War movie editing errors

[Atomic Age]

Speaking of BOB notice when the C-47s take off for Normandy, the pilot is wearing what appears to be green David Clark headsets.
And what about jeeps?? Using CJ-2a/3A or even 3B in WWII movies. Hmmm
What else have you noticed?

Its also the same 4 C-47s taking off over and over again. It appears they only had 4 C-47s to shoot with. Even the shots where there are 7 or 8 planes in the sky in the distance, is the same 4 planes reproduced over and over again.

Doug

 

[Mario]

At the end of "Das Boot" the captain dies. He didn't in real life- Lehmann-Willenbrock passed on some time in the 1980's, I believe.

It's not in the book either. There are two sequels, The Fortress and The Parting, in both of which the Captain has a major part. [huh]

 

[Mario]

That's why the opening sequence to "Saving Private Ryan" will be considered a benchmark in film history. Even though the public had seen war reported "live" with conflicts such as Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Balkans, amongst others, "Saving Private Ryan" was the first time that the public were placed inside of a major ground force engagement. Sure the film-going public had seen excessive gore in film such as the horror genre but there was always a fantasy element. But really up until "Saving Private Ryan" only those who had seen ground combat had seen what munitions do to the relatively "soft" human body and what military gunfire en masse looks and sounds like.

It's one of the reasons that sequence was so shattering and talked about upon it's release. I still remember upon walking out from "Saving Private Ryan" when seeing it at the cinema hearing someone say, "I had no idea bullets are so fast".

True. I also had the same feeling when I was watching the "Band of Brothers" miniseries (especially the Bastogne episode). But then it was another Spielberg/Hanks production, just like "Saving Private Ryan". Go figure.

 

[JimWagner]

"Flyboys", a WWI war movie, was riddled with inaccuracies.

Rotary airplane engines that didn't rotate. Blending the Lafayette Escadrille with the Lafayette Flying Corps. American pilots operating the Nieuport 17 while the Germans operate the Fokker Dr.I. The Fokker Dr.I. entered front line service after the Nieuport 17's were no longer operational. Incorrect weaponry.

I guess the film makers just wanted some iconic images.

 

[JimWagner]

And don't get me started on Donald Sutherland's "Oddball" hippy character in Kelly's Heroes.

 

[1961MJS]

And don't get me started on Donald Sutherland's "Oddball" hippy character in Kelly's Heroes.

What, I know I saw a picture of Oddball and General George S. Patton drinking together just outside Oddball's tank.

I don't know everything about it, but Broken Arrow was a screwed up mess from top to bottom with respect to the B-2. You don't turn the stealth on and off, it's built to be stealthy and it is, it just is. There's no Star Trek Klingon Cloaking device, jeez.

Later

 

[Phantomfixer]

Oddball was a neat charachter. It took me along time to undersatnd what an anti-war movie was about. Or at least mocking war.
SPR.. my grandfather a 36th ID vetsaid the same thing about it being the most accurate portrayal of a war scene. I believe it disturbed him a bit.
BOB and 4 C-47s... I can understand that even if there many C-47s still out there flying around.
Maybe if there was more blood in the 40,50, and 60s movies it would not have been romanticized. The scene in SPR where the medic is screaming for his mother really touched a nerve.
B-24s and B-25s interchangeable? no they're not? but it happens allthe time. How hard can it be to get more footage of a B-24? dunno.

 

[Effingham]

I always cringe at the tanks they used in films. Understandable that it was tough to find the real tanks but sometimes it still bothers me...

Ah, yes.

I call this "Battle of the Bulge BS"-- that, and all that desert terrain in the middle of the Belgian forests in winter....

 

[Monsoon]

My grandfather fought in that battle and after seeing SPR, commented on the opening beach head scene, "That's about as accurate as I think a film could be."

We asked him if it really sounded/looked like that, to which he remarked, "Well, yeah, although there were alot more guys gettin' killed next to you and alot more explosions." He also commented on the sound of the bullets, "Wow, I can't believe they were able to get that right."

Although he was impressed, he won't watch the film again - quite understandably.

Samual Fuller said for a war film to be accurate, you need to shoot at the people watching it from time to time.

 

[Monsoon]

US Army has used hand signals since the Revolutionary War.

Two words: Dale Dye.

I read that he teaches USMC Vietnam era hand signals.

 

[Atomic Age]

Ah, yes.

I call this "Battle of the Bulge BS"-- that, and all that desert terrain in the middle of the Belgian forests in winter....

