Even when a film is deserving of a perfect 5/5 rating, it doesn’t mean that it’s flawless. Directors spend so much time making sure that the larger picture of their film is cohesive, that sometimes little things can fall through the cracks when editing the final cut. Filmmakers in the industry are highly-paid professionals, but they are human, which means they’re as prone to errors as anyone else.
From Best Picture contenders to fun, escapist action flicks, and anything in between, 2015 had no shortage of goofs in the biggest projects. We’ll never be able to see some of our favorite films of the past year the same way again. Next time you watch one of these movies, see if you can spot any of Screen Rant’s 10 Biggest Movie Mistakes Hidden in Popular Films.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The First Order one-ups the Galactic Empire by utilizing a super weapon called Starkiller base, which can destroy an entire star system as opposed to a single planet. Audiences learn that the weapon draws its power from the planet’s sun, draining it of its energy so it can wreck havoc. According to science, once that happens, everything should go pitch black, but that’s not the way it plays out in the movie.
During the third act, after the Starkiller base charges its beam, Kylo Ren, Rey, and Finn can all see each other when they have their lightsaber duel. In reality, they would only be visible via man-made light sources (which, to be fair, the lightsaber blades provide). Still, things shouldn’t be as clear as they are. However, that wouldn’t make for the most cinematic of endings, so director J.J. Abrams really had no choice but to bend the rules a bit for his exciting finale.
Ant-Man
Scott Lang is the star of Ant-Man, but the film also features the original tiny Avenger: Hank Pym. In the opening sequence, audiences learn about Hank’s contentious relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D., after the organization attempts to recreate his Pym particle technology. At one point, Hank punches Mitchell Carson in the face, making his nose bleed. Blood starts pouring out of his nose, and this is where the mistakes settle in.
As the scene progresses, Carson appears to be cleaning up his wound with a handkerchief, as the blood slowly disappears. That makes sense, but towards the end when there’s a close-up of his face, there’s a very clean and white cloth lingering in the foreground for all to see. Perhaps with all their scientific advancements, S.H.I.E.L.D. created a self-cleaning handkerchief? That would help with the laundry bills.
Jurassic World
Between this dino adventure and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, there’s no denying that Chris Pratt is America’s new favorite leading man. His magic even impacts the props he uses. When Owen and Claire are searching for Zach and Gray in Jurassic World, Owen rests his rifle against the door of a Jeep. Things get tense when the Indominous rex appears, causing the two to hide against the front of the vehicle.
As the dinosaur searches for its prey, its head rocks the Jeep a couple of times. Once it leaves, Owen looks back to see if the coast is clear, and his rifle is right where he left it, virtually unmoved despite the Indominous’ actions. At the very least, it should be on the ground. A lot of 2015’s biggest blockbusters tried to blend practical effects with digital technology, but this was one instance where they didn’t really mesh.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Upon doing an inventory count for the group’s weapons, Toast informs Max and Furiosa that they have four rounds left for the SKS rifle, which she calls “Big Boy.” A few moments later when Max is trying to ward off their pursuers, he fires a single shot from the very same gun. Toast quickly tells Max that he only has two left, emphasizing the importance of hitting his target as efficiently as he can before they run out.
If Toast’s initial count was correct, Max should have three bullets left in the gun. While it doesn’t have the greatest impact on the plot, it nevertheless creates a glaring unnecessary oversight that could have been easily fixed with just a double check of the script. Miller did a phenomenal job piecing this modern action classic together and could potentially take home Best Director for his efforts, but this is something he should have been able to catch. There might be a reason why the screenplay wasn’t nominated.
The Martian
When astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead by his crew, they have no choice but to leave him behind on Mars so they can escape the storm in time. Of course, Mark is still alive, and uses his resourcefulness to survive alone on the planet until his team comes back to rescue him. That’s the movie audiences see, but a closer examination indicates that Mark may have had some help along the way.
