Factual error: While handling the ignition coil cable to the distributor cap, Joe Pesci tells De Niro that the timing chain needs adjustment in his truck. A truck of that year with an inline Chevy motor would not have a timing chain at all, instead this truck would be equipped with a direct drive timing gear. Even if it had a timing chain, it would be behind the water pump and a cover. It would have been a several hour job to replace, not possible to adjust it.
Factual error: The strong current of the river the main character falls into carries him to a considerable waterfall. There is not, nor has there ever been, a river of that kind in the Ecoust front line area, let alone a waterfall. Anyone who has any insight into the geography of the region will tell you it is flat as can be. The largest body of water, the Yzer, gently meanders and flows into the Channel, even during really rainy times.
Suggested correction: I do not believe that either Ecoust or Croisilles Wood is in Flanders. Both are behind the old German lines at the Somme. That said, there are no bodies of water in that area.
Ecoust and Croissilles are in department Pas-De-Calais in the French Flanders, together with the Belgian flanders they are called Flanders Fields. It is indeed a flat area.
Also, the message in ink delivered is legible, despite having been submerged in water. And don't get me started about the attack from ridiculous trenches and not a barbed wire in sight.
It's not. Even French Flanders is further north. But, even though there are some high points in the area, like Vimy Ridge that rises to about 500 feet above the surrounding plains, the slopes are quite gentle. And, as you say, wouldn't allow for the kind of drop seen in the movie.
There is a watercourse that goes through Croisilles... But it's basically a ditch.
Factual error: Based on the films being shown at the theater, the movie appears to be set in 1981. One of the TV commercials shows the Energizer Bunny, which didn't make its first appearance until 1988.
Factual error: Twice in the movie a Jumbo Jet (a Boeing 747) from Pan Am appears. The movie is set in 1969, when that plane had its maiden journey, but it wasn't flown commercially until 1970.
Factual error: It is not possible that Pitt could have gone up to the ship when it was already blasting off. There was literally fire in the tunnel.
Suggested correction: It was a bit confusing, but what I saw was a shower of sparks or hot particles and some fumes, and no fire in the tunnel until he was through the hatch. The makers may have been influenced by seeing vapour prior to a rocket launch, and then some rockets use a shower of electric sparks to ignite the engines. It was implausible, but no fire in the tunnel.
Factual error: During the battle at the Marshalls-Gilberts, the movie shows mountainous terrain. The real Marshalls and Gilberts are atolls with very little terrain.
Factual error: Opening the blank envelope, Marta finds the fragment of the toxicology report. It is signed "Office of the chief medical examiner, Norfolk County, Massachusetts." But then it writes also the address of said office, which is in Marlborough. Marlborough is also the city when Marta resides, and where the lawyers' letters we see come from. But Marlborough is also a city in the Middlesex county, not Norfolk. (01:28:25)
Factual error: During Lee Iacocca's slide presentation to Henry Ford II in 1963, there are two slides that reference James Bond. One shows him standing next to the Aston Martin DB5, which made its debut in "Goldfinger" in 1964, and another shows a still image from "Thunderball", which was released in 1965.
Factual error: A plastic bucket is seen. Plastic buckets were invented in the 60s. (00:50:05)
Suggested correction: There's no plastic bucket seen. If you're referring to the bucket cops are using at the crime, there's a shot of the bucket on its side and you can tell there's a metal bottom.
Factual error: Tommy is wearing a Hulkamania shirt while the band is being assembled together. The band was formed in 1981. Hulkamania didn't start until 1984.
Factual error: The film is set in 1987 but most of the street lights seen throughout the movie are LED street lights and some high pressure sodium Philips lanterns (produced from the early 1990s to early 2000s), neither of which were around back then. Similarly many of the shots of the M1 motorway show modern cars and smart motorway/variable speed limits, which never existed at the time.
Factual error: The American soldier on the balcony is waving a 50 star flag. (01:30:06)
Factual error: Like so many other films that take place underwater, this one makes the mistake of having characters who can hear each other underwater despite not wearing earpieces and having their ears exposed to the water.
Factual error: Alec Baldwin opens a pack of Chesterfield cigarettes and they have a filter. This is in the late 50's - Chesterfields did not have filters until 1966.
Factual error: Eve Curie is shown as having been born before the Curies are nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics, which they eventually won in 1903. However, Even Curie wasn't born until December 6th, 1904.
Factual error: As well as the sergeant's stripes on his cuff, Sergeant O'Neil wears three pips on his epaulettes, which would indicate a much more senior rank and would not be worn together with the stripes.
Factual error: Pope Benedict and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio are hanging out in the room by the Sistine Chapel having a pizza and a drink together. The drink of choice is Fanta, apparently Joseph Ratzinger's favourite beverage. The scene is supposed to happen in 2012, but the label of the bottle is a more modern one, introduced in 2016. (01:34:20)
Factual error: The scenes set at Wrestlemania XXX (2014) were filmed at a RAW show in 2018 - fans are visible in the background wearing wrestling merchandise more recent than 2014.
Factual error: When we see Elton John's father Stanley in RAF uniform at the beginning of the film he is wearing other ranks' uniform. Stanley was commissioned in 1944, three years before Elton was born, and served as a commissioned officer until his retirement as a squadron leader in 1963. He should be wearing officer's uniform.
Factual error: In the courtroom scene, the seal behind the judge reads, "United States District Court for the Southern District of California." This is a mistake - the US District courts are federal courts, they have no jurisdiction to hear divorce cases. The proper venue for this case would be the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, which is the state court with jurisdiction to hear family law cases in Los Angeles, California. The seal should have the state court name, not the federal one. (01:30:34)