Even directors known for their strict attention to detail are bound to mess up during the filming process. It's all part of making movies, and that means audiences get to spot these mistakes and continuity errors, thereby immortalizing them in the trivia section of places like IMDb. Some filmmakers enjoy the hilarity of these mistakes, while others seek to scrub them out of existence wherever possible.
Whether due to a pickup shot gone wrong, or glaring oversight across multiple days of shooting, these continuity errors are bound to happen. Even in the advent of the modern moviemaking age, the process is still relatively the same, which means this problem won't go away any time soon.
Updated on December 22nd, 2021 by Derek Draven: The history of movies is littered with a plethora of mistakes and continuity errors; too many to mention in one sitting. However, it's worth taking a look at a few more continuity errors and anachronisms that managed to get past the fact-checkers on film sets, and the editors who stitched together the final products. Mistakes like these are all-too-easy to miss, but it's part of the fun of cinema. Whether it's a factual error, a chronological flub, or an embarrassing last-minute switch-up, these mistakes continue to live in infamy.
Investing In Apple Stock (Forrest Gump)
• Available to stream on Netflix
One of the most glaring errors in cinematic history took place in the much-lauded Forrest Gump when the titular character invests in Apple stock. He receives a thank you letter from the company, but there's an obvious anachronism going on, tied directly to the date of issue — 1975.
As Apple pundits have pointed out, the company didn't go public until the year 1980, which means Gump got an exclusive five-year head start on the competition. Of course, this could be explained away with an alternate universe theory, which tends to run congruent with some of the other occurrences in the film.
Out For A Drive (Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring)
• Available to rent on Apple TV+
Peter Jackson did his best to deliver one of the most beloved trilogies of all time, and he succeeded, save for a few gaffes in Lord of the Rings. It happens during the first act of The Fellowship of the Ring, when Sam notes that he's traveled the farthest from home in his entire life. Meanwhile, there's something peculiar in the background.
Apparently, the editing team failed to spot a car driving down one of the countryside roads and kicking up dust in its wake. However, with so much going on at any given time during the shooting schedule, this wasn't particularly surprising.
The Moving Tattoo (The Twilight Saga: New Moon)
• Available to stream on Netflix
The Twilight Saga: New Moon is a veritable grabbag of mistakes and regrettable errors, including visible mic wires, hairstyles that change from shot to shot, and vehicles that go from clean to dirty to clean again. One character's nipples even change colors over the course of the movie.
Perhaps the most distracting error was the infamous magical moving tattoo. Jacob sports a new tattoo that somehow migrates from the top of his shoulder to two inches lower in another shot of the film. It's not the worst continuity error, but it is noticeable.
The Robot Baby (American Sniper)
• Available to rent on Apple TV+
American Sniper features one of the most laughable errors in cinematic history, taking place during the scene where Chris Kyle is bonding with his infant child. What should have been a touching moment is ruined, particularly due to the fact that he’s clearly holding a plastic doll.
But the reason for the change wasn't due to cost-cutting measures. It turns out that the real baby who production intended to use in the scene was sick with a fever, necessitating a last-minute change.
Self-Repairing Windows (Spider-Man)
• Available to stream on Netflix
One of the most iconic scenes in Sam Raimi's smash hit adaptation of Marvel Comics' favorite web-slinger is the scene of Spider-Man kissing Mary Jane upside down in the rain. Unfortunately, there's a major continuity goof that distracts from the sweet moment.
Prior to the couple's liplock, Spider-Man had saved Mary Jane from thugs in an alleyway, chucking them through a set of windows in the process. Yet during the kiss, the windows are perfectly intact. It's a blink-and-miss-it moment, but once seen, it's hard to forget.
Premature Bullet Holes (Pulp Fiction)
• Available to stream on Netflix
Quentin Tarantino is known for the non-linear narrative structure of his films, but this gaffe was not done on purpose. The scene in the classic hit Pulp Fiction where Jules and Vincent successfully dodge gunfire is one prime example.
