Wall Street (1987)
Goofs
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Anachronisms (2) |
Boom mic visible (2) |
Character error (6) |
Continuity (15) |
Crew or equipment visible (4) |
Errors in geography (1) |
Factual errors (2) |
Miscellaneous (1) |
Incorrectly regarded as goofs (4) |
Plot holes (1) |
Spoilers (3)
Anachronisms
At the beginning of the movie, Bud Fox and Marvin say Gordon Gekko was shorting NASA stock right after the Challenger explosion. The scene is set in 1985, but the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded January 28, 1986.
Early in the movie when Bud wakes up in his apartment and turns on his computer he see's it is Gordon Gekko's birthday. The date on his computer shows that it is May 6 1985. Later that same day after his meeting with Gekko he is back at the office when Marvin offers to take him to a New York Knicks game that night. In 1985 the Knicks last regular season game was on April 13th, nearly a month earlier. The Knicks did not make the playoffs that year, therefore there would have been no Knicks game on the evening of May 6, 1985.
Boom mic visible
When Gekko gives a speech to Carl, the boom mic is reflected in the window of Bud's apartment.
When Bud Fox first talks to Roger Barnes in his office, right after Bud tells Roger that no one else can hear them, a boom mic is visible.
Character error
Only two .45 Lugers were made, not six as Gekko claims.
Gekko says his 3-year-old son "had the highest IQ score in his class." No known IQ test is given to 3-year-olds. Obviously, Gekko - as is his wont - is boasting about his son without any real basis for the boast.
Various characters make a hash of the description of the occurrence that gives Bud his entree to Gekko, that being the not-yet-public news about Bluestar that Bud passes on to Gekko and Gekko trades on. According to Bud's father it was a ruling by the FAA in the course of the investigation of an accident (Bud later calls it a crash). The FAA doesn't investigate airplane crashes: the NTSB does. It's an independent agency, not part of the FAA. Also, when he's talking to Gekko, Bud says it's a lawsuit, not an investigation, and refers to plaintiffs. Neither the FAA nor the NTSB makes rulings in lawsuits: judges do. Finally, both Bud and Gekko clearly imply that Gekko trading on the tip from Bud is wildly illegal. Under the Supreme Court's Dirks decision (1983), Gekko's trading would appear to be legal, as Bud's dad had no intention (or even a thought) of gaining some benefit by mentioning the ruling to Bud.
In his first meeting with Gekko, Bud says Bluestar has "80 medium body jets." Aircraft are either narrow body or wide body. Bud may be revealing his ignorance about aircraft, though he seems fairly well-informed about Bluestar and the airline business.
When Bud first enters the party at Gordon's house in the Hamptons, Gordon introduces him to the party guests, starting with Sam Ruspoli, Darien's boyfriend. Later, after talking with Darien, Kate Gekko again introduces Sam to Bud, by asking "if they have met." Sam replies "no", even though he met Bud less than 5 minutes earlier.
(at about 13 minutes in) 'mischievious' isn't a word, although it is a common mispronunciation of the word 'mischievous.'
Continuity
(at 43:27 and 1:48:14) In the two instances that Bud calls the Wall Street Chronicle to tip them off about the shares, although the occasions are days apart, the same people are sitting/standing/walking at exactly the same places with the same dresses (down to the wrinkles of the rolled sleeves of the manager), with the same set of pictures scattered on the table. Obviously, the two scenes were shot one right after the other.
When Gekko negotiates with Wildman upstairs at the beach house, the painting behind Gekko changes with reaction shots.
As Bud is leaving Gekko's office during their initial meeting, Bud's tie is perfectly straight and all the way up to his neck. When Bud reaches the other side of the door, his tie is crooked and half way down his chest.
In the Bluestar Airlines boardroom, the entire aircraft fleet to be sold is referred to as 737s. A previous scene in the Bluestar hangar, showed a DC-9 and a BAC 1-11.
When Bud Fox and Gordon Gekko are in the park talking after the Bluestar Airlines deal, Gekko's coat is first seen soaked in large areas by rain, then changes slightly less, then almost completely dry, then back to the original condition.
When Gordon Gekko walks away from Bud Fox in the dressing room, Bud says, "I am not just another broker..." When Gordon comes around the lockers he is wearing a suit with a pair of sneakers (full screen).
When Gordon and Darien are walking down the street talking about Bud, a photographer and people are behind them in one shot, and gone in the next shot.
Carl's glasses are back on after he takes them off.
