Directed by: Michael Caton-Jones
Starring: Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, D.B. Sweeney, Tate Donovan
Continuity mistake: During the crash landing propeller blades are flying off. Later on when then plane comes to a stand still the blades are back but bent backwards.
Suggested correction: I've seen this exactly. I always thought it was the turf being kicked up by the blades. Now, whether propeller blades could have taken that impact, I don't know.
Factual error: They hold a huge dance in the hangar at night, and Dennis leaves to walk to the Memphis Belle through the hangar doors, which are wide open. The whole flight line, tarmac and hangar are bathed with light - on a US Air Force base in East Anglia during the blackout. Blackout restrictions were rigidly enforced and were not eased until September 1944. The last mission of the Memphis Belle was in May 1943.
Richard Rascal Moore: Yeah Luke, why go back to the daily grind of being a lifeguard? Take it easy.
Trivia: The crewmembers of the Memphis Belle are not based on actual crewmembers. They are fictitious characters.
Question: At the briefing it's pointed out that there's a hospital, school, etc. around the factory they're bombing, and Dennis is very adamant about getting the bombs "right in the pickle barrel" so a lot of innocent people don't get hurt. But the planes are spread out over a large area in the sky, and are also moving when the bombs are dropped, so wouldn't the bombs land over a large area and not just in the limited vicinity of the factory?
Chosen answer: It would seem that every plane's Norden bombsight would drop from different angles, etc., each designated for a common target. So, 2 planes could be higher, lower, ahead or behind the target and each hit the target, if the bombadiers had an accurate fix on the target.
Answer: Even with the Norden bomb sight, during WW2 bombing was generally very inaccurate.