Factual error: When pistols are empty, the person holding it is often surprised when it clicks empty. In reality, the slide on semi-automatic pistols lock back when the gun runs empty, making it easy to see that you're out of ammo. Sometimes happens in movies, often doesn't.
Common movie and TV mistakes since 19 Sep '19, 00:00 - page 2
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.
Deliberate mistake: Whenever someone needs to dump out someone's garbage because they're looking for something, it's always dry and clean, never disgusting.
Deliberate mistake: The criminal tells his evil plans to a priest, who is then unable to prevent a crime because of the "seal of the confessional." Yes, priests may not tell another what is heard in confession, however the 'seal' protects only those who seek absolution for past sins. Confessionals are not boxes into which you can tell a priest your dastardly plans and they can't do anything about it. There is no seal on this misuse of the confessional. Examples include 'Priest' (1994).
Factual error: It's common in movies and shows, and even games sometimes, to see characters effortlessly lifting manhole covers. Usually when climbing out from them or even just walking up and lifting them with bare hands. In the case of the TMNT, where they have enhanced strength, it's a little more believable. However, in real life these lids are super heavy and usually require a crane or other heavy equipment to lift.
Factual error: When an indoor fire occurs, sprinklers often start spraying in the entire building. In reality, though, only the nearest sprinklers (those who got hot enough) will start sprinkling. This is to avoid unnecessary damage in real life, and to focus the available water on the most needed place.
Character mistake: Soldiers leaving the foldable stocks of their weapons folded, despite knowing that they are going into a combat situation. Particularly affects the MP-40 wielded by the Germans in WWII movies, but also some modern examples like the MP5 and the G36. Automatic weapons are difficult to control at the best of times, there is no reason a trained soldier would deprive themselves of this extra bit of accuracy.
Factual error: The importance of leaving a crime scene undisturbed is greatly exaggerated in films and TV. Crime scenes are often disturbed deliberately by responding police officers. Immediate safety and the preservation of life are paramount to all other concerns. If a body is found, the scene must be secured to be sure a suspect is not still present and the area is safe; this often involves searching through the scene itself. The body must also be inspected to be certain the victim is deceased and doesn't require medical attention; this act often involves moving the body. The idea of police stopping anyone from going anywhere near a crime scene until forensic examiners arrive is a movie cliche not based in reality. It is rare, to the point of being almost unheard of, for a criminal case to hinge on the positioning of a dead body or the exact location of evidence in a room.
Factual error: Stun guns and Tasers do not knock people unconscious. They are designed to incapacitate by either interrupting motor control or causing pain. Movies and TV shows often show someone is zapped with a stun gun and falling unconscious almost instantly. Electroshock weapons simply cannot be used this way, nor are they designed with this in mind. It is absurd for a spy to use a stun gun as a stealth weapon, the first thing the target would likely do is yell from the pain.
Audio problem: Characters in a fist fight landing all punches that all sound like loud smacks or worst case (Rocky) car doors slamming.
Factual error: When someone's body is engulfed in flames, s/he must spend at least a couple seconds flailing arms in the air and making awkward leg movements (sometimes zombie-like) before falling to the ground.
Revealing mistake: "Snowflakes" will stay on a person's coat/shoulders and top of head plus will not melt when the person goes indoors; it might "roll off."
Deliberate mistake: When food is served, little (if any) is eaten - even if people are starving. Instead, the diners play with their food, pretend to be cutting it or getting it onto a fork/spoon, and might raise food to their mouth but not actually put any in (which might be followed by "fake chewing"). Frequently, ONE bite is taken out of a sandwich or slice of pizza and the rest goes uneaten. As a variation, when the family is just about ready to "dig into" a holiday feast, there's an emergency = no-one eats.
Factual error: After waking up from a coma or being knocked out for several days, people in films often get up and proceed to wander around or have a conversation before moving on. But the body continues to function during this comatose state. When someone gets up after sleeping for 3 days straight, they would immediately need to head to the bathroom to relieve themselves. That, or they would smell very horribly to others around them and need to be cleaned up if they were not already taken care of when asleep by the other people.
Factual error: In almost every movie when a landmine is involved, dramatic tension builds when the character steps on it, inevitably hearing a click. That's it, you and everyone else realise that you triggered the mine, and it will explode the moment you try to step away. It's time to say farewell to your friends surrendering to your fate, or hold very still until someone thinks of something extremely clever and bold to save you. In the real world, though, you'd already been maimed, since mines are made to explode with the initial pressure, not the release. Example; the legendary ending of Double Team, or the movie Mine, which is...literally all based on this.
Factual error: Regular, unmodified weapons firing blank rounds. Real weapons use large and obvious attachments to block most of the propellant gases from going out of the barrel, which cycles the weapon. Hollywood weapons have blockages or mechanisms hidden in the barrel to do the same thing (or they have other effects like CGI or a gas flame), but those would make them unable to fire actual bullets. Also, real blanks are dangerous when fired close to people because they can still fire out debris. Die Hard 2 is a good example, with the bad guys swapping back and forth between blank and live ammunition in the same weapons.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Technically incorrect. You can get very high powered blanks called 4 in 1's that can cycle a weapon without the weapon being modified or having a blank firing adaptor. The reason they are not used commonly is because of how loud they are.
Factual error: Films set in or around the middle ages depict horses being the size of modern horses. In actuality, horses during that time period were smaller, closer to modern ponies.
Factual error: When the character holding a gun keeps cocking the slide whenever they are about to get into trouble. Once a weapon is cocked, it's loaded. Every other time the slide, or cocking handle is manipulated, the weapon will extract a round from the chamber and draw a new round from the magazine. Whenever this happens in movies or shows, the weapon never extracts the round in the chamber.
Deliberate mistake: How many times have we seen cars and trucks drive through snow, dirt and mud, only to arrive at their destination perfectly clean.
Revealing mistake: Vehicles that are about to be involved in a crash have their windows cracked, shattered or blown out immediately before (a fraction of a second to 1-2 seconds). Conversely, some vehicles suffer no glass shattering when they roll over. The Good Son can serve as an example of both "mistakes." in chapter #9: "Mr. Highway", the first bus that turns on its side has no window breakage; the car that smashes into the bus has a crack in the driver's side windshield; at least two other cars get their windows blown out before ramming into the wrecked cars ahead of them.
Factual error: Women didn't start routinely shaving their legs until the 1920s, but in films and TVs shows set before then, women's legs are always hair free.
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