Best action movie factual errors of 2004

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National Treasure picture

Factual error: As Ben is clinging to the staircase while it is falling apart, there is a close-up of a nail being pulled out of the wood. This nail is round-headed, rather than square as it would have been over 200 years ago. It's also shiny instead of rusty, which indicates that it's galvanized. Galvanization as an industrial, metal-preservation process was not patented until 1837, and was not used in building materials until well into the late-1800s. Since the film states the staircase was made by "the Founding Fathers, " and there was no galvanization of iron nails in any industrialized nation in 1780s-1830's, this is a huge anachronism.

Kristal

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Spider-Man 2 picture

Factual error: Considering the brightness of the fusion process, Dr. Octavius has to wear special goggles to be able to see it. Yet no one else in the room is wearing such goggles or seem hurt by watching the whole process, just as at the end of the movie. When welding something, no one can look at the arc that's created, as it would hurt his eyes and burn his retina; presumably, the fusion process would be brighter and more powerful than that, and so should have some kind of damaging effect on everyone's eyesight (except Spider Man's, maybe).

Sereenie

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Flight of the Phoenix picture

Factual error: After calculating the amount of water they have available Townes and A.J. announce they will be living on "a pint of water per person per day". One problem - they'll be dead within three days, if they manage to last that long. A GALLON - eight pints - a day is the absolute minimum in conditions of dry, extreme heat such as they are experiencing, and that is for a resting male. Take their strenuous exercise into account and you can push that up to two gallons a day. One pint a day? Forget it.

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Alien Vs. Predator picture

Factual error: When they're first entering the whaling camp, a penguin startles Miller. That penguin was a black-footed penguin, which is a bird native to much warmer climates. If that little guy had actually been in Antarctica, he would have died within minutes. (00:20:40)

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Troy picture

Factual error: When the Trojans flee inside the walls at the arrival of the Greeks, you can see some llamas. Llamas were only known in Latin America and not in ancient Troy. (02:20:10)

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Friday Night Lights picture

Factual error: One sweep through the town shows a Dodge Durango in a parking lot. The movie takes place in 1988; the first Dodge Durango was the 1998 model, ten years later. (00:34:15)

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Ladder 49 picture

Factual error: During the Christmas season (December) Travolta and Phoenix discuss a transfer to an aide's position. That same night Phoenix discusses the possibility with his wife - with crickets chirping away in the background. Not in Baltimore in December.

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The Day After Tomorrow picture

Factual error: When Sam climbs outside the ship he grabs the frozen metallic pipes and rails with both hands - one half covered with a glove, one is bare. He has no problem gripping the cold metal and he can get his hands free every time. If the moisture froze before contact, his hands would be frozen too, so that can't be the reason.

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Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid picture

Factual error: After the scene where they fall over the waterfall, and go through what they have left of the equipment. Bill, the Latino doctor, holds up the CD-reader from a desktop computer and says that the hard drive is broken, which would be OK if he actually had the hard drive present. (00:34:35)

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King Arthur picture

Factual error: I normally wouldn't bother with this sort of nitpicking, but this film specifically claims to be historically researched - and it's full of historical blunders. For a start, the film is set as the Empire withdraws its last troops from Britain - which was in 407 AD. Now Artorius Castus was a real Roman officer who really did command Sarmatian foederati at Hadrian's Wall, but he died around 200 AD. Cerdic was a real Saxon warlord who did go raiding the Britons with his son Cynric, but he did this in the early 500s. Pelagius really was tried for heresy, but he was acquitted and died of old age; the trial was a decade after this setting, and in the fifth century you couldn't be executed for heresy anyway. Also in the fifth century the Pope had no authority over Imperial troops. I could go on and on but that will do for now.

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The Librarian: Quest for the Spear picture

Factual error: Flynn says that the chamber in the Mayan temple is "an exact replica of their great temple of Teotihuacan." But Teotihuacan was not a Mayan city, but rather the hub of a separate civilization (themselves called the Teotihuacan). It was in central Mexico, hundreds of miles from the Mayan area in the Yucatan Peninsula.

DavidK93

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The Bourne Supremacy picture

Factual error: The scene where Nicky is picked up in Amsterdam is not in Amsterdam - the skyline does not match that of the city.

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Blade: Trinity picture

Factual error: When Blade notices the piece of Dracula's armour in the Nightstalkers' headquarters he's shown an image of what the full armour looks like. It'd be impossible to extrapolate a full suit of armour from such a small piece.

MAdMaN

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Mindhunters picture

Factual error: When J.D. gets killed, Vince's leg shakes. Vince is suppose to be paralyzed. Even if he was extremely scared, his leg shouldn't have been able to move no matter how much he tried. It happens again later in the movie. (00:30:55)

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Suggested correction: During the film, its never discussed whether or not Vince is paralyzed. He may just have a damaged spine. The scene where his foot is shaking, the entire camera frame is pointing directly at his feet. Seems unlikely that would have been included, if he was playing a paraplegic.

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Thunderbirds picture

Factual error: As the Hood approaches central London in Thunderbird 2, they fly through Tower Bridge and over HMS Belfast, approaching from the East. However the onboard display in Thunderbird 1 shows TB2 approaching from the West, somewhere over Hammersmith.

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Hidalgo picture

Factual error: The race ends at Damascus, which is nowhere near the ocean, yet is placed on the seacoast.

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Starsky & Hutch picture

Factual error: Right after the movie title is shown, you can see in the background a UPS truck. The only problem is that it has the new logo on the side of it. (00:02:00 - 00:06:00)

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The Incredibles picture

Factual error: When the plane is attacked by missiles, Helen punches a button on the cockpit console and a screen lights up that says "chaff". The next shot shows the rear of the plane with several burning items coming from it that are supposed to be chaff. However, chaff containers burst open into thousands of radar-reflective strips that are meant to confuse radar-guided missiles (see real chaff in the movie Air Force One). What actually comes out are flares that burn extremely hot to confuse heat-seeking missiles. While it might be suggested that we just never see the containers burst open, later in the missile chase we see the exact same items in view for a much longer time and they never burst open.

Guy

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Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London picture

Factual error: When Derek is calculating how much explosive Mentos to put in Cody's mouth to get the microchip out, he says to himself, "a thousand nanograms equals 1 microgram". While this measurement is correct, it is highly unlikely that any explosive would be of use in even milligram quantities. So 1/1000 of a milligram (a microgram) would be virtually useless, and measurements of 1/1,000,000 of a milligram (a nanogram) would be even less than useless. He couldn't have been calculating explosives in such small quantities. As well, Mentos mints are about 37.5 g (http://home.socal.rr.com/mentosfaq/candies.html), and he then cuts it into approximately 1/8 - micrograms would measure 1/250 of a mint, and nanograms would be 1/2500 of a mint. (01:12:30)

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