# Little mistakes that take you out of the movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969 "2009-02-22T19:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/141 "2009-04-28T03:33:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m still impressed. Most of the time chess is shown in movies or TV they don’t even bother to turn the board right. If my life were shown as a movie, you’d have multiple entries in the goofs section for that. I’ve never really cared about which way the board as turned as long as we set up all the pieces correctly. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/142 "2009-04-28T03:42:05Z")
A TV show, not a movie, but recently on _Prison Break_ our intrepid crew of jailbirds had to infilitrate a foreign embassy…in _Miami_. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/143 "2009-04-28T04:33:38Z")
Accents. When there is a mixture of “foreign” accents from native English speaking actors. Cate Blanchette, Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig etc I’m talking to you! ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/144 "2009-04-28T04:42:29Z")
Whenever a woman in a TV show uses an OTC pregnancy test: [ul] [li]They take it any random time of day. In reality, these tests should only be done with your “first pee of the day.”[/li][li]They usually take it within a few days of missing their period. In reality, the tests aren’t considered entirely accurate until a week after the missed period.[/li][li]The results are always seen as definitive. In reality, most manufacturers advise a retest a few days after a negative result if your period doesn’t stat, just to be sure.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/145 "2009-04-28T05:38:02Z")
Just watched the director’s cut of the first Star Trek movie. Haven’t seen it in a long time. I found a perfect example. Kirk gives an order when they enter the wormhole (fire phasers), which Decker countermands. When the situation is resolved, Kirk tells Decker “we have to talk” _and McCoy comes along_. What? When the Captain is preparing to chew out (or at least question) the first officer, the doctor doesn’t join in. That’s private, unless it’s specifically being done on the record. Of course, there were 397-1/2 other examples in that movie, but this is the one that caught my attention. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/146 "2009-04-28T07:04:45Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > [li]The results are always seen as definitive. In reality, most manufacturers advise a retest a few days after a negative result if your period doesn’t stat, just to be sure.[/li][/LIST] IIRC, you never get any false \*positives \*with preganacy tests (unless you’ve been eating those Mexican Cheetos). Since pregrancy tests on TV are always positive… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/147 "2009-04-28T07:09:37Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Just watched the director’s cut of the first Star Trek movie. Haven’t seen it in a long time. I found a perfect example. > > Kirk gives an order when they enter the wormhole (fire phasers), which Decker countermands. When the situation is resolved, Kirk tells Decker “we have to talk” _and McCoy comes along_. What? When the Captain is preparing to chew out (or at least question) the first officer, the doctor doesn’t join in. That’s private, unless it’s specifically being done on the record. > > Of course, there were 397-1/2 other examples in that movie, but this is the one that caught my attention. In my experience, some officers always need to have an “ally” around when they’re chewing someone out. Usually it’s a senior NCO, but since the Enterprise doesn’t seem to have any of those, a doctor would do in a pinch. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/148 "2009-04-28T09:32:06Z")
Concerning the Star Wars Kessel Run “mistake”, I can’t believe anyone even bothers to fanwank it. It’s clearly indicated in the script that Han made a mistake and Obi Wan knows it. > [@George Lucas](#): > > BEN: Yes, indeed. If it’s a fast ship. > > HAN: Fast ship? You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon? > > BEN: Should I have? > > HAN: It’s the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve > parsecs! > > _Ben reacts to Solo’s stupid attempt to impress them with > obvious misinformation._ > > HAN: (continued) I’ve outrun Imperial starships, not the local > bulk-cruisers, mind you. I’m talking about the big Corellian ships > now. She’s fast enough for you, old man. What’s the cargo? I’m pretty sure in the movie Obi Wan gives a sideways glance to Luke to indicate this. