Cinema is a master in the art of dumplings. Most cult films have filming errors, script inconsistencies, costume errors and many other blunders that could have been avoided. Today, it’s films that suck in geography that go down the drain, those that are capable of making us believe that Taiwan is in Africa, that Lille is south of Marseilles and that there are skyscrapers Maubeuge. In short, champions of the world map.
1. In the First Contact poster, we mixed Shanghai and Hong Kong
Table of Contents
First contact is undoubtedly one of the best sci-fi movies of the 2010s, but even the best ones can go wrong. The proof with the film poster on which we can see the Pearl of the Orient, a large tower in Shanghai, in the middle of Hong Kong. And when you take two seconds to look at a map of the region, you realize that Shanghai and Hong Kong are located about 1000km apart. It makes a trot. Suffice to say that it did not at all please the Hong Kongers who are, as it were, at odds with China. Since then, the poster has been modified, but the dumpling was too good not to mention it.
2. You can see llamas in Troy when there were no llamas in Troy
The film Troy takes place, as its name suggests, in Asia Minor, at the level of present-day Turkey. That didn’t stop the producers from putting two llamas on us in a market scene, when there were no llamas in that region of the world at that time. You can see them at the bottom left in the screenshot just below. It’s funny, but it’s mostly very stupid.
3. Goldeneye has a little trouble with Russian geography
We all adored this cult James Bond, but we must admit that he is full of flaws, starting with his lack of respect for geography. In the film, we can see, map in support, that the city of Severnaya is located as being roughly in the center of Russia when it is actually an archipelago located in the north of the country. For a few kilometers we might not have flinched, but that’s quite a trek.
4. In the Arnacoeur, Romain Duris hits a Nice-Monaco while running in 5 minutes
Remember, towards the end of this otherwise nice film, the character of Alex played by Duris leaves the airport running to go to Monaco, and his race does not seem long at all. However, in reality, there is no airport right next to Monaco, the nearest being in Nice 22km away. It would have shown if the guy had run a half marathon. And ok, Vanessa Paradis is also running a little bit the other way to find him, but she’s in a wedding dress and wearing heels, so you won’t make me believe that she’s halfway there. like that. No, really, we were a little fucked up. But hey, it’s for the beauty of love…
5. X-Men: The Beginning doesn’t care about Argentina
The film X-Men: The Beginning makes us travel a lot and takes us, at one point, to Villa Gesell in Argentina, where we can admire beautiful mountains. Very good. Except that the real Villa Gesell in Argentina is located on the coast and there is not the shadow of a mountain. It’s all flat, like there’s no flatter place. Make a damn goodnight effort.
6. Jurassic Park is completely West with Costa Rica
In a scene so famous it became a meme, the characters of Jurassic Park, which are believed to be in San José, Costa Rica, are posed on a beach with the sea in the background. However, as you probably already knew, the capital of Costa Rica is not located by the sea at all. But as the character played by Wayne Knight says so well: “Nobody Cares”.
7. For Mission: Impossible II, Seville and Valencia it’s the same thing
The worst of Impossible mission has a big mistake about Spanish geography. The film places one of his scenes in Seville during a celebration where statues are burned. This festival really exists, and it is called “Fallas de Valencia” because it takes place in… Valencia. It’s a bit like doing the carnival from Dunkirk to Lyon.
8. In Gladiator, Maximus rides 2400km in two days on horseback
Gladiator is a masterpiece and no one in their right mind will tell us otherwise, but the film slightly makes fun of us on one point: when Maximus mounts a horse to go home at full speed, it only takes two days to to go from Vindobona, in present-day Austria, to Trujillo, in western Spain. So yes, his horse dies of exhaustion at the end of the trip, but in reality the nag would have died long before, since about 2400km separate these two places. 2400 terminals, it’s 3 days of car on a highway, and, at the time, there were not masses of highways. No, there is a mistake here.
9. James Bond crashes geo again in Die Another Day
This time, they want us to believe that good old James is having a little surf session in a sea near the border between South Korea and North Korea. The most geographically savvy among you know that there are never any waves in these waters. Even less waves 12 meters high like in the film. Did they take us for amateurs or what?
10. The title of the film “Krakatoa in East Java” is a mistake
Quite simply because the Krakatoa volcano is actually located in the WEST of the island of Java. The guys got the title wrong. We are dealing here with champions of geography.
