Pearl Harbor

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Rafe is fighting for Britain his plane gets hit. As it goes down into the water, it is day. Later when they show him swimming out of the plane and to the surface, it is night. (00:41:30 - 01:10:10)

Continuity mistake: When Rafe and Evelyn go to the Queen Mary ship and they are rising on the platform, and kissing, one camera shot shows them rising and when they stop the camera does a close up and you can see they are still at the red painted water line indicator. The next shot shows them above it again.

Continuity mistake: The hangar used in the "Mitchell" Field scene is the same one used later in the film as Clark Field, with the world "Mitchell" removed, leaving only the word "Field."

Pearl Harbor mistake picture

Continuity mistake: On the morning after the love scene with Evelyn and Danny, they are talking and she puts her head on his right shoulder and starts crying. The camera pulls back and she is still crying on his shoulder - but this time on his left shoulder, not his right. (01:05:50)

Continuity mistake: In the scene near the beginning of the movie where Rafe is being reprimanded by Maj. Doolittle for stunt flying, Rafe starts to talk about the various accomplishments that Doolittle has to his credit. The scene shifts to Doolittle and you can see in the background some of the trophies that he won in various air races and endurance tests. One of the trophies has a small model of an F-86 Sabre jet. The scene takes place in early 1941 and the F-86 didn't exist until the 1950's. In fact, jets weren't around until the end of the war and mostly in the hands of the Germans. (00:05:50)

Pearl Harbor mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As the Doolittle Raiders are taking off from the aircraft carrier there are several sweeping views of the carrier task force as the planes fly off. The decks of the carriers are obviously modern US carriers with the landing portion of the flight deck angled out about 10° from the catapult direction of the flight deck. (02:28:30)

Continuity mistake: During the scene when Rafe and Danny are in the P-40's shooting down a few of the Japanese planes, they fly through some smoke from the burning ships, their prop wash makes the smoke swirl all around. But, a few minutes before that, when two Zero's fly through some smoke, the smoke doesn't move at all, almost as though the planes were never really there...

Pearl Harbor mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Just after Rafe pops himself in the nose with the champagne cork, there is a bit of blood running down his right cheek. It disappears when the camera cuts back to him. (00:18:25)

Continuity mistake: When Rafe and Danny are taking off, in the view from the Zero the tails on the P-40's are up, next view they are down, and next shot they are up again.

Continuity mistake: Another indication that "Doolittle's Raiders" took off from a modern-day carrier - you can see a steam-powered catapult on the deck.

Continuity mistake: In the first scene with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, we see a rather large piece of lint, probably a cigarette ash, on his right shoulder. In the next shot, the ash is gone. Then it returns and disappears again.

Pearl Harbor mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the scene in front of the hotel on the night before Rafe ships out to England, Evelyn puts a scarf around his neck. There is a camera shot from his back: no scarf; then another one from his front, and he's wearing the scarf again. (00:27:10)

Continuity mistake: At the very end of the movie when Rafe is flying with little Danny, the faraway shots of the plane show that the pilot is wearing an aviator cap and goggles. The close up shots show Rafe with no hat on and little Danny with the cap and goggles. But from far away, the person with the cap and goggles can't possibly be little Danny.

Pearl Harbor mistake picture

Continuity mistake: During the Battle of Britain sequence, in the scene where Rafe gets shot down he can't open his canopy to bail out so he shoots holes in it with his pistol. In the wide shots of the plane the canopy is whole. (00:43:00)

Continuity mistake: In the scene showing the ship's deck while the ship is sinking and people are falling off of the deck, etc. clearly visible on either side of the deck are huge ship chains. These chains never sag from gravity as the ship is turning on its side. They don't even move.

Continuity mistake: Near the beginning when Rafe is in a train seat looking out the window at his girl, she is standing next to a stainless steel round end observation car with the name "Silver Horizon" in plain view. This car was built for the California Zephyr which didn't begin service until 1948. As Rafe's train begins to move, you can see the car's California Zephyr car number also.

Continuity mistake: When the final planes take off from the aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo, the captain gives the order for extra speed. But when the second and third planes take off, you can see that the carrier is safely moored with three anchor chains at the front of the ship and not going anywhere.

Continuity mistake: After Doolittle's bombing raid on Tokyo and the planes are flying towards China, the sun is setting behind the planes. The planes are flying west, so they should be flying towards the setting sun.

Continuity mistake: When Rafe first meets his commander in England, the commander is standing next to a guy looking at a plane. The commander turns around and looks at Rafe, but in the following shot the other guy is now also looking at Rafe. (00:30:25)

The-Immortal

Pearl Harbor mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the scene when Danny and Evelyn are at the restaurant after they hear the news about Rafe's death, as the camera comes in on them from outside her milkshake is full to the point of overflowing but when they switch angles to show them from the inside the milkshake is half gone. (00:54:55)

Factual error: For some reason, Danny believes Rafe's story that he's been officially assigned to an RAF Eagle Squadron for "combat training." While almost 7,000 Americans did volunteer to fly for England before Pearl Harbor, these were either as civilians or Americans who joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. It was against the law for any citizen to fight for a belligerent power while America was neutral, so Rafe's superiors couldn't have ordered him to fight for Britain, and Danny would have known that.

More mistakes in Pearl Harbor

Rafe: Ma'am, I'm never gonna be an English teacher, but I know why I'm here, to be a pilot, and you don't dogfight with manuals, you don't fly with gauges, I mean it's all about feeling and speed and lettin' that plane become like it's a part of your body, and that manual says that a guy who's a slow reader can't be a good pilot... That file says I'm the *best* pilot in this room... Ma'am, please... Don't take my wings.

More quotes from Pearl Harbor

Trivia: Despite the numerous historical errors and gaffs in the movie, the only historical "fact" the filmmakers managed to do research on (and admit to supposedly) is that they consulted bottle collectors on what types of bottles to use during the battle scenes to administer blood.

More trivia for Pearl Harbor

Chosen answer: Probably in Washington. He rejoined active duty in 1940, was assigned to consult with industry re aircraft manufacture; also a trip to England on special mission to evaluate other countries' air power. He requested a return to flying status but was refused. He then was asked to assess feasablity of a air attack on Japan from carrier based planes, and when he asked to lead the mission his request was accepted.

More questions & answers from Pearl Harbor

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.