Factual error: For the scene in Shanghai, they actually used Hong Kong cars, the Isuzu truck and the Mercedes S-class, as the cars are right-hand-drive, like Hong Kong, while in China cars are left-hand-drive. Also the license plates are not real. The helicopter in the same scene is one that belongs to the Heli-Services in Hong Kong, painted black.
Continuity mistake: Lara cuts her arm at the Lunar Temple before she leaves. There is no blood whatsoever until a quick shot shows her pulling her hand away from the cut (it wasn't covering it before while she was swimming) and the cut pouring blood, which immediately disappears as the shark shows up. The blood is never seen again.
Factual error: Terry Sheridan is described as a former commander in the Royal Marines. This is a Royal Navy rank, the equivalent Marine rank would be Lt. Colonel.
Continuity mistake: When in Hong Kong, flying off the building under construction next to Times Square, they pass/ fly by Chater Garden and the Lippo Centre. Neither of those, or the building under construction, are near the lab they're escaping from.
Revealing mistake: When Lara and the guy race with their bikes by the Great Wall, Lara's stunt is noticeable because her face is rounder and not so angular.
Other mistake: When the submarine surfaces from beneath Lara, from the submarine's angle it looks like the sub is just coming up and will then level out. But we can see the submarine stays at this angle. And in the next shot we can see Lara resting towards the aft rudder. If the submarine would rise at such an angle with the aft rudder just surfacing, basically the complete submarine would be almost out of the water. This angle and Lara's position would only be possible, if she came to rest at the front side of the sub's sail.
Continuity mistake: When Lara is looking at her guns and knives in the old Chinese lady's house, you can see that Lara's hair is at least six inches shorter than at any other time in the movie.
Continuity mistake: When Lara is sliding down the rope, she fires at the guards at the top. However, when the action cycles, the shell would not clear the port before the slide came forward. Therefore she should have only fired one shot, then have a blockage.
Continuity mistake: When Lara first arrives on the boat, she removes charts, etc from a waterproof bag (it has a black plastic seal with yellow screws). Yet when she dives she appears to have only her standard Lara Croft-style backpack, which would not stand the pressure, even if it was waterproof. Further to this, when she escapes the Temple, she no longer has it, yet her headset and video camera survive the pressure and submersion of her shark ride and subsequent 3 days in the water.
Continuity mistake: When Lara and Terry escape from the Shay-Ling on the ropes,upon reaching down they make a very unrealistic turn. They climb down heads first, and they flip so as to fall on their feet on the ground. But the motion is very "robotic". Even if they were very strong athletes, this would still be impossible, as the rope should be very stretched (should be fixed at both ends). Otherwise, it would not give them the support they need for such a flip. All the way down you can see that, at the bottom, the ropes go through some sort of pulley system. It is only after Lara and Terry are standing on the ground that the ends are shown swinging freely. So their dismount is realistic in one version of the scene, but unrealistic in another.
Factual error: Just after Lara puts the "Pandora's Box" back into the black acid, the screen fades into a horizon view of the mountains of Africa. Slight problem, though: doesn't mist RISE from mountains, and not drift down onto it like it backwardly does in the shot?
Answer: As the movie sets out, that is the "Sunday school" version of the story. Within the movie, the legend is based on an artifact that not only bestowed life upon the earth but also slew all who opened it with horrible disease, gaining a reputation for containing the essences of both "good" and "evil."
Phoenix