Plot hole: When the doctors are discussing the condition of Bowman's mother, a newspaper headline on the wall displays the pictures of both Bowman and Frank Poole. These pictures are actually still shots of the two actors from an earlier conversation they had with HAL in the previous film. Since Discovery has been dormant for nine years, how did Earth manage to use these particular shots for the newspaper?
2010 (1984)
1 plot hole - chronological order
Directed by: Peter Hyams
Starring: Helen Mirren, John Lithgow, Roy Scheider, Bob Balaban
Factual error: While the Leonov has a centrifugal section to simulate gravity, the ship's bridge is not part of it (evidenced by the stationary views outside its portholes). Yet in various scenes, including the one when Floyd rushes in to discuss his plan to return to Earth sooner with Tanya, gravity seems quite evident. Floyd marches across the compartment onto the raised pilot area's floor, then steps down from it, his foot landing audibly. Tanya's open jacket also hangs down normally as she moves about. Yet when Floyd demonstrates his plan using two pens, they float in mid air. (01:26:50)
HAL-9000: Dr. Chandra, will I dream?
Dr. Chandra: I don't know.
Trivia: While it's well-known the voice of HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey" is Canadian actor Douglas Rain, who returned to reprise his role in this film, it's less known that the voice of SAL is credited to "Olga Mallsnerd" which is a false name used by none other than Candice Bergen. (00:14:05)
Question: One thing that always confused me is why was it necessary to jettison Discovery after it was used as a booster rocket? Why couldn't they just keep it attached to the Leonov as they made their escape?
Answer: They needed to lighten their load, to make it go faster. In Back to the Future Part III, after hijacking the train, the Doc and Marty unhooked the passenger cars to lighten the load.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: If they didn't, any further manoeuvring would require much more fuel. They would be moving the mass of two ships.