The A-Team (2010)

Film Type:

Feature

Language:

English

Colour Info:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital, DTS

Frame Rate:

24 fps

Aspect Ratio:

2.35:1

Stereoscopy:

No

Taglines:

There Is No Plan B

Filming Locations:

Goofs:

Revealing Mistakes
When the team "borrows" a C-130 transport plane, an inertia starter sound as would be common on a radial piston engine is heard. The C-130 uses turbo-shaft engines to drive its propellers, and hence sound quite a lot like any other jet engine when starting, with the exception of prop noise once pitch is applied.

Revealing Mistakes
When the team frees Murdoch from the psychological clinic in Mannheim, Germany they drive to an airport (probably Coleman Army Airfield). There, the airport vehicle license plates start with FF. This is impossible since FF is used on license plates in the city of Frankfurt/Oder.

Revealing Mistakes
When Pike is hit by Hannibal in a Mercedes, he runs out to cut them off; on his way, he shoots through three glass panes. Notice the last pane as he shoots: the pane breaks after about 2 seconds of him opening fire and it is two panes right of the one he's shooting at.

Revealing Mistakes
During the shootout on the Docks, the gunmen are firing on the second BMW, but as it flips you can see that it has no drive shaft or gearbox.

Revealing Mistakes
During a conversation in Lynch's office, a German news broadcast with Chancellor Angela Merkel can be seen on a TV set in the background. The lower third reads "Sonstige allgemeine Nachricht" ("Other general news"), which is a very strange term that would never be used on German TV.

Revealing Mistakes
When B.A., Face, and Hannibal drive a Humvee through the German Prison wall, whole "cinder blocks" land in the laps of Murdock's fellow movie viewers without them even flinching.

Revealing Mistakes
The German woman at the lake calls her dynamite fishing husband "Schwindler", which is one possible literal translation of the subtitled "Cheater". A real German however would not call someone a "Schwindler" in this context, but rather use the verb "schummeln".

Revealing Mistakes
When Face leaves Sosa handcuffed in the photo booth, she attempts to unlock them. You can clearly see one of the shackles is not attached to anything.

Revealing Mistakes
In the montage near the end of the film, Murdock's name is misspelled "Murdoch" on one of the military forms.

Revealing Mistakes
In the scene when the tank is parachuting from the downed plane, Face climbs out and begins firing the gun at the drones. There are spent shells falling all around him. However, when 2 of the chutes are severed and the tank tips forward, none of the shells fall off, even though there is nothing holding them to the top of the tank.

Revealing Mistakes
When Face calls Charissa on her private phone, the phone ringing is Nokia E71, and she answers the call by sliding it. Nokia E71 is a "monoblock" phone, so it is not equipped by sliding mechanism.

Revealing Mistakes
When Hannibal shoots B.A. in the arm his gun does not eject a bullet casing.

Revealing Mistakes
When they capture the Arab there are some "very big" signs in the background at the construction site. One says "Für Fussgänger und Radfahrer gesperr" (Means "closed for pedestrians and cyclists". There are two spelling mistakes though, "gesperr" misses a "t" (gesperrt) and in it's "Fußgänger", not "Fussgänger". Furthermore Signs like the "Betreten der Baustelle verboten"-one ("construction site - no trespassing") in Germany they are not as big as they're displayed there.

Revealing Mistakes
All of the German car number plates starting F- for Frankfurt/Main were followed by numbers only. This sequence is reserved for official use only (ie. fire brigade). The correct sequence is F-letter (letter) numbers.

Factual Mistake
During a helicopter chase, a UH-1 Huey is rolled, looped, and subjected to fairly extreme aerobatic maneuvers including rolls and loops. While this is possible in specially configured helicopters that utilize semi-rigid multi-blade (generally 4+) rotor heads, the UH-1 is not equipped with anything like that and would saw its own tail off in any such attempt.

Factual Mistake
During the trial of Colonel Smith and his men, Smith asks, "Why hasn't Blackforest been brought to trial?" The General on the panel tells Smith that they are not subject to UCMJ action. However, Army civilians and private military contractors on the battlefield operating with the US military are subject to UCMJ and can be brought to military trial.

Factual Mistake
When putting the airbags on the truck, Face asks "Hey, boss, airbags do deploy on impact, right?" They only deploy on impact with sensors elsewhere on the vehicle, not with built in sensors.

Factual Mistake
When in Iraq, CIA officer Lynch and the Blackforest team are shown wearing body armor. In reality, what they are wearing are simply armor plate carriers, and offer no protection from any bullets or shrapnel.

