26 Movie Mistakes You Probably Never Noticed

Everybody makes mistakes, even famous directors and actors. Throughout the history of cinema, there have been hundreds of small mistakes picked up by keen-eyed viewers. These range from continuity errors and plot holes to fake babies and Starbucks cups appearing in period dramas. Movie mistakes are so common that there is even a website documenting them, cleverly titled Movie Mistakes. 

The good thing is these errors don’t usually have a major impact on your viewing experience. You can still enjoy the movie, with the mistakes acting like movie Easter Eggs, adding a little fun while you are watching. So without further ado, here are some of the biggest movie mistakes that made it into the final cut. 

26 Movie Mistakes You Probably Never Noticed

1. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) – Hit Head

Of all the movie mistakes, this is the one you have probably heard about. During a scene in the science fiction favorite Star Wars: A New Hope, a group of Stormtroopers enters a control room and one of them hits their head on the door. 

Laurie Goode, the actor who played the Stormtrooper who accidentally hits his head in the scene told The Hollywood Reporter, “Believing I probably wasn’t in frame, I expected it to end up on the cutting-room floor. But when I did see it in the cinema, I thought: “OMG, that’s me!” I’ve been telling people the story ever since it occurred.”

2. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) – Wrong Plane

This movie mistake was pointed out by pilot and actor John Travolta. In the Quentin Tarantino-directed movie, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) flies back to Hollywood from Europe in a Boeing 747. Turns out that wouldn’t be possible as the 747 only came into operation in 1970, with Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood set in 1969. 

“Well, the 747 had its test flight in February 1969, but it went into service in January 1970,” Travolta explained. “They’re nine months off! He would have been on a Boeing 707!”

3. American Sniper (2014) – Fake Baby

Clint Eastwood’s war drama based on real-life events was one of the big hits of 2014 and helped establish Bradley Cooper as a serious actor after The Hangover franchise.

American Sniper is also a movie that features arguably the worst fake baby in movie history. In one scene, Cooper is cradling his newborn child, which is clearly a plastic baby doll. It’s a jarring moment in an otherwise great film. 

4. Pretty Woman (1990) – Croissant To Pancake 

Julia Roberts plays a hooker with a heart of gold in Garry Marshall’s classic romantic comedy from 1990. You might not have noticed, but in one scene while having breakfast, Roberts is chowing down on a croissant.

Chatting with Richard Gere, the camera flashes between the two, and when the shot lands on Roberts again, she is eating a pancake. 

5. Legally Blonde (2001) – No Water

After wowing audiences in Cruel Intentions, newcomer Reese Witherspoon became a bonafide star with her turn as the blond sorority girl who gets a law degree in a surprise 2001 hit Legally Blonde.

There is one scene in the movie that features a blooper when Witherspoon is waiting to take a drink from a water fountain at school. Watch closely and you will notice the person using the water fountain isn’t actually drinking anything and is just sucking up air. But then when another person jumps in front of Witherspoon and has a drink, water actually comes out of the fountain. 

6. Batman (1989) – Handprints

According to Movie Mistakes, there are 89 errors in Tim Burton’s Batman. One of the most obvious comes when Joker and his crew vandalize the museum. One of Joker’s henchmen presses his hands against a painting and leaves red hand marks, only for the next shot of the painting to be devoid of any handprints. 

7. North by Northwest (1959) – Gunshot Incoming 

During a scene in the Mount Rushmore cafeteria, Eva Marie Saint pulls a gun on Carey Grant and unexpectedly fires. While it is a shock while watching, if you look closely you will see one of the extras knew what was coming.

A young boy can be seen in the background covering his ears in anticipation of the gunshot, giving away the scene. 

8. Pulp Fiction (1994) – Bullet Holes

Pulp Fiction is chock full of memorable moments, but one that stands out is when Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L Jackson) head to Brett’s apartment to retrieve a briefcase for their boss, Marsellus Wallace. This scene is also a major movie mistake.

When they enter the apartment there are bullet holes in the wall, which shouldn’t be there until they get into a firefight with Brett and his friends, which happens minutes after they arrive. This is a simple continuity error, which is one of the most common movie making mistakes. 

9. Avengers: Endgame (2019) – Two Ant-Mans

There’s a lot going on in the action-packed finale of the Avengers series, so it’s understandable that an error might occur. But nobody would have thought the filmmakers would overlook something as big as two characters being in two different places at the same time. As the giant Ant-Man is taking on Thanos’ army with the rest of the heroes, Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne are trying to hotwire a van. 

There are plenty of theories on the internet that try to explain why there are two Ant-Men in the movie, but we believe it was an error the Russo brothers just didn’t pick up on. 

10. Little Women (2009)

Modern objects finding their way into films is one of the most common movie mistakes. In the 2019 version of Little Woman, a plastic bottle can be observed in the background of one shot. As the movie takes place in 1863, long before plastic bottles were a thing, this can be chalked up as a movie mistake. 

11. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) – Visible Cameraman

With all the resources available when editing films, and the number of people involved, it’s amazing that movie mistakes like cameraman being in shots still make it into the final print.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is another box office smash that has such a mishap, with a cameraman seen in the background during Harry and Draco’s dueling scene.

12. Bad Boys (1983)

No, we aren’t talking about the Will Smith and Martin Lawerence action classic from the 90s. It’s the 80s Bad Boys starring Sean Penn and Esai Morales that features one of the most easy-to-spot errors.

