The Truman Show

The Truman Show (1998)

24 corrected entries

(9 votes)

Corrected entry: Given that there is a clear difference with "hidden cameras" showing a ring around the outside of the screen, there are a number of shots that would not have been possible given the angles and location where the camera moves around the actors. The best example is when Truman freaks out on his "wife" and they move into the living room and you see a camera following them around the room when it's only the two of them.

Correction: The movie is not made from the point of view of all the hidden cameras. If it were, we would never see the people in the bar, the people at home reacting, the "director" making decisions etc... The various "hidden camera" shots are only inserted into the film to show that he is truly being watched everywhere. The film itself is filmed normally, because it's *about* a show that watches Truman 24/7, not the show itself.

Gary O'Reilly

Corrected entry: Truman is so scared of water that he cannot even drive over a bridge without having a paralysing panic attack. But he and his friend have their long, deep and meaningful talk while sitting on the edge of an unfinished bridge - directly above the visible (and audible) water course over which the bridge is being built.

Correction: Like any mistake that relies on what a person could or couldn't do is generally more opinionated rather than fact. While Truman was afraid of water we don't know to what extent. When he had his panic attacks before driving over the bridge and catching the boat he knew he was going to have to go over water. This is different from sitting near water and having no intention of going over it or going near it. We also see from other instances that he had no trouble being near to water, such as his trips to the beach.

Lummie

Corrected entry: When Truman and his best friend are driving golf balls from uncompleted bridge, his friend hits a golf ball. After the ball is hit, the camera returns to friend as he has completed his shot, but the golf ball he just hit is still on the tee. (00:10:05)

Correction: Incorrect. After Marlon hits the ball, the camera angle changes to an overhead shot. We can see the tee as a white spot on the grass; I think the poster is confusing the tee with the ball.

DavidRTurner

Corrected entry: When Truman sees his father for the first time in the street, he has just bought a newspaper and magazine. When he runs after his father he throws the magazine and paper up and runs, yet when he stops because the bus has driven off he is holding the paper and magazine under his arm. (00:15:20)

Correction: Actually Truman doesn't drop the newspaper and magazine - he only drops a couple of pages from the newspaper. He is still holding the paper and the magazine before he tries to get on the bus. You can see that he is still holding them after he crashes into the man in the checked shirt and beige pants and the man on the bike.

Corrected entry: Regarding the staircase that Truman ascends to freedom - how did it get there without Truman, or the viewers, having noticed it before? It is within walking distance of where he was just sailing. Shouldn't it have been in view before?

Correction: He sailed for a very long time to get there. No, it would not have ever been visible.

Phixius

Corrected entry: Given the nature of Truman's "world," many instances of "crew or equipment visible" may not be movie mistakes and may be Cristoph's mistake.

Shadow5

Correction: Far too obvious to be considered trivia. In fact these "mistakes" are a plot point in the film.

Corrected entry: Director Peter Weir filmed in the 1.66:1 ratio to make it feel more like a television show.

Correction: I bought the 2006 collectors edition special and at the back it says he filmed in a 1:78:1 aspect ratio, it may be different for other versions but it says this on mine.

Shadow5

Corrected entry: The shots of Truman's early life show him as a fetus on day 1, and then toddling on a beach on day 125. Even if day 1 had been the day of his birth, which, going by the development of the fetus, it isn't, he would only have been about 4 months old in the latter shot. Babies generally don't start walking until around the age of 8 to 12 months.

Correction: There are no captions on the mentioned scenes, and no such captions reading Day 1 or Day 125 exist in the film.

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: When they resume transmission after Truman is found on the sea, they cut to a shot of the man sitting in the bathtub. He sits up and appears to turn a knob on the edge of the tub. There is nothing there.

Correction: Looking at the scene, I don't see anything wrong. While it's strange, it is in no way a mistake.

Lummie

Corrected entry: Seahaven is supposed to be set right behind the Hollywood sign in Hollywood, California. Yet when the camera zooms out away from the dome it shows a shot of the South-East Los Angeles region - about 20 miles from Hollywood.

Correction: Seahaven is also HUGE. Remember, it's a fully-functioning community. When you consider the man-made ocean, it could easily be that large.

Corrected entry: When Truman is looking in his rear vision mirror he can predict that the woman on the bike, the man with flowers and the Volkswagen Beetle will all come by, in that order. However, the Beetle can go a lot faster than the man with flowers, and if they were all going around on a loop, the Beetle would pass by a few times before the man with flowers came by again.

