Sherlock Holmes Movie Script Error

[iajaffe]

I was rewatching Sherlock Holmes, with RDJ, last night. There is a scene where they are trying to diffuse a bomb and Sherlock says "We need a container to direct the blast, my clay pipe should service that ambition" and then hands over a briar pipe. I know it is a small thing, but since they went through all of the effort to integrate pipes in to the move I would have hoped they would have caught this error.
Still hoping they make a third.

 

[mso489]

Boy, details like that can spoil a movie for an audience. When I was a kid, my relatives went to see the Mobey Dick movie starring Gregory Peck. I'd seen it and not spotted anything amiss, apparently caught up in the roiling sea story, but they spotted all kinds of errors and movie equipment caught in the scenes. Another friend who was an avid birder bemoaned the fact that when bird calls are used in movies they are usually inappropriate to the location -- highland birds in the desert, forest birds in the jungle, etc. Since Holmes is such a detail-gifted character, this is an pathetic mistake. Even people who've never smoked a pipe know a clay pipe from a "wooden" one. Just sloppy. If they noticed at all, they probably couldn't locate a clay pipe.

 

[sablebrush52]

Set costs run about $60,000 an hour. If the prop master delivers the wrong prop it's not always worth the cost of waiting while a replacement is found. Errors happen all the time and when seen in dailies the decision is made whether it merits the expense of a reshoot. We're aware of errors. They happen. The vast majority aren't noticed by the audience. Occasionally someone catches something and there are a few people who are more interested in the surroundings than the plot. When the audience is noticing goofs in the surroundings, anachronisms, etc, the film has bigger problems than the settings.

 

[warren]

I've never expected perfection in movies, flags pointing the wrong way on sailing ships, medals on tunics from the wrong era, the always funny never emptying "six shooter", the wrist watch on the extra in a period film, the empty glass suddenly full in a later shot, they all just add to the fun of a movie. They are ... after all produced by humans, a surprising number of humans. I'm in the theater for the players, the actors and actresses (not PC I know), not the scenery or props. If "sable" misses a brush stroke, not gonna happen, such will not impact on my enjoyment of the movie.

 

[mikethompson]

Haha nice catch, and surely one only a pipe smoker would notice.
One pet peeve of mine are movies set in the past in a specific year, and I see a newer model car drive by or parked in a scene. It used to drive my wife bonkers when I pointed it out.

 

[brian64]

the always funny never emptying "six shooter"

Which is why it's so refreshing when it's done correctly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daFb3J-cwLg

 

[jpmcwjr]

Maybe he said "My fay pipe...."
And I've yet to see a film with sailing vessels be they 19th, 20th or 21st C. Vintage without some fairly glaring error, and what warren mentions is but one. Limp sails but making 5 knots; backwinded sails, same; clear indication of propeller on ship before motors, moving too fast or too slow for wind conditions.

 

[mso489]

Civil War movies are always a challenge. Some of the war buffs go just to analyze the historical correctness and their expectations are excruciating.

 

[nitemair13]

I noticed the same thing, though I believe in the stories a clay pipe is mentioned the most out of them all with a briar being second. So I think they were trying to be accurate to the story in dialog but somebody didn't bother to research what a clay pipe actually looks like.
And the third movie has been confirmed, right now it holds the release fate of December 31st, 2020 I believe. But that is a common place holder date for upcoming media releases. If they have started filming then I would look for some time in 2019 for it to it theaters. RDJ is just wrapped up with the Avengers movies and all so who knows.

 

[pappymac]

I tend to pick apart tv shows and movies about the Coast Guard just to tell people it’s not really like that. I also know that in most cases the directors don’t care about absolute accuracy in the small details. On the other hand the movie The Guardian with Costner in it was very inaccurate in the way he died. His character was a Senior Chief Petty Officer. He would not be flying rescue missions.

 

[bnichols23]

Roger that, pappy. Many times I even get aggravated at myself for getting bent about errors/plot holes in WWII movies big enough to drive a deuce-&-a-half through. Sometimes it's just too hard for me to accept suspense of disbelief.

 

[aldecaker]

I don't remember that particular scene, but I do remember in the original canon Holmes' clay being described as "black" and "oily". Are you sure it was a briar and not a black clay?

 

[iajaffe]

Pretty sure. Here is a link to a picture in a scene close to the one I am talking about.Google image
I hear you all, and I accept dramatic license. I just think I would look at the pipe and say "Self, this isn't a clay pipe." Hollywood is not going to get everything right.

 

[sablebrush52]

At a cost of $60,000 an hour to shoot a film, little mistakes don't get fixed. Also, verisimilitude goes out the window if it isn't the most cinematic choice.

 

[jvnshr]

Every movie on IMDB has a 'Goofs' section and you can check lots of similar mistakes that have been found by the users:
Sherlock Holmes IMDB Goofs Page

 

[bnichols23]

Yup, Javan, I've created a few of those myself. If you want to see anal, take a look at some of the entries for "Top Gun" or some other modern war movies. Subject cognoscenti absolutely take the film to the woodshed for things you wouldn't even think were important. Not just one aircraft used for another (which of course has been done since aviation filmmaking began), but stuff like an aircraft's tail number being painted the wrong size or style.

 

[crashthegrey]

All of this griping and not one of you has added the clay pipe error to the IMDB page yet. Get to work. 8)

 

[bnichols23]

Sorry, we're busy with our gripes & complaints. Who's got time to be productive & still do that?! :twisted:

 

[nitemair13]

Sorry, we're busy with our gripes & complaints. Who's got time to be productive & still do that?!

What is this "productive" that you speak of?

 

[pappymac]

I want to say something about Hollywood’s regards for facts and accuracy but won’t because I’m afraid of starting a political feces storm.