Factual error: During the fight scene with Sandman in the armored car, the Terminal Tower can be seen in the background, which is a landmark in Cleveland, Ohio (where the scene was shot), not in New York City.
Factual error: When Chigurh is in the gas station and throws the wrapper on the counter, the "Nutrition Facts" are visible on the label. Set in 1980, the "Nutrition Facts" label wouldn't have been available for at least another fourteen years, as nutrition labels were started in 1994.
Factual error: Federal institutions have strict rules for inmates or patients based on the reason for their incarceration, including substituting metal utensils with safer plastic ones. Despite being convicted of brutally killing his family, Myers is still trusted with a sharp metal fork - resulting in the nurse's death.
Factual error: When Swagger is fleeing from the police in the car wash after being shot, the radio says that he is at a car wash at 9th and Girard. There is no such intersection. On Girard Ave, 9th street picks up south and north of that street.
Factual error: Ben, Abigail and Riley arrive at the Library of Congress to take the President's Book very late at night. However the Library of Congress, despite being shown as open, consistently closes at 5 PM.
Factual error: It's late 18th, possibly early 19th century and, as Jane and her sister walk along the beach, a construction crane is visible on the horizon.
Factual error: Near the beginning of the film before James McAvoy heads up to the house for the evening meal, he is seen looking up through a skylight when a Lancaster bomber slowly flies overhead. At the time it was was supposed to be 1935. The Lancaster bomber did not fly until the beginning of 1941. Can't be an Avro Manchester either, they only had two engines and first flew in 1939.
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: If you pay attention to the backgrounds of the scene where Frank is in the airport and when Frank is being arrested as he walks from the church, you can see two cars pass by which weren't produced until at least 2000.
Factual error: The grenade Robert Neville uses at the end of the movie has a blue and brown colored lever. This feature is only used on the M69 practice grenade and not the real M67. The lethal grenade lever is completely green.
Factual error: During the chase with the semi, McClane is shown struggling to keep the truck under control with the freeway collapsing/blowing up all around him. He is shown making a left turn on a ramp, and the truck going up on 9 wheels, almost rolling. The shot cuts back to McClane steering left to to try to control the truck. If he were to steer left, as depicted, he would be guaranteed to roll the truck. If he was trying to get the wheels back down, he'd have to steer into the roll, or right, to bring it back on the wheels. At the end of the shot, you can actually see the stuntman brings the wheels down with a short right turn of the steering wheel. The similar entry in corrections is right, the person making the correction is wrong. During 15 years of driving a semi, I had a very similar situation with the truck almost rolling. I had to steer into the roll to bring the truck back on the wheels, not away from it, as the film showed McClane doing.
Factual error: When animated Giselle begins to sing and brushes her hair, the reflection of her "one true love" is visible in the mirror. Problem is that its image is not reversed in the reflection. (00:02:00)
Factual error: The husband was killed in an explosion. There would be no body for a casket, much less a head full of hair.
Factual error: During "School Challenge" the volume of a sphere is given as Pi R cubed. It should be four thirds Pi R cubed.
Factual error: During a montage depicting Afghan fighters shooting down Soviet aircraft, the stock military shots show an A6 Intruder, an F4 Phantom, and soon after, an F-16 Falcon getting shot down. All are jets Russia never used, as they are American aircraft. (01:22:15)
Factual error: Mikaela hot wires the tow truck by twisting two conveniently exposed and very long wires together. Allowing that this could work at all in a modern vehicle, it can't steer until the ignition lock is turned or removed, neither of which she does. (01:55:55)
Factual error: The uniform the female soldier is wearing when she comes back home is all wrong: the camo pattern is that of the USMC digital desert uniform but it has "US ARMY" chest tags (in a strange size and position, by the way). The US flag and unit insignia are on the wrong arms. The cut of the jacket is ACU, the pants are true USMC. (00:15:00)
Factual error: Early in the movie we see the newspaper dated "Sunday, March 14, 1987". March 14, 1987 was a Saturday, not a Sunday.
Factual error: Firearm issues abound throughout the film. The British detectives (who all seem to be armed, rather than a low proportion of AFO (Authorised Firearms Officers) as in real life) are shown carrying Beretta pistols, even though the Metropolitan Police issue the Glock 17. The SFO (Specialist Firearms Operations) officers are shown carrying MP5 submachineguns, which is accurate, but fitted with cheap toy-shop lasers. Weapons handling is poor throughout, with chickenwing syndrome particularly prevalent. Weapons carriage also appears geared to look "cool" rather than realistic; shoulder holsters - which practically everyone wears in this film - are rarely used for concealed carry in reality.
Factual error: In the final scene where Congress is supposedly passing the bill, they are still in the committee room. Bills are not passed there, but in the actual meeting halls of the House and the Senate.