Leon (1994) - 18 mistakes

Continuity: In the very first scene where Old Tony is debriefing Leon, we see Leon pick up his glass of milk and drink the entire glass. However, if you look at the reflection of Leon's glasses as he takes the glass away from his mouth, you can see that the milk is not finished.

Continuity: After Leon rescues Mathilda from the SWAT team and dodges the snipers, he shoots out a ventilation fan to make an escape route. The blast pattern in this sequence is all wrong. First off, the camera starts on Leon as he begins shooting. He gets off two shots before the camera switches to the vent, but when it does we see about 7 bullet holes around the vent. Then the camera goes back to Leon as he continues firing shots. When the camera is on the vent again, some of the holes that had been there previously are gone. Most notably a hole directly above the vent and to the right is no longer there, and the damage below the grate is significantly less than it had been.

Continuity: Before the dreadlocked man starts looking at the vinyl records in the apartment, he places his uzi down with the butt facing the camera. In the next shot the barrel is facing the camera, and switches back again in the next shot.

Continuity: In the scene where Mathilda returns to her apartment and takes the hidden stash of money out from the loose floor board, she leaves the board open and also takes the money out of the plastic bag and leaves the bag on the floor too. In the next shot, the camera angle switches to her looking down the hall because she hears people coming. When the camera switches back to the original angle of her scurrying away, the floor board is back in place and she's wrapped the money back up in the plastic - nowhere near enough time to do that.

Continuity: At the beginning of the film, the intended target calls 911, with the phone's aerial fully extended. The shot later it's half the length.

Continuity: In the scene where Leon shoots out the ventilation shaft, you can see bullet holes through the wall, but when he starts to use the axe on the wall, in the next shot from inside the ventilation shaft the bullet holes have disappeared.

Continuity: When Mathilda hides the cigarette from Leon it's practically new, but in the next shot (when Leon asks her why she hid the cigarette) it's almost finished. However, in the next shot it's practically new again.

Visible crew/equipment: Near the end of the film Leon tells Mathilda to grab the axe. As she opens the glass door to get it you can see the camera and its operator filming reflected in it.

Revealing: After the SWAT team grab Mathilda, the guy who grabbed her backs up against the wall and it bends inward, revealing it to be a set.

Revealing: Towards the end of the movie, after Stansfield shoots Leon and Leon gives Stansfield the grenade pin, there is an elaborate explosion. The first view of the explosion is from the down the street, and you can see there is a small explosion coming from underneath a police car at the exact instant the grenades go off. There is a possibility that the car might have blown up, but that would have been after the grenades went off first and after the car had been on fire for a while.

Continuity: Stan bursts into Toni's birthday bash and they chat about the 'Italian' hitman. The balloons in the restaurant are moving behind Toni, but behind Stan they are completely still.

Continuity: Leon is playing with Mathilda and she can't guess the actor. she tilts her head and then angle changes to the back of her head. But now not only her head is not tilted but when she says "I swear, I was going to say that actor" she is not mouthing the words.

Visible crew/equipment: When the SWAT team fires the grenade into the apartment at the end, the guide wire along which it is traveling is very obvious. It's actually easier to see in normal speed.

Continuity: In the scene where Matilda is expressing her feelings to Leon, she lies on the bed and her hair falls in two separate strands, by the next shot (although she has been motionless on the bed talking), her hair is neatly spread.

Plot hole: Towards the end of the movie, Leon dies and Mathilda heads to see Tony. Tony gives her some spending money and tells her to get back in school. The nighttime scene suggests that she spends at least part of the night wandering the streets. Presumably at daybreak, she takes the tram car and returns to The Spencer School, where she talks to the school administrator. When the administrator asks Mathilda to tell the truth about what happened to her, Mathilda says in essence, "... I lived with the greatest guy. He was a hitman, the best in town. He died this morning..." This morning? Seems more like roughly 24 hours have passed since Leon died, so what Mathilda says is inconsistent with the scene sequence. (Special note - this is from the International/extended DVD edition. I can't say whether this exact sequence is in the shorter domestic DVD version.)

Continuity: When Leon shoots out a ventilation fan to make an escape route he stands right in front of a window. In the previous scene snipers were shooting at him, why are there no snipers shooting now?

Continuity: When Mathilda spends her first night at Leon's apartment, Leon places a messily folded blanket on her in one shot. The camera then goes to a different shot of Leon, and then back to the original. However, we can now see that the blanket is mostly unfolded and placed neatly on Mathilda. ..... (and little pink doll she is holding changes position).

Continuity: Mathilda's school switches from being in Wildwood, NJ (at the start) to being on Roosevelt Island, NY.