Corrected entry: After Forrest stops running and says that he'll go home to Alabama, he turns and walks west. Alabama is east of Monument Valley. (01:53:00)
Corrected entry: Bubba specifically says he was drafted into the Army, but his gravestone says he was born on March 2, 1943. The first draft for service to the Vietnam conflict was limited to men born between 1944 and 1950. Subsequent drafts were for men born in 1951 - 1953. Bubba was born a year too early to have been included in the first draft.
Correction: Not true, men born between 1944 and 1950 were the first to be included in the Vietnam draft lottery first introduced in 1969. Many single, unmarried men who were not students born before 1944 were drafted prior to 1969.
Corrected entry: In the scene in the club where Jenny is a "folk singer," she is supposed to be nude, but you can see the line of the flesh-colored body pants she is wearing.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the movie, before meeting Jenny, Forrest is sitting on a bus bench wearing the Nike shoes he received from Jenny and ran across the country in. When he arrives at Jenny's and crouches down to meet little Forrest, he's wearing brown loafers.
Suggested correction: It's certainly possible that he brought a nicer pair of shoes in his suitcase to change into when he arrived to her place.
Except nothing in the film suggest he had a chance to change shoes. He was so excited to see her and when he found out he's only 5 or 6 blocks away, he runs all the way to her apartment. It wouldn't be in his character to then stop and change shoes before knocking on her door.
If we look closely, those are just dirty shoes. Same ones Jenny gifted him.
Of course it would be in his "character." Forrest Gump was always a tuck in your shirt and straighten your tie kind of guy.
Factual error: When Forrest and Lt. Dan first try catching shrimp on the new boat in the mid 70s, they catch a bunch of junk, including a Mello Yello can, which wasn't launched until 1979. (01:30:05)
Suggested correction: The time frame is right on track. It took Dan a lot of years to get to the point where he joined Forrest on the boat. 1979 tracks with what comes before and after.
You should watch the film again. Hurricane Carmen, which happened after Lt. Dan joined, and they were struggling to catch anything, was in 1974. And Forrest leaves the shrimp business in 1975 when he finds out his mother is dying of cancer. 1979 comes well after all those events. Not to mention that it's only 1981 when Forrest is sitting on the bench telling his story.
Corrected entry: When Forrest gets hit by a stone and falls on the ground a red school book is lying on the ground next to him. When he gets up he doesn't pick it up, and when he runs away it's not on the ground either. (00:15:20)
Correction: The red book is right from Jenny on the floor when Forrest starts running.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Forrest is being chased by the bullies in the truck, the truck has a confederate flag plate on the front, but no "official" state of Alabama-issued plate. Alabama issued duplicate plates (one for front and back) through 1976. Since this scene took place while Forrest was in high school, prior to 1977, it should have had a front plate.
Correction: Two points to nullify this. 1.) Many states issue duplicate plates but do not legally require the front plate to be used. Alabama did not require 2 license plates in 1976. It's irrelevant though because 2.) These boys are in their vehicle chasing another boy who is on foot. They are throwing objects at him and fully intend to beat him severely if they catch him. It's quite clear they have very little concern for the law. They frankly don't care whether they need that front plate or not. It's a character choice, not a movie mistake.
Correction: ...as young kids who just got their license, we regularly took off our front plates and replaced them with whatever we thought was 'cool'.
Factual error: There is a modern 1960's car in the background when Forrest says Bubba's grandmother cooked shrimp. As young as his grandmother appears to be, no such car would have existed at that time.
Suggested correction: Bubba's grandmother is never seen. The person we see serving shrimp is Bubba's mother and then it skips to his great-grandmother.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Lt.Dan and Gump are in the apartment after New Years, there is a shot of Lt. Dan with the hooker on his lap where you can see his legs.
Correction: Incorrect. The end of his pants are tied in bunches, and you see that hanging down. A few inches below that you can see the bedspread on the other side, through where his legs should have been.
