Factual error: At the end the narrator talks of "the Honourable" Winston Churchill. He was actually the Right Honourable.
Necrothesp
22nd Oct 2011
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)
26th Jun 2011
Primeval (2007)
Character mistake: Referring to the US, Russian and Chinese governments, the admiral says that "Washington, Moscow and Shanghai" have been informed. The capital of China is Beijing.
26th Jun 2011
Primeval (2007)
Character mistake: The submarine captain says they have no "kitchen staff" on board. No naval officer would refer to a ship's galley as a "kitchen". It's a tradition thing.
26th Jun 2011
Primeval (2007)
Factual error: Matt says he was in the Royal Marines, to which the submarine captain says "you were in the army?" Any naval officer would know the Marines are certainly not Army.
26th Jun 2011
Primeval (2007)
Factual error: Many of the Royal Navy details are completely wrong. The submarine captain's cap badge is not that of the Royal Navy. "Midshipman" Leonard wears the insignia of a chief petty officer. "Officer" (not a naval rank) Neal wears the insignia of a petty officer. "Officer" Shaw wears the insignia of an able rating. The Flag Office Submarines is depicted as a full admiral, whereas in fact he was a rear-admiral and the position no longer exists.
25th May 2011
The Sinking of the Laconia (2010)
Factual error: The two junior Royal Navy officers in Sierra Leone are listed on the credits as Junior Third Officers. This is a Merchant Navy rank - they are actually Lieutenants.
25th May 2011
The Sinking of the Laconia (2010)
Factual error: Although addressed as "Kapitänleutnant" in the film, Hartenstein had actually been promoted to Korvettenkapitän three months before the film is set. He is never seen wearing rank insignia, but he does correctly wear a Korvettenkapitän's oak leaves on his cap peak.
25th May 2011
The Sinking of the Laconia (2010)
Factual error: The Merchant Navy rank insignia is very poorly researched. Each officer seems to have a different style of insignia, despite working for the same company and they incorrectly wear rank insignia on the shoulders of their blue uniforms as well as the cuffs. The main character, Junior Third Officer Mortimer, wears a bizarre mix of insignia, apparently consisting of a Royal Navy petty officer's sleeve badge, a Royal Navy chief petty officer's cuff buttons, and a rank badge of three inverted chevrons on his shoulder boards that doesn't seem to resemble anything from reality. In reality, he should simply wear a single cuff ring (or shoulder bar in white uniform).
25th May 2011
Roots (1977)
Part 1 Roots: The Saga of An American Family - S1-E1
Factual error: The slave ship 'Lord Ligonier' flies the White Ensign. This has always been reserved for the Royal Navy; British merchant ships (as American ships were in 1765) have flown the Red Ensign since 1674.
25th May 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Factual error: None of the British army officers is wearing the gorget, which was an officer's insignia at this time.
24th May 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Factual error: Barbossa addresses one of his officers as "lieutenant-commander". This rank was not introduced into the Royal Navy until 1914.
6th Mar 2011
The Pacific (2010)
Factual error: John Basilone was actually a Sergeant when he won the Medal of Honor at Guadalcanal, but is shown wearing the insignia of the higher rank of Platoon Sergeant. However, when his medal citation is read out it does give his correct rank (although senior sergeants in the US forces are commonly addressed simply as "sergeant", official citations give their full rank).
19th Jan 2011
Lost (2004)
Factual error: The police officer introduces himself to Claire as "Officer" Barnes. In Australia, ordinary police officers hold the rank of Constable, not Officer.
19th Jan 2011
Lost (2004)
Factual error: The neurosurgeon introduces himself as "Doctor" Woodruff and also has this written on his coat. In Australia, where this scene is set, surgeons are always addressed and referred to as "Mister" after the British fashion.
5th Jan 2011
The Sound of Music (1965)
Factual error: At his wedding, Captain Von Trapp is wearing three medium-width rank rings on the cuffs of his uniform (similar to a Commander in the Royal Navy and US Navy). In the Austro-Hungarian Navy, in which he served, this rank badge did not exist. Von Trapp actually held the rank of Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant-Commander), indicated by one medium ring and one narrow ring. Even had he held the rank of Linienschiffskapitän (Captain), he would have worn one medium and three narrow rings. The only rank which had vaguely similar insignia to that in the film was Linienschiffsleutnant (Lieutenant), with three narrow rings. Even allowing for artistic licence re Von Trapp's actual rank, the insignia he is wearing simply did not exist.
4th Jan 2011
Lost (2004)
Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1 - S2-E23
Factual error: The prison Desmond is released from looks nothing like any British prison, let alone the British military prison (the "Glasshouse"), which is more of a training camp than a traditional prison. The guards wear no cap badges on their berets (all British service personnel wear cap badges) and their berets are worn almost vertically on their heads, whereas British berets are pulled hard to the right. The NCO who releases him is credited as a "master sergeant" in the episode credits - an American rank which has never been used in the British Army.
16th Oct 2010
Made in Dagenham (2010)
Factual error: Rita says that George was a gunner in the RAF during the war. The photograph of him in uniform in his and Connie's house shows him wearing a (double wing) pilot's brevet instead of the single wing of an air gunner.
20th Sep 2010
Redacted (2007)
Factual error: Although B. B. Rush's wears the rank insignia of a Specialist and he is addressed as Specialist by his interrogator, all the documentation shows his rank as Private First Class.
11th Sep 2010
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Character mistake: Hicox uses the word "momentarily" in the American sense of "in a moment". In British English it means only "for a moment". An educated Englishman in the 1940s would never have used the word in the American sense.
6th Sep 2010
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Factual error: When we first see him in Royal Marines uniform, Hicox is wearing a beret with a short 'tail' (the end of the drawstring used to tighten the beret). This is indeed a feature of military berets in some countries, but not in Britain.
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Suggested correction: These movies aren't set in a specific time.
Credit for the following goes to another member here, Super Grover, who actually answered a question about the dates the films are set a while ago. These dates are estimates. The intro of 'PotC: The Curse of the Black Pearl' takes place mid-1720s (roughly 1725), when Will and Elizabeth are around 11/12 yrs old. Then eight years later the duo are about 19-20 yrs old during the main part of 'The Curse of the Black Pearl', then around a year later are set to marry in 'PotC: Dead Man's Chest' followed by the consecutive 'At World's End', which take place around 1733 / 1734. The next movies 'PotC: On Stranger Tides' and 'Dead Men Tell No Tales' (after the intro) take place in the 1750s. Again, credit to Super Grover.
Ssiscool ★
They're set in the 1700's. In "On Stranger Tides", King George wants Jack to find the Fountain of Youth before King Ferdinand, who reigned from 1746 - 1759.
Bishop73