Katsura Mafune: Please kill me! Destroy my body! Inside me is the controller! Mechagodzilla's brain's installed in my stomach!
Charles Austin Miller
9th Jul 2018
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
8th Jul 2018
Son of Godzilla (1967)
Question: This was the first of Toho's "Minilla" films (Minilla being the diminutive son of Godzilla), featuring an actor known as "Marchan the Dwarf" in the role of Minilla. Is there an official or even unofficial biography of Marchan the Dwarf? I'm not seeing anything on him through conventional searches.
6th Jul 2018
30 Days of Night (2007)
Question: Billy admits that he shot his wife and daughters to save them from a more horrible death at the hands of the vampires. Grieving, he says, "I tried to shoot myself, too, but the fucking gun jammed." But Billy is a deputy sheriff, and any competent law officer can resolve a jammed gun in a matter of seconds. Did Billy actually chicken-out of killing himself after murdering his family?
Answer: Perhaps Billy was not a competent law officer. Or maybe you were right he chickened out. Billy could have killed himself in other ways. Other ways more quiet than gunshot.
Exactly. How could he go on living after killing his whole family? A minor problem such as a gun jam shouldn't have prevented him from committing suicide. In fact, he couldn't become a law enforcement officer without demonstrating a proficiency with firearms, including the ability to field-service his weapon quickly in an emergency. The simple procedure for fixing a jammed firearm is at the top of the list of required skills.
Are we ignoring that he was obviously extremely distraught at this time? My take on this has always been that he pulled the trigger, the gun jammed, and he just gave up on everything. He literally didn't care enough about anything at that point to even bother taking his own life anymore. Let the vampires take him; or not. His family is gone, by his hand no less, nothing at all matters anymore. I didn't see it as an inability to clear the jam, I saw it as a psychological breakdown that resulted in complete and total apathy. The jam was nothing more than the straw that broke the camel's back.
If he gave up on everything, why did he covertly signal Eben with a flashlight? If Billy had truly given up, why not just walk out into the street and be slaughtered by the vampires, rather than continuing to hide?
6th Jul 2018
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Factual error: When Cameron melts down and starts kicking the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, he dents the front bumper. There is no way a human being could dent a pressed-steel, chromium-plated bumper by kicking it.
2nd Jul 2018
Legend of the Drunken Master (1994)
Trivia: This 1994 film was originally titled "Drunken Master 2" upon its release in Hong Kong; it was the second and last time Jackie Chan portrayed the titular Drunken Master. A hastily-assembled "Drunken Master 3" was also released in 1994, but Jackie Chan did not participate in the third movie because of "creative differences" (Chan felt that the Drunken Master films were sending the wrong message about drinking and fighting). Although fans have been clamoring for decades for Jackie Chan to reprise this comedic role that he famously created, he still refuses to do it. As recently as 2014, Chan explained: "Drunken Master 1 [1978], I teach drinking, fighting, drinking, fighting, and the audience liked it. Everybody ‘Ha, ha, ha.' But then I grew up and realised I'm wrong. I send out the wrong message. I have to make Drunken Master 2 [1994] to tell the audience ‘Don't drink! Don't fight!' I have to correct myself. All those years slowly correct everything... I believe after Drunken Master 2 - stop - better that we make no more."
1st Jul 2018
Shanghai Noon (2000)
Revealing mistake: When Roy and Chon are escaping from jail, Chon uses all his strength to bend one of the iron bars aside so that Roy can squeeze through. But, as Roy squeezes through, the iron bar behind him (which should be rigid) also visibly flexes, revealing that the bars are made of rubber or plastic tubing.
30th Jun 2018
Drunken Master 2 (1979)
Trivia: "Drunken Master 2" actually premiered in 1994, a remake/reboot of 1978's "Drunken Master" (both starring Jackie Chan). "Drunken Master 2" was later released in America as "The Legend of Drunken Master" in the year 2000.
