The Worst Mistakes In Mainstream Movies
Hundreds of people work on big-budget movies and it's expected that those people are thorough enough to make sure that nothing gets through during filming that would be considered a mistake or a blunder. Admittedly, it does take a very careful eye and someone paying very close attention to catch mistakes. So, alas, things get missed.
Here are the most ridiculous errors that made it through to the big screen. (Warning: These may affect the way you watch these movies… forever.)
The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring
This 2001 fantasy classic directed by Peter Jackson shows a modern car driving by in a cornfield. Look at the top right corner of the video and you’ll see it, with a trail of dust following behind. Frodo and Sam are having a discussion in the foreground of the shot.
Whoever was on a casual drive through the countryside that day has no idea that they're in the popular film. Or that they reuined the vibe of the scene for everyone.
Pocahontas
When John Smith meets Pocahontas in the Disney version of the early American story, it’s portrayed as a beautiful love story. However, there are quite a few mistakes that affect the whole retelling. For example, in real life, Pocahontas was only about 10 years old when she met John Smith.
There was never a whirlwind romance between the colonist and free-spirited Native American, though she did marry a colonist named John Rolfe. But that wasn’t a romantic affair, either. She was actually kidnapped and brought back to live with Rolfe, who changed her name to Rebecca.
Terminator’s Troubles
You’ve really got to be paying attention when you’re watching Terminator 3. The plane number changes not once, not twice, but three times! First, it’s N3035C, then it’s N3973F, and then it changes back to N3035C. Someone in the continuity department really dropped the ball on this one.
You'd think that they would try to make sure that they rented out the same airplane every day. While it doesn't change the storyline at all, it makes you think what else slipped through the cracks!
Rocky Horror Picture Show
In this continuity mistake, Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show usually wears three rings. However, when he’s playing the saxophone, you can see his hand and that he only has two rings on it. Mysteriously, the pinky finger ring disappears. These type of errors often occur when re-shoots are required a long time after shooting the original scene.
They often need the help of the wardrobe and make-up teams, as well as assistance from the actor, in remembering every last detail.
Stormtrooper vs. Door Frame
When the stormtroopers are breaking into the control room in Star Wars, one of them is just a little too tall and didn’t quite prepare himself for going through the door frame. He hits his head on the top of the frame. In the new DVD release, instead of cutting it out, they’ve actually added a noise for when he hits his helmet. Way to make the best of a situation!
Stars Wars fans seem to be pretty passionate when it comes to the characters in the film. Either you love stormtroopers or you hate them, but this is pretty funny for both
Cowboys of the Caribbean
So, did you ever wonder what a movie about pirates and cowboys would be like? Well, we are a little closer to knowing with this mistake from the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl movie.
Evidently, someone (ahem, the crew member wearing the cowboy hat) forgot to make sure that he wasn’t in the shot. This is one of the most famous goofs in modern film-making. I mean... c'mon.
10 Things I Hate About You
In this funny mistake, Joey is talking to Bianca in gym class while she’s holding a bow with an arrow and trying to concentrate. She finally gives up and turns to him, letting go and flinging the arrow into the air.
The arrow hits a gym teacher and the students crowd around. One student runs away to get help. Unbeknownst to the helpful student, she’s still in the shot when she stops running and looks behind her, thinking she’s in the clear.
Sparkle and Shine
You all know how the character of Edward Cullen is supposed to glitter and sparkle in the sunlight, right? In the third installment of the Twilight saga, Eclipse, Edward is out with Bella in a sunny field and Edward isn’t sparkling. What?
It was a huge oversight that most people on the crew probably missed as they were ogling over the young stars' romance. Talk about getting distracted on the job. With so many eyes on the film in the creation process, it's odd that it was missed by so many people.
Wonder Woman
Some fans became enraged after seeing the trailer for the 2017 Wonder Woman film, specifically for how leading actor Gal Gadot's armpits looked. Warner Bros. was accused of putting aesthetics ahead of feminism when the superhero was seen with bare underarms.
