Continuity mistake: When Roy Scheider's partner is killed, he is run over by a car. After the car runs him over, his body rolls and you can see his arms swinging freely even though his hands were bound by the plastic ties. Later when you see his body, his hands are bound again. (01:10:30)
Continuity mistake: When Blue Thunder is flying over the drive-in theater the shadow shows a bell JetRanger. (01:18:25)
Continuity mistake: When Frank Murphy, his girlfriend, and her son are in the car, the boy asks to borrow Frank's wristwatch, and Frank gives it to him. Moments later, Frank is still wearing the watch. (00:43:45)
Continuity mistake: In the climactic chase scene, when Murphy is shot through the window, he is shot in his right arm and there is a hole in the window with blood on it. When he does a 360 degree loop in the helicopter the broken window and blood appears on his left sideĀthe opposite window to that which he was shot through. (01:42:20)
Continuity mistake: As the Chevrolet Vega arrives at the TV studio, the roof is shown to have sustained significant damage, as if something huge has fallen on it. The right headlamp area is also smashed and the light gone. But at no time in the chase does anything occur to cause any of this damage. (01:27:50)
Continuity mistake: When Murphy drives into the parking lot to use the pay phone, we see his license plate as 909 KMB. But when the police dispatcher announces Murphy's license plate, it's "909 King Edward Boy" (KEB).
Continuity mistake: In the scene on the bridge when Frank's girlfriend gets pulled over, the cop on the driver side has his gun drawn. It changes between angles. From the outside it's a standard issue 38. From the inside looking out it's a .357 magnum.
Continuity mistake: When Lymangood is running away from the car he crashes in to a bike and his hands and arms are free, not tied at all.
Continuity mistake: Before Frank destroys the Thunder it's daytime - a few moments later it's completely dark.
Continuity mistake: When the Thunder is shown for very first time the sun is barely rising, but at the time it gets to the training field the sun is high like it's noon.
Chosen answer: Murphy has been deemed a threat to the public at large by the authorities, having "snapped" and stolen an armed helicopter. Cochrane is using that determination as cover to finally kill Murphy, whom he's long despised. Killing Murphy on the ground would be harder to get away with. He would not be responsible for paying for the helicopter anymore than the Air Force or the other police helicopter crews would be had they sucessfully knocked Blue Thunder down.
johnrosa