30th Jun 2018
Legend of the Drunken Master (1994)
Trivia: The original title of this Jackie Chan film was "Drunken Master 2" when it was first released in Hong Kong in 1994 (it was not actually a sequel but was a remake/reboot of the 1978 Jackie Chan film "Drunken Master"). The title "Drunken Master 2" was changed to "The Legend of Drunken Master" when it was released in America in 2000.
29th Jun 2018
A Cure for Wellness (2016)
Continuity mistake: Early in the film, Lockhart tells his driver to take him to a hotel, and they start down a winding Alpine mountain road before suddenly slamming into a deer. The Mercedes sedan goes off the road, airborne, into the forest, rolling many times before crashing down hard on its side. But, when the camera cuts back to the mortally-injured deer in the road, we see the Mercedes is wrecked on the road shoulder only about 30 feet away from the animal.
28th Jun 2018
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Factual error: During the lethal-injection scene, an executioner is plainly visible to the witnesses through a broad glass window in the death chamber. He is shown flipping toggle switches in-sequence to release the sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride that comprise the lethal drug cocktail. For one thing, in modern Western culture, an executioner is never visible to the witnesses. For another thing, there is no "executioner," per se, flipping toggle switches in the lethal-injection process. The component drugs are loaded into the death machine in advance, and it automatically releases the drugs via a pre-set timer.
25th Jun 2018
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Trivia: After its release in 1999, "The Blair Witch Project" went on to make a fantastic $250 million profit on its lowly $64,000 budget, largely due to the film's realism; audiences were chilled by the possibility that this "found footage" was the real thing. But any cable viewers who followed the Independent Film Channel (IFC) knew very well that "The Blair Witch Project" was a purely scripted work as far back as 1997, when "The Blair Witch Project" writer/director Daniel Myrick previewed a segment of the work-in-progress featuring an 8-minute "pitch" (comprised mainly of voice-overs and edited footage) on IFC's specialty program, "Split Screens." Audience feedback was later gathered through traditional test-screenings.
15th Jun 2018
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Factual error: When Zephram Cochrane, Riker and LaForge activate the warp drive of the prototype starship Phoenix, the prismatic starscape is seen streaking past (same effect as in the Star Trek: TNG series). However, the Phoenix never leaves the solar system or even the vicinity of Earth, achieving only Warp One (the max velocity of the Phoenix) for a few seconds. Even at lightspeed, the Phoenix did not enter interstellar space nor pass any other stars; therefore, the starscape should have remained almost motionless.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: What happens when a ship goes to warp it essentially creates a subspace distortion. This causes the starscape to change and move, as they exit regular space and enter subspace.
At Warp One, there should be zero prismatic distortions. It takes a full 24-hour DAY for light to cross the solar system. In a few seconds, a vessel traveling at Warp One, within a solar system, would see no distortions.
A ship slips out of regular space when going to warp, it creates a bubble around the ship, that bubble causes the starscape for the people inside it to appear moving or at least distort. That's what you see. That's what you always see when a ship goes to warp.
The prismatic effect was created for the TNG series to depict the ship passing stars at hundreds of times the speed of light. The Phoenix only achieved Warp One, one time the speed of light (lightspeed). As fast as that sounds, it wouldn't be fast enough to create any visual distortion.
Even at hundreds of times the speed of light you would only pass a star every few seconds, they didn't make that effect for TNG as in TOS they were going that fast too (as high as warp 9) and the same distortion is seen. You also keep saying its the speed that causes the visual distortion whilst I specifically mention its the fact the ship exiting regular space and into subspace is whats causing the distortion.
11th Jun 2018
Sleepwalkers (1992)
Revealing mistake: At the end, when the monster grabs the sheriff and throws him across the front yard, the sheriff lands on his back and his right arm falls into a beartrap. The trap snaps and the sheriff screams in pain, but only one jaw of the prop beartrap actually snaps into vertical position (the opposing jaw remains flat and doesn't move). A real beartrap snaps both jaws together vertically. So, the sheriff's hand doesn't get snapped at all.
