Do continuity errors in movies and film ever get you upset?

Yes. The movie Moth Man with Richard Gere really annoyed me. This supposedly happened in my state in the 1950’s. They had the correct era of car models, but they had caller ID and cell phones.

Not upset. It lowers my estimation of the commitment to the story by the writers, film editors, directors and producers, though—the people who are responsible for the end product.

But continuity errors in life can get me pretty upset, that’s for damn sure.

Unless it’s really obvious I tend not to be conscious of it, but I come away feeling less than satisfied. Often I’ll see it again in n TV and my discomfort is cleared up when I see what they’ve screwed up.

I may notice but I wouldn’t say I am annoyed, more like amused. Like the white bunny rabbit hopping around in a field being portrayed as a wild rabbit or black and white, or all white domestic rats being portrayed as wild rats and recent one I caught, an african lion cub posing as a mountain lion cub. haha
I guess there are a lot of animal ignorant types out there that wouldn’t think twice about that sort of thing but I am always appalled at the blatant misrepresentation that some directors seem to think is acceptable.

In the opening titles of Django Unchained there are, at first, 6 slaves being escorted from auction, but by the end only 5 are seen…damn your fucking eyes Quentin, damn them both!!

Yes. I resent anything that pulls me out of the reality of a film, even briefly.

Unless it’s a comedy or the errors don’t affect the plot too much, I would be bothered a little.

Doesn’t annoy me at all, it actually amuses me.There’s a scene in True Lies where Bill Paxton’s face is clearly covered in blood and in the next shot his face is completely clean.

This is taken from IMDb, this is rather funny:

Miracle (2004)
Starring: Kurt Russell

Incorrectly Regarded as Goofs:

During the match against West Germany, the scoreboard shows that the U.S. is playing the GDR, the English abbreviation for East Germany.

The score board in the original game was incorrect – the scoreboard coordinator in the original game made the mistake, not the filmmakers.

I see some, but they don’t bother me nearly so much as my dad did pointing them out, loudly, all the time when I was a kid.

Only in so called historical epics, or period pieces. Like a scene in Braveheart where a crew member in a baseball cap walks behind Mel and Co. in the rock tossing scene. Or a scene in Spartacus, 1960, where a Roman soldier is wearing a watch. Drives me nuts.

Yes, very frequently. Depends on the degree of nonsense, and how much it interferes with what I was interested in.

I get upset in the sense of disappointed and often incredulous that so much money and effort is invested in producing something that makes no sense but could have if they’d paid more attention, and that so many others often don’t notice or care.

Not so much trivial things, but the very frequent cases where I feel the story really doesn’t make much sense, things would not happen that way, I don’t believe in the characters as people who would behave as they do, results seem extremely improbable, have lame explanations that seem like lazy writing, etc. Especially when it seems like I can easily think of easy ways it could’ve been made to make sense, but no.

For example, I hated Spectre for the several parts that made no sense and seemed ridiculously pointlessly unrealistic to me. Same for The Force Awakens. And Fury Road. I also hate overly-video-arcade-like hyper-active unrealistic/silly action sequences as in the first Peter Jackson The Hobbit film, or the Star Wars prequel trilogy (or TFA).

As I never notice such errors they don’t bother me at all.

My husband notices this sort of thing quite often. Especially if it’s a car engine noise that is incorrect. He takes a little pride in finding the bad edit, or the inconsistencies. I wouldn’t say he is upset by it.

The only time I get bothered is when something is inaccurate and it really matters, like bad medical information. I also get annoyed when a character does something ridiculous like puts themselves at stupid risk that I can’t imagine anyone would do, so the story line will have more suspense or danger.

@jleslie. Like the teenager in shorts and a tank top run to the attic when they hear a blood curdling scream from the attic.

Back in the ‘40s when I was a young boy, mother would take me to movies and point out continuity errors to me. It became a kind of game that seventy years later I still enjoy playing. Scenes that show eating and drinking will often have them. The level of fluid in glasses or quantity of food on plates will be inconsistent. Part of this problem occurs in editing when continuity of dialogue and affect is more important than the length of a cigarettes ash or other details, as most viewers are focused on plot development and few pay attention to such minutia.

I’m into the older epics, and I noticed a while back, that in the John Wayne version of The Alamo, in the final charge of the Mexican Army, you can see a pick up truck drive down a dirt road behind the rear ranks. Probably a second unit film crew. Either that, or Santa Anna had some really advanced technology, for 1836.

