Tailkinker

13th Jan 2007

Fantasia (1940)

Corrected entry: In Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, Disney decided to paint a picturesque setting of Ancient Greek mythology. When Fantasia's host, Dean Taylor, introduces the piece, he uses all Greek names except for the God of wine, which in Greek, is Dionysos. The name Taylor uses is Bacchus, the Latin translation. Also, they depicted "Bacchus" incorrectly. The God Silenus was always pictured as drunk and riding a donkey, as "Bacchus" was in Fantasia.

Correction: They used the names that people would be more familiar with - just because the setting is pseudo-Greek, it doesn't mean that they're restricted to using the Greek names exclusively. Anything else is artistic licence - this isn't a documentary.

Tailkinker

3rd Jan 2007

V for Vendetta (2005)

Corrected entry: When Evie is reading the 'toilet paper story', its writer reveals that she "was born in Nottingham in 1985" and later that she "passed her 11+". The 11+ was an old school test to determine which children went to grammar school, and was abolished long before the mid-1990s, when she would have taken it.

Correction: There are certain regions in the UK where educational streaming is still practiced today. The 11-plus test still exists in those areas.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: While no date is established for the film, it is reasonable to assume it is prior to 1704, when Port Royal was destroyed by fire, following a devastating earthquake in 1692. However, several vessels in the movie have gaff and driver booms on their mizzen masts, which did not start to occur until the middle of the 18th century.

Correction: Port Royal was only partly destroyed and was still active as a town and naval port for many years after the fire and earthquake. The producers have stated that the film is set somewhere around 1740, which fits the mast configuration dates quite well.

Tailkinker

19th Dec 2006

Minority Report (2002)

Corrected entry: This film is based on a play written by Sophocles call Oedipus Rex. If you read the play you will see that there are many references to this play in the movie, from his eyeballs being taken out to the telling of his fate.

Correction: Actually, no, it's based on the Philip K. Dick story of the same name. Whether Dick might have borrowed any ideas from the Sophocles play is irrelevant, this film was not based on it. Any similarities, and there aren't really that many, are purely coincidental.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: After the battle at Amon Hen, when Aragorn is running to Boromir who is laying on the ground after being shot, Aragorn jumps over an Uruk-hai on the ground. Just after Aragorn jumps, the Orc moves his head up. The Uruk-hai is supposed to be dead though.

Correction: Already submitted and corrected. People don't necessarily die instantaneously from their wounds - he's mortally wounded, but hasn't yet died, so moving his head is hardly unreasonable.

Tailkinker

16th Dec 2006

Spice World (1997)

Corrected entry: When the Spice Girls are describing how they got across London, one of them says "and then two nuns in a Mini Metro nearly hit us", except when they show the two nuns in the car, its a Mini, not a Mini Metro, two different cars.

Correction: Sounds remarkably like a character mistake to me.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: On the Letters of Marque, the King's signature is readable as "George R". But England never had a king named George until 1714 - and Port Royal was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692. (00:11:15)

Correction: While Port Royal was indeed heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1692, it was not destroyed completely and considerable effort was invested to rebuild. While it never achieved the same prominence as its earlier incarnation, Port Royal was still around during the reign of the Georges.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: Doc and Marty learn the date when Biff was given the Almanac. It turns out that this is also the date of the events in the first film. Doc then surmises that they will not only have to avoid detection by Old Biff but also by their 'other' selves. All that considered, does it not seem a little reckless to return to that date? They have a Time Machine, and the book is useless to Biff until he turns 21 which would be 1958 at the latest. That's a whole three years and Doc could have chosen from any day he wanted to retrieve the book but he picks the day where they run the greatest risk of screwing up time even more. Given that he's always lecturing on the consequences of messing with time, and that their entire future depends on him succeeding, it seems a little out of character for Doc to not even consider the possibility that they go back to a different day.

Correction: It's a calculated risk on Doc's part. On that day, they know where Biff is, they know that the almanac will be out in the open and far easier to get. If they leave it until later, Biff will have had a chance to hide the book away somewhere, making it potentially impossible to locate. And while Biff might not yet be twenty-one, it wouldn't preclude him doing an illicit deal with somebody over that age to place bets on his behalf, thus altering the future. If they go back to the day when he gets the book, it avoids any possibility of Biff altering the timeline. It does open up the possibility of them causing problems, but given that they're both aware of the situation, plus know precisely where their prior selves will be on that night, the risk is relatively minor compared to allowing Biff to hold onto the book for any extended period of time. As for considering this, Doc undoubtedly did, but showing a long-winded justification on-screen would have been somewhat dull and would simply have broken up the flow of the film.

Tailkinker

Doc also wouldn't want to risk Biff writing down any of the information or memorizing certain results to be written down later, etc. So running into themselves is a smaller risk than Biff making himself rich.

10th Dec 2006

Superman Returns (2006)

Corrected entry: In the scene where Superman lifts up the sunken yacht in order to save Lois and her family it shows when he lets go that he was holding that entire half of the ship completely out of the water with one hand. This is impossible, assuming that he was able to lift that much that spot on the ship could not hold that much weight without ripping away from the rest of the ship.

Correction: In the comics, Superman has frequently been seen to lift something that should really crumble or break under the strain without it doing so, entire buildings, for example, to the extent that it is an acknowledged part of his powers (described as a unconscious tactile telekinesis holding the object together while he's in contact with it) that this occurs.

