The ’80s is one of those decades that’s difficult to explain to someone who didn’t live through them. It was a fast, turbulent time defined by big hair, loud music, and incredible films.
However, no matter how incredible, they were not all perfect by any means. In fact, some of cinema’s most renowned classics are littered with errors. Have a look and check out these 10+ mistakes from ’80s movies fans can’t unsee!
Who’s the guy in the t-shirt in *Raiders Of The Lost Ark*?
It happens during the scene where Indy is sitting drinking alone in the streets, right after watching what he believed to be Marion’s death.
Take a look over his right shoulder and you’ll see a crew member walking around in a plain white tee.
Helicopter shadows in *The Shining*.
As far as I’m concerned, The Shining is the best horror movie that’s ever been made. The intro scene does such an incredible job of creating an immediate sense of contrast and unease.
If you watch closely as the camera tracks the car, you can clearly see the shadow of the helicopter at multiple points.
Wasn’t Han Solo handcuffed in *Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back*?
Right before Han is lowered into the carbonite, we can clearly see that his hands are cuffed.
But after the freezing process is complete and they raise him up from the chamber, his hands are in the classic outstretched pose.
How did the newspaper get that photo in *Ghostbusters*?
Who ya gonna call when pictures from the future wind up in the New York Times ?
If you look at the photo the paper uses when the story about the Ghostbusters first runs, it’s actually a scene from their final battle with Gozer!
Marty’s blow dryer completely disappears in *Back To The Future*.
Watch the hairdryer in Marty’s belt. The scene begins with it firmly attached to his waist.
But as soon as he hits play on the tape recorder, the blowdryer disappears and reappears with each cut scene.
Those are some impressive handcuffs in *Lethal Weapon*.
The scene begins with Riggs handcuffing himself to a jumper in order to prevent him from committing suicide. The pair wind up leaping off of the building onto a landing pad below.
As you can see from this image, there’s clearly nothing linking the two men together.
What happened to private Pyle’s wrist-wrap in *Full Metal Jacket*?
When Private Pyle first begins his target practice, the camera angle is from his vantage point. You can clearly see that there’s nothing on his wrist.
But when it pans to this wide-angle shot, all of a sudden he has a white wrap around his right wrist.
There’s clearly a hole in the floor in *Aliens*.
There’s a particularly brutal scene in Aliens where Bishop is bitten in half by the queen.
As gruesome as it is, a careful eye will reveal that there’s clearly a hole in the floor to create the illusion.
That’s the wrong address in *Terminator*.
At the beginning of the film, there’s a scene where the Terminator is looking up Sarah Connor’s address in the phone book. His finger lands on the first name at 1823 Doncaster.
But when he shows up at her door, the house number clearly reads 14239.
How did Zhora manage to put on lipstick in *Blade Runner*?
It’s a fair question, considering she wasn’t wearing any leading up to her death.
Yet somehow, when the camera pans on her lifeless face, Zhora now appears with full red luscious lips.
There’s clearly a wire around Jennifer Connelly’s waist in *Labyrinth*.
Watch as Sarah is lowered down from the Goblin Kingdom into the junkyard.
The wire around her waist is painfully obvious. How they didn’t see that is truly beyond me. It’s impossible to miss.
The newel post on the stairs seems to reattach itself in *Christmas Vacation*.
One of the funnier moments of the film is when Clark “fixes” the loose newel post with a chainsaw.
Later on, after the family runs up the stairs to get away from the squirrel, you can see the post reattached as if it were brand new.
Her name is Gertie in *E.T.*.
Toward the very beginning of the film, there’s a scene where the whole family is sitting down to dinner. Listen closely and you can clearly hear the kids’ mother refer to Gertie as Drew!
Of course, Gertie is played by a young Drew Barrymore!
Princess Buttercup needs to trim her beard in *The Princess Bride*
If you pay close attention during the scene where Wesley and Princess Buttercup are tumbling down the hill, you can clearly see that Robin Wright has been replaced with a very hairy stuntman!
Where did the painted hand prints go in *Batman*?
When the Joker and his henchmen raid the museum, one of the first things we see is a thug put four distinct red hand prints on one of the paintings.
Yet later on, as they continue to destroy the precious artifacts, there’s another shot of the same painting but the hand prints are gone!
