state line. (01:34:45)

Mister Ed

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Oxford Blues picture

Factual error: When Rob Lowe first arrives in Oxford he is driving down a street taking in the sights. Most of the sights he views are actually scattered throughout the town and not on any one street. This is especially true for Radcliffe Camera (part of the Bodlean Library) as it is in a cobblestone courtyard completely surrounded by buildings and cannot be viewed from any street.

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The Cotton Club picture

Factual error: The scene during Lonette Mckee's rendition of Ill Wind, where coins are poured onto a glass table, appear to be from a later time period. (01:16:00)

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Splash picture

Factual error: When the TV store is closing at Bloomingdale's, The Richard Simmons Show is shown on the monitors. In 1984, when the film is set, this show was broadcast only in the morning and was not released in syndication. The show would therefore not have been playing on a television channel in New York City in the late evening.

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Blame it on Rio picture

Factual error: While on the beach, you can see many women running around topless (including the daughters) - which isn't allowed on public beaches in Rio. (00:18:31 - 00:21:00)

Andy Benham

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Sheena picture

Factual error: The tigers used here are Indian Bengal tigers and this is set in Africa. Plus zebras can't be ridden as Sheena's able to do.

Rob245

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Suggested correction: The only striped animals in the movie are zebras, not tigers. A tiger did appear on some of the DVD covers, which is an error on the covers. For a fantasy movie, riding a zebra falls under artistic license. In any case, the zebra Sheena was riding was a small horse with makeup to make it appear to be a zebra.

Noman

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Swing Shift picture

Factual error: Throughout the entire movie, the SBD Dauntlesses they are working on have the national insignia with the red ball in the center. This was discontinued in May 1942.

goofyfoot

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Firestarter picture

Factual error: When Andy and Charlie have caught a cab (allegedly in Manhattan), and the agents are running after the car, we see green letters reading "Manor", which is a movie theater in Wilmington, NC. (00:03:19 - 03:26:00)

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Supergirl picture

Factual error: Supergirl spots Selina on school grounds and is about to leave the classroom to investigate, but Nigel, the teacher, stops her. In the background, you can see a small room with beige computers. These are BBC Model B computers, a UK computer that was typically used in UK schools and wasn't sold or available in the US, showing that the school featured in the movie is actually in the UK and not the US as depicted.

GalahadFairlight

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Romancing the Stone picture

Factual error: Joan ends up taking the "wrong bus," which takes her "hell and gone from Cartagena." Its destination is labeled as "Castillo de San Felipe." However, in Colombia, Castillo de San Felipe is located inside the city of Cartagena itself.

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The Philadelphia Experiment picture

Factual error: In the scene where the convoy is on the way to the Eldridge, the trucks used are M35 deuce and a half dating from 1949, the jeeps used are M151 mutt dating from 1959 (horizontal grills) . (00:05:55)

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