Factual error: When we see the burning 'DD' in Joe Pantoliano's glasses it is not a reflection. The DD should be backwards in his glasses. (00:26:55)
Factual error: This movie states that it is during the year 1973, yet in the beginning of the movie when they are driving in the van they are listening to "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. This song was not released publicly until 1974. (00:03:10)
Factual error: When the Ranger trainees first meet Samuel L. Jackson, he's wearing the rank of a Specialist on his collars even though he's a Master Sergeant. Title 18, Chapter 33 of the US code prevents the unauthorized wear of a military uniform (among other things), however this does not automatically correct the mistake since a common misconception is that one slight alteration is sufficient to make the uniform legal. Having the wrong rank on is too obvious of an alteration, especially for anybody who has spent more than a day in or around the Army and would still be punishable by law, if he was dressed in an attempt to fool your average citizen outside of a movie.
Factual error: Helicopter rotor blades do not unfold by themselves and there is no way to unfold them from inside the helicopter. A trained mechanic with the right tools and equipment (including the proper ladder for the job) will take a minimum of twenty minutes to rig a four bladed rotor, and that's if (s)he's in a hurry. An airborne (i.e. falling) helicopter? Forget it. (00:07:40)
Factual error: This movie takes place in 1990, but that big 'Welcome to Daytona Beach' sign was not built until 2001. (00:21:05)
Factual error: In the scene at the beginning of the movie as the 3 youths walk up the street, you can see current MA license plates, although the action should have taken place many years earlier. (00:01:30 - 00:05:50)
Factual error: In the final race, they are able to slow down and stop two extremely powerful machines, travelling at well over 100 miles per hour, on a dirt road, in a very short distance. In reality, they would have gone through the wooden arch over the road, through the white fence, and ended up halfway up the hill in the background, amongst the horses.
Factual error: The group is plunged into the icy water for at least several minutes wearing nothing but light jackets yet no one seems to be suffering from hypothermia in the slightest when they show up on shore. (00:21:30)
Factual error: When we see the closeup of the gun when Bill shoots "The Bride" it is obvious that it is a normal gun with rifling in the barrel, we even see the end of the grooves when the bullet comes straight out of the gun at the camera, but the bullet does not spin.
Factual error: When Syd throws the pistol to detonate the landmine, nobody in the nearby vicinity seems to be injured except one 'bad guy' despite the fact that many modern anti-personnel mines project shrapnel to a radius of 30 meters. (02:17:35)
Factual error: When Marylin Rexroth's ex-husband dies, she inherits his money because he had not removed her from his will after divorcing her. Under California Probate Code § 6122(a)(1), the dissolution of a marriage automatically revokes any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to the former spouse.
Factual error: Mahony gets Can$15,000 from the bank he works in in Canada and flies to Atlantic City (US) where the cashier gives him US$15,000 of chips. US and Canadian dollars are not equivalent and, at the end of 1981, the cashier should be giving him less than US$13,000. Since he is broke, he couldn't have made up the difference himself. (00:09:30 - 00:11:30)
Factual error: The movie leaves the impression that Huntsville, Texas and Austin, Texas are just a short distance apart. In reality, they are at least three hours apart.
Factual error: Tony Gregory, the politician that Veronica meets, is seen wearing a suit and tie. Tony Gregory the TD, made a point of never wearing a tie.
Factual error: In the scene where the Learjet takes off the jet starts to roll. Then there is the shooting with the SWAT team, towards the end of the shooting the pilot pushes the power levers forward to accelerate. Regarding the short take off run they had on the bridge, the pilot would have stayed on the brakes until the engines were at full thrust, then released the brakes, started rolling and wouldn't touch the power levers until after liftoff or in emergency.
Factual error: After the cops respond to the domestic disturbance (son hitting mom), we see the male officer get in the back with the boy to show him the crime scene photos and he shuts the door after getting in. Police cars are designed so that the back doors must be opened from outside, however, he exited the car with no help. (00:21:00)
Suggested correction: Police cars just use the child safety lock on the side of door that prevents the back door being opened from inside. It's simple to turn them off so the doors can be opened from the inside.
Factual error: Cody mentions the coordinates of the Cascade Mountains as: Long: 44 degrees 5' 2" Lat: -104 degrees 24' 8". There is no such thing as -104° latitude. The maximum in the northern hemisphere is +90° (the North Pole) and the maximum in the Southern Hemisphere is -90° (South Pole).
Factual error: In the scene where Meg Ryan and her sister are in the coffee shop, her sister calls to the waitress that they ordered a latte, no foam, very dry - it is impossible to make a dry latte without foam, because dry means "foamy." Not to mention, a very dry latte is technically a cappuccino.
Factual error: When Antonio Banderas gets shot with the dart in the forehead there are two reasons why that wouldn't work - 1) There isn't any muscle tissue and the skin is too thin for the dart to stick most likely. 2) The tranquilizer would never take effect that quick unless it was injected into a muscle where the blood supply is greater. (00:53:55)
Factual error: After Mat has turned off his ringer we see him going into the menu and turning off his voice mail through an option labeled "Voice Mail / Off". The biggest problem with this is that there is no option to turn off your voice mail in an I90. The closest thing that it has is an option to turn off the ring tone that signals a new voice mail message.