Factual error: The group of Japanese soldiers who came to Cabanatuan following the guards desertion were not "secret police" with orders to execute the POWs as shown in the film. They were simply units who happened to temporarily halt at the camp during their retreat from the advancing Americans.
Factual error: The registration plate of the white Jaguar refers to a year 2003 registration. This is impossible as this particular model Jaguar ceased production a long time ago, and could never have that plate.
Factual error: At what is supposed to be the Portland, Oregon station, the train cars and conductor's hat are prominently labeled for a Canadian railroad. Passenger trains from Canada do not travel as far south as Portland.
Factual error: After crashing headfirst into the water, the airplane is not damaged "correctly" at the end of the movie. The front shows little damage, when it should be crushed and the back has come apart, despite taking the least amount of impact from the hit.
Factual error: When Cal and Dave are playing videogames and coming up with different ways to tell whether or not they're each gay, Cal is using a Nintendo 64 controller. The version of Mortal Kombat that they're playing could only be for Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube, or Xbox.
Factual error: In the final scene with the New York skyline in the background, the new glass/stainless steel Manhattan complex at 731 Lexington Avenue is seen; this building is just being finished now in early '06. The building stands where Alexander's dept store once was. (On a related note, it is a nice touch on Spielberg's part to overlay the Twin Towers onto the skyline in that same scene.)
Factual error: The timeline for this film is incorrect. The flight Lisa takes is a red eye from Dallas to Miami. Non-stop flights between those cities takes 2 1/2 hours. Even with the west to east time change, this isn't long enough for a red eye. Shortly after take off, the clock in her father's house reads about 11:15pm. The plane lands after sunrise in Miami.
Factual error: When Dahlia is on her cell phone with her lawyer, she goes down into an underground subway and is still talking to him. Her call should have been cut short, because cell phones in NYC don't work in underground subways.
Factual error: As the film itself notes, the major action starts in spring 1818 and continues for several weeks if not months. However, many of the trees remain leafless and the weather is nothing like the norm in spring and summertime Tennessee.
Factual error: When Jeff Tally gets the first call from the little boy Tony, he checks both his cells. The blue Nokia is ringing however there isn't an incoming call on his phone, you see that as he has the two options, either "clear" and "options", meaning that the seven numbers have been typed in. (00:45:00)
Factual error: When Dick robs the store, a sign on the cash register reads "You must be born after this date in 1983 to buy beer." Since the legal drinking age is 21, that would mean the movie is set in 2004. However, the film states that the year is 2000.
Factual error: The French Cuirassiers are all carrying lances. Cuirassiers did not carry lances - their primary weapon was the sword.
Factual error: Throughout the movie, the television sets at ABC are airing historically relevant news broadcasts. However, the events are always shown on the same day as key episodes of Dynasty, but completely divorced from the real date of their occurrence. For example, President George Bush is alleged to have been sworn in on the day the finale aired, May 10, 1989, when it really happened in January of that year.
Factual error: Matt marches on the field with the triangle, however the triangle is part of the pit, and therefore wouldn't have been part of the field show.
Factual error: Throughout the movie, as the train speeds through the starry night, the constellation Orion is recognizable (presumably rising) on the horizon. Oddly, Orion never rises any higher as the night progresses. Also, at the latitude of the southern U.S., the constellation would not rise (or set) vertically as shown but would be tipped at a considerable angle.
Factual error: After Nick Naylor visits "The Captain" in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he is being driven to the airport to fly back to Washington. In one shot, mountains are visible in the background. However, they are brown and barren, like mountains in Southern California, which is probably where that scene was shot. How come many movie and television directors don't seem to understand that mountains in the Eastern U.S. look different from mountains in the West?
Factual error: On Day 3, look at The Embrey Star newspaper when it zooms into the headline. Above the headline is the newspaper's web address, hardly appropriate given the paper is from 1980.
Factual error: This movie takes place in 1850, but the "Confederate States" and "Confederate army" are mentioned. There was tension between "free" and "slave" states in 1850, but the American civil war was 11 years in the future.
Factual error: According to netstate.com the average monthly high in the state of Louisiana is 93.3 degrees F (34.05 degrees C) with summer months often exceeding 100 degrees F (37.77 degrees C), making it impossible for a functional multi-story wax structure to remain functional for any extended period of time, regardless of wax content.
Factual error: In the first scene at the Pentagon, the sergeant tells the other officer that all satellites are being put into geosynchronous orbit to "hide them behind the planet." But objects in geosynchronous orbit don't remain hidden behind the Earth relative to the sun; they orbit once a day, remaining over a particular longitude on earth. Therefore, they would be subjected to the magnetic storms every day, during daylight at that longitude.