Factual error: Approximately three quarters of the way in to the film, there is a close up of a German soldier handing an officer a file of documents. The helmet that the soldier is wearing is a post war 1960s version. This can be determined by the lack of an air vent and rivet on the side of the helmet.
Factual error: The Bielski brothers go on a raid of a German post to acquire some "Ampicillin" to treat members of their refugee band who have typhus. Ampicillin is a penicillin derivative that wasn't available until the early 1960's, and in any case, typhus is properly treated with chloramphenicol or tetracycline, antibiotics of different classes from penicillin. Besides, the German didn't have penicillin of any type during World War II.
Factual error: At the resolution of the movie when Filkins is sent back to Hong Kong, in the shot there is a banner written in Hiragana (one of the Japanese alphabets), not Chinese.
Factual error: In the scenes of the world, when they show the plane flying between destinations, the location of Dublin in Ireland should be at least 50 miles further north along the coastline, as Dublin is not on the south coast of Ireland.
Factual error: The globe that April shows to the children is post-1992: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Germany is united instead of being divided into Eastern and Western Germany.
Factual error: When Moto Moto and Gloria were digging for water, they threw all the jewels and gold into a pile. The gold in the basket would weigh more than 1200 pounds. Also, real gold comes fused to other rock and rarely in pure form.
Factual error: The basketball rims used in the movie are of the modern basketball era with "breakaway" rims. Such a rim was not used until after 1979, when Darryl Dawkins broke his first backboard in a game against the Kansas City Kings in November 1979.
Factual error: Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Khanna are able to perform drifts in their final race; however Saif's car does not even have breaks. Akshay would not want to break because he believes the car has a bomb in it, so for them so be able to perform these drifts is not possible.
Factual error: Breast pumps need a tight seal in order to work and would NOT stick to Kate's sweater as seen.
Factual error: When Marley runs on the field during the Marlins' Bark at the Park night, the stadium scoreboard can be seen briefly behind him and John. "WAS" (Washington) is listed as one of the teams playing a game that night, despite the fact that Washington did not have a team before 2004 and the film takes place in the early 90s.
Factual error: The only ways Tim/Ben could have died are by heart failure and/or respiratory paralysis. Both of which mean that the toxins reached the heart. If they hadn't, then he would only have had a paralyzed right arm and been in extreme pain. The logic of this movie implies that either his heart was unaffected by the toxins and he still somehow died or his heart was affected by the toxins and they decided to transplant it anyways.
Factual error: In the beginning dialogue when the narrator is talking about the locked box being passed down from mayor to mayor, when it reaches the 7th mayor, the counter is at 47. Later, when Lina is delivering a message to the current mayor, she stops at the portrait of the 7th mayor and says it is her ancestor. In that portrait, the box is visible under his arm with the counter showing 120.
Factual error: After punching an opposing hockey player, Deacon is sent to the penalty box. Goalies are never sent to the box; they are assessed penalty minutes, and their time is served by a teammate.
Factual error: In multiple scenes in the forest you can see Edward's "breath" - but being a vampire, he should be cold, hence his body should not be expelling water in his breath warm enough to condense into fog in the cold weather.
Factual error: Bryan's hot wiring of the Volkswagen Golf is feasible, all except that he doesn't break the physical steering lock that would prevent him from turning the wheel. Old Volkswagens are quite difficult to break the steering lock, a sharp snap of the wheel does not break it as it's quite a bit more sturdy than a mere pin. Pulling at the wires does nothing to affect the steering lock, and the lock is shielded precisely to stop outside tampering. Not enough time had passed for him to achieve the task of removing the security. The scene shown is not a condensed montage scene, it's a complete scene from start to finish of what Bryan did to steal the car, and the steering lock was never broken.
Factual error: In a scene that is twenty-eight minutes into the movie, one of the characters is seen running up to check out a new Cadillac that had been given to him by the owner of Chess Records. A 'super' appears at the bottom of the screen which reads "1952" in order to set the chronological time. Only problem is, the Cadillac is a 1956 model. Any old car buff, particularly one like myself who writes a weekly column for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, would know in a heartbeat that this car was four years ahead of the year indicated on the screen. Bruce Kunz, a.k.a. "The FIN MAN"tm www.thefinman.com. (00:28:20 - 00:29:15)
Factual error: When Kendall is about to implode the school, the demolition practices are completely unfeasible. The school would be completely gutted, with all glass, copper, and plumbing removed (the building simply looks cleaned out a bit); additionally, significant structural damage would be intentionally introduced to weaken the internal support (every wall is largely cored); further, the school building and/or surrounding buildings would be sealed in tarps to minimize damage spread; finally, the crowd of protesters and onlookers would be at least a quarter-mile away. Even given this is a bit of a fairy-tale story, the demolition techniques are completely incorrect on several levels.
Factual error: After Tigress tells the backstory of Tai Lung the scene transitions from her being a cub to an adult. Young Tigress' stripes don't match the pattern of Adult Tigress. Tiger stripes don't change with age.
Factual error: In scenes apparently in Japan, all the cars drive on the right side of the road. In actuality, the Japanese drive on the left side of the road.
Factual error: When Leonardo DiCaprio is arriving on the tarmac at what is supposed to be Abu Dhabi, the main (and very distinctive) Dulles airport terminal is visible in the background.