Goofs
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Anachronisms (18) |
Audio/visual unsynchronised (1) |
Character error (2) |
Continuity (7) |
Errors in geography (2) |
Factual errors (8) |
Incorrectly regarded as goofs (5) |
Revealing mistakes (4) |
Spoilers (8)
Anachronisms
The 5 Reichsmark coin carries the year 1934, but the design with Reichsadler and Swastika (KM# 94) was introduced in 1936.
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Édith Piaf's "La Vie en rose" is playing on a phonograph in the concentration camp. That song was not recorded until 1946. Also, the record shown in the movie has a Decca label, whereas Piaf actually recorded the song for a rival company -- French Columbia, a branch of EMI.
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When a map of the world is shown with ballistic missiles flying from west to east and vice versa, the two opponents were named USA and Russia. At the time this movie is supposed to take place, Russia is merely a part of the Soviet Union, so the map should read either the Cyrillic CCCP or the English USSR.
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Many of the ships and weapons seen in the US and Soviet fleets did not exist in 1962 at the time of the Cuban missile crisis. For example the US flagship is the USS Iowa, but the Iowa was not in service at the time. Even if she had been, the ship was not fitted with the CIWS Gatling gun defense system until the 1980s. Amongst the collection of missiles fired at the beach are Harpoon anti ship missiles, which came into service in 1977, and Tomahawk missiles, which came into service in the late 1970s. On the Soviet side the flagship appears to be a Kresta class cruiser, a design not in service until 1967.
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The American troops in the truck in Russia with Charles and Erik and on the ships in the American blockade near Cuba are carrying M16 Rifles, very modern looking ones at that. The M16 wasn't issued till 1963 and if the time line of the movie is accurate the Cuban Missile Crisis didn't occur until 1962 so there was no way for these troops to have access to weapons like that especially the version that they are carrying which look like the shorter M4 carbine, which definitely didn't exist then.
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Raven, Moira, and Angel are shown wearing mini-skirts throughout the film, but the mini-skirt wasn't "invented" until 1966 by Mary Quant. While this is acceptable for the younger women, Moira, as a CIAgent, would never use one, especially at the office. In 1962-63, the fashion was tight pencil skirts.
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At one point we see Moscow's Red Square and the Russian hotel behind Saint Basil's Cathedral, but this hotel was not built until 1967.
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The chest pouches used by the Soviet soldiers were not created until after the Soviet-Afghan war. Before that, the Soviets used a belt-mounted pouch.
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The turntable seen playing in 1962 Las Vegas is a Transcriptors Skeleton which was first produced in 1973.
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The Film shows CIA headquarters at Langley In 1962. The construction for the Langley headquarters didn't even start until 1965. The first secretaries didn't move into the building until 1968. In 1962 the CIA operated out of several different buildings in D.C.
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In the hotel, when Moira spies on Sebastian Shaw, there's a bowl of M&M's on the table. Blue M&M's are visible. The blue M&M's were not available in 1962. They were introduced in 1995.
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On the wall map in the conference room in Moscow there is an icon indicating the location of a nuclear power plant in the western Soviet Union. This location corresponds to the location of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Prypiat, U.S.S.R (now Ukraine). However, construction of Chernobyl did not begin until 1970, and Reactor 1 was not commissioned until 1977. When Erik is first seen as an adult the date is given as 1962, eight years before construction of Chernobyl began and fifteen years before its commissioning.
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The tape recorder on Shaw's submarine seems to be a Revox A77 MK IV, which has not been available before 1974. The first version of the A77 has been introduced in 1967.
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The bra styles that Emma Frost wears are not 1960s styles, they are modern styles worn today. Also, the boots that Angel wears are not 1960s style boots.
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In the attack on the secret CIA research facility, the security force is shown using an M72 LAWs rocket launcher to defend themselves against the attacking mutants. The M72 was not adopted by the US until 1963, that sequence was before the Cuban Missle Crisis which took place in 1962. Also the weapon was fired indoors, the back blast from the weapon would have killed everyone in the surrounding area.
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The pinball machine located in the mutant's government headquarters is "Fun Land". It is most easily visible between 58-59 minutes, where it is being played competitively by Havok and Darwin. Fun Land was produced by Gottlieb in May 1968.
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When Erik and Charles are talking on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, one can notice the WWII memorial in front of the Washington Memorial. However, the WWII memorial was not built and open to the public until 2004.
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When Moira MacTaggert enters the HellFire Club, she is wearing her garter belt over her panties. Women in 1962 did not do this, they wore the panties over the garter belt.