Blibbetyblip

Correction: And he's taken all that into account, merely noting that the VW comes past, say, 5 times before the cyclist does one loop. Or, the director of The Truman Show has decided that should always be the order, so the VW waits around the corner until his cue.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Corrected entry: Christophe has complete control of the weather in Truman's world - he even uses a storm to try to stop Truman sailing to the edge of the set. Truman is in an un-powered sailboat. It goes where the wind blows it, nowhere else. Why didn't Christophe simply have the wind blow him back to shore?

Correction: Character mistake, not movie mistake. In addition, sail boats sail in any direction. Using your logic, every sail boat always goes out to sea never to return.

William Bergquist

Corrected entry: When Truman goes postal and drives through the fire across the road, the car is filled with smoke yet they can say their lines flawlessly. That kind of an irritant would've sent them both into a coughing fit.

Correction: Since the whole fire scene was staged to keep Truman from going beyond it, they most likely used a substance that would be safe for Truman and the "actors".

They use soybean oil, which looks like thick smoke but can breathed in easily without any effect. We use it for search and rescue training as firefighters.

stiiggy

Corrected entry: In the scene with Lauren/Sylvia on the beach, Truman is already wearing his wedding ring. (00:26:10)

Correction: He could be wearing a ring for any number of reasons.

William Bergquist

Corrected entry: When Christof touches the huge screen with the image of Truman sleeping, his hand casts a shadow. However, the only light source in the control room is the screen itself. This reveals that the scene was composited using a blue screen.

rabid anarchist

Correction: The screen is not the only light source in the room. There is actually plenty of light in the room. You can even see a bit of light reflecting off Christof's head. In the wide shot of the control room you can see the light for the musician and light illuminating the walls.

Lummie

Corrected entry: When Truman is in his office for the first time, calling Fiji directory assistance, there is a "magic eight ball" on his desk. If you look closely into it you can see a reflection/shadow of a cameraman.

Correction: I've looked through this scene and zoomed in on the magic eight ball and I cannot see any reflection/shadow of a cameraman.

Lummie

Corrected entry: In the movie there is an aerial shot of what the fake town looks like, it is completely covered by a dome like structure and apparently can be seen from space, however soon after we see that a man tried to sabotage the show by parachuting into the town. There is no possible way he could have done this.

Correction: Of course there is. Inside the dome there are, as we can see, loads of mechanical devices to simulate things like weather change, light change, the sun rising and setting, etc. This equipment must be possible to access by maintenance crews, and the parachutist simply used one of their access ladders/elevators to the top, climbed to the inside of the dome and jumped.

Twotall

Corrected entry: In the scene where Truman is talking to his best friend, and his friend is filling the vending machine, he fills up two of the spaces with yellow candy bars, then it cuts away for a bit. When it cuts back to the same shot as before, there are no yellow candy bars. It cuts away again and when it comes back again, there are more than two yellow candy bars in the vending machine.

Correction: That's because he was taking them out and putting them back in. You can actually see him reaching back for the yellow bars. He's doing this to make himself look busy as long as he can, while Truman is there with him.

Corrected entry: Throughout the entire movie you can see little cameras watching Jim Carry, but you have to look for them. There is one on the side of the neighbor's garbage can.

Correction: Is this really trivia? It is blatantly in the film, that is why the neighbour is carrying his garbage can so awkwardly, you even see a POV shot through that camera at Truman.

Corrected entry: Truman's car has no headrests. This is so the camera can get good shots of his and Meryl's faces and reactions, but he would be unlikely to drive without them.

Correction: Why would he be unlikely to drive without them? Would the producers of the fake TV shows that Truman watches ever mention that aspect of car safety? Would the fake teachers at Truman's school ever mention that aspect of car safety if it was specifically so that they could get better shots of Truman et al?

Factual error: When the bus breaks down, steam is shown coming out of the front of the bus. GMC buses have the engine and radiator in the rear.

More mistakes in The Truman Show

Truman Burbank: Good morning! And in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!

More quotes from The Truman Show
More trivia for The Truman Show

Question: If Christof didn't want Truman to escape on his boat, rather than trying to kill him with huge waves, why didn't he just leave the water completely flat? With no wind Truman would not be able to reach the edge and leave, but he still would've lived.

Answer: He'd been hoping the waves would discourage Truman and make him turn back. It's a lot easier to agitate water than it is to calm it, so by the time he saw it wasn't working, even if he's thought of that, it would have been too late.

Captain Defenestrator

More questions & answers from The Truman Show

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