Batman Returns (1992)
Goofs
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Audio/visual unsynchronised (1) |
Character error (2) |
Continuity (27) |
Crew or equipment visible (4) |
Factual errors (5) |
Incorrectly regarded as goofs (1) |
Plot holes (1) |
Revealing mistakes (17) |
Spoilers (13)
Audio/visual unsynchronised
(at around 1h 6 mins) When Penguin holds Catwoman's cat to the bed, hisses and meows are heard from it but it never opens its mouth.
Character error
The penguin exhibit at the closed zoo is called Arctic World. Penguins are Antarctic creatures.
The Penguin, raised by penguins, knows how to talk and read. The movie never mentions who taught him these, as penguins can't teach such things.
Continuity
(at around 59 mins) During the 'Meow' Scene Catwoman is wearing flat shoes. After the store explodes and she climbs up the building she's wearing high heels.
(at around 55 mins) As Batman's batarang is headed towards the "Poodle Lady", it's headed towards her head. However, when her dog intercepts it, it's down by her knees.
(at around 1h 29 mins) When Bruce plays the CD, the Penguin's dialogue is spoken differently than when it was first recorded in the Batmobile.
(at around 1h) Catwoman engages Batman in a rooftop fight minutes after she destroys Shreck's Department store. But Shreck's Department store - in perfect condition - can be seen behind Batman while he is hanging from Catwoman's whip after falling over a ledge.
(at around 1h 28 mins) Bruce Wayne puts his coat on twice after opening the secret entrance to the Batcave in the fish tank.
(at around 32 mins) When Selina makes her Catwoman outfit she picks up a small pair of blue handled scissors, in the next shot she has a larger pair of pink scissors.
(at around 56 mins) When Catwoman breaks into Schrek's Department Store she jumps off of the trampoline, and when she lands, her whip touches the floor. But in the next shot she still has the whip wrapped around her, and then starts to unwrap it.
(at around 50 mins) When Schreck is introducing the Penguin to his election staff, he is wearing a coat. Moments later, his coat is missing.
(at around 1h 18 mins) During the 'Lawn Dart' scene Penguin's left gray top coat sleeve is sagging off his shoulder revealing the lapel of his black tuxedo coat. As he stands and waves his hands about, his top coat covers the lapel. When the Penguin cackles at Batman's frame-up his lapel is revealed again.
(at around 25 mins) When Selina comes home from the office and listens to her answering machine messages saying she has to go back to the office to get the Bruce Wayne file, she is wearing a brown dress suit. But when she comes home after being brought back to life by the cats, she is wearing a gray dress.
In the final confrontation between Selina and Max, Selina's frazzled hair changes from shot to shot.
Catwoman's high heels become flat shoes when doing her backflips.
(at around 39 mins) When The Penguin is in the Hall of Records, we see him through a window and it's snowing outside. In the next shot we see the Batmobile come around the corner and it's not snowing, but in a shot of Batman from inside the Batmobile, it's snowing again.
(at around 7 mins) In the original staff meeting just before the first tree lighting ceremony, when Selina Kyle is serving coffee, the camera angle changes as she walks around Max Shreck and she ends up walking around him twice.
(at around 1h 22 mins) When the Penguin attempts to kill Catwoman using his flying umbrella, when he delivers the line "good bye my unintended, go to heaven" his hands are empty. However in the next shot he has a glass in his hand.
When the Penguin is speaking to Max Shreck in his underground Lair, the Penguin's necktie disappears and reappears several times.
(at around 47 mins) When Selina recalls not wearing underpants to school, she raises her left hand as she turns around. The camera then shows her front and the hand is much lower.
(at around 6 mins) In the opening (tree lighting) scene, the paperboy first says the paper is 50 cents, then, 25 cents a few seconds later.
(at around 1h 1 min) Catwoman stabs Batman in the center of his abdomen, but when he returns to the Batcave, he pulls the piece of metal out of his right flank.
(at around 1h 1 min) When Batman is in the Batcave and he removes Catwoman's claw from his side, the rectangular bulletproof guard on top of his glove is missing.
(at around 1h 3 mins) When Penguin makes his small speech to the Cobblepot fans, the knot of his Edwardian tie is sagging but when finds Catwoman on his bed his tie knot is perked back up.