Well to be fair, most films have not had the budget to buy or build their own tanks and other equipment (unlike BOB and SPR) and they have to get cooperation from various military organizations. More often than not they have to take what they can get when it comes to things like tanks.

Doug

 

[Atomic Age]

Two words: Dale Dye.

I read that he teaches USMC Vietnam era hand signals.

Probably quite true. And the fact of the matter is that 99.9% of the audience isn't going to know the difference anyway so why quibble. It does add an air of authenticity even if its inaccurate in the very fine details.

Doug

 

[Harp]

Whether or not they used signals is not the point.

The point was that the signals used in the FILM were anachronistic, because they were Vietnam-era signals in an WWII film.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this.

 

[Monsoon]

Probably quite true. And the fact of the matter is that 99.9% of the audience isn't going to know the difference anyway so why quibble. It does add an air of authenticity even if its inaccurate in the very fine details.

I dunno. Probably because I'm one of the .1% that notices and I figure if you're going to go that far into detail on something, might as well go the whole nine yards.

 

[Shangas]

Two words: Dale Dye.

I read that he teaches USMC Vietnam era hand signals.

He was the one who was a military consultant on Saving P. Ryan. He taught the actors hand-signals to use in the film. But like you say, they came from the Vietnam war. Not WWII.

 

[Samuel]

In Battle of Britain - a masterpiece back then and even today - the same german Heinkel pilot dies several times.
And most of the female actors and extras have 60's hairstyle.

But I still love it!!!

Very good movie for sure. The making of the Spitfire [ibid] is a great movie too.

 

[Samuel]

With apologies to the original thread poster for perhaps going slightly off topic here but Søren and John raise a very interesting point.

For a very long time the war movie-going public were raised on the "people falling over" or the "splash of red paint/tomato ketchup" approach to war violence.

That's why the opening sequence to "Saving Private Ryan" will be considered a benchmark in film history. Even though the public had seen war reported "live" with conflicts such as Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Balkans, amongst others, "Saving Private Ryan" was the first time that the public were placed inside of a major ground force engagement. Sure the film-going public had seen excessive gore in film such as the horror genre but there was always a fantasy element. But really up until "Saving Private Ryan" only those who had seen ground combat had seen what munitions do to the relatively "soft" human body and what military gunfire en masse looks and sounds like.

It's one of the reasons that sequence was so shattering and talked about upon it's release. I still remember upon walking out from "Saving Private Ryan" when seeing it at the cinema hearing someone say, "I had no idea bullets are so fast".

I agree. The previous war movies were good, as they emphasized excellent character development. Classics like, the Sands of Iwo Jima and River Kwai. Though special mention goes to kubrick's, Full Metal Jacket, for the most realistic boot camp footage ever. ( I know I was in the US Marines). Not until SPR by Spielberg that movies went into "realistic" battle scenes, special mention goes to Retired Captain Dale Dye USMC (movie combat advisor) who without his help and insight, the movie would not have been so realistic and moving.

 

[Atomic Age]

I dunno. Probably because I'm one of the .1% that notices and I figure if you're going to go that far into detail on something, might as well go the whole nine yards.

Yes but you are just one of those few people who would notice that. There is another who would notice that the hedges are native to England and not France. Then there is the guy who would notice that while the Jeep is right, the tires on it are wrong. The list could go on and on and on. If you tried to get that kind of fine detail correct for everything, the movie would cost a fortune and would never get finished!

The goal of a movie is to get as close as possible to authentic as you can to make it believeable. The kind of detail we are talking about here just isn't possible for everything. Though it is fun to point out the mistakes!

Doug

 

[Stearmen]

Midway

The all time worst for accuracy has to be Midway! They got the basic plot right, but the rest is atrocious. Aircraft change makes two even three times in one sean. The best is at the end, when the hero is comming aboard the carrier, and his plane changes I believe a full five times, ending up either a Grumman Panther or Cougar! Incidentally, the real pilot of the Grumman survived that crash, and the ride on the nose section, he was a test pilot. There are entire web sights dedicated to all the mistakes in Midway.

 

[Treetopflyer]

No one has mentioned Pearl Harbor. I was very impressed at how far they went with some minute details, but disappointed at how they totally overlooked major things. The one that sticks out in my mind is when they show the Japanese battle group, but it is a CGI of a modern US carrier battle group. It has been a long time since I have watched it, but I am sure that I could list several major details that are incorrect.