Movie Mistakes That Actually Made The Final Cut

Guardians of the Galaxy tugs at the heartstrings in this scene that sees Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, reading a farewell letter from his dear old mom. The problem? The words he's hearing in her voiceover don't match what's written on the page. Growing up among space pirates must make it hard to learn to read.

If you've ever taken the time to sit through the full credits of a movie, you've no doubt noticed that it can take thousands of people to finish a film—which makes it that much funnier when a glaring mistake manages to sneak its way past all of them.

Director George Lucas didn't have the biggest budget to work with when he made the original Star Wars, and as a result, he had to make do with a number of shots and situations that ended up being less than ideal. One particularly funny example can be glimpsed during the sequence in which a platoon of Imperial stormtroopers bursts into a Death Star control room—one of whom, unable to see clearly past his helmet visor, bumps his head on the door. Lucas may not have planned the shoot this way, but when putting together his "special edition" edits years later, he didn't take it out; instead, he added a sound effect to acknowledge the goof.

When you're a Disney cartoon, you don't have to obey the laws of physics. Just ask Elsa from Frozen—as she demonstrates during her big musical number, she can not only flawlessly let down her hair, she's able to send her braid soaring straight through her arm without feeling a thing.

Even before Bane took over Gotham in The Dark Knight rises, the town had horrible problems with scofflaws—and not just of the superpowered variety. When Selina steals Bruce Wayne's car during one of the movie's lighter moments, be amazed at how literally no one on the street is obeying the obvious red light at this intersection.

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we see Cap diving out of a plane into the ocean so he can stage a sneak attack on a ship—and when he climbs out of the water, he's bone dry, shield and all. Who knew that was one of his powers?

It's easy to forget how much choreography is involved in a movie fight sequence, but there's a lot more to it than just pretending to throw kicks and punches, and one errant move can mean the difference between a scene that looks like convincing hand-to-hand combat and one that...well, looks like the rooftop fight from The Dark Knight Rises. There's a lot going on here, including a fateful turn in the relationship between Batman and Catwoman, so most of us didn't notice that one of Bane's henchmen takes a dive during the fight, falling down without anyone even laying a hand on him.

The best part of having multiple Spider-Man reboots is getting the chance to see Spidey learning how to use his powers all over again, right? Of course not—it's the most boring part of the story. But in 2002's Spider-Man, our young hero's training footage comes with a memorable blooper: he breaks a lamp while testing his webbing, but when Aunt May comes knocking at the door moments later, it's back on the shelf like nothing ever happened.

In this scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a tense battle of wands between Harry and the villainous Draco Malfoy includes an extra bit of magic in the form of the Muggle cameraman who can be glimpsed filming after Harry knocks Draco down.

Éomer makes quite the entrance in his first meeting with Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas during 2002's Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but he has an even more memorable exit—you can see his mighty sword slip out of its scabbard as he climbs back on his horse.

Poor Stifler endured a number of disgusting indignities over the course of the American Pie franchise, but this one ranks among the funniest—and most memorably error-prone. During the infamously disgusting cup scene, said cup changes from blue to clear and back again—a detail most of us failed to notice at the time because we were far too caught up in the contents of the cup Stifler eventually drinks from.

Movie goof connoisseurs savor viewings of Gladiator like a fine meal, given the number of mistakes you can spot in Ridley Scott's hit swords 'n' sandals epic. But our favorite of the bunch is this wide shot from Russell Crowe's colosseum battle, in which you can see a jeans-sporting cameraman hanging out among the crowd.

Ever wonder how Hollywood action heroes manage to get through epic battle scenes without actually getting injured? We get an amusing peek behind the scenes during this moment from Braveheart, in which the noble Hamish (played by Brendan Gleeson) can be seen charging bravely into battle with his axe at the ready. It's a rousingly effective scene, but its impact is undercut just a bit by the fact that Hamish's weapon is clearly flopping around as he runs, exposing it as a harmless rubber prop.

