Revealing mistake: In the scene were Kyle and Sarah are speeding away from Arnold in the truck, Arnold starts shooting the truck with Kyle driving. When Sarah and Kyle decide to switch (passenger, driver), the camera shows them switching but there is a stuntman in place of Kyle. If not he has gained some weight in the cheeks and grown a big mustache during the course of 2 seconds. (01:24:30)
Suggested correction: This scene don't have cuts. In this moment, a shadow covers the face of Reese, causing confusion, but still be Michael.
No, it isn't. It is too obvious that he is a stunt double.
This is a continuous shot. Where and how would they have made the switch?
After Biehn says "trade places", there's a cut. The mistake seems to be saying from that moment it's Biehn's double. And before the two switch seats, there's another cut of the Terminator shooting at them. But I don't think it's a stunt double because typically scenes filmed from the perspective of the hood are done with the camera rigged to the vehicle and the vehicle is being towed, so the actors aren't actually driving, so there would be no need for a stuntman to do the seat switching.
Revealing mistake: During the final chase scene, Sarah loses control of the pickup and it rolls over, as it rolls you can plainly see that it has no engine. (01:26:05)
Continuity mistake: When the tanker explodes near the end, the Terminator gets out of the truck, then falls to the ground face-first, in an open area. Then he rolls over onto his back, lying prone, and stops moving. When the endoskeleton rises a minute or so later, however, it gets up as if it had been hunched over, face down - and several pieces of the truck's wreckage fall off of it as it rises, as if it had been covered by falling metal. (01:28:45 - 01:31:00)
Continuity mistake: Every shot of the semi truck shows it has single round headlights, but after it's been blown up and the Terminator falls out of the cab, you can see that the truck has now got twin round headlights. (01:28:45)
Continuity mistake: When the tanker explodes near the end, the Terminator gets out of the truck on the left-hand side of the cab, and falls to the ground. When the endoskeleton arises minutes later, however, it is on the opposite side of the cab (Sarah approaches Reese from the right side, and the endoskeleton arises in the background). (01:29:25)
Revealing mistake: When the Terminator's flesh is burning off in the burning tanker wreckage, you can see the wire moving the Terminator puppet around. (01:29:45)
Audio problem: Towards the end of the movie, after the tanker is blown up with the terminator inside, Sarah and Kyle are relieved that he is finally 'dead'. When the terminator gets up from the huge fire in his metal form, Sarah screams twice, however when she screams the second time, her mouth doesn't actually move. (01:30:10)
Visible crew/equipment: When the Terminator is blown up inside the gas truck and you think it is destroyed, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn begin to hug. In the shot where the Terminator begins to rise from the destroyed truck, look just a little to the right of Linda's head and you'll see a mans head pop up and his hands pull down on a lever that makes the Terminator rise up. (01:30:50)
Continuity mistake: After the Endoskeleton emerges from the diesel fire look at his teeth. They're clearly metallic when he stands up and chases after Sarah and Kyle, then when he enters the factory his teeth are white enamel. Then when he's fighting with Kyle they're metal again and finally they turn white after he's blown apart. (01:31:05 - 01:34:20)
Continuity mistake: In the factory, when Reese yells at Sarah to run and then turns and starts bashing at the Endoskeleton with his metal pole, if you watch carefully you can see that his fourth blow snaps one of the head supports. Yet we see a closeup of the head during his fifth blow, and the support is fixed again. (01:31:14)
Visible crew/equipment: When Sarah and Kyle have run into the factory, the Terminator is breaking through the armour plated door. As the Terminator comes through you can clearly see the two operator guys crouching behind the model. (01:32:45)
Visible crew/equipment: As the Terminator moves his right arm whilst in the press, you can see a crew member, behind the Terminator, move in the area of the picture where its arm was. (01:34:05)
Revealing mistake: After Reese finishes battering the Terminator with the pipe, the Terminator strikes back at him. Just before the camera angle changes to show us the pipe dropping on the floor, we get a close up of Reese's face. It is a stunt double, not Michael Biehn. (01:35:10)
Continuity mistake: When the Terminator is crawling after Sarah Connor at the end of the film there is a close up of the endo-skeleton and the hydraulic cables from around his shoulders are missing. (01:37:15)
Character mistake: In the final scene at the Mexican gas station there's a sign that says "cigaros" instead of "cigarros," which means "cigars" in Spanish. (01:38:40)
Visible crew/equipment: At the end, when Sarah puts her glasses on, a light screen is reflected in them. (01:38:45)
Revealing mistake: At the end of the film, at the split second we see the ambulance workers zip up Reese in the bodybag, his right eyelid flinches a bit. (01:39:45)
Revealing mistake: "Dead" Kyle Reese is still breathing. (01:39:45)
Revealing mistake: There is a shot from the Terminator's POV, before he rams the blue car with the semi truck, in which you can see that the car is already damaged. No slow-mo is required to see this, but it is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot.
Factual error: Sarah and Lieutenant Traxler both state that Tech Noir, the club Sarah is in, is on Pico Boulevard. After the gun battle inside the club, Sarah leaves with Kyle and they run a short distance down the alley behind the club before getting into a car. The Terminator jumps on and falls off as soon as the car is out of the alley. When the cop calls it in, though, he says he needs an ambulance at 7th and Broadway. Even assuming Tech Noir was on the corner of Pico and Broadway, that is still about 3/4 of a mile away from 7th and Broadway, so there is no way that was the intersection just outside the alley.
