Noman

3rd Dec 2023

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Factual error: The movie's title is factually inaccurate. The bride isn't "of Frankenstein" (the doctor), she's the bride of Frankenstein's monster.

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Suggested correction: First, that's not what constitutes a factual error. At this point in time, "Frankenstein" was commonly used as the creature's name. Even today, it's understood. And in the novel, Frankenstein was never a doctor or held a doctorate of any kind. So, based on your faulty logic, it's a factual error to call him "doctor."

In addition, in the book the monster is always called "The Creature".

10th Mar 2009

Species (1995)

Character mistake: Fitch, who professes qualifications in biology, genetics and biochemistry, says that they made Sil female because she's a natural predator and so she'd be more docile. In almost every species of predator on earth the females are the hunters, aggressors and killers. The males may be socially dominant but they are the 'docile' ones. There are exceptions but Fitch speaks as if female and docile are the same thing - and they definitely are not.

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Suggested correction: This entry is so wrong, I don't quite know where to begin. The idea that all species, without exception, have the females as the aggressors and the males as docile is absolutely one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read. It is not backed up by fact in the slightest. They also did use human DNA; they added the sample of alien DNA to it to create Sil.

The posting states that there are exceptions to the rule and specifically states "almost every species." The mistake is not that a female must be "docile". It is that a scientist professing qualifications in biology, genetics, and biochemistry would make such a stupid statement, believing it to be invariably true.

However, there are exceptions; any one species makes this possible. I will start with African Lions. In Africa, the female lions are the main aggressors.

Suggested correction: They never said Sil was a natural predator when they created her. She was half human and half alien and it was their belief that human females are more docile (i.e. more motherly, more gentle, more empathetic, and less aggressive than human males). Although the reply to "more docile and controllable" was "you guys don't get out much", meaning that girls aren't that docile and controllable.

12th Apr 2023

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Character mistake: When Adams is chewing out Altaira for flirting with his crew, he says that he is "in command of 18 perfect physical specimens." With him, that would make for a total crew of 19 on the C57-D. But the complete cast only shows 18 names, including Walter Pidgeon as Morbius and Anne Francis as Alta. (And discounting Robby and his human handlers). Thus it would seem Adams is off by three. He has only 15 under his command. I've tried counting them when they're in group shots, but can't see everyone.

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Suggested correction: Actors with no speaking parts typically do not appear in the credits. So even if the crew consists of 19 members, only those that said something would appear in the credits unless there are special circumstances such as the character not being able to speak.

21st Sep 2018

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Factual error: When they first arrive on the Nautilus, they look out the large porthole and see the crew on the bottom of the ocean burying one of the crew, but the ocean would be much deeper than that, since the Nautilus is at the surface.

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Suggested correction: The depth of the ocean varies. There are shallow areas even in mid-ocean, especially near islands or other land masses.

4th Nov 2019

Sheena (1984)

Factual error: The tigers used here are Indian Bengal tigers and this is set in Africa. Plus zebras can't be ridden as Sheena's able to do.

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Suggested correction: The only striped animals in the movie are zebras, not tigers. A tiger did appear on some of the DVD covers, which is an error on the covers. For a fantasy movie, riding a zebra falls under artistic license. In any case, the zebra Sheena was riding was a small horse with makeup to make it appear to be a zebra.

16th Sep 2014

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Continuity mistake: When Bond arrives at Tiffany's home in Amsterdam, he rings her doorbell. It's shown that she's living on the 4th floor (T. Case), but through the speaker-system she tells Bond to come upstairs to the 3rd floor.

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Suggested correction: Although her outside indicator does say "4", it's possible that unit 4 could be located on the 3rd floor.

What we in the US call the second floor is the first floor in Europe. So a US fourth floor is a European third floor.

Definitely not everywhere in Europe. In the Nordic countries, for example, the first floor's the first floor.

True, but this scene takes place in the Netherlands where floors are numbered Ground, First, Second etc. So, not a Nordic country.

6th Sep 2007

The Core (2003)

Factual error: In a few shots through the movie the gauges or screens displaying information, they use "PPI" for pounds per sq. inch instead of PSI. PPI is wrong it's always PSI. The first time you see it is in the scene when they just launch the ship right before they pierce the crust with Braz and Serge for sure.

