Maybe we’ve got too much time on our hands, but there is a massive community of film fans who like nothing more than picking apart movies – pointing out the errors in the story that don’t quite sit right, and taking great pleasure from spotting continuity errors in the smallest details. We wear our discoveries like smug, nerdy badges, rewarding one another for the discovery of the most inconspicuous errors, and laughing heartily at the poor unfortunate souls who missed them when it came to editing.
But sometimes, the mistakes are so ridiculous, and so glaring that it’s impossible not to think that someone has willfully let them get through the filters into the film. They turned a blind eye, either for budgetary reasons or because they liked the idea of including some idiotic Easter Egg in the background, and in the process made their film notorious for reasons other than quality.
Somewhat unbelievably, there are people employed on film sets to make sure these sort of mistakes don’t happen. Quite how they manage to retain their jobs and reputations baffles, but nobody ever seems to hold their hands up after the film is released to admit their errors. It’s as if they came as a massive surprise, even to the editing team who spend hours and days pouring over footage to find the right shots and sequences….
This article is a celebration of 10 of the most infamous, glaring mistakes from movie history. Some were chosen because of the profile of the director, and some for the sheer idiocy – either way, they definitely shouldn’t have made it into their finished cuts. So sit back and enjoy the misfortunes of others – it’s surprisingly satisfying, after all.
1. Braveheart – The White Van
One of the most famous movie mistakes ever, and one of the most elusive – spend enough time online, and you’ll find that there are multiple theories concerning the appearance of the fabled Braveheart white van. Either it appears at Murron’s funeral, driving in the background, or it’s seen parked in the background of various battle scenes. Either way, it’s a fairly conspicuous addition to the film, and one that pretty badly compromises the period setting.
Here’s the best video pointing out the white van/car…
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10 Comments
The worst movie goof omitted from this list is Bad Boys (1983).
Check it out for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg-25UoekkM
The worst movie goof you have to see is Bad Boys (1983).
Check it out for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg-25UoekkM
At the end of Aliens, when the cut-in-halves Bishop reaches Newt so she don’t fall into space, you can CLEARLY see the actor in a hole…
In the Batman movies when the actors playing Batman removes the mask they’re not wearing any eyeliner.
The Teen Wolf one is a goof due to editing a scene out of the film that was shot, but not used. The Styles character was supposed to be in the stands with his hand down this girls pants, making out with her at one point during the game, but that whole sequence was cut when the final film was toned down from an R (as it was originally conceived) into a pg movie release, a decision made off the back of Back to the Future’s huge box office success.
The worst one I have ever noticed was Die Hard 2. The three terrorists sit around the table, one gives a brief weather report. The African American terrorist reaches down for a wrapped Christmas present – and it’s a white guy’s hand.
My Memory is a little vague on this but in one of the Bond films, Diamond are Forever. Bond is in a car chase and end up getting through an “impossibly” small gap by driving on two wheels.
The Shot switches from the back to the front the car when the car is on two wheels and the two wheels on the ground magically change from one side to the other.
Sort of surprised its not in here.
Check out From Dusk til Dawn: when they shoot out the boarded windows to let the sun reflect off the disco ball, one soon-to-explode vampire runs in front of the stage & is clearly smash-cut into an obvious dummy
The Gladiator one…
Chariots don’t need gas power, it’s a goof as you rightly point out.
That would most likely be the compressed air vessel used to drive the ram that flipped the chariot in my opinion.
I remember seeing Commando in the theaters and noticed, at ten years old, Arnold pulling that smashed Porsche off it’s side and the next cut it’s fine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d85M2-8ilvQ