Character mistake: When they first receive the alien signal, they decode it and play it as a TV signal which shows Hitler speaking at the opening of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Kent translates what Hitler is saying as "I declare the Games in Berlin, at the celebration of the first Olympics of the New Era, as opened." Hitler actually says "the *eleventh* Olympics of the New Era." The "New Era" doesn't refer to some Nazi concept, it's used to separate the modern Olympics from the ancient ones in Greece.
Contact (1997)
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Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, John Hurt, Jodie Foster, Tom Skerritt, David Morse, Jena Malone, Geoffrey Blake
Factual error: When Mr. Hadden reviews Ellie's life history on his airplane, he says she graduated from MIT 'magna cum laude'. This is impossible, as MIT does not award academic honors to graduates.
Palmer Joss: What are you studying up there?
Ellie Arroway: Oh, the usual. Nebulae, quasars, pulsars, stuff like that. What are you writing?
Palmer Joss: The usual. Nouns, adverbs, adjective here and there.
More trivia for Contact
Question: How did they film the scenes where real historical figures (President Clinton, for instance) made speeches and comments they didn't make in real life?
Answer: They used real footage and used careful editing to make it appear as if they were talking about the events of the film.
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