Error code: Why petty movie mistakes trigger us all
It’s getting easier to spot continuity errors in films and on TV. But should the audience really even care?
It’s April 2019. The world is watching S4E8 of Game of Thrones. Winterfell is celebrating. And then it happens. Was that a Starbucks cup near Daenerys Targaryen? It’s there for one second and the next, it isn’t. Oops! The goof-up makes headlines, becomes the subject of countless memes and jokes. HBO quickly cleans up the episode.
Viewers have been spotting errors on screen since 1914, when Charlie Chaplin lost his hat in one room but it appeared on his head as he moved to another room in The Property Man. It happens so often in films, there’s a whole website, MovieMistakes.com, devoted to tracking every little one. And some films, such as the 1979 war epic Apocalypse Now, goof up so much, they hold Guinness Records for the most errors: 456 over a two-and-a-half-hour run time.
It’s no surprise that the most recent mistake in Apocalypse Now was only spotted last year. Fans and viewers have simply become eagle-eyed over time. They’re binge-watching in HD, replaying their favourite scenes, pausing at just the right moment and sharing their finds online.
Some are minor trips. In Forrest Gump (1994), in an emotional moment when Forrest realises that he has a son, an iron in the background keeps switching positions, distracting viewers. Even the most hardcore fans of Gilmore Girls (or any sitcom, really) are irked by the obvious lack of coffee, or any sort of weight, in the coffee cups.
Other errors can shake up an entire franchise. In Monsters Inc (2001) Mike tells Sully he’s been jealous of him since “the 4th grade”. And yet, in Monsters University (2013) the story reveals that they only met in college. In The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Gotham’s police force is stuck in the sewers for five months, but emerges bafflingly clean-shaven and bathed.
In the streaming era, with so many shows and films coming out so often, there’s only more to catch. In Stranger Things, Will Byers’s birthday is March 22, but in Season 4, on March 22, Will and his friends are roller-skating, with no mention of a birthday. Will’s friends forgot, so did the writers.
It’s 2025. Most errors can be fixed in post-production. But perhaps we’re looking at the very idea of errors in the wrong way. What are we all watching for, anyway? The story, or just the holes in it? Most fans know that Martin Scorsese films are riddled with mistakes. (Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street and Taxi Driver have some hilariously glaring ones.) He’s admitted that he lets it happen because he uses the best take that was shot, rather than obsessing over minutiae. So, honestly, if it bugs you, head to Reddit, Threads, or Insta and vent. But get over it.
Or lean in and enjoy it, as editors and filmmakers have started to do. An intentional – and hilarious – continuity dig is in the show 30 Rock. Alec Baldwin’s character asks Tina Fey’s character, “What do I always say about acting?”
She replies: “Hit your mark, stay in your light, and do the same thing every time for continuity.”
The camera then cuts back to her, and all of a sudden, she’s wearing a giant red scarf. Smooth.
From HT Brunch, January 25, 2025
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