Factual error: During Bill and Ted's first time traveling in history, Rufus states they are in Austria in the year 1805. 1805 was the year Napoleon achieved his greatest victory over Tsar Alexander I and Mikhail Kutuzov at the Battle of Austerlitz (present day Czech Republic). Napoleon didn't invade Austria until 1809.
Bishop73
6th Jan 2024
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
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Suggested correction: Austerlitz was part of the Austrian Empire. But that battle was after the Battle of Ulm. After Ulm surrendered, Napoleon advanced to Vienna and took the city. The Austrian War did occur in 1809, but that was Austria attacking to free neighboring countries under Napoleon's rule.
5th Jan 2024
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Corrected entry: When Bond turns out the light to join Tiffany in bed in the American hotel suite, he flips the switch up. That would turn off a UK light, but US switches are on when up, off when down.
Correction: Not always. Any time a light is controlled by two switches, up can be off or on depending on the use of the other switch.
24th Nov 2019
Doctor Who (2005)
The Day of the Doctor - S7-E16
Deliberate mistake: Looking closely at the floor of Eleven's console room reveals that the part of the floor around the console facing the door has been discreetly raised up, which it isn't in any other appearance of this console room, so that Clara can ride her motorcyle inside it without going down two steps. This wasn't in any previous episode and is gone in the next one.
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Suggested correction: The Tardis has constantly shown it can change its internal structure to fit its needs or desires.
23rd Feb 2016
Get on Up (2014)
Continuity mistake: Ben Bart passed away earlier in the film but can be seen dancing on stage with the character Gertrude, at a James Brown concert where he is performing "I Got Soul (Super Bad) ". (01:46:00)
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Suggested correction: During that sequence, they intercut James in his gold jumpsuit, with long hanging-down hair, and James in a black-and-white checked vest, doing the same song. In the black-and-white vest era, Ben Bart is still alive, so the dancing could have been from that era.
While that does seem to be the case, it should be pointed out that Ben Bart died in 1968, but the song James Brown is singing, "Super Bad", was recorded in 1970.
9th Dec 2023
The Wire (2002)
Misgivings - S4-E10
Corrected entry: Mayor-Elect Tommy Carcetti and Col. Cedric Daniels are at Carcetti's campaign office. On the wall is the political symbol of a donkey, which is for Democrats. Carcetti is a Republican, so the political symbol should have been an elephant. (00:43:57)
Correction: Where do you get the idea he was Republican? He was a Democrat and ran against Royce in the Democratic primary election. After that, he went on to win the general election against the Republican nominee.
7th Dec 2023
The Conners (2018)
Corrected entry: Ben says "we may be honing in on the problem." You hone a knife and you hone an argument. "Homing" means getting closer, either in distance or in understanding. They were HOMING in on the problem.
Correction: Either phrase is acceptable. "Honing in" means to move towards an objective or to focus attention on that objective.
It is a common usage, but still incorrect. https://grammarist.com/eggcorns/home-in-hone-in/.
It is an acceptable usage, even if it is not the best or most grammatically correct word to use. After all, the Conners are not the most sophisticated or educated family. Something that is not technically correct can be situationally right.
And I can't remember the last time (if ever) I heard anyone say "homing" instead of using "honing."
Correction: Merriam-Webster gives this as an example: The missile was honing in on its target. Researchers are honing in on the cause of the disease. Ben uses it in this manner. It is a colloquialism that we all understand. You can use either phrasing (and in the US it tends to be more common to use "honing in"). It is not a mistake.
27th Sep 2014
Doctor Who (2005)
Revealing mistake: In the opening scene the Doctor and Donna are speaking over the phone. The purple phone Donna is holding shows the slot where a cable should be plugged in, but there is none. (00:00:25)
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Suggested correction: This shouldn't be considered a mistake. While it's true in real life this phone has a slot for a cable, they're on an alien planet and this is unknown technology. In-universe there's no way of knowing what that slot is for, and there's no reason to think the phone needs to be plugged into anything.
