J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot re-energized the franchise, bringing the beloved world of The Original Series and iconic characters like Kirk and Spock to life for a new generation of fans. With dazzling visuals, a fresh cast, and a timeline twist that sent the USS Enterprise roaring back into pop culture, the film truly felt like what Gene Roddenbury’s vision for the show of the 1960’s could have looked like with today’s technology. The film brought its own take on the adventures of the USS Enterprise whilst paying tribute to the slightly kitschy sets and sense of fun and adventure of the original. But even with increased budget and better tech, it seems even the slickest warp drive can’t outrun a few production errors!
Whether it’s continuity slips, set inconsistencies, or background details that don’t match from shot to shot, Star Trek (2009) has its fair share of “wait, what?” moments. Some mistakes you might have noticed on your first watch, others have been quietly hiding in the frame until a sharp-eyed fan pointed them out. Either way, once you see them, they’re seared in to your minds eye forever. Here’s 7 mistakes in Star Trek you’ll never be able to unsee!
1) Which Ear?
After the Romulan Captain Nero learns that Spock has stolen a Romulan shuttle ship and destroyed the drill he was attempting to use to create a black hole in the center of the Earth (lovely guy…), something rather odd happens to his ears. In this scene, eagle eyed viewers might notice the pointy tip of Nero’s left ear is missing while the right ear is intact. But in every other scene in the movie, it’s the right ear that’s missing the tip.
No, Nero isn’t secretly a human officer in disguise attempting to infiltrate a Romulan ship (though that could make a great storyline for Star Trek 4) — it’s just a continuity error that sees the pointed ear flips sides for a moment. We’re not sure how the make-up and prosthetics department could have missed this important detail when dressing Eric Bana as the evil Romulan, but once you catch it, you’ll spend the rest of the movie subconsciously checking out Nero’s ears…
2) Missing Make-up
In early scenes of the movie, Zoe Saldana is rocking a dramatic winged-style eyeliner and heavy mascara look as Uhura, where the eyeliner clearly extends past the corners of her eyes and eyebrows. But during a scene in the turbolift with Spock (Zachary Qunito), the make-up seems to shrink and appear far less prominent in certain shots… only to reappear in full force moments later. Now, however competent the famous comms officer might be, we don’t think she’s quite capable of touching up her eyeliner that fast!
Given the serious nature of her conversation with Spock, who’s entire planet has just been destroyed, and how subtle the change, it’s one of those tiny continuity glitches that you can easily miss if you’re focused on the drama of the dialogue. Once you know it’s there, you can’t help but track her eyeliner like it’s a crucial part of the plot.
3) A Magically Mending Ship
At the beginning of the movie, when the USS Kelvin takes heavy fire from Nero’s Romulan ship, the saucer section of the ship gets pretty much entirely ripped apart — with huge hunks of debris being torn out and visible damage seen right at the front. Yet moments later, when the Romulan First Officer Ayel played by Clifton Collins Jr, appears on the viewscreen demanding Captain Robau come aboard the Romulan vessel, the view out the bridge windows shows a pristine saucer section with no damage at all.
Maybe the Kelvin has some insta-repair nanobots we were never told about, but more likely the bridge crews view of their own ship through the ‘front windscreen’ so to speak, must have been overlooked by the Star Trek production team. But hey, maybe engineerings just getting really quick with those repairs…
4) Wrong Hand
When fighting Romulan soldiers on top of a drill platform in their attempt to prevent said Romulans destroying Vulcan, Kirk very nearly falls off the platform to his doom before Sulu hauls him back up just in the nick of time. However, in one shot, Chris Pine is seen holding on for dear life to the platform with only his right hand, his left flailing behind him as he looks down. Cut to the next angle, and suddenly it’s reversed — left hand clinging on while his right hand reaches for John Cho (Sulu).
It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it flip around, but once noticed, it does somewhat dampen the credibility of the rescue. Either Kirk felt this would be an opportune moment to practise his pull-up abilities and switch hands mid-air in a fraction of a second, in which case the rescue surely wasn’t required, or this blunder can be put down to a mishap in continuity in between shooting different takes.
5) Flipping the Flag
During Kirk’s medal ceremony at the end of the film, there are three flags hanging behind the assembled Federation Council. The center one is clearly the California state flag — a fun little Easter egg for eagle-eyed viewers. But after Kirk shakes Pike’s hand and the camera pans up, the same flag is hanging differently, and looks almost entirely blank or plain white.
Since the ceremony is indoors and as far as we can see, everyone is standing perfectly still, a sudden gust of wind in the Federation Hall is unlikely to be to blame for the flag’s sudden transformation, more likely a set up of this scene failed to account for the way in which the flags were laying in different takes.
6) Wrong Warp Factor
When a young Chekov played by Anton Yelchin explains his ingenious plan to hide the USS Enterprise behind Saturn in order to sneak up on the Romulans, maintaining the element of surprise, he quite clearly says, “…if Mr. Scott can get us to warp 4…” etc etc, cue techno babble… Sounds like a plan right? — except the viewscreen in the background as he says the line clearly shows the ship is already moving at warp 4.31!
It’s admittedly a small detail, but you can’t help thinking the writers could have picked any other number to avoid the error and, in a franchise where details matter and warp speed specifics are part of the fun, it’s an easy target for die-hard fans who love to nitpick.
7) Get a Handle on the Harness!
When we see Kirk meet Dr Leonard (Bones) McCoy for the first time in the shuttle on the way up to the Enterprise, we were all probably more focused on the historic nature of the moment and our first introduction to Karl urban as the infamous Doctor of the Enterprise. But take a closer look at the safety harness strap over McCoy’s right shoulder. From Kirk’s angle, the strap is flat and neat. Cut back to McCoy, and suddenly it’s bunched up. Back to Kirk — flat again!
McCoy certainly never adjusts it, meaning it’s just one of those filming continuity jumps that happens when different takes get spliced together. Once spotted, the strap becomes the real star of the scene! Spot any other Kelvin timeline mistakes? Let us know in the comments!
Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond are streaming now on Paramount+.
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