# Movies/Shows with glaring errors. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422 "2012-10-11T15:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/81 "2012-10-12T16:14:45Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > What is it with Spielberg and giant chasms from nowhere? It’s sort of like how a cartoon character can reach outside the frame and grab a giant hammer whenever he needs one. When Spielberg needs a Grand Canyon for someone to fall into, he makes it happen. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/82 "2012-10-12T16:19:07Z")
In The Graduate, Benjamin drives the wrong way on the Bay Bridge (he’s supposed to be going to Berkeley, but is shown driving east-to-west, away from the East Bay and towards SF). And half the Berkeley scenes are shot on the USC campus. But: these don’t count. The demands of location filming, and the need for good backgrounds & stuff are things that would only be noticed by local residents, and don’t fulfill the requirements of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/83 "2012-10-12T17:04:06Z")
> [@catnoe](#): > > We moved during rerun season once and to occupy ourselves we discovered shows we had previously not bothered with… We fell in love with NCIS. So unrealisitic (Hubby was Navy, said he’d never seen an NCIS agent that looked like Tony or Zeva) but fun… > > The are stationed in DC but manage to get to Hampton Roads in 20 minutes instead of the 2 hours + it would take to drive in non rush hour traffic. And no one on the show seems to know how to pronounce Little Creek as in Little Creek Amphibious Base. Regardless of where you may have come from, regardless of your accent, it is not pronounced ‘Lit tle Creek’. It’s more like ‘Li lCreek’, the two words run together. > > Two scenes that stand out… Huge boulders on the beach in Ocean View - Norfolk (where Little Creek is). And a case out in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the mountains are tall jagged things, some with snow caps, instead of millennially (I made up a new word!) eroded mountains of the Appalachians. > > Spent a lot of time in Norfolk and the area so I tend to notice errors involving it. Just remembered the one scene where the NCIS computer network is being hacked. The scientist chick starts typing frantically to ward off the attack (S.O.P. for any show I’ve seen). In comes a teammate. He sees her and asks her what’s happening. She tells him. He offers to help. She accepts. AND HE STARTS TYPING ON THE SAME KEYBOARD! WTF?!? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/84 "2012-10-12T17:11:13Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > We’ve had many threads about this already, but they’re always fun. > > hese are way different from the Austin powers "Southern England Doesn’t look _Anything_ like southern California mem that comes from the disagreement betwen the scenery and the supposed setting, beca=use the above cases are interactive, but not really necessary – they could’ve written something else in there, but they wanted the cheap visual thrill. > Sorta like it are the Great Waterfaklls of the Virginia Coast that Pocahontas and John Smith go diving off in Disney’s _Pocahantas_. I always thought that the "Southern England looking like California "was a deliberate joke on Holywood. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/85 "2012-10-12T17:11:22Z")
Missed the edit window. [Cracked](http://www.cracked.com/article_19160_8-scenes-that-prove-hollywood-doesnt-get-technology.html) did an article on this. You can see the video [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u8qgehH3kEQ). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/86 "2012-10-12T17:43:41Z")
So many glaring errors in Courage Under Fire. Almost saved by the acting of Denzel Washington. The most glaring is that the central conflict in the flashbacks is between Meg Ryan and her tough infantry door gunner Lou Diamond Phillips. He’s a door gunner. On a MEDEVAC helicopter. The entire story hinges on an armed ambulance. See there is this pesky thing called the Geneva Convention… ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/87 "2012-10-12T18:00:31Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > Just remembered the one scene where the NCIS computer network is being hacked. The scientist chick starts typing frantically to ward off the attack (S.O.P. for any show I’ve seen). > > In comes a teammate. He sees her and asks her what’s happening. She tells him. He offers to help. She accepts. AND HE STARTS TYPING ON THE SAME KEYBOARD! > > WTF?!? :smack: [This](http://youtu.be/hkDD03yeLnU) is my favorite scene like that one. It sounds like something my mother would say in an effort to impress me. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/88 "2012-10-12T18:23:47Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I always thought that the "Southern England looking like California "was a deliberate joke on Holywood. Of course it is. That’s my point. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/89 "2012-10-12T19:01:36Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > [This](http://youtu.be/hkDD03yeLnU) is my favorite scene like that one. It sounds like something my mother would say in an effort to impress me. Yeah, I liked that one too. However, it’s not necessarily something that every computer user would spot. To a programmer, though, it’s stupid as stupid can be. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/90 "2012-10-12T19:28:47Z")
In **The Other Guys** , when they get a call about a possible jumper at 3 World Financial Center. It seemed like an oddly specific address, given that the building shown was clearly not 3 World Financial Center. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/91 "2012-10-13T02:11:42Z")
In season four of Sons of Anarchy, Tig has just driven a car up on the sidewalk and caused Pope’s daughter, who was sitting at an outdoor cafe, to go flying to her death through a plate glass window. The rival gang is now chasing Tig, who has dumped the car and gotten on his Harley. The Sons are racing to his rescue. Within moments, everyone is driving down a two-lane country road where they come up one lane completely blocked by cars – it’s a traffic jam, with no visible cause, in the middle of nowhere! (How incredibly convenient.) The Sons escape by driving in the emergency lane, shooting back at their pursuers, causing them to lose control and crash into the stopped cars. Problem 1: Only one side of the road is blocked; why doesn’t everyone just pull over in the left lane and keep going? Problem 2: There are NO DRIVERS in the stopped cars. Not one. Nada. Every car is empty. So, how’d they get there? I love me some Sons but this one really bugged me. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/92 "2012-10-13T10:54:34Z")