"It's really hard to believe that Wonder Woman, who has been on an island filled with strong women her entire life, is worried about waxing and then bleaching her pits," read a Refinery29 review. Making matters worse is the fact that the stubble cover-up was such a bad and obvious Photoshop job.
Gladiator
In 2000’s Gladiator, during the battle of Carthage in the Colosseum, one of the chariots is overturned. If you look carefully, you are able to see a gas cylinder. Pretty sure they didn’t have those in Ancient Rome, and if they did, we were long overdue for motorized vehicles when they finally arrived to the masses.
Movie-goers prefer to maintain the magic of the film, and not see the props and behind the scenes secrets like this as they're mentally trying to stay in Ancient Roman times.
Ocean’s Eleven
There are multiple mistakes in the film Ocean’s Eleven, however, some stand out more than others.
For example, one of the most obvious is when Linus and Rusty are talking in the gardens of the Bellagio, Rusty has a glass with cocktail shrimp in it during the first shot, but when the camera cuts back it’s a plate. During the third shot, he’s holding a glass again. You'll never be able to unsee this mistake.
“Bad Camera Boys”
This is a shameful mistake. In the 1983 movie Bad Boys, one of the camera operators is just squatting and filming where all the action is. They didn't even bother to cut out this huge mistake and it has gone down as one of the biggest Hollywood blunders of all time. How did nobody catch this?
You'd think that the director would have noticed it as it was happening, and called cut. This guy should be given another credit at the end of the film: "Videographer/Oblivious Guy."
Braveheart
This mistake happens a couple of times throughout the movie of Braveheart, though you have to be really looking hard to realize the goof. In the background, white cars can be seen at two different points in the movie Braveheart.
The movie was filmed just off an actual street... which apparently wasn't closed off for filming. People probably pulled over to watch the action, too! This could have easily been prevented!
Pulp Fiction
After hitmen Vincent and Jules kill Brett, one of Brett’s friends comes out of the bathroom and unloads a revolver on the hitmen but fails to hit either of them. In this scene, you can see the bullet holes that prompt Jules’s spiritual awakening before the shooter even enters the room.
Apparently, there are no bounds to space and time when divine intervention is involved. Now we all know that this wasn't the first take!
When Nature Calls
There are several errors and continuity issues in the 1995 hit movie, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. One scene shown is one of the most obvious: at the climax of the movie, when Ace is solving the case, he walks up to the man who hired him, Vincent Cadby.
Ventura then moves one of the chess pieces on the table in front of him. But when the camera cuts back, there are no chess pieces out at all. Knowing Jim Carey, he probably took multiple takes and in one scene, threw all of the pieces on the ground.
North By Northwest
Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant star in this classic action thriller movie about a case of mistaken identity. While at the Mount Rushmore Visitors Center, Eva’s character, Eve, shoots Thornhill (Grant) with blanks and then rushes out.
The mistake happens in a scene when a boy at a table prematurely covers his ears. It's bad when the extra ruins the shot! He should be kicked out... you had one job.
Frozen Magic
In the animated film Frozen, Elsa runs away from her home and sister, ready to go somewhere where she can be herself. This mistake happens at the climax of the movie’s incredibly popular song after she tosses her tiara and lets her hair down. Her braided hair is brought right through her shoulder.
You can see it if you watch closely during the movie, and seeing slip-ups like this in animation is more rare than live film, but they still happen!
The Matrix
During the fight between Neo and Agent Smith in the subway station, the section of the cement pillar that is ready for a punch is obviously visible. For all the special effects that went off wonderfully in this movie, a simple prop ended up being one of the most obvious goofs. Oops.
Maybe the prop was ruined in an earlier take and the crew decided to roll with the punches. Hardy-har.