Factual Mistake
When the team is re-arrested after they recover the plates, the Military Police officers are shown wearing the 4th Infantry Division crest on their left shoulders. The 4th ID crest is worn with one corner facing upwards like a diamond, not with one edge facing upwards like a square as shown in the film.

Factual Mistake
During the initial helicopter chase sequence, Murdock shuts down the turbine of his UH-1 in order to evade heat seeking missiles. While this would not be a practical evasion technique, it would also not "stop" the rotor blades as depicted in the film. The rotors would retain their inertia and continue to rotate. As well, a turbine shutdown at a very low altitude would require a forced auto-rotation landing, and would likely not be recoverable. Finally, the engine starter is on the collective handle, not on the overhead panels as depicted.

Factual Mistake
To replace a firing pin in a 1911 requires at the very least a punch and a retainer plate. It would have been impossible for Hannibal to simply drop the firing pin into his pistol and have it function, as there is a spring that provides constant rearward pressure and must be put under tension before the retaining plate can be slid into place.

Errors in Geography
At the end of the shootout in Frankfurt when Sosa corners Pike you see a construction billboard for the Fairmont Pacific Rim. Frankfurt is nowhere near the Pacific Rim but British Columbia, where the movie was filmed, is.

Errors in Geography
Scenes supposed to be in the Frankfurt banking district and its office building clearly reveal Vancouver Lookout (Harbour Centre) in the background. While trying to mimic German Mercedes police cars recently well, the bus at the end of that scene (when Pike is arrested) is also Canadian/North American, seems they couldn't find a Mercedes bus here.

Errors in Geography
During the shot in "Frankfurt," where one climbs down the skyscraper, you can see a building (tower) on the left which isn't located in Frankfurt. Also the bird's-eye view of the street shows several yellow cabs, but Frankfurt has no yellow taxis.

Errors in Geography
When the story moves to Iraq by way of an introduction an aerial view of Baghdad is briefly shown. The aerial view here is of Sana'a, Yemen.

Errors in Geography
After the mission briefing of Hannibal Smith in Frankfurt, Frankfurt Central Station is shown. It is not Frankfurt Central Station but Cologne Central Station. On the left the famous Cologne Cathedral is shown. (The Central Station of Frankfurt is a dead-end station with five concourses, located south of the bank quarter.)

Errors in Geography
The aerial shot labeled "Frankfurt" does not show Frankfurt, but Cologne. Major landmarks like the cathedral and the Hohenzollernbridge are clearly visible.

Errors in Geography
Pike is arrested in Frankfurt and interrogated in a building identified as the Embassy of the United States which is actually located in Berlin. The Consulate General of the United States is located in Frankfurt though.

Errors in Geography
The German police cars' sirens in the movie sound nothing like the regular sirens used by German police.

Errors in Geography
There are no mountains near Frankfurt, Germany.

Continuity
After Face and Smith were out of prison and talking at a seaside (actually Iona Island, BC), mid-way in the conversation, migratory Snow Geese suddenly appeared on the beach. In reality, they do come and go quickly. For those who don't live in this area, it might appear as a discontinuity.

Continuity
As the Team is driving away from the theft of the plates Pike empties his SIG P-226 and then begins to reload. When Sosa and the German police arrive the slide of the pistol is in battery indicating he has finished reloading. In the next scene the slide is locked backed indicating the weapon is empty awaiting it's next magazine.

Continuity
When Face is in the stack of tires at the start of the film he is presumably naked, but when Hannibal rolls him down the hill he is seen wearing clothes. Then, when he is stopped by the van he is naked again.

Continuity
When escaping in Germany, the Hummer's left rear tire is shot out, but after they smash through the airport guard shack, the right rear tire is blown out and the left rear is fine.

Continuity
When Sosa is talking to Face at the kiddie pool, Murdock is right behind them barbecuing. One second later in the next scene cutting to B.A. working on his motorcycle, Murdock pops up behind the motorcycle with his Percy hand puppet. In the next scene one second later, Murdock is still behind Face and Sosa barbecuing.

Continuity
After the cop tries and fails to shoot Hannibal in the head he chucks the gun into the pile of boxes to his right. However, when Hannibal manages to uncuff himself the gun is on the floor to his side.

Continuity
In the mental hospital scene after Howard Little receives the package from "Annabel Smith" Murdock is giving him the 3D glasses to distribute amongst the patients. Howard isn't wearing 3D glasses in one camera angle, wearing them in the next shot, and not wearing them again in the following shot.