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Suggested correction: They are measuring pounds per linear inch which is PPI.

Pounds per Linear Inch is PLI, not PPI.

Pressure is defined as force over area. Any force (i.e, pounds) over any area (length × width, i.e. inches squared or meters squared or...squared) as defined in 1961 if not earlier.

18th Aug 2014

Breaking Bad (2008)

4 Days Out - S2-E9

Corrected entry: When Walt is building the battery and explains how it works to Jesse, he says that the cathode is the positive terminal. The cathode is always the negative electrode and the anode is always the positive electrode. Walt is a chemistry teacher who would know the difference. (00:37:15 - 00:38:30)

Correction: "Cathode" can be negative or positive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode).

Correction: Cathode polarity with respect to the anode can be positive or negative depending on how the device is being operated. The battery is operated as a provider, so + = anode / - = cathode.

Correction: For a battery (Voltaic cell), the cathode is positive, while for an electrolysis cell the cathode is negative. That is the way I have been teaching it in both universities where I have been teaching at since 1978.

17th Jul 2004

Jurassic Park (1993)

Corrected entry: When the T-Rex moves to Dr. Grant and the boy they hold still because it can't see things that don't move. Unfortunately though, T-Rex's have a highly developed sense of smell and would certainly have known they were there.

Correction: Considering the fact T-Rex's have been extinct for 65 million years, its quite difficult to tell what their sense of smell was like. Also, Grant says quite clearly in the film that sight was the Rex's most powerful sense and if you stayed still, it confuses him.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

There is actually evidence that T-Rex had visual clarity 13 times better than a human, and could see objects up to 6 kilometres away. So, T-Rex would have been able to see Dr. Grant and the boy regardless of whether they moved or not.

If a T-Rex is unable to see something when something is standing still, it's not its most powerful sense. Smell makes more sense, but not provable.

Evidence indicates that the T-rex had an excellent sense of smell. Citation: Hughes GM, Finarelli JA. 2019 Olfactory receptor repertoire size in dinosaurs.Proc. R. Soc. B286: 20190909.http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0909.

23rd Jun 2005

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Corrected entry: The final scene of the movie shows Vader and the Emperor looking out at the Death Star being constructed. This doesn't fit with the storyline as there is almost 20 years between episodes 3 & 4, that is quite a slow construction. Compare this to the time in which the second and more powerful death star is almost finished. Some time could be accounted for through prototype versions and testing, but not 20 years.

Correction: This has already been covered elsewhere - considering that major building projects on Earth can take several years to complete, it's hardly unreasonable that it could take the Empire, even with their more advanced technology, twenty years to construct a battle station that's seventy-five miles across, involves at least one completely untried technology (the planet-destroying superlaser) and many other technologies on a scale previously unheard of. The second Death Star's construction would be quicker, as they'd have learned from building the first one, but it is quite clearly not even close to being finished - the amount of construction that's seen is quite consistent with a build time of two to three years.

Correction: Besides, the Death Star may not have much steel. Other materials would be present. For example, titanium alloys replace steel on Earth, and composite materials can be substituted for steel in some cases. While steel is strong, lighter materials are better suited for objects that need to be moved.

11th Oct 2020

The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)

The Ballad of the Betty Lou - S3-E9

Corrected entry: Laura tells coast guard that their number is 636-9970. Which also happens to be their zip code - the "69970" in case anyone was wondering.

Correction: There is no 69970 zip code in the U.S. If there was, it would probably be in or near Nebraska not New York. New York zip codes range from 00501 to 14925.

15th Jul 2004

Jurassic Park (1993)

Corrected entry: There's a problem with the "faulty lysine gene" idea. If the idea is to insert a faulty gene to prevent the dinosaurs metabalizing lysine, then feeding them dietary supplements won't help. They won't be able to metabolize the extra lysine, so what's the point of them eating it? If the idea is to stop them manufacturing lysine then they are on a hiding to nothing anyway, as lysine is not "manufactured" in the body and is obtained exclusively from dietary sources. Either way, those dinosaurs are in trouble from the getgo.

