Continuity mistake: In the opening scene, the first side shot of James' desk with papers, books, telephone, watch, etc., differs somewhat from the next front shot in regard to the arrangement of some of these items. (00:01:10)
Super Grover
18th Feb 2004
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
18th Feb 2004
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
Continuity mistake: In the opening scene, as Dr. James Longstreet sits at his desk, his left white shirt cuff is folded over the cardigan. In the next shot, while his arm did not move, his cuff is half folded, and while his arm rests on the desk not moving, in the next shot his cuff is completely unfolded. He also removes his glasses and in this side shot he does not have his left hand near his head. In the next continuous shot from behind, his left hand is up and his head is leaning on it. (00:01:30)
Continuity mistake: In Port Royal, during the pirates looting, the sign comes crashing down onto Grapple, and Will says, "Good bye." In the next wide shot, behind Will to his left are a large and small barrel up against the wall, the large one being right in the corner. As a passing pirate hits Will on the head with a candlestick, in this shot both barrels are now further from the corner and closer to the door. (00:35:15)
Audio problem: Aboard Interceptor after the downed mast, Will is trapped below deck, as Elizabeth yells to him, "I can't move it," then Grapple and Mallet grab Elizabeth and she screams, "Will!" In the next shot of Elizabeth, she fights to free herself and we hear her scream, "Will!" again, but she's clenching her teeth and her mouth doesn't form the word Will. At almost the same moment that she screams, "Will!" the second time, Cotton's parrot squawks. (01:29:30)
Continuity mistake: After the downing of the square rigged mast aboard the Interceptor, Jack spots the monkey running across it to the Black Pearl and he starts to follow. As Jack runs toward the mast in this shot, we see the broken end of the mast, rigging and sail that is lying at the Interceptor's rail. In the next shot, on Elizabeth's right the broken mast is seen with its rigging on it. The rigging is lying very differently on the mast in this shot than in the previous shot with Jack. (01:29:25)
Continuity mistake: At the blacksmith shop, there is a wicker basket with rope lying at the top of it located near the steps and the cart. This rope is positioned differently in the basket throughout this scene. Some examples are: in the shot right after Will says, "You threatened Miss Swann," then when Jack tosses Will's red hot sword away, and in the close-up of the cart slipping off the broken bench. (00:23:00 - 00:25:10)
Continuity mistake: There are two shots of an unconscious Mr. Brown and the area around him, when Jack and Will approach him. Just before and after Jack grabs the red hot sword out of Will's hand and tosses it, Mr. Brown is seen behind Jack. In these shots Mr. Brown's placement is different in comparison to the tools above him on the ledge. Also in this shot, the tools on the floor to his right in the earlier shots, are not in the same place either. When Will says, "I practice three hours a day so when I meet a pirate, I can kill it," the actual tools to Mr. Brown's left are different. (00:21:05 - 00:24:20)
Continuity mistake: In the blacksmith shop, next to the fireplace and anvil, there is a table with a variety of tools and other objects. The variety and placement of the items on that table changes when the table is shown. Some examples are, as Jack puts his hat down, then when Will notices Jack's hat, and later when Jack says, "Ta." (00:21:00)
Continuity mistake: At the dock in Port Royal, in the close-up as Jack makes his escape from the Marines, he is standing on the beam as he throws his shackle chain over the rope. The ledge to his left, just under the rope, has a metal support that is flush with the wood's edge. In the next wide shot as Jack starts his descent down the rope, the ledge and its metal support are not the same as in the close-up, they are obviously very different. (00:20:10)
Revealing mistake: Before Interceptor's explosion, in the close-up it's very apparent that it's not the real Interceptor. Some examples are, no rigging at the stern-most mast, at the railing there are no belaying pins with or without all the lines hanging from them, there are no cleats with or without lines and at least two of the swiveling mounts at the stern for the swivel cannons aren't there. (01:30:40)
Visible crew/equipment: Aboard Dauntless, when Will says, "Here they come," behind him the deck can be seen. Then when the grapnels are being swung over Dauntless' rail by the Marines, very taught lines inches above the deck are seen going through the balusters of the rail leading to Interceptor. The taught lines were not placed by the Marines, only the grapnels, nor were they placed by Will and Jack. As Norrington says, "Set top sails and clear..." those lines going through the balusters aren't in this shot. These lines are the 'real' lines used by the crew's marine-unit for set up of the separation of the two ships. (00:46:50)
