Continuity errors

[The Burgomaster]

I just read the thread about the continuity error at the end of THE TERMINATOR, so I thought this would be a good topic of discussion. What are some of continuity errors that you have noticed in movies? Here are a few:

* THE GREAT ESCAPE - Donald Pleasence goes into the escape tunnel wearing colored socks (they are gray or blue . . . I can't remember). When he comes out at the other end of the tunnel, he is wearing white socks.

* THUNDERBALL - During a big underwater fight scene, James Bond's diving mask changes color from black to blue and then to black again.

* THE BREAKFAST CLUB - During the scene where the principal has a discussion with the janitor, there is a file cabinet with a card on the front of one of the drawers. It is one of those cards where you would write what is in the drawer (for example, if it were an alphabetical file cabinet, you might write "A to D"). In one shot, the card is tilted at an angle. In another shot, it is perfectly straight.

* ANIMAL HOUSE - Donald Sutherland writes "Satan" on the blackboard. When the camera changes angles, "Satan" is still written on the board, but in a slightly different place.

* HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP - There is a scene where one of the characters has blood on his shirt. When the camera changes angles, the blood stain is a different size and shape.

Okay . . . let's see how many others we can list.



Post Edited (07-08-03 11:50)

[AndyC]

Mitchell - the smashed headlight that comes and goes.

An obscure Filipino Mad Max ripoff, called W, actually has a villain with a goatee that comes and goes.

[Fearless Freep]

There's the pretty obvious and well known one in "The Empire Strikes Back" when Han Solo is about to be frozen.  Close ups of his conversation with Leia show his vest on,  pulled back shots do not.

I've seen a lot, I just don't really remember them or think much about them.

I remember in "Time Runner" there were closeups and far away shots of Mark Hammil landing an airplane where the background in the close up shots didn't match the terrain in the pulled-back shots.

The ones that amuse me the most are not just shot to shot continutity errors but errors where the film was edited together slight out of order and characters act on events that haven't happened yet

[AndyC]

Fearless Freep wrote:

> The ones that amuse me the most are not just shot to shot
> continutity errors but errors where the film was edited
> together slight out of order and characters act on events that
> haven't happened yet
>

That reminded me of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Chekov is burned in Vger's attack, and Ilia goes to his assistance. We cut over to a conversation between Kirk and his officers, in which we can clearly see the back of Ilia's bald head at her post behind him. Then we see Ilia leaving Chekov to return to her post.

Does anybody know if this was fixed in the Director's Edition? I might have to get it out and have a look.



Post Edited (07-08-03 13:40)

[Fearless Freep]

I also like when scenes are shot out of order and something that happens in shooting an earlier scene requires changes to the script that invalidates something that occurs later in the movie timeline that was already filmed.

[Flangepart]

Gorgo: The destroyer attack on Gorgo's mom. We see the bridge crew of the can that she sinks. Then later on, we see "Another " tin can attack....and the close up is of the same crew! They put the shots in out of sequance.
Also, the sequance is of a British destroyer doing the deed, but we see American blue jackets running for the bow gun turrets. Match the stock footage,lads!

[Chadzilla]

Most films are shot out of order - exteriors on one day, interiors sometimes at a different location entirely, so continuity slips.

Beverly Hills Cop - Two gun men flee a house.  When they get outside, one is now wearing a shoulder holster.  After they leave the porch, the holster is gone.

Basket Case 2 - Duane comes down a flight of stairs that lead into a foyer, his love interest pulls him into the kitchen to talk, there his shirt magically changes from powder blue to biege.  When the scene ends, Duane exists the kitchen and his shirt returns to being powder blue.

Vampires - During the opening, when the team first arrives at the house, James Woods is not standing where Daniel Baldwin is supposed to be looking at him.

In Dr. Strangelove there is a buffet table stacked with pies for a pie fight that never occurs.

[The Burgomaster]

Chadzilla wrote:

> Most films are shot out of order - exteriors on one day,
> interiors sometimes at a different location entirely, so
> continuity slips.

Yes . . . but it is the job of the continuity person to keep track of what people are wearing, where they are standing, etc. so that continuity DOESN'T slip. I can understand small errors, but when people aren't even wearing the same clothing from one shot to the next, someone was asleep on the job!

[Chadzilla]

I was just explaining the nature of how such errors occur.  Sometimes people are asleep at the wheel, other times it is just the chaotic nature of the production itself.

The Untouchables - Sean Connery's shirt collar magically opens and closes during a dialog scene.

[The Burgomaster]

Wow . . . I forgot about The Untouchables . . . the entire theater noticed that error when I went to see it during its original theatrical run. That one was really noticeable.

There is also a continuity error in TWINS. I can't remember exactly what it is, but during a scene where Danny DeVito & Arnold Schwarzenegger are in the men's room, something in the background (a roll of paper towels or something) magically disappears.

[The Burgomaster]

And we are all forgetting the scene in Spider-Man, where Spidey saves Mary Jane from a bunch of thugs. He tosses one thug through a window, breaking the glass. Then, they show a close-up of Mary Jane with the window in the background. Magically, it is no longer broken.



Post Edited (07-08-03 13:56)

[Ash]

An obvious one is in Commando after Arnie pushes the damaged Porsche back onto all 4 wheels and the door is magically repaired as the car drives away!

[The Burgomaster]

This one appeared in MST3K:

In EEGAH, Mr. Miller is having his face shaved by his daughter. In the close-up, most of the shaving cream is gone, but in the medium shot, half of his face is still covered in shaving cream.

[wickednick]

There are some famous mistakes in the Wizard of Oz.One of the biggest is that Dorthys hair changes length through out the picture.

[Goon]

Or the lamp he smashes while trying out his webs, that returns intact to the background.

------ooo-'U'-ooo-------Kilroy was here.