Tailkinker

6th Dec 2006

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Corrected entry: The Stepmother shoots Ichabod, and a couple of scenes later we find out (surprise, surprise) that he is still alive. However, he shows no signs of pain and is able to struggle and fight with the stepmother perfectly well. There is never again any indication that he has ever been shot.

Correction: The bullet lodged in the book that Katrina gave him, so, while the force of the impact knocked him to the ground, he was never actually wounded. So, basically, there's never any indication that he was shot because, he wasn't.

Tailkinker

24th Nov 2006

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Corrected entry: Bizarrely, this film is partially based upon a real incident - the ending of which is somewhat different to that in this film. Twelve US soldiers on death row or serving long prison terms were selected to undertake a highly dangerous mission behind enemy lines in France in 1944. One of the US Army officers responsible for them was Ernest Hemingway, another was - of all people. - Russ "Supervixens" Meyer. All twelve were intensively trained and then transferred to a transit camp near Caen to be prepared for their final mission. As soon as they landed on French soil, all twelve deserted.

Correction: During WW2, Hemingway was a war correspondent for Collier's magazine, while Meyer was a combat cameraman. Neither would have been given any degree of responsibility for a special mission. However, despite rumours to the contrary, no such mission ever took place. It's believed that the Dirty Dozen was inspired by a group of elite commandoes from the 101st Airborne Division, who were nicknamed the Filthy Thirteen and who were trained to demolish targets behind enemy lines. However, while the group had a reputation for hard drinking and fighting, and some did possess criminal records, unlike their fictional counterparts, none of them were convicts.

Tailkinker

20th Nov 2006

Die Another Day (2002)

Corrected entry: Surely Zao would have the diamonds (his strongest identifying mark) removed from his face before changing his DNA/external appearance (as Moon did). Otherwise he'd have a new face scarred by the same old diamonds, somewhat defeating the purpose of the procedure.

Correction: The alteration procedure was not finished. Without specific knowledge that they did not intend to remove the diamonds at some point, this cannot be considered an error.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: Gandalf's sword, Glamdring, is an Elven blade, just as Frodo's sword Sting is. However, Glamdring does not glow when orcs are near as an Elven blade should.

Correction: This is a book thing - Gandalf's blade is never stated to be an elven one in the film and film/book discrepencies are not valid sources for mistakes.

Tailkinker

5th Nov 2006

Click (2006)

Corrected entry: At Ben's wedding we see that the Twin Towers have been "rebuilt" (This is pointed out on the commentary).

Correction: Anything that's reasonably visible in the film doesn't need to be pointed out here.

Tailkinker

4th Nov 2006

Young Guns (1988)

Corrected entry: At the end of the movie Charlie Bowdre is shown in a gun battle with a Murphy man and they end up killing each other. Historically, Charles Bowdre was killed by Pat Garret in 1880, 2 years after the McSween battle.

Correction: This is not a documentary, it's a fictional tale that happens to use a few historical characters. It's not under any obligation to treat them in a factual manner - it's called artistic licence.

Tailkinker

4th Nov 2006

Young Guns (1988)

Corrected entry: At the end of the battle at McSweens home Billy the Kid is shown returning to town to shoot L.G. Murphy between the eyes. This is a complete fabrication. L.G Murphy died of cancer on the 20th of October 1878 almost 3 months to the day after the battle at the McSween home.

Correction: This is not a documentary, it's a fictional tale that happens to use a few historical characters. It's not under any obligation to treat them in a factual manner - it's called artistic licence.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: Near the start of the film, when Ed is telling Shaun who called, he says 'First your mom rang about going round tomorrow night, then Liz rang about the two of you eating out tonight.' But Liz called just as Shaun was leaving to go work therefore Shaun's mom couldn't have called before Liz.

Correction: Character mistake. Ed's generally pretty clueless, so it's hardly unlikely that he'd forget which way round the calls occurred, particularly as it doesn't matter in the slightest.

Tailkinker

25th Oct 2006

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Corrected entry: If Woody was made in the 50's, shouldn't he have had a previous owner like Jessie did? Andy's mom said he is a family toy, so he must have lived through the changes of a previous owner, and should understand what Jessie was going through, yet he acts as if he didn't know anything.

Correction: If Woody's a family toy, then he may well have been passed down the generations from loving owner to loving owner, not abandoned like Jessie was, so, while he'd understand the change of owner idea, he wouldn't understand her specific experience as he's never been left alone.

Tailkinker

13th Oct 2006

Jurassic Park (1993)

Corrected entry: Dr Sattler is hardly out of breath after she is told to run towards the shed by the game warden. (01:34:55 - 01:35:25)

Correction: That's called being fit.

Tailkinker

27th Jan 2004

Red Dwarf (1988)

Tikka To Ride - S7-E1

Corrected entry: Lister says that killing your past self will cause you to die, thus making it impossible to go back in time to kill your past self in the first place. So how was JFK able to kill himself at The End of the episode? If he killed himself, he would have still survived as he wouldn't have been unable to go back in time and kill himself in the first place, the same was as the crew survived their attack.

Padzter

Correction: It's a temporal paradox - a mainstay of time-travel stories. As time travel doesn't exist, writers are allowed to handle these things in their own way. In this case, the Kennedy from a timeline where he survives is brought back to shoot his prior self. The moment that the bullet hits, reality shifts onto a new timeline, parallel to the other one. The living Kennedy's timeline no longer exists, but it doesn't erase the fact that it did exist - the crew don't lose their memories of the events that took place there and so forth - and so there was a Kennedy who survived Dallas who came back to alter the timeline.

Tailkinker

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