Pearl Harbor

Continuity mistake: Close to the beginning when Rafe is in England and we hear sirens going off signifying they're going to attack, he runs over to his aircraft and shouts at a guy. If you look closely at his aircraft it says on the side RF T, yet in all other shots we see him in the aircraft marked RF M. (00:39:15)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: When Rafe is talking to Danny about going to Britain, Danny's position changes from being at the side of the truck to being at the front of the truck. (00:09:00)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Rafe gets his medical check, he has problems reading. But in a later scene, he has no problem writing letters to Evelyn, and has no problem reading them.

Continuity mistake: In the scene after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Danny and Rafe get a message to go to see Colonel Doolittle, and the camera cuts to a taxi. The driver is standing inside the door of the taxi, but in the following shot of Rafe from inside the building, the driver is now standing with his arms crossed at the front of the car. (02:08:35)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Evelyn and Rafe are by the ship they show a close up of Evelyn and she is wearing a dark color eyeshadow. Then when Rafe tells her he is going to war she has light eyeshadow on. Then the next close up of her the dark eyeshadow is back.

Continuity mistake: When the black cook is in a boxing ring with the big guy, the cook beats the big guy. Just before the big guy falls you can see a man over his left shoulder saying something like, "That's it, that's it", but in the following shot he is on his right (there's nobody else in the ring so it can't be someone else). (00:44:25)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: When Rafe is leaving Evelyn's cubicle near the beginning, he turns around and says, "Miss I really like you," and he is not holding onto the drip pole, but in the following shot he is. (00:15:35)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: When Rafe hits Danny's dad, his hands on the plank changes between shots, and the plank goes from being held away from the body, to close to the body between shots. (00:03:35)

The-Immortal

Pearl Harbor mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When one of the pilots of the "pride of the pacific" crew is painting a woman on the side of his airplane, he is brushing it on with his right hand, but in the following closeup, he is now brushing it on with his left, then back to his right in the wider shot. (00:33:50)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: In the scene in the bar before Rafe and Danny fight, Rafe is accepting a shirt off of some guy's back. The guy hands the shirt to Rafe, in that scene, Rafe's shirt is still buttoned and on him when he accepts the shirt. The camera switches to Danny, and then a couple of seconds later, back to Rafe who is already putting the shirt on. There is no way Rafe could have taken his own shirt off and already be putting the "hula" shirt on in that short of time.

tev

Continuity mistake: In the scene where President Roosevelt is sitting at the table talking to the joint chiefs etc., the camera pans around the table and as it passes General Marshall, it shows what appears to be a Vietnam service ribbon in the cluster on his chest.

Continuity mistake: When Rafe is going in for medical tests and to thank Evelyn her for not taking his wings away, when Rafe starts acting a little strange Evelyn asks "This isn't your chart?" When it cuts to Rafe he is holding onto the IV just underneath the IV bags, but in the following shot his hand is much further down the pole. (00:15:40)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Danny takes Evelyn flying to see the sunset, you can see that several times the sun changes position, i.e. in one scene the sun would be half way set, then in the next scene it would be way above the horizon.

Continuity mistake: When Rafe is drinking with his friends in the club and Danny is there, Red says, "Maybe we should leave you two alone," then Rafe proceeds to say, "No, no, we're celebrating here." Rafe reaches out to stop Red with his right hand on his chest, but in the following shot it is Rafe's left hand on Red's chest. (01:15:30)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: In the first overhead view of Dolittle's carrier the front plane has its tail just about at the level of the carrier tower. In a later shot there are 2 planes in front of the tower, and when Dolittle takes off, his plane - as the first - is positioned behind the tower.

Jacob La Cour

Pearl Harbor mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Just after the shot of Evelyn sitting on the rocks, it cuts to Rafe in England. The first shot we see that the pint of lager on the bench is half empty, but it refills itself in the next shot. (00:36:15)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: The bomb that hits the hospital produces a really big hole in the wall. A car is thrown through the air. But there are some people standing on the stairs two or three meters away and they keep standing there. Some minutes later Rafe and Danny are thrown to the ground by a detonation about ten meters away.

Continuity mistake: This mistake takes place in the scene where Rafe is in the train, trying to get Evelyn's attention. When he first notices her outside the window, the camera pans and zooms on him. For a brief second, you see a young woman wearing a red hat is sitting next to him. After Rafe fails to get Evelyn's attention, he looks at the person sitting next to him. The young woman is now an old man with a gray hat on. You can also spot the same lady in the train station when Rafe is with Danny. She seems to be buying her ticket.

Continuity mistake: When Rafe is in the plane trying to get Zeros off his tail he says, "Son of a bitch" and he is very sweaty. In the next shot he's not half as sweaty as the shot before.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Dorie Miller almost knocked out the other man, the "referee" is first on the left, but as soon as the camera changes angles, he is suddenly on the right (or maybe it's vice-versa).

Factual error: In the scene where Admiral Kimmel is inspecting the crew of the battleship an aide comes up with a message to send some ships to the Atlantic. Admiral Kimmel starts complaining about the orders. No Admiral would ever do this especially in front of enlisted men. In fact he was placed in charge of the Pacific fleet when his predecessor complained about moving the fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor.

Clarence Daugette

More mistakes in Pearl Harbor

Admiral Yamamoto: I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.

More quotes from Pearl Harbor

Trivia: When the Japanese are heading towards Pearl Harbor, there is a shot of a pilot waving to kids playing baseball. This is a true story - the pilot was trying to wave them away before the attack started. (01:26:35)

More trivia for Pearl Harbor

Question: Why does Evelyn get a Purple Heart? As far as I understand, the only way to get it, is if you are wounded in combat.

Answer: From Dec 7, 1941 to Sept 22, 1943, the Purple Heart was also awarded for meritorious performance of duty. For wounds, "in combat" is much more restrictive than the actual requirements. Any injury caused directly or indirectly by a hostile foreign agency counts, including friendly fire if it was intended to hit an enemy.

Myridon

More questions & answers from Pearl Harbor

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