Corrected entry: The film is set in 1938, yet the Jones' fly to Europe from America on a commercial airliner and attempt to leave Germany in a Zeppelin. Pan America's first commercial transatlantic airliner didn't take off until May of 1939, and commercial Zeppelin flights were suspended after the Hindenberg's crash in May of 1937.
Gibbsdoc
12th Mar 2005
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
9th Apr 2012
Titanic (1997)
Corrected entry: At the end, Rose changes her name to Dawson, unofficially. First, doesn't anybody notice that there is a Rose Dawson arriving in New York who wasn't on the ship when it left? Second, Lewis Bodine says that he tracked Rose down all the way to the twenties. Shouldn't he have noticed that the first record of her was the day the Carpathia arrived in New York? Where she was already 17 or so? Even if she did manage to falsify a birth certificate, shouldn't there be any more records of her?
Correction: The short answer to the questions in this submission is "no". In 1912, passenger manifests were notoriously inaccurate, especially international transports like the Titanic. The ship made two stops before heading across the Atlantic (France and Ireland); people got on and off the ship in both places with poor record keeping. Accounts still today differ on the number of people lost in the accident, mainly because no accurate passenger manifest could be verified. International IDs were non-existent for most immigrant passengers, and many changed their names upon arrival in America. It would not have been unusual at all for someone with a new name to have "emerged" from the rescued passengers, and in the confusion and chaos surrounding the sinking, most immigrant passengers melted into the community. Rose could have reported her papers lost on the ship (a last minute passenger, much like Jack was in the movie) and gotten a new birth certificate in that era without much difficulty.
18th Jul 2006
Major League (1989)
Corrected entry: In the final inning of the final game, when Taylor "calls his shot", the opposing pitcher throws at Taylor, knocking him down. Announcer Doyle says Taylor refuses "to dust himself off", but when Taylor climbs back in the batters box, his uniform is not nearly as dirty. (01:36:55)
Correction: Doyle is announcing for radio, not for TV. He may say Taylor doesn't dust off for dramatic effect, when Taylor may have dusted off a bit while the camera is not on him. Radio announcers are notoriously "hypoaccurate" to heighten the drama.
14th May 2006
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Corrected entry: The Phantom breaks all the mirrors at the very end and the way the glass shatters shows that it is coated glass, which wasn't invented until 44 years after the movie was set. The movie was set in 1870 and coated glass was invented in 1914.
Correction: Silvered-glass coated mirrors were invented by German chemist Justus von Liebig in 1835; by 1870 the manufacturing process was automated and these mirrors were in common use.
7th Sep 2009
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Corrected entry: The outer layer of human skin is bonded to the subcutaneous layers beneath. When Raine is cutting the swastika into Landa's forehead at the end of the movie, the extreme close-ups reveal that the "skin" is a thin layer of rubber attached to a blood pack - you can see the edges peel up as he is making the incisions.
Correction: This is true for most skin, except the areas of the scalp and forehead - because of the unique nature of this skin, there often is more mobility and separation between these layers than in other areas of the body. I have watched these scenes again, and, as someone who has made incisions in these areas, I have to say this looks very realistic.
3rd Mar 2010
Rocky IV (1985)
Corrected entry: After Rocky defeats Drago, he is speaking in the ring and mentions that his son should be sleeping by that time. In the montage following Rocky and Adrian's discussion about the fight with Drago (the one where they're on the staircase), there's a shot showing that Rocky's car has a Pennsylvania license plate. Moscow is eight hours ahead of the eastern time zone of the United States. For Rocky Jr. to be up past his bedtime watching his dad, the fight had to have taken place very early in the morning Moscow time. For example, if it's 11:00pm in Philadelphia, it's 7:00am in Moscow.
Correction: Rocky has always been portrayed as being of somewhat below average intelligence and may not know what the time difference is between Philly and Moscow. Plenty of very intelligent people make these mistakes all the time and they haven't been pounded for 15 rounds by Dolf Lundgren. The movie never states when the bout is held although evening is assumed. In any case, it is a character mistake not a movie mistake.
28th May 2005
Rocky IV (1985)
Corrected entry: In the first fight between Apollo and Drago, towards the end of Round 1 and even into Round 2, Apollo is getting pummeled. Before his eventual knockdown (and death) mid Round 2, we see the referee step in to try and control Drago, and he is violently shoved aside, and the match continues. Anybody knows in real boxing, within seconds the referee would have stopped the match and disqualified the offending boxer, if not already stopping the match minutes or rounds beforehand for one boxer dominating over the other.
Correction: This is an exhibition bout, not a sanctioned event. The referee may not even be certified but may be a "celebrity" referee; there may not even be a licensed fight doctor with the authority to stop the fight (which certainly would have happened whether Apollo wanted to stop or not). The unofficial nature of the fight adds to the tragedy of the events and emphasizes the ruthlessness of the Russian fighter - no mistake here.
16th May 2004
Rocky IV (1985)
Corrected entry: During the 2nd round of the fight between Drago and Rocky, after getting tossed to the ground by Drago, Rocky makes his way up and out of the corner and takes a couple of hits to the head and goes right back down to the ground and gets back up. The referee does not start a count on Rocky for being knocked down. Even though this is an exhibition bout, the standing eight count rule should still be in effect in this case. According to professional boxing rules (Safety During the Competition) the standing eight count is "waived in some circumstances." Considering Drago killed Apollo Creed and was killing Rocky up to that point in the bout, the standing eight count should not have been waived.
Correction: Once again, it is emphasized that this is an exhibition bout, not sanctioned. There is no way to know what rules are in force and which are not; since this is a Russian referee and the bout is taking place in Russia and the entire event is set up to see the Russian destroy Rocky, the idea that a standing eight count would be mandatory seems to be a stretch. In any case, it is a character choice (the ref) not a movie mistake.
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Correction: Pan-American airlines was offering transatlantic charter service on its M-130 flying boat in 1934. Several other carriers, American and European were offering commercial transatlantic flights by 1938 although most were charters. Indy's patron is shown to be very wealthy and could charter any plane he wished. Also, although transatlantic zeppelin service ended with the Hindenburg crash, lighter-than-air craft were used frequently for passenger transport, especially in Europe. The airship Indy and Henry board is much too small to be a Hindenburg / Graf Zeppelin class ship anyway; it is more likely a helium or helium/hydrogen dirigible for short to medium haul trips.
Gibbsdoc