Collateral (2004) - 42 mistakes

Other: In the scene where they're loading Tom Cruise's first victim into the trunk, as Max lifts at the arms you can see the "dead" guy holding onto Max's forearms.

Audio problem: Just as the two criminals who robbed Max are walking away, Vincent asks them if that is his briefcase. The guy who the long hair replies, "Yeah it is. Why you want it back?" but his mouth doesn't match what he is saying. It appears he is saying something closer to, "Put up your f**king hands".

Continuity: Near the beginning of the film when we see Max pull up to the first hit location and Vincent is talking to him in the back; watch closely and in one shot we see that Vincent has his hands below (probably on his knees), but in the following shot we can see his left arm is now up and grabbing onto the glass that separates the driver from the passenger inside a taxi.

Continuity: When Max and Annie are walking away from the train, in a shot from behind Max has his right hand on Annie's back, but in the following shot from the front Max's right arm is all the way around Annie fixing her jacket.

Factual error: When Max and Vincent are at the second contract killing destination, Dispatch calls and Vincent is holding the receiver. In one particular shot he does not release the button on the side of it and we hear Lenny speaking. This would not be possible: he would have to release the button first to hear what Lenny is saying.

Continuity: At the third contract killing, where Max and Vincent are sitting at a table in the jazz club with Daniel (the owner), watch the glass and receipt on the table, in one shot both the glass and receipt are on Daniel's side, then in the following shot both the glass and receipt have moved across the table somewhat to Vincent's side.

Visible crew/equipment: When Jamie Foxx enters the building where the girl works, he finds the dead guard - right after it he runs alongside a marble wall where you can see the cameraman running beside Foxx.

Continuity: When Foxx and Cruise are in the lift with the cop in the hospital, the door to the lift closes all the way to the right. When they get out, the door closes in such a way that two doors meet in the middle.

Continuity: When Vincent is shot in the face, the bullet left a long gash below his cheek across his jaw line. A couple of scenes later, when he's in the train the gash is gone. All we see is make up which is supposed to be blood.

Continuity: When Max and Vincent are in Max's mother's hospital room, Max is at the window and in some shots the window lever is in the open position and sometimes in the closed position.

Continuity: When Vincent faces Annie for the first time in her office, her face and forehead are all sweaty and her hair is a mess and all over her face. In the following scene where Max and Annie are in the elevator, Annie's hair is back to normal and is very well combed. Also, her face is not sweaty anymore.

Continuity: In the club Fever, one of the Korean bodyguards gets up off the ground and runs to restrain Vincent. As he gets up, the people around him are dancing when they're supposed to be running around panicking. When Vincent shoots the bodyguard holding the MAC-10, another bodyguard in a white suit is visible in the background already trying to pull Peter Lim out of the booth. The bodyguard does not run to Peter Lim until a few seconds later in the scene.

Continuity: When Vincent and Max pull up to the second hit location the windshield is no longer cracked. Best viewed when paused.

Continuity: When Max and Vincent are at the hospital and have entered the elevator, Vincent is holding the briefcase in his left hand, but the hand/fingers that press the button on the elevator is the left hand/fingers not the right, then the camera cuts to a wider shot and Vincent is lowering his right hand from the button even though he pressed the buttons with his left (the hand holding the briefcase). (Slow motion necessary.)

Continuity: In the club Fever scene, the detective (Fanning) sees Max and runs to him. In one shot, he has his gun in the air in his right hand. In the following shot, it has vanished.

Continuity: As the feds and Max and Vincent arrive at the club, there is a shot from the feds car of the taxi pulling into the side street where the club is, the shot goes back to in front of the cab, and they are just turning in, even though in the previous shot they should already be in the street.

Continuity: When Vincent is talking to Daniel (the trumpet player), Daniel's upper lip changes from sweaty to dry at least 3 times.

Continuity: When the feds are on the way to the club to protect their witness, the lead agent has his walkie talkie by the side of his head. When the shot goes to outside the cab, he's putting the walkie talkie to the side of his head again.

Continuity: At the very beginning, just after Max puts the photograph on the visa, the shot cuts to Max's boss holding a Coke with his right hand and the other hand is down by his side, but in the following shot he has his hands crossed in front of him.

Deliberate "mistake": Toward the end, when Vincent et al board the train, they're on the southbound Metro blue line out of 7th Street station. The next stop should be the Pico station, next to Staples Center. But we see them get off an eastbound train along the green line, half an hour's ride and a transfer away.

