Historical innacuracies that get up your nose.

[PaulTRose]

And what about the helicopter in where eagles dare ?????lol

lol...the bell 47 was an american helo that didnt come out til '46..........certainly wasnt a Fa223 or a Flettner which is what the germans actually managed to get in to the skies

[Guest]

Adidas is a German company Steve Allyne, yes that still grates me too. They were the subject of the PR film of the same name and selected to do a tour of the US after completion of their 25. None of the damage or injuries portrayed in the movie happened to the aircraft on its final mission. You only have to watch the original propaganda film to see that.

They are!? Oh well, it still doesn't change how awful the movie is.

[Guest]

Always an interesting subject to discus. Sometimes maybe accepting a degree of poetic license can assist with the enjoyment of the film though. How about Steve McQueen jumping the barbed wire in "The Great Escape" on a Triumph? Does that detract from the film? I can put up with it because I am well aware that a Zundap or a BMW would never have even got off the ground!!

I think when it gets so blatant though and the film makers seem to think they have the right to change history to suit their preferences that we all get hacked off with it. However it does beg the question, if no-one paid to see these films and they bombed at the box office would the film makers have to rethink their attitudes?

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

My main gripe with guns in films is the amount of lead they spray before reloading, the way cars blow up when shot, impossible long shots with hand held firearms,,, you get my drift.

Adrian

[Guest]

The problem is History is written by people. As Winston S Churchill expounded "History will be kind to me as I intend to write it".

The problem is you read one book, as I have recently, Len Deighton "Blood Sweat & Tears ". Now I am reading "Al_Alemein revisited. I recognise in each almost word for word some of the detail. But were did that come from lifted probably from another history of the WW11. So a mistake or a spot of speculation soon becomes absolute to be carried thro by the next writer on that part of history.

Having been through that war as a child and children just lap all knowledge up into huge bundles, there fore ever, I am amazed to read some of the rubbish about what it was like in England at that time. Written by people who where not born until well after the event.

Films also, as has been illustrated above, perpetuate the inaccuracies. The film the "Battle of the River Plate" is littered with inaccuracies. Even the title is incorrect as the battle took place miles away.

My pet hate. Historians. These precious comments as though they were there. The would have done this. They would have been doing this at the time. They would have thought ---- Mostly speculation.

Laurie

[Guest]

My pet inaccuracy hate is different. When people who should know better report like "This powerstation has an output of 2 GW per year". Its like saying "This car has a power of 40 HP per day". This means that it has a power output of 280 HP per week! Or "This motor has a power of 120 KW per minute/day/week. Grrrr!

[flyjoe180]

To be fair Laurie, 'River Plate' refers to the large estuary down which Graf Spee escaped and was subsequently scuttled. The estuary lends its name to the Battle. Much in the same way as the First World War Battle of the Falkands did not take place within the islands but to the east and north east of the island group.

[Alan 45]

The problem is History is written by people. As Winston S Churchill expounded "History will be kind to me as I intend to write it".The problem is you read one book, as I have recently, Len Deighton "Blood Sweat & Tears ". Now I am reading "Al_Alemein revisited. I recognise in each almost word for word some of the detail. But were did that come from lifted probably from another history of the WW11. So a mistake or a spot of speculation soon becomes absolute to be carried thro by the next writer on that part of history.

Having been through that war as a child and children just lap all knowledge up into huge bundles, there fore ever, I am amazed to read some of the rubbish about what it was like in England at that time. Written by people who where not born until well after the event.

Films also, as has been illustrated above, perpetuate the inaccuracies. The film the "Battle of the River Plate" is littered with inaccuracies. Even the title is incorrect as the battle took place miles away.

My pet hate. Historians. These precious comments as though they were there. The would have done this. They would have been doing this at the time. They would have thought ---- Mostly speculation.

Laurie

That's the problem with history Laurie historians always talk in absolutes, they don't use the words could have or in theory, factual events they can be true to but the specific they can't.

