Best sci-fi movie factual errors of 1988

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Space Mutiny picture

Factual error: Near the end when MacPhearson tries to hide away from Dave Ryder in a large room, two men are running up a stairway one behind the other. MacPhearson shoots the one in front, which unrealistically, causes no reaction in the other man, who is directly running behind him, so MacPhearson can shoot him easily too.

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Hobgoblins picture

Factual error: The damage done by the hobgoblin-induced fantasies is real, as seen several times in the movie. Kyle's car runs off a cliff, Nick's grenades really explode, etc. Nick is in one scene set ablaze by throwing himself on a grenade, and is completely engulfed in flames from his head to his toes. But he shows up in the last scene with nothing but a few minor burns on his forearms and a pair of crutches (that he immediately discards). His hair and eyelashes are not even singed.

Twotall

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Short Circuit 2 picture

Factual error: When Johnny shoots the taxi with some kind of cable and pulls it backwards, the rear tires are shown to be spinning in an attempt to move. The taxi is a Chrysler K-car which is front wheel drive.

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Critters 2 picture

Factual error: For most of the movie you can see mountains and large hills in the background. The movie takes place in Kansas and almost all of Kansas is flat.

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They Live picture

Factual error: Throughout the movie, whenever the sunglasses/contacts are worn, both visual and audible hidden subliminal messages are seen and heard. Such as the hidden "obey" message flashing, or the hidden traffic siren repeating "sleep," etc. The problem is that the glasses/contacts only help the eyes, not the ears. So the hidden audio shouldn't be heard any differently or clearer than it is with them off.

Mlp1327

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The glasses/contacts are made of a material that blocks the alien signal, hence why wearing them too long makes you feel sick since it messes with the brain. That would allow you to hear the audio as well.

Not true. Yes, the glasses would help you to be aware that the sounds existed; however, the error is that the sounds become louder. Take the traffic signal device. If it is saying "sleep sleep" as a subliminal message outside normal human hearing, wearing the glasses won't change the volume of the subliminal "sleep message" from "sleeeep" to "SLEEEP". Unless you're saying the sounds were always at normal human hearing levels.

Mlp1327

That's exactly what was happening. There's a difference between frequency and volume. A sound can have a frequency outside normal human perception and still be loud. For example, a dog whistle is loud enough to hear, but not in a frequency most humans can hear. The plot of the film seems to be that the frequency isn't picked up by the conscious mind, but by the subconscious mind, much like the visual images.

Bishop73

I just assumed, as is the case with most subliminal audio, that the sound messages were a case of low volume and not frequency. That is, sounds that were just below normal hearing volume. That is barely hearable to the average person volume-wise, but they heard enough for the brain to perceive them and process the information subconsciously. Unfortunately, I can only speculate which it is without an absolute answer, so I can't argue the correction really.

Mlp1327

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