Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, right before the race against Vin Diesel, the two cars are placed very close, within a foot or two of each other. A couple of shots later, right before the girlfriend says 'Go.', the cars are a couple of feet further apart, even though they haven't yet started the race. (01:32:40)
Revealing mistake: In the disco scene, the DJ is playing music, but the Pioneer decks and the DJ Mixer are not even turned on, as no lights are showing.
Continuity mistake: In the closing credits, Sean's father was listed as "Major Boswell." However, it was established early in the movie that he is in the U.S. Navy, and major is not a rank in the Navy. Its Naval equivalent is the rank of lieutenant commander. In addition to the wrong rank being listed in the credits, in the scene when he was in uniform, he was wearing lieutenant rank, which is the U.S. Navy equivalent to an O-3 paygrade captain in the other branches of the U.S. military.
Suggested correction: "Major" is the character's name, not his rank.
Other mistake: Throughout the movie we see the mustang rolling chassis in the garage. This is a rolling chassis of a 1967 Shelby mustang gt 500/350. The main ways to realize this are that the car has the cut outs in the front for the 2 fog lights that the Shelby had and that the back end has a spoiler which is built into the body. However the car they do all the driving with is a base model 1967 mustang fastback. While a new grille would've covered up the fog-light cutout, the regular fastbacks didn't have the built into the body spoiler like the Shelby's did. Removing the built in spoiler and making it as smooth as it was would've taken way too much time and supplies. It also wouldn't have served any benefit. You could argue they were trying to eliminate down-force on the back but the spoiler was only about 2 inches, it wouldn't have helped. The directors did this to avoid wrecking the much more rare Shelby mustang.
Continuity mistake: When Sean is learning how to drift in the mountains for the first time, the spoiler is on, although he crashed the back end of the Evo at the docks and destroyed the spoiler. However, in the next scene, the spoiler is missing, the way it should be.
Continuity mistake: Early during the race at night on the mountain, the road goes from gravel to paved in a matter of one or two shots.
Continuity mistake: At the police station, Sean's mom raises her hand, holding a cigarette. A shot later, it's lowered.
Continuity mistake: When Sean meets Twinkie, his glass is almost full to the brim. A shot later, it's half empty.
Continuity mistake: At the police station, a cop grabs Sean's T-shirt while he turns around to watch his mother step in. A shot later, the cop has vanished.
Continuity mistake: The size of the hole and the overall damage on Sean's car is much bigger when the ball hits the glass before the race than when the car crashes.
Continuity mistake: When the movie begins, Sean drives away while Clay stares, left arm bent upwards. A shot later, his arm is lowered.
Continuity mistake: The damage to the main protagonist's vehicle changes considerably during the race in the parking garage. See the right side for reference.