Jurassic Park
This is a great one. Right as the raptor enters the kitchen, a crew member’s hand is seen reaching out to keep the dinosaur steady. Sometimes it's not the special effects created by computers that leave us scratching our head.
In this case, a rather simple animatronic animal that just needed a little help remaining steady until it was ready to enter the scene. How Steven Spielberg, of all people, didn't catch this is beyond us.
Halloween
John Carpenter's 1978 slasher classic Halloween was supposedly set in Haddonfield, Illinois -- about as deep into the Midwest as you can get. However, there are some shots that show palm trees in the background. Not exactly the kind of foliage you’d expect in that part of the country, is it?
It's pretty strange to think they'd pick such an unbelievable neighborhood to shoot the scene. Anyone who has been to the Midwest knows this can't be real!
Titanic
In Titanic, James Cameron’s hit film about the great cruise ship tragedy, Leonardo DiCaprio plays an artist named Jack Dawson. Dawson happily reminisces about his childhood times fishing on Lake Wissota, in his home state of Wisconsin.
The problem: Lake Wissota wasn’t created until 1917, when a dam was constructed. Jack died when the Titanic wet down in 1912. A simple change in the script would have prevented this blunder.
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz is one of those movies you’ve probably seen a dozen times or more, but did you ever notice this mistake? In the scene where Dorothy and the Scarecrow are being pelted by apples, she has her red ruby slippers on. But in the next scene, she’s wearing plain black shoes.
You would think that the wardrobe crew would have done a better job remembering what the main character was wearing!
She’s All That
In the 1999 teen comedy She's All That, starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, and Rachael Leigh Cook, there's a pretty glaring continuity error. Character Taylor gets a tattoo on her upper back in one scene. But later in the movie, she goes to prom in a strapless dress, and her new tat is nowhere to be seen.
The actress playing Taylor probably should have remembered that her character was supposed to have the tattoo. Oops.
The Matrix
We have several repeat offenders on this list. In this case, it’s The Matrix at fault again. This time, there’s a shot where a shiny doorknob clearly reflects the camera that’s shooting the scene.
But hey, at least the actors are fully clothed in the reflection! No surprise flashing here. This shot is painfully obvious, however, and you have to think that someone got a little lazy on the job, both the day of shooting and post-production.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is drinking heavily in one scene as he mourns after Marion’s supposed death in Raiders of the Lost Ark. And of course, he’s also hanging out with a monkey for good measure. In the background, you can see a man dressed in modern clothes: jeans and a t-shirt.
Who's this guy? Why was he on the set? Harrison Ford is trying to act here, people. Get out of the shot and take your seat, pal.
Back to the Future
The '80s cult classic film has a rather amusing problem in a scene featuring the odometer in Dr. Emmett Brown’s DeLorean time machine. As Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) uses the car to escape from the Libyans, the odometer reading and trip counter fluctuate wildly.
Clearly it's not hooked up to work properly, but seeing as the DeLorean time machine is the main focus of the film, you would think they would put some extra effort into making it was realistic as possible.
Bambi
In Disney’s animated (and sad) children’s movie Bambi, there’s a scene with a family of raccoons near a lake. One raccoon baby mysteriously appears off to the left, then disappears. The glitch was fixed for the DVD version of the film but you can still see it in VHS editions.
Kids are smarter than you think, and while some might think things like this get by them, parents know you'll always be surprised by what kids pick up on.
The Usual Suspects
In the 1995 mystery thriller The Usual Suspects (Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, and Benicio del Toro), a Boeing 747 plane (which has four engines) is shown landing. But a shot from behind the plane reveals it to have only two engines and less landing gear than a 747.
While viewers are probably focusing on the concept, rather than the details, it shows that someone working on the film wasn't paying quite enough attention.
Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film about World War II, Inglourious Basterds features a few mistakes. In one scene, a German soldier (who is later brutally killed with a baseball bat) wears a uniform that keeps changing from shot to shot.