In the scene where Mark regains consciousness, the cameraman is visible in the reflection of his helmet. And in another shot, it appears that the entire crew is visible, watching all the action take place. The Martian relies heavily on Matt Damon’s natural charisma as he essentially vlogs his way through his extended stay on the red planet. Perhaps these camera operators are the real unsung heroes of the movie? Either that, or filming with reflective surfaces isn’t as easy as it looks.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
One of the more entertaining sequences in this superhero sequel is when Earth’s Mightiest try to lift Thor’s hammer at a party, but the God of Thunder’s weapon of choice isn’t the only magical item in the room. Once all of his friends fail at the game (though Captain America comes close), Thor effortlessly picks up his hammer to inform them they are all not worthy. He does so with a drink in his hand.
However, in the very next shot, Thor’s hand is empty. The glass he was previously holding is on the table, even though he never stopped to put it down. This is most likely an illustration of the dangers of splicing together different takes of the same scene to create a full sequence. Joss Whedon had a lot on his plate when making this film, so he can be forgiven somewhat. But this is still something somebody involved with production should have noticed.
Inside Out
Hailed as the latest Pixar classic, Inside Out was seen by many moviegoers as the animation powerhouse’s return to form. But things got off to a pretty rocky start in the very first scene. When baby Riley appears, her mother appears to be wearing glasses as she looks at her little bundle of joy. But when the perspective changes to Riley’s point of view, the mom does not have any glasses on.
It’s always possible that Mom could have removed the glasses between shots, but that doesn’t add up. As a proud mother looking at her baby daughter for the first time, she’d most likely want to get the clearest view possible. It’s an odd inconsistency that raises more questions than it’s worth. Why would the animators go through the trouble of making the glasses if they weren’t going to keep them around?
Furious 7
Fans of the franchise were disappointed when breakout character Hobbs was left out of commission for most of the action, but there was a good reason for it. He was recovering from a collection of nasty injuries suffered in a fight with Deckard Shaw. When Dominic Toretto visits Hobbs in the hospital, Elena tells him that Hobbs broke his leg in two places. A shot of the hero in his hospital bed confirms this, with his leg wrapped up in a cast. But The Rock possesses super healing abilities no mere mortal can have.
As the film approaches its finale, Hobbs decides he wants to get in on the action. Telling his daughter that daddy needs to go to work, he flexes his arm out of its cast and goes to aid his friends. It would appear that he’s fully recovered from everything else that was ailing him. Hobbs’ leg is no longer in a cast, and he’s walking without any limp, even though it takes weeks for broken legs to get better. As Hugh Jackman steps down from Wolverine, we think we found who could play the mutant next.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
In one of this action sequel’s more thrilling bits, Ethan Hunt and Benji Dunn are involved in a vehicle chase while driving a car. The filmmakers use this as an opportunity to throw in a funny little gag, where Ethan asks his friend if he has his seatbelt on before attempting a dangerous maneuver. There may be a reason why Ethan posed that query, since Benji seemed to be following the rules of the road fairly loosely during the sequence.
At various points in the scene, Benji’s seatbelt alternates between on and off, as if nobody could figure out how it should really be and hoped nobody would notice. Arguably, the seatbelt joke would have been more effective if there was some consistency with Benji, as the way it’s presented makes things a little confusing. In a high-speed chase of life or death, nobody’s sure why or how Benji would keep taking his seatbelt off, only to click it back into place again.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
In the realm of writing, nobody is immune to the occasional typo. It’s just the nature of the business. But in the case of a feature film production that takes months to complete, there’s really no reason why some on-screen graphics might contain spelling errors. But apparently, the budget for Kingsman: The Secret Service wasn’t large enough to afford a proofreader, and one fictional news channel will forever live in infamy.
During a report covering the worldwide release of the free Valentine cell phone SIM cards, the word is shown as wordlwide. Making matters worse, this is a headline in large font for everyone to see. In the information age, there is a rush to be the first to report a story, but the mad dash can have some damaging effects. For some people, this network could lose credibility simply because they didn’t run spell check on the software.
Conclusion
Those are our picks for movie mistakes hidden in 2015’s most popular films. Are there any we missed? Which ones are your favorites? Sound off in the comments section below, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more fun videos like this one!