During a big fight scene between the two main characters, a cameraman is present in the background. Somehow nobody picked this up during the editing and it remains in the final cut of the movie. 

13. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) – Change of Planes

We are guessing there were several different planes used during the final part of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Keep an eye out for the ever-changing number of John Connors Cessna’s. When seen in the hanger it is numbered N3035C, but once in the air, this changes to N3413F. 

14. Dr. No (1962) – Screeching Tires on a Gravel Road

Not even the great James Bond can escape a movie mistake. The most notable error that occurs in the first film in the franchise, Dr. No, is actually a sound editing issue.

While being chased by bad guys along a gravel road, who eventually drive off a cliff to their death, you can hear screeching tires. This wouldn’t be a problem if the road was asphalt, but as it is dirt, there shouldn’t be any noise at all. It does make the scene that much more thrilling though. 

15. Bring It On (2000) – Clovers Collide

The best cheerleading movie of all time also has one of the biggest gaffs. While the East Compton Clovers are performing their final routine, two of the cheerleaders accidentally run into each other after one turns the wrong way. This is a blink or you’ll miss it mistake that really should have cost the Clovers the title. 

16. The Wizard of Oz (1939) – No Red Shoes

The most memorable part of Dorthey’s getup is her red shoes. Strangely they disappear in the scene where the trees throw apples at her and Scarecrow. The iconic red kicks are replaced by plain black shoes, with actress Judy Garland forgetting to put the red numbers on before “Action” was called that day of shooting. 

17. The Fast and the Furious (2001) – Johnny Tran Changes Shirts

It’s incredible to think the Fast & Furious saga is still going, especially when you consider the original is a low-budget car movie based on a magazine article. What isn’t surprising is that the movie contains several mistakes, with one many people pick up on involving bad guy Johnny Tran. 

When Tran and Jesse race for pink slips at Race Wars, Tran is seen behind his car wearing a black long sleeve polo. Once they are off and racing, the polo has been replaced by a black tank top. 

18. Clueless (1995) – Car Crash

When Alicia Silverstone’s Amy Heckerling has her driving test, it turns into a disaster when she hits a parked car. The crash damages the side mirror but miraculously, just a few scenes later, there appears to be no damage to the car. 

19. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) – Disappearing Handcuffs

Merry and Pippin find themselves captured by arcs at the beginning of the second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Both have their hands restrained, but when they are attacked and a horse almost crushes Pippen, his hands are free. In the next scene, they are back in handcuffs. 

20. Braveheart (1995) – Automobile 

Mel Gibson’s historical epic about Scottish warrior Sir William Wallace was a massive success both critically and commercially. Braveheart made over $213 million at the box office and won five Academy Awards.

If there was an award category for movie mistakes, it probably would have taken that out as well, as in one scene you can see a car driving past in the background. Considering the movie is set in the 13th century, the appearance of an automobile makes this one of the biggest movie mistakes in history. 

21. Quantum of Solace (2008) – Street Sweeper

Dr. No isn’t the only James Bond flick to feature a notable movie mistake. In Quantum of Solace, while Bond is at the docks you can see a local worker behind him sweeping the pavement. The only problem is he isn’t actually sweeping.

The man is just holding his broom above the ground and making sweeping movements. It’s hard to know why the extra didn’t just sweep the ground like normal, but it does make for a funny movie blooper. 

22. Gladiator (1999) – Gas Cannister

During the reenactment of the Battle of Carthage, one of the chariots involved flips over and you can see a gas canister attached to the back of the chariot. Considering the movie is set around 180 AD, it’s safe to assume gas canisters didn’t exist. Thankfully this is a minor movie mistake that doesn’t take anything away from this Ridley Scott classic. 

23. Captain America: Civil War (2016) – Mirror Image

Hawkeye’s costume causes a few raised eyebrows in a certain scene from Captain America: Civil War. First, he is seen with his bow in his right hand and his left arm sleeveless, but in the next shot he holds his bow in his left hand and it’s his right arm that is sleeveless. This is a movie mistake only keen-eyed movie lovers spotted. 

24. Halloween (1979) – Wrong Number Plates

Horror movies don’t get much better than John Carpenter’s Halloween. Often cited as the first slasher (although Black Christmas from 1974 has a claim to the title), it introduced audiences to the unkillable Michael Myers. There have been 13 Halloween movies since 1979, but none match the thrill of the original. 

Halloween is a fantastic movie that also has one major flaw. Set in the town of Haddonfield, Illinois, the film was actually shot in California, so all the cars seen in the movie have Californian license plates. There are also palm trees seen in certain scenes, which are only found in California. 

25. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Disappearing Fly

During one famous scene when Indian Jones (Harrison Ford) and René Belloq (Paul Freeman) are talking, a fly appears to land on Belloq’s face. It moves across his lips and then suddenly disappears. In an interview with The Indy Experience, Freeman explained how several seconds of the film were cut, which is why the fly vanishes from the screen. He didn’t actually eat it as the long-standing rumor suggests. 

26. The Graduate (1967) – Driving the Wrong Way

The glaring mistake that occurs in The Graduate happens when Dustin Hoffman’s character drives across the Bay Bridge in San Francisco on his way to Berkeley. He drives along the top deck, which in reality goes the opposite way he is driving, with traffic going from Berkeley to San Fran.