Factual error: Karl Wolfschtagg's Olympic uniform should have read 'DDR' (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the German name) rather than 'GDR', the English name for East Germany. Olympic country names are customarily rendered in their native language.
Factual error: At the 28 minute mark, the Wild Hogs cross the Taos River Gorge Bridge in Taos, New Mexico. Shortly after the scene with the skinny dipping, they drive down the road and at the 34 minute mark, the sign on the right says, 'Missouri State Lane.' I never knew Missouri was inside the state of New Mexico.
Factual error: When Jean-Dominique is taken on a boat ride, a 'Speedferries' vessel can be seen in the background. This company did not commence business until 2004, years after the time in which the story is set and years after Bauby's death in 1997.
Factual error: In the first fire scene, Chuck and Larry go into an actively burning building with no air masks on - that would NEVER happen.
Factual error: There are a number of computers and gadgets shown which were not introduced in early 2002, i.e. HP LaserJet 1320 Printer at Asra's place, HP Color LaserJet shown at the consulate, Acer Notebook used in investigation, and the Nokia 1100 cellphone used by Captain.
Factual error: In the beginning of the film, a variety of different suitors are presented to Elizabeth. Amongst them are Eric XIV of Sweden, reportedly "still madly in love [with her]". Even though he was born the same year as Elizabeth; when this film takes place, in 1585, he had already been dead for 8 years.
Factual error: The Commissioner's secretary, a police constable, wears a shoulder number consisting of four digits only. Metropolitan Police constables' shoulder numbers always have two letters above three digits.
Factual error: When Bourne is traveling to London on the Eurostar from Paris, immediately after the 'flashback' where Marie floats away after being killed, there are two helicopter shots of the Eurostar traveling to London. The second (far away) shot shows the train passing over a motorway. The train is actually traveling towards Paris, and therefore away from London. The motorway is the M20 and the bridge is approximately 3 miles west of junction 9 for Ashford (Kent). The train would have been 10 minutes away from entering the Channel Tunnel. (00:13:45)
Factual error: Although the movie was set a few years after the Civil War, the train was equipped with modern automatic couplers.
Factual error: When challenged by Henry Lowe, Professor Tolson begins to recite the infamous William Lynch speech. However, the speech was proved to be a hoax that was actually written in the 1990s. No text could have existed at the time of this scene for Tolson to quote.
Factual error: In a couple of scenes, most notably the one where Graysmith drives his kid to school, there are newer cars in the background than the year it is supposed to be. In this scene the car is a 1971 Chrysler, when the scene takes place in 1969.
Factual error: The movie was meant to be set in Oregon, but it was actually filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana. In the scene that has Tracy leaving the apartment complex where Bafford (Mr. Smith) is, she is worried that she is being chased by a jogger who may possibly be Mekes. In the background, during the shot where the jogger first appears, a brown sign can be seen. These specific signs are unique to Louisiana and describe the history of certain locations, this one obviously being Shreveport.
Factual error: Hadrian's Wall is facing the wrong direction. The Wall was built to defend Britannia from the Picts in Scotland; therefore, its front should face north. However, as the Romans approach it from the south, they are greeted by the sheer face of the Wall.
Factual error: When Stowe and Callaghan shoot each other at the end, the CGI shell casings have huge, unrealistic primers.
Factual error: In Las Vegas Paris and The Vencian are not next to each other. They farther part then that. Next to Paris is Ballys. (00:53:10)
Factual error: The movie was set roughly in the early 1950s, but the two motorcycles were at least mid-1980s or newer.
Factual error: The movie depicts Wes Studi, who is playing the Paiute medicine man "Wovoka," as coming to the Sioux reservation and delivering his vision. Wovoka (aka Jack Wilson) was from Schurz, Nevada 1250 miles away from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He never travelled to South Dakota. What really happened was tribal parties (at great personal risk) travelled to Nevada to get the message and brought it back to the Sioux people. Of course, this message was "modified" somewhat to better fit Lakota culture.
Factual error: After Kate's wedding is broken up and everyone leaves the church and ends up fighting in the town square (using shovels, pizza oven paddles, etc.) you can see a post office in the background. The city and state say "Boiling Springs, Tennessee" followed by the zip code 87168. This isn't a real zip code according to the US Post Office, and zip codes beginning with "8" are closer to the west coast (i.e. in Nevada or Utah). Real Tennessee zip codes begin with 37's or 36's. (01:29:35)
Factual error: When Wilbur tosses Lewis onto the time machine, he should have broken or hit the glass covering the back half. And he is on all fours when the machine becomes visible, which shows he would have had his face hitting the driver seat, yet he scrambles back into the passenger seat without a problem, then is seen barely leaning forward to talk to Wilbur in the future.
Factual error: When Cole and Carter are skydiving, there are a number of inaccuracies. First, Carter and his instructor jump well before Cole to put a safe distance between them. However, Cole and his instructor immediately catch up to Carter and then match their speed. This could be achieved by skilled jumpers, but not by instructor-novice pairs. Second, the men have a conversation while free-falling, which is completely impossible. Third, Carter pulls his own rip-cord (too early) and Cole's instructor yells at him to pull his own cord before it's too late. In reality, the instructor always carries the chute and pulls the cord for a first-time jumper, for exactly these reasons. (00:40:30)