Mark Bernhard

Trivia: There are several instances where Bill Kelso is firing the guns of the P-40 (such as when Col. Maddox yells out, "Lemme hear yer guns!"). The special effects crew had many several challenges regarding this (including financial, since using the real thing would have been very expensive), so they wound up inventing a kind of mini-flame thrower to replace the plane's machine guns. When they were activated, gas was released in short bursts through the barrels of the guns, and a tiny electric spark (like the ones in gas stoves) ignited it. When activated, the guns appeared to be firing, but made very little noise and smoke. All the sound effects were added in post-production.

Mark Bernhard

Revealing mistake: When Matt and Freya are attacking the compound, at one point he goes outside and throws a "hanky panky" grenade at what looks like a garage door. He throws himself over a hedge and a moment later the grenade explodes. When he is getting up, the "ground" is obviously a cushion covered with fake grass.

Mark Bernhard

Continuity mistake: When Matt and Freya are in the car chase, the driver's side of Matt's car is badly damaged. After escaping their pursuers, they drive off (in the same car) and return to Copenhagen. When Matt pulls into town, the side of the car is intact again.

Mark Bernhard

Continuity mistake: Another one from the beginning of the film when Conan's mother is killed. Conan's mother is holding a sword, protecting her son. Thulsa Doom climbs down from his horse, takes off his helmet, and casts some kind of spell on her with his eyes. She lowers her sword and Doom slowly turns away, then spins quickly and cuts off her head. When the camera cuts to a longer shot, we see that Doom is about 15 feet away from her, much too far to reach her with a 3 foot sword.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: According to the (excellent) novelization of the movie, when Indy is under the Thuggee spell, he believes that there is a black snake coiled in his chest. When he is given an order by Mola Ram, if he tries to resist, the snake squeezes his heart until he complies with the order.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: When the first sacrifice victim is being lowered into the lava pit, he is chanting "Om Nam Shiva" over and over. This translates very roughly as "Universe, Earth, Shiva," though the words themselves refer to complex concepts. This is a mantra from a Hindu practice called Shiva Yoga. Shiva Yoga also involves the use of Lingham stones, like the ones Indy is after in the movie.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: In the novelization of the movie, Short Round believes that the elephant he is riding on is actually the reincarnation of his dead brother.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The Thuggee was a real cult in India until the early 1900s. They were more of a cross between gypsies and the mafia than the army of religious zealots seen in Temple of Doom. The word Thuggee is, after all, the origin of our word "thug." For a more realistic portrayal of them, check out the Pierce Brosnan movie "The Deceivers."

Mark Bernhard

Continuity mistake: In the scene when Conan's mother is killed, we see her using both hands to hold her sword toward Thulsa Doom and his men. The camera cuts to young Conan and he is holding her right hand. When the camera cuts back to her, she is holding the sword with both hands again.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: Maybe it's just foreshadowing, but if you notice the scenes in the infirmary, the two tables are not operating tables, but portable autopsy tables. There are two of them, but nothing designed for "live" patients. Kind of makes you wonder about Doc's credentials.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The Thing is based on a short story called, "Who Goes There?" Director John Carpenter ignored the original film and leaned heavily on the written story, which focuses on the idea that no one knows who's infected and who's not.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: After Director John Carpenter screened his completed film, the movie studio insisted that he go back and film a scene where MacReady is in a hospital, explaining how he alone survived. Carpenter had to fight to keep the original ending.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: When Lindsay is watching TV alone, the movie she is watching is The Thing From Another World (1951). A few years later, John Carpenter, who directed Halloween, would film a remake entitled The Thing (1982).

Mark Bernhard

Continuity mistake: When the crew is outside and they're going to lock Blair in the tool shed, you can see someone nailing wood across the window on the front of the shed. The pieces of wood are horizontal. In the next shot (inside the shed), if you look at the window in the background, the strips of wood are vertical. When Mac goes back outside, the wood is horizontal again.

Mark Bernhard

Revealing mistake: Toward the end of the film, when the bad guys have invaded the good guy's camp, note the scar on the forehead of the lead baddie. The prosthetic scar is very obviously not real.

Mark Bernhard

Continuity mistake: When the good guys take over the helicopter at the end of the movie, they kill several of the guards and overpower the rest. They force the warden off the chopper, then take off without him. They also leave behind King, who has been a traitor to the group and killed one of them. First of all, when they take off without King, he seems surprised that they don't take him along. Secondly, when the 'copter flies away, we see King and the warden standing alone in the clearing. What happened to the half-dozen or so guards?

Mark Bernhard

Revealing mistake: When Ray Liotta's character fights the "lifeguard", the blade on the end of his spear is obviously made of rubber.

Mark Bernhard

Continuity mistake: When Adam gets out of the bathtub and sees the curtain get pulled down by invisible hands, watch where the curtain falls. Most of it falls onto the floor, with just enough hanging on the edge so that the front of the tub is draped with it. The camera cuts to Adam for a second, and when the camera goes back to the tub, the curtain is covering the entire tub.

Mark Bernhard

Audio problem: When the good guys finally get the Chevy V8 running, the sound it makes sounds more like a moped than a high-performance engine. It has headers and no mufflers, so it should have been quite loud.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: Producers of the movie were concerned that actual terrorists could use the information in the film to disrupt airport/airplane communications in real life. Most of the "sensitive" information in the film is not only wrong, it is purposely misleading to prevent terrorists from attempting what we see in the movie.

Mark Bernhard