back to article Net pedants dismantle Quantum of Solace

They did it to Casino Royale and now the net pedants have moved with lightning speed to finger the howlers which blight latest Bond outing Quantum of Solace. Yup, it's a bit of a continuity/fact bloodbath down at moviemistakes.com, where sharp-eyed critics have wasted no time in revealing, for example, that while "cars in …

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  1. Martin Lyne

    You fail to mention the biggest omission

    That's right. It didn't have a plot.

  2. Gareth Jones Silver badge

    Oh, for fu...

    Continuity errors are fair game, but factual errors? I don't know if these saddos have noticed, but Bond is fiction.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is that it?

    If that's the full list of flaws so far found, they did pretty well. Airports in places that don't have 'em IRL pale into insignificance compared to the highly explosive chain-reacting fuel cells and lighter-fuel-soaked remote luxury resort hotel that looks more like a prison. Fuel cells to produce electricty. In a desert. Fuel cells that explode because someone looked at them funny...

    But it was still good, up til that point.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yes, continuity is a very pesky thing...

    It amazes me how many movies make some really stupid continuity mistakes.

    That said, the Quantum of Solace people get a bit of a gap for Bregenz. Bregenz itself may not have an airport or airfield, but the closest airport is 15 miles away in St Gallen (Switzerland), while Friedrichshafen (Germany) is 20 miles away. It's not the end of the world where gaffes are concerned. There are a lot bigger ones... like the 'Eco Hotel' blowing up.

    If you ever want to see a movie where continuity clearly was not a priority, watch Supercross.

  5. Lol Whibley
    Stop

    i wonder what

    the typo-pedant-mafia would make of their site...

  6. Jodo Kast
    Joke

    It's a movie

    Suspension of disbelief is required.

  7. Simon Buttress
    Paris Hilton

    @ Gareth Jones - allow me to continue where you left off.

    ...cks sakes, do these tragically sad arseholes not have lives to live?

    Paris - cos that's as close as these sad wankers get to a bird.

  8. Mark Stevens

    Breganz Airport...

    Sure, there is no airport "at" Breganz, but there is a nice 2000m or so facility about six miles away at St Gallen Altenrhein....

    I suppose by this logic there is no Birmingham Airport either... :-)

    Mark

  9. Joel
    Coat

    It was Bregenz Airport....

    ....as listed by Ryan Air!

  10. Bumhug
    Alert

    Movie was ruined for me

    "In the opening car chase, the Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo go round a pack of cars stuck in traffic. When the policeman uses his radio, you can see a blue Vauxhall Corsa in the background. You can see the badge on it and it is actually a Vauxhall Corsa with Italian number-plates, which is incorrect as Vauxhall cars are branded as Opel in continental Europe."

    I noticed that as well, walked out in disgust. Manager wouldn’t even give me my money back. I hope somebody got fired for that mistake

  11. Anonymous John

    "There is no airport in Bregenz"

    There may be one fifty years from now. When ITV will still be showing all the Bond movies (alternated with Star Wars) several times a year.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    And of course...

    ... there's the HUGE blooper of it not actually being a very good film.

    ps - I'm not American; it's not a "movie" (and in any case, haven't they progressed to "talkies" by now?)

  13. Onionman
    Paris Hilton

    Get a life

    These saddos have even critiqued "Monsters, Inc." It's an animated kids' film, for Pete's sake. One of their many gems: "When we see Mike during the slumber party, we hear seven bells ring for the seven filled cylinders, but there are only six cylinder-filling noises."

    I bet he (and it MUST be a "he") gets invited to a lot of parties.

    O

    Paris because I wonder if she's ever dealt with seven cylinders at once.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    It's a movie

    Not a documentary FFS

    I take it these factards never watched porn

    Mine's not the one that doesn't exist without the tickets to nowhere

  15. adam
    Paris Hilton

    Too much time ?

    It would strike me some people have far too much time on their hands....

    Paris, because she has lots of time on her hands.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    typo-pedant-mafia

    War of the Pedants!

    To the death!

    I like typos: they can spawn interesting neologisms. And most of us are human, so prone to occasionally err, while I don't believe that forgiveness is an attribute entirely restricted to the Divine.

    Blatant apostrophe abuse, though, should be a capital crime, like wilful ignorance.

  17. Pedantic Twat
    Coat

    @Lol Whibley

    Thanks for the tip-off -- I'm on my way......

  18. Campbell
    Stop

    Hey

    Isn't this the whole point of fiction? It's not real. What part of that can' t these sad sacks comprehend.

