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.
Common movie and TV mistakes since 27 Apr '20, 22:43 - 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.
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.
Factual error: Films depicting criminal trials in American courtrooms frequently show the defendant receiving their sentence right after their guilty verdict is rendered. In real life, people found guilty will have a separate hearing to receive their sentence several weeks later.
Factual error: Every time somebody pulls out a Glock handgun a click can be heard. Glocks are striker fired, they have no external safeties that can be manipulated. Glock did make a version with a flip up/down safety for the military procurement trials but Glock lost the bid, and commercially made Glock's have no external safeties which would make a clicking sound.
Revealing mistake: In many in-car scenes, the background shown outside the windows either doesn't change or is the same scene used over and over.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: I don't think I've ever seen this outside of animation. It certainly isn't a common error. Can you cite some specific examples?
What is more common in driving scenes, especially in crowded cities, is drivers never having to stop for street lights or make turns. They continue driving through the city in a straight line as the characters talk.
Factual error: Military uniforms are often wrong. When it comes to ribbons, medals, rank, or branch; very few TV shows/movies have no uniform mistakes. Hiring a military advisor from the branch in question would alleviate all of these issues. And no, it's not illegal for Hollywood to portray uniforms correctly.
Audio problem: When someone is holding a gun, you often hear the sound of a hammer being pulled to the rear and locked even when the gun (usually a Glock) doesn't have a hammer to pull.
Character mistake: When kids/teenagers have something urgent or important to tell adults (especially parents), the adults say "uh-huh" but aren't really listening OR do not believe the kids even though they are telling the truth. Adults might view the alleged event as a joke ("The Chumscrubber"), too far-fetched ("Eight-Legged Freaks" and "Dog Gone"), an emotional reaction ("Good Boys"), or due to an overactive imagination, often attributed to watching scary movies ("Home Alone III" and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid").
Plot hole: Despite there being hundreds of witnesses, a villain who assaults someone or commits some other crime are not arrested or sued and are free to just walk away and live their daily lives as if nothing ever happened.
Audio problem: A real-life band will be giving a live performance, but the audio is of the studio recording, such as Rammstein performing "Feuer Frei!" in xXx or Alice Cooper performing "Feed My Frankenstein" in Wayne's World.
Factual error: Many early mystery movies do not consider fingerprint evidence, even though such evidence has been accepted in US courts since 1911 and in the UK since 1858.
Factual error: It's a common thing in shows dealing in law enforcement to see a cop kicking open a suspect's door in one try. Doors aren't that easy to break open in real life. This is why cops in the real world use battering rams or a sledgehammer for this purpose. Even a door that is hollow could lead to the cop kicking his foot straight through instead of forcing the door open, and a door with a solid frame is more likely to lead to the cop sustaining an injury.
Factual error: Chloroform doesn't render people unconscious almost immediately, it takes a few minutes.
Character mistake: A lawyer in an American court will object to part of a witness' testimony and when the judge sustains it, the lawyer does not move for the objectionable testimony to be stricken from the record. In real life, if a judge sustains a lawyer's objection to a testimony, the lawyer will request the testimony be stricken from the record, otherwise it will be fair game for the opposing counsel to refer back to that testimony later in the trial.
Character mistake: Gunmen who follow moving targets with gunfire instead of leading them.
Other mistake: The "latest hit video game" in film and TV productions will often seem very old fashioned, with outdated features like numbered levels, high scores, extra lives, etc.; indicating that some writers have not kept up with video game trends since the early 1990's.
Factual error: Many times in movies, we can see the hero running into a burning building or approaching a burning vehicle to save someone, then escape from the flames with only a few black coal spots on his face. In reality, the extreme heat would make it impossible for an unprotected person to get THAT close to fiercely burning fire. Even if he can overcome his natural instinct, the pain from hot air would be unbearable (it's nearly as excruciating as direct burning) and leave him with severe injuries.
Factual error: In movies including fighter jet battle scenes, the pilot bailing out from a terminally damaged plane can walk away immediately after touching ground. In reality, emergency ejection is very stressful to the human body, even if trained. The least you can expect is back pain, dizziness, ringing ears and numb legs for days, but the pilot can even fall unconscious from the sudden shock while descending. EE is much more unpleasant and less heroic than usually depicted in films.
Other mistake: In racing scenes, the protagonist usually has unfortunate disadvantages through the race (issues at the start, unplanned pit stops due to technical problems, etc...) and falls back drastically. Still, after having a sentimental flashback or hearing his girlfriend over the radio, the camera shows him changing into the top gear, pushing the throttle all the way down (the heck was he doing so far then?), and he catches the pack in a matter of seconds then overtakes all opponents with ease.
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