Blue Thunder
Blue Thunder mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Roy Scheider's partner is killed, he is run over by a car. After the car runs him over, his body rolls and you can see his arms swinging freely even though his hands were bound by the plastic ties. Later when you see his body, his hands are bound again. (01:10:30)

Blue Thunder mistake picture

Deliberate mistake: When Cochran sabotages the Jet Ranger helicopter by loosening the nut on the bolt securing the linear actuator governor, the bolt is inserted in the wrong direction. The bolt should have been heads up to prevent it from falling out as it did causing the helicopter to crash. Moreover, the linear actuator is on the opposite of the engine from where Cochran disconnected it. (00:38:05)

William Bergquist

Blue Thunder mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the climactic chase scene, when Murphy is shot through the window, he is shot in his right arm and there is a hole in the window with blood on it. When he does a 360 degree loop in the helicopter the broken window and blood appears on his left sideĀ—the opposite window to that which he was shot through. (01:42:20)

Blue Thunder mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When the van gets flipped over outside the BBQ chicken place, you can see the cannon that flips the van over. (01:32:20)

Plot hole: Apart from the impressive pyrotechnics, what is the point of destroying the Blue Thunder helicopter? By far the most expensive, time consuming and technically complex part of producing any aircraft is the design and development phase - once the prototype is in the air production is relatively straightforward. The bad guys can make new Blue Thunders any time they like, and Murphy has destroyed the only evidence he has that there was a criminal conspiracy behind the whole programme - the 'videotape' he has of blurry, false coloured characters will convince nobody. Without the helicopter to back him up that tape is of no value to him.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The Blue Thunder is caught on camera by a TV helicopter during the aquaduct chase which is evidence it existed.

A helicopter is filmed on CCTV, yes, which gives no detail at all to its use, where it came from, or anything about the conspiracy behind it. The helicopter is proof of the sinister plot and Murphy just destroyed it.

Suggested correction: What you are forgetting is Murphy is already a criminal with or without the helicopter. He stole blue thunder, destroyed two police helicopters, a jet and a police car, endangered civilians lives and finally killed Cochrane. Even if he could prove the conspiracy, there was no way he was avoiding jail. When he walks off at the end, he knows the future is bleak for him.

Gavin Jackson

In no way does that correct the posting. Murphy would have an open-and-shut defence against all "criminal" charges if he could show he was acting against a much larger criminal conspiracy, which he now cannot do. Not only has he scuppered his own chances of defending himself he has handed the real criminals a Get Out Of Jail Free card. The posting is absolutely correct.

More mistakes in Blue Thunder

Frank Murphy: Catch ya later.

More quotes from Blue Thunder

Trivia: The registration number N77GH is visible on a gold placard on right surveillance camera' but only civilian aircraft are given November numbers. Military helicopters only have a series of numbers like on the tail. You aren't supposed to notice Blue Thunder's real "N" number, but it is there throughout the movie making it known it was truly a civilian helicopter.

More trivia for Blue Thunder

Question: Just a question and an observation: When does Lymangood find out what JAFO means? He didn't know when he got into Blue Thunder for the first (and last) time: "When are you going to tell me what JAFO means?" 1. They find out about the evil plot. 2. Lymangood gets the tape after they land. 3. He leaves a recording for Frank inside Blue Thunder using "Big Brother", the cabin recorder. 4. He drops the tape off at a drive-in movie dumpster. 5. He calls and leave a voice-mail for Murphy. 6. He goes home and is attacked. So when was he told what JAFO means? Also, someone had a sense of humor about naming the Special helicopter. It was to be used in project THOR (Tactical Helicopter Offensive Response, the "proposed use of military helicopters to quell disorder"). Thor is the god of thunder in Norse mythology. Did they name the helicopter Blue "Thunder" because it was going to be used in Project THOR? It would have been nice to connect the two references in the movie.

Excelsior

Chosen answer: There was plenty of time from Lymangood asks what Jafo means to when he gets killed. For all we know it could have been weeks. It was only a simply question really. As for any connection between blue thunder and Thor, it could have been an in-joke, but only the filmmakers really know.

Gavin Jackson

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