Hilarious Mistakes On Screen

My pet hate is that aircraft always have to “Sream” like a dive bomber just before they crash…….including straight and level into a mountain.

Just watching The Tuskegee Airmen, and during the pilots’ first aerial confrontation, the character “Cappy” is set upon by a Messerschmitt. The sequence shows Cappy in the cockpit of his Mustang, looking back at him in the cockpit, with the ‘109 in full view behind him, guns blazing…

…only the “109” isn’t a ‘109 at all, but another Mustang.

And just for the debate from 6 months ago…

Blue Thunder: theater release date: May 13, 1983 (USA)

Airwolf: pilot episode air date: January 22, 1984

Donald P. Bellisario developed Airwolf (early working titles: Blackwolf, Lonewolf), from the loose concept of a third season ‘Magnum p.i.’ episode he’d previously written, titled ‘Two Birds Of A Feather’ – an unsold Pilot about a treasure-hunting, adventure-loving ace combat pilot named Sam Houston Hunter (William Lucking). Bellisario had come up with the concept after Lucking played a similar character in a couple of episodes of another Bellisario series, ‘Tales Of The Gold Monkey’ (1982-3). After the proposed new series wasn’t picked up, Bellisario took the bare bones of the concept, and eventually developed the premise into ‘Airwolf’.

I was in the USMC (air wing) at the time of both these, and we all had many laughs about the “features” of them.

I could be wrong [i will check my daughters copy] but i think you will find that mention is made that the villians are listining in on the radio frequencys to prevent the good guy’s doing that.
BTW do C-123’s have ejector seats?

yep ur right about the frequencies thing, was that the reason that they crashed a big BA aircraft piloted by chief o’brien? 😀

also 99% sure the C-123 didnt have bang seats fitted, though, would the colombians have made “Modifications” 😀

Carpetbagger,

There are pics on here from that movie – somewhere… Once someone gets the title spot-on have a search (if you can stand it) and pics and the story behind them will magically appear…

Me, I’m going to sink to a spectacularly anal level of pedantry. Even for me.

Memphis Belle (part 2). Any shot of the English countryside. There’s “tramlines” in the crops – but leaving tramlines for sprayers didn’t come in until pesticides etc began to be widely used in the 1950s – 1960s. Terrible – shouldn’t be allowed.

Adrian

I know it is almost six months since the last posting on this thread (incidently by me) but having just watched Memphis Belle for the first time in yonks I felt I had another mistake to add here.

I realise that there were only limited numbers of B17s available for the film and that each airframe was painted to represent a different aircraft with different names painted on each side. If however you watch the head on shots of the aircraft taxiing for take off you can clearly see different names and pictures painted on opposite sides of the same aircraft!

I could be wrong [i will check my daughters copy] but i think you will find that mention is made that the villians are listining in on the radio frequencys to prevent the good guy’s doing that.
BTW do C-123’s have ejector seats?

I’ve just checked Wiki and there is no reference to them being fitted with ejection seats and checking pictures on theaviationzone.com there are no warning signs on the side of the cockpit indicating ejection seats may be fitted.

And Die Hard II – you know, the one at the airport. The simple premise is that all power has been cut to the control tower so they can’t speak to the circling aircraft. “if only there was some way to talk to those airplanes” somebody says. There is. Go downstairs to any aircraft parked outside, switch it on and use its radios. :rolleyes:

I could be wrong [i will check my daughters copy] but i think you will find that mention is made that the villians are listining in on the radio frequencys to prevent the good guy’s doing that.
BTW do C-123’s have ejector seats?

And Die Hard II – you know, the one at the airport. The simple premise is that all power has been cut to the control tower so they can’t speak to the circling aircraft. “if only there was some way to talk to those airplanes” somebody says. There is. Go downstairs to any aircraft parked outside, switch it on and use its radios. :rolleyes:

Worst scenario ever!

Air Ministry Specification 22/38 ‘For the manufacture of dummy aircraft’. Three patterns were requested, a single-engine fighter, a single engine light bomber and a twin engine heavy bomber. Contracts were placed with film studios and set builders to produce these in wood and canvas and were used in 1940-41 – some were also used ahead of the D-Day landings when they were definitely placed at existing airfields to trick German recon into thinking there were more aircraft available. Not sure if this was also the case in 1940 but knowing the emphasis on dispersal around airfield, I’d say it was likely.