Gekko's shoes change during the meeting with the union representatives.
When Gekko's 3-year old son Rudy tosses the raspberry at Gekko's lawyer, it flies downward onto the patio table. In the next shot it hits Gekko's lawyer in the face.
At Bud's apartment, when his father shakes Gekko's lawyer's hand as the lawyer is about to leave, the editing on the handshake has one complete handshake (extend, shake, pull back) on Carl's line then just the lawyer pulling his hand back from the handshake on his line. The lawyer appears to be pulling back twice from a single handshake.
The prostitute's hairstyle changes slightly between Bud's front door and the limo's interior.
When Gordon Gekko is sitting on the couch watching the financial news and the plummet of Blue Star, his son Rudy moves in front of the television in a toy car, from right to left. When the camera pans out to show the whole room, Rudy is off to the right of the television, with a water bottle in his hand.
First, the Marsala janitorial company is seen vacuuming during business hours at Roger Barnes' office, Buddy' college friend; then they are seen cleaning again late at night. Janitorial companies always work during the midnight shift so as not to interfere with office duties.
When Bud Fox gets back to his office after his first visit with Gecko his computer screen shows Teldar Paper (TLD) at 20 and 7/8, but the same screen also shows Terafly (TFY) at 113 and 7/8. Soon after this Bud Fox seems to buy this stock for Gecko around 13 which closed at 9 and ½ on the same day.
Crew or equipment visible
After Bud's initial meeting in Gekko's office, when Gekko asks, "You got a card?", the camera crew is reflected in the door behind Bud.
When Bud Fox first talks to Roger Barnes in his office, a lighting stand is reflected in the computer monitor on the desk.
When Lou Mannheim gives Bud the speech about money making you do things you don't want to do, the mic under Mannheim's tie is visible.
During the poolside meeting between Bud, Gekko, and Gekko's lawyer, when Bud puts on his sunglasses and replies "piece of cake", the lighting is reflected in his sunglasses.
Errors in geography
When Gekko is on his phone talking to Bud by his Hamptons beach house, he refers to the beauty of the sun coming up. The sun appears to be rising behind him, to the west. Beaches in the Hamptons face south, so the sun should be in front of him, off-camera.
Factual errors
Bud readily admits his guilt and remorse about using inside information, as evidenced by his tears in the office when they took him away, and his willingness to cooperate with the SEC, the police department and the postal inspector. Since it was his first offense, and he paid back the illegally obtained funds, he should have received probation, not jail time.
Marvin says Gordon Gekko was shorting NASA stock 30 seconds after the Challenger explosion. NASA is a government agency and not a publicly traded company with stocks to short.
Miscellaneous
In the VHS release, instead of the correct 1981-1994 20th Century Fox logo, the 1953-1981 logo is used.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
Marv tells Buddy about Gekko that "15 minutes after the Challenger blew up" that he was profiting off NASA's stock. While NASA is a government agency and thus has no stock to short, the notion that Gordon Gekko would do such a thing is clearly intended by Marvin as a joke. It is hyperbole on the theme that Gekko always thinks of a way to make a profit before anything else.
Not all Davidoff cigars were made in the Dominican Republic. Davidoff Cuban cigars were available from 1970 to 1992.
When Gekko drops Bud from the limo, the street is completely dry. A few blocks away it was pouring rain. It could be a microburst, which produces heavy rain in a small area.
When Wildman types on a computer keyboard, the screen is on; the glare makes it look like the screen is off.
Plot holes
When Sir Larry Wildman was at Gekko's home, it is clear that Sir Larry recognized Bud Fox from the encounter in the elevator the day before. Thus, Larry, being as intelligent as he was, should have made an immediate connection between Bud following him around as "one of my gang" belonging to Gordon Gekko, and should have investigated further the illegal obtaining of information by Buddy, thus cutting short his inside information gathering.
Spoilers
Continuity
The amount of water on Gekko's coat during the final confrontation with Fox in the park.
Factual errors
Bud is arrested for a federal offense. At the end of the film, he walks into the New York State Supreme Court, not the Federal Court next door.
The news is prohibited from revealing the actual names of those involved in "heavy trading," therefore, there is no way that Sir Larry could have known, exactly, that Gordon Gekko was involved in the purchase of large blocks of shares of Anacott Steel, nor could have Mr. Gekko known that Sir Larry was involved in buying large blocks of shares of Bluestar Airlines in retaliation later on. These would have violated many privacy laws protecting the rights of individual traders with the SEC and other parts of the constitution.