    Having said that, continuity errors are unforgivable and those responsible should be punished by having to sit naked on a block of ice for 24 hours and then have the heat paddled back into their arses with cricket bats. That should sort the problem.

  19. Squits

    Nerdcore

    I'd love to be round these guys houses with a beer watching films frame by frame, how exciting, why don't these people go outdoors for a moment or two. Or get laid.

  20. Adam Foxton

    Another major problem

    It wasn't a proper Bond film.

    After watching QoS I went out and bought Dr No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Goldeneye.

    These are good Bond films. Goldfinger, especially. QoS just... wasn't. The excuse I've heard was that "it was before Bond became the Bond we knew". Well where's the fun in that? Can you imagine a Harry Potter prequel where he's just sat under the stairs for 10 years being any good? No? Well, why have the Bond film equivalent?! What's the next film, "Daniel Craig is James Bond in... Oriental Languages 101 at Cambridge"?

    At least they got rid of whoever did that dreadful theme music for Casino Royale. Again, not a Bond theme.

    In other Movie news, Max Payne is a godforsaken piece of crap not worthy of having any similarity with its interactive namesake.

  21. John Browne

    Magic Phone?

    I wonder how they didn't notice Bonds Magic Sony Ericsson Phone.

    It picked faces out from across an enormous, dark auditorium. It also did all sorts of other impossible tech wizardry.

    Oh and I wish my office was like Ms where you could talk to the wall and it would talk back.

    I especially liked the big continuity error where they expected us to belive that Bolivia wouldn't just nationalise the new Quantum water company just like it's doing with the oil inducstry in real life. That Plot was a bit thin to be fair but I don't think it detracted too much from the car chases, fight scenes and explosions. I like explosions. At least they didn't try and steal the internet like in Die hard.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ang on . . .

    Do clandestine services even need an official airport/runway? I haven't watched the film but depending on the aircraft in use it could be landed in a field, on a road or a private airfield.

    And as Jodo says its a goddam fictional film, made with Hollywood money; wake up people.

  23. Glyn
    Thumb Up

    I'm impressed

    They managed to notice all that as the film was so dull and utterly depressingly bad that most people in the screening I went to were either asleep or clockwatching waiting for the interminable end.

  24. Alex Wright
    IT Angle

    @Stefan Paetow

    Ever made even a short film? One that actually requires editing?

    I don't know if you realise, but different shots in the same scene can be filmed days, weeks, or even years apart. It is really difficult to get all aspects of continuity right.

    Try this simple example: Get 20 random small objects, and place them on a table. Get a friend to swap the position of two of them while you are not looking, then return after a few minutes and try and name the objects moved.

    Repeat 1000 times with different objects without errors.

    If you can do this, Congratulations! You should try making a film.

  25. Pierre

    Target audience

    The target audience for this movie is the average midwestern American teenager, what do you expect? After the special effects are paid, there is no money left for research or advisors. Or even a proper scenario. But that's not a problem, as the target audience doesn't want one.

  26. Dan Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Biggest mistake

    Someone got a draft script for Burne and did a global replace of his name to Bond.

  27. David Shepherd
    Happy

    Bregenz Airport

    Maybe he flew Ryan Air in which case anywhere within 100 miles of Bregenz could qualify as Bregenz Airport.

  28. Wade Burchette
    Joke

    Please Please Please Get A Life

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFtnZcE9xE8

    Enough said.

  29. Ed Blackshaw Silver badge
    Flame

    It did occur to me

    that transporting pressurised hydrogen gas into the middle of a desert to use as a fuel is particularly inefficient given the fact that a bunch of solar panels/solar roof heating would work much better. But then solar panels don't explode...

  30. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: Get a life

    Ah it's quite innocent really. It's not always being Comic Book Guy-dismissive. It kind of comes from the same impulse as subbing and that, and I can't deny I've had moments of glee when I've spotted continuity fubars. (There's a bit with some cheese on a pie near the end of Thank You For Smoking and I was like, THAT CHEESE IS NOT WHERE IT WAS A SECOND AGO THEY DONE A WRONG.)

    It does get very tiresome after a certain point, but it's fair sport, and people can't always help themselves.

    Oh yeah, and there was a goddamn typo in a news story that someone looked up on their Vaio in Casino Royale. I was actually narked, mostly because it jolted me out of my state of suspended disbelief and back into work mode, which no one wants. But there will always be little errors that slip through (just as in journalism, ahem hem) and it is a bit mean-spirited... but part of me really enjoys the nit-picking. Only a small part, though.