Correction: The faulty lysine gene wasn't inserted to prevent the dinosaurs from metabolising lysine: It makes them lysine dependent. Word for word from the book (since it explains it better): "we don't want them to survive in the wild. So I've made them lysine dependent. I inserted a gene that makes a single faulty enzyme in protein metabolism. As a result, the animals cannot manufacture the amino acid lysine. They must ingest it from the outside. Unless they get an extraneous source of lysine - supplied by us, in tablet form - they'll go into a coma within 12 hours and expire."

How is it even possible to administer tablets to a dinosaur?

Depends on the dinosaur. With a T-Rex, just get another animal such as the goat and put the tablets in the body of the goat. Same way you put a dogs tablet in a bit of ham.

Correction: Lysine could be administered by making vegetable matter high in lysine available.

26th Jun 2007

Jurassic Park (1993)

Corrected entry: Early in the movie, in the scene where the goat is presented to try and attract the T-Rex, Lex claims to be a vegetarian. Yet later in the movie, Lex is eating jelly, which contains gelatin, an animal derived product, which is unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Correction: Character mistake or decision - she either didn't know, or was hungry enough not to care.

Perhaps the jelly was made with a vegetarian gelling agent?

Correction: It is possible to make jelly using pectin. This would make the jelly vegan.

26th Apr 2020

Goldfinger (1964)

Corrected entry: After Pussy Gallore's airplanes spray "Delta-9" onto Fort Knox and the soldiers fake the effects, why does the army let Goldfinger and his nuclear device so far into Fort Knox? Wouldn't it be much safer to intercept him somewhere at the fence? He would be surrounded by thousand of soldiers either way, but without having the opportunity to plant his nuclear device in the building. The army even awaits the signals that the device is armed.

Correction: It was only when the atomic bomb was armed that it could be detected. If the trap was sprung too soon, the bomb might not be captured. It was mentioned in the movie that if the bomb was not captured, it could be used elsewhere in the US. In addition, the bomb was not brought in by ground, but flown in after Fort Knox was captured.

Doesn't make sense too. Pussy Gallore was spraying useless "steam" over Fort Knox, she could've taken the bomb for Bond or the government pretty easily then.

The bomb was not there for anyone to take. It was necessary to wait until the helicopter brought the bomb to Fort Knox. To do anything before the arrival of the bomb would have meant that the bomb would not be captured.

Nope. Not that easy. The bomb was with so many other guards.

24th Dec 2003

Stargate SG-1 (1997)

Avenger 2.0 - S7-E9

Corrected entry: The whole premise for this episode is that we can transmit or implant a virus into a DHD which will scramble the coordinates, so that the symbol on the DHD will not correspond to the same symbol on the gate. Because of this, SG-1 accidentally manage to disable every gate in the gate system. Has everyone forgotten how to manually dial a gate? As the virus only infects the DHD, you can still dial manually, as the DHD is not required when dialing manually.

Correction: The gate and DHD are connected, the DHD is mostly a controller and both together operate as a computer, in this case, it is not the DHD that is scrambled, but it is the DHD that has scrambled the gate. This is why Earth's gate was not scrambled, it has no DHD.

Correction: When Doctor Felger and Major Carter travel to the planet to investigate the virus program, they learn that the original program has been modified, possibly by Ba'al. If the program was modified, it would not behave as originally intended. The two surmise that the modification was done to help Ba'al, and the program was behaving as now intended.

22nd Nov 2019

Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - S7-E1

Factual error: A few drops of acid are dropped on a penny and the liquid bubbles (colorless liquid) as the acid eats its way through the penny. The penny is mostly copper. Any acid that can react with a copper will also produce a bright green to bright blue solution of dissolved copper, which is not the color seen. (00:05:20)

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Suggested correction: Not necessarily. It depends on the acid and its strength. A weak acid may only oxidise copper to a monovalent state (Copper (I)) (which is colourless) rather than its divalent (Copper (II)) state which produces the blue solution.

Andy Benham ★

The acid must be an oxidizing acid. This plus being done in the open air would result in any copper (I) formed quickly being oxidized to copper (II). Copper (I) is extremely unstable under the conditions shown.

