The Jackal
The Jackal mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Declan gets a good shot off on the Jackal's leg that hits through the concrete wall. However when it cuts to the next shot the Jackal is holding a different part of his leg than where he was shot, and the hole in his pants and blood are gone. (01:49:45)

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The Jackal mistake picture

Continuity mistake: After The Jackal shoots Koslova, he places a pillow under her head to prop it up. Once at rest, her face is clear of any hair. It then cuts to the Jackal as he tells her about her blood being black and she has 20 minutes to live, then back to her. And now she has some strands of hair down over her left eye. (01:25:40)

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Continuity mistake: As the helicopter is coming down for Declan and Preston, in the wide shot Declan is standing outside the car leaning against the door facing forward. But as the chopper draws near, he turns his body around and looks at it. It then cuts to a close up of him and suddenly he's facing forward again. (01:20:30)

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The Jackal mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Declan is holding Koslova as she dies, her hand is on the side of his face. As she takes her last breath, you see her index and middle finger next to his ear, while her ring finger and pinkie are bent in and touching his neck. It then cuts to a shot of Declan's face as he reacts to her death, and suddenly her hand is flat on his cheek with all fingers on it, just before it drops as the life leaves her. (01:28:10)

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The Jackal mistake picture

Continuity mistake: The Jackal kills Witherspoon, who stumbles back against the stairwell wall and is in a sitting position. He's seen behind Koslova as she's kneeling behind the couch trying to shoot the Jackal back. Witherspoon's body is then shown again after the Jackal shoots Koslova and is approaching her as she tries to crawl away. Witherspoon's body changes positions in several ways. Most notably, his head is now sitting more straight up and closer to the doorknob. His legs are bent up more with his feet now almost touching the table leg. And also the rug he is on is bunched up more, having only 1 large bump before, but now having two. (01:24:50 - 01:25:20)

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The Jackal mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At Isabella's house, Koslova is walking with her into the kitchen as the FBI is placing her in protection. As they are walking, Koslova has nothing in her mouth and as the camera pans around, she starts to lift her right arm up to her face with her cigarette in her right hand. The camera cuts to a frontal view of her, and suddenly she has a cigarette in her mouth and is now taking it out with her left hand. (01:18:45)

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Continuity mistake: After the mole in the FBI room is discovered and escorted out, Preston shuts the door and steps back into the room. In this shot you see two of the FBI sitting on a couch next to the door. The one on the left has his left arm relaxed beside him and the one on the right is looking straight forward. It then cuts to a close up of them before the guy on the left speaks, and now his arm is ridged with his fist balled on the couch, and the guy on the right is now suddenly looking to the right. (01:17:10)

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The Jackal mistake picture

Continuity mistake: The Jackal tells Lemont to run, and as he turns his head to give the Jackal a questioning look, his hair becomes noticeably more sweaty between shots. As well as a strand of hair is now raked over his forehead whereas before it was clear. (00:58:35)

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Continuity mistake: As the FBI is meeting about the Jackal and Declan is there with them, between the initial shot of the group and then the close up of him scooting closer to Koslova, the background extras change and are in different positions between shots. Most notably the man with a green folder under his arm suddenly walking by. (00:39:05)

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Continuity mistake: When Isabella is telling Koslova about the Jackal, the wide shot shows Koslova looking at Isabella with her hand on her face as she's thinking, contemplating the information. But then it cuts to a close up and suddenly her hand is lowered, and she is looking down writing notes. (00:34:35)

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Continuity mistake: After Witherspoon suggests to Preston that they could use Isabella as insurance if Declan decides to try and escape, Preston walks beside him saying that her involvement is to remain classified, and nothing in the report. Between shots as he is saying this, Witerspoon's head goes from looking straight ahead to suddenly looking down at his clipboard. His hand also goes from stationary to suddenly writing. (00:34:15)

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The Jackal mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the agents make their move on Politovsky, they fire a rubber ball at his chest to knock him down and stun him. As he hits the ground, his brown bag falls from his hand and slides a few inches away from him. You can see the straps and latches of the cover sticking up in the air from the side of the bag facing up, indicating the bag is facing upwards. When the two men go over to him to grab Politovsky and throw him into the van, you can see the bag is a little closer to him now, and lying face down. (00:14:10)

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Continuity mistake: After the Major shoots Ghazzi, a wide show shows Preston bent over as he's trying to get up. He's got his right knee forward with his right hand on his knee. It then cuts to a closer shot of him, and suddenly his left knee is now forward and he's picking his hand up off the floor. Also, the soldier behind his extended left arm suddenly vanishes. (00:07:30)

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Continuity mistake: After Ghazzi is embraced and greeted at the door, Valentina is watching from a side alleyway. She glances over at the red van where the FBI agents are watching and you see Witherspoon in the passenger seat. It then cuts to a close up and suddenly Witherspoon has his arm up with his hand in front of his face in a thinking pose. (00:04:30)

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Continuity mistake: When Ghazzi's car pulls up to the steps of the club in Moscow, you can see the bald bouncer at the door with nobody directly in front of him. The the camera cuts to the door with the bald bouncer there and suddenly the guy smoking a cigarette who greets Ghazzi with a hug just appears. (00:04:05)

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The Jackal mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the opening scene as Ghazzi's car is about to pull up to the club, they round a corner at an intersection where the camera cuts to a different angle. There is a white van to the right of Ghazzi's car as they turn with nothing behind it, but in the next shot there is suddenly a smaller white vehicle of some sorts visible behind the van. Additionally, a third car appears on the left side, as a red vehicle next to the crowd of people at the club's steps. Thirdly, though it is very difficult to tell due to the shadows of the buildings, it might be that the three people walking past the red car suddenly appear between shots as well. (00:04:00)

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Factual error: Just before Declan and the Jackal start shooting at each other in the subway tunnel, one of the trains starts coming from the opposite direction and begins passing Declan. This train continues to pass him at full speed for a full 35-40 seconds while they shoot it out. Subway trains are not nearly long enough for that. Also, during this time another train comes from behind him and he has to get between them and hold onto the light for a few seconds while they pass. But the second train then passes first while the first one passes fully about 2 seconds after the second one came... and it got there first, by about 15-20 seconds. Subway lines are about the same length as each other as well. But the first one was way longer and way wrong. (01:49:30 - 01:50:05)

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More mistakes in The Jackal
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Declan Mulqueen: Preston, what about letting me have a gun?
Preston: Are you crazy? If the right people knew I was letting you walk around without cuffs, I'd have forced retirement.
(01:08:45)

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More quotes from The Jackal

Trivia: Just a few months before his death at age 91, Fred Zinnermann, who directed the original The Day of the Jackal (1973), on which this movie is based, actually fought Universal Studios to change the name of the film. Saying that the original had stood the test of time and he did not want the remake to bear the same name. (00:01:25)

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More trivia for The Jackal

Question: Why did the Jackal tell Koslova how she is going to die?

Answer: He's sadistic, and it's a way to torment her during her final moments.

raywest

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