Specifically, the insignia over his pocket disappears and reappears in his scenes. That must have been a helluva post-production clipping job to take so many different pieces of different takes. The lesson: Keep it simple.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
In the second wizarding film installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there is a cameraman clearly visible to the left of the screen in one of the scenes. You’d think they could have at least used an invisibility cloak for him!
He's not even far off to the side, he's pretty much in the crowd of people who are actually supposed to be in the shot. Should have been a hint right there.
Alien
The people who find some of these mistakes must have eagle eyes! In 1979’s Alien, character Kane is pictured wearing a fabric cap under his helmet. But after a facehugger attacks him and he’s brought to the sick bay where his helmet is cut off, there’s no cap visible.
There are also other places throughout the movie where the reflections don’t match the scenes they should be showing. Not a huge blunder, but someone caught it!
Gone with the Wind
The 1939 classic historical film about the Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction measures a whopping four hours long! So there are bound to be some goof-ups in there somewhere. In one scene, Scarlett O'Hara's sister-in-law Melanie carries a lamp that’s supposedly fueled by gas. But you can clearly see an electrical cord hanging from it.
The prop department dropped the ball on this one. It's the Civil War, for Pete's sake. At least she didn't trip over the cord and attract more eyes to the problem.
The Dark Knight Rises
Looks like The Gotham Times newspaper should probably be looking for a new editor. In The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce Wayne picks up a copy of the paper to read about the jewel thief. There’s a pretty glaring typo in the top headline. It says “hiest” instead of “heist.”
It appears that someone in the props department slipped up with this spelling error. While it doesn't make a difference in the film's plot, it makes us wonder what else slipped through the cracks.
Teen Wolf
Michael J. Fox makes another appearance on the list! In the 1985 comedy Teen Wolf, there are plenty of scenes featuring crowds of fans watching Fox’s character Scott and his basketball team the Dragons. In one memorable scene, however, a young woman stands up to cheer with her pants clearly unbuttoned.
No comment about the banner being waved in front of her…how is it possible that both she and the crew didn't notice this? She had to have done it for a prank!
Jaws
The 1975 blockbuster Jaws left many a movie-goer afraid to enter the water. One of the most intense scenes in the film is when character Quint is being attacked and eaten by the monster shark.
But look closer, and you can see that he’s actually got a pillow under his back, most likely to keep Jaws’ teeth from cutting with him during the fight. We're sure that between the mechanical shark and the water everywhere, this wasn't the most comfortable scene to film!
Reservoir Dogs
Here’s a different Quentin Tarantino film, this time from 1992. In it, there’s a scene where character Marvin Nash is being tortured. In one clip, his hands are cuffed behind his back. In the next, he’s cuffed in front, before yet another cut showing his hands back behind his back.
Either they did two entirely different takes were they decided one position would be better, or someone really slipped up and forgot the hands were tied the other way.
Labyrinth
The beloved 1986 Jim Henson movie has become a cult classic over the years. Starring Jennifer Connelly as Sarah and David Bowie as Jareth, many of us grew up watching and re-watching the film. As with most movies, Labyrinth has some errors.
In the scene with Sarah and pal Hoggle navigating their way through the Bog of Eternal Stench, a boom mic is clearly visible near her knee. How close does this thing need to be? Take a step back, Bob.
Forrest Gump
One of the most iconic films of the 1990s, the Robert Zemeckis-directed Forrest Gump received rave reviews and has won many awards. But that doesn’t make it exempt from the blooper club. In one scene, Jenny shows Forrest a newspaper clipping from September 1982.
However, Jenny’s gravestone clearly indicates that she died earlier that year, on March 22. This detail had die-hard fans pretty upset and it isn't the only flub in the film.
Cobra
In this action flick, Sylvester Stallone plays in a scene in which he ripped the shirt of a man who is part of a street gang. But the tear exposed the mic and wiring the actor was wearing, and it remains visible throughout the scene.
