Factual error: In the final scene with the New York skyline in the background, the new glass/stainless steel Manhattan complex at 731 Lexington Avenue is seen; this building is just being finished now in early '06. The building stands where Alexander's dept store once was. (On a related note, it is a nice touch on Spielberg's part to overlay the Twin Towers onto the skyline in that same scene.)
Factual error: The timeline for this film is incorrect. The flight Lisa takes is a red eye from Dallas to Miami. Non-stop flights between those cities takes 2 1/2 hours. Even with the west to east time change, this isn't long enough for a red eye. Shortly after take off, the clock in her father's house reads about 11:15pm. The plane lands after sunrise in Miami.
Factual error: When Dahlia is on her cell phone with her lawyer, she goes down into an underground subway and is still talking to him. Her call should have been cut short, because cell phones in NYC don't work in underground subways.
Factual error: As the film itself notes, the major action starts in spring 1818 and continues for several weeks if not months. However, many of the trees remain leafless and the weather is nothing like the norm in spring and summertime Tennessee.
Factual error: When Jeff Tally gets the first call from the little boy Tony, he checks both his cells. The blue Nokia is ringing however there isn't an incoming call on his phone, you see that as he has the two options, either "clear" and "options", meaning that the seven numbers have been typed in. (00:45:00)
Factual error: The French Cuirassiers are all carrying lances. Cuirassiers did not carry lances - their primary weapon was the sword.
Factual error: On Day 3, look at The Embrey Star newspaper when it zooms into the headline. Above the headline is the newspaper's web address, hardly appropriate given the paper is from 1980.
Factual error: The bat signal at the end of the film defies physics. The spotlight is a few feet across and is projecting the signal onto clouds far above. To do this, the light beam should get wider as it climbs up (like a flashlight's beam aimed at the ceiling). Yet the shot of the clouds shows rays of light getting wider as they go downward, like sun rays through the clouds. For this to exist, there's either a bat signal floating far above and through the clouds, or the one on the roof needs to be several miles wide, focusing a beam that narrows as it climbs. (02:09:15)
Factual error: When Domino is talking about when her dad took her to the fair and won her a goldfish, she states this is 1993, but in the flashback of the stall where she won said fish, there are lots of "Finding Nemo" toys hung around the stall. This film did not come out till 2004.
Factual error: In order to be electrocuted you need to connect a high voltage to a low voltage. Touching a power line does not get you electrocuted unless you make contact with the ground. So electrocuting the locusts by making them fly against a powerline can not work because they are not 'grounded'.
Factual error: In Derailed, the train that Lucinda and Charles ride is called the "Red Line, to Union Station". The Red line in Chicago does not go to Union Station and the train they are on is a Metra suburban mass transit train. The Red Line is part of the "El" system and is part of the CTA, not Metra.
Factual error: The night the episode takes place is described to have freezing rain with very icy road conditions. Vic describes the roads to Charlie as a "hockey rink" in one of their conversations, Charlie loses control of his car and slides off the road in one scene, and he slips on an ice patch and falls flat on his back in another. However, throughout the night, there are rather large drops of rain falling and puddles with unfrozen water on the roadways and parking lots. Being from upstate New York, I can tell you that freezing rain falls in much smaller droplets, and ice will accumulate wherever there is any water on the ground, not just in some places.
Factual error: When looking at Anna's cell phone, you can see the logo for Telus, a Canadian communication company that only offers cell phone service in Canada.
Factual error: When Hurricane Eduardo strikes Dade county, the news reports that "it's a definite category 5," and that "the winds have to be gusting at 150 mph." Even if the winds were sustained at 150 mph, it would only be a category 4 storm. If 150 mph is only the speed of the gusts, it's not necessarily even that strong.
Factual error: When Mr. Creedy is firing his revolver at V after his men have been killed, the camera, positioned presumably inside the revolver behind the cylinder, shows two empty chambers out of six total, but Creedy eventually fires 5 shots. During this same sequence one of the empty chambers lines up with the barrel, but Creedy's gun somehow fires. Also, if the camera is behind the cylinder, the chambers would still have loaded cartridges or shell casings in them, they wouldn't be empty. (02:12:00)
Factual error: After George and Kathy leave the Doctor's office they drive through town. When they are talking in the car there is a shot where, next to George's face, you can see the sign of the town hall where the scene was filmed, 'Village of Antioch' in Antioch, Illinois. (00:46:00)
Factual error: We see a solar eclipse take place, yet we also see numerous shots of the moon in which is at least half-full. Some of these lunar shots must be within a couple of days of the eclipse, though it couldn't take less than 7 days for the phase of the moon to change that much.
Factual error: The movie takes place during a single NFL season. In the beginning of the movie, when Brandon is still in Las Vegas, the paper he is using to pick games shows Seattle playing New Orleans. Later in the movie, still the regular season, Seattle and New Orleans are playing again. They would not play each other twice during the regular season.
Factual error: The Daily Astorian office where Rachel works has the Columbia River in the background, however the real Daily Astorian office is located well off the waterfront. (00:10:15)
Factual error: In one of the scenes where the young terrorist boy is talking with his young buddies, in the background is the unmistakable image of the Burj al-Arab, a huge sail shaped hotel that is located in Dubai (where the movie was actually shot), however this is supposed to be taking place in Iran. This hotel is a well known international landmark and architectural icon.