War of the Worlds

Continuity mistake: After the ferry disaster, the trio swim to shore and climb up the bank. In the side shot Ray holds Rachel's left arm and Robbie holds her right arm. However, in the next back shot Ray holds Rachel's right arm, and Robbie holds her left. (01:05:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Mary Ann is speaking in the kids' bedroom, her body is facing Robbie, and when she says, "It would be nice if he were doneĀ…" in the close-up of Ray her entire body is turned the opposite way, facing the TV, but in the next shot she's turned toward Robbie again. Additionally, the amount of blue sweater visible under her grey coat changes in consecutive shots, during her visit. (00:07:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Ray steals the van the front windshield is dirty and has water spots all over. Then in the following shots, it alternates between being entirely clean, or clean only in the area that wipers swipe clean. (00:30:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In the end of the movie before his son runs to him Tom Cruise is standing in the sunlight. In the next shot there is no direct sunlight. (01:48:00)

????

Continuity mistake: When Ray runs across the street shouting, "Manny! Manny!" a guy with a hat and plaid jacket passes by, as the shot ends. At the start of the next shot, the same guy is now near Manny's garage door and air hose. (00:18:55)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: After their long drive into the country, Robby and Ray begin arguing at the side of the road. In one shot as Robbie waves his arms, Robbie's blue boxers and pants are on so only the boxer's red waistband is seen. In the next shot, as Robbie still waves his arms, both the pants and boxers are pulled higher up, so now only a bit of the blue boxers are seen. (00:49:20)

Continuity mistake: When Ray is taking the van he's having a heated exchange with Manny, and Robbie's window is closed. However, just as Ray anxiously speeds away Robbie's window is wide open, for the dramatic close-up on Robbie's side view mirror, showing Manny's vaporizing demise, and when Robbie ducks his window is closed again. (00:31:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When they leave Mary Ann's house in the minivan, Ray has Rachel in his arms, and the pink cord on Rachel's sweater disappears between shots. It's hanging on her arm, under Ray's chin, the first time he tells his son to get in the van, but it's not there the second time, and it's back on the third. (00:46:00)

Continuity mistake: In the van, when Ray says to Manny "Get in, or you're gonna die," the next shot shows Rachel's face with tears in her eyes saying "What do you mean?" with a very distressed look. In next shot from the left side of the van, you can see Rachel on the right side of the screen with a different expression on her face, looking more calm, yet, in the next shot the look on her face is distressed with the look of crying again. (00:31:00)

War of the Worlds mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the tripod tosses the pickup truck, with Ray in it, it lands upside down and the windshield shatters. The size, shape, and characteristics of the hole and breakage greatly differ between shots. (01:36:25)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Ray finally arrives at his ex in-laws' house, in the shot from behind Mary Ann, Ray passes the two cars on his right and is near the corner, but a few shots later, when Ray puts Rachel down, he is standing beside the first car, back up the street. (01:46:55)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: After Ray walks out of Mary Ann's destroyed house, he sees Max on the airplane wreckage. In the first shot Max's body faces out, towards Ray, as he drags the food locker, but in the next overhead shot Max's body faces the seats. His position and things on the plane also differ. (00:42:40)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Ray places the box of groceries down on the island counter in Mary Ann's kitchen. In the following shots the box (and goods inside), ceramic pitcher with utensils, tray of napkins, peanut butter, bread and bag, repeatedly, and very noticeably, change positions. (00:35:50)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: As the tripod is attempting to have Ray sucked up, the soldier begins pulling Ray's arm down, trying to free him while he himself is being raised in the air. In the following shots, Ray's rescue is shown from three different angles, and each angle is distinctly different from the others. (01:40:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: After Ray finds out that Robbie took the car, he runs into the street. In the first shot he stops at least 6-8 ft away from the solid double street lines to turn, yet in the next shot he's standing right on the double lines. (00:13:25)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Just before the first alien tripod breaks free from the ground and cracks are appearing in the street, the front of the church cracks, and rocks away from its second half. In that shot, in the view from behind Ray, he places his right foot on the curb, while his left foot is on the road. In the next shot facing Ray, both his feet are on the curb.

Continuity mistake: When Ogilvy shouts Ray's name half a dozen times, Ray runs to him to quiet him down. The broken cellar window behind Ogilvy has shards of glass and red roots growing on it. Then in the next exterior shot, the shards of bloody glass are different size and shape, and the roots differ as well. (01:29:35)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: On the ferry, Rachel wears the purple/pink camouflage hoodie over her orange knit sweater with the colorful stripe sleeves, as usual. Now this is where things become strange. In the first shot as the trio come ashore, she is only wearing her orange sweater, she is not wearing the purple/pink hoodie - note the clear lack of fur hood. In the very next shot as they climb a bit more and then rest, Rachel is wearing the purple/pink hoodie - note the hood, but now it's on under her orange sweater. In the underwater shots she is also wearing it under the orange sweater. (This odd mistake has absolutely nothing to do with the very long wool cloak that Rachel wears in the next scene). (01:02:20 - 01:04:40)

Super Grover

More mistakes in War of the Worlds

Ray: Can you think of a plan that doesn't involve your 10-year-old sister joining the army?

More quotes from War of the Worlds

Trivia: In an early scene in which Rachel is watching television, she's channel surfing. At one point, she hits briefly upon a shot of a car being demolished by a speeding locomotive. This is, in fact, a scene from "The Greatest Show on Earth," which Steven Spielberg has reported as the first movie he ever saw at a movie theater.

More trivia for War of the Worlds

Question: Several other answers and corrections state that the reddish liquid sprayed by the tripods was what essentially grew the red vines. However I thought I heard someone in the film say something along the lines of "using us (i.e. blood) as fertiliser". Can someone please clarify?

Answer: Since the tripods tended to spray the red fluid shortly after pulling a human into themselves, it seems a good assumption that the red fluid is essentially blood. Given this, it seems likely that the "spore" of the vines is spread in the red fluid.

scwilliam

More questions & answers from War of the Worlds

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