10 Movies Ruined By Glaring Factual Inaccuracies

When disbelief cannot be suspended.

Minority Report Headline
Dreamworks

When you shell out your hard-earned cash to watch a movie, it's nice to know the director has done their homework, the in-depth research required to make the film work on every level.

This might include ensuring the science is sound, cross-checking historical facts or weeding out continuity errors with a fine tooth comb. Occasionally, these things can slip through the net, and half the time the fans don't even notice.

Suspension of disbelief, however, becomes difficult when a glaring factual inaccuracy is pointed out. These are the kind of things you can't unsee and it becomes harder to buy what the movie is peddling once they come to light.

It isn't just the straight-to-video pieces of crap that commit these sins. Some of the biggest films of the modern era have tried to rewrite history, bend the laws of physics or simply disregard the rules of reality.

Granted, fantastical genres such as fantasy, sci-fi and horror aren't always bound by these regulations, but what's shown on screen has to at least make sense within the context of the in-movie world, and that isn't always the case.

10. Django Unchained: Sunglasses Didn't Arrive In The US Until 1929

Minority Report Headline
TWC

Jamie Foxx's titular hero looks all kinds of cool in his shades throughout Django Unchained, particularly during the memorable final scene when he lights up a cigarette after destroying the Candyland Plantation.

As much as it pains to shatter this illusion, Django's fashion choices would have been impossible in the US circa 1858, the year the film is set, since sunglasses weren't available in that part of the world until many decades later.

America's first set of shades was sold from a Woolworth on the Atlantic City boardwalk by Sam Foster in 1929.

Quentin Tarantino may have a reputation as a perfectionist, but this is one historical fact that passed him by. Or maybe he just ignored it since Django looks so fetching in those dark glasses.

Contributor
Contributor

Been prattling on about gaming, movies, TV, football and technology across the web for as long as I can remember. Find me on Twitter @MarkLangshaw