Other mistake: Roark burns his hand on a hot frying pan and drops it to the floor. The dog then immediately wanders in to eat the spilled food. The pan should still be scorching hot after a short time, and yet the dog licks it without burning its tongue. (00:03:30)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning after the earthquake, there are two hanging lamps in the kitchen swinging a lot. A closeup of Mike shows a lamp barely moving. The next shot shows them moving much more. (00:05:00)
Continuity mistake: Near the end, Roark and Amy are standing over the grid in the street, and when Roark says something like, "I'm not letting you go down there it's too dangerous," Amy is looking down at the grid in the road, but in the following shot she is looking directly at Roark. (01:14:40)
Factual error: When lava engulfs the streets, aluminum light poles do not melt (it has a melting point of 1,212° Fahrenheit), yet entire vehicles with steel frames melt into the flow (steel melts at 2,750° Fahrenheit). Lava reaches around 2,000°.
Plot hole: When they are trying to find a way to stop the lava from going in to the museum, Tommy Lee Jones has an idea to push a bus up against the museum to divert the lava. The plan works but the lava does not melt the bus like it melted Tommy Lee Jones' car or the fire truck. Even though the bus melts later in the movie, it doesn't melt it instantly like it did with the fire truck.
Continuity mistake: At the start, when Tommy Lee Jones puts the pan on the table, the distance between the milk and the bowl changes from being right next to each other to further apart. Also, the rug is not in line with the edge of the kitchen table, yet when the dog goes to lick up the egg, it is. (00:03:15)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the film, when Tommy Lee Jones steps out of the rubble with his daughter and the young boy, in one shot Tommy Lee Jones puts his hand around his daughter, in the following shot about 2 seconds later he puts his hand around her again. (01:30:15)
Other mistake: The subway scene shown at the beginning of the movie during the opening credits is also used just prior to the big earthquake. (00:01:25)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the film, Mike pulls off a frying pan of eggs from the stove, if you look at the eggs, there are virtually none in the centre of the pan, but in the next shot when he goes to put the pan down before it drops, the centre of the pan is now full of egg. (00:03:20)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning, when Stan and his other colleagues are standing in front of a TV and laptop outside, in one shot Stan's hands are on the laptop and in the following shot they are by his side. (00:05:45)
Continuity mistake: The building that the doctor visits to meet her husband isn't particularly tall, yet when they both are looking out from the view, their viewpoint is significantly higher than what was shown outside. (00:16:35)
Continuity mistake: When Don Cheadle walks into the OEM in the morning just after the blackout, there is a guy with a headset holding his hand on it in one shot, but just holding the end of it with his fingertips in the next shot. (00:28:30)
Visible crew/equipment: When the train pulls into the station there is a shot of the train and there is a very clear reflection of a cameraman. This is not when they are filming a documentary about trains using the red line. (00:24:35)
Other mistake: During the first major tremor, the city suffers a complete blackout with no lights showing. The city goes completely dark but there are suddenly no car headlights visible either... (00:26:30)
Continuity mistake: When Roark is running to save his daughter, the camera cuts to his point of view and Kelly is shielding the boy with her back towards Roark, yet in the following shot when Roark goes to grab her she is now standing at a side. (01:28:15)
Continuity mistake: When Roark is trying to get a radio, and Emmitt is watching on the big screen in the OEM building, there is a black man behind him who is talking to the guy with the headset on. In one shot the black guy is almost back to back with Emmitt and looks over his shoulder to look at the screen, yet when it cuts, the black guy is talking to the other guy but is not back to back with Emmitt. (00:43:25)
Continuity mistake: Before they build the lava dam, when Mike flips over a map on the hood of a truck to draw on it the map is clear of ash. In the next shot from across the hood the map is covered with ash. The next close up it is ash free again. (01:02:25)
Continuity mistake: After the bus is flipped on its side and Roarke and Barnes stop to rescue a man lying in ash, a tree falls blocking their escape with high flames, forcing a ladder truck to save the trio. When the ladder is unable to be lifted because of the weight and extreme heat, the fireman explains he will have to swing them out instead. The ladder swings in the direction of the flaming, downed tree, but the flames from the tree no longer seem to be a hindrance.
Character mistake: The downed firetruck was referred to as engine 17, however it is actually engine 23.
Continuity mistake: When Amy Barnes and Roark are in the park, Amy runs up to Roark and says, "Excuse me," and she goes slightly past Roark so she can face him, yet in the following shot she is side by side with Roark. (00:22:35)
Answer: Yes, the chances of surviving those circumstances is completely impossible. Not just the heat, but also toxic fumes which will incapacitate you very quickly. At one point the soles of his shoes were melting, at that point you would have been dead. It's a heroic scene, but not very believable.
lionhead