Revealing: In the train scene if you look closely at Vincent's ear as he steps off the train ready to shoot Max and Annie, it looks like he has an earpiece or some kind of small blood pack in his ear.

Continuity: After they leave El Rodeo there is noticeably more blood on the roof of the cab and in the cracked glass of the windshield, so much so that it is running down toward the hood.

Continuity: After Max and Vincent leave the first hit, while they're talking about why Max cares about the death of "some fat Angeleno," their cab is being followed in rapidly successive shots by a silver car, then a black SUV, then the silver car again, then the police cruiser.

Continuity: When Vincent is in Annie's office and looks over the desk, her cellphone is on a file which is also under the office telephone, but in the following shot her cellphone is now on the desk.

Continuity: When Max and Vincent pull up to the second contract killing, Vincent gets out of the back of the cab holding two seals in his right hand, but in the following shot the seals are in his left hand.

Continuity: At the beginning of the film, when Vincent first approaches Max's cab, Max reaches up to the visa in his taxi with his left hand. When the shot goes to Vincent, it's now Max's right hand, not his left.

Continuity: In the middle of the movie at the jazz club, Max and Vincent are talking, at one point you see Max look at Vincent and raise his drink, in the following shot you see that his face is down looking at his drink, then he looks at Vincent.

Continuity: When the 2 detectives are talking outside the apartment where the first contract was carried out, in one shot of the detective with the long raincoat like jacket he is facing the other detective on the scene, in the following shot, he is talking with his back towards him.

Continuity: When Max shoots the two guys in the alley who stole his briefcase, there is no damage on their bodies whatsoever from the gunshots. Despite shooting both numerous times you can see there are no holes or blood on either of them.

Continuity: After running out of the hospital, Vincent and Max face off on the foot-bridge over the freeway. As Vincent moves toward Max, in the long shot you see him move the gun from his right hand to his left. In the close-up, it stays in his right hand.

Continuity: When leaving the club Fever (I think) the taxi driver is so shaken he drives off and hits two cars parked to the left, leaving them badly damaged. Later, just before he flips the taxi, you can see that both sides are unmarked, which seems unlikely.

Continuity: When Max and Vincent pull up in the alley on the second contract, on the overhead view there is nothing on the alley, but when it goes to a shot of the back of the taxi, there is two large concrete objects, also if you look closely there is only one person in the cab.

Continuity: In the scene where Annie hands Max her business card, you initially see the car window lowering and then stopping halfway down. In the next shot the window is still moving; a moment later the window is still in its halfway-down position and stopped again.

Continuity: In this scene when Max and Vincent are talking about Max's limo service, if you look out of the side window, the scenery changes 3 times in the course of about 3 seconds.

Factual error: When Vincent and Max enter the Fever nightclub, we hear loud dance music. However, Vincent calmly tells Max to stay near him and not wander off or he'll shoot bystanders first. Anyone whose ever been in a crowded, noisy dance club knows it's almost impossible to have a normal conversation without shouting to be heard above the music.

Revealing: In the scene in the morgue, you can see the carotid artery beat on the "body".

Revealing: In the scene where Max flips the cab, after it comes to a stop and you see Vincent hanging in the back seat, you can see the yellow "rollcage" bar under his shoulder.

Other: In the scene where Jamie Foxx flips the taxi, you can see Tom Cruise sitting bolt upright, hanging from the ceiling as the car is sliding. As the car stops, however, you see that he was not wearing a seatbelt and is lying on the roof of the overturned car.

Deliberate "mistake": When the undercover detective enters the apartment of Vincent's first victim, he calls LAPD dispatch with his cell phone and requests for two "black and whites" and a "night" detective to respond to the scene. All LAPD detectives work on a 9am-5pm schedule except for homicide detectives who are on call 24/7. Requesting a homicide detective would have been the correct choice. It may have seemed fitting to ask for a "night detective" because it's dark.

Continuity: When the police is examining the place on the ground where the first victim fell, there are lots of glass from the broken window - and its close together. That glass is not there in previous shots - for example when they look down from the window.

Continuity: In the jazz club, when they talk to the witness, the lemon slice in the witness' drink changes position between shots.

Continuity: In the scene after Max visits Felix - when they drive away - the tape holding the taxi sign on the top of the taxi changes. The top piece of tape is gone in one of the shots, and then it comes back.