The Terminator

Audio problem: In every version of the film from the 2001 DVD onward, Kyle's shotgun has two completely different firing sounds in separate scenes. In the parking garage shootout, it sounds muffled, whereas it didn't sound that way in Tech Noir.

Revealing mistake: Just before the tanker blows up near the end, there is a scene of it turning to hit a vehicle. The cable pulling the truck is visible.

manthabeat

Visible crew/equipment: After the Terminator arrives in 1984, he begins to walk over to a short concrete wall and looks at Los Angeles over it. A second before the shot ends, the shadow of a camera is visible to the left of screen. (00:05:05)

Casual Person

Audio problem: When the Terminator breaks into the police station, he has an auto-shotgun in his left hand, and a machine gun in his right. Before he kills the power in the building, he comes to the end of a hall, points his shotgun through a doorway, and shoots. A machine gun sound is used for the blast, instead of a shotgun sound. (01:00:28)

The Terminator mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the Terminator says "I'll be back" he walks out of the police station. The cop inside the building looks out of the window, looks very surprised, and you can see the headlights from the car shining on the cop's face. When we see the car just before it comes crashing through the building the headlights aren't on. In the next shot of the cop the headlights are still shining on him. (00:57:25)

Revealing mistake: There is a shot from the Terminator's POV, before he rams the blue car with the semi truck, in which you can see that the car is already damaged. No slow-mo is required to see this, but it is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot.

The Terminator mistake picture Video

Continuity mistake: In the Tech Noir Bar, the same woman - blonde with a pink or orange dress - must have come dancing with her twin, because while she's sitting behind Sarah Connor when the laser beam is pointed at her, she's also dancing near Arnie. The T-800 moves past her when he sees Sarah Connor and moves to shoot her. (00:35:05)

The Terminator mistake picture Video

Continuity mistake: When The Terminator's stolen police car is shown up close in the parking structure, the motto on the left side of it reads "to care and to protect." After the car crashes, you can see the motto on the left side again, but this time it reads "Dedicated to serve." The car's trim and position/orientation/color of the police emblem change as well. (00:45:50 - 00:50:20)

Audio problem: Towards the end of the movie, after the tanker is blown up with the terminator inside, Sarah and Kyle are relieved that he is finally 'dead'. When the terminator gets up from the huge fire in his metal form, Sarah screams twice, however when she screams the second time, her mouth doesn't actually move. (01:30:10)

The Terminator mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the Terminator enters the police department and he bends over to say "I'll be back" you can see through his shades and he has both of his eyes, despite cutting one out in an earlier scene. (00:59:35)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: I have literally just watched this scene, you can't see his eyes at all. Even with the brightness turned right up. You can see the outline of his eye sockets but no eyes. Yes, we should be able to see the red of the missing eye, but we don't know if the Terminator has the ability to turn this on or off at will. With the technology available at the time of the films release, one definitely wouldn't have been able to tell any difference.

Sorry to disappoint you, but both his eyes are visible under the shades. So yes, it IS a continuity mistake after all.

The Terminator mistake picture Video

Continuity mistake: Arnold looks up Sarah Connor's address in the telephone book. The telephone book address has 4 digits, but he goes to a house that has 5 digits on it. (00:15:00)

Revealing mistake: In the second future war sequence. At the end of the HK/car chase, the gunner in the car has been replaced by a very obvious dummy. (00:19:55)

The Terminator mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: When the Terminator is blown up inside the gas truck and you think it is destroyed, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn begin to hug. In the shot where the Terminator begins to rise from the destroyed truck, look just a little to the right of Linda's head and you'll see a mans head pop up and his hands pull down on a lever that makes the Terminator rise up. (01:30:50)

Visible crew/equipment: In the police station, you see all the police officers running to get the automatic weapons. There is one shot where a red dot is seen to be following one officer (and it's sometimes on his back). No cops are facing the back of this cop, the Terminator is not around this part of the station, so it must be off the camera.