There’s also another scene where viewers can see the video camera in the reflection of Sly’s sunglasses. Reflections are tricky business, but we need this movie magic in our lives!
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Actor Harrison Ford, as Han Solo, is the subject of this glaring blooper from George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. In one scene, he’s suddenly sporting a jacket. The error has been fixed for the DVD version… the jacket was changed to match his shirt color.
Of all the flubs we've seen on this list, this one is painfully obvious. We're not sure who thought this was a good idea.
Goonies
In The Goonies, Mikey finds a 1973 Topps baseball card of Lou Gehrig in Chester Copperpot’s wallet. While that’s a great find, Chester’s body had been there since the 1930s, about 40 years before that card existed. Perhaps that card is worth even more since it apparently required magic to get into the scene.
Aspects like this are a little more important than other blunders on this list. You have to make sure the continuity is there for viewers to fully dive into the film.
Django’s Specs
Django wore some pretty cool sunglasses throughout the entire movie of Django Unchained, which is set in the late 1850s. I mean, take a look at them. They set off his look and gave the character a cool, aloof kind of vibe, right?
Sadly, though, sunglasses were not introduced in America until the 1930s. Whoever found the sunglasses in a shop just couldn't resist to have the character wear them. History be damned.
The King’s Speech
Although hailed as a brilliant film, and despite being the recipient of a dozen Oscar nominations, 2010’s The King’s Speech is riddled with errors and inaccuracies. One of the most criticized errors in the movie is its prolific use of the Helvetica font… which wasn’t actually introduced for another 30 years.
A great example of this is on the signs in the film’s BBC control room. This one seems just a wee bit nit-picky.
Assault on Precinct 13
In this 2005 action-thriller film, starring Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, Ja Rule and Drea de Matteo, there is a scene in which a crossword puzzle's answer "magically" disappear. In one shot, the puzzle is partially complete, but in the next, there are far fewer answers shown.
Post-production team needs to grab an extra cup of coffee when looking these scenes over! Maybe one of the actors started filling in the puzzle between takes when they weren't supposed to.
Quantum of Solace
In this 2008 installation of the James Bond franchise, there’s a scene in which star Daniel Craig (Bond himself) is on a ship bound for Haiti. But it appears that one of the men behind him is a member of the stage crew, still in his maintenance uniform.
Looks like he’s doing a thorough job with the broom! Maybe he just wanted some video proof to back up his resume of having worked on a 007 film. We don't blame him.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Those Hogwarts students seem to have a lot of troubles, don’t they? In the 2004 installment of the franchise, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, there are a few instances where you can see the actors’ battery packs through their clothing. Not a huge mistake, really, but we’d expect better from wizards.
Maybe the fact that they're younger than the average adult who the mic pack is designed for plays a role. They should probably design something sleeker!
Saving Private Ryan
The gripping and emotional war drama set during WWII contains a scene featuring a mother waiting by the phone for news of her deployed sons. But something doesn’t quite add up… coiled telephone cords like the one in the film did not appear until the 1950s, so there’s no way this model would have been used during WWII.
Technology is one of those things that's easy to remember it's changed a lot over the years, and deserves a little extra researching before including it in a major film.
Forrest Gump
Most movies contain more than one blooper or error, and Forrest Gump is no exception. When Forrest goes to visit Jenny (and meet his son), there’s an ironing board in the scene.
The iron can’t seem to decide whether to sit up or stay down, as it changes positions a couple of times. Someone on the set must have been moving things around, which is a huge no-no in the film industry.
Gone with the Wind
In another Gone with the Wind error, there is scene where a slave known as Uncle Peter is chasing Aunt Pittipat's rooster around the yard. As he pursues the bird, Peter says, “Come on, old gentleman. We’s ate all your wives. We’s ate all your little chicks. You got nobody to worry your head about leaving. Don’t go getting so uppity. Even if you is the last chicken in Atlanta."
