Deliberate mistake: When Okwe pulls the heart out of the blocked toilet, the water doesn't go out of the toilet. (00:07:50)
Deliberate mistake: Although the first account of what happened in Zhao isn't completely true, the arrows penetrating the calligraphy school are sometimes flying at angles that make their trajectory impossible, such as arrows flying perpendicular to the ground or even flying upward.
Deliberate mistake: There is blood all over the back of the couch that's supposed to be from the neck cutting, however there is not a trace of blood on May's dress or anywhere else but her hands. (01:13:30)
Deliberate mistake: In countless shots showing Japanese, and some shots showing Americans, being shot, take notice of the ground that they stand on. Almost every time a bullet(s) will hit below them at their feet, yet they still fall dead. In some shots even, there is a continuous line of shots from a single shooter, hitting the ground, yet numerous Japanese soldiers fall dead.
Deliberate mistake: During the last assault against the hill, a duo of helicopters is mowing down the Vietnamese soldiers with miniguns. In one shot, you can see one chopper coming up behind a tree, all guns blazing. However, the tree, which is in the way of the helicopters right side minigun, remains totally untouched, although, looking at the carnage the guns do to the Vietnamese soldiers, it should have been reduced to toothpicks. (01:51:00)
Deliberate mistake: When John and his sister Patty are watching the old videos, it shows John saying that he would pay for his niece's college education and the camera is showing them from the side. John says "And that's a promise from your uncle John." and the camera is in front of him showing his face. There is no way they could change camera angles like that in a home movie.
Deliberate mistake: The entire time they spend in the trench, before they attack, Quinn has a white sheepskin jacket. It rains throughout the film yet with all the mud about you would think in about a day that this jacket would turn dark brown. It is still fairly white even when Quinn dies.
Deliberate mistake: In many scenes bullets are shown striking things and sparking (this is especially visible on the attack on Knockout Ned's house when a bullet strikes a chair and gives off a huge spark of light). In real life, only special bullets with incendiary materials (meant for starting fires) cause sparks, and this is only when they're fired against metallic objects. It is impossible that a bullet striking a chair would give off a spark.
Deliberate mistake: When the girls are shown at home at the beginning of the film they speak in their native tongue except when they talk to whites. Also at Moore River they get sometimes scolded for using that 'jabber language'. Therefore, it seems wrong that on their walk home they talk to each other only in English. (Though the director admits on the commentary that he felt this would be unrealistic, he decided the audience would connect with the girls if they speak English rather than reading subtitles.)
Deliberate mistake: After Doyle and Gavin agree to meet at the court (right before Gavin's second highway crash), there is a scene of a taxi driving on the left side of the road. This shot was obviously flipped, as everyone in the U.S. drives on the right-hand side of the road. (01:00:15)
Deliberate mistake: When asked about the effects of a gas attack on a village in Russia, the president is told that the effects were similar to end stage cerebral palsy. One major problem - cerebral palsy is a chronic condition, not acute. The condition itself is not fatal.
Deliberate mistake: Although much of Auto Focus revolves around the 1960s hit television series "Hogan's Heroes," the producers of this independent film could not work out a licensing agreement with CBS regarding the famous "Hogan's Heroes" theme music. As a result, the familiar "Hogan's Heroes" theme music is entirely absent from Auto Focus, replaced with contrived theme music that isn't even remotely similar to the original.