  31. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    @Alex Wright

    Very good point sir. You make it sound like the Generation Game in hell.

  32. Ceilidhman
    Black Helicopters

    No airport?

    Just because it's not on the map, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

    Mwaahhahahahahaha! MWAHhahahahahahah!

    Black helicopters for obvious reasons

  33. andy rock
    Happy

    hmm, the net pedantry doesn't just stop at the film...

    ...comic duo Adam & Joe did joke alternative theme tunes for the film and the pedants reacted as though they were real attempts to replace the theme! The themes themselves are funny but the comments on (the admittedly idiot-full) youtube make them even funnier.

    Joe's: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TMoJRLStD9c

    Adam's: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dOH8_Vf_xIE

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Have you spotted

    That when James Bond appears in 'Dr. No' he's played by Sean Connery, but when he leaves 'A Quantum of Solace' he's played by Daniel Craig? How does this sort of basic continuity error slip through? I think someone in the BBC should apologise.

  35. Chris G

    Utterly disgusting

    I am outraged, disgusted and appalled! I shall write long letters to ALL of the editors of ALL of the papers telling them just what I THINK.

    NOW, I am going to sit down and read the article.

    Signed Mr WOBBLY ( BA (bloody angry)) of Woking

  36. J
    Joke

    @Sarah Bee

    "THAT CHEESE IS NOT WHERE IT WAS A SECOND AGO THEY DONE A WRONG"

    Have you considered that if it was one of those incredibly bad smelling French cheese it might have just moved itself in between shots? With all the crazy organisms that seem to be growing on that, I wouldn't be surprised.

    And also, have you considered how sneaky fast some mice in movie sets can be nowadays?

  37. Dave The Cardboard Box

    In "The Last Temptation of Christ"...

    Christ was seen using what looks like an Amiga 3000 to hack into the Roman Nexus-Overlord computer. The movie was made in 1988 but the Amiga 3000 wasn't released until 1990. I'm confused.

  38. Jay
    Happy

    @Alex Wright

    Isn't this why Art Departments buy cameras?

  39. mark adrian bell
    Paris Hilton

    Errors of fact

    What? Errors of fact in the new James Bond film? I'm starting to wonder if these films aren't completely made up....

    Paris, because I suspect that some stories about her might be made up too.

  40. iamzippy
    Thumb Up

    It's Just 'Bourne' In A Tribute Stylee

    Hey, it's make-believe 'in the style of'. Like so many UK TV series. 'Spooks', for example - nice, entertaining, but the influence is irrefutable. Incidental music and location: make it throb hand-held in a public railway station with everybody wired and tooled up and barely in focus, and you're sorted.

    Liman and Greengrass surely made the new model for this genre, big time. Tip o'the hat to them.

    Thumbs up because...

  41. Stevie
    Unhappy

    Bah!

    This sort of thing is systemic in the Bond Franchise.

    It turns out that the Aston Martin DB4 does *not* feature tyre slashing wheel bosses, rear machine-guns or a bullet-proof screen, the Lotus Esprit has absolutely naffr performance when submerged and the Wallis autogyro does not come with air-to-air missiles, even as an optional extra.

    And what those idiots did with the helicopter while chasing Pierce Brosnan would have invalidated the Sikorsky warranty microseconds before taking the rotor into an out-of-design-spec excursion in which the people on board would have been injured or possibly killed.

    It's begining to look like one must take anything seen in a Bond movie with a pinch of salt.

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Alex Wright

    Well Alex, that's why you have continuity people who keep track of things. Who is wearing what when and where. Which door they go in and what the door is supposed to look like when they leave it.

    And yes, it's a nightmare to keep everything together (it's like herding cats), but for the movie's sake, keep continuity glitches to a minimum. That's what continuity people are there for!

  43. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    And next...

    A list of physics violations in an old Warner Bros. cartoon.

  44. Captain DaFt
    Coat

    @ Kevin McMurtrie

    Obviously, cartoons have their own laws of physics:

    http://funnies.paco.to/cartoon.html

    Or, if you really wanna waste a day:

    http://images.google.com/images?q=cartoon+physics&sourceid=mozilla-search&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&client=mozilla&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&um=1&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title

    (And yes, I have my degree in abnormal physics from Acme U.)

  45. Pete James

    @Sarah

    "....there was a goddamn typo in a news story that someone looked up on their Vaio in Casino Royale"

    Sarah, that was a very moment in the film. They were looking at the Grauniad online.

  46. Pete James

    but I like cat food!

