Revealing mistake: During the ending sequence, just as J.T. Walsh is pushing the truck on the bridge, there is a shot looking at the front of the semi and you can see that it is not J.T. Walsh driving. The stunt man is noticeably heavier than J.T. is, and his hair is messier.
Visible crew/equipment: Just after the beginning credits end, you can see the reflections of the boom, the crew and other things as they pass the 4x4. (Most visible on VHS version). (00:02:35)
Continuity mistake: In the beginning of the movie Jeff and his wife were moving to San Diego from Massachusetts. Well, they were driving in their new Jeep (with Massachusetts plates) through Arizona. When Amy comments about how fast Jeff is driving, the camera shot shows the speedometer at 80 mph and the odometer shows the Jeep has only 245miles. That must be a new record from MA to AZ..... (Note: not visible on DVD version of film.)
Visible crew/equipment: During the scene where the car breaks down and pulls to a stop in the middle of the road there is a shot of Kurt Russel getting out of the car. Look in the passenger side door, you can make out a camera reflection. Also, look out for the reflection of a reflecting light in the window as Kurt goes to get the cell phone. This is most obvious when the door swings open. (00:08:25)
Revealing mistake: Near the end, when Kurt Russell and his wife are in a beige utility truck which is being rammed through a bridge railing by the semi-tractor, there are at least two close up shots in which miniature models were very obvious.
Continuity mistake: When Kurt Russell gets his Jeep running again, after discovering the disconnected wires, the front wheels are pointing to the right. In the very next shot they are pointing to the left. (00:06:25)
Continuity mistake: When Kurt Russell's character is parked up on the highway with the truck driver and police, notice how in between shots, the cloud cover completely changes in an instant, not to mention the time of day which is clear from the different shadow angles cast from the Jeep.
Revealing mistake: When Kurt is being chased after in the truck at the end, he pulls out onto the main highway and the truck skids. There are several tire marks where they practised this skid before. Also, at the very end when the truck is being pushed by the semi, look ahead of the front truck tire, more previous tire marks. (01:21:20)
Visible crew/equipment: During the confrontation between the bad guy and Kurt at the first gas station (where he leaves his hood open,) the camera and two crew members can be seen in the passenger side window as the camera follows the bad guy walking along the Jeep. Look out for the boom mike reflected in the windshield in the same shot as well. Both are really obvious. (Not visible on DVD version).
Other mistake: At the end of the movie when the truck falls off the bridge and hits the water, the hood breaks off and you can see that there is no engine or transmission in the truck. (01:28:40)
Other mistake: In the bank scene, the monitor on the bank manager's desk goes from being connected and has a power cord, however when Kurt rises to go to the bathroom, the back of the monitor shows no cords whatsoever. (00:48:00)
Continuity mistake: When Kurt Russell is fighting in the car with the guy he gave the ransom money to, the car sideswipes a rock wall and the passenger-side rearview mirror gets torn off. A couple shots later it's right back where it should be. (01:22:05)
Continuity mistake: The first three quarters of the film are supposed to take place during the course of one day, however the sun and sky change so often throughout the film, one wonders how long the day actually is.
Revealing mistake: When Jeff and Amy are being chased by Red near the end and Red's truck begins to jackknife, you can see how they made the trailer slide in that direction. It seems that they constructed or used a trailer that had a set of wheels that would turn. They were turned in the direction of the slide.
Other mistake: When Barr arrives at his house it's still dark and his wife points out it's 6:00 in the morning... but considering it's summertime (proven by short shadows throughout the film and the heat in the desert), at 6:00 the sun would already be up or coming up. No dark sky exists at 6 AM in the summertime.
Continuity mistake: When Kurt Russell's Jeep stops running you can see that there is no side road or pull-off when he finally stops, but when the truck driver helps him to push his car there is an easy pull-off that was not there before.
Revealing mistake: When Kurt is floating down the river after escaping the vehicle, his shirt looks much bigger than normal, indicating he is wearing a flotation device.
Other mistake: At the end of the movie, just before the credits, Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan are leaning against the guardrail in each others arms as the camera shot widens. The destroyed truck they were in is against the rail and the roadway is shown. But there are no skid marks on the road surface. Their truck had been pushed sideways at least 50+ feet by the villain's semi tractor and there should have been skid marks from both vehicles.
Revealing mistake: During the chase on the dirt road, Jeff pulls the Jeep up to the edge of a cliff. Look at the ground ahead of where he ends up. There are clear tire tracks, and the Jeep follows them to a T. This was obviously where they practiced the scene before.
Continuity mistake: The police officer shows up to hear about the woman missing. When he stops the sun is behind him. The scene cuts and the sun is overhead. It changes several times after that.
Answer: There was always a ransom, or at least that was always the intent. Anyone that didn't have money the kidnappers would just eliminate them. The kidnappers MO was to take a couple and force one of them to empty their bank accounts. Earl makes it clear that the difference in Jeff's case is that they were unable to kidnap the pair at the same time. For whatever reason, Jeff refused to get in the truck with Red, which caused the kidnappers to alter their plans slightly. Earl also gives some insight into how the group chooses their victims. He tells Jeff that he was targeted because he was driving a brand new SUV, which indicated he must have a fair amount of money in the bank. The kidnappers care very little about being caught, they have obviously committed many murders without being found out. They seem to leave very little evidence of their crimes for the police to find. Red is always several steps ahead of the police and is brazen enough to kidnap a man's wife and say directly to him in front of a police officer that the man must have him mistaken for someone else.
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