Tailkinker

12th Aug 2008

Wall-E (2008)

Correction: Having looked at the relevant shots closely, as I thought this sounded rather fun, I can't see him. Please provide additional information regarding his location in the scene.

Tailkinker

There are two bowling pins on one of the shelves. You can see his head in between.

Correction: It's a very clear shot. He is between two bowling pins.

Show generally

Corrected entry: There are three actors who have the rare accolade of having appeared in the three Mutant Enemy shows: Buffy, Angel and Firefly. They are Jonathan M. Woodward who played the vampire Holden Webster in the Buffy episode 'Conversations With Dead People', Carlos Jacott who played Ken in 'Anne' and Andy Umberger who plays recurring vengeance patron D'Hoffryn.

Correction: This is hardly a "rare accolade". Show creators and directors will regularly use the same actors in different productions, people who they know well and can rely on. It's a common-place phenomenon in the media. It would, frankly, be more of a surprise if there were no actors who appeared in all three shows.

Tailkinker

30th Nov 2008

Iron Man (2008)

Corrected entry: In the scene where Tony is paralyzed, his shirt covers his RT chest plate (repulsor transmitter)). This remains consistent until Obadiah is about to take the RT out of his chest, in this shot a circle around the RT is cut out of the shirt.

Correction: There's no hole until after Obadiah extracts the reactor. The dark shadow of the extraction device is briefly visible on Tony's shirt just as Obadiah applies it; this could be mistaken for a hole, but the shirt is still fully intact.

Tailkinker

26th Nov 2008

Wall-E (2008)

Corrected entry: When the captain of the Axiom is first introduced, the camera pans across a series of previous captains, each increasing in their lack of fitness and therefore presumably representing a progression of all the captains since the Axiom first left Earth. Because only six captains are shown, service as captain would need to exceed 115 years each in order to span the voyage of the Axiom. Assuming one must be at least 20 before assuming command and one becomes no longer capable in the later 5 years of life, humans in this future would be living over 140 years. Physically fit persons might be able to do this, but it would be highly unlikely for such widespread lack of fitness to lend to such long life spans.

Correction: The pictures in the captain's quarters include their dates of service, so it can be worked out that the first five captains served for an average of 133 years, suggesting a lifespan of at least 160 years. Given that these dates are given in the film, it can be clearly stated that humans in this reality do live for that length of time, therefore this mistake is purely based on your opinion that they shouldn't, which is not an acceptable basis for an error. Bear in mind that the Axiom doesn't take off until the early 22nd century - more than enough time for considerable medical advances to have been made, potentially extending the human lifespan to an unknown degree. While the humans on-board lack physical fitness, they are extremely well looked after, with their every need taken care of - it's inconceivable that the ship doesn't contain advanced medical equipment to keep the passengers going as long as possible.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: In the scene with Anakin on top of Zam's speeder, Zam turns and looks at Anakin on the side of the vehicle. For two seconds, she has the appearance as if she were shot with a toxic dart, before it even occurs.

Correction: Zam is a shapeshifter - what we're seeing there is her natural appearance, not the effect of the dart on her. She shifts briefly during the chase - possibly she needs to focus to keep a particular appearance and lets it slip slightly as she focuses on getting away, then, as she dies, reverts fully to her normal look.

Tailkinker

24th Nov 2008

Twilight (2008)

Corrected entry: When Bella and Edward arrive at Prom, their picture is taken upon entering the building. Since Edward is a vampire and vampires do not have reflections nor can be seen in pictures, this shouldn't have happened. Edward would have known about this since he's been in how school for years.

Correction: In the Twilight mythos, vampires have reflections and can have their photos taken. As vampires are fictional, each different mythos can choose to deal with them as they see fit.

Tailkinker

24th Nov 2008

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Corrected entry: Bond rolled the Aston Martin 7 1/2 times in the previous movie (Casino Royale), and the scenes showing the car immediately afterwards showed it completely totalled. He was never given another vehicle, specifically never given another Aston Martin DBS during the remainder of 'CR'. This movie begins mere moments after the conclusion of the last movie, and somehow Bond is driving the DBS again, with the injured Mr. White, taking him to be interrogated.