The yellow Porsche seems to magically repair itself in *Commando*.
The yellow Porsche takes an absolute beating. The doors are scratched and dented beyond repair and even the gas tank cover gets knocked off.
Yet somehow, as Arnold begins to drive away, the damage completely repairs itself?
The motto on the police car changes throughout the film in *Terminator*.
At first, I thought that it may have been two different cars. But if you pay attention, the squad car number is the exact same!
The motto switches from “To Care and Protect” to “Dedicated to Serve.”
Lando’s outfit switches sides mid-scene in *Return Of The Jedi*.
This was probably a result of the crew having to flip the scene to keep up with continuity. It’s most evident if you watch the strap over Lando’s shoulder:
It moves from left to right throughout the scene.
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Just what is the proper spelling of Gennero in *Die Hard*?
It’s a good question and clearly even the crew had disagreements! When John McClane first searches her name in the Nakatomi Tower database, it’s spelled “Gennero.”
But when he then clicks on the profile, the spelling switches to “Gennaro”!
You can see the white knee pads on Geena Davis’ knees in *Beetle Juice*.
It happens right after Beetle Juice banishes her from the house and she winds up in the desert, surrounded by sandworms.
As soon as she hits the sand, her dress lifts just enough so that you can see the white pads wrapped around her knees.
In *The Cannonball Run*, the jump-ramp into the pool is clearly visible.
I understand that provisions need to be in place in order to safely execute a scene like this safely, especially during a time when filmmakers didn’t have the luxury of relying on CGI.
Still, it’s like they didn’t even try to cover it up?
The wiper blades on the car appear/disappear in *Mad Max 2*.
Granted this isn’t a huge, gaping mistake, but it’s still one of those things that’s hard to shake once you notice it.
A single blade all of a sudden appears on the passenger side of the windscreen.
How do $100 plates print $50 bills in *The Goonies*?
Watch as Data starts the printing press: If you look, you’ll notice that the plates are actually the template for $100 bills.
But when the money is fed through the machine, it prints $50 bills somehow!
The digital readout inside the Delorean changes its display in *Back To The Future*.
When Einstein makes his inaugural journey through time, the display dates on the dashboard are all displayed in numerical format.
Yet when Doc Brown begins to show Marty how the time machine works, the months have switched to alpha-numerical readouts for the month only.
What happened to the mirror behind Spock’s head in *Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan*?
As Spock and Captain Kirk are having a private conversation, you can clearly see a mirror behind Spock’s head.
But as soon as the scene cuts, all of a sudden the wall is completely barren and the mirror has vanished.
Where’s the hedge maze in *The Shining*?
The hedge maze at the Overlook Hotel is one of the most defining features of the property. It’s absolutely massive and impossible to hide.
However, it doesn’t appear to be anywhere on the entire estate when we’re given our first aerial view of the hotel!
Those textbooks look awfully modern in *Dead Poets Society*.
Watch closely for the chemistry textbooks that the boys use in the film. The title is “Chemistry: a Modern Course” by Robert Smoot.
The film is set in 1959 and Robert Smoot didn’t publish his book until 1965.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the boys are using a revised version, copyright 1987!
I know that it might appear to be a mundane detail, but these are the types of anachronisms that can completely shatter the entire reality of the picture!
There’s something not quite right with Pizza the Hut’s mouth in *Space Balls*.
I’m still debating as to whether or not this was intentional. In a satire such as Space Balls , it’s almost impossible to tell.
That said, it’s annoying nonetheless. Every time Pizza the Hut’s mouth moves, you can clearly see the chin of the actor inside the suit.
What happened to the residue on the table in *RoboCop*?
Bob Morton meets his unfortunate demise at the hands of Clarence J. Boddiker. Before Clarence broke in, Bob was nose-deep in a table full of cocaine.
As Bob tries to crawl and defuse the bomb, the table that was just covered in powder a second ago is now spotless.
That’s the improper conducting method in *Amadeus*.
Conducting a symphony used to look a lot different in the Baroque era. Most notably, conductors didn’t stand and wave their arms as they do now.
Back then, a conductor was the lead instrumentalist. So, they should have shown Mozart and Salieri playing the harpsichord or an organ.
