Apollo 13

Apollo 13 (1995)

12 mistakes since 16 Jun '17, 00:00

(12 votes)

Apollo 13 mistake picture

Factual error: During the launch sequence, a car that appears to be from the 1990's is parked in the background. (00:30:15)

RymoMymo

Apollo 13 mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: Right after the explosion, Lovell tells Houston that they've got multiple cautions and warnings, and they've got to restart, then Swigert says, "I'm going to SCS," and he flips the switch. In the next wideshot of the trio, we can see the arm and fingers of a hidden crew member wearing a short sleeve blue shirt, who's holding up a hose at the bottom right corner of the screen. This is only visible in the fullscreen version. (00:51:20)

Super Grover

Factual error: In the movie, Henry tells a White House rep that Blackout lasts for 3 minutes, and if they are not back in 4, then they'll know they didn't survive. This is actually not correct. During the Apollo program, blackout typically lasted about 4 minutes. Also, Apollo 13's re-entry blackout in fact lasted 6 minutes, not 4 as seen in the movie, which was 87 seconds longer than predicted.

Factual error: When astronauts are wearing their spacesuits before launch, we can see NASA's "snake logo" introduced in 1975, when the plot is happening in 1970. (00:28:29)

Continuity mistake: When Lovell is writing the gimbal conversions, as Haise says the computer is up, Lovell is clutching the left side of the paperwork and writing with his right hand. In the next frame with the camera closely showing the conversions, Lovell's left hand is now holding the paperwork at the bottom (the left side of the paperwork is now clear of his left hand). (01:01:00)

Continuity mistake: When Capcon 1 and John Young are watching Haise start to play the background music they are standing near their fairly clean desks in Mission Control. About 20 seconds later, after the Haise children laugh and Lovell says there seems to have been a last-minute change in the programme, the camera shows Capcon 1 and Young now seated eating dinner. Considering the amount of junk food now laid over their area and Capcon 1 half-way through eating his burger they appear to have been eating for at least several minutes, not 20 seconds. (00:46:00)

Zim

Character mistake: When Marilyn asks Henry "Do they know they're not on the air?" her finger is pointing just below her face. In the next frame with the camera now facing the pair, her hand is down at her lap. (00:47:00)

Zim

Continuity mistake: When Blanche is waiting for her son's broadcast to appear on TV she is seated beside two women. When she is told "this is all the channels we get" the middle woman moves her left hand to her face. In the next frame with the camera angle in front of the viewers the middle woman's left hand is at her lap. (00:46:00)

Zim

Continuity mistake: The direction of the spacecraft keeps changing. After the extraction of the LM (Lunar Module), the craft is travelling with the CSM (Command/Service Module) engine bell facing forward. After the explosion, it is shown with the LM facing forward. Going around the moon, and back to earth, the CSM is again facing forward.

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

Suggested correction: The orientation of the spacecraft was not constant. There is no reason why it should be (and, indeed, good reason why it won't). Apollo 13 did indeed have the LM leading at some points and the CSM leading at others.

Peter Harrison

Factual error: On July 20, 1969, the moon phase was waxing crescent. In the movie, on the eve of the moon landing, the moon is shown in waxing gibbous phase when Lovell (Hanks) covers the moon with his thumb. (00:06:02)

Apollo 13 mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: During Marilyn Lovell's nightmare, the crew experiences cabin decompression. Right when the master alarm goes off, you see a piece of monofilament attached to Jim Lovell's suit hose, used to try and simulate zero G to make the hose appear to be floating. (00:13:20)

Matdan97

Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the "Failure Is Not an Option" scene, Gene writes "45 hrs" on the chalkboard. In the close-up as he writes it, the front of the 4 is curved into the spine, and the 5 is written with a flat top and flat back leading into the curve underneath. Then, Gene puts a period after "hrs." When the shot cuts wide, the 5 looks more like an S and the top of the five is curled back under. The spine of the 4 has become much longer as well. When Gene walks back to the board at the end of the scene, the front of the 4 is more angular than curved, and the 5 still looks like an S but the curl under the top line is gone. And, once the shot changes away from Gene writing it, the period after "hrs" disappears for the rest of the scene. (01:15:50 - 01:17:45)

Vader47000

Fred Haise: It hurts when I urinate.
Jim Lovell: Well, you're not getting enough water.
Fred Haise: No, I'm drinkin' my rations, same as you... I think old Swigert gave me the clap. Been pissin' in my relief tube.
Jim Lovell: Well, that'd be a hot one at the debriefing for the flight surgeons... Another first for America's spacemen.

More quotes from Apollo 13

Trivia: The exchange between Lovell and his wife about holidays ("you know that Easter vacation? There's been a change of destination ... how about the moon?") in fact took place in 1968, when Lovell was assigned to Apollo 8 and so missed his planned Christmas vacation.

More trivia for Apollo 13

Question: Did the interior of the Apollo 13 spacecraft really become cold, and frosty as shown in the movie?

Answer: From what I have read, according to the real astronauts, it was not as cold in the capsule as was depicted in the film. The movie exaggerated that for dramatic effect.

raywest

More questions & answers from Apollo 13

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