John Travolta has found a historical error in Quentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood. The actor is currently out promoting his latest project,Fanatic, and revealed the error during a recent Q&A screening event. Tarantino is partly responsible for getting Travolta’s career reignited in the mid 90s withPulp Fictionand he is a big fan of the director’s work. This led Travolta to theaters to seeOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood.
In addition to being a world-famous actor,John Travoltais also a registered pilot and a self-proclaimed “aviation nerd.” This extensive history of flight knowledge is how he noticed the historical error inOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood. Travolta had this to say about his discovery while watching the movie.
“Leonardo [DiCaprio, who plays Rick Dalton] is going home from Italy or wherever he was, and the narrator says that he took a 747. Well, the 747 had its test flight in February1969, but it went into service in January 1970. They’re nine months off! He would have been on a Boeing 707!”
After all of the researchQuentin Tarantinodid forOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, he might be kicking himself for not consulting with his old “aviation nerd” buddy. But, the historical error did not keep John Travolta from enjoying the movie. After all, it’s the director’s take on that time in history, which he plays with and does his own thing with. The movie also brought back a flood of memories for Travolta. He explains.
“I remember being there in the city when all of this was happening. I remember being scared because ofSharon Tate being killed. It triggered far more real memories than anything from filmingPulp Fiction. I was right there in the moment with everyone else and that’s what’s so great about Quentin as a filmmaker. Like withInglourious Basterds, he sort of repairs our history.'”
Once Upon a Time in Hollywoodis history filtered through the mind of Quentin Tarantino. If you’ve seen the movie, you know that historical accuracy wasn’t exactly what he was going for when crafting the story, though it has many factual elements based on reality from that particular era. As John Travolta notes, this is not the first time that the director has done something like this.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywoodis arguably one of Quentin Tarantino’s best works and he is getting a lot of attention for it. The movie was just nominated for five Golden Globe awards, including Best Director, which should end up in some Academy Award nominations too. For now, filmmakers should be on the lookout for their aviation mistakes and maybe consider calling Travolta to help out in that department. Travolta’s thoughts onOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodwere first reported byThe Wrap.