The problem is the bullet holes were already present in an earlier shot. Luckily, Tarantino's spellbinding dialogue is so engaging that it usually takes repeated viewings before the error becomes noticeable. It doesn't do much to mask up the hilarity of the error, however.
The Bald Young Picard (Star Trek: Nemesis)
• Available to rent on Apple TV+
This is a surprising gaffe, given the obviousness of Star Trek lore. The indomitable Captain Picard has been shown in several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation to have had hair in his younger days at Starfleet. In fact, he even has hair in a flashback sequence that takes place just a few years prior to the show's main story.
Yet when Picard encounters his clone Shinzon, he's already bald, despite being young in age. Later, Picard and Beverly Crusher look at a photo of the former's days at the academy, in which he's also bald. Solving this continuity error would have been as simple as slapping a wig on actor Tom Hardy, and taking a snapshot.
Gas-Powered Chariot (Gladiator)
• Available to stream on Paramount+
As lustrous as it is, Gladiator is far from perfect, particularly due to errors like this one. Suspension of disbelief is temporarily shattered for anyone with a sharp eye during the "Battle of Carthage" scene, which reveals a gas tank attached to a tossed-over chariot.
The saving grace of the shot is that it happens so fast that it's barely noticeable, except on pause. It has gained notoriety over the years, simply because people pointed it out. Had they not, it's doubtful many would have spotted it.
The Rusted Tin Man (The Wizard Of Oz)
• Available to rent on Apple TV+
The Wizard of Oz might be a beloved, timeless classic, but it has several glaring continuity errors floating over its head like a cloud. One of them involves the matter of Dorothy tacking up the Tin Man with a bit of oil, in order to get his rusted joints moving again.
Unfortunately, tin doesn't rust, which means this is a giant error. Since rust is actually iron oxide, the necessary components don't actually exist in tin, since it contains no iron. Furthermore, tin is sometimes used to coat other metals in order to either prevent rust or slow it down completely.
Changing Weather (Blade Runner)
• Available to stream on Starz
Blade Runner fell victim to a few continuity gaffes, from the inaccurate number of replicants he's tasked with taking down, to the obvious differences between actors and their stunt doubles. However, one of the biggest errors takes place during the film's most celebrated scene, where doomed replicant Roy Batty dies during an evening downpour.
In the next shot, he releases a pair of doves into an inexplicably clear and sunny sky. Later, director Ridley Scott would fix the errors when he released his definitive 2007 "Final Cut," featuring a different backdrop of the flying doves against a night sky.
The Wrecked/Unwrecked Porsche (Commando)
• Available to stream on Disney+
Commando is a confusing movie all on its own, to say nothing of this continuity error. It occurs when John Matrix tracks down and kills the slimy character, Sully. Matrix then commandeers his yellow Porsche by flipping it over and driving off. However, there's quite a large continuity error related to the damage the car sustained.
In the first shot, Matrix rolls the car back onto its wheels, showing a wrecked driver's side. Then, in the very next shot, he turns around and drives off, showing a car completely bereft of any damage at all. It's not the only mistake in Commando, but it's by far the most jarring.
Zipper Down (Teen Wolf)
• Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
This Teen Wolf error is worth dragging into the spotlight due to how distracting it is, in comparison to the actual shot going on in the background. It takes place at the end of the film, which sees Scott Howard winning a basketball game. First, there's the reaction shot of the crowd, with visibly excited fans jumping up and down in the bleachers.
Then, the money shot — an extra flying low. Apparently, an extra was just hanging out on set, unaware that their fly was down and underwear exposed until the cameras started rolling. Whether the scene was left in by accident or on purpose remains a bit of a mystery.
Reflecting Cobra (Raiders Of The Lost Ark)
• Available to stream on Netflix
The first Indiana Jones movie has plenty of mistakes and continuity errors, including the Well of Souls scene, where Indy falls into a pit of snakes. The scene is memorable for a shot of a cobra flaring its hood, just inches from Indy's face. To make this shot happen without risking injury to Harrison Ford, a glass pane separated the two, and in the theatrical cut of the film, the snake's reflection can be seen.
