Of all the feel-good sports movies, Remember the Titans may just be the best. The film boasts a career-defining performance by Denzel Washington and helped launch the careers of some of Hollywood’s brightest young stars.
It’s been more than 20 years since the film was first released. In order to celebrate this incredible milestone, check out these 10+ mistakes from Remember the Titans that fans didn’t catch. Pun intended.
1. Sunshine’s throw was actually way off.
One of the best scenes in the film is when the team meets their new quarterback, Ronnie ‘Sunshine’ Bass.
After Bertier calls him a “fruitcake”, Ronnie picks up a ball and throws it an impressive 50+ yards.
If you track the position of the ball, it’s clear to see that the throw is off by about 2-3 feet.
Yet it still manages to hit Bertier in the back? With little to no impact whatsoever, I might add.
For a ball to be thrown from that far away, it would have been traveling at a tremendous speed. In short, it would have hurt.
2. That’s not Gerry in the car.
After Gerry gets hit by the truck, take a good hard look at his car.
You’ll notice not only is it clearly a stuntman in the driver’s seat, but he’s even wearing a black motorcycle helmet.
3. Those helmets are in the wrong decade.
Many of the helmets worn by the Titans players are much more modern looking than they should be.
In fact, the majority of designs wouldn’t have even been introduced until the early 1980s .
4. “Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress” wasn’t released yet.
There’s a part in the film where the local radio DJ dedicates a song to the Titans. The track he plays is called ” Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress “, performed by The Hollies.
Only that song wouldn’t be released until a year later, in 1972.
5. Did the announcers forget the score of the game?
In one of their playoff matchups, the Titans enter their locker room at half-time down 10-0. Yet as soon as they hit the field, the score that’s announced is 7-3.
What game were they watching?!
6. They get the rules wrong on several occasions.
Football has undergone some serious revisions over the past five decades. There’s also an incredible amount of difference between NFL rules and high school rules.
For one thing, in 1971, if a fumble was forced, the recovering team wasn’t allowed to advance.
7. Gary’s injuries are inconsistent.
When we first see Gary in the hospital bed, before his mother is announced during the Titans matchup against Marshall, his face is visibly cut up.
But as soon as the camera pans to his mother, and then back to him in his bed, Gary’s cuts have miraculously healed!
8. Coach Boone’s history is a little off.
After the long hike through the woods, the Titans arrive at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. There, Coach Boone explains that over 50,000 men lost their lives.
This is a bit of an exaggeration. In reality, there were actually less than 10,000 casualties.
9. Blue doesn’t know the lyrics.
Without a doubt, the Titans rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” is one of the truly incredible musical moments in cinema. It’s too bad that Blue clearly doesn’t know the words.
He sings “No, no, darlin'” instead of “Don’t worry baby”.
10. Why is the announcer so excited that his team lost?
When the Titans secure their second win, a quick look at the scoreboard will tell you that it’s a road game. They’re the AWAY team.
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But when they pull off the victory, the announcer is proclaiming in joy “Titans win! Titans win!” I doubt he’d have been so happy that his team just lost?
11. Sorry son, that’s the wrong end zone.
During one of the games, the Running Back on the opposite team fumbles the ball. It’s then recovered by a Titans player and run back for a touchdown.
The only problem is that the Titans were going in the complete opposite direction. Whoops!
12. Is sunshine ambidextrous?
It’s a fair question, considering he clearly throws with both hands at various times throughout the film.
More than likely, this is due to the fact that there may have been a stunt double for that particular scene. Still, it’s a pretty obvious mistake.
13. Integration actually took place more than five years prior to when the film is set.
This first began happening as early as 1963 and became commonplace by 1965.
What happened at the real T.C. Williams High School in 1971 was simply an amalgamation of previously integrated schools.
14. Boone needs to brush up on his Greek mythology.
Boone says that “The Titans were greater even than the gods.”
This isn’t true at all. Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus were all sons of Cronos . They killed and enslaved the Titans, thus establishing the rule of the Olympians.
