Plot hole: It makes absolutely no sense that there would be over a dozen cops and soldiers in the lobby of the courthouse and leave only two cops to guard Lecter regardless that he was locked in the makeshift cell. Yes the plot needs a reason for him to easily escape but this still goes against every conceivable protocol for such a dangerous prisoner especially when there were dozens of armed personnel just in the scene alone when he was being transferred from the plane.
Deliberate mistake: The number of acts Lecter performed during his escape from the individual jail cell and until he was attended to by an officer (who thought he was an injured officer) would have taken a lot of time and effort to complete - way more time than he could have gone undetected by one of the many officers in the building. Slashing/ bludgeoning to death a person can be done fairly quickly (munching on a victim's face adds time!), but three particular acts required a substantial amount of time, especially for an elderly man whose ultimate goal was escape: Swapping clothes (undressing and dressing) with a police officer and trimming off his face/scalp to appear to be that officer, then getting to a strategic location to be discovered; Setting a dead officer on the roof of the elevator; and, somehow hanging / impaling (crucifixion-style) an officer from the top of the jail cell (which appeared to be around 10' high). The latter feat would be challenging for TWO physically-fit officers.
Continuity mistake: In the beginning when Starling is talking to Crawford he is sitting forward when he's talking about Lecter's cell. The very next scene when he gives Starling her ID he's leaning back with his leg folded. (00:07:30)
Revealing mistake: During Lecter's escape, the SWAT team arrives and jumps out of the police car at the courthouse with their Ithaca 37 shotguns. All of them are shown chambering their rounds except the the officer on the right, who pulls back again on the fore stock and asks "ready?" That should've ejected a shell and left the gun unloaded. (01:21:40)
Other mistake: Exterior views of Buffalo Bill's house showed the house was not very big and his yard space was limited. The amount of rooms, their sizes, and hall space purportedly in the basement were too excessive to believably be under that house. (00:49:20)
Character mistake: Dissecting the chrysalis, Dr. Roden says that "Somebody grew this guy. Fed him honey and nightshade." Nightshade is indeed one of the typical plants eaten by the Death's head moth, but since "he" is only a pupa, would have not eaten honey, which is something only the adult specimen eats. (00:48:50)
Suggested correction: I don't see this so much as a mistake, but rather a shortcut so there would be no need to explain the entire metamorphosis process. Feeding "it" would refer to the larva stage, necessary to reach (grow to) the pupa stage. "It" may have transformed, but "it" is still the same "it." The men working there are experts and would know what he means, not interrupt and say, "Pupae don't eat, dumb @$$." Likewise, having to specifically say that someone fed the larva "honey and Nightshade" so that it would become that pupa doesn't seem to be necessary given the nature of the film. [And the larva - not just "adults" - might eat honey.].
Sorry, I don't really understand the point of the first part (like, 90%) of the correction; at no point I was disputing the concept of 'feeding a pupa', but just what it could have eaten to be raised to that stage. The only relevant part of your correction is that last phrase; "And the larva might eat honey." Which is not how it works from what I understand. If you want to correct this entry, please dispute that aspect; I never bred bugs (...on purpose!) and surely not of that kind, but the larvae of that species are strictly herbivores, and the honey plays into their diet only later in life - to the best of my knowledge they can't even process it at that stage. Assuming it can (which I have no particular reason to believe), it would be an exception and not what an entomologist would say to describe a well raised specimen. For what it is worth, also, Harris' novel never mentions honey, but specifically leaves, although it's a different plant.
Sorry if I misconstrued what you were trying to say. By writing that the pupa would not eat something only the adults eat, you left the impression that the pupa eats other things (just not the honey). I think I understand now. Your answer is specific to the honey and my response addressed how much information the experts needed to present about metamorphosis and food/no food to the audience. I hope this helps you understand at least some of that 90%.
Continuity mistake: Lecter asks for a lamb chop dinner, rare, and when they arrive, they are rare. When we see them later, they look well done. (01:15:50)
Suggested correction: They don't look different in any of the shots. It's the same lambchops, same temperature. They are cooked as is, so they have a dark outside but inside they are probably rare. They do look darker in the last scene but that's probably because they have gone cold and dried out.
Suggested correction: How would a mistake like that come to be? Someone cooked them in between shots? Too much time elapsed and the substance oxidized? The potato and everything else on the plate look the same, and so do the chops, shape-wise. They might be of a slightly darker color in the very last shot with Boyle on the floor, but the plate has also been sprayed with blood, so that could account for this - mostly perceived - change.