Once Spielberg caught the error, he made sure to fix it when it was released on DVD and Blu-Ray. For those lucky enough to still have Raiders of the Lost Ark on VHS, the gaffe is still present — and worth a laugh or two.
Chess Pieces (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls)
• Available to rent on Apple TV+
Perhaps one example proving that When Nature Calls was inferior to the original Ace Ventura was the lack of attention to detail. In the climax of the film, Ace is solving the film's central mystery, while the man bankrolling his investigation is playing chess by himself.
Ventura interrupts and moves a chess piece, only to have all the pieces vanish in the next shot, for no explanation whatsoever, only to reappear later. It's a jarring example of how one bad pickup shot can ruin an entire scene.
California Everywhere (Halloween)
• Available to stream on Hoopla
The low-budget and rushed shooting schedule of the original Halloween led to some memorable continuity errors, including the scene where Jamie Lee Curtis's character Laurie Strode looks behind a shrub to see if masked killer Michael Myers is hiding there. The film is set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois but was shot in Southern California.
The movie even shows the occasional palm tree sticking out in the background, including the scene where Laurie tries to calm young Tommy Doyle's pre-Halloween night jitters. Add in the California license plates on the cars, and it appears that the filmmakers were hoping audiences simply wouldn't notice.
The Pre-Damaged Med Lab Window (Aliens)
• Available to stream on Disney+
This particular error has been tacked up in subsequent re-releases, but it is a major goof in Aliens that stuck around for years, much to the chagrin of its director. It takes place during the scene when Newt and Ripley are trapped in a med lab with two facehuggers scurrying about.
In an effort to escape, Newt tells Ripley to break the glass. She picks up a chair and starts hammering against the window, leaving multiple scuffs on the material. In the original release, the scuff marks were chronologically incorrect, leaving many fans scratching their heads.
Dorothy's Magically Growing Hair (The Wizard Of Oz)
• Available to rent on Apple TV+
Not even one of the greatest cinematic classics of all time is immune from the occasional flub. Perhaps the most notorious involves the follicles of Judy Garland, who played Dorothy. It occurs during the pivotal scene where she first meets the Scarecrow.
During their musical number together, she first appears with pigtails just above her shoulders. Then, as the song progresses, they grow longer, at one point even reaching below her shoulders. Yet when the song concludes, they're back at their original shortened length.
Airplane Switcheroo (The Usual Suspects)
• Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
This infamous Usual Suspects gaffe involves a four-engine Boeing 747 coming in for a landing, but when the plane is shot from behind, it only has two engines, indicating a Boeing 767, instead. It's quite a jarring conflict, especially for those who know a thing or two about aviation.
Sometimes, these shots exist purely because there was no time to fix them, or money to film them from two angles. To compensate, the filmmakers probably decided to shoot the back of a completely different plane in order to sew up the hole.
Kid Extra Spoils The Scene (North By Northwest)
• Available to stream on Starz
During one particularly embarrassing scene in this golden age spy movie classic, Roger Thornhill is confronted by Eve Kendall near Mt. Rushmore, and he soon discovers that the woman he's falling in love with might not be who she seems. During a confrontation, she shoots him point-blank with a gun.
Apparently, the young boy in the background might have gone through multiple takes of the same same, because he can clearly be seen putting his fingers in his ears before the trigger was pulled.
Clumsy Stormtrooper (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope)
• Available to stream on Disney+
One of the best bloopers of all time is undoubtedly the stormtrooper hitting his head on the blast shield door of the Death Star in Star Wars IV: A New Hope. Actor Laurie Goode told The Hollywood Reporter that he was struggling with an upset stomach the day of filming, replying "By midmorning, I had paid three to four visits to the loo. Having re-dressed myself and returned to the set, I felt the need to rush back to the gents’ toilets, but I was placed in [the] shot. On about the fourth take, as I shuffled along, I felt my stomach rumbling, and 'bang,' I hit my head!"
The gaffe is so popular among Star Wars fans that George Lucas not only retained it for his 1997 Special Edition re-releases but added a sound effect to accentuate it, as well. He'd later replicate the accident on purpose in Attack of the Clones, just for the sake of nostalgia.