Factual error: The main character from the video game "Paperboy" is among the alien invaders in the final battle; since that game was first released in 1984, he shouldn't be there, because the probe the aliens received featuring video game footage was launched into space in 1982.
Factual error: When the younger Brenner and Cooper are at the arcade, one of the games shown being played is Q*bert. Q*bert wasn't first released in the US until October 1982 and at the end of the scene, Cooper shows Brenner a paper for an upcoming arcade game championships dated July 26th 1982.
Factual error: At the start of the 1982 Arcade competition (right after Dan Aykroyd says "start your gaming"), a man imitates a move from the "karate kid" (the crane kick). The movie Karate Kid came out in 1984 (2 years after the competition). (00:06:11)
Revealing mistake: In the London scene, when the main characters prepare for the Centipede attack (the scene with the football players) there is a grey Land Rover which has a fake UK number plate on it. Plus since the film was filmed in Canada, the car also has left hand drive windscreen wipers.
Continuity mistake: When Van Patten is talking to Admiral Porter about the light cannons not being tested, she's holding her clipboard up and a pen is between her fingers. When the scene changes angles the pen is now attached to the clipboard and there's an extra piece of paper in front, then when Admiral Porter turns and walks away, the pen and paper are gone again.
Other mistake: There is no way for Eddie to enter cheat codes, and no way for his real-life vehicle to teleport or to go faster than it already could.
Revealing mistake: When Brenner and Cooper are at a bar, they are watching a news report of Cooper at a school reading to a group of children. There are a couple of times in the report that show a shot of the children, but whenever the shot is on Cooper, there are no cameras in sight that would be used to film the shots of the children, revealing that the shots of Cooper and the shots of the children were filmed separately.
Audio problem: When Ludlow is singing, he is using a microphone and attempts to do "The Worm." When he moves the microphone away from his face, his singing does not quiet at all.
Factual error: The character of Max Headroom was introduced in 1984, and would not have been on a probe from 1982.
Continuity mistake: When playing Donkey Kong in the competition, Cooper finishes Level 22 by jumping over the last piece holding the Ape up and then it says "GAME OVER," when he should go to the next level.
Character mistake: Lt Col Van Patten's ribbons are out of order.
Continuity mistake: While the Indian guy is taking a shot of the pixel attacking the Taj Mahal, his cell phone switches hands between shots.
Factual error: As the camera pans across the room to where Cooper is playing The Claw you can see the arcade game Burger Time being played in the background. The game flyer shows the date as July 26th 1982. Burger Time was not released until August 31st. (00:03:35)
Factual error: The movie includes aliens that move and function like pieces from Tetris. The government sent the probe in 1982, but Tetris came out on June 6, 1984, two years later.
Continuity mistake: When Sam kisses Violet at the end of the film, the sun changes between shots.
Factual error: When Sam and Will walk into the venue hosting the 1982 Worldwide Vieo Arcade Championship you can see some kids playing on a Zaxxon machine. Zaxxon was released in December, 1982.
Character mistake: Violet is in the Army, but does not have her hair up properly in uniform.
Other mistake: When Matty and Sam are having a conversation about modern games vs older games, Matty is playing a game on a Playstation 4 but the controller isn't on.
