Factual error: In the scene when Clooney and Damon are rappelling down the shaft on steel cables, the come up short of the floor. They pull knives and swipe the cables. No knife would be able to cut a steel cable with one swipe.
Suggested correction: The cable is actually small enough gauge to be severed by a sharp knife when under the amount of tension created by the (static) suspended loads, i.e. Linus and Danny, although if so, it probably should have broken when their dynamic descent was halted so abruptly.
Cables would be left swinging, therefore setting off the alarm sensors.
They were retracted after they were cut. There's enough time for that to happen.
Factual error: Shane is a lieutenant and the Principal is Petty Officer first class. Shane states the Principal is the senior officer. This is wrong as the Petty Officer is a Non Commissioned Officer, while Shane is a commissioned officer. Shane outranks the Principal.
Factual error: Jodie Foster states that as a propulsion engineer, she knows the internal structure of the plane by heart and has worked extensively on it. The problem with that is that propulsion engineers work on the jet engines - which are all on the outside of the plane, on the wings. Sure, a propulsion engineer might have some basic knowledge of the plane's interior design and engineering, but the in-depth knowledge she claims comes from her job simply isn't right - that's the job of avionics engineers.
Factual error: In the final standoff, Smith shoots Hertz by holding cartridges between his fingers in the fire. This is not remotely believable. The casings, weighing much less than the bullets, would have been blasted off while the bullets themselves would have gone nowhere. (01:15:15)
Factual error: In the basement scene where the blind man is shooting at the home invaders with the M9 Beretta, the weapon should lock with the chamber open once the last round is fired. Instead the slide goes forwards, allowing the blind man to continue pulling the trigger.
Factual error: When Xander Cage is chasing Xiang on the dirt bikes, he lets his bike get entirely submerged, which would flood the engine.
Factual error: When the order is given to activate the US Navy 6th Fleet, the warships are shown with their crews standing on deck in their dress white uniforms, which is only done when pulling in or out for a deployment, or ceremonial port call (fleet week). (01:33:00)
Factual error: Opening the blank envelope, Marta finds the fragment of the toxicology report. It is signed "Office of the chief medical examiner, Norfolk County, Massachusetts." But then it writes also the address of said office, which is in Marlborough. Marlborough is also the city when Marta resides, and where the lawyers' letters we see come from. But Marlborough is also a city in the Middlesex county, not Norfolk. (01:28:25)
Factual error: El Paso, Texas, where the entire movie is set, is nowhere near the ocean or large enough bodies of water where a marina with moorings for megayachts could be located. The yacht scene, while fanciful, could not have taken place in El Paso or anywhere reasonably nearby (even by US standards).
Factual error: Every centrifuge ever made comes with a locking system that prevents the lid being opened while the centrifuge is in motion, so even if someone was as stupid as the lab assistant who put his hand in a spinning centrifuge, they would not be able to.
Factual error: When Koba steals an Armored Security Vehicle class M1117A Guardian, he kills the gunner from the turret and then somehow manages to use the 240B attached to the turret. First, it takes three men/apes to operate the ASV, and second, the ASV cannot be operated from the turret. In that scene, it is assumed that Koba is operating the entire vehicle, something most humans cannot do or do not know how to do. Let alone a 240B, MK19, or .50 Cal M2 Browning. The ASV turned in the direction of the wall, which was the only way that the Apes were able to breach the city walls. This is also kind of an important plot hole blunder too because if it were not for the breach from the ASV, the Apes would not have won. The other blunder from this is that the gunner would not have been exposed from the hatch, since the ASV was using .50Cal and MK19. No need to use the 240B.
Factual error: In the scene at the race track where they show the virus infecting and destroying cells in the blood stream, they clearly show that it is red blood cells being infected. Viruses, in order to replicate, require the cell's DNA replication machinery. However, mature red blood cells in the circulation no longer possess this machinery since they no longer have a nucleus or DNA. It would therefore be impossible for this virus to replicate.
Factual error: In the DJ spin-off scene, Zach and Francessca help make Meeker cool by going into hypertime and giving him a dance lesson. At one point, we see Zach and Francessca in hypertime making Meeker do flips. Then, in real time, we see that Meeker is doing the flips at the same speed that he was doing in hypertime. Wouldn't he be going a lot faster in real time, not the same speed as he was in hypertime?
Factual error: When Harry is confronting the bank robber and the robber says he has to know if Harry had any shots left, Harry cocks the hammer which rotates the cylinder. If you watch closely when he pulls the trigger the cylinder rotates again. This can happen only when the trigger is pulled in double action mode (hammer down). (00:14:00)
Factual error: When Shorty is removing Jennings' memories in the beginning, the pictures shown are from a third person viewpoint. If they are his memories, shouldn't these be from Jennings' viewpoint? (00:06:40)
Factual error: When they're first entering the whaling camp, a penguin startles Miller. That penguin was a black-footed penguin, which is a bird native to much warmer climates. If that little guy had actually been in Antarctica, he would have died within minutes. (00:20:40)
Factual error: Angela Bennett finds the Praetorian's IP while using the PC in the Cathedral's bank: it's 23.75.345.200 - they want us to believe that this is an IP, but no IP can contain numbers greater than 255. [Common practice, like fake phone numbers, but still worth noticing].
Factual error: Grain engulfment is not depicted in a scientific manner. It is not possible for engulfment to happen without a valve being opened at the base - which has not been shown in the movie when the boy falls in the grain storage. It is very unlikely that two engulfments will happen so close by in the same storage - if so, they will converge quickly. But, the movie shows both victims help each other one by one. They succeed in 5-10 seconds. Engulfment become entrapment in less than 20 seconds and require more than thrice the body weight to pull some one out (unlike one kid being able to pull other one out while both are on the grain). Finally, they both sit on the door and avoid entrapment.
Suggested correction: It's possible for grain to look sturdy but not be underneath so the engulfment could have possible. But you're right about them not being able to pull each other out.
Well observed. It's a factual error.
I jumped into grain hundreds of times. It is not possible without the grain moving underneath.
Factual error: When the kids are getting hit from behind by the truck, cut to a side shot of them in the car, the boy's body moves forward, while the girl's body is more properly propelled in a backward motion relative to the car. This happens several times.
Factual error: A girl is playing with a Tamagotchi virtual pet in the scene set in 1994, but the toy was not released in Japan until 1996 (it wasn't officially available in the USA until May 1997).