A mistake like this would come to be if they're using real food and not props and had to do a cut, change camera position, do a reshoot, etc and had to set the scene again and redo the cooking of the food, or remake the props for some reason, but now the food looks different. What we see as a continuous scene in a movie or TV show is not always done in one take, which is why the site is filled with countless continuity mistakes.
Character mistake: Clarice was given clear, explicit instructions by Crawford before going to the asylum to see Lecter, including: do not touch the glass; do not approach the glass; tell him nothing personal; do not accept anything from him. Barney also gave the specific rules to Clarice when she got there (e.g, "you don't get near the glass"; use the food tray carrier to give him papers), and informed her he would be watching her on video. An FBI Agent TRAINEE is under close scrutiny and failure to meet the high standards and/or rigorous training can/will result in dismissal from the academy; a student must follow the rules and demonstrate she has what it takes to graduate and is suitable to become a member of the FBI. Given the high standards and relative difficulty in securing a position with the FBI, a trainee would not blatantly break the rules or virtually disregard the direct orders of a supervisor like Clarice did - especially during the very first assignment. The end does not justify the means.
Continuity mistake: When Lecter is about to kill the two cops guarding him, he kicks the cell door preventing one of the cops from entering the cell. Just a moment later he is in front of the guard and there is no metal door in between them.
Revealing mistake: When Clarice goes to Crawford's office, on the board there is a newspaper article titled "Bill Attacks Again, Woman Missing..." on the left and another titled "FBI Links 'Skinning..." on the right. The three top paragraphs on the left columns of both are identical (with different spacing). Two of the yellow lines on the right one are the same too.
Continuity mistake: Before Clarice chases Buffalo Bill down the basement steps, she quickly slips off her green overcoat, letting it fall to the floor. (I wasn't able to see if the green/red checked blazer and/or the grey scarf she almost always wore were slipped off at the same time - the view was obstructed by a table.) After Bill is killed, Clarice exits the house and comes down the front steps wearing the green/red checked suit jacket (blazer), but does not have the green overcoat or scarf with her. (01:43:13 - 01:50:17)
Continuity mistake: On ground floor in Memphis, the female police officer says "No, nobody went up." Sgt. Tate at this point starts to croak something, and behind him as shots as heard one of the men behind him is walking forward. The feet of that person are in the circular section of the floor decoration, but in the next shot both policemen coming from that direction are a couple steps behind that spot. (01:18:50)
Continuity mistake: The two guards approach Hannibal's cage and put down the tray with the lamb dinner. Lt. Boyle murmurs "Wonder what he wants for breakfast." He is passing the club to Sgt. Pembry holding it with his right hand on the tip. In the next shot, when he finishes quipping "Some damn thing from the zoo?" his hand is on the opposite end of the baton, past the handle. (01:15:10)
Continuity mistake: Clarice is at the desk of the Courthouse in Memphis. She hands the ID to the agent, who holds it with both hands. Cut, and he's holding it with just the right hand. The female agent next to him in the second shot is leaning against her own left hand, but she had both on the desk in the first shot. (01:05:30)
Other mistake: In Memphis, the vain Dr. Chilton is giving an interview in front of the courthouse. So the captions say, because the building he is talking in front of (in actuality the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Pittsburg) has just a dimly lit "Shelby County War Museum" sign. From the look of the hall, the latter seems to be correct. (01:05:10)
Continuity mistake: Immediately following the bit where Chilton has to sign without his precious pen, there is an establishing shot of the Memphis airport runway. Look at the Senator's limo, and her staff; she has three men with coats (1 grey 1 blue 1 camel) to her right, and to her left a man in a blue coat and one in a white coat at great mutual distance. But in the following close-up on Senator Ruth Martin and her posse, the two men on her left are one attached to the other, and the men on her right overlap starting in positions inconsistent with before. (01:02:25)
Continuity mistake: Dr. Frederick Chilton infamously leaves a pen on Hannibal's bed. The pen changes position between shots in a rather obvious way, doing almost a 180° turn. (01:00:15)
Continuity mistake: When Buffalo Bill lowers the basket towards Catherine, the hair on her forehead changes wildly position between shots several times. (00:58:45)
Revealing mistake: In the examination of the corpse at the funeral house, a bug is removed from the throat of the victim. The bug is lodged deeply into the throat of the girl, to the point that when they pull it out, air is released from the throat it obstructed. But if you look at the first shot when Agent Terry puts his tweezers in the girl's mouth, you can already spot by the molar the tip of the cocoon - the bug is not that big, if the agent had already pulled it by that much the gas release would have happened already. (00:45:15)
Continuity mistake: Agent Terry drops the bug cocoon in the glass container 'face' (the end with the proboscis) down. In the next shot, Clarice is looking at the jar she closed, and the pupa is 'looking up'. (00:45:45)