It annoys me when really basic details about science are missed, especially when it comes to space films. That scene in gravity where they were hanging on to each other and one of them let go really ruined the film. That’s just lazy writing. The never ending magazine in shootout scenes is another.

@chyna Or, even things like the cop in NYC who goes into a bad situation without callingbin for back up, let alone not waiting for back up, and one, NYC cops are always in pairs, and two, it’s not worth take such an extreme risk.

SMH more than “upset.” Like, they get 58 shots out of 6 shooter! Or a truck explodes and slides and slides and slides, taking out cars and people and building and keeps on sliding beyond all possibility of physics.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Right? That movie was SUCH a disappointment. The errors were so blatant and I’m not even a scientist.

Like a massively loud explosion in outer space.
or getting ten quick shots out of a bolt action rifle and never racking the bolt.
or shooting a machine gun with no empties flying .

This is a fun Q, @SQUEEKY2, thanks for asking it.

Those discrepancies never seem to bother my husband. They drive me nuts!

I also like how the slide on an auto pistol almost never moves

Not upset but annoyed.

Watching the movie “Knowing.” Basic story is a group of kids do a class project in 1959 to put in a time capsule to be opened 50 years later. Of course I did the math and said 2009.
One of the kids only wrote out strings and strings of numbers.
So 50 years later the open it and that bit wound up in the hands of a scientist who started examine it. He soon realized that it included dates and years of catastrophic events. 9 11 for example.
Well finally it hits the next terrible event was to hit the next day on this month and day 2008!!!
Oh man! :(

Is that on DVD?

Yes. I just bought a copy online. I am curious to see it.

I’d like to see it too, after reading Dutchess review, lol. Looks interesting.

It was on Netflix. The first part was pretty cool. I like the idea of him putting the numbers together, then making the connections. But then devils and demons and shit came into it. It’s vague shades of Close Encounters and Noah’s Ark (but with only 2 white rabbits) in the end. And that’s all I will say!

Oh, caution. It has a subway car that gets derailed at, apparently, 800 mph. It goes into a never ending slide.

I’ll have to check it out. Intriguing story, with crashes and explosions to boot. Can’t beat it with a stick.

I should get the dvd I ordered soon.
I will post my critique here after I see it.

Patty_Melt Ok, sounds good. I’ll wait on your review before I decide to rent it. You and Duchess are a regular Sieskel and Ebert. Don’t forget the thumbs up routine.

Thumb sideways here.

The movie showed up. I’m giving it thumbs up.
Sometimmes, when I write, I throw in little goofs just so I can chuckle about how many readers might notice it. I have to wonder if this writer does the same.
Cage’s character is a bit of a cross between his work in ConAir, and National Treasure. The story is good if you liked the show Numb3rs and movies like Sixth Sense. It is weird with a tingle.
I like movies with more story than gore.
It might pace too slow for younger viewers, who get impatient waiting for microwave ovens.
The scene with the plane is tasty, though tragic.

I’ll have to check this one out then. Thanks for the post.

Okay, I went back and forth in the movie. The dates are accurate. When he drops his drink, he is looking at an ‘08 date, but it is a past event, not a future event. He is looking at a prediction about the day his wife died.
When he argues with his friend about the validity of the dates, he points to an ‘09 date as the event to take place “tomorrow.”
Dutch, you owe an apology to the crew.
In regards to the train, it does seem to slide a pretty long time,
but it goes in slow mo, and from various angles. The actual slide appears to be only about a hundred yards, maybe less. That is within believability. I drove a lightrail train in San Jose several years ago. I wasn’t an employee, (ssssshhhh, the driver let me try it, just a little bit.) Going real slow, those heavy beasts travel a long way with no power. With some speed, they are pretty darn hard to stop.
My daughter just watched the movie and found it depressing.

The 08 date was the day the plane hit all the cars on the bridge. It was real time for him and that’s when he realized what the other numbers stood for. But I’ll look at it again tomorrow.

Watched the Manhattan Project last night. I’ve never seen it but I heard about it. I think they were trying to copy War Games but it wasn’t nearly as believable.
Plus everybody had their car windows down all the time, even when it was raining. Smh.

The ‘08 date is followed by 48, the number killed in the fire which claimed his wife.
You will see.

K

:@Dutchess_III and @Patty Melt, thanks for the spoilers. : (

They aren’t spoilers! We have to get it right for those who have yet to watch it.

Uhhh… is there something wrong with that, or is it me?

Trust me, we haven’t given any spoilers. All we have talked about are markers. When you see it, you will find we haven’t given away anything! I haven’t seen a trailer, but I bet it gives away more.