Continuity
When Hannibal is talking to Face in the shack by the lake, he has an earpiece in his right ear. When the camera comes back to him, it's gone.

Continuity
When Face is trapped in the tires, his robe keeps changing positions. It's on his shoulders at first but when the camera angle changes, it falls off. When the camera shows his face again, the robe is back in place.

Continuity
During the helicopter scene where B.A. falls out, the doors are closed until he actually falls out.

Continuity
While escaping in the C-130, the major in the flight center says that the team is stealing U.S. Army property. The crew kicked off the plane were wearing Air Force uniforms. The wings of the plane clearly say Marines.

Crew/Equipment Visible
When Lt. Sosa and Face are talking about their relationship around the kiddie pool, the crew are visible in her sunglasses.

Crew/Equipment Visible
When the arrest is made in Germany, a wired crew member is visible when the car stops and Sosa steps out.

Character Error
Central to the plot, the engraving plates, the billion dollars and a machine called "the mint". A "mint" is a facility, not a printing press, where the government produces coinage and only coinage. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces all of the paper money.

Character Error
Jessica Biel's Captain Sosa, is standing at Parade Rest with her hand behind her back as she is being reprimanded by a Brigadier General. At the end of the reprimand when she is demoted in rank she salutes the General (while still at Parade Rest) with one hand behind her back. Proper military standards require her to snap to attention (with her hand at her side and her feet together) before she can salute (aka Present Arms.)

Audio/Video Mismatch
During the chase scene with Tuco, when Murdock barrel rolls the helicopter, he yells, "I have never tried this before!" but when the camera returns to his face, you can see he is either talking in a normal tone, or is saying something completely different.

Audio/Video Mismatch
At the airport check in desk, when Murdock and BA have the wrong passports the guard checking Murdock's passport can be heard on his radio saying there is a problem at Station 6. However, when we see the desk from the front, it has the number 4 on it.

Trivia:

B.A. Baracus bears the tattoos "Pity" and "Fool" on his knuckles, as a tribute to Mr. T's catchphrase from Rocky III (1982): "I pity the fool!". Contrary to popular myth, B.A. Baracus never uttered that exact phrase on "The A-Team".

Bradley Cooper became so efficient in weapons training that he was able to reload his M4 rifle in less than 4 seconds. This was actually in the film but was left on the cutting room floor.

Sharlto Copley's mom banned him from watching the TV show, even though he watched it at friend's houses, due to its violent nature. The first thing he did when he got the role of Murdock was phone his mom and told her "that I was just getting her back for not letting me watch the series when I was a kid."

A sequel was planned but Bradley Cooper and Joe Carnahan confirmed that it was canceled because of this film's disappointing box-office returns.

Sharlto Copley apparently used to hide a tape recorder behind the TV in the TV room and record the show. He would listen to it when his parents thought he was asleep.

The opening credit sequence runs 20 minutes and takes up the entire first reel on 35mm prints. Appropriately, the reel ends with the film's title.

Baracus was a Sergeant in The A-Team (1983), and in this film he is a former (dishonourably discharged) Corporal at the beginning of the movie, after the "eight years and eighty successful missions later" part he is a Sergeant as evidenced by the stripes on his uniform during the trial scene. Hannibal, Face and Murdock retain their original rank of Colonel, Lieutenant and Captain.

On the three occasions that subtitles appear in the film (the Mexicans; the German couple; Face screaming in German), they are in different fonts.

The phrase "A-Team" is heard only once in the film, used by the judges at the military court. It's used in its technical format, referring to the United States Army Special Forces unit (Operational Detachment Alpha, "A").

When Hannibal jumps out of the van to rescue Face in Mexico, he is carrying a Ruger Mini-14/F30GB semi-automatic rifle, which was carried by the A-Team in the original series.

Murdock (Sharlto Copley) pretends to be a cameraman for the South African Broadcasting Corporation while getting items for a mission. Copley is a native of South Africa.

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson was originally scheduled to face his heated rival Rashad Evans at a December UFC event. Jackson's decision to act in The A-Team movie led to a war of words between himself and Dana White, president of UFC. Due to the conflict, On September 22, 2009, Jackson wrote on his website that he is "done fighting", and would officially retire from the sport. However, now that filming is complete, Jackson and Evans fought on May 29, 2010. Evans won via unanimous decision over Jackson.