25th Nov 2023
Balls of Fury (2007)
Character mistake: When Randy is introduced for his semi-final match, he comes out to "Rock of Ages" by Def Leppard. The announcer says the song is by the "supergroup" Def Leppard. A supergroup is comprised of band members who were previously successful solo artists or band members prior to joining this band. Def Leppard is an original band. None of the band members were famous or successful prior to this band. (00:03:00)
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Suggested correction: At best, this is trivia. Perhaps if the announcer was in the music business and knew the music jargon, it could be seen as a character mistake. I myself never knew "supergroup" had a specific meaning until you mentioned it. To me, it sounded like he just thought Def Leppard was super. Like calling them a totally radical group, despite no members being radicals - someone who wants complete political or social reform.
3rd Dec 2023
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Factual error: The movie's title is factually inaccurate. The bride isn't "of Frankenstein" (the doctor), she's the bride of Frankenstein's monster.
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Suggested correction: First, that's not what constitutes a factual error. At this point in time, "Frankenstein" was commonly used as the creature's name. Even today, it's understood. And in the novel, Frankenstein was never a doctor or held a doctorate of any kind. So, based on your faulty logic, it's a factual error to call him "doctor."
25th Nov 2023
That '70s Show (1998)
Character mistake: Right after Hyde comes into the kitchen to get whipped cream for the stripper wife, Kitty Forman says "Kurt" instead of Red to Kurtwood Smith.
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Suggested correction: She says, "Okay, what were you two talking about?". She doesn't use any name at all.
13th Jul 2002
Spider-Man (2002)
Trivia: When the board has fired Norman, the board member in the wheelchair is wearing a dark tie with thin colored stripes on it. Later on Peter is wearing this exact tie at Thanksgiving dinner. (01:23:35)
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Suggested correction: They look similar, but it's not the exact tie. The stripes are going in the opposite direction, and it's a different color. Peter's tie looks like the one he was wearing at graduation.
10th Nov 2023
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (1952)
Character mistake: Rick and his girlfriend are enjoying a picnic in the woods when a baby goat wanders by. Rick says, "He looks hungry. Seen any tin cans around?" Peggy replies, "I don't think they eat tin cans until they're older." Goats will eat the labels of cans but they do not eat the cans.
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Suggested correction: It's not a character mistake if Rick genuinely believes goats eat tin cans, but it's clear his girlfriend was being sarcastic in her reply about goats not eating tin cans till they're older. Of course, Rick could be asking if there's one around so The Goat can eat the label.
15th Jun 2007
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Corrected entry: In the scene where Peter Parker is in the restaurant where Mary Jane is singing he is sitting down having a drink and in the background you see Willem Defoe as an extra in the scene.
Correction: It has been stated several times that this is not Willem Dafoe, and if you look close, it is obvious the man in question looks considerably younger and different than Dafoe.
You are very much mistaken. I watched this scene, and it obviously is Willem Dafoe. It is possible that the makeup artist made him look younger.
If it's Dafoe, then his interviews don't make sense. He's talked about his time on both Spider-Man films he's been in, and he's said he's not sure if he'd appear in another one if it was just a cameo or tip of the hat. Why wouldn't he mention this time?
Okay, maybe it's not Dafoe, but this man resembles him.
21st Sep 2018
Doctor Who (2005)
Character mistake: The question to unlock one of the doors asks for the next number in the sequence 313, 331, 367. The Doctor gives the answer as 379 with a convoluted (albeit correct) explanation of happy primes, but there are much simpler solutions. The difference between the first and second numbers is 18 and the difference between the second and third is 36 (which is 2 x 18), suggesting that the difference between the third number and the next could be either 54 (= 3 x 18), giving 421 as the next number, or 72 (= 2 x 36), giving 439. It's likely that the Doctor would see that the answer is ambiguous, and yet he confidently states that the most complicated answer is correct. (00:08:45 - 00:09:15)
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Suggested correction: If you know what a happy prime is, like the Doctor does, it might be simpler than your idea because you gave 2 options - 421 and 439. The idea of a pattern is there should be only one answer that fits, which would be the case if they're all happy primes.