Continuity mistake: When Jack, and later Will, approach Mr. Brown we see how far apart the tables in front and to the left of Mr. Brown are. Jack breaks the chain, he hears Will and the table behind him is in line with the back door. When Jack pulls the sword out of Will's hand and tosses it, in the shot of Will the table is much closer to Mr. Brown now. After Jack says, "You need to find yourself a girl, mate" and tosses the mallet at Will, in the wide shot behind Will, we see just how close together the two tables are now. The side table is angled more towards him too. This has nothing to do with camera angles. (00:21:50 - 00:24:25)
Continuity mistake: As Will and Jack duel, the vertical wood beam, near the cart and stone steps, is seen in many shots. In several shots the rope secured to it is either tied differently to the beam or is not even there. 1st example, when Will says, "You're the one they're hunting," and 2nd example, the wide shot before Jack says, "You know what you're doing, I'll give you that," the rope is tied differently. After Jack says, "You need to find yourself a girl, mate," but just before Jack tosses the mallet at Jack, forcing him to duck, there is no rope. Then, when they duel on the cart, in some close-ups the rope is seen, but in some wide shots the rope isn't there. (00:22:35 - 00:25:15)
Visible crew/equipment: Will grabs the red hot sword and during the 'white light', Will's sleeve becomes translucent so the cable attached to the hilt is seen inside Will's right sleeve. When Will thrusts his sword at Jack's legs, the cable's seen again and the bulge under the vest is from the battery pack. In the close-up, their arms in the air, Will's left hand is about to grab Jack's wrist and the cable is seen openly at Will's wrist, going from the hilt into his right sleeve. The cable's hidden in Orlando Bloom's shirt and is powered by the battery pack (mentioned in another mistake), to supply the power for the spark effect of the sword. (On disc 2, Marc and Tony, rehearse this particular sword sequence and the two cables leading from the hilt are seen dragging on the floor as they duel. On the video, the cables are visible on Johnny and Orlando.) (00:24:15)
Continuity mistake: At the blacksmith shop, one end of the cart that Jack and Will duel on later is resting on a wood bench. In the close-up shot of their feet, just before Jack says, "Ta," the edge of the cart is flush against the edge of the bench. In the wide shots, before and after, the edge of the cart is in the middle of the bench. This has nothing to do with the angle of the camera. (00:23:10)
Continuity mistake: On the dock at Port Royal, Jack is speaking with Murtogg and Mullroy, who are guarding the dock from civilians. Seen behind the Marines to their left is the vacant dock edge. Yet when Jack holds Elizabeth hostage, the same dock edge is seen, but in this shot the edge is now filled with barrels and sacks. No one was on the dock between these two scenes. (00:11:45 - 00:18:40)
Continuity mistake: Jack walks down to the dock where Interceptor's moored, Murtogg is sitting on a sack that lies on a crate, his feet are up on a small barrel and behind him to his left are two large barrels, one on top of another. Once Jack's confronted, now the two large barrels are closer to the beam, and the small barrel is up right against the crate. This has nothing to do with the angle of the camera. (00:11:40)
Continuity mistake: At her home, when Elizabeth bars the door handles to the dining room with a candelabra, Pintel and Ragetti burst in, breaking that candelabra. Visible to Pintel's left in this shot is a cushioned chair and a small table, with absolutely nothing on it. Yet, in the next wide shot of the dining room, there is now a large candelabra on that small table near the door. (00:33:25)
Continuity mistake: Elizabeth's maid runs out the front door and the camera pans inside. Elizabeth is seen running past the set of three large windows on the landing, as she continues towards the last flight of stairs closer to the main floor. In the next close-up though, it shows Elizabeth followed by Pintel running down the stairs that are closer to the second floor which we see behind Pintel. Additional reference can also be seen when Elizabeth initially runs upstairs away from Pintel and Ragetti. (00:33:00)
Continuity mistake: In Governor Swann's home the maid runs past the dead servant and out through the front door, the camera begins to pan the interior and we see the foyer. There's a chair, a table and to the right is the overturned chair and the table is right next to the legs of the overturned chair. Then as Elizabeth, Pintel and Ragetti watch the cannonball crashing through the front window, the table is now much further away from the overturned chair. No one touched the table or chair. (00:33:00)
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