The poor rooster runs by the same wood stack twice in the scene, however!
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The third installment in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones franchise, The Last Crusade was released in 1989. It was a terrific financial success. However, it’s not a perfect film, as they overlooked a few minor details.
One example: Harrison Ford, as Indy, has a cut on his face. But in the scene, his blood can’t seem to decide which side of his face to stay on. Either they reversed the image, or makeup messed up.
Captain America: The First Avenger
In the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger, there’s a blooper that probably went unnoticed by many fans. During one fight scene, Captain America gets hit with a blaster bolt, which seriously damages his suit. But later on in the scene, the damage has miraculously repaired itself.
If you're watching closely, this definitely interfers with the realism of the scene. We want to believe!
Labyrinth
In another Labyrinth blooper, there’s a scene in which Sarah is in the “fake” bedroom with the old junkyard woman. The hag asks Sarah, "What's the matter, dearie? Don't you like your toys?"
Actress Jennifer Connelly can be seen mouthing the puppet’s lines, perhaps as a way to remember her own script. We're not sure why the director didn't call for another take. Even Connelly probably knew that she slipped up.
Jurassic Park
Making the list for the second time is Jurassic Park. Hey, a movie with so many special effects is bound to have some mistakes, right? In one scene, Sam Neill (as character Alan Grant) opens the door to a trailer.
The door's hinge is clearly on the right side of the door. But once he steps foot inside the trailer, the hinge has somehow moved to the other side. Pretty weird, right?
Commando
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1985 action flick didn’t have a huge budget, which could explain why it is rife with bloopers. In one scene, an enormous explosion was supposed to have happened. But two “men” are clearly shown to survive the explosion (they don’t even move), and we can see from this that they’re just dummies.
While we didn't expect them to have real people standing so close to an explosion, this kinda killed the scene.
The Shining
Who could ever forget Stanley Kubrick’s iconic and haunting 1980 horror film? Starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, The Shining has led to a generation of knock-off and spoof movies. But it had some bloopers in there like most films do.
In the very first scene, as Nicholson’s character drives up to the hotel, you can see a helicopter shadow on the ground, showing the crew filming inside. Shadows are tricky and it makes sense that they didn't want to throw down more money to shoot the expensive scene, even though they got it wrong.
Toy Story 2
This Pixar movie is beloved among kids and adults alike. However, Toy Story 2 has a couple of minor errors in it. In one, which occurs toward the end of the movie when “fake” Buzz Light Year is running through the air conditioning ducts, his utility belt disappears then reappears again.
We're not exactly sure what it takes to create this level of consistent animation, but we'll let this one go because Toy Story is just too awesome.
Day of the Woman/I Spit on Your Grave
Day of the Woman (1978) is a horror/revenge movie that was later remade as I Spit on Your Grave (2010). The plot follows a female writer as she heads to a remote cabin to get some privacy while she works on her latest book.
Things don’t work out as planned, and she ends up being pursued through the woods by some real no-goodniks. In a scene where she’s running from them, you can see a crew member off to the side.
The Incredibles
And here we have another Pixar blooper, this one involving a continuity issue. 2004’s The Incredibles, set in the 1960s, shows a scene with Bob Incredible looking at some old newspaper clippings in his office. One of them is dated September 16, 2002… four decades in the future.
Could that be the birthdate of the child of one of the film’s producers? Knowing Pixar's team, is could be a hidden sign.
A Cabin in the Woods
In the 2012 horror-mystery thriller A Cabin in the Woods, in which five friends go to an isolated cabin for a little “getaway,” there’s a lakefront scene in which Curt jumps into the water.
Marty had been wearing a towel around his neck, but it suddenly disappears the next time cameras cut to him. Where'd your towel go Marty?? Someone has to be paying attention! Clearly this actor wasn't when they shot another take.
