Revealing: Watch carefully as the statue falls on the bartender. It barely touches his chest and rests on his left thigh. As the bartender slumps dead you can see a wide open gap between his whole upper body and the statue. Even if it crushed his thigh it would not have killed him so quickly. When the bartender slumps down the statue rocks freely as he brushes against it; obviously a styrofoam replica.

Plot hole: There are numerous problems with the final solution to putting out multiple burning floors of a skyscraper by blowing the water tanks under the roof. Blowing the floor under the tanks only channels the water into the Promanade Room. From there it cascades out the windows and - as we see in the film - falls to the ground without touching the fires on the lower floors. A tiny percentage makes it into the stairwell door and elevator shaft, despite the fact that the elevator doors were closed. All of the stairwell and elevator doors in the building were shut; none of this water makes it to the fire. Also, as we see the flames going out from all the floors no water is coming out of any of those windows, proving that the fires are going out without any water.

Plot hole: The roof of the building is fully engulfed in flames (from the helicopter explosion) right up to the point where they blow the water tanks. When they explode the water tanks the whole building is put out. It would have been impossible for the water tanks to put out the roof fire; it was above the tanks. Although all of the building shots at the end of the film are looking up at the structure you can see flames shooting off the roof before the tank explosions, then no roof flames whatsoever after.

Continuity: During the scenic elevator rescue scenes, the building has moved across the downtown core and is now located next to the Transamerica Pyramid, which is many city blocks to the west.

Revealing: On the roof during the helicopter rescue scene, there is a panic and some women run to the helicopter trying to land in strong winds. As it explodes, a woman in a slinky dress falls down. Paul Newman helps her up and her dress is whisked up to reveal "stuntwoman" kneepads on her legs.

Continuity: When O.J. Simpson (Security Guard) attempts to rescue the mother and 2 children from their apartment, he kicks the door in. If you look closely, the door is actually open and he's holding it shut so he "can" kick it in!

Continuity: When Will Giddings attempts to open the storage room door where the fire has started he is set ablaze. Look closely and he is wearing large protective gloves over his hands.

Revealing: In the scene where Dan Bigelow tries to save himself and his girlfriend from certain death by racing through the flames to get help, watch as he falls to his death. The stuntman portraying him is wearing a protective glove on his right hand.

Continuity: In the establishing shot of the San Francisco skyline, the building appears to be located off Market Street and facing the viewer (elevator tracks facing the front of the building). In a night-time shot from the Bay Bridge, the building has "turned around" and faces the other way.

Other: Near the end of the movie, Paul Newman is seen descending the stairwell and avoiding fire as is extends from one of the doorways. Unfortunately he is using the metal handrail with his bare hands but it doesn't seem to be very hot.

Continuity: During the explosions of the water tanks on the top floor, if you look closely as the miniatures explode, part of the floor is already broken and falls apart a second before the explosives go off.

Other: During the scenic elevator rescue scene, a helicopter lowers the Fire Chief down to connect a cable to the top of the elevator. The cable is seen to be hanging no more than three feet from the side of the building. If this were the case, the helicopter's rotors would be hitting the building.

Revealing: When Dan Bigelow is going out to get help, at one point you can see him dipping down to get ignited.

Factual error: The device used near the end of the movie for ferrying people to another building is repeatedly referred to as a "breeches buoy." It is actually a bosun's chair. A breeches buoy was an earlier, more primitive device that was basically an oversized life preserver with a pair of large canvas trousers (breeches) sewn to it.

Revealing: When laurie throws the chair out of the window, follow its path down. It bounces off a mat, revealing that she's about two feet off the ground.