In episode 2F09 when Itchy plays Scratchy’s skeleton like a xylophone, he strikes the same rib twice in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones. I mean, what are we to believe, that this is some sort of a magic xylophone or something? Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/93 "2012-10-13T17:42:41Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I always thought that the "Southern England looking like California "was a deliberate joke on Holywood. In the same vein, the 101 Dalmations of the 1996 remake are assisted by skunks and raccoons despite it being set in England. I’m sure they were all CGI too, so it wasn’t even accidental. On the other hand, to Psych fans, Southern California looks a lot like southern Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/94 "2012-10-13T17:57:19Z")
There are some raccoons in England, although they aren’t common…yet. > **[Environment](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/)** > > Find all the latest news on the environment and climate change from the Telegraph. Including daily emissions and pollution data. > **[Raccoon found in Somerset garden](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-19470130)** > > A Somerset couple talk of their shock at finding a raccoon in their back garden. The animal is being cared for by a rescue charity until its owner can be found. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/95 "2012-10-13T18:15:23Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > [Which isn’t totally inaccurate](http://www.nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?lat=40.72422&lng=-73.99610999999999&zm=10&kt=4000), except all those schoolkids on the bus would be severely burned and probably blind unless he got more than twice that far out. He had about two minutes, so the Bat would have to be going pretty fast, but not inconceivably so. What really bothered me about this scene was that all the children were _looking towards the bomb_. That’s not an error, I can believe they’d want to watch the bomb being carried away, but it would have been a lot smarter to protect their eyes and faces. I felt like someone should have told them to duck and cover. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/96 "2012-10-13T19:04:11Z")
The one that always comes to mind for me is _The Deer Hunter_, where the main cast, who are supposed to be steel workers somewhere around Pittsburgh, drive out of town to do the hunting promised in the title and suddenly find themselves in the Washington Cascades, i.e. on the opposite side of the continent. Pretty much every film I’ve ever seen that involves railroading gets the technical aspects hilariously wrong. My current favorite is _Unstoppable_, which I actually quite liked overall. Suffice to say that it is pretty much impossible that a set of locomotives would ever balance on one set of wheels, going around a curve. On a high trestle. That just happens to cross over an oil tank farm. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/97 "2012-10-13T19:39:15Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > In episode 2F09 when Itchy plays Scratchy’s skeleton like a xylophone, he strikes the same rib twice in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones. I mean, what are we to believe, that this is some sort of a magic xylophone or something? Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder. Right on! And what about this: everyone knows that back in '64, Honolulu boat tours were either 2 hours or 4 hours. The whole Gilligan’s Island concept is based on a LIE! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/98 "2012-10-13T23:25:39Z")
I like how in the first _X Files_ movie, Dallas looks like a desert, the residents speak with a strong southern accent and you can see mountains off in the distance. Also, in the TV show _Dallas_ a hurricane hits South Fork ranch. If a hurricane could make it to Dallas, I’d hate to see what Galveston & Houston would look like. ---
**Author:** ![Eeyore\_sgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Eeyore\_sgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eeyore_sgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/99 "2012-10-14T04:49:23Z")
Northern Exposure. I lived in Alaska at the time and loved the show but their writers really, REALLY should have done a bit more research. They were constantly making statements about Cicely being “x” close to Anchorage and “x” close to Juneau, etc. Alaska is very big state and it used to make me insane just how off they were. The location they were giving with their directions just doesn’t exist. The actual cities are about 3-4 times as far apart as the writers had them. I understand that no one would probably know that (or care) except people who either lived in the state or were a bit detail obsessive, like me. Seriously though, the writers couldn’t look at a map for the distances? ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422/100 "2012-10-14T09:52:55Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Another one that always kills me is the ol’ “using a lighter under one fire sprinkler and all the sprinklers go off” thing. That’s not how buliding sprinklers work - the glass has to melt and break under each one before that one goes off. My favorite was in **Frequency** where Dennis Quaid starts a small fire under one sprinkler and they all go off, so they evacuates the whole building. Better still because he was a fireman. Another example of “that’s not how sprinklers work” was in the first Daniel Craig Bond movie, _Casino Royale_. When chasing the bad guy to the airport where he going to commit some kind of terrorist act, Bond gets every one to evacuate the airport. He does this by getting into a back room somewhere that has a switch on the wall that’s the “sprinkler override control” - and activating it causes _every sprinkler in the airport_ to go off. It’s ridiculous because, as mentioned by **Morbo** , individual sprinkler heads only go off when in close proximity to heat. Also, I’m 99.99% sure that even if there was a sudden fire throughout the entire airport that actually caused all the sprinklers to activate simultaneously, the demand on the system would overwhelm the water supply, since the water pipes aren’t built for that, and very little water would come out of each head. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shows-with-glaring-errors/637422.md?page=6)