10th Jun 2018
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Plot hole: At the very end, when Leo Davidson crash-lands in Washington, DC, on the very steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the modified Lincoln statue depicts General Thade (the founder of the ape civilization on Earth) as wearing mid-19th Century clothing. This suggests that Thade escaped from his home planet Ashlar (aboard the recovered single-passenger Delta Pod, no doubt), entered the time-rift, and arrived on Earth in the early-to-mid 19th Century to begin taking over the human population. So, Thade by himself (with no advanced scientific knowledge) completely conquered human civilization on Earth in only about 150 years, which is absurd even for space fantasy.
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Suggested correction: This is based on a lot of assumptions. Firstly, it's a perfect duplicate of the Lincoln memorial even though it's a different past, where humanity isn't the dominant species so it's obviously fantastical. Secondly, nobody says it's an historical accurate sculpture, in the middle ages and Renaissance they often depicted historical figures with modern clothes on. Just the sculpture doesn't give you the story behind it.
Judging from the closing shots of Washington, DC, Thade's ape civilization is a virtual duplicate of human civilization, right down to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, The Mall, the city itself, the makes and models of automobiles, and even the police uniforms. It's identical social evolution, except with apes in charge. The real Lincoln Memorial was constructed decades after Lincoln died (when fashions had dramatically changed) to memorialize a fallen president, realistically depicting him wearing his own 19th-Century clothing. If the apes followed an exact duplicate of human development (which is obviously the case in this film), then the Thade Memorial was constructed to realistically memorialize Thade, wearing his own 19th-Century clothing. This attempted correction makes no sense at all.
The idea alone that the apes evolved and build a society identical to our own makes it clear that the fact that they have a memorial of General Thade in 19th century clothes completely irrelevant to anything about any historical accuracy you might be referring to, as it isn't there. You can make an entire list of all the hundreds of things that don't make any sense in that scene, if that pleases you. But the clothing on a spoof of the Lincoln memorial doesn't make it a plot hole that Thade couldn't have taken power over such a short period. It's not supposed to make sense. Hell, Leo could be having a nightmare for all we know.
It's called a "plot hole," a poorly-reasoned concept with equally bad writing and production that does nothing to bring the plot full circle.
It's called a "plot hole," a poorly-reasoned concept with equally bad writing and production that does nothing to bring the plot full circle.
Additionally, the original mistake is making the assumption that the statue is of Thade. It could very well be (more likely in fact) that Thade made it to Earth in the distant past, causing the switch from human to ape evolution, and the statue is simply an ape who resembles Thade, possibly a descendant.
10th Jun 2018
Kingpin (1996)
Trivia: In the fight scene between Roy Munson and Claudia, it's very obvious that actress Vanessa Angel's acrobatic stunts were performed by a much more muscular woman. The stuntwoman is Donna Keegan, who played the attempted-rape victim in "RoboCop" nine years earlier.
10th Jun 2018
Animal House (1978)
Question: Near the end, when Dean Wormer and Mayor DePasto are in the grandstand, officially launching the parade, there is an elderly gentleman in the background (also in the grandstand, about 2 levels up, on the left side of the screen) who is making odd, excited gestures and comical facial expressions. His appearance and odd mannerisms are so striking that he draws my attention away from the dean and the mayor every time that I've seen this film, and that's a lot of times. Surely, director John Landis must have been aware of the gentleman and his antics in the background through multiple takes, so it would seem Landis intended the peculiar distraction. Who was that gentleman, and was there any significance to his appearing in the scene?
Answer: Sometimes these things get left in because it's simply the best take. (The child covering his ears before the gunshot in "North by Northwest," for example.) It could also be that John Landis cast the extra because he wanted someone with goofy expressions in the crowd. He simply could have told the extras "Ok, be excited that you're at a parade," and that's how this extra did it.