Correction: Bond is shown being in touch with M in London before he attacks Mr White at the end of Casino Royale, but M is waiting for him at his destination, so some time has passed before Bond goes after White, enough for her to make the trip. And if she's had time to make the trip, there's been enough time for Bond to have been supplied with another Aston Martin. Given that his previous car was destroyed, the one used in the opening to this film cannot possibly be the same car. The filmmakers simply assumed that the audience would figure that one out for themselves.

Tailkinker

24th Nov 2008

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Corrected entry: At the end of the DC-3 scene, Bond pulls up the nose of the airplane (up to 90 degrees) in order to put more force on the belt that prevents the cargo from sliding to the back of the airplane. Eventually, the belt tears apart and the cargo slides to the back and falls off the airplane. According to Newton's laws (physics), this wouldn't happen. No matter how you fly the airplane, that belt would never experience a force stronger than the engines' maximum thrust. And this force was already applied during take-off, so the belt would have torn apart then, or not at all.

Correction: Utter rubbish. When the plane takes off, the cargo is held in place not only by the belt but also by simple friction with the floor that it rests on. With the plane pointing straight up in the air at 90 degrees, that friction is no longer present, plus there's a little thing called 'gravity' acting to drag the cargo towards the back of the plane. So the entire force of the cargo's weight is acting on the belt, which wasn't the case at any previous point. Entirely reasonable that it could give way at that point.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: In the scene in the French village after the soldier attempting to rescue the girl is shot, where the German marksman is shown being shot through the scope is an impossibility. Modern higher powered rifles are unable to pierce a scope, let alone pierce directly through the scope and through the German's head. Also, a marksman on a battlefield, under stress, would never be able to place such an accurate shot. Sources: Mythbusters. (00:55:40)

Correction: Many veterans mention such a shot being taken in memoirs written after the war. First-hand accounts by veterans would seem more definitive than a TV show that can only attempt to simulate a given situation. Further, it's only impossible with a modern scope, the Mythbusters revisited the myth and found that it is in fact plausible with a period scope. Not to mention Carlos Hathcock had a confirmed kill in Vietnam in this way.

Tailkinker

Yeah, but you have to use armor piercing bullets in order to pierce the scope. You can't regular bullets. When the mythbusters revisited the myth, only armor piercing bullets where able to pierce the scope. Regular bullets couldn't.

18th Nov 2008

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Corrected entry: Bolivian city La Paz doesn't have an airport. The international airport is located in the neighbouring city of El Alto. Thus the airport's name is not La Paz, as it appears in the movie, but El Alto.

Correction: As has been stated many times, movies frequently use fictional locations, in the same way that they use fictional individuals (like James Bond, for example). This is an absolutely standard movie convention and is not considered a mistake.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: After Asajj tells the droids to seal the main gate of the monastery, a droid says, "Yes, mistress". But later, another droid that is the same model/style gets confused and says "Yes sir - ma'am - sir" after getting orders from her.

Correction: So what? It's been repeatedly shown throughout the saga that droids of the same model won't necessarily react in the same fashion.

Tailkinker

15th Nov 2008

The Incredibles (2004)

Corrected entry: When Helen and Edna are in her lab, E tells Helen that Dash's suit can make him run without ever getting tired. Now in the scene where the plane Helen was flying is destroyed and they have to get to shore, Dash is wearing his suit and is speeding his feet. When they finally arrive to shore, why is Dash tired if his suit is on?

Correction: What Edna says is "Your boy's suit I designed to withstand enormous friction without heating up or wearing out." Nothing there remotely suggests that it will prevent Dash from getting tired.

Tailkinker

10th Nov 2008

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Corrected entry: Al mentions that he's going to sell the entire Woody's Round-Up toy collection to a Japanese collector, who only wants the collection if it's complete. When Al first finds Woody at the yard sale, he makes a big deal about the fact that Woody still has his original cowboy hat (because an incomplete toy would be worthless to him). Well, Woody has a gun holster, so doesn't that mean he's still missing his gun? (I'm sure the real reason no gun is ever alluded to is because this is a kids' movie and guns aren't very kid-friendly, but still.).

