Other mistake: I've always wondered where they got the wood to make the enormous fire on the top of the mountain. You can clearly see that there are no trees anyway nearby, (except for several hundred meters further down) and they are not carrying wood with them either.

The Edge (1997)
1 other mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Harold Perrineau, Elle Macpherson
Continuity mistake: When Charles is showing Steve the constellations, the sky is pitch black. Yet in the next scene when Charles goes down to the shore to Bob, the sky has brightened considerably. No indication is given that a good deal of time has passed between these two scenes.
Charles Morse: Today, I'm-a-gonna-kill the mutha fucka.





Answer: That would only work when the sun is visible. In Alaska there are frequent rainy and overcast days where the sun is completely blocked by heavy clouds, making a precise directional determination difficult, if not impossible.
raywest ★
They could see the sun; it was a sunny day after the crash, and the next day they were able to see the North Star. To begin with, they had great visibility, and it seemed easy enough to find a mountain peak or pass to use as a quick reference.