(at around 1h 50 mins) When Max Shreck shoots at Bruce Wayne, Wayne turns his head to the side. In the next shot, a close-up of Wayne, the bullet whizzes by him again as he repeats the same head turning motion.
Wayne Manor looks nothing like the house from the previous Batman movie.
(at around 14 mins) When Batman knocks the first skull clown off of the motorcycle, the motorcycle's windshield is already broken, but in the next shot, the windshield is intact.
(at around 30 mins) In her kitchen when Celina starts her transformation into Catwoman there's an oven in the corner with the front hob clear but a moment later there's a frying pan on it.
When Batman is talking to Catwoman at one point, the dark make up around his eyes disappears.
The size of the window that Cobblepot looks out of.
Crew or equipment visible
(at around 58 mins) Just prior to the explosion of Shreck's, Catwoman famously back flips her way toward Batman and Penguin, who are directly in front of either side of the camera. On the VHS version, you can clearly see Michelle Pfeiffer, in catsuit, hunched down at the bottom of the screen, ready to jump up and "meow" for the camera once her acrobatic stunt double is out of the shot. Although the film's final editing didn't require the scene to be shot this way, Ms. Pfeiffer and her double still ended up in the same frame.
When Batman is shot off the roof by police, a hand is visible helping him onto the floor.
(at around 1h 23 mins) When the Penguin is controlling the Batmobile, a mechanical lifting arm can be seen extending from the side of the building, moving a police car that the Batmobile smashes into.
(at around 1h 23 mins) A split second before the Batmobile hits the front of the police care when the Penguin is controlling it remotely, you can see a cable attached from outside, back corner of the police car to the building. You can see it just before the sparks fly, and you can also see that the police car starts moving and lifting before the Batmobile supposedly hits it. It's easiest to see when watching in slow motion or frame by frame.
Factual errors
(at around 1h 6 mins) When the Penguin makes the shadow of a bird on the ceiling, he is lying on a bed with his hands directly above his chest. So where is the light that causes the shadow?
(at around 55 mins) If the guided Batarang had enough inertia to knock out the previous targets, the poodle that jumped up to intercept it before hitting the "Marie Antoinette" gang member would have just become part of the projectile.
(at around 35 mins) When the Penguin rises from the sewer to return the mayor's baby, there's no way the mechanical duck he was on would have been able to go high enough to lift him all the way to the surface.
(at around 2h) In the closing credits, Mike Edmonson's job in the film is listed as "Special Eefects Foreman" (all in caps.)
(at around 2h) The conductor of the music score Jonathan Sheffer is credited as Jonathon Sheffer.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
(at around 1h 30 mins) When Bruce plays the CD, just for fun he "scratches" it back and forth like a record a few times, and it sounds just like record scratches. Although the technology to do so in real life was not invented until much later, Batman is shown having several pieces of advanced technology that was impossible for the time (for example, the self propelled Batarang and the Batmobile's armor). There is no reason to believe Wayne did not invent it himself.
Plot holes
(at around 1h 9 mins) The Ice Princess sees the Penguin come up to her and asks who he is, and he says he's a talent scout, which she readily accepts. As she is a Gotham celebrity herself, it's odd that she doesn't recognize the deformed circus freak whose shocking discovery was recently publicized, and who is running a very in-your-face campaign for mayor.
Revealing mistakes
(at around 41 mins) The tombstones in the graveyard wobble when touched by the Penguin's coat (although this may be deliberate).
(at around 17 mins) When the Mayor of Gotham City says, "Where is that insufferable son of a bitch?" you can see Commissioner Gordon mouthing his line.
The snow floats on water.
(at around 1h 24 mins) When the Penguin drives the Batmobile remotely, the cars it smashes are damaged just before it hits them.
(at around 1h 35 mins) At the party, when the Penguin comes to take Chip Shreck with him, you can see Max mouth something, and taps Chip to move before the Penguin's umbrella fires to blow the head off the dummy behind him.
(at around 34 mins) When the baby is stolen during the press conference and the thief jumps down the man hole into the sewer you see the fake stone just beneath the surface of the manhole shake. This would suggest that it is made of plastic or rubber.
