30 Movie Mistakes You Missed That May Change The Way You Watch These Classics

Directors hate to make them, viewers love to spot them.

Continuity errors sneak their way into even the most polished, big-budget productions. But while they might frustrate filmmakers, they often go on to become iconic moments in cinematic history (looking at you, Starbucks cup).

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Just as Jack says, “On deck, you scabrous dogs,” to the very left edge of the screen over Jack’s shoulder is a grip crew member with a tan cowboy hat, white short sleeve tee shirt and sunglasses, just standing there looking out to sea. (02:12:35)

Pirates of the Caribbean movie mistake with visible crew member on deck.

During the scene in the banquet hall, as Tormund says “most people get bloody murdered, they stay that way”, look at Daenerys in the background - a disposable coffee cup is on the table in front of her. This brown cup with a white plastic lid is nothing remotely like the style of cups they’re all drinking from in the scene. HBO acknowledged the slip up and digitally edited it out on streaming services, reruns and future DVD releases.

Game of Thrones Starbucks cup mistake in front of Daenerys.

In the beginning while Dorothy is still on the farm, she walks along the pig pen fence and then falls in. When Bert Lahr picks her up out of there her dress is perfectly clean. (00:03:45)

Wizard of Oz mistake: character falls in mud but remains spotless.

To understand how mistakes like these slip past countless pairs of eyes and make it into the final cut,Bored Pandareached out toAimie Smith, a 21-year-old film student based in Manchester.According to Smith, it’s becausefilm setscan be quite hectic. “So unless there’s someone specifically looking out for continuity errors, they can often go unnoticed,” she explained.Shots are typically filmed in the order that makes the most sense based on factors like lighting, set availability, and actor schedules—not as they appear in the timeline of the story. “This means the crew has to go back and forth between scenes and may forget smaller details that are easy to spot when viewers watch the finished product.”

To understand how mistakes like these slip past countless pairs of eyes and make it into the final cut,Bored Pandareached out toAimie Smith, a 21-year-old film student based in Manchester.

According to Smith, it’s becausefilm setscan be quite hectic. “So unless there’s someone specifically looking out for continuity errors, they can often go unnoticed,” she explained.

Shots are typically filmed in the order that makes the most sense based on factors like lighting, set availability, and actor schedules—not as they appear in the timeline of the story. “This means the crew has to go back and forth between scenes and may forget smaller details that are easy to spot when viewers watch the finished product.”

When Kevin goes to the grocery, he buys Tide detergent. While walking home, the two bags break, but no Tide detergent falls out.

Movie mistake in “Home Alone”: Detergent bought is missing from fallen bag scene.

After the successful Trinity test in 1945, people in a crowd are holding small US flags with 50 stars on them (offset rows). At the time there were only 48 states and the flag had 48 stars in even rows. The 50 star flag didn’t exist until 1960, after Alaska and Hawaii were made states in 1959.

Movie mistake in Oppenheimer: 50-star flag used in 1945 scene, should have 48 stars.

Right before they rob the police car, a Boeing 747 (four engines) is seen in shots of the plane coming into land. When the plane is shown from behind, it is a Boeing 767, with only two engines and fewer main landing gears. (00:30:10)

Movie mistake showing a plane with different engine configurations in separate shots.

Knowing this, filmmakers put safeguards in place in the form of script supervisors. “It’s their job to notice every last detail, right down to how much liquid is left in a cup,” said Smith, who took on this role in her most recent film,Three’s a Crowd(not yet available to the public).A script supervisor closely observes each scene, watching out for anything that may affect continuity, including costumes and prop placement. “They make notes on any continuity errors and alert the director,” Smith explained. “At the end of each shooting day, they also prepare a daily report to track the progress so far.”

A script supervisor closely observes each scene, watching out for anything that may affect continuity, including costumes and prop placement. “They make notes on any continuity errors and alert the director,” Smith explained. “At the end of each shooting day, they also prepare a daily report to track the progress so far.”

In the bedroom scene the girl is holding a clear cup full of beer. The camera goes off her and when it comes back she is holding a blue cup. The camera goes back off her then on her and the cup is clear again. [This mistake does not appear in the unrated version - the blue cup scenes were shot specifically to secure an R rating from the MPAA because the contents are obscured.]. (00:13:20)

“American Pie scene showing a continuity mistake with a cup changing color from blue to clear."

At the start, when the camera pans through the doorway of Ms. Darbus’s classroom, Zeke sits on a tall stool that is about 3 feet high. Oddly enough, in the following shots, the munchkin stool he now sits on only reaches the height of about 1 foot. (Did they really think we wouldn’t notice?) The wood stool also moves forward a few feet. (00:00:50)

High School Musical 2 scene mistake with a shrinking wooden stool that fans can’t unsee.

In the second half of the film, Frodo has a scar on his lower right cheek, close to his chin. Many times throughout the rest of the film the scar changes position and size on his right cheek. It also appears on his left cheek in flipped shots (most obviously on the slopes of Mount Doom when Sam is cradling his head). (02:31:05 - 02:34:00)

Frodo’s scar changes sides in “The Return of the King” scene, highlighting movie mistakes.

Smith admits that being a script supervisor can be quite tedious, as even the smallest details must be carefully examined.“Whilst working on my recent film, my biggest issue with continuity was the direction of the mugs between shots,” she shared. “I only realized after filming a few scenes that the mug handles had changed direction, which would make the mugs appear to jump around in the final cut. To fix this, we added an extra shot of theactorsturning the mugs around.”“A lot of my time on set was spent with my head down, vigorously writing notes for future shots as well as for the editor,” she added. “It’s a very difficult job, but it’s also incredibly rewarding when the finished product is on point.”