One of the most effective sequences in the original Jurassic Park occurs when the children are trying to outrun velociraptors inside a kitchen. It's a great scene mixing tension and humor and establishing just how clever these raptors are supposed to be—and it also establishes how poorly balanced they are if you're watching closely. Pay attention to the raptor in the doorway after it lets itself into the room, and you'll notice a helping hand resting on its butt just above the tail, keeping it from taking a decidedly undignified tumble.

It isn't easy to beat people up with dignity while you're naked, but Arnold Schwarzenegger manages to pull it off during a key sequence from Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Of course, this is Hollywood, so he had a little extra help—like facing off against guys who showed up to a cyborg fight with a rubber knife.

We definitely don't mean to pick on Braveheart, but Mel Gibson's historical war drama might have turned out very differently if the characters in one of its 13th-century battle scenes happened to notice they were skirmishing in front of an automobile. The moment passes very quickly, but watch closely and you can see a white car parked in the background. Imagine if William Wallace had just been able to drive to London and confront the king? The poor guy could have avoided that whole unpleasant business of being hung, drawn, and quartered.

If you've spent any time delving into the deep mythology surrounding The Shining—or watched the recent documentary Room 237—you know Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the Stephen King bestseller is a masterpiece of steadily mounting horror that makes heavy use of disorientation to create a growing feeling of unease in the viewer. This is reflected in the movie's setting, the remote Overlook Hotel; as Shining experts have pointed out over the years, the building's entire floor plan is riddled with spatial impossibilities. The weirdness doesn't stop at the hotel walls, either: the movie's climax makes brilliant use of a creepy hedge maze—which is nowhere to be seen during the sweeping aerial shot of the Overlook that opens the movie. Unintentional goof, or twisted Kubrickian genius? You decide.

Granted, none of us were around in the 1800s, but if we were somehow able to travel back in time, it seems unlikely that we'd find small children saying hello to strangers by making potentially obscene gestures, as we see Doc Brown's youngest son doing in this unintentionally hilarious scene from Back to the Future III.

One of the greatest goofs in classic cinema occurs in the vintage Hitchcock thriller North by Northwest. During Cary Grant's argument with Eva Marie Saint, specifically when Saint's character pulls a gun on Grant—a child actor, who'd evidently gotten a case of nerves after reading the script or suffering through a few too many takes, covers his ears well before his character is supposed to be aware of what's going on.

There's no shortage of cheesy silliness in the mid-'80s Michael J. Fox cult comedy classic Teen Wolf—it is, after all, about a suburban kid who suddenly realizes he's the victim of a family curse that turns the men in his family into werewolves. But if you're watching closely during the movie's final act, you might get a quick laugh out of the more unfortunate bits of bad timing ever suffered by a background extra.

The moment in question occurs during the big celebration after Fox's character wins the big game, and a celebration erupts in the stands—evidently surprising one young woman in the crowd, who can be glimpsed cheering with her pants completely unbuttoned. She manages to get them closed up later in the scene, but we've always liked to think of her as a long-lost cousin to Fox's character in the Back to the Future series, Marty McFly.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Commando is the pinnacle of silly 1980s action. Why is this big Austrian's name John Matrix? How is Alyssa Milano his daughter? And more than anything, what's the deal with his magic yellow Porsche?

We're talking, of course, about the part of the movie that sees Matrix chasing down the bad guy Sully, trashing the Porsche in the process. The poor car seems destined for a few weeks in a body shop...until John gets back behind the wheel, at which point it appears miraculously damage-free.

When John and Catherine decide to make an airborne getaway, they head to a blue and white Cessna parked in the hangar. As they enter the plane, the identifying numbers on the side of the plane read "N3035C." A subsequent shot of the plane flying over the arid landscape shows that the plane number now is "N3973F." Finally, when they land the plane, the number switches one more time—back to the original "N3035C."

When John and Catherine decide to make an airborne getaway, they head to a blue and white Cessna parked in the hangar. As they enter the plane, the identifying numbers on the side of the plane read "N3035C." A subsequent shot of the plane flying over the arid landscape shows that the plane number now is "N3973F." Finally, when they land the plane, the number switches one more time—back to the original "N3035C."