(at around 15 mins) During Batman's rescue of Selina from the clown hostage-taker, the outline of the piece of building exterior that Batman knocks the clown out with can clearly be seen before he yanks on the wire.
(at around 14 mins) The same switch is used in the Batmobile to turn on the rocket booster in the beginning and activate the Batmissile during the later chase. The Batmissile switch finally works, but it is in the off position.
(at around 1h 3 mins) When Penguin is putting the campaign button on the young woman, at first glance the pin is closed, even though he's able to keep the pin from falling from the girl's sweater without opening the pin.
(at around 1h 30 mins) After Penguin slides out of the duck vehicle from his failed mayor campaign he's wearing his black tuxedo coat under his gray top coat. After he pets the penguins in the next scene he's only wearing his gray coat over his vest and shirt.
(at around 15 mins) When Batman swivels the Batmobile around to torch the thug blowing fire - the thug is clearly on fire before the fireball from the Batmobile hits him.
(at around 1h 50 mins) When the Penguin detonated the explosives on the penguins there are two missiles in the center of the screen that appear to be stuck.
(at around 1h 40 mins) When Max is led into Penguin's Duckmobile part of his black cape is flung over the side of the vehicle. In the immediate next shot (1 second later), it is tucked neatly into the seat with no overhang.
(at around 1h 20 mins) In the re-released digitally updated version, when Batman extends his bat glider, as he goes off the roof you can clearly see the line attached to the glider.
(at around 1h 20 mins) When Batman is on the roof and his cape becomes a glider, you can see that the glider is separate from his cape as his cape falls off behind him. When he floats down the glider cape once again resembles his regular cape.
(at around 14 mins) When Batman makes his first dramatic entrance to fight the clowns in his Batmobile, that clearly isn't snow being churned up by the wheels of his car.
Water reflections on walls during the underwater scenes are obviously lights.
Spoilers
Continuity
(at around 1h 50 mins) When Batman reveals his true identity at the end by tearing off his mask, the eye paint disappears right before the mask is removed.
(at around 1h 55 mins) In the Shreck/Selena kiss/electrocution scene, the same transformer falls over four times.
(at around 1h 30 mins) When Penguin shoots the Fat Clown and rolls him down into the water, there is nothing in the clown's hands. However when Shreck falls into the water and sees the body, a hand is holding a revolver.
(at around 1h 55 mins) When Bruce Wayne is being driven by Alfred at the end of the movie, the same car appears in the front and rear windows at least eight times.
(at around 1h 30 mins) During the Penguin's final speech, a glob of egg mixed with tomato lands on his left lapel. It completely disappears only seconds later, without even leaving a stain.
(at around 1h 30 mins) Position of the Penguin on the stairs while he is shooting up the crowd during his final speech.
Crew or equipment visible
(at around 1h 55 mins) In the electrocution/explosion finale (on a wide long shot), a stuntman/technician can be seen running and hunched over from where the main character(s) were, to the viewers right, behind another part of the generator.
When the dead Penguin floats into the water, you can see the skid he's on slide out from under him and out of frame on the left middle of the screen.
Plot holes
The framing of Batman for the kidnap and murder of the Ice Princess seems successful, as the police go to apprehend Batman afterwards. Not knowing about the hacking of the Batmobile, the police then think that Batman has caused injuries to many police officers by driving the Batmobile into them. However, this is never mentioned again: the police do not pursue Batman even though they think that he's committed serious crimes.
It is never explained how Selina Kyle survives her fall, and how she is transformed from being incapable of fighting off one goon (at the start of the film) to being a martial artist who is on a par with Batman. Some have suggested that the cats who revive her after her fall are magical cats which give her super powers, but no such explanation for this important plot point is ever stated. Catwoman never had any super powers in any of the source materials the film is based on. The pseudo-remake Catwoman gives a similar explanation for an analogous event, but it is unclear whether that movie is really in the same continuity as this one.
Revealing mistakes
(at around 1h 55 mins) When the Penguin dies and his pets slide him into the water you can see the slide-board he was laying on slip out ahead of him under water.
(at around 1h 55 mins) When the penguins are pall-bearing The Penguin's body down the ramp to the pool, many of them are clearly not touching the body.
(at around 1h 55 mins) The penguins in Cobblepot's death scene are very obviously people in costumes.