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/149 "2009-04-28T13:49:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > IIRC, you never get any false \*positives \*with preganacy tests (unless you’ve been eating those Mexican Cheetos). Since pregrancy tests on TV are always positive… It’s true the vast majority are positive … but just yesterday I saw an episode of a current TV show where the test was neg. That’s what prompted me to post here … ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/150 "2009-04-28T14:18:35Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > Fear not my tapeworm friends, for there is still much to find upsettting about _JP_: > > [ul] > [li] The animals referred to as “_Velociraptor_” in the book and movies were nothing of the sort. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vraptor-scale.svg) is the comparative size of _Velociraptor_ to a human. [/li][li] The whole “_T. rex_’s vision is based on movement” was utter crap. There was a half-assed explanation for it in the book; there was _no_ explanation for it in the movie.[/li][li] Why use frog DNA to supplement the missing DNA sequences for dinosaurs? Birds are a much better fit, and this much was known even while the movie was being filmed (that Grant’s little lecture at the beginning of the movie drew mocking laughter from the accompanying grad students was pretty lame).[/li][li] _Numerous_ continuity mistakes, ranging from minor (misspelling “StegOsaurus” as “StegAsaurus” on the embryo vials) to baffling (the sudden appearance of the cliff where not a moment earlier the _Tyrannosaurus_ had just broken through the fence!), and everything in between.[/li][/ul] Well aren’t alligators and tortoises and iguanas basically left over and pretty much unchanged from those times? ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/151 "2009-04-28T14:21:29Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Just watched the director’s cut of the first Star Trek movie. Haven’t seen it in a long time. I found a perfect example. > > Kirk gives an order when they enter the wormhole (fire phasers), which Decker countermands. When the situation is resolved, Kirk tells Decker “we have to talk” _and McCoy comes along_. What? When the Captain is preparing to chew out (or at least question) the first officer, the doctor doesn’t join in. That’s private, unless it’s specifically being done on the record. > > Of course, there were 397-1/2 other examples in that movie, but this is the one that caught my attention. Meh. Star Trek had previously established (and later stuck to) the idea that in certain circumstances the ship’s doctor has the right and the responsibility to declare the captain medically unfit to serve. If there are situations where Kirk’s mental soundness is in question, McCoy would want to have the best information possible firsthand. They could have thrown in a line here… “What are you doing here?” “I need to know if you’re still right in the head”. But it works without that. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/152 "2009-04-28T14:30:36Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Concerning the Star Wars Kessel Run “mistake”, I can’t believe anyone even bothers to fanwank it. It’s clearly indicated in the script that Han made a mistake and Obi Wan knows it. > > I’m pretty sure in the movie Obi Wan gives a sideways glance to Luke to indicate this. Yes, this is exactly correct, and the fanwankers are just wasting their time. The earliest explanation I read of the “parsecs” bit was an interview with Lucas in which he said that that line was to indicate that Han was a bit of a BSer. And that explanation is far far better than any amount of fanwankery. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/153 "2009-04-28T15:47:00Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > [ul] > [li] The animals referred to as “_Velociraptor_” in the book and movies were nothing of the sort. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vraptor-scale.svg) is the comparative size of _Velociraptor_ to a human.[/li][/ul] I think the _Velocirators_ were really supposed to be _Deinonychus_, which gets the size right, and _Deinonychus_ is close to _Velociraptor_, anyway. Still no explanation of why there were no feathers, though. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/154 "2009-04-28T15:50:30Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Yes, this is exactly correct, and the fanwankers are just wasting their time. > > The earliest explanation I read of the “parsecs” bit was an interview with Lucas in which he said that that line was to indicate that Han was a bit of a BSer. And that explanation is far far better than any amount of fanwankery. That’s how I read it too, many years ago. That Lucas claimed it was to show that Han was a braggart and full of banthashit. I had no idea that it was such a big deal that it had been retconned. