Corrected entry: Denzel takes Ethan to see the 3 wise men to get a search warrant. Near the end of the conversation Denzel asks the wise men who's driving and the guy by the window says me. Denzel asks what he's driving - he says red Mercedes. Then Denzel proceeds to walk by the red car and opens the trunk of a white car and puts the money in it. It's the wrong car.
Corrected entry: At the end of the film, after the fight with Ethan Hawke, Denzel Washington is sitting calmly in his car at a stop light late at night. But why would a bad cop with no regard for the law bother to stop at a red light late at night? Especially when he knows mobsters are after him? Is he more concerned about traffic laws than criminal law?
Correction: Why does a drug runner obey the speed limits? Why doesn't a serial killer murder someone with a full room of witnesses? Just because you are a criminal, doesn't mean you are stupid. You don't break any laws when someone might be watching. You do not draw attention to yourself.
Corrected entry: Ethan Hawke's character would not be in a highly specialized narcotics unit with 18 months on the job, he is still a rookie. I know because I am a police officer in a major city department and it just doesn't work that way.
Correction: He was hand picked to be in that unit so he could be the fall guy.
Corrected entry: Officer Jake Hoyt at one point says that he has been an L.A.P.D. Officer for 19 months. 18 months is how long probation is in the L.A.P.D. There is no way that he would be allowed to apply for detective after just finishing probation.
Correction: He wasn't applying for a detective position but a special duty. He might have been able to apply with the right qualifications and knowing the right people.
Corrected entry: When Alonzo and the crew steal from and murder Roger, their "cover story" is that Roger shot one of the cops when he came through the door and Hoyt shot and killed Roger with the shotgun. The ambulance arrives about 2-3 minutes after they call in the shooting. How would they explain the kitchen floor being cut up and the money being dug up? It clearly took longer than 3 minutes (It shows where Alonzo smokes 4 or 5 cigarettes in the time it takes) so when, according to their "cover story," would they have had the time or opportunity to dig it up?
Correction: Alonzo and his men could have just said that they found the floor cut up when they arrived on the scene. Roger was dead when the other police arrived so there was nothing incriminating that could have linked them to the missing money, the cut up floor or the cigarettes in the kitchen.
Correction: Alonzo tells his crew to officially check out the pick and shovels from headquarters to dig up Roger's kitchen floor, it would be impossible to explain the shooting when they first entered if the floor was already dug up with the tools they requested from supply.
Corrected entry: At the beginning of the movie, Denzel was wearing 2 platinum chains, but about half way through, he is only wearing one.
Correction: This isn't correct, the second chain was his police ID which he only wore at the start and end, and was only held up in the middle.
Corrected entry: It is established in the opening scenes that Ethan's character only carries 15 rounds in his Department issued Beretta 92F, when he inserts a 15-round magazine and chambers a round. Towards the end of the film, while Ethan is in the bus heading for The Jungle to apprehend Alonzo, and after getting his firearm back from the Latino Hillside gang, he loads up his 92F and chambers a round. When he gets to Alonzo at his girfriend's house, Ethan initially fires 3 rounds at Alonzo (in the bedroom) while heading for the kitchen. He then fires an additional 6 rounds (2 plus 4) in the kitchen, and a final 7 rounds on the balcony while fighting with Alonzo, bringing the round count to 16 rounds. One round too many.
Correction: The magazine holds 15 rounds. Officers chamber a round, then release the magazine to fill it back to 15, therefore having 16 rounds.
Corrected entry: At the end of the movie when Hawke returns home he passes in front of his garage. About a second later his shadow passes by the garage again.
Correction: Multiple light sources cause more than one shadow of the same object. The extra shadow is caused by more than one light source shining on him (Porch light, streetlamp, etc).
Corrected entry: When Denzel and his crew arrive to rob Roger, Denzel gives him a copy of the warrant which Roger tosses on the coffee table. Later Denzel blasts Roger in the chest with a shotgun and begins to make up a story about what happened. But Denzel never retrieves the warrant and would therefore have to explain how Roger's chest matter got on the warrant during a shootout upon entering his house.
Correction: It was just blood and a member of their team was shot. They could have just said that someone with blood on him handled the note or something.
Corrected entry: When Denzel and the other guy get their car shot up as they're driving away, where do the bullets go? In the back window they appear to go straight through, meaning they would also go through the front windshield but amazingly they just stop. The front windshield is in perfect condition.
Correction: Shooting the back window not breaking the front windshield is possible at least with some 9mm guns. If the angle of rear window is smaller the first bullet can only hit the window, break it and bounce upwards from it.
Corrected entry: Jeff, the dirty cop who was shot at Roger's, is seen clutching his right side where the bullet got past the vest. When he comes out on the stretcher he has a bandage on his left side. BTW, they did a remarkable amount of medical treatment on the scene before they put him on the ambulance... (01:10:20)
Correction: When Jeff is being taken on the stretcher by the medics, you can see a bandage on his left side - it looks like it's actually a wraparound bandage so it appears that they've tried to treat the wound on the right side, wrapping the bandage around his entire waistline. Only the left side of the bandage is actually visible because of the covering sheet on his stomach.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Alonzo, Jake and Alonzo's "crew" break in to Roger's house with the warrant Alonzo paid the judge for (apparently to rob him of the money in the floor of the kitchen while making it look official), Alonzo furthers the plot by shooting Roger with the shotgun, and Jeff with the "Stinger". He and his crew all go along with the story that Jeff got shot by Roger as he broke the door down and Jake dropped Roger with the shotgun. This was all after they dug up the floor and seized the money. Are we to believe that (in a matter of 5 minutes, no less) they took the time to dig up the money while their fellow officer was bleeding to death on the floor? Even if that's the case, they didn't have enough time between when Jeff was reportedly shot and paramedics showed up. Even if they said Roger already had the floor dug up before they got there, they used the "picks and shovels" that Alonzo was so persistent his crew sign out before they served the warrant. The whole scene makes no sense and Alonzo's scheme would have raised far too many questions for detectives.
Correction: This submission provides its own solutions. Self-correcting entry and based on the submitters opinion not fact. These are long serving and somewhat respected police officers. They have gotten away with other similar events. Yes they could have easily convinced others that the floor was already dug up because the "criminal" was getting ready to move it. Just because we are not told on how they were going to tell the full story, it does not mean it is a mistake.
Corrected entry: When Ethan Hawke is upside down in the bathtub with a shotgun in his face you can see that he has spare magazines. In the previous scene when his pistol was handed back to him (unloaded) all he had to do was reload using one of his spares.
Correction: The guy actually says grey Mercedes and Denzel puts the money in the trunk of a grey Mercedes.
Lummie ★