    Stevie, it was an Aston Martin DB5, not a DB4. Dear oh dear!

    There's a great tale about The New Avengers and the cars they used. British Leyland (as they were back then) delivered the cars for the first bit of filming at one point and had the cars back. They then delivered the cars for the next bit of filming. And the cars were different colours.........

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    proof once again

    That some people should not be allowed access to the internet. Obvious continuity mistakes honk me off as much as the next movie goer. However these bunch of fuckwits take the cake. Next thing you know they are gonna have an urgent news flash on their site that sometimes Bugs Bunny has more of a new jersey accent and sometimes more of a brooklyn accent. I mean WTF people it's fiction not a damn documentary, get a life.

    Now as for the movie itself, well I haven't seen the whole thing. However all the trailers I've seen have convinced me that I'll be waiting for the DVD, looks good enough to spend a buck for the rental but no way it's worth the cost of seeing it in a theater.

  48. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    @Bumhug

    I think you're going a bit far - a free upgrade from medium to large popcorn might have brokered you a deal.

    If I moved from the UK to Italy with 'my' Vauxhall Corsa, would the italian 'border police' be waiting for me with a set of Opel badges? I seem to recall at the height of 'Rip Off Britain' circa 2000-2001 that may Euro-sourced Astras/Corsas/Merivas etc we driving around the UK with Opel badges and UK plates.

    I may now go and hang myself for even thinking about argueing with such sad gits!

  49. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    @Iam Me

    Look at it this way. It keeps them off the streets and out of pubs and clubs.

  50. Neil

    @Alex Wright

    Yes but fortunately for film makers they don't need to have a photographic memory. That's what the cameras are for.

    It's like saying F1 racing is hard, by comparing it having to run around a track at 200 mph.

  51. Gary
    Unhappy

    @Stevie

    You forgot about the "Invisible" car he had in Die Another Day!

    The old James Bond films prior to GoldenEye were great (minus a few exceptions). But all the new stuff is pants.

    I wish they would make Bond films still set during the cold war. Make Bong go up against the USSR he should be!

  52. regadpellagru
    Joke

    anything stronger than "pedantry" ?

    Sorry, I'm not english, so I wouldn't know.

    At the point of posting 30 mistakes on "Monster's inc.", you really have to wonder what those people's life is like, I mean, after 48 hours with no pills ....

    So they write 2 pages letters to the editor, full CAPS, for each typo in the local paper ?

  53. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Alex Wright

    These people are professional film makers. The employ continuity professionals. The films cost millions of pounds to make.

    Continuity errors that are spotted by some saddo with a stopwatch are one thing, continuity errors that are spotted by 50% of the audience are another thing altogether. They are not forgivable. All the continuity guy gets paid to do is ensure continuity, if he can't do that he should find another job.

    However any industry that gives out job titles like "grip", "puller" and "best boy" clearly isn't taking itself seriously.

    Oh and BTW there really is no such thing as a good Bond film. To suggest otherwise would be of similar magnitude to suggesting that Ben Stiller is talented and entertaining.

  54. Alex
    Stop

    ...Oh for fucks sake....

    I think that says it all really.

    QoS : Not the best, but by no means the worst. Now the theme tune.. yup, the worst..

    ...and don't be stupid to agree with some reviews that it wasn't Bond because he didn't have any gadgets... He was cut off, so Q (or R) couldn't replenish him with his toys; even thought his SE phone was pretty much a gadget, but without laser beams, shark repellent, and a thermo-nuclear device all rolled into one.

    And as for the speaking wall.. It's that Microsofts Surface, but on an OLED transparentcy? It was on the table, that's for sure.. You see, Microsoft and Sony working together..

  55. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Halo

    Aaw C'm'on

    You mean that Bond never gratuitously blew anything up.

    And there is another thing, a pretty big one if you think about it, a hydrogen flame is blue those were yellow = carbon fuel. Ooh, I wonder where that came from?

    Who cares there is no airport in Bregenz; where the hell is Bregenz anyway?

  56. Law
    Paris Hilton

    @ Get a life-rs

    I'm sure the same would be said to us - after all we are reading comments and replying to them on a techy news website on a subject that really isn't THAT interesting! ;)

    To each their own... even if "their own" is trying to rip holes in a fiction-based film they wouldn't have the first clue how to even begin to make, let alone conjure up in their feable little minds before hand.... sigh....

    paris, because she's seen her fair share of explosions! SHAZAM! :)

  57. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ It's Just 'Bourne' In A Tribute Stylee

    Except of course Spooks started before the first Bourne film came out.

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