Character mistake: When the Level 3 Sentry gun is revealed on the right of the screen and fires a rocket barrage to the left, you hear it explode as the Engi looks over. You then hear Scout scream "My arm!" really loud. Then an disembodied arm falls in front of Engi with a plop. However, this arm is from the character model of Sniper, not Scout. Including his glove and his watch. (00:00:45)
Continuity mistake: When Walter is looking for the condom in his drawer, he pulls out a picture of a girl and some cylindrical object and puts them on the desk. The items change position in the shot where he turns his back to the camera. (00:52:40)
Continuity mistake: In the ending scene with Daniel and Eli, Daniel starts yelling at Eli as Eli is running down the bowling alley. As Daniel is throwing bowling balls at Eli, the first ball is thrown down the left lane, hits Eli in the foot and ends up in the right lane - no pins have fallen. The second ball is thrown down the left lane and is a gutter ball - again no pins have fallen. The third ball is thrown into the right lane, hits a bucket and presumably hits no pins. However, as Daniel is chasing Eli behind the bowling alley you can see that the left lane now shows only 2 pins still standing.
Factual error: At the very end of the movie, right before Javier Bardem is in the car accident, there is a shot out the driver's side window, past his face. In one of the driveways he is passing, a new Subaru Forester sits parked. The film is set in 1980.
Factual error: The license plates on Dan's car are very inaccurate fakes. The colors especially are way off. Certainly, the makers may use a fake sequence of characters the same way "555" phone numbers are, but the styling of the plate should look right. Real NJ plates are a pale yellow along the top 1/4 that fades to a very pale tan by halfway down. Dan's plate is a bright yellow (nearly orange) at the top and the rest is white. The numerals are also the wrong typeface. The mistake is made more obvious by the fact that real New Jersey plates are seen in the early portion of the film on other cars.
Continuity mistake: When Stuntman Mike is eating and talking to the blonde girl in the bar, he is holding a glass of club soda. When the shot reverses, he is wiping his hands, then when the shot returns, he is holding the club soda again.
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie as Michael Clayton is hailing a taxi, there is a silver SUV and a moving truck behind the taxi. As he gets into the taxi, the SUV and truck disappear and there are only yellow taxis behind his own. (01:53:30)
Continuity mistake: Anna brings Semyon only copies of the original diary. The sheets are held together by handbag clips, which are closed in the close-ups, and open in the views from her angle. (00:23:00)
Visible crew/equipment: After the first Alice clone dies in the movie and Dr. Issacs takes off his helmet, look at the scientist to HIS right(our left) you can see the boom operator in his reflective mask along with the camera operator. (00:04:50)
Continuity mistake: Shoeshine is telling Jack to 'give the dog your food'. Jack throws him a rubber steak, which moves further away from Shoeshine in a subsequent shot. (00:35:00)
Continuity mistake: In Madrid Bourne calls the emergency line and says he's in 334 Norte street, which triggers cops to show up. When Bourne arrived at the building he looked at the door and it was a 2 digit number which one can faintly see it starts with a 1. (The filming location took place at number 10 Virgen de los Peligros street).
Visible crew/equipment: When Torch is in the Black Forest, watching the crystal ball, 4 big light screens are reflected on it.
Character mistake: When Mr. Brooks and Marshall hack into the police database and are looking at detective Tracy Atwood's financial records there is a screenshot of the computer screen showing some very terrible spelling.
Continuity mistake: When Willy asks the decorator on the phone what's the difference between Italian and English, his Samsung Blade switches hands, switching back when he holds it against his chest. (00:33:05)
Continuity mistake: When Rigg is watching the tapes of Jill's interview he picks up a guide to civil engineering book. Camera does an instant cut and now he's got a police file in his hand. (00:15:30)
Revealing mistake: In the bedroom, when Cassandra asks about what Jane has been writing and Jane answers, "Just something I started in London", when Jane gets up and moves to the table, it is obvious that she is wearing a g-string under her nightgown.