Corrected entry: The movie opens with the Clash's song "London Calling", released in December, 1979. The movie takes place two years before the song's release.
Scott215
14th Jun 2016
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
16th Dec 2017
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Corrected entry: Bert the cop fires seven bullets from his six-shooter at George Bailey as George flees the area.
Correction: Bert shouts "stand back!" then fires once, then three times in quick succession, then twice more. Six total.
Correction: I played it multiple times. Bert only fires six shots.
16th Mar 2016
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Corrected entry: A squid does not propel itself at speed tentacles first, but head first.
Correction: The first films of giant squid, captured in the Sea of Japan in 2013, show them doing just that. It's all about how they attack prey and the positioning of their eyes, but they can and do travel at speed tentacles first.
27th Jul 2015
Star Trek (1966)
Corrected entry: Garth, shape-shifted as Spock, applies the Vulcan nerve pinch to Marta. Since Garth can only imitate the physical appearance of someone and not that person's life experience, Garth would have no knowledge of the Vulcan nerve pinch. The same could be said of when Garth shape shifts into Kirk - if Garth had Kirk's knowledge, he would have known the counter sign that Scotty used to challenge him for the beam up.
Correction: Garth, prior to being able to shape-shift and going insane, was a well respected Starfleet Captain and skilled tactician. In fact, he was required reading at the academy. Captain Garth would no doubt have extensive knowledge of Vulcans and the Vulcan nerve pinch, including learning how to do it.
16th Aug 2016
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964)
Corrected entry: Captain Crane orders the Seaview to come about 360°. So Crane ordered the sub to turn back to face where they were facing originally.
Correction: The degrees aren't an instruction on how far to turn, it's a final bearing. 360 just means turn due north.
25th Jan 2015
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
Corrected entry: In the original movie and in the sequel "Beneath", it is established the ape civilization has its own alphabet. However, the peace protesters attempting to block the Ape army from leaving Ape City have protest signs written in English.
Correction: Taylor spends a large part of the first movie communicating with Zira and Cornelius in written English. At no point is it established that the Apes have a different alphabet.
Correction: The song plays over the movie, not within the movie itself. It's no different than the movie's score being played over certain scenes despite being written in 2015 or 2016.
Phaneron ★
A filmmaker often uses music to reflect not only the decade but also the year the movie is set. By your reasoning, ANY type of music could be played over the movie that didn't reflect the era or year, so Oasis, Megan Thee Stallion, Sia, etc., would be OK, even though none of the artists I listed are from 1977 and reflect that year. My movie mistake listing regarding The Clash's song is correct and accurate.
Scott215
Often, not always. There are countless examples of a movie soundtrack featuring technically "anachronistic" songs but they're not explicitly in-universe, so don't even count as deliberate mistakes, it's just an artistic choice. TV Tropes has an entire section covering this and similar things: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnachronisticSoundtrack. It comments there how A Knight's Tale uses versions of modern songs, and the director pointed out that an orchestral score wouldn't have been period-appropriate either. The music making up a movie's soundtrack doesn't explicitly have to be from or before the year of the movie's setting.
No, your listing is not correct and accurate. You said yourself that filmmakers often use music to reflect a time period, "often" being the keyword, as in not "always." The Hateful Eight has "Apple Blossom" by The White Stripes playing over a part of the film, and that song wasn't released until 130 years after the movie's 1870 setting. Since it plays over the film and not within the film, it is not a mistake.
Phaneron ★