Continuity mistake: After landing on the marsh, Matrix sets his watch, putting 3 fingers around the sphere. when the angle changes there's just 2 fingers around it. (00:25:00)
Continuity mistake: Near the start of the film, Matrix's van tumbles down a hill and lands on its side. In the next shot, the van is on its top. (00:15:15)
Revealing mistake: When Matrix jumps off the plane's front landing gear, in the first shot of him jumping, if you look very closely you can see that Arnold Schwarzenegger's stunt double is black. (00:24:40)
Revealing mistake: When Matrix grabs the phone booth, it has no screws or wires connecting it to the floor, wall or anywhere. Furthermore, the only spark it produces starts a metre away from the booth. (00:36:10)
Visible crew/equipment: When Arnold is crashing into the gun shop in the caterpillar you can see the camera to the rear (a black round one) and then also the camera at the front can be seen as a yellow box, attempting to be disguised as part of the engine block. These quickly disappear in subsequent shots. (00:51:40)
Continuity mistake: During the motel room fight scene when Cooke crashes into the other room, the door separating the rooms changes between shots. When he first crashes through the door it's just a wooden door with a large brass knob, but when he lands on the floor in the other room the door is now surrounded by a white frame and the knob is visibly smaller. (00:45:05)
Continuity mistake: After killing Henriques on the plane, Matrix asks the flight attendant how long the flight to Val Verdes is. When he asks her the question, her hand is on the curtain separating first class from economy, but in the next shot her arm is by her side when she answer's Matrix's question. (00:21:20)
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)
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: Just as Matrix says about growing up in East Germany, his daughter has her hand on a glass of juice. However, as the shot changes, she is now holding her sandwich with two hands. (00:07:40)
Continuity mistake: When Matrix's daughter brings the sandwiches and he talks about Boy George, the magazine is sometimes on top of the sandwich or side by side to the dish. (00:07:45)
Continuity mistake: During the initial credits, the amount of ice cream on Matrix's nose and lip decreases between frames. (00:05:30)
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)
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 Matrix is firing out of the sea plane, he shoots 2 people in a jeep. In one shot, they are both falling backwards having been shot, and in the next shot, the one in a sand-coloured top is jumping out of the jeep. (00:58:10)
Continuity mistake: When Cindy is about to shoot the police van, the damage to the van door changes between consecutive shots before the explosion. (00:54:50)
Revealing mistake: When Cindy fires the second rocket at the truck, you can see the explosive device on the road next to the truck just before it gets hit. (00:54:20)
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)
Continuity mistake: When Cindy and Matrix park the car in the mall's lot, a woman behind the car disappears between shots. (00:31:35)
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.