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Audio/visual unsynchronised
In the submarine, when Emma Frost asks Azazel if there is anything around he replies it is all clear on radar and sonar. A sonar ping is heard in the background with a distinct echo indicating a contact about four to five hundred yards away.
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Character error
During the negotiations with the Russian General, Sebastian Shaw points to Iran on the map when actually he is speaking about Turkey.
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When Moira is discussing with the CIA officials what she remembers after Xavier wipes her mind, she says she remembers the attack on HQ. Moira was not present during the attack, she was in Russia with Erik and Xavier to stop Shaw's meeting with the general (when he sent Emma instead).
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Continuity
At the cantina, while Erik is drinking his beer at the same time with the two former Nazi officers exchanging deadly looks, the amount of beer in the glass of the officer standing in front of Erik changes when the camera angle changes. Seems like a mistake done during the editing of the scenes.
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Before Shaw and his men attack the CIA HQ, Sean is shown eating an Oreo, but when Hank gets up to close the curtains, his hand is on his knee, with no Oreo visible. When the scene flips from the window back to the four mutants, he has the Oreo in his hand again.
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At Charles' mansion, Raven/Mystique is lifting weights with both knees bent. Erik/Magneto walks in, holds the weights in the air and talks to Raven. As the camera goes back and forth between Raven and Erik, her leg is shown in an up position then laying flat on the bench without her having moved.
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When Banshee jumps out of the X-Jet he does not have his wings attached to his suit, but they appear when he starts gliding over the water, but disappear again when he is in the water.
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When Banshee jumps out of the plane and flies, he has wings, but when he is in the water searching for the submarine, his wings are gone.
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When a young Eric gets angry and starts destroying the lab room through the glass in Shaw's office, you see the metal table with the one large, central, cylindrical leg, moved, flipped over and flung twice.
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When Magneto is lifting the submarine, he appears to be searching for it with his hand. In this scene, we can see that his hand is dirty and smudged with black. In the close-up shot of his had as he is lifting the submarine, his hand is more or less clean.
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Errors in geography
Magneto finds out that Sebastian Shaw is hiding in Argentina, in "Villa Gesell". When the scene takes place there the camera shows a view of mountains and snow. Actually "Villa Gesell" is a town on the beach in Argentina (no mountains there). The image shown on the picture looks like Bariloche, which is in the mountains and has a large German community.
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When Colonel Hendry meets Sebastian Shaw on his yacht, they are supposed to be in Miami. In one of the wide angle shots, you can see a long suspension bridge in the background. There are no suspension bridges in Miami. It appears to be the bridge near Jekyll Island, GA.
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Factual errors
The General in the War Room mistakenly calls upon the mobilization of the 7th Fleet to intercept Soviet ships bound for Cuba. It was the US 2nd Fleet that intercepted the Soviet ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The 7th Fleet is and has always been, based in the Pacific (currently stationed out of Yokosuka, Japan).
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During the standoff between Soviet and US warships both side are flying "Jack" flags from the bows - warships do not fly these whilst underway.
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When the Soviet and the American fleets fire their missiles toward the island, between the missiles fired by the soviets there is the "S-125M (SA-N-1) SAM" which is a surface to air missile designed to shoot down airplanes and it has no ability to be launched toward land targets.
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Spelling/grammar during the Russian translation of Shaw's dialog. It says "Now they have their missles places in Turkey...", which should say "missiles" and "placed". They also, misspell missiles twice more.
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When Emma Frost cuts the glass of the interrogation room, she taps it towards the outside, yet it clearly falls inside the room.
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From its creation, the United States 7th Fleet has been stationed in the Far East Pacific. The fleet that should have been dispatched to set up the blockade was the United States 2nd Fleet.
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There is a scene of a military parade on Red Square in Moscow. The parades there are held on May 9th (a WWII Victory Day). At some years there were parades for an Anniversary of the Socialist Revolution on November 7th. The movie is set immediately prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was in October. Also the snow in Moscow would be very unusual for this time of the year.
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During the run up to the naval blockade of Cuba, one of the US commanders in the movie gives the order to "Send in the 7th Fleet". The 7th Fleet is based in the Pacific. It was the 2nd Fleet that participated in the blockade of Cuba.
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Incorrectly regarded as goofs
Erik's memory of celebrating Chanukah with his mother includes a seven-branched candelabra. In Jewish tradition, Chanukah is celebrated with an nine-branched candelabra. However, at every other time of the year, Jewish families will frequently use 2, 3 or 7 candles to celebrate the sabbath every Friday evening.
