Continuity mistake: When Wallace is pretending to surrender after the English killed his wife, he is on a horse and he puts his hands behind his head. In all the shots from in front his hands are high on his head, in all the shots from behind his hands are low on his neck.
Other mistake: In one of the very last scenes of the movie, when William's friend Hamish takes out William's sword to throw it as a sign of honor for William, when Hamish extends his arm back to throw the sword he only takes a step or 2, but he does not hit any of the men standing in formation directly behind him with this 5 foot long sword.
Suggested correction: The blade on a claymore is 43 in which is 3.5ft. The men behind him were more than 3.5ft away. Plus, when he swings the sword, his arm isn't parallel to the ground, the sword is pointing towards the ground at first.
Continuity mistake: In the first battle scene (the first one with Wallace and the blue paint), when Wallace is charging the English you see him grabbing for his sword. In the next scene his arms are at his side. In the scene after that, he is grabbing for his sword again.
Continuity mistake: At Falkirk the order in which Longshanks, Robert the Bruce and the English soldier are standing changes from shot to shot. In some shots Bruce is between the soldier and Longshanks and in other shots the soldier is between Longshanks and Bruce without the actors ever moving.
Continuity mistake: In Wallace's father's burial scene, when the young girl goes to give William the thistle, the camera goes to just their hands which are supposed to be those of young children. They are however clearly the hands of an adult woman and man.
Suggested correction: Just watched this scene. The hands are far too small to be those of an adult. The size of the thistle gives it away. Oh, and the fact that you can see the children's bodies.
Continuity mistake: During a scene showing Wallace and Murron hurrying up a low slope, a funny red light, possibly from a camera, briefly flashes far back in the trees behind them. Watch really carefully to spot it.
Continuity mistake: During the funeral scene for Wallace's wife we see the leader of the group of Scots that show up later in the film (after the attack on the local fort). Nobody seemed to know him but he was at the funeral with all of them...
Continuity mistake: When the spy was trying to kill Wallace, he was seen swinging his sword forward. The shot cut to Stephen throwing his knife. When the shot cut back to the spy being hit by Stephen's knife, he was pulling back his sword to get ready for a forward swing. What? Did he miss on his first attempt and had to try again?
Factual error: The title of the Duke of York did not yet exist in the 13th century - it was instituted only later and was normally used only by a younger son of the King.
Continuity mistake: When Philip is thrown out the window by King Edward we see him flipping over in the air so that he will hit the ground on his back. But when the camera changes to the window view we see that Philip is lying on his front.
Factual error: In the movie the Scots sack the English city of York. Actually they sacked the city of Carlisle.
Continuity mistake: Watch the group of English soldiers that ride out to present the King's terms at Stirling. After Wallace insults them, they turn around and begin to leave. The sounds of their horses riding off are very audible. After Wallace's talk with the three nobles, their group breaks up and begins to ride back. A panoramic shot of the field is shown and the English representatives have just started to leave.
Continuity mistake: In the battle scene where they flanked their forces and and were going to use the long wooden spears on England's knights, they already had the spears out when it showed England's horses coming closer. Just look around them. It only shows for a second when it is zooming in pretty fast.
Suggested correction: Of course they were out. It would have been pointless to still have them covered when the charge was under way and the cavalry were so close.
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the battle of Stirling (the first big one), an English officer on a horse comes at Wallace. Wallace swings his sword at the feet of the horse, knocking it and the officer down. As the officer falls his sword goes from one hand to the other several times.
Other mistake: At the end of the movie when Wallace is being executed and the crowd starts chanting "Mercy," one girl towards the front left looks directly at the camera with her eyes twice in two different shots.
Suggested correction: Yes, it was done on purpose. It is the same child he locked eyes with prior to being hanged and while he is being disembowelled.
Other mistake: After the fight at Falkirk where Robert The Bruce is walking through the field, there is a woman walking checking the bodies. All these people clearly are supposed to be dead. The woman lifts the head of a man and then puts it down. After she lets go of the head, the boy picks up his head and looks to his side.
Revealing mistake: When his wife gets attacked, Wallace jumps over a roof and you can clearly see him wearing modern black briefs.
Continuity mistake: When Wallace is saved by Steven, right after he meets him, watch Steven as he is about to throw the small sword. When he comes out of the brush and starts running, he gets past the two trees in front of him, then it cuts to Wallace aiming his bow at him, then it cuts back to Steven and he is back behind the trees.
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie the executioner bends down to bind William's feet. The scene shows the rope starting around his feet and then a second later William is yanked into the air with a complicated noose-like knot holding his lower body to the ground. How did they make that knot so fast?
Suggested correction: The scene was obviously clipped to save time. His lower body isn't held to the ground, it's pulled outwards by a couple of horses. The executioners hold ropes attached to his wrists.
Other mistake: Near the end of the battle of Sterling after Wallace nearly hits one of his allies on the horse, look on the right side of the shot. An English man wearing metal armor is fighting some Scots. He doesn't make much effort, barely swinging his sword. The Scots fighting him also don't put up much of a challenge either.
Suggested correction: Because they're exhausted.
