Factual error: The movie is supposed to take place in and around New York City, however during the car chase where Angelina and Brad are fighting off the three BMW's, a wide shot clearly shows a street sign announcing Los Angeles.
Factual error: When they go into the water, they put mouthpieces in, but, a few times, they talk to each other, which is impossible with mouthpieces in.
Factual error: When Elektra closes her cell phone on McCabe, a dial tone can be heard. Cell phones don't have dial tones. Even if they did, Elektra hung up, so nothing would be heard.
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: The crescent as emblem on Saracen pennants is anachronistic as it appeared on Islamic military flags no sooner than the 15th century A.D.
Factual error: There would not be so many people standing around on the flight deck without some type of ear and eye protection and a float coat.
Factual error: At a stop on the Niger River, before they arrived in Mali, Dirk tells Dr. Rojas of "the angel wing clam" and calls them "Petricola Pholadiformis" and says that "this river is the only place on the earth they are found." Three problems: First, Petricola Pholadiformis are actually called "False angel wing" and are found many places in the world in fresh water (but seldom in the Niger River). Second, what's known as the "Angel wing" shell (no "false" in its name) has "Cyrtopleura Costata" as its scientific name. Cyrtopleura Costata ("Angel wing") is found in salt water. Third, Dirk also said they "glow in the dark"; some varieties of Cyrtopleura Costata shells will glow if exposed to ultraviolet light but none glow from their own internal source. Petricola Pholadiformis shells don't glow at all.
Factual error: When they're near the ferry, the fiery train zooms by. Passenger trains along the Hudson River run along the east bank of the Hudson, not the west bank, where the ferry was departing. (00:56:55)
Factual error: When Angela is watching the security video on her laptop of her sister committing suicide, you can see she's playing it using Quicktime. She rewinds a couple of seconds by clicking on the first button of the video player. Actually, when you click this button, it takes you to the beginning of the video. The second button would have rewound it a short time. (00:25:20)
Factual error: In the shot where the laser sights of the assailants come in through the windows and holes in the wall, their angles are far too different from each other. The shooters are standing at a rather great distance from the structure and at more or less the same height. All the laser sights should have more or less the same direction and certainly not make a sweeping motion inside the room. (00:37:30)
Factual error: In the fire at the lighthouse, Stevie puts her hand on the fire extinguisher nozzle. It would have frozen her hand and made it stick to it.
Factual error: When the first train wheel hits the ground in the close up, you can see that it isn't made of steel as it deforms as if it were foam. And there is also no damage to the concrete road whatsoever, since the wheels are made of steel there should have been quite a big hole. (01:17:50)
Factual error: Stone sneaks aboard the USS Independence (CVA-62) to investigate the bad guy's arms cache..yet, when he dives into the water, he is jumping off the USS Hornet (CVS-12). (00:50:35 - 00:57:45)
Factual error: When Marv is talking with the Priest in the confessional, he cocks the hammer of his pistol as a means of interrogation. But in the next shot, the pistol is uncocked, without sufficient time for this to occur. In fact, the pistol is uncocked even when Marv shoots him. This cannot happen, since his pistol is a standard 1911 .45, which requires the hammer to be cocked in order to fire.
Factual error: When the train is travelling away from Paddington Station, the locomotive does not have a number on the buffer beam, but has a number plate on the smokebox door. It also has a large 'British Railways' symbol on the tender. In 1940, the Great Western Railway would have had the number on the buffer beam and a either a small GWR logo on the tender or Great Western in full. British Railways wasn't created until 1948.
Factual error: The vehicles in the movie have front and back license plates. The state of Florida does not have front plates, only back.
Factual error: When the orphans are taken at the start of the film, the police car outside is a 1990's Ford Crown Victoria, despite the events being said to occur 22 years ago- meaning the early 1980s.
Factual error: Luc Crash holds the match unreasonably close to the gas-soaked priest, whom he intends to play with and not actually burn alive. At the distance he held the match, the fumes from the gas would have caught fire.
Factual error: The group of Japanese soldiers who came to Cabanatuan following the guards desertion were not "secret police" with orders to execute the POWs as shown in the film. They were simply units who happened to temporarily halt at the camp during their retreat from the advancing Americans.
Suggested correction: Sorry to burst your bubble here but there is scuba equipment which allows for talking whilst using a regulator.
They're not wearing such equipment. In the movie they're just wearing regular mouthpieces.
In the DVD commentary the writers explain that the divers should have been wearing full face masks which allow for communication, but the director changed it for mouthpieces, but kept the talking in. They pointed out this mistake.