Factual error: Einar walks away from his wife in Paris to go to a peep show, then there is suddenly a scene where he walks the streets of Copenhagen. It's clear that the marble church of Copenhagen is in the shot.
Factual error: As Ray is driving around the country selling his machines, we see town mileage signs that are green with white lettering. In the early 50s they were white with black lettering.
Factual error: The way surveying is done is plain stupid. Percy Fawcett sets up a transit in the middle of a thick jungle, Henry Costin stands 10 feet in front of him holding the rod in one hand and a notepad in the other, then Percy looks through the transit and somehow reads the geographic coordinates out of thin air. This scene repeats couple of times during the movie.
Factual error: Sug Knight drives under the Monorail tracks. These tracks were not built until after 2002. Tupac was killed in 1996. (02:12:00)
Factual error: USAF is written on the underside of an aircraft's left wing. The U.S. Air Force wasn't created until later. Flight operations were still conducted by the U.S. Army.
Suggested correction: The plane actually has "USAAF" written on the wing: United States Army Air Force.
Factual error: Tommy is wearing a Hulkamania shirt while the band is being assembled together. The band was formed in 1981. Hulkamania didn't start until 1984.
Factual error: After showing a picture from 1955 when he was eight, the narrator (Shayne) states that he was fifteen by 1962. The story begins with his mother getting fired from her job at a potato chip factory and making the decision that night to move the next morning. The family moves from L.A. to Kingston, Idaho. Shayne's mother Fran tells Mr. Moon that they (she and whatever work her kids do for him around the house) want paid "minimum wage plus 10%" to pay for the land and when she gets hired at the bowling alley she is told the job pays "minimum wage" (plus any tips, which "ain't much"). Idaho did not establish a minimum wage until 1963, a year (or some months) later. The narrator even asserted at the beginning "This is a true story. It really happened to me." (00:20:03 - 00:23:47)
Factual error: As Wendell and Jackie are driving in the car, Jackie turns the radio on to put a hiatus on their discussion. As soon as he turns it on, sound issues forth, but in the 40's radios used vacuum tubes, which required a warm-up period.
Suggested correction: Once the tubes are warmed up, they will tend to stay warm for a period of time even if the radio is turned off. It's possible the radio had been turned on and warmed up before this scene.
Factual error: In the scene where the young Helen Goff is traveling by train with her family, it's obvious that an American engine and coaches have been used, instead of a Queensland Rail locomotive of the era. None of the QR locomotives had flared smokestacks like on the one seen in the movie. The coaches are also incorrect - as far as I know, none of the Queensland Rail wood coaches had clerestory roofs with a set of windows in them like seen in the movie. When Helen looks out the back of the train, it's also obvious that the tracks are spaced at 'standard gauge' (4' 8.5"). They should be closer together, as railways in Queensland are built to 3'6" gauge instead. There is also no such company as the 'Queensland Victoria Railway Co', as marked on the coaches, as all railways in Australia are state owned.
Factual error: When Jordan tries to escape with his daughter in the Mercedes, he pulls the parking brake with his hand (a hand-type parking brake) to stop the car, but that car (Mercedes Benz SL Class R129) is only available with a foot-type parking brake, making his action impossible. (02:43:35)
Factual error: In the early part of the movie, there is a shot of the outside of Triple O's bar. The scene takes place in 1975 and "Coors" is advertised on the outside of the bar. Coors beer was not available in Boston/East Coast in 1975. It was only available from the 1980's.
Factual error: An old man appears with children following him. This is supposed to be pedagogue Janusz Korczak. It appeared as if he was just wearing a suit and a Jewish arm band. In the Warsaw Ghetto, Mr. Korczak never wore an arm band and wore his WWI Polish Army Uniform, both as acts of defiance. He was beaten and almost put to death (he had connections) for not wearing an arm band so having one on in the movie is inaccurate.
Factual error: Joan's brother Pierre did not die at the fight at Paris. He actually outlived her and testified at her Trial of Rehabilitation.
Factual error: The von Trapps are shown walking over the border to Switzerland after a short drive out of the centre of town...except Salzburg is about 200km east of Switzerland. If one walked across the border at Salzburg, you'd be entering Germany, which is where (I believe) the people they were trying to get away from lived. Take a look at a map.
Suggested correction: Even though the von Trapps were 200km from the Swiss border, in the last 5 mins, they received a car from the sisters at the convent and the sisters disabled the cars of their pursuers.
Captain Von Trapp was clear, when they were about to hide, that they would drive into the mountains in Salzburg (which the movie did a close up on to show it was those mountains specifically) and walk over them on foot confirming the movie is pretending those are mountains into Switzerland. The director himself admitted this when the real Maria Von Trapp complained of this error. He said "In Hollywood you can make up your own geography."
Factual error: The movie is set in the late 1950s, yet Ed's car has yellow-on-black California license plates that weren't issued until 1963. The plates on Ed's car should be black-on-yellow 1956 issue plates.
Factual error: Halfway into the film, a scene shows Capote talking on a beige telephone. The receiver is a modular (plug in) type. Modular phones were not introduced until after 1966. The time frame for this movie is 1959 through 1963. All other scenes in this movie show the correct type of receiver (wired, not plug-in).
Factual error: Prime Minister Peter Stolypin is shown at the Romanov Tercentery, which marked 300 years of Romanov rule. Stolypin died in 1911, yet the Tercentenary was held in 1913. Also, Alexei's Spala incident happened in 1912, and was also shown after the Tercentenary.
Factual error: At a scene where Ron is in the Veteran's hospital doing physical therapy, it is supposed to be 1968, but the song playing is "American Pie." The song didn't come out until 1971.
Factual error: The year is 1969 when they steal the first aircraft (single engine Cessna), and there is a 757 taking off in the background. The 757 first flew on 02-19-82. (00:22:05)
Factual error: When Hughes flies the open cockpit H-1 at over 350mph he isn't wearing goggles. There isn't a sign of any wind at all in the cockpit. Even with a windscreen, the wind would cause your eyes to water well before 350mph.