Somewhere I have a book with a poem about the setting up of wooden dummy aircraft on a fake airfield which was bombed by the Germans with a wooden bomb.

Some favourite screen mistakes:

The film about the Enigma decryption (can’t recall its title) includes a scene where a submarine is bombed by a Catalina carrying just one bomb – but it would have made more sense to a general audience than dropping a spread of four depth charges across it. And at least they found a Catalina.

And Die Hard II – you know, the one at the airport. The simple premise is that all power has been cut to the control tower so they can’t speak to the circling aircraft. “if only there was some way to talk to those airplanes” somebody says. There is. Go downstairs to any aircraft parked outside, switch it on and use its radios. :rolleyes:

And don’t get me started on U-571. The girlfriend made me promise never to talk about it again!

The Blue Thunder pod still exists at MGM studios, Florida (back-lot tour…)

Actually that’s the mock-up used on soundstage. The real one was a converted gazelle (done by Hughes). Don’t know what happened to it after the movie. I think scrapped (as was the Airwolf soundstage mock-up. The real airwolf crashed as an air ambulance in Germany). Blue thunder was a b*tch to fly with all the mods. Airwolf on the other hand actually flew better then a standard
!

If they’d just run into the tunnel they’d have been miles away by the time the Germans arrived (at the abandoned train and broken track)…

Ideally setting the train off in reverse first.

Moggy

who will own up to watching it, and who can hum the
theme tune…….

Staple Saturday afternoon entertainment when I was younger!

Not only can I hum the theme tune, but I confess to having it as an MP3 file….:o

Heres a few interesting ones:

Spielberg’s first feature “The Sugarland Express”
has a Hughes 500 (Turbine engine) with the sound
of a Bell 47G dubbed over the top.

Abbott & Costello’s film “Keep Em’ Flying” (1941)
has an out of control Stearman for ground scenes
that suddenly whiches to a Boeing 100 when it becomes
airborne.

The close-up of the Phoenix skids in the take-off
sequence in “Flight of the Phoenix” (1965), you can
see buildings inthe background.

I’m sure at one point in 633 Squadron (thanks Neilly!) that pilot Cliff Robertson exits his Mossie before his Navigator.

Neat trick, that.

The Blue Thunder pod still exists at MGM studios, Florida (back-lot tour…)

Blue thunder. No spin-off. It was a movie and after that they made a series that only lasted for a few episodes. Airwolf was far more succesfull

No Blue Thunder in your house then?!

I love Airwolf! Have the series on DVD. Is was a Bell 222B.

That made a spin off tv show as well, a converted Gazelle? Airwolf was a lot sexier though, and supersonic!

I love Airwolf! Have the series on DVD. Is was a Bell 222B.

Airwolf!!!!

😮 Ok, this is an old thread but somewhere in the depths of sky digital, channel 206 I think (not an advert, I promise) I just saw Airwolf…. Ok, does it count as Sci Fi (which is why “Skydiver” from UFO didn’t get a mention!) but mistakes, great flying clips of the bell (222?) but as for the names (stringfellow…St John etc etc) Ok, questions, who will own up to watching it, and who can hum the theme tune…….

One thing I’ve always regarded as a bit more like historical accuracy than a genuine mistake is in Battle of Britain. During one of the airfield bombing sequences, one of the replica Spitfires takes a direct hit and literally crumbles like it’s made of, shock! horror!, wood….

HOWEVER, it’s known that the RAF built dummy airfields and aircraft to try and catch the Luftwaffe out, so perhaps it’s NOT genuine blooper at all!? Did the RAF use dummy planes on active fields as well?

Daz,

Air Ministry Specification 22/38 ‘For the manufacture of dummy aircraft’. Three patterns were requested, a single-engine fighter, a single engine light bomber and a twin engine heavy bomber. Contracts were placed with film studios and set builders to produce these in wood and canvas and were used in 1940-41 – some were also used ahead of the D-Day landings when they were definitely placed at existing airfields to trick German recon into thinking there were more aircraft available. Not sure if this was also the case in 1940 but knowing the emphasis on dispersal around airfield, I’d say it was likely.

I’m not sure if some replicas were more convicing than others but the pics I’ve seen suggest that they would only be convincing from the air. For example, they did not have realistic airscrews and undercarriage but were merely stood on posts at the right sort of attitude. So BofB may be able to get away with this sort of chicanery, but if this is what they were getting at, their replicas are probably a bit too realistic!