[eddiesolo]

One of my favourite films is The Cruel Sea, have a very old copy of the book and love reading that, very, very gritty for the day. Although you get that British 'stiff-upper-lip' theme the haunting humanity shines through. Of course another is Ice Cold In Alex, wonderful film and of course the star 'Katy' the Austin KY2 ambulance holds a special place for me as my Grandfather was a Medic in Africa and drove one of those. Although there are errors in this film, the Germans are using American M3 half-tracks, there are post war Landies in the background at the end of the film.

Si

[Guest]

American Sherman's as panzers in most 60's and 70's war movies half tracks as well does my Swede in.

The whole dog fight between the battle ships in pearl harbour if I am correct not sure the Americans got any planes in the air during the attack oh and the line " hey guys I think world war two just started makes me want to do violent things to my tv.

Paul

[Dave W]

I watched 'The Hunt for Red October' just before Xmas.I found it quite an enjoyable film up to the point where another Russian sub that has been ordered to destroy Sean Connery and his Sub fires a torpedo.We then have an agonising (!) wait till Sean orders a last second manoeuvre and of course the torpedo misses.This ain't no ordinary torpedo though.Some American sub commander whose managed to leave his boat and board Sean's (all under water!) then orders a series of manoeuvres that guides this torpedo back towards the Russian that fired it in the first place and blows them up!.At that point I turned it off.Now I was in the RAF,not the Navy.But I'm pretty sure submarines are not capable of the sort of under water aerobatics needed to carry out the manoeuvres seen in that film!.And that torpedo must have had a large fuel tank strapped to it to run for so long.

[Guest]

Have you guys seen the Airfix Battle of Britain Airfield set? It has a bomber bowser which was commissioned after the BoB together with a Spitfire??????????? How does that make any sense?

[BarryW]

I watched 'The Hunt for Red October' just before Xmas.I found it quite an enjoyable film up to the point where another Russian sub that has been ordered to destroy Sean Connery and his Sub fires a torpedo.We then have an agonising (!) wait till Sean orders a last second manoeuvre and of course the torpedo misses.This ain't no ordinary torpedo though.Some American sub commander whose managed to leave his boat and board Sean's (all under water!) then orders a series of manoeuvres that guides this torpedo back towards the Russian that fired it in the first place and blows them up!.At that point I turned it off.Now I was in the RAF,not the Navy.But I'm pretty sure submarines are not capable of the sort of under water aerobatics needed to carry out the manoeuvres seen in that film!.And that torpedo must have had a large fuel tank strapped to it to run for so long.

The book is far better than the film and, unlike the film the Royal Navy play a large part in the story. I enjoyed the film though. Tom Clancy, the writer, died a few months ago, a sad loss and an end to a great series of books of which I am currently reading the last one in the series, Command Authority.

Over to the thread - yes I get a bit peed off with inaccuracies but we must remember they are just entertainment and some leeway should be allowed the film-makers. What I cannot forgive is the Americans taking the credit for what the Brits did. I don't care if its Errol Flynn the Yanks were not in Burma at that time - and so on.....

[Guest]

Yes you are right Barry the book is a real cracker. Nice thing about books is that you live as the characters they stimulate the imagination. A film has little chance of doing that except in rare instances. Scot of the Antarctic did that in many places very brooding type film.

Cruel Sea Si as a great book to read. May be fiction but Nicholas Monserratt served in the Royal Navy on Convoy duty and ended in charge of a Frigate so fiction it may be but drawn in fact from his experiences. His description of the mighty seas which seemed to me to be more of a menace in these tiny boats Corvets & Frigates, has you living through it.

Laurie

[dave]

I can live with the inaccuracies in films, with the wrong vehicles used etc.. But what really gets my goat is when they get it wrong in the news. Where they say the army put tanks in the streets and proceed to show video of APCs, or a naval destroyer seized a vessel and it was a fishery protection vessel.