Smith admits that being a script supervisor can be quite tedious, as even the smallest details must be carefully examined.

“Whilst working on my recent film, my biggest issue with continuity was the direction of the mugs between shots,” she shared. “I only realized after filming a few scenes that the mug handles had changed direction, which would make the mugs appear to jump around in the final cut. To fix this, we added an extra shot of theactorsturning the mugs around.”

“A lot of my time on set was spent with my head down, vigorously writing notes for future shots as well as for the editor,” she added. “It’s a very difficult job, but it’s also incredibly rewarding when the finished product is on point.”

If you look at the missing part of the bridge, and look at the shadow underneath, the shadow is of a full bridge. (01:02:35)

Movie mistake in “Speed”: missing bridge section still casts a shadow.

When John and Catherine are in the hangar at the runway, the Cessna’s tail number is N3035C. When the plane is shown in the air, the number is N3973F. When they land, the tail number has changed back to N3035C. (01:22:25 - 01:25:50)

Movie mistake: plane number changes in “Terminator 3,” creating continuity error visible to fans.

On the skyscraper, when Neo and Trinity [end] all of the soldiers, Agent Brown comes to the roof. Neo immediately draws his guns and fires until both of his clips are empty. After that, Neo drops his guns, just as Agent Brown aims at him. During Bullet-Time there are no guns on the floor. When he hits the ground, then the guns are left and right of his legs. (01:41:50)

Movie mistake in The Matrix: Guns disappear during bullet time scene.

Movie mistake: character’s t-shirt changes from crew neck to henley in a scene.

When Jessica walks from the house to the barn at the end, she is wearing knee high brown boots. By the time she reaches the barn they have been replaced with court shoes.

Murder, She Wrote scene shows an on-screen mistake as boots change to pumps.

On Utapau, when Obi-Wan faces off with Grievous, Grievous sends 4 MagnaGuards against Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan Force-pulls something from the ceiling to crush the droids. But in the ensuing fight between Obi-Wan and Grievous, the ceiling thing and crushed droids are gone.

Star Wars mistake: disappearing background wreckage in Episode III scene.

When Bond is in the car following the goons heading into the facility, it shows the techie guy scan a card and then swipe it to open a door. Before he swipes it, the door is already opening. (01:13:15)

Movie and TV show mistake in “Die Another Day”: door opens without swiping card.

Titanic scene showing noticeable ship design changes, highlighting movie mistakes fans can’t unsee.

When Jesse is going to race Johnny Tran at Race Wars for pink slips, and Johnny Tran pulls up in his Honda S2000, Tran has on a black long-sleeved shirt. When the camera goes from side to front view, Tran has on a black tank top. (01:12:41)

Movie mistake: A character in “The Fast and the Furious” switches from a long-sleeved shirt to a tank top while driving.

In the “Battle of Carthage” in the Colosseum, one of the chariots is turned over. Once the dust settles you can see a gas cylinder in the back of the chariot. (01:22:55)

Gladiator movie mistake showing a gas canister in the back of a chariot during a battle scene.

During their fight at Orthanc, in the wide overhead shot, as Saruman flies backwards towards the large doors, the wire attached to the back of Christopher Lee’s outfit is visibly pulling his clothes. (00:50:45)

Stunt cable visible in a scene from “The Lord of the Rings,” highlighting a movie mistake fans can’t unsee.

At the end of the song “Wait,” when Sweeney and Lovett hear Anthony running up the stairs, Sweeney runs behind the door to his shop. For a quarter second, as Sweeney places his back against the wall, there is a modern-day water bottle on the window ledge. This, however, cannot be seen on the DVD or Xbox, though on laptops and probably computers also, when streaming you can see it around 00:43:10. (00:43:10)

Sweeney Todd scene with visible plastic water bottle, highlighting movie and TV show mistakes fans notice.

When Pierce’s wife is walking in her auto shop they pan down to show her red Louboutin heels, then they cut to her walking in her office, and when they show her shoes again they have a tan sole.

Louboutin shoe color mistake in movie scene; red soles turn tan in continuity error.

The T-1000 punches his body through the window of a helicopter to get inside. An instant later, the hole in the windshield is gone. (01:56:35)

Movie mistake in “Terminator 2”: helicopter windscreen magically repairs itself during a scene.

In the beginning when Brendan Fraser is looking around the tunnels he turns around to see his kid and they scream. As they are screaming they are at eye level but when a few seconds later when they are standing the kid is like 2 feet shorter then Brendan Fraser, and if you look around there is nothing for the kid to have stood on. (00:05:55)

On-screen mistake in “The Mummy Returns” showing an eyeline continuity error.

When the fishermen start out on the hunt, Ben Gardner appears in a close-up leaning on the windshield at forward deck, while talking to his boatmate about how stupid some of the others are. In the next wide shot of the boats, Ben’s green boat is towards the left of the screen, and the large reflector screen and camera, that are mounted to the bow of his boat, are visible in front of the forward window where Ben was seen in the previous shot. (00:30:25)

Jaws set mistake with visible camera and reflector screen on boat bow.

When the men are pushing the catapult to the gate look at the far left of the screen for a few seconds you can see a crew member in a baseball cap and then a large movie camera. There’s also a twig palisade next to him where two more crew members are visible.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves movie mistake with visible crew and camera on set.

When the dry cleaning arrives and Holly lays it out on the table, right behind her is the large flip-over wall hanging, with a picture of balloons. When she pulls the leather jacket out of the plastic, the wall hanging is flipped open to a picture of a bird. (00:53:10)

Movie mistake in “P.S. I Love You” shows a wall photo changing between scenes.