Factual error: When Gene Hackman is shot at the end he looks down and sees the hole in his shadow. However if he was shot from someone at the same level as him, the hole would be straight, parallel to the Earth's surface. So if he could he the reasonably proportioned shadow the angle of the sun wouldn't show any hole in him at all.
criffic
14th May 2002
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: First, it is reasonable to assume that Hackman is significantly taller than Stone, and, given that she is firing from a hip draw the angle of entry for the fatal gunshot would be on a upward trajectory. This generally upward bullet trace combined with the evening or late day sun could be reasonably expected to cast a shadow if you suspend disbelief initially to allow that this type of wound is practically plausible.
The fact that she is shorter is irrelevant given the distance between them. For the angle of the light showing through him to make sense (and that's assuming it makes sense for it to show through him at all) she would need to be kneeling directly in front of him. The fact that, as you say, suspension of belief is required demonstrates the original mistake is valid.
Suggested correction: He doesn't see the hole in his shadow. We see him look downward slightly, then we see the shadow slightly from the side, not the view he would see. We then see him looking down at himself. It's easy to assume he is looking at his shadow, but we don't see him doing that. He could simply be staring into space, with the shadow presented for dramatic effect for the viewer.
25th Oct 2012
Prometheus (2012)
Corrected entry: Because of constant motion of the stars in a galaxy is visible, constellations change their shape over the time. But all old civilizations' star maps and future maps are the same in the movie, even they are separated from each other by several (tens of) thousands of years. It is impossible to get any useful data from carbon dating like they do when they examine the first "engineer" body. For carbon dating, you need to know the exact mixture of carbon isotopes and changes in it in the atmosphere of the planet for about 20,000 years. Because there are many vectors in the air that change carbon isotopes ratio over time, you cannot use only the present data for any accurate dating. On Earth, the old data is taken from air bubbles trapped in glaciers. Carbon dating is also correct only if the "engineers" ate food that was grown in that planet's original atmosphere. Even now, many Earth greenhouses add extra carbon dioxide gas for quicker plant growth. Depending of the origin of the gas (nowadays wood or oil that is millions of years), it makes carbon dating in the technological era civilization (especially in the space-faring era) totally useless.
Correction: Carbon dating has absolutely nothing to do with atmospheric carbon in any form, neither carbon dioxide nor any other organic volatile gasses which are fractionally present in the "air". Carbon dating relies on the differences in the ratio of elemental carbon isotopes, specifically carbon12 and carbon14 which is radioactive and decays over time. By comparing a sample of known age's ratios to those of an unknown and using the fixed, constant decay rate of carbon14 the age of the unknown can be determined. Organic carbon in living items is "fixed" when and organism like a tree dies or when an animal metabolizes the carbon it consumes, carbon dioxide is not consumed or metabolized by the body but expelled by the body as waste.
27th Aug 2001
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Corrected entry: At the end of the film, Gene Hackman's character realizes that he has been shot by looking at his shadow and seeing the sunlight shining through the bullet hole in his body. Oddly enough, when you see the front of his shirt, he's not bleeding. There might have been a one or two second delay, but he would have been bleeding profusely from such a wound.
Correction: Not necessarily from the entry wound - even in real life, entry wounds from large caliber pistol rounds usually appear as singed holes, the real catastrophic damage is in the body cavity, with devastating exit wounds.
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