15th Aug 2006

Stargate SG-1 (1997)

Entity - S4-E20

Corrected entry: When the entity is looking at the personnel files, you see one for John O'Neill. His first name is Jack. (00:11:00)

Correction: O'Neill's first name is Jonathan. He is called Jack as a nickname.

Correction: The file says "O'Neill, John." Many people named John are called Jack.

19th Apr 2004

The Shining (1980)

Corrected entry: When Jack is at the bar and asks for bourbon, Lloyd pours him what is obviously Jack Daniels. Although a whiskey, Jack Daniels is not bourbon.

Correction: Federal regulators and bartenders (and presumably a layperson like Jack) do classify it as bourbon. Although JD is not produced in Bourbon County, Kentucky and therefore not authentic bourbon (it is technically Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey), it is otherwise identical.

Federal regulations define what bourbon is. According to these regulations, bourbon must be made a certain way. Such as containing a minimum of 51% corn. Geography is not a factor. Currently there is one distillery in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Most bourbon is made in other parts of Kentucky and some is made in other states, as long as it conforms to the Federal regulations, it is bourbon.

Correction: The previous correction is correct, so I'm just adding to it. I am a bourbon drinker, but a lot of people (myself included), only distinguish whisky under two categories: rye (like Crown Royal) or bourbon (like Jim Beam). While there are other types (like sour mash), the two most recognizable are the two I just mentioned. So to say bourbon wouldn't be unusual for Jack since he most likely just wanted whiskey and would call it by the name he felt most comfortable with one the bartender would be more likely to recognize.

10th Jan 2002

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Corrected entry: After Marion supposedly dies in the truck explosion and Indy is drinking outside at the bar, watch to the left of him. You can see a man wearing a modern t-shirt and jeans walking through the crowd. (00:42:20)

Correction: Nobody in that scene isn't wearing traditional Arab dress? What about the man in the dark leather jacket, tan trousers and fedora? What about the man in the pale beige suit, white shirt, white hat and black tie? The one in the pale brown suit and hat, white shirt, black tie? The one in tan trousers, white shirt, patterned tie? The four people indisputably wearing out of place Western clothing in the scene? That's right. Indiana Jones, Belloq and Belloq's bodyguards. Not a mistake.

Correction: This is probably the most famous non-mistake of all time. Denim jeans date from 1871. They were first sold by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss in 1873 and the design hasn't changed much since then! Plain white cotton T-shirts date from 1898 and were first issued by the US Navy to their sailors in 1913. The design caught on immediately and they flew off the shelves. In short, there is nothing at all unusual about a man wearing jeans and a T-shirt in the late thirties.

He's the only person wearing that outfit in Cairo. Every single other person is wearing "traditional" clothing. He's clearly not meant to be in shot.

If that's true, then what about the two guys standing in the door/archway and the one guy who is sitting in the doorway next to them - all three of them don't match the rest of the extras either? All three are in the background to the left of Indy before the supposed blooper guy appears and walks right in front of them during the scene.

Highly possible. Unless you know the man's backstory who's to say he can't be where he is?

All of Cairo? I count 12 people (not including Indy) aside from him wearing traditional clothing. So one in 13 people has a different style of dress than the other 12. So what? A woman wearing a niqab in New York City might be different from others; it's not a mistake to have a niqab-wearing extra in a NYC crowd shot. This should be easily resolved anyway because there's one other person not wearing traditional clothes-INDY. And no-one gave him grief for it. Jeans aren't illegal in Cairo.

He could have been one of the few American tourists in the area.

Correction: There is a simpler explanation of the man's presence and the fact that he is not there in error. This scene was shot on a closed set, and security was very tight. No member of the public would have got within a hundred metres of the place, and no crew member would be stationed in front of the cameras during a shot. It just doesn't happen. He is an extra, doing what he has been directed to do.

This site is filled with mistakes where crew-members are on camera. Whether it's an error, this correction is an assumption not supported by any facts.

6th Aug 2007

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

Continuity mistake: At the explosion in the lab, Jenny is blown on top of a desk with straight lines down the side. Nowhere prior or after shots is there any such desk. The next shot, Alec is picking her up from the floor.

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Suggested correction: When Jenny first enters the laboratory, she walks past the front row desk (there appears to be two or more additional rows behind and above the front row. The students were seated at these desks earlier.

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