The Italian Job

The Italian Job (2003)

69 mistakes - chronological order

(5 votes)

Other mistake: The Minis drive through a storm drain and a huge puddle. However, the cars never leave so much as a mark on the dry surface of the road.

Ssiscool

Continuity mistake: After the heist, the blue Mini is seen to have a dent in the rear wing. Throughout the chase, up to when the helicopter hits the blue Mini, the dent changes size constantly.

Ssiscool

Other mistake: Just as the minis are finishing loading up the gold from the truck, there is a shot of at least 40 gold bars still left in the truck (3 rows of 13 bricks and at least 1 single brick on top. We are given the numbers by Charlie as he relays it to Lyle to work out the value). Then 10 seconds later, we are shown the minis leaving, having got all the bricks, packed up and started the engines. There is no way they could move 40 bricks and pack up in less than 10 seconds.

Ssiscool

Revealing mistake: At the golf course, tyre marks can be seen from previous takes. They are not from golf buggies as they are the exact width of the tyres and the same distance apart.

Ssiscool

Continuity mistake: When Charlie and Stella are talking in Stella's hotel room in Hollywood, a strand of her hair goes from over her head to hanging beside her face as the shot cuts to behind her. When it cuts to her face, the strand is over her head again, though she didn't touch her hair.

Factual error: During the escape at the end of the movie, when the Minis come out of the pipe and drop down into the basin of the LA River they fall nose first into the pavement. However, with approximately 9 million dollars worth of gold in the trunks of the cars, they would be back heavy, not front heavy, and fall more evenly or even back first. It's been suggested that Wrench could have put a ton of weight up front to balance the cars properly, but the amount of gold carried in those special boxes loaded into the back end of the very short wheelbase Minis could not be balanced even by the legendary Wrench without severely re-engineering the vehicle. If that was possible, the handling of the unladen Mini would be woeful, and the chase scene BEFORE the subway gold heist would be impossible. The Minis would have fallen like bricks nose-first onto the subway track when jumping from the platform.

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Suggested correction: I have spoken with an expert in vehicle dynamics and physics, and he said that the falling of the vehicles is absolutely correct. He has seen the movie and finds nothing wrong with the scene. The front of the car starts falling first, and therefore will land first. The cars would have to fall a much greater distance for the weight to take over and cause the back of the car to drop and hit first - it would have to have fallen perhaps as much as 25-30 feet. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but in reality it was real as presented.

Sorry, your expert must have been a friend of the stunt coordinator. It was the worst car stunt mistake of all time and why they never balanced the cars and reshot the scene is anybody's guess.

Of course the front end starts to fall first, that's the point of the mistake, it should be backend heavy. If you watch the scene, it's clear there's a ramp at the end of the tube (whether intentionally done by the characters or for stunt purposes). When the cars hit the ramp, they fly up so that the front end is up in the air above the back end. Then the cars fall front end first, fairly quickly, that if even if they fell from higher up, the back end would never fall faster than the front.

Bishop73

Other mistake: When Charlize Theron is in her hotel room, Mark Wahlberg knocks on the door and walks right in without either waiting for her to open the door and without a key (or lockpick) apparent in his hand. Most, if not all hotel room doors lock automatically and cannot be left unlocked. Even the best lockpicker would take a few seconds to get it open.

Left Ear: We're in Italy. Speak English.

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The Italian Job trivia picture

Trivia: After the truck with the gold in it, drops from the street and people scatter and scream, there is a man dressed as Spider-Man on the street. (01:25:35)

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Question: During the Venice boat chase at the beginning of the film, a large number of vessels are flying a flag which looks more like the flag of Mexico than that of Italy. Or are they perhaps flying the 'Kingdom of Italy' flag which looks similar from a distance to the Mexican National Flag? Can anyone help?

Answer: They are flying the Italian Civil Ensign, which is used by civilians on water. The emblem in the center of the Italian flag when used on water are the Arms Of Savoy, the former royal Family of Italy.

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