In this James Bond adventure, Bond-girl Jinx—portrayed by Halle Berry—gets into a sabre fight with Miranda Frost. At one point during the fight, Jinx takes a nasty slash to her midsection—splitting her shirt open and leaving a bleeding shallow wound. Later, 007 and Jinx are reveling in the hoard of diamonds, and he pours a handful across her stomach—which is completely unblemished by any scratches or wounds. Oops!

Throughout Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry is plagued by recurring nightmares of Lord Voldemort. In one scene, Harry has a bad dream after an argument with Seamus in the Gryffindor common room. During that dream, Harry is shown thrashing around in a light blue crew-neck t-shirt. When he wakes up, he sits up and is wearing a dark blue button-up henley shirt. That henley actually comes from a later dream sequence in the film, when Harry is dreaming about Arthur Weasley in the Department of Mysteries.

Rockin' rebel Eddie from the Rocky Horror Picture Show is known for his attitude and his biker wardrobe. But one pretty famous piece of that ensemble didn't make it into several of his scenes. Eddie has the words "LOVE" and "HATE" tattooed on his knuckles, and the left hand is accessorized with several rings—including an Iron Cross pinky ring. Eagle-eyed Rocky Horror fans may notice that the ring disappears while Eddie plays saxophone, only to reappear later with no explanation.

This major continuity error happens during the final scene of X2. When the X-Men visit the President, time is frozen—allowing them to leave him a blue binder of papers for him on his desk, as Xavier delivers a warning to the commander-in-chief about how humans and mutants need to work together. Before time is unfrozen, the camera pulls back from the President's face, showing that there is no binder on his desk—just some random stacks of papers. Another close-up of his face follows, and this time when the camera zooms out again, the blue binder has returned.

Terminator 2 has plenty of prop and continuity errors to go around. In a pivotal scene, the T-1000 commandeers a helicopter, literally headbutting through the windshield to gain entry and take control. This leaves a gaping hole in the shattered glass. But later in a zoomed-out shot of the helicopter pursuing Sarah Connor and the Terminator on a highway, the windshield is magically fixed.

When Merry and Pippin are taken captive by the Uruk-hai, they manage to find escape during a middle-of-the-night raid by the horselords of Rohan. The hobbits crawl away from the battle, hindered by their bound hands. At one point, however, Pippin is nearly trampled by a horse, and he rolls on his back and flails his suddenly-untied hands around in fear. After the danger of getting stomped underfoot has passed, he resumes crawling away with hands tied again, and he and Merry use a blade to cut through their bonds.

Here's another big "whoops" from the production of Gladiator—this time from the prop department. During one battle in the gladiator ring, three different chariots end up turning over throughout the course of the fight. Pay close attention to the third chariot as it lurches sidways and crashes—you can clearly see a tank of some sort of compressed gas used in the stunt just hanging out, strapped to the bottom of the chariot.

When the bad guys first bring police officer Marvin Nash into the warehouse to be tortured, he's bound with his hands cuffed behind his back. They start to kick and beat Nash, and at one point he's pulled to his feet, hands are now magically cuffed in front of him. Just a short while later, they're back behind his back again, where they remain through the rest of Mr. Blonde's torture sequence.

Fans of the original Alien may have spotted one glaring continuity error with the film's wardrobe. When the crew is exploring the boneship, Kane is shown wearing a close-fitting cloth hood under his space helmet. He's attacked by a facehugger, and brought back for medical attention. When the crew cuts his helmet off, the alien nymph is firmly attached to his head, but the hood he was previously wearing is nowhere to be found.

Even the most iconic films are not immune from continuity errors—even ones involving those famous ruby slippers. During one scene in which the Scarecrow is goading some apple trees into throwing their apples at him (because hey—free apples), he falls over backward onto the yellow brick road. Dorothy rushes over to see if he's all right, and you can clearly see that she's wearing a pair of black and tan lace-up saddle shoes instead of those famous ruby slippers.