Continuity mistake: When Sean removes his Ethan mask on the 747 his eyes change from Ethan's clear blue to his own dark. But there is no eye cover or contact lenses incorporated in the mask. (00:04:40)
Continuity mistake: At the rock climbing sequence, after he slips and is hanging by one hand starts staring at the landscape, in the wide shots, the sun is directly behind him, but in the closeup shots, he is in the shadow. (00:07:45)
Continuity mistake: The registration plate on Ethan Hunt's bike changes between 'NI 89' and 'ND 69' on occasion. Clearest moments are NI 89 just as he goes into the flames on the burning bridge, and ND 69 when he's through them. (01:38:35)
Continuity mistake: The tyres on the crotch rocket motorcycles they were riding kept changing from knobbly tyres to road slicks, back and forth depending on what terrain they were on. Easiest to see when Ethan skids on the road to avoid the white van - clear shot of slick tyres - then about 30 seconds later they're on the dirt, he skids into the old car and you can easily see that he's got off-road tyres front and back.
Continuity mistake: In the car chase scene with Nyah after they split and hit again and are spinning look at Ethan's car. The driver's side in the close ups was on the American side, then in the spin it is reversed to an English side. (It is a negative image - the license plate is reversed). The next image is back to normal.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Hunt is chasing Nyah in the car, there is a part where he almost hits a gray car. When the camera shot comes from behind, we see a gravel road on the side with pine trees, but when it cuts immediately to an air shot, we see a concrete bridge-like road with no gravel for several feet ahead or behind. It does this throughout the scene.
Continuity mistake: Tom Cruise is chasing Thandie Newton in his car in an early scene. He tries to fasten his seatbelt, and finally manages it. But later, sometimes he has his seatbelt on, and sometimes he doesn't.
Continuity mistake: During the fight between Ethan and Sean, Sean cuts Ethan's face with a knife and it's bleeding. A little bit later it is not bloody and it looks as if the wound is closed, then open and bloody again.
Continuity mistake: Why did Hunt's team decide to use an outback location as their Sydney base? It looks like it's in the middle of the Nullabor, which ain't exactly a helicopter ride from Sydney. Come to think of it, there isn't much terrain like that anywhere within a several hundred kilometres of Sydney.
Continuity mistake: When Nyah and Ethan are in bed in Spain, the lights reflected off Ethan's face and of the bed covers change between shots.
Continuity mistake: When Ethan finishes showing Nyah the pictures of the aeroplane crash so she can see what kind of man Ambrose is, she puts out a candle with her hand. Then when they show her from the front, it's lit again, from the side it's out, then lit from the front, AGAIN!
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Nyah is walking up towards Ambrose's house, the wind is playing havoc with Nyah's hair and scarf. Throughout the scene, there are several shots of her where there is no wind, her hair is not moving and the scarf is perfectly placed (most noticeably when she steps off the boat onto the walkway).
Continuity mistake: In the rock climbing scene, just after Hunt does his flying jump, he falls, slides down a smooth rock face and grabs a hold at the last minute to stop him plummeting to his death. When he pulls back up, and over he grabs a hand hold on the smooth surface which wasn't there before. If you know what you are looking for, you will also see that it is a bolt on hold which has been attached to the rock face.
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the final fight scene, Tom Cruise has some blood coming out of his nose... That blood disappears and returns several times during that scene, and it's visible with all those close ups of him.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning when Ethan is getting briefed of his mission with the sunglasses, his point of view shot through the glasses shows the landscape moving across from right to left, yet on the shots looking at him he isn't turning around or moving his head at all.
Continuity mistake: The 747 that crashes in the beginning of the movie has a fictitious airline name painted on the fuselage; but the dialogue uses a different name.
Continuity mistake: When Tom Cruise is in the final fight scene with Dougray Scott, he performs a 'spinning jump kick'. When he lands, he is shown landing with his right foot in one shot, his left foot in the next one, and back to his right foot in the final shot.
Continuity mistake: At the racetrack when the girl has the binoculars up and talking to Tom Cruise her hair is behind her ear, then down, then behind her ear again.
Continuity mistake: When Ethan makes the spectacular leap during the rock climbing scene, you see him land vertically, as in he landed in a standing position, clinging to a rock safely, yet when it immediately cuts to another angle, he is already sliding down to the edge.
Continuity mistake: When Nyah and Ethan are in the tub at the mansion, one shot shows Nyah with the heels of her feet up, then it switches to where they're facing the bottom of the tub.
Answer: Ethan was the most probable candidate. Remember that Ambrose and Ethan had specifically worked together a few times with IMF in the past, as stated in the film, with them body doubling each other. Once Ambrose had his suspicious raised by the envelope, he decided to test Nyah. So showing up to her with Ethan's face would indicate if she recognized Ethan, or thought she was being approached by a total stranger at night.
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