Correction: Woody never had a gun, even in the old black-and-white movies when he was a puppet. So no gun is ever missing and Woody is complete with no gun.

Tailkinker

Correction: We never see Jessie and Bullseye's accessories equivalent to Prospectors pan and pickaxe either, apparently the buyer understands, and counts the toy and the hat, but not the lesser items.

dizzyd

Corrected entry: At the pet clinic, John escapes the cage and runs out in the hall, only to find a terminator. John asks the terminator if it is there to kill him. It seems like a waste of breath as no evil terminator gives a second thought about killing. Had the machine been a bad terminator, can't it be assumed he would have fired the shotgun at him sometime during that walk toward him?

Correction: John can hardly be blamed for wanting to make sure. The Terminator could potentially be out of ammunition, for example. Making sure is certainly understandable, particularly considering the stress of the situation.

Tailkinker

2nd Nov 2008

300 (2006)

Corrected entry: When we see the 300 leaving for the Hot Gates, they are carrying their sword, spear and shield. However, once they engage the Persians, all of them have helmets. Where did they come from? Even if there were a few blacksmiths among the Arcadians, where would they get the steel/iron to make helmets?

Correction: They're carrying their helmets, occasionally carried by hand, but mostly attached to their waists, generally on the side where the shield is carried - as such, the shield usually obscures them. There are, however, a number of shots throughout the journey to the Hot Gates where they can be seen.

Tailkinker

22nd Oct 2008

Batman Forever (1995)

Corrected entry: When Dick Grayson is getting rid of Two-Face's bomb at the circus, he is in the rafters of the building, but he is shown disposing of the bomb by pushing it through an open manhole and down a road into the river.

Correction: No, he's shown pushing the bomb out of a hole in the roof of the building and down the side.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: At the start of the movie, Sheriff Tom Bell talks about how when he became a sheriff his father was still a sheriff, and both were sheriffs at the same time. However, at the end Bell is describing a dream with his father in it, and states that his father was 20 years younger than he is now when the father died, so his father is the younger man in the dream. If the father died 20 years younger than Bell is now, he could not have still been alive and a sheriff when Bell became a sheriff. (00:00:55 - 01:55:05)

Correction: Bell's precise age is not given in the film, but, based on the age of Tommy Lee Jones at the time the film was made, it's reasonable to state that Bell is in his early-to-mid sixties. He states that he's lived twenty years longer than his father, putting his father in his early-to-mid forties when he died. If the two were sheriffs at the same time, and we assume that Bell was twenty-five when he became sheriff (which is not what he specifically says, only that he was a sheriff when he was that age), that would mean an age difference between father and son of around eighteen years. This is relatively early to become a father, but hardly implausibly so.

Tailkinker

3rd Oct 2008

Iron Man (2008)

Corrected entry: When Ironman lowers the Audi SUV back to the ground, the female driver accelerates away in a panic with Ironman trying to hold onto the hood. After he loses his grip you see him slide along the pavement, as the driver continues to drag Ironman along underneath the SUV. When he finally lifts up the end of the rear of the SUV to free himself, he is being dragged in the same direction of travel as the vehicle. However, when he frees himself, he begins to roll back toward the camera. Once he gets free, momentum should have continued to cause him to roll forward/away from the camera, in th direction he had been travelling, not back towards it.

Correction: Incorrect. The camera is not stationary - it's following the SUV at approximately the same speed as the vehicle is travelling. Once Tony frees himself from under the car, friction between his armour and the road surface slows him rapidly, allowing the camera, which is still moving at the same speed, to catch up and overtake him.

Tailkinker

9th Oct 2008

Pathfinder (2007)

Corrected entry: Horses did not exist in the Americas until the European discovery in the 1400's. The white stallion at the beginning of the film should not have been there.

Correction: The whole plot of the film revolves around European contact with the American continent far earlier than the commonly accepted date in the late 1400's. Given this, it cannot be said that in this fictional history, horses could not have been brought over earlier than the real-world history states.

Tailkinker

10th Oct 2008

Ghost Rider (2007)

Correction: You've got a problem with that but you're fine with the fact that the Rider can talk? It's mystical - just go with it.

Tailkinker

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.