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/155 "2009-04-29T02:26:18Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > The earliest explanation I read of the “parsecs” bit was an interview with Lucas in which he said that that line was to indicate that Han was a bit of a BSer. And that explanation is far far better than any amount of fanwankery. Opening (very carefully) my once-read first edition of the novelization, I find this version of the interchange: [QUOTE=“George Lucas” (Alan Dean Foster) in Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker] “I’m Han Solo, captain of the _Millennium Falcon_.” Suddenly he became all business. “Chewie tells me you’re looking for passage to the Alderaan system?” “That’s right, son. If it’s on a fast ship,” Kenobi told him. Solo didn’t bristle at the “son.” "Fast ship? You mean you’ve never _heard_ of the _Millennium Falcon_? Kenobi appeared amused. “Should I?” “It’s the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve standard timeparts!” Solo told him indignantly. [/QUOTE] The novelization came out five months before the movie was released. I’m not tuned into the fandom; how does this usually play in the discussion? Someone (Foster?) thought parsecs was too stupid to include, but didn’t know it was an intentional goof? Or it wasn’t in the script he was working from, but “timeparts” was? ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/156 "2009-04-29T02:39:55Z")
When a space faring organization doesn’t use Navy protocol on their spaceships, makes me go c’mon really? Did you just call your leader major? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/157 "2009-04-29T13:38:27Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > When a space faring organization doesn’t use Navy protocol on their spaceships, makes me go c’mon really? Did you just call your leader major? I’m a little fuzzy here, do they use Navy protocol in real life space faring organizations? ---
**Author:** ![ElectricZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@ElectricZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElectricZ)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/158 "2009-04-29T14:15:48Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > Could you please elaborate on that comment. Usually the film **Andromeda Strain** rates high praise on it’s scientific merits. The team uses electron microscopes, mass spectrometers, isolation protocols, growth cultures under various conditions and many more. What in your view are it’s glaring errors, given the movie’s premise. I think he’s probably referring to this version of [The Andromeda Strain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424600/), which he described with perfect accuracy IMHO… Unless you consider time travel to be unscientific. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/159 "2009-04-29T14:38:08Z")
Looking through binoculars on TV and movies always feature two circles instead of just one for the view. I just saw something recently (maybe it was in Burn Notice) where someone was looking through binoculars and it showed only one circle instead of the TV and movie standard two. I quickly pointed it out to my wife who kind of shrugged and said “So?” In MSTK they did a pretty funny riff on this trope where Joel put a device in front of Camera to make it look like binoculars and one of the bots yelled “Hey look, we’re stock footage!” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/160 "2009-04-29T19:49:32Z")
**ChrisBooth12** said: > [@](#): > > When a space faring organization doesn’t use Navy protocol on their spaceships, makes me go c’mon really? Did you just call your leader major? Battlestar Galactica did this. I couldn’t figure out their chain of command. The pilots were lieutenants. Okay. Then the XO was a Colonel? The ship commander was a Commander? Apollo, Lee Adama, starts as lieutenant, is promoted to Captain as the CAG, then promoted to Major, then promoted to Commander of the Pegasus. Where was Colonel in that line up? They sort of claim at one point they have Marines, which could explain the officer positions of Major and Colonel, except the people with those titles don’t have the roles they should if they were associated with being the Marine command line, and they function within the main chain of command seamlessly. I mean, Colonel Tigh is the XO of the ship, not kosher if Colonel is a Marine position because XO is a Navy office in Navy chain of command. Then again, who says alien space militaries must be constrained to Earth military hierarchies? Why can’t they make up the titles however they see fit? Sure, it’s extra confusing for us, but that’s a minor point. Then again, I’m probably a typical American in that I struggle with any kind of social hierarchy for classes societies. Novels or movies bring up Counts vs. Dukes. vs Earls vs whatnots and I go glassy-eyed. It’s a real struggle when I read, for instance, Webber’s Harrington books and have to keep straight all the various character names, their titles, the names of their estates, and their position in the nobility. Military hierarchies are similar. It’s taken years to sort of get straight the officer hierarchies for Navy vs Army, and I’m not sure I know Air Force or Marines (Marines follow Army, right?). So anything that adds to that confusion is not appreciated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969.md?page=9)