Continuity mistake: When Thaddeus asks Dylan if he wouldn't mind reenacting his look of absolute befuddlement, there is a shot of Dylan being filmed by the camera crew shown from the POV of the camera. In the background, Cowan and Thaddeus's assistant Hermia can be seen standing next to each other. But in the next shot, when Dylan says "Open the safe," Cowan and Hermia are further apart. (01:33:08)
Continuity mistake: When the agents are trying to open the Elkhorn safe, an agent places a device next to the dial before pulling the dial out. The device that the agent is holding is positioned next to the dial, but when the shot cuts, it is pushed against the safe. (01:33:15)
Continuity mistake: After arriving at 5 Pointz, someone tries to find the combination for the safe and it is revealed to have had a green handkerchief attached to the rear end. Dylan then pulls on the handkerchief and keeps pulling on it to reveal more coloured handkerchiefs until it stops and a timer is heard ticking. When the clicking sound is heard, Dylan is shown holding onto the knot between a purple handkerchief and a blue handkerchief. The shot then cuts to Agent Cowan saying "What is this?", but when the shot cuts back to Dylan, he is suddenly holding the knot between a blue handkerchief and a yellow handkerchief. Then in the next shot, his entire hand is held onto the blue handkerchief. (01:33:25)
Continuity mistake: In the 5 Pointz, Queens scene where three of the four horsemen project themselves on the walls of the building, you see a cut to them standing in front of their three cameras. The cameras are pointed closely at their faces and yet you see a complete body shot of each one on the walls. (01:34:35)
Continuity mistake: As Daniel, Merritt and Henley are in the elevator, the first shot of the elevator (exterior shot) shows Merritt standing a couple of inches away from the wall. A couple of shots later, Merritt is suddenly standing in the corner of the elevator. (01:36:30)
Continuity mistake: When the agents tackle the Horsemen dummies, Cowan jumps onto the platform after the agents fall to the ground. At this moment, he is facing them directly forwards. When the shot cuts, his body is at a rotated angle, facing away from the agents. (01:37:47)
Continuity mistake: When Cowan picks up the dummy after realising it isn't actually the Horsemen, he grabs ahold of the dummy by grabbing the right arm with both hands. Then it cuts to a closer shot of the dummy where his right hand is holding onto the dummy's abdomen. (01:37:50)
Continuity mistake: When the Horsemen are greeting the crowd at the 5 Pointz show, in a shot from behind the three while they are waving, Merritt is waving with his right hand before lowering it. When the shot cuts to an angle in front of them, he is shown lowering his left hand. (01:38:15)
Continuity mistake: At Pont des Arts in Paris when Dylan reveals his true self to Alma, the right page shown in the newspaper changes layout and stories. An earlier shot does not show a story about 12-year old Dylan while it's there in the second shot. (01:43:40 - 01:44:00)
Continuity mistake: In the climax, when the 4 horsemen meet the Eye, the order in which they come is (from the left), Death, Hermit, Priestess, Lover. This is the same, as they enter the 'house' as the Eye says "The real magic is taking 4 strong..." But as he continues the line with "solo acts" the camera angle changes, showing Death at the other end, next to Lover, with no time for Death to do so. Also, after Eye says "Welcome to the Eye", Death jumps the gate into the play area, followed by Hermit, as Priestess and Lover goes through the gate. In the next frame, as they all watch Eye, Hermit and Lover are misplaced. This is okay until the Priestess holds her left hand with the right hand of Lover. However, right in the next shot, as Death climbs the 'wheel', Lover is to the right of Priestess, leaving Hermit to Priestess' left hand side, the position same when they entered into the play area. (01:49:45 - 01:50:50)
Continuity mistake: When Alma walks over to the bench on the bridge, there is a woman sitting on it and a guy standing next to the bench. When she sits down, the woman sitting and the guy standing next to it have instantly vanished. (01:51:20)
Continuity mistake: When Alma realises there is a separate newspaper inside the newspaper she is reading, there is a shot focusing on the newspaper that shows an article focusing on the death of Lionel Shrike. In the next shot, when Dylan reveals himself on the bench, the top left corner of the newspaper is suddenly folded over, presumably being blown by the wind. (01:51:40)
Continuity mistake: When Dylan turns to Alma to tell her about the safe manufacturer, we can see nothing is on Dylan's half of the bench. Later, a padlock appears on Dylan's half of the bench from nowhere. (01:52:05 - 01:53:30)
Continuity mistake: When Dylan and Alma go to interrogate Daniel, the first shot of Daniel shows him playing with some cards. On the desk is the card box the cards go in. In the next shot, the card box is suddenly in his hand and the cards are suddenly back in the box. Theatrical version only.
Continuity mistake: On the bridge as Jack Wilder's car wrecks and blows up in flames it is resting against the center divider of the four lanes. In the next shot, from an above angle, most likely a helicopter, the car is visibly burning on the outside lane of the bridge away from the center divider.
Continuity mistake: At the start of the scene where Dylan and Alma are having lunch with Thaddeus, Dylan asks Thaddeus "So you were a magician first?" At the end of the line, he lowers his hand, but by the next shot, his hand is suddenly raised, placed on his chin. Theatrical version only.
Continuity mistake: Henley Reeves comes out with her three partners and is wearing long black trousers. A few moments later, she is wearing a black leather minidress.
Continuity mistake: When Dylan and Alma are having lunch with Thaddeus Bradley, as Thaddeus says "My first show, I revealed all of his tricks", Alma is looking straight at him with her head slightly shifted to the left. In the next shot, she is looking down on the table, with her head shifted to the right. Theatrical version only.
Answer: The mirror was inserted at an angle, so that the reflection was the ceiling and not what was in front of them. It's the same principle for how periscopes work.
Bishop73