# Movie Goofs Thread - One Per Post **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594 "2012-12-10T13:42:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [December 10, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/41 "2012-12-10T22:22:04Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > In _The Untouchables_, when Ness is at Malone’s house and they’re talking in the living room, the shots of Connery show the top button on his shirt alternately buttoned, then unbuttoned, then buttoned, then unbuttoned… > > The shots of him are fairly close, like mid-chest and head. It’s ridiculously obvious. It’s almost as if the scene was an outtake from a spoof and they were doing it on purpose. DePalma must have been distracted. Something like this happened in Fatal Attraction as well. Glenn Close and Michael Douglass are talking to each other while she is naked in bed. Different shots have her covered differently throughout the scene. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/42 "2012-12-10T22:32:22Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > In the film North by Northwest,at Mount Rushmore, in the restaurant, there is a kid who knows there is going to be a gun shot, he covers his ears before the gunfire. \*\*\*\*Dewey Finn great minds and all:cool: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/43 "2012-12-10T22:39:03Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I’m not too sure if this is a goof or just bad story-telling, but in **Pearl Harbor** , bored American Ben Affleck joins the RAF as some sort of foreign volunteer, thereby leading to a tearful goodbye sequence as the England-bound flyboy boards a … train … for the trans-Atlantic journey. > > Whatever it was, goof or bad plotting, it was a truly WTF moment. I’ve not seen the movie, but it’s possible he was headed to Canada for induction/flight training (assuming he was still in the continental United States, and not Hawaii), or simply to his POE for the sea voyage to Britain (or Canada). The US volunteers who served in the RAF prior to America’s entering the war were known as the Eagle Squadron, BTW. The British were glad to have them, along with the Czechs, Poles, French, Norwegians, etc., who also volunteered in 1939–40. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/44 "2012-12-10T22:47:35Z")
Then in that case, it’s bad story telling. But I can’t believe in a movie where they really didn’t care all that much about historical accuracy in the first place, somebody said “Wait - he can’t board a ship to England, he’s got to get on a train to go to Halifax, then board a ship to England. Don’t want to get _that_ wrong.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/45 "2012-12-10T22:47:40Z")
In the forgettable movie “Timecop” the Van Damme character says something like “We’ve carbon dated this gold brick and it’s over 800 years old.” and my husband blurted “You can’t carbon date gold, it was never alive!” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/46 "2012-12-10T22:49:33Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Something like this happened in Fatal Attraction as well. Glenn Close and Michael Douglass are talking to each other while she is naked in bed. Different shots have her covered differently throughout the scene. The invention of the L-shaped sheet was, unfortunately, a couple of years too late to save the _Fatal Attraction_ production. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/47 "2012-12-10T22:50:41Z")
In _Some Like It Hot_, set after the St Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929, boxes of Ritz Crackers are passed around during the party scene in the Pullman. Ritz Crackers weren’t introduced by Nabisco until 1934. (All my life, I thought they were period on the basis of this movie. ☹ ) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/48 "2012-12-10T22:52:19Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > Tombstone. At the OK Corral, Doc gets off three shots from a double barreled shotgun. Negative, Ghostrider. What happens is that you see one shot from two different perspectives: Doc’s and Tom McClaury’s. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/49 "2012-12-10T22:52:24Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Then in that case, it’s bad story telling. But I can’t believe in a movie where they really didn’t care all that much about historical accuracy in the first place, somebody said “Wait - he can’t board a ship to England, he’s got to get on a train to go to Halifax, then board a ship to England. Don’t want to get _that_ wrong.” 😉 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/50 "2012-12-10T22:56:42Z")
This is a fun story: [“Titanic” night sky adjusted after Neil deGrasse Tyson criticized James Cameron](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/titanic-night-sky-adjusted-after-neil-degrasse-tyson-criticized-james-cameron/2012/04/03/gIQAZyZItS_blog.html) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/51 "2012-12-10T23:01:03Z")
In _ET: The Extraterrestrial_, the phases of the Moon as seen from Elliot’s backyard are completely wrong, something which Spielberg could easily have fixed in the last re-release (instead of bowdlerizing the dialogue and “enhancing” the aliens’ spaceship). ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/52 "2012-12-10T23:45:28Z")
In _The Two Towers_, in the scene when the Riders of Rohan attack the Uruk-Hai camp at night, Pippin starts out with his hands bound, has untied hands when he screams at a horse rearing over him, and then his hands are bound again. I don’t usually notice goofs like this, but it was really obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/53 "2012-12-11T00:07:57Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > A pretty famous one : > > The Matrix - when Neo and the agent are on the rooftop having a gunfight, the agent shoots at Neo and he ducks backwards in slow motion. As the camera pans around, Neo’s two pistols are nowhere to be found, but when the camera catches up you see the guns right next to Neo’s body on the ground : > > [The Matrix Goof](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv0NZatMr8A) He throws the gun down then goes into bullet-time (where he’s moving super fast), so you don’t see anything moving in real-time Well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!! Years ago I went to the cinema to see some dreadful courtroom drama which Harrison Ford was in - I forget the name of it - anyhoos at some point there’s the customary scene where they come out of the court and a flock of journalists rush over to get a quote. One of them is holding up a tape recorder _that doesn’t have a tape in it!!!_ I bet he got the sack. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/54 "2012-12-11T00:24:46Z")
In the remake of Evil Dead after some idiot chucks the book down into the basement, Ashe needs to go retrieve it. He has by this time chopped off his _right_ hand and replaced it with a chain saw. So you see him clonking down the stairs, reaching for, grabbing and tucking pages from the book under his arm … left hand, left hand, right hand, left hand :dubious::smack: ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/55 "2012-12-11T00:40:40Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > In the forgettable movie “Timecop” the Van Damme character says something like “We’ve carbon dated this gold brick and it’s over 800 years old.” and my husband blurted “You can’t carbon date gold, it was never alive!” And even if it could be carbon dated, _it went through a time machine_. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/56 "2012-12-11T00:57:11Z")
In one episode of _Firefly_, Wash finishes a tricky bit of flying and shoves his rolling chair back away from the console to deliver a funny quip. He’s holding his hand out like he’s holding the control yoke for the ship, but the prop didn’t extend out far enough for him to move back (into camera view). So, rather than just letting go and having it look like he’s let go, he’s just sitting there with his hand out holding a phantom stick. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/57 "2012-12-11T07:22:47Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > If I remember correctly, Scott sped up the film at that spot for a couple of frames to emphasize how quick and strong Leon was. I’ve always liked it. Correcting myself: I should have said that Ridley Scott _removed several frames_ to get the desired effect. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/58 "2012-12-11T12:51:19Z")
As a birder, I often amuse myself listening to the background songs when a scene is set outdoors. I knew Last of the Mohicans was set in the Carolinas and not the upstate New York of the novel because I was hearing Carolina Chickadees, and not Black-Caps. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/59 "2012-12-11T13:33:33Z")
Btw, OP: I like the limitation of one-goof-per-post as it inhibits the dreaded [listbot](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14071681&postcount=139), the bane of Cafe Society threads… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594/60 "2012-12-11T13:49:29Z")
Also in The Untouchables, when the camera is slowly closing in on the car that Nitti has landed on (and in), you can see the shadow and reflection of the camera crew and rig. It’s not obvious, but you can’t unsee it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-goofs-thread-one-per-post/643594.md?page=4)