Hannibal Smith is famous for smoking cigars. Liam Neeson, who plays Hannibal, is an ex-smoker.

Dirk Benedict stated in interviews that he regretted making a cameo in the film. He refused to watch it.

Woody Harrelson and Ryan Reynolds were considered for the role of Murdock.

When Face sees Lt. Sosa for the first time in the movie, he asks her "Did you take my Steely Dan CD?". Later, when Face calls Sosa's cell, her ringtone is "Reelin' In The Years" by Steely Dan.

The red cloth "flash" on the A-Team's green berets indicate that they are part of the 7th Special Forces Group. Although the 7th SFG usually specializes in operations in Central and South America, they have been frequently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Face (Bradley Cooper) wears a Philadelphia Phillies T-shirt twice throughout the film: he is seen in a 1980s blue/burgundy shirt in the beginning, and later when they are planning the big fight at the end he wears a Clearwater Phillies shirt (the Phillies are a Major League Baseball team). Cooper is a native of Philadelphia.

In the scene where the AC130 gunship fires at the boathouse, Lynch says that the footage seen of the explosion on the screen looks just like Call of Duty. In Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, there is actually a AC130 gunship mission that takes place on the screen of the gun operator, strongly resembling the shot seen in this scene.

Early in the movie, while at the Baghdad HQ, Hannibal refers to Pike as a "cartoon character." The bulk of the work done by Brian Bloom, the actor who plays Pike, is voice-over work for video game and animated characters.

When Murdock is in the hospital in Germany, he receives a package from Hannibal addressed as 'Annabel Smith'. While this alias was never used in the original series, Hannibal being referred to as 'Annabel' was used in an A-Team novel. In the 1980s, writer Charles Heath novelized several episodes and did an original story for the 6th book, "Operation Desert Sun: The Untold Story" set in 1972 after the A-Team returned to Los Angeles. In the book, the Team didn't know Murdock was at the V.A. hospital until he sent Face a postcard asking how 'Aunt Annabel and Uncle Baracus' were.

This is the third time that Henry Czerny has played a director/commander in a government service. First was as Robert Ritter, Deputy Director of Operations of the CIA in Clear and Present Danger (1994). Second, he was Eugene Kittridge, director of the fictional Impossible Missions Force branch of the CIA in Mission: Impossible (1996). Then in A-Team(2010) as the commander of CID or USACIDC, US Army Criminal Investigation Command.

The ship at the end of the movie is called "Die Vergeltung", which is German for "the retaliation".

The name tag of one of the judges that sentence's the team reads "Carnahan" a reference to the film's director Joe Carnahan.

Bruce Willis was considered for the role of Hannibal Smith.

John Singleton was the first director on board but left the film when the film went into turnaround by the studio.

Common, Ice Cube and Game were all rumored for the role of BA Baracus.

Medical equipment used in the movie: the scene where the car is being "jump-started" used a PhysioControl LifePak 7 defibrillator, and where the German doctor Dwight Schultz "zapped" Murdock, the device was a real Mecta SR1 ECT, or Electro-Convulsive Therapy, machine that is really used to induce a very mild seizure under controlled conditions.

The gunship that takes the A-Team under fire in their hideout at the lake is a "Lockheed AC-130 Spectre", a modified version of the C-130 cargo plane. It usually carries a medium caliber Gatling and various larger ordnance. The same aircraft is also used in Transformers (2007).

When John Singleton would direct the film, he says he was originally attached Mel Gibson as Hannibal, Christian Bale as Face, Jim Carrey as Murdock and Dwayne Johnson as Baracus.

Director McCready bears a distinct resemblance to General Hunt Stockwell, who appeared in the last season of The A-Team (1983) to assign the Team missions in return for issuing pardons (he kept delaying the pardons however, and the Team finally lost patience and went back on the run again).

In the movie, there are two characters named Lynch and Pike. In the original series, William Lucking played Col. Lynch, he also played a character named Harland Pike in the short-lived '80s TV series Outlaws (1986).

Joe Carnahan's first PG-13 film.

When Murdoch is in the hospital watching the 3D Movie a credit is given to Reginald Barkley. Dwight Shultz who originally played Murdoch played the character Reginald Barkley in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

George Clooney and Tommy Lee Jones were considered for the part of Hannibal before Liam Neeson was cast.

When Lynch directs the UAV to destroy the Boathouse. He says that the explosion on screen looks exactly like Call of Duty. Brian Bloom is a renowned voice-actor for games and has also served as a voice-actor on almost every Call of Duty game.