Steve Kozak

Factual error: Although the type of mission depicted in the movie did occur, it was not Americans that were known to do them. Canadian and British teams were specialized to do this mission.

Factual error: U-571 was sunk on January 8, 1944, by an Australian Sunderland. She was previously damaged by an Allied destroyer on March 22, 1943, but managed to come back to the base. All supply submarines (Type XIV or Type VIIF) were actually sunk by Allied planes or surface ships.

Factual error: At the beginning of the movie, the German sub gets surprised and severely damaged by a destroyer. The sonar man first notices the enemy destroyer approaching, but only a short time before the destroyer is already literally on top of the sub. German sonar at the time had the capacity to detect ships up to more than 7 miles away. (00:03:40)

Factual error: During the night, School Boy shoots a Barrett M82. Instead of hearing a huge blast (as in the morning scene), the shot is silent.

Emanuele Ingrosso

Deliberate mistake: In the film, American aircraft carriers carry no fighter planes. It was a weird choice...pilots who were naval fighter pilots were edited out of the story, and Wade McClusky, who in reality was previously a fighter pilot but moved into dive bombers had his story changed for the film to have him previously had been a torpedo plane pilot instead.

Corrected entry: In one scene when Wyatt Earp is crying out in the middle of town and it's raining, around Wyatt, the street is soaked and puddled with pouring rain, a few feet further up the street is clearly still hard-packed dirt where the sprinklers stop - you can even see exactly where the "rain" ends.

Factual error: When the new candidates report in to Rescue Swimmer School, one of the airmen is wearing the Silver Star ribbon. The person is too young to have served in another service, and there are no other service's ribbons worn - and the Coast Guard hasn't issued a Silver Star since Vietnam.

Corrected entry: When the 54th Mass is shown marching into battle the Sergeant Major is wearing private's leathers (traps). Noncommissioned officers (sergeants and above) had traps with detailed, rectangluar belt buckles, not the oval "US" buckle. This is most obvious when they are marching towards Fort Wagner.

Other mistake: In the scene where muskets are issued to the 54th Massachusetts, only Pvt. Jupiter Sharts is revealed to be a marksman worthy of training the other troops by virtue of having previously hunted squirrels. The camera then zooms to a closeup of Pvt. Sharts aiming down the barrel with the wrong eye closed.

Factual error: When the Japanese commander is committing seppuku near the end of the final battle, after he makes the first cut his second cuts his head clean off, and it can be seen falling to the ground in front of his body. While having a second perform this act was indeed commonly part of the ritual, the second was actually supposed to ensure that the neck was not cut cleanly through, i.e. He was supposed to stop short and leave the head attached to the body by a small flap of tissue. It was considered extremely undignified and unnecessarily messy for the head to come clean off and roll around on the ground. For that reason, it was important to choose a second who was a skilled swordsman.

Factual error: Throughout the battle scenes on the ridge, the machine gunners can be seen picking up the guns to fire on the move. While not impossible, not as painless as it is made to appear. The M1919 .30 caliber air cooled machine gun was light enough to carry. But for the gunner to hold an already hot barrel and continue firing would have been extremely painful without the issued heat retardant mitten or the barrel "hoop" w/ wooden handle. These fixes allowed the gun to be fired on the move and saved many from having their palms burned and scarred for life.

Factual error: When Sergeant Howell is first introduced, the corporal assisting him calls the barracks to attention. You do not call "attention" for an NCO, however - you call "at ease."

Texijapi

Character mistake: At their wedding, the Priest announces Jack and Linda as Mr & Mrs Morris, instead of Morrison. (00:37:45)

mightymick

Continuity mistake: During one of the attacks, the Zulus are charging en masse towards the ramparts manned by British riflemen. When Bromhead yells "Fire!" the soldiers open fire with their rifles....and some Zulus at the REAR of the charge fall dead whilst those in the front continue charging, uninjured.

Corrected entry: In the scene where the two Delta snipers are defending Durant's crash site, a few sounds gets mixed up. When the boys first arrive they pull Durant out of the chopper and place him in a hut. Gordon runs back out and start to shoot. He is using his M4, but the sound is from Shugart's M21. When the two snipers are dead we see Durant fire off his last round when Somalis are over-running the chopper. The gun he used was Gordon's M4, but the sound was from his own MP5. (01:32:46)

Continuity mistake: When Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon arrive to defend the downed chopper, Shugart is shooting his rifle as a right-hander, but in one short sequence as they're pulling Mike Durant to cover he is shooting as a left-hander. The shot has obviously been reversed as the bolt of the M14 and the height adjustment knob on the aim point optic are on the wrong side of the rifle. (01:29:00)

Continuity mistake: When they call for a stretcher for Blackburn, the stretcher is half folded up. The camera does an instant cut and it is now fully open. They don't unfold that quickly. (00:45:40)

Ssiscool ★

Visible crew/equipment: Just after Pilla is killed we see Aidid walking with his MP5. In his sunglasses the camera is reflected as clear as day. (00:48:20)

Ssiscool ★

Factual error: In the movie, the Rangers and Delta operators defending the crash site are engaged by several 'technicals' (pick-up trucks with crew served weapons mounted) including one with a recoilless rifle directed by the Somali 'head honcho'. Also, several technicals seem to (somewhat implausibly) spring from the woodwork as they flee the city on foot... However, during the entire course of the actual battle, there was never a SINGLE mention of the pinned down forces being engaged by such vehicles and the Rambo-style capture of the recoilless rifle was a comical fabrication.

Deliberate mistake: When the list of the KIA during the raid is showing, the name of Matt Rierson is up there but he died 3 days later from a mortar attack on the base. (02:11:50)