Ssiscool

The Terminator mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: When Sarah and Kyle have run into the factory, the Terminator is breaking through the armour plated door. As the Terminator comes through you can clearly see the two operator guys crouching behind the model. (01:32:45)

Revealing mistake: When the Terminator goes in to the Alamo gun store, scene of the famous "Uzi 9 millimeter" quote, the man turns to get something off the shelf and Arnold takes a shell out of the box on the counter. It is an already fired cartridge: the dimple in the centre shows it.

Deadlock

The Terminator mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When the Terminator's flesh is burning off in the burning tanker wreckage, you can see the wire moving the Terminator puppet around. (01:29:45)

Factual error: Right after Kyle saws off the barrel of the shotgun in the alley, he pumps a shell into it, then again after his dream of the future in the car, then a 3rd time in the night club before he shoots the terminator. The 2nd and 3rd time he pumps it, shells should come out. They don't. (00:35:22)

Character mistake: When Kyle steals the police officer's gun and asks him what the date is, the officer replies "12th, May, Thursday". The film is set in 1984. May 12th, 1984 was a Saturday.

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More trivia for The Terminator

Question: How exactly do both the Terminator and Kyle find addresses? We are led to believe that is the reason for the phone books, but none of the addresses in the phone books match up to the addresses where either the first Sarah is killed, nor the apartment of our Sarah.

Answer: Gonna be totally honest... that might just be nothing more than a simple continuity error. They accidentally made a phonebook prop that didn't match up with the locations where they shot, and assumed most people wouldn't notice or care. (And to be even more honest, I never noticed it until I saw this question today.)

TedStixon

Answer: My two cents: The T-800 Terminator does indeed, rip out the page of a phonebook for the address, but remember, he was looking for any and all Sarah Connors, not a specific address. He did not know which Sarah would give birth to John Connor, so by process of elimination he began terminating any woman with the name Sarah Connor. He did plug the first Sarah Connor (a housewife), then went to kill the other Sarah Connors in the phone book.

Scott215

I already gave that answer, but apparently that's not what the question is asking.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Both the T-800 and Kyle look up Sarah's address in the phonebook and it's Kyle who rips out a page. Neither uses a police computer; that's the T-1000 in Terminator 2.

But that doesn't answer the question (and it's already been mentioned) since the information in the phonebook appears wrong.

Bishop73

Answer: Kyle we are shown uses a police computer to find the addresses. The T800 just uses the phonebook as you mentioned. He rips the page out and takes it with him.

Ssiscool

Except 2 of the addresses in the phone book don't match. So how does the Terminator find them using the phonebook?

Bishop73

The Terminator is just blindly killing everyone in the phone book whose name is Sarah Connor (apparently a common name). Process of elimination. So, the day he arrives, unrelated women named Sarah Connor start dropping like flies, and the police believe it's the work of a serial killer. Our heroine Sarah Connor barely escapes this sweeping extermination by sheer luck and Kyle's intervention.

Charles Austin Miller

You just described the plot. Were you trying to answer the question? Because the question still stands. (As it is, it's either a mistake or plot hole in the film).

Bishop73

Perhaps I'm not getting the question. What is meant by "none of the addresses in the phone books match up"? Match up to what, the murder scene addresses? I wasn't aware that the murder scene addresses were prominently displayed.

Charles Austin Miller

Exactly. The addresses seen don't match. Specifically the first Sarah Connor's house number is "14239", but in the phonebook it is listed as "1823." And the real Sarah Connor lives in an apartment but the phonebook doesn't list an apartment number.

Bishop73

Perhaps though this all doesn't matter because phone books can quickly become outdated, the phone book he found could be over a year old. Someone moves but can still be listed in the phone book with their old address. He could have gone to the addresses but found someone else living there and then asked where the previous owner might be, and he was told (or he forced them). This might be how he found all the Sarah Connors.

lionhead

Are any of the Sarah's listed as living at 1823? I've not got access to the film right now to check.

Ssiscool

The first is listed as "1823." The second is "2816." The 3rd is "309." Although after reviewing the scene and thinking about it, for "309" (which is supposedly our Sarah J Connor), the full address isn't actually seen and the apartment number could have been listed.

Bishop73

Reese never uses a police computer; that's the T-1000 in Terminator 2. He rips out the page from the phonebook. The T800 also uses the phonebook but is never shown ripping out a page.

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