Correction: Green blankets are used on his legs (green screened) and then digitally removed so they couldn't have been seen.
Corrected entry: At the end, Jenny looks way too healthy for someone a few days before dying of AIDS. (02:03:55)
Correction: It is not stated definitively that Jenny has AIDS; she says it is "some sort of virus" possibly alluding to the HIV viral infection. Also, she could have died of heart failure secondary to the viral disease, or any number of other complications (drug toxicity, internal hemorrhage, massive stroke) that come on suddenly and without prior visible symptoms. Diseases are very unpredictable, and a person can be very near death and look just fine.
Correction: Even though it's not specially mentioned in the movie, Jenny did not die from AIDS or HIV-related causes. Jenny actually died from Hepatitis, due to her previous drug and IV needle usage earlier in her life. At the time that Jenny stated this to Forrest, both AIDS, HIV, and that specific form of Hepatitis were all very new, and the various symptoms were often confused with each other. This was confirmed years later in a documentary about the movie.
Corrected entry: When Forrest runs into town after losing his braces he speeds by a cafe in the foreground where one of the patrons, an old guy with a hat, calls him a running fool. Some 20 years he takes off for his three-year run across America some 20 years later, and when he comes by the cafe we see the same old guy, who obviously hasn't aged in between. (00:17:05 - 01:48:10)
Correction: I really think that having the same guy is a statement on the lack of change in Gump's hometown in comparison with the rest of America. (I hardly think that the director is slapping his forehead thinking "oops!" over this one.).
Correction: Age shows more obviously with the young than the old, ie the difference between freshman and sophomore is much greater than 1 vs 2 years with a company.
Factual error: In the scene where Forrest Gump is wheeling Lt. Dan across a street between a bunch of taxis, the car they go behind is a 1973 Chevrolet Caprice (see the tail lights). However, several scenes later we know the year is 1971 because it is New Year's Eve 1971 because we see the TV flash 1972 as the year changes. (01:13:30)
Suggested correction: 1971 to 1976 was the second generation of these automobiles, with production of these models beginning in mid-1970. This car would absolutely have existed at the time depicted in the movie.
Corrected entry: When Forrest starts to play ping-pong, he says how he plays all the time. In one shot, the camera is laying on the table, looking up at him. Just before the shot changes to the next, you can hear the "clunk" of the ball hitting the camera. I saw this in the DVD and on TV. You know it is the camera because it is loud and sudden, not soft, like what you would hear when it hits a ping-pong paddle.
Correction: I'm not sure what you heard, but it could not have been the ball hitting the camera, because in the making of the film documentary, it is shown that the ping-pong ball was computer generated for every scene, so no real ball ever existed.
Maybe the sound is confused with the ball hitting the bedpan earlier.
Correction: It was a sound effect added to make it seem like it hit the camera.
Corrected entry: There is a scene where Forrest is in his dress uniform. The Medal of Honor ribbon (light blue with a field of white stars) is missing from the top row of ribbons.
Correction: He just received the Medal of Honor that day. You would have to buy another ribbon rack and the ribbon to change it and I don't know anyone that would do that on the same day.
Correction: Untrue he would have added it to the inside of his top row nearest his heart as it is higher than his purple heart. He would have received it the day he received his Presidential ceremony award.
Corrected entry: When Forrest is running the football field and passing all the players, he passes everyone except the referee, who can be seen moving down the sidelines at a faster pace than Forrest. (00:21:05)
Correction: How is this a mistake? So, the referee is moving faster..... because he is supposed to keep ahead of the players to be in a position to make the call. No mistake here.
Correction: Aside from Forrest not being very intelligent, he may be heading back towards Monument Valley so he can stop at the visitor center and arrange for transportation (such as calling for a taxi to take him to the St. George Municipal Airport), as he stated himself that he was tired and undoubtedly had no intention of walking or running all the way back to Alabama.
Phaneron ★