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An SR-71 Blackbird can only hold a maximum crew of 2 in the cockpit. The scene where they are sitting in the back is actually just engines. However, despite their similar appearances, the plane we see the X-Men using here is not a Blackbird, but an early prototype of the "X-Jet" that they use in the films set later.
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In the bar scene, Charles tells a woman she has a mutated MCR1 gene. While the human melanocortin 1 receptor gene (note MC1R, not MCR1) was not cloned (discovered) until 1992, Charles is shown as a leading figure in the world of mutation and genetic research in the X-Men universe, making it entirely possible that he has made progress that did not happen in the real world until much later.
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When Xavier and Erik were confronting Emma Frost in the Soviet Union, some might think that it would have been impossible for Erik to crack Emma's neck with the metal bed frame because diamond is one of the hardest substances known to man. Hardness does not prevent cracking. There are different types of material strengths. Diamond's hardness does not mean that it is invulnerable to all types of stress.
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When the submarine part of the Caspartina separated from the ship part, the ship part would have lost its ballast and water-tightness and immediately sunk on top of the submarine part. However, if the boat was specifically designed for this sort of two-craft partnership (which this pair obviously was), the boat craft would have extra ballast, an 'airlock' system to restore water tightness, and additional fittings to allow it to function. (Craft of this type do exist today, although the submarine components are smaller).
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Revealing mistakes
When the young Raven is in her true form, the seams of her costume are clearly visible.
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In the establishing scene outside the secluded Russian manor house an ostensibly Russian military helicopter lands, clearly displaying its UK Civilian Register mark of G-CHOP. The aircraft is a licence built Westland AB-47G.
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When Magneto/Erik pulls out the submarine, he uses his right hand to hold on to the Jet and left hand to lift the submarine. But in the subsequent shot when Beast moves the jet towards the beach, Magneto is shown on the other side, with the holding and pulling actions swapped.
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When Emma is going to get ice. Azazel's tail is clearly missing, as he helps pull the sub's ladder down.
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Spoilers
Continuity
When Erik wants Charles to shoot at him with a gun, the distance from the gun to Erik's head varies between different views. When the camera is shooting over Charles' shoulder, the gun is against Erik's forehead. When the camera view is over Erik's shoulder, the gun is 3-4 inches from Erik's forehead.Share this
Continuity
At the end of the movie, Moira is pushing Xavier in his wheelchair. When they stop, the chair's spokes form a perfect X. The camera then jumps to a closer shot as Moira walks around the chair; the X is rotated forward without moving the chair.Share this
Continuity
When Erik lifts the submarine out of the ocean, in the initial shots, his left hand is extended. In the next distant shot, it is his right hand. Then again, in the next close up, we again see his left hand is extendedShare this
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
When Mystique emerges from the stranded submarine in the form of Sebastian Shaw he is seen to be wearing the psychic blocking helmet. This is entirely possible as the first time Mystique sees Shaw when he attacks the CIA base he is wearing the helmet and takes it off when he realizes Xavier isn't there. Since that was her first image of Shaw it is probably the image of him that stuck in her head.Share this
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
In a wide shot, Charles moves his legs when lying injured on the beach, despite the fact he is newly paralyzed. It is possible for Charles to have muscle spasms in the legs still, since he was newly paralyzed within a few minutes of the camera shot.Share this
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
When Erik and Charles have Emma Frost captured, Erik cracks her neck while she is in diamond form. This does not explicitly prevent her returning to her diamond form. Erik invites Charles to give her a gentle knock if she does so, implying both that she is still able to do so, and that she has become extremely fragile. Therefore she does not use the form again during her capture and containment. There is nothing to suggest that she cannot heal this damage over time, just as any person heals cuts and bruises given long enough and her diamond form being undamaged at the end of the film would support this.Share this
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
Charles Xavier mentions towards the end of the film that the assault suits he and the X-men are wearing are bulletproof but later gets shot in the back and paralyzed. Just because they are resistant to small arms fire at a distance doesn't mean they're completely bullet proof. Besides this, Xavier was hit by a bullet Magneto had deflected, when Magneto 'flicked' the bullet away he could have doubled or tripled its usual velocity, something the suits weren't designed to be resistant to. Besides, the bullet hit him but it didn't penetrate. Bulletproof vests don't absorb impact.Share this
Revealing mistakes
After Shaw's sub is catastrophically wrecked on the beach, Magneto walks through its seemingly undisturbed living quarters; a cushion rests on the couch, books and plants remain on shelves - nothing is out of place.Share this
