Continuity mistake: Matrix arrives at El Presidente's house and plants a bomb on the floor. In the close-up shot, grass and weeds appear next to the bomb. These later disappear. (01:10:25)
Continuity mistake: At the mall, when the cops approach Matrix he is either looking straight at them, or away and turning his head slowly. This changes back and forth randomly. (00:35:20)
Continuity mistake: The blood stain on Cooke's shirt differs depending on the angle focusing him. (00:47:35)
Continuity mistake: At the mall, when Matrix tells the girl to walk behind the baddie, he stands by a column and a man walks behind him. In the close-up he disappears and is replaced by two guys. (00:33:10)
Continuity mistake: When Matrix and Cooke fight at the motel, the number and shape of broken glass-tiles on the wall keeps increasing / decreasing randomly in different shots. (00:46:25)
Continuity mistake: The yellow Porsche crashes on some dusty trail with no yellow lines painted on its floor. When Matrix walks towards the car, it's now by a yellow line on a paved road. (00:40:15)
Continuity mistake: When Matrix shakes the phone booth at the mall, the hole on the glass increases / decreases randomly. (00:36:00)
Continuity mistake: During the fight at the end of the movie between Matrix and Bennett when Bennett calls Matrix a "dead man" and he responds with "Bullshit" you see him come off the wall with his left hand. He is throwing a left hook, but in the very next shot when the punch comes in contact with Bennett his fist is going from right to left in a backfist motion, rather than a left to right hook. (01:23:45)
Continuity mistake: Right when the fight between Matrix and Bennett begins, the Uzi submachine gun vanishes from Bennett's right shoulder (it was on a strap). Then suddenly at the end of the fight (after the fell down over the railing and to the next level down, the Uzi reappears when Bennett picks it up and attempts to shoot Matrix. Bennett lost it on the upper level nowhere near the railing, and it somehow appeared on the lower level away from the railing.
Continuity mistake: When we see Cindy coming in to land at the island, her grip on the throttle changes from the back to the front angle. Note her thumb and the gap between her thumb and index finger. (01:02:30)
Continuity mistake: When the army helicopter lands, a person gets out on the left-hand side and moves in front of the glass window of the door that's open. Camera changes and he emerges from the helicopter again. (00:09:10)
Revealing mistake: Just before we see the boat explode at the start, a wire/cable holding the boat in place can be seen at the bottom of the screen. (00:04:10)
Continuity mistake: At the start, the way the right hand binman holds on differs between shots. (00:01:50)
Revealing mistake: When Matrix reaches Arius' mansion (in actuality the Harold Lloyd Estate), he is rushed at by several soldiers of Arius' private army and starts shooting at them with his RPK. In one shot from Matrix's rear we can see him shooting four soldiers at the same time. However, the two soldiers on the far left drop dead even though Matrix is aiming his weapon to the right. (01:11:40)
Continuity mistake: While eating sandwiches, Matrix's daughter says, "You don't wanna know" as she reaches for a napkin. A frame later, from a different angle, her hands are empty as they reach for the napkin. (00:08:20)
Continuity mistake: During the machine gun scene at the en Matrix has a belt fed M60 machine gun. When the fight starts, he has plenty of bullets. A few seconds later he has about 20 cm length of the bullet belt left. Scene switch - and he has more bullets. This switch between low and high ammo a few times. (01:16:15)
Continuity mistake: When the thug meets Cindy by the public phones, him and the people behind her (lady in pink and man in green) drastically change positions between the first and second shot. (00:25:50)
Other mistake: Matrix enters his house through a door on the penthouse and a dead soldier by the edge collapses. His feet and legs should be blocking the door and the entrance, but instead, from the angle inside, it swings freely. (00:13:20)
Continuity mistake: When Matrix's house is being destroyed, the leaves next to the soldier's head on the floor increase/decrease depending on the angle. (00:12:10)
Answer: Director Mark Lester replaced Wings Hauser the first day of shooting because he didn't think Hauser clicked as a maniacal counterbalance to Schwarzenegger's larger-than-life portrayal of Matrix. Last-minute cast changes are not unusual when an actor fails to meet certain character expectations. A classic example is Michael J. Fox replacing Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future because Stoltz portrayed Marty too intensely for a humorous sci-fi film. Viggo Mortensen replaced Stuart Townsend as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings because Peter Jackson felt Townsend wasn't properly preparing for the role.
raywest ★
Also, Peter Jackson thought that Stuart Townsend was too young to play Aragorn.