bloopers - The Economic Times

16
centrespread
DECEMBER 09-15, 2012
DECEMBER 09-15, 2012
Reservoir Dogs
Skyfall
Okay so this was Quentin Tarantino’s first
film and you don’t expect it to be pictureperfect. But is it a bit too much to ask for
continuity? There’s a scene in the abandoned
warehouse where the gangsters handcuff and
torture a policeman. Throughout the scene
the cop is alternatively shown handcuffed
from the front and then from behind.
The popular perception
is that James Bond, the
super spy, has all his
bases covered, as he
jets around saving the
world from evil
clutches. Smart suits,
exotic locales, car
chases, crashing trains...
who would complain of
Bond films? Many.
Viewers have found 24
mistakes in Skyfall,
Bond’s latest caper to
hit the screens. We
highlight only four
of them:
Movie
Troy
Swords clashing, spears flying through
the air, racing chariots raising dust as
brave men fight over a woman and
honour. An epic, of Homeric proportions, if ever there was one. Except
that an airplane can be seen
streaming across the blue sky.
The Lord of the
Rings: Return
of the King
Mistakes
■ Londoners have commented that there is
no way one can slide
down the escalator
rails as Bond and the
villain Raoul Silva do.
The reason is simple:
there are hard vertical signs placed to
prevent exactly that.
From modern gadgets creeping into the frame of historical films to
reflections of the crew shooting, faux pas in movies have given
viewers hours of unadulterated laughter. ET Magazine lists a few
from the thousands that dot the history of cinema
You would think that if nearly
$300 million was spent making
The Lord of the Ring trilogy, the
producers would hire some
professionals in the continuity
department. In the last part of the
trilogy, scars keep changing shape
and size on Frodo’s face. Magic
realism, did we hear?
TEXT: YUSUF BEGG
■ Bond meets Q for the
first time, at the
National Gallery.
Bond sits on a bench
and Q sits on another.
When the shot
changes, both of them
are sitting on the
same bench.
■ Is it possible to put on
and take off
sunglasses while on a
high-speed chase?
That too on rooftops?
In Bond’s case, it
seems anything is
possible, even while
riding a motorbike.
Oscar and Bafta winner and a stickler for perfection. That, in short,
is Stanley Kubrick. Then how do you explain British road markings
in a film that is ostensibly shot in the US?
BLOOPERS
Hum Dil De
Chuke Sanam
Geography was never the strong
point of Hindi film directors. Even
the arty ones have Gujarati villagers
speaking in a Bihari dialect. But then
calling Hungary Italy is a bit too
much. Especially with Budapest’s
famous Szechenyi Chain Bridge
hanging in the background.
Harry Potter and
the Philosopher’s
Stone
Sure, magic played a big part in the
Harry Potter series. And we also
agree that with children, you never
know. They are up to all sorts of
pranks. But then director Chris
Columbus is not a child and he
should have raised a wagging
finger and stopped Potter from
jumping from one side of the table
to the other in the term feast
sequence.
■ In M’s apartment,
Bond pours himself a
single malt. The label
on the bottle faces
away from the
viewers. In the next
few minutes the label
is towards and then
away from
spectators.
Full Metal Jacket
BOLLYWOOD
17
centrespread
North by
Northwest
Even geniuses make mistakes. And
Alfred Hitchcock was no exception.
But like catching his fleeting
cameos, you’ll have to keep your
eyes peeled for this: out there in
the background, a child extra
plugs his ears in anticipation of a
gun shot, which happens a few
seconds later!
Krrish
Phir Hera Pheri
Khalnayak
Baazigar
This will take some
believing: Hrithik
Roshan has been living
abroad for a couple of
years and not visited
home. However, his
mother calls and tells
him that Preity Zinta,
his wife, is pregnant
with his child! Seriously!
Even a five-year-old will
blanch: the three protagonists have `40 lakh. And
with that money they have
not only bought a `50-lakh
bungalow but have also
managed to save `30 lakh!
Who cares for arithmetic?
Yes, Hindi films do mock
realism; they also mock the
viewer’s intelligence. But
Subhash Ghai takes this too
far — he has prison warden
Anupam Kher track an
escaped convict (Sanjay
Dutt) by using a Microsoft
Word document!
Considering that a Hindi
film’s plot is riddled with
implausibilities, this one has
a minor continuity problem.
Shah Rukh Khan pushes
Shilpa Shetty and she falls
on a car breaking the windshield. A few minutes later
when Khan leaves the scene,
the windshield is intact.