Episode 8 Great Movie Mistakes

An anachronism is when something stands out

from everything around it as just being from the wrong era in time.

Think Prince Philip at a Justin Bieber concert.

A glaring anachronism can immediately ruin any good period movie.

I mean, Pride and Prejudice would have been rubbish if Darcy and Bennett had met via online dating.

Or if the soldiers in 300 had got together at a flash mob.

"Spartans, tonight we meet on Twitter!"

Doesn't really work, does it?

Just what we needed, yet another Robin Hood movie.

But this one is going to be perfect, right down to every last detail.

Like this smoothly cut tree stump that has blatantly been cut with a modern machine.

Because they didn't use axes back then, they used ye olde chainsaw.

In Robin Hood's day, they also used modern war equipment, just like

these World War Two landing craft straight out of Saving Private Ryan.

Despite the fact that they weren't invented until the 1920s.

Only 700 years out. Yaar!

Might as well go the whole hog, Robin.

What's that up in the sky in this shot?

That's right, the vapour trail from an aircraft.

In the year 1200.

The high seas, 1589, and a couple of clips from St Trinian's 2.

This film is full of anachronisms, not least casting Girls Aloud's

Sarah Harding as a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

But in this scene, the clanger is a view through a telescope.

I don't need to tell you that the telescope wasn't invented until 1608.

He doesn't care.

In the improbably titled Hot Tub Time Machine,

a group of modern-day losers go back to the year 1986

in a hot tub that's also a...time machine.

No foreign army has ever occupied American soil until now.

Well, I'll believe that, but not this.

A poster for Rambo 3.

It wasn't released until 1988, two years later.

Who's responsible for this mistake?

-The Ruskies.

-Yeah, I might have guessed.

Accident blackspot? These aren't accidents.

A cinema classic that struggles to stay in the '60s.

They're throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.

Throw yourselves into the road, darling!

Tearing down a '60s road in their '60s car with a bottle of '60s booze.

But they seem to have taken a wrong turn and ended up in the 1980s.

See those? Loads of '80s cars.

Well, that's what drink-driving will do for you.

Are you out of your mind?

Pull over, you haven't got a licence.

They also pass a modern motorway sign.

In fact, the M25 didn't exist until 1975, and that's not in the 1960s.

Here's a clip from the smash hit, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

When our hero, Mikael Blomkvist, goes for a jog, he has a flashback to his childhood in the '60s.

Spot the problem? Yeah, this was a childhood in which he wore modern trainers from the future.

Next up is Avatar, the worldwide blockbuster that asks an age-old question -

what if giant Smurfs with pointy ears could control flying dragons with their tails

and make a tree go all glowy and... Yeah, I didn't understand it either.

And it was SO long.

James Cameron, take a leaf out of your brother David's book and make some harsh cuts!

If I want to spend three hours in a darkened room wearing a pair of cheap plastic glasses,

I'll go to a tanning salon.

Avatar is set in the mythical world of Pandora

and features a Pandora's Box full of movie mistakes...

such as combining the plots of FernGully and Pocahontas.

In this scene, Neytiri's ponytail is out of sight, over her shoulder.

Then it's on her back.

Seze.

And when she goes to plug it into her dragon/horse,

it's around her front again.

Ikran is not a horse.

Ooh, well excuse me!

This guy may be the corporate baddy of the film,

but he's got incredible golf skills.

He can move balls without touching them.

First the two balls are close together.

You were looking at the monitor.

I love this putter, Ronnie!

I love this putter!

Next, they're far apart.

Parker. You know, I used to think it was benign neglect,

but now I see that you're intentionally screwing me.

Grace, you know, I enjoy our little talks.

Then they're back together.

Oops.

This is wrong in all three dimensions.

Here we see Jake return from his Avatar to the real world.

The boring old real world where mystical things don't exist.

Like Sigourney's hand magically moving from his arm...

to his shoulder...

back to his arm.

Avatar? Ava-word with yourself, Mr Cameron!

And it happens again.

Watch Jake's arms start on the table.

Now they're on his wheelchair.

Now they're out straight.

Now bent.

Now straight again.

Honestly. It makes me turn blue with rage!

Here's a big fight from the end of the film.

Have a look at Col Quaritch in his cockpit.

There's a wing mirror right at the back, behind his head.

Notice how the front strut is completely mirrorless.

But then, suddenly...

Hello! A mirror right by that strut, and clearly in front of his head.

A bit of high tension in the jungle...

No mirror in front of him here.

Still no mirror in front of him.

And, hello!

A handy mirror to see a horsey dragon attacking his giant robot.

You know what I hate?

-(OUT OF SYNCH)

-Those moments in films where the actor's mouth isn't synched up with what they're saying.

Sometimes, their mouth isn't moving,

sometimes it's moving but nothing's coming out.

Still, it's better than watching Twilight, where you CAN see Robert Pattinson's mouth moving

but what you hear is absolute drivel.

We found our hideout...

Let's start with The Goonies and a man driving the car,

trying to pull off an Amy Winehouse -

singing and smoking at the same time.

Look in the car mirror.

MAN SINGS

We can hear his voice, but his mouth isn't moving.

MAN SINGS

Watch and learn, Winehouse.

In the movie Collateral, Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx

go to a jazz club that's so groovy, it ignores the rules of physics.

Behind the notes. Not what's expected.

Listen as the trumpet note continues, even though the trumpeter's stopped blowing.

NOTE CONTINUES

Nice.

-Have I told you about Sammy Jankis?

-Mm, yeah.

Memento now, and watch the guy on the right's mouth.

You think he's still here?

Another one talking without actually moving his lips.

-What about John G? You think he's still here?

-Who?

Johnny G, the guy you're looking for.

I was exceedingly cruel...

Now, this woman is talking so much,

you can still hear her when her mouth isn't moving.

Watch closely as she's put down on the sofa.

Not that I'd trade a day, and hour or a moment of it for anything. I don't know what came over me.

And here is a classic mouth-wrong from The Notebook.

Take note! Just because a scene is dimly lit does not mean

you can dub over completely different words.

-Ohh! This place is gigantic!

-Yeah, gigantic piece of...

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