Factual error: When someone is burying a dead body, one person alone digs a hole big enough to bury a fully grown adult with a garden spade usually in about five minutes. There is also no sign of the earth that has been displaced by the body.
Common movie and TV mistakes since 13 Oct '18, 00:00 - page 9
This is a list of mistakes, things done wrong, etc. that happen so frequently onscreen we barely notice any more. 'Movie logic', stupid behaviours, and everything related.
Other mistake: When the "good" guys can easily kill someone wearing protective combat gear, bullet-proof vests, etc with just one shot, but the "good" guy can get shot multiple times and be OK.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: It depends on where the good guy was hit at and how bad the bullet wound is.
Factual error: Whenever an aircraft goes into some kind of nosedive, they will almost always make low-pitched whine that gets louder as the aircraft goes faster. But this is the Jericho Siren that was fitted to the Stuka dive bomber by the Germans in WWII for the purposes of psychological warfare. It's a specific device that has to be fitted, nothing else would make this sound on its own.
Other mistake: Characters that are standing outside in freezing cold weather, but their breath won't be visible. This is more common in TV shows, where the outdoor setting is just a set in the studio.
Deliberate mistake: To avoid the risk of implicating real, unsuspecting people in all sorts of unsolicited calls, movies can use specific phone numbers owned by the studios, but generally they use specific area codes and/or number ranges that are unassigned. Therefore, many movies feature phone numbers that are 'impossible' by design. It's a fact so well known that it is part of pop-culture, in particular for 555-numbers, which to modern audiences nowadays look as credible as ACME items.
Factual error: Shooting a gas tank with a handgun and causing an explosion. The only way to ignite a gas tank by shooting it is with tracer ammunition, as demonstrated by the Mythbusters.
Other mistake: Whenever a character travel to a town or village in another country, no matter how remote, they always find someone who speaks English.
Deliberate mistake: If a main character is injured, say in a car accident, any visible signs of injury always include bruises or scars on the character's face. It doesn't matter how the character got injured, the moviemakers deliberately will give him wounds on the face so the audience is given a visual reminder.
Other mistake: In video games that have a night and day cycle, often times quests and especially side quests seem to be unaffected by the passing of time what so ever. Like a pressing matter of a guy running off with a valuable item, and your quest is to track him down and stop him before he leaves the city. But you can take your sweet time and have several days and longer pass in game time before you finally go to the place where you're supposed to carry out of the mission.
Other mistake: Someone coming into a room, or situation, and delivering a line in response to what was just said, even though there was no way they were able to hear what was just said (or even knowing what the conversation was about).
Deliberate mistake: In TV shows and movies that depict civilization in a state of collapse, such as The Road, The Postman or The Stand, people walk when they need to go from one place to another. The implication being that powered vehicles no longer work. The question is, what happened to all the bicycles? They would get you where you want to go much faster than walking, yet, they don't seem to exist in the future.
Deliberate mistake: Someone drives a car they've never driven before and they drive off without adjusting the driver's seat or mirror.
Factual error: Characters referring to another star system as a "Solar System." Solar System is a proper name, it refers specifically to the system that contains Earth. Our sun is called "Sol", hence "Solar System." Any time an alien from another planet uses the term Solar System to refer to an alien star system it indicates the writer or actor is making a common error.
Deliberate mistake: During a fight no-one draws blood or has any bruises afterwards.
Other mistake: The main protagonist in a TV show or movie is being shot at by machine guns, and he somehow manages to dodge the bullets.
Other mistake: In 99% of movies cars have their windows rolled down to avoid the filming crew from being reflected This is even more weird when cars are parked or it's raining.
Factual error: Vehicles used in films and programmes set in past decades that have age related number plates, classic car enthusiasts spot these straight away.
Factual error: A character in hospital removes various medical monitors from their body (or someone else's) but alarms don't sound on the equipment in the room.
Factual error: Whenever there's an officer involved shooting in television or movies, the officer in question always goes about their work as though nothing has happened. In real life, this is a big deal. It's blasted all over the news and the officer is always placed on administrative leave pending an investigation to make sure the shooting was justified.
Character mistake: When someone tries to call another person's cell phone in an emergency situation and it goes to voicemail, but they just keep calling over and over (with or without leaving a message). They never try sending a text message or similar, they just repeat the same pattern despite knowing the other person isn't answering.
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