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Anachronisms

Posted: Oct Fri 31, 2008 7:31 pm
by agingerbugg
I was just watching this week's episode of "Life on Mars" and noticed a fairly big anachronism. In the scene when the cops pull the girl out of the river across the river is a building with a large Verizon sign. The show takes place in 1973, Verizon was not founded in 1973. Besides that, I don't think that buildings in New York had large illuminated signs in 1973 (I might be wrong). I was wondering if there are any other blatant anachronisms that you guys have spotted whether in TV shows, movies, Disney attractions (there is one I can think of), etc.

Posted: Oct Fri 31, 2008 8:19 pm
by Future Guy
Well, I was just watching an episode of the early-1980s show Voyagers! about a guy and a kid who travel through time, and during a scene depicting the flight of the Wright Brothers' first glider, there's a clearly visible jet trail in the sky.

There's also an episode of M*A*S*H that shows Radar reading an Avengers comic book, even though the Avengers weren't created until 1963, ten years after the Korean War ended.

Posted: Oct Fri 31, 2008 9:10 pm
by elizabethswann
A lot of movies and televisions shows end up doing that and don't even realize it. I've seen it happen too many times and I laugh. The Flintstones is a good example since dinosaurs are used in the show but they were extinct before humans came on the earth.

Posted: Oct Fri 31, 2008 10:32 pm
by js3901
in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, there are several mistakes.

-During Jack's sliding down the rope scene, it is very noticeable that each one of the English soldiers fire their weapons more than once, which is impossible for that time, knowing that repetition weapons weren't invented until the mid 1800's.
-Captain Norrington is "promoted" to Commodore. However, commodore was not a rank in the British navy (it is now, not then), but a posting. A post captain could be appointed commodore (meaning he commanded more than one vessel) for a specific task, but when that task was completed, he became a post captain again. A promotion would have made Norrington an admiral.
-In the scene where Will delivers the new sword to Governor Swann, look behind Governor Swann. There is an oval painting hanging on the wall. It is a Thomas Kinkade portrait, which would never grace the walls of the mansion. Thomas Kinkade is a modern artist.
-Sir Charles Wheatstone, an English physicist (b.1802 - d.1875), invented the 'concertina' around the mid 1800's. The 'concertina' is a small musical instrument like an accordion, with bellows and keys. During the Moonlight Serenade scene, when Elizabeth walks out onto the deck, she sees the skeletal pirates for the first time, and Jacoby is seen playing the 'concertina', but it was not invented yet.

if you go to Movie Mistakes.com, you can find many errors such as these (PotC:CotBP has 228 total mistakes right now) for just about any movie or TV show.

Posted: Nov Sat 01, 2008 12:28 am
by elizabethswann
228?? Wow! Now you've got me lurking through that site.

Posted: Nov Sat 01, 2008 12:32 am
by Len90
In Walk Hard, there is a wedding scene. The movie is supposed to take place in the sixties, but this scene shows new cars in it and fairly new cars driving on the road behind the scene. It is probably one of the worst done movie scenes I have ever seen.

Posted: Nov Sat 01, 2008 12:43 am
by Akyriel
Ya Walk Hard was a terrible film for sure...

Posted: Nov Sat 01, 2008 12:26 pm
by broncoflyer8912
Hey there was a lot of funny lines in Walk Hard though...too bad they didn't add up to make a good movie. Jenna Fischer is hot though!

Posted: Nov Sat 01, 2008 5:28 pm
by kcarts
In JFK there are many. Almost too many to name. And that's not including Stone's assertion of a conspiracy. Let's just say that he took quite a poetic license with the film.

Posted: Nov Sat 01, 2008 5:33 pm
by elizabethswann
kcarts wrote:In JFK there are many. Almost too many to name. And that's not including Stone's assertion of a conspiracy. Let's just say that he took quite a poetic license with the film.
He's not really that great of a director either, to be honest. I think Alexander was the only one I tolerated just because I wanted to see some of my favorite actors in the movie.