Continuity mistake: In the opening car chase the red BMW zips through a hotel arcade. On the right we see a guest waiting with a porter. The porter grabs a suitcase and runs towards the entrance, and the guest turns left and starts running away from the entrance. When the camera angle changes the guest is back where he was standing, but now he turns right and runs the other way. (00:03:00)
Continuity mistake: The right headlight of Murtaugh's car, when it is chasing the BMW, falls off when he hits something, but later on it is fine. (00:03:20)
Continuity mistake: When Riggs jumps from Murtaugh's station wagon to catch up with the BMW on foot, he springs onto its rear window and asks the driver for proof of insurance. Interior brake lights are shining on his clothes before he falls to the pavement. Seconds later the driver stops to take a shot at Riggs, but now the BMW is missing the interior brake light altogether. (00:03:40)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the opening car chase the red BMW crashes into a police car whose driver vanishes between shots. (00:06:00)
Continuity mistake: When Riggs wins his straightjacket bet he pulls it over his head, but only because the formerly closed strap through his crotch is suddenly open. (00:08:40)
Continuity mistake: When Hans first walks into the room with the fishtank, the plastic on the floor flaps up behind him as he walks, ending up folded up on itself without much space between the man and the end of the plastic. When he gets shot and falls back onto it, it's perfectly flat and he's a lot further forward. (00:16:25)
Continuity mistake: When the boss gives Riggs and Murtaugh the Leo assignment the name on the office door changes from Capt. E. Murphy to Capt. L. Murphy when they leave the office. (00:24:30)
Continuity mistake: When Captain Murphy is briefing Riggs and Murtaugh on their Leo Getz assignment, a small red No Smoking sign can be seen facing outwards on the desk. But as Riggs and Murtaugh stand up to leave, notice how the sign has momentarily turned itself around to face the Captain. (00:25:55)
Continuity mistake: This only for the Directors Cut edition of Lethal Weapon 2. In the added scene where Riggs charms the ladies at he Pool in the hotel where Leo is staying. Just as they wallk in to the pool area, you see a woman in a pink bikini get out of the pool almost completely. Then in the close up shot as Roger bends down to talk to someone, the woman in the pink bikini is getting out of the pool again. (00:26:30)
Continuity mistake: Murtagh states he was 7 floors up, but the room number (612) suggests it's a 6th floor room. When he looks down to see the three men falling, his vantage point is well above 7 floors up. (00:30:20)
Continuity mistake: When Riggs and Murtaugh are trying to find the address Leo can't quite remember, Riggs is looking through an address book. Turning the pages, he gets to a yellow bit (possibly a different section), and so goes back a page. The angle changes half-way through this page turn, and the yellow page has disappeared, replaced with a page full of text. (00:34:55)
Continuity mistake: When Riggs loses his gun during his tow-truck ride there's a white fence on the left side of the road. When Murtaugh stops the car and Leo "gets" it, there's no fence anywhere. (00:35:55)
Continuity mistake: As Murtagh's car pulls up behind the small pickup, a man is reaching into the bed of the truck from the left side of the truck. But as soon as Riggs steps out of the car, the man is instantly behind his truck. (00:37:25)
Continuity mistake: When Riggs is thrown off the tow truck and rolls across the ground the Ryder truck that was just overtaken by the tow truck disappears and reappears between shots. (00:37:25)
Continuity mistake: When the surfboard crashes into the tow-truck cabin the driver is gone. (00:37:35)
Continuity mistake: During a chase scene involving Murtaugh's station wagon and a flatbed tow truck, the hotel waiter shoots at Riggs through the truck's rear window. In this series of shots, notice how Riggs is swinging by a chrome handle on the passenger's side - which wasn't there during the gunpoint hijack shot just moments ago. (00:39:30 - 00:40:45)
Continuity mistake: When firing his gun at Riggs through the flatbed's rear window, the hotel waiter's shooting hand switches from left to right between shots. (00:40:50)
Continuity mistake: When the hotel waiter shoots at Riggs through the flatbed tow truck's rear window, Riggs manages to cling to a handle on the passenger's side and avoid being hit. However, immediately before the waiter runs out of bullets and throws down his gun, look sharp and you'll see how all of the window's busted glass is once again intact, like new. (00:40:50)
Continuity mistake: In the drive-thru scene you can see that the right half of the grill and both right headlights on the wagon are gone. When they pull up at Roger's in the scene where Leo gets kidnapped the right headlight is working. (00:45:20 - 01:03:15)
Continuity mistake: While he's on the toilet, Murtaugh is wearing a flak jacket that disappears for one shot while he is getting instructions from the bomb squad leader. (00:54:25)
Chosen answer: 'Mandrake the Magician' was a comic strip that was popular (at least in Australia) in the 1970s. It featured the title character that was able to perform very elaborate magic tricks (including disappearing acts).
david barlow