Revealing mistake: The scene where Amsterdam and Jenny are in the room together above the tavern, shortly after Bill's assassination attempt, Amsterdam pushes Jenny up against a 12 inch by 12 inch wooden beam. The problem is when he is pushing her up against this beam, you can see it flexing with the weight. Then Amsterdam is holding the beam, you can see that the beam is some type of cloth because the slight touch of his hand makes it dent in. (01:20:45)
Continuity mistake: When Jenny and Amsterdam are lying in bed Bill suddenly sits in a chair next to the bed. He has an American flag draped over his shoulders. The way the flag is folded on the stars side changes when Amsterdam asks him if his shoulder is keeping him up, without Bill changing position. (01:22:45)
Continuity mistake: When Amsterdam and Jenny continue talking after Bill has just left them in the bedroom, Jenny's hands keep shifting from both hands on her chest to just one hand between shots. (01:28:45)
Continuity mistake: The level in the Butcher's drink changes from shot to shot during the celebration of the defeat of the Dead Rabbits. (01:40:25)
Continuity mistake: After Bill throws the knife at Amsterdam, he is seen walking up to him and when the camera angle changes he is seen at twice the distance from Amsterdam then he just was. (01:40:55)
Continuity mistake: When Amsterdam tries to kill the butcher and fails, the butcher straddles Amsterdam on a table and tosses a cleaver in the air. The cleaver rotates counter-clockwise so that the blade is rotating backward; however, when the cleaver lands, it is rotating clockwise so that the blade sticks into the wooden table. This would be impossible the way the cleaver is tossed into the air with a back-handed flip. (01:42:15)
Suggested correction: It is possible, if it falls quick enough. Doesn't matter where it rotates, if it is blade down at the moment of touching the table - it will stick.
Continuity mistake: In the shot when Amsterdam is lying on the table and Bill's cleaver is rotating in the air you see that he is wearing a checkered black-and-white scarf. This wasn't there before, and it's gone right after, and it would have been visible the way he was manhandled by Bill's men. (01:42:15)
Continuity mistake: After Amsterdam gets almost killed by Bill, Jenny is tending to him in a cave. She leans over him to kiss him, and while she does so a scarf that she had around her shoulders disappears. (01:44:05)
Other mistake: In the scene where Jenny is showing Amsterdam the advertisement for the ship (the Commodore) leaving for San Francisco, the movie makers made a misprint on the card. On the sail of the ship it says "Randolph M. Cooley - 118 Wall St". In the low right corner of the card, the address is "Randolph M. Cooley - 118 Water St. - Cor. Wall" (corner of Wall St.). (01:49:00)
Other mistake: When Mulraney tries to kill Amsterdam and Amsterdam grabs him from behind there is no way that he would just have put his arms around his neck and not neutralized the gun first. Luckily Mulraney was kind enough to shoot into the air and then drop the gun. (01:53:25)
Continuity mistake: When William "Boss" Tweed tries to win over Amsterdam, he hands him a newspaper that covers the events at the church of the previous day. In the next shot Amsterdam's hands are rested in his lap and the paper is nowhere, and the following wide shot confirms that he hasn't dropped it on the floor. (02:03:00)
Continuity mistake: When Monk gives an election speech we see Amsterdam and his buddies standing at a distance in front of a house. When the camera angle changes in mid-sentence Amsterdam is standing in the first row of the audience. (02:05:25)
Other mistake: Towards the end of the movie, when the mobs are breaking into stores/houses, the police come to try and stop them. The mob starts to throw rocks at the police. You can see one of these rocks, which look like they should be heavy, bounce right off of one of the officers' heads, and just bounce around as it hits the ground, like it weighs nothing at all. (02:14:30)
Factual error: The Snooker scene appears incorrect, since the earliest form of Snooker was invented in India circa 1875 - by British soldiers. At any rate, the blue ball shown in the movie was not added to the game until even later. (02:15:00)
Factual error: When the Lords and posh folk are playing snooker they are using plastic tipped cues with blue chalk on the tip. These would not have been used in this time period. (02:15:30)
Revealing mistake: In the scene when Bill confronted Monk outside the barber shop, Monk invites Bill in to settle their score the democratic way. As Monk led the way, Bill threw his big butcher knife into Monk's back. The knife can be seen bouncing off Monk's back onto the ground. (02:19:05)
Continuity mistake: After Jenny gets mugged at the dock, the shot shows her pulling herself to a standing position on a crate. In the next shot, from farther back and up high, she is crawling over to the crate she just pulled herself up on. (02:20:55)
Continuity mistake: When the second battle in Paradise Square is about to begin, Vallon is holding a length of chain in his left hand. Shang, standing beside him, is carrying a pole with dead rabbits hung from it. In a later shot, just before the naval bombardment, Vallon is holding a knife in that hand while Shang is now holding the chain. (02:28:30 - 02:29:55)
Revealing mistake: In the last scene where Amsterdam is crossing the black man's arms, wait until the camera pans onto Jenny. In the background there is another dead man and you can see him breathing pretty heavily. (02:29:30)
Revealing mistake: When Amsterdam is looking at the dead bodies laid out with candles at the end of the movie, the dead are shown breathing. (02:31:45)
