Continuity mistake: The beginning starts in 1776. The film ends in the year 1781 with the battle of Cowpens, a five year period. The children in the film do not age in that five years, except the youngest and that is after what I judged a six month period.
Continuity mistake: Gabriel writes in his letter that his friend was killed at Elizabethtown, but you can see that the letter actually states he was killed at Monmouth.
Continuity mistake: In the scene after Gabriel dies, the camera pans down from the top and you see the U.S. flag with all fifty stars, but when Benjamin leaves the tent it has only thirteen on it.
Continuity mistake: When John Billings, a member of the militia, finds his wife and child murdered and his house burned by Tavington's Green Dragoons, he promptly shoots himself in the head. But later in the movie, at the ending battle of Cowpens, you can see him standing in the ranks, getting shot if you look closely.
Continuity mistake: When Benjamin comes down the steps out of the meeting, he walks towards his oldest son signing up. He approaches his son and his son is facing away, but they cut back to Benjamin and his son is facing him. They cut back to the son and he turns around and then back to Benjamin and it's the same shot again. His son was turned around before he turned around. (00:15:35)
Continuity mistake: When Benjamin rides over the hill holding the fluttering flag, the flag is in his left hand. In the next shot, the flag is in his right hand, and the flagpole base is in a scabbard attached to the saddle.
Continuity mistake: In the shot where Tavington is loading his pistol (before he shoots the Rev.), he throws his ram rod, but when Benjamin's son is going to shoot him he has it back (he did not have an extra).
Continuity mistake: In the final battle scene, when you see the British in the distance from the Americans' point-of-view. There is a fence in the middle of the field, but when the two armies engage each other the fence disappears.
Continuity mistake: When the Colonial militia leave after the parlay with Cornwallis, Benjamin Martin whistles for the two dogs. The dogs can be seen running through the gates at the heels of the militia but do not appear in any other of the scenes with the militia riding back to camp. (01:34:50)
Continuity mistake: When Thomas and Gabriel come out of the woods and spot the postman, Thomas start running and runs quite a distance from Gabriel. When it cuts Thomas is just a few feet away from Gabriel while running. (00:02:50)
Continuity mistake: In the beginning when the girl is holding up a card in front of the boy, her grip on the card changes when she lowers it. (00:01:55)
Continuity mistake: In the final fight scene between Benjamin and Tavington, when Tavington flies off his horse and lands on the ground, his pants are visibly untucked from his boots. A few seconds later, when he stands up, his pants are tucked back into his boots.
Continuity mistake: In the scene when the Martins are in Charleston, Peter Howard is talking about his experience in the French and Indian War and how he lost his leg fighting in it. When the camera shows him standing there, he is holding a crutch under his right arm, seemingly supporting him, but it is his left leg that is missing. So he is actually giving support to his good leg while giving none to the missing one.
Suggested correction: It is the correct way to use one crutch. Crutches are usually used on the opposite side of the leg they must support. When one leg is partially weight-bearing, the crutch is on the opposite arm, when both legs are partially weight-bearing, two crutches are used each one moving along with the opposite leg. For more info, google "two-point gait."
Continuity mistake: During the battle of Cowpens, the French Major points out to Benjamin Martin that the line is beginning to falter. Benjamin runs to stop the retreat. As he runs towards the camera he is holding his pistol in his right hand but grips it by the barrel to swing it like a hammer or club. The camera then cuts to show Benjamin running away from the camera and the pistol is now gripped by the handgrip as it would be for firing.
Continuity mistake: Charlotte is reading a letter from Benjamin at the end of the film. When the camera is pulled back far enough to show her surrounded by Benjamin's children as she reads, Charlotte's dress has a modest neckline and shows no cleavage. When the camera cuts to a closeup that shows just the letter and her chest, she suddenly has several inches of cleavage showing, obviously another dress.
Continuity mistake: In the part when Gabriel and Tavington are fighting right before Gabriel is killed, Tavington drops his sword before getting shot by Gabriel. When he is shot by Gabriel, he falls onto the ground which is clear of all debris. When Gabriel approches Tavington to stab him, Tavington flips over and stabs Gabriel with his sword, which he had dropped earlier.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Cornwallis is being shaved with a straight razor the amount of shaving cream on his face changes from almost none to nearly full in one shot.
Continuity mistake: In one battle scene, a soldier's head is knocked off by a cannonball but the same soldier appears in a later battle scene, complete with head.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Mel catches his son trying on his old uniform jacket. The shot goes from Mel to his son then back to Mel. The candle on the wall behind him is not lit, then lit, then out again.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Benjamin Martin is saving Gabriel from the Redcoats, he's hiding behind the trees. In the second to last shot before he runs down the hill to go hand-to-hand, you can see that the tree has red marks on it, and then in the next shot of the tree, they're gone.
