PEARL HARBOR

This epic, romantic war drama starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale was directed by the indefatigable Michael Bay, a man known for his ‘shock and awe’ directing style. Although the film garnered quite a lot of negative reviews, it did very well in the box office, raking in $450 million worldwide. In any case, the film was released to the dismay of history buffs the world over, who were quick to point out its many historical and factual errors.

For more than one scene, women around the military base were shown to be wearing skirts, showing their bare legs. This would have been regarded as unacceptable during that time. The degree of this error was hilarious in the perspectives of the History buffs.

GLORY

This 1989 war film that’s loosely based on the heroic actions of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the American civil war was directed by Edward Zwick. It also starred such Hollywood luminaries such as Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick.

Well, actually, Broderick, of Ferris Bueller fame, can hardly be considered a Hollywood luminary. But that mistake aside, here’s another mistake that viewers saw to their chagrin: in one particular scene of the film, a slave child in the background—one absolutely recidivous extra—deigned to wear what seemed to be a modern digital watch. It’s like someone thought that a slave child wearing a watch wasn’t impossible enough, so they decidedly had him wear a digital one. This is too hilarious unless the audience can think of the child getting some loans to pay for the said watch.

GLADIATOR

This epic historical drama that was directed by Ridley Scott (of Blade Runner and Alien fame) starred Russel Crowe, Joaquin Pheonix and the lovely Connie Nielsen. It was, needless to say, set in ancient Rome, when Gladiators were a thing (and lawyers were not). So, we really don’t care how rich some of the characters must have been—within the fictional world of the movie, of course—because what we’re certain of is that nobody in ancient Rome was moneyed enough to own a pair of lycra shorts.

Apparently, however, Hispano-Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius (played by Crowe) did own a pair of lycra shorts. And viewers masochistic enough to have been glinting throughout the show would have found him wearing one under his armor for one scene.

SEABISCUIT

No, it’s not a film about sea-dwelling, flour-based, food products. It’s an equestrian sports film that was directed by Gary Ross. It also starred Peter Parker.. er, we mean, Toby Maguire. It’s a film about a famous racehorse champion that was insanely popular during the Great Depression. A racehorse rising to that level of popularity at a time when people were living in the most abject conditions actually makes the Great Depression sound even more depressing, but we digress.

Speaking of the Great Depression, one wardrobe mistake in the film were those helmets being worn by the jockeys—those style of helmets, with the chin strap, became available long after the great depression. The production team could have done better in making investment on thorough research.

AMADEUS

This biographical drama that was directed by Milos Foreman was about the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It received widespread critical acclaim. Hell, it was nominated for 50 awards, of which it won 40, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. So, you’re probably thinking, “well, what could have possibly gone wrong?” The answer, of course, is that the costume designer got something wrong. It won’t take anyone to have a degree in fashion to pinpoint this huge mistake.

More specifically, the dancers in the background wore frilly clothing that had zippers on them. Considering zippers weren’t invented until a hundred years after Mozart was well under 6 feet of terra firma, we’d say this was a pretty egregious mistake.

HELLO, DOLLY!

This 1964 Musical by Jerry Herman is said to be one of the most enduring musicals on broadway. It’s about Dolly Gallagher Levi, an eccentric matchmaker who goes to New York to find a match for “unmarried half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. It’s a film from 1964, so the tiny mistake we’re about to bring up would probably be excusable if it were not for the fact that it was one out of a dozen other mistakes and continuity errors. Apparently, the production team had not been careful to a certain degree.

In any case, in one scene, Irene’s full-length dress had its hem sweeping the pavement, getting dirtier by the minute as she walked to Harmonia Gardens; a few seconds later—actually, literally a moment later—it looks all cleaned up.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

This 2007 epic drama which was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson starred the consummate method actor Daniel Day Lewis. And, boy, all credit to Daniel Day Lewis here for giving such a magnificent portrayal of a 19th century miner-turned oil magnate. From the cinematography, direction and screenplay, there was much to love about this film—indeed, it’s a film one would readily find in lists that ranked the greatest films of the 21st century.

And while it’s difficult to find any fault in this film, the fact is that we are relentless nitpickers who love to nitpick, so we’ve managed to find one: for a few of the scenes, Daniel Day Lewis’s character wears boots with waffle soles, which had only been introduced in the seventies, more than 70 years after the film was set.

UNFORGIVEN

This 1992 western flick was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. And, yeah, he starred in it, too. It was about an aging outlaw who was hired by a prostitute to kill the cowboys who had disfigured her. Of course, he ends up killing not just the cowboys, but a whole lot of other people, too— including some lawyers. It had a moderately low-budget, but ended up making over $159 million at the box office.

Not to mention, it won more than a few awards, among which was an Oscar for Best Picture. Nevertheless, there was one glaring mistake. For all Gene Hackman’s thespianic prowess, his outfit was not, how shall we say, fit for the times. His pants had belt loops, after all, which hadn’t been introduced until the 1920s.

DJANGO UNCHAINED

This was another American western revisionist film—this time by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and the inimitable Christopher Waltz. It performed wonderfully at the box office, becoming Tarantino’s highest-grossing film to date. The film, as anyone who’s watched it will know, takes place in the old west, sometime during the mid 1800s.

Which is why quite a few nitpicking, wannabe history-buffs were aghast upon seeing Jamie Fox’s character sporting sunglasses, a contraption that hadn’t been invented until 1929. It wasn’t a slight oversight, either, as Foxx’s character wears it pretty much all throughout the movie! It was a great movie, but it could have been done better if there were more time investment spent on research.

BRAVEHEART

“Freeeedom!” Shouts William Wallace, the kilt-wearing, steely knight played by Mel Gibson, an actor who’s had more than a few scandalous and unfortunate entanglements with his ex-wife, her lawyers, and with the media, of late. In any case, Braveheart was an excellent film, winning a whole host of awards, among which was an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Despite all those accolades, this film is widely considered to be one of the most historically inaccurate films ever created. Indeed, the film is said to have gotten pretty much everything wrong. One thing it also got wrong were the kilts; the Scottish kilt Gibson can be seen wearing was introduced 300 years after the film was set.