10th Jun 2018
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Plot hole: We know that Pericles the chimp (in Alpha Pod), then Leo Davidson (in Delta Pod), and then the entire Oberon space station are all pulled into the time rift and end up on planet Ashlar, each arriving at (drastically) different times. Apparently, just before the Oberon crashed on Ashlar, Commander Vasich sent a mayday transmission ("We're going down!") which is actually received by the Oberon itself before it entered the time rift. Commander Vasich and the Oberon crew are startled to see a very elderly Commander Vasich in the mayday transmission. This implies that Vasich and the Oberon crew instantly aged by decades while going through the time rift; yet, Leo Davidson and Pericles the chimp didn't age at all.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: The mayday was broadcast years after Leo and Pericles had disappeared into the future, whilst still orbiting the planet, Vasich isn't as old as the later video recording Leo watches at the end of the movie, possibly a decade older. Eventually, after years of orbiting they crashed onto the planet, probably because they attempted to get closer. Then decades pass after the crash until finally the apes on the crashed ship take control. It's possible the Oberon never went into the time portal itself. It crashed in the past after all.
According to the backstory, Alpha Pod, Delta Pod and the Oberon were pulled into the time-rift in quick succession, and they almost instantly arrived at their respective destinations in time (in the case of the Oberon, it travelled back thousands of years to a time when Ashlar was uninhabited). If the Oberon then orbited Ashlar for decades before crashing, then the Oberon crew and Commander Vasich certainly knew that there was nobody to respond to their radio transmissions. but after decades of silence, the elderly Vasich suddenly transmits a mayday signal just before "going down"? No, this is a plot hole, just like the ending in which General Thade (the founder of the ape civilization on Earth) is depicted in statuary as wearing mid-19th Century clothing.
No, they didn't broadcast, they made a video log. They decided to record what happened.
Or, the went through the time-rift, stayed in orbit for as long as they could and got a signal from the rift coming from the past station and send a distress signal to them. Not knowing they were sending a signal to themselves.
9th Jun 2018
2010 (1984)
Question: In the original film, the Discovery's onboard computer states: "I am a HAL 9000 Computer, Production Number 3. I became operational at the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, on the 12th of January, 1992." So, "HAL" was a manufacturer identification prefix (standing for Heuristically-programmed ALgorithmic Computers), "9000" was its model number, and "No.3" was its production lineage. In this sequel, however, Dr. Chandra is chatting with one of HAL's earth-based twin computers which has a feminine voice and is called "SAL"; but how can they arbitrarily change its manufacturer identification prefix? Being produced by the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, and being identical to the computer aboard the Discovery, the twin's name should have a different production number, but it should still be called "HAL," should it not?
Answer: The most likely reason the name was changed was probably a literary one. It makes it easier for the audience to differentiate SAL from HAL, showing how they are two distinct computers playing different roles in the film. It may also just be a feminine nickname being that SAL has a female voice.
I thought perhaps "SAL" was a nickname, also, until I saw that the computer's maker nameplate reads "SAL 9000" (visible in close-ups of SAL's glowing eye).
31st May 2018
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Revealing mistake: When Dr. Floyd arrives at the Moon and goes to the Monolith site at Tycho Crater, the moon shuttle never casts a shadow on the lunar surface. This is especially noticeable in the first shot, wherein the shuttle is coming straight at the camera, the Sun is on the far right, and there is a giant lunar cliff on the far left. No shadow of any sort.
27th May 2018
Psycho (1998)
Question: When private investigator Milton Arbogast is attacked on the stairway, this film inserts two non sequitur pieces of footage right in the middle of the attack sequence: Just as Arbogast's face is slashed twice, a shot of a virtually-nude woman wearing a sleep-mask is inserted for a split-second, followed a moment later by a split-second insert of what appears to be a small calf standing in the middle of a road in a rainstorm. What is the meaning of those two inserts?
Answer: I'm sorry. There are no answers to your question. Or. The inserts were added to make the movie, which I liked, even more horrible.
Answer: His life flashing before his eyes? Snapshots of Norman's fractured psyche? The director's vision?
Those are just more questions.
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Answer: All that I could find of him are his IMDb and Wikizilla pages.