18th Mar 2005
Friends (1994)
The One Where Rachel Quits - S3-E10
Continuity mistake: At the start of the scene in which Ross breaks the little girl's leg, we can see that the stairs are just separated by railings. Later in that scene, when Ross and Chandler start walking up the stairs, there are walls on both sides of them. (00:01:40)
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Suggested correction: This isn't completely true. In the first shot, we see railing in the middle, as shown in the screenshot. Then, the shot changes to upstairs, looking down, and we can see the wall, as shown in the bottom picture. However, at the end of the wall, it goes into the railings, which is visible just as the pair start to climb the stairs. A screenshot of this can be seen here: https://ibb.co/bmZ8xTc, making it easier to understand.
The problem with the screenshot is the right side is circled to show there's no railing, but the railing is on the left side (to the character's right), but Chandler is blocking the view of the railing. Ssiscool's screenshot is before Chandler starts to walk up the stairs, which is why it's seen.
1st Nov 2023
Monkey Business (1931)
Other mistake: A crewman tells the ship's captain he knows there are four stowaways because he heard them singing "Sweet Adeline," a popular barbershop quartet song. Harpo never spoke in any of the Marx Brothers films. The crewman could not have heard four voices.
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24th Oct 2023
Columbo (1971)
Corrected entry: When Columbo and the staffer are looking through the orders from MAC supplier, they mention tweezers. Hospitals use "forceps", not tweezers.
Correction: There is a difference between tweezers and forceps, and many hospitals, if not most or all, use both.
Yes, forceps are used medically for grasping or holding larger objects, while tweezers are used mainly for manipulating or moving tiny ones, and also for dissection. Interestingly, in many surgical suites, the staff will use the term "pickups" instead of forceps.
25th Mar 2018
The Running Man (1987)
Corrected entry: When Laughlin is having his explosive collar removed, one of Mic's men gives Richards a cigarette. Less than 30 seconds later, this has changed into a large cigar.
Correction: There is no cigarette involved in this scene. Richards had a large cigar the whole time.
I agree, it's always a cigar. The way the light hits the cigar gives the impression of a thin cigarette.
Around the 10:50 mark, as he says, "Hasn't been very popular lately", he raises what looks like a thin white cigarette to his mouth?
No. What you're seeing is a highlight along the side of his cigar.
12th Oct 2023
Stargate (1994)
Corrected entry: For both opening the Earth gate (they mention having never gotten beyond six symbols), then opening the Abydos gate after Daniel Jackson knows the first six symbols from that cavern, why can't they simply use trial and error to find the seventh symbol? For 40-odd symbols apiece on both, it would only take approximately that many guesses by process of elimination.
Correction: This mistake has already been corrected, twice. The military in control of the project might not have allowed them to experiment with different symbols simply because they didn't know what it might do. Not fully far fetched since the entire compound starts shaking when entering the 6th symbol. It might explode for all they know.
Then the Abydos gate alone. Six symbols down. One to go. 40 odd guesses, easy enough, less than an hour.
You missed the point of the correction. It could have been 4 options and still not worth the risk of entering the wrong symbol.
Well, we don't know if the gate on Abydos makes everything shake. So, I'd say there is a point there. But they only discover the symbols on Abydos till later. By then, they are already at the tribe, I think.
15th Nov 2020
The Longest Yard (1974)
Other mistake: At the start when Crewe's girlfriend says "don't you take my Maserati" Crewe says he has earned it. He then goes out and gets in a Citroen, not a Maserati. Also, a Citroen front license plate appears on the car shortly afterwards which wasn't there before. (00:03:57)
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Suggested correction: The Citroen SM model has a Maserati engine.
That doesn't make it a Maserati. Citroën bought Maserati in 1968, but their badge determined the brand, not what engine was in it. A lot of car companies are owned by other car companies to have multiple divisions in their lineup. If someone has a Toyota and called it a Lexus, they'd be wrong, just like it's wrong in this case.
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