War Games (1983) - 20 mistakes

Factual error: When they launch the F-16s the picture shown is of an F-15.

Continuity: During David Lightman's escape from the infirmary, notice the hands of the guard officer - he's wearing his gloves, and the next instant they have disappeared, and reappear in the next scene.

Revealing: In the scene where David starts the game with Joshua, it asks him what side he wants to be (1 for the U.S. and 2 for USSR). Look carefully at the closeup of the computer screen - his choice, 2, appears long before David actually presses the key.

Audio problem: When Jennifer gives David a ride home near the beginning of the movie, you hear David's dog barking. In the next shot, we see the dog is running down the front path and it barks a couple more times. Look closely at its mouth, it's not barking.

Audio problem: When Jennifer gives David a ride home near the beginning of the film, as David gets on her bike, she looks round and tells him to "Hop on" without moving her lips.

Factual error: During the part where they're in NORAD and watching all of the Soviet "nukes" hit various bases in the US, a base in northern Maine is listed as, "Loring AFB 43 Bomb Wing." This was a real air force base, but it was the 42nd Bomb Wing that flew B-52s out of Loring. The 43rd Bomb Wing did exist, too, but it was based at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in the South Pacific.

Continuity: In the scene where Joshua is going through the possible strikes, the US strike was done first followed by USSR's strike. However, when you see the list of strikes and the results, USSR is listed before US.

Other: On the DVD cover, Broderick's and Sheedy's faces and the reflection of their faces on the computer monitor don't match.

Other: Where the army officer is pushing the buttons on the wall panel to launch the missiles, on the both occasions you see it, the panel buckles highlighting the flimsy set.

Visible crew/equipment: When the FBI van pulls up in front of the 7-11 to take Broderick away, lights and other rigging are reflected in the van.

Factual error: When Joshua is running through all of the possible nuclear war scenarios on the screen, several of them are labeled 'Palistinian'. The correct spelling is 'Palestinian'.

Continuity: When David's father is pushing the dog down from the kitchen table, he has a knife in his left hand the whole time. The next shot however shows the knife no longer in his hand and him picking up the knife from the butter tub.

Continuity: When David first talks to Joshua through the computer, Joshua types the word -mistakes- on the screen but two shots later, it is spelled mistak.

Plot hole: In the scene at NORAD when officials are trying to figure out what happened with the initial security breach, Paul says to McKittrick that the perpetrator broke in using a backdoor left in by the original programmer (i.e., Falken's password "Joshua"). That meeting also reveals that they took the backdoor out, but that the guy broke in again (note that David did not intentionally break in again - Joshua called David). The error comes when David is left alone in McKittrick's office in a later scene and proceeds to login using "Joshua." That password was gone by then (just as it is at the end when Falken tries to use it).

Continuity: When Matthew Broderick plays "Galaga" in the arcade you can clearly see two more space ships (2 more lives) in the left down corner. When he is hit the game is over... Someone said that the game isn't over, when he dies he lets the kid take over his game because he has to run to class, but there are two scenes in the film where he's playing Galaga. The first scene is toward the start of the movie, and David is late for school and gives his game to a youngster next to him. But, later in the movie, when Jennifer asks David to fix her grade again, there is a shot in which David has two lives remaining when his ship is destroyed, but in the next shot, the game has ended.

Continuity: At the start a captain and lieutenant take up duty at the Launch Control Facility. Shortly after taking up duty an audio "Go to war" signal is received. Part of the signal is Tango, Tango, Lima, Alpha (T,T,L,A) in writing it down to confirm correctness the lieutenant writes down T,T,A,A.

Revealing: On the large screen at the end of the film, Joshua and Prof. Falken are 'writing' to each other.  Falken types in "Hello Joshua"- he not only says it, but you can hear him typing it as well, however, on the screen, only the word "Hello" appears; the word "Joshua" doesn't.

Audio problem: In the scene where the plane carrying Matthew Broderick is landing in Oregon, the plane shown landing is propeller driven. The sound effect is a jet engine aircraft.

Continuity: At the beginning in the launch sequence, we see the officers enter the launch command sequence etc. into the computer. At the top of the display screen there is "WOPR Execution Order". The WOPR is the computer installed later to replace the missile launch personnel, and is a brand new device, so this screen display is a little too early.

Factual error: The beginning starts out with two Strategic Air Command officers in a Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Launch Control Facility (LCF) going through the strict procedures for launch of an ICBM. The crypto messages are being received by the LCF, the launch officers pull the launch sequence and confirm the crypto launch command (encoded message) matches that which is contained in the launch sequence - all very secret, and all very realistic. However, the missile they show in the movie powering up for launch is a Titan ICBM, and how you launch a Titan from a Minuteman LCF is beyond me.