Factual error: The kid is wearing a Texas Rangers baseball cap. The Rangers didn't come to Texas until 1972.
Factual error: Approximately three quarters of the way in to the film, there is a close up of a German soldier handing an officer a file of documents. The helmet that the soldier is wearing is a post war 1960s version. This can be determined by the lack of an air vent and rivet on the side of the helmet.
Factual error: One of the members of the orchestra is reading off sheet music held together by sticky tape, which is an anachronism.
Factual error: When the agent searches for Abu Ahmed in Peshawar, Pakistan, in one scene he gets out of his car, and a shop named Bhatia sons appear in the background, a company based in Delhi, India. In the next scene he is walking down a market, where a sign board of Jaggi sweets, (existing in Punjab, India) is seen, with words written in Hindi (only to be found in India).
Factual error: Secretary of State John Hay is depicted issuing the order to "initiate hostilities" against Spain. Unfortunately, at the time we actually went to war with Spain, John Hay was not the Secretary of State. That position was held by William. R. Day. Hay did not become SofS until September of 1898, after most hostilities had ended.
Factual error: In the scene towards the end, where Johnny Depp is making his speech in the House of Lords, he refers to 'due process of law', but uses the American pronunciation of the word 'process' (prah-sess) whereas the English would say 'proe-sess'.
Factual error: There are a couple of references throughout the movie to Ralph Fiennes' character as an "American diplomat" "of the League of Nations". The United States was not a member of the League, so there were no "American diplomats", as such, working for the League.
Factual error: Many palace scenes in the mini-series are set in the Forbidden City. This is incorrect, as the Forbidden City was built under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and not completed until about 1420, almost 100 years after Marco Polo's death.
Factual error: Eleanor uses a paisley-shaped mirror. The paisley pattern comes from India and is designed after the mango, therefore unknown in the England of 1138, centuries before the British set foot on the subcontinent. (01:04:40)
Factual error: When the ship is being launched a champagne bottle is smashed against the hull. Harland & Wolff, like many shipbuilders, did not smash champagne bottles against the hull.
Factual error: In an early scene, a character suggests that a man might be awarded an OBE honor if he wins the 1913 US Open. The OBE wasn't established until 1917.
Factual error: Marie Antoinette has moved into her new vacation home following the birth of her daughter. Her friends are visiting, she is walking through the field of wildflowers, and she blows a ladybug off her finger. The camera pans upward to show her gazing at the sky. There is a very obvious vapor-trail from a large airliner cutting through the center of the camera shot, from one side of the screen to the opposite, predating jet-liners by over 150 years. (01:25:25)
Factual error: The movie is supposed to be in the 15th century. In a scene we see a priest, wearing a Jesuit robe. But the Jesuit order was founded in the 16th century. So it's impossible that a priest wearing a Jesuit robe appears there.
Factual error: In the scene when Zhen is writing down the characters of Shu Lian's name, she writes the modern form of the "Lian". That form wasn't introduced into the language until after World War II, and this movie is set well before the fall of Imperial China.
Factual error: In order to make Polyphem drunk, Ulysses and his men produce 'wine' by treading on grapes. Only thing is: without fermenting the stuff for a few months, all you get is grape juice, which is not even remotely intoxicating.
Factual error: Big Ben is heard to strike in 1804, fifty years before it was built.
Factual error: In the ambush-on-the-prison scene, one of the Boers is equipped with a Lee-Enfield CLLE Charger-Loading Rifle. Although the Boers used many captured Lee-Enfield and Lee-Metford rifles, the CLLE's weren't even developed until the Boer War had ended.
Factual error: In a scene in a bar the music playing is Blur's Song 2, which wasn't released until 1998 and a Kula Shaker song which wasn't released until 1996, by which time Nick Leeson was firmly in prison.
Factual error: On the way into the health spa, Wilberforce's friend says they should hurry or they'll be late. Wilberforce replies "the waters have been here for a million years - how could we be late?". In the late 1700s, no-one in Europe thought the world was that old.
Factual error: When the filmmakers were choosing existing warships to play the roles of the ships in the battle, they didn't quite match up some of the details. The Graf Spee is represented by USS Salem which has three triple gun turrets - yet in the Captain's cabin is a photograph of the real Graf Spee which had just two turrets. Likewise, HMS Ajax is represented by a Sheffield class cruiser with four triple gun turrets - yet in the fire control area there are just eight lights to indicate guns ready to fire.