Factual error: The Major and the band are (correctly) summonsed to appear before a magistrates' court for driving without insurance, but then appear before a judge in full robes. Judges do not sit in magistrates' courts.
Factual error: Many times in the film, the Nutcracker is shown to be standing at rest, but with its mouth open. It is at rest with nobody touching it, so its handle/lever would be in the down position by gravity. Yet the Nutcracker’s mouth is open. If a nutcracker is sitting at rest with the handle down, the mouth should be closed.
Factual error: Mr. Holland starts teaching at JFK in fall of 1964 (q.e.d by the fact that the first graduating class seen is class of 1965). However, when Holland first meets the assistant principal parking his Corvair, the latter asks him if he's read Ralph Nader's book (Unsafe at Any Speed), which was not published until November of 1965.
Factual error: Brian Wilson's panic attack on the airplane takes place circa 1964. However, the interior of the plane had distinctive sculpted doors on the overhead bins, a style first introduced in 1983 on the Boeing 757.
Factual error: The shop owner shows him a tape of the Joshua Tree by U2 and says it is the best concert he has seen, but the Joshua Tree wasn't released until 1987.
Factual error: When we see Elton John's father Stanley in RAF uniform at the beginning of the film he is wearing other ranks' uniform. Stanley was commissioned in 1944, three years before Elton was born, and served as a commissioned officer until his retirement as a squadron leader in 1963. He should be wearing officer's uniform.
Factual error: In a scene set in May 1960, Paul Williams and his group are singing the Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs song "Stay," but Herald Records did not release "Stay" until August 1960.
Factual error: In the big professional Latin dance championship scene at the end of the movie, the competitors perform four dances: the samba, the cha-cha, the paso doble, and the rumba. In reality, however, a professional Latin dance championship, regardless of where you go, is almost always a 5-dance event: a cha-cha, a samba, a rumba, a paso doble, and a jive. Rumor has it that a jive sequence was originally supposed to be part of the competition scene but was cut from the final version of the film for unknown reasons.
Factual error: In the scene where Derek Smalls is having trouble with the airport security the gate only beeps when he walks 'in'. The gate would beep no matter what way he walked through it. (00:41:00)
Factual error: Right after The Kid's father shoots himself, The Kid is seen in the basement being interviewed by two police officers in uniform and one detective. One of the police officers is asking the questions while the detective is writing in his notepad. Standard procedure is for a "Lead Detective" to be assigned to the case and he conducts all interviews. (01:18:49)
Factual error: When Norah offers Tyler a ride home, she says she is taking him to her special place near Hampden. That place turns out to be at the docks near the Key Bridge, miles away and nowhere near Hampden. (00:47:55)
Factual error: About 3/4 into the movie, in the scene where Woody is looking for a place to sleep, he comes upon this other man in a bunk. The guy in the bunk asks Woody if he wants to share his blanket with him because it is cold. Arlo does. In the next scene, outside, it shows the steam locomotive, and to the left of the steamer is a diesel locomotive. It is a Western Pacific GE logo. The movie is 1936 and WP diesels didn't show up till 1953. I was there.
Factual error: As Eliott walks across the hillside where the concert is taking place, you can see nylon dome and bivouac style tents. Tents made with metal poles and nylons didn't come to market til the 70s. (01:23:05)
Factual error: When Ariel is playing a tape in her boyfriend's boombox in the parking lot of the diner, when her dad comes over he pushes a button once and the tape ejects. However, on this type of boombox, the stop and eject button are the same button. So in order to eject the tape, he would have had to push the button twice.
Factual error: In the scene where the Bellas run out of gas, on their way to the second competition, it shows the gas gauge saying "unleaded fuel only." But when the bus runs out of gas it makes the sound that a diesel engine makes, not a regular gas engine.
Factual error: When Jake is giving Anna (in Tess' body) a ride on his motorcycle, you hear what sounds like a gearshift. However, Jake never pulls in the clutch or lets off the gas. If he would shift without doing this, the shift would never sound as nice as it did.
Factual error: When Nick leaves from his home in New Jersey to play a gig with his band in New York City, an exterior shot shows his car traveling on the multi-lane ramp that serves the Lincoln Tunnel. On this ramp, vehicles must be heading into the tunnel toward NYC, or exiting the tunnel from NYC. Nick's car is shown arriving from NYC into New Jersey- the wrong direction.
Factual error: The scene during Lonette Mckee's rendition of Ill Wind, where coins are poured onto a glass table, appear to be from a later time period. (01:16:00)
Factual error: When they show the map of Copenhagen, they show Poland, Germany and UK in the far back, however the map is pointed north, so that should be Norway and possibly Sweden, neither of which are actually visible on the map. (01:28:30)
Factual error: Babe Ruth is shown batting right-handed; in reality, he batted left-handed.