Factual error: During the battle at the Marshalls-Gilberts, the movie shows mountainous terrain. The real Marshalls and Gilberts are atolls with very little terrain.
Factual error: A flight manifest would never state on its seating chart that an armed U.S. marshal was on board as it gives away that person's identity and puts everyone on board in danger.
Factual error: When Mark types email addresses in to tell people about facemash, he writes to several people @harvard.edu. At the time the movie takes place, undergraduate email addresses were all of the form username@fas.harvard.edu. Furthermore, the network brought down by facemash would have been referred to as the FAS network. (FAS stands for Faculty of Arts and Sciences; the eponymous network covered all buildings within the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.).
Factual error: The picture of Eddie and Teddy on the road with dad, supposedly taken in 1906, shows a Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey circus poster. In 1906, the Ringling Brothers circus and the Barnum & Bailey circus were two separate circuses playing in different parts of the country. They did not combine the two shows until 1919. (00:27:00)
Factual error: When Reynolds is pulling up to the gas station headed to the countryside, you see a blue Michelin sign on the left against the gas station's building. The 'Michelin Man' logo style seen on the sign was not in use until the 2000s. The movie takes place in 1950s. (00:11:50)
Factual error: In the scene where the Navy Seals are riding in the cars, the VA state vehicle inspection can be read from behind. It read "6 13" for June 2013. This would have been correct for the period the film was made, but not for the time of the incident.
Factual error: When Laura Barns is counting down the final time and each number show up as a notification in the upper right hand corner, they should also show up under the Skype chat but instead, Laura's previous message remains.
Factual error: The German fighters depicted in the film are Messerchmitt Bf 109 G-6s, and every single one of them is using the Rüstsatz VI gun pod, that is, 2 extra 20mm Mg 151 cannons. The Luftwaffe only equipped their Bf 109s with the gun pods when they were going to intercept bombers. In this movie, even on the fighter vs fighter missions, they have these gun pods, which is inaccurate, because the gun pods dramatically reduced the turning performance of the Bf 109s.
Factual error: At the beginning, the film is set in 1995 only for a brief few minutes. Then, it goes on to say "15 years later." This brings us to 2010. In 2010, the latest iPhone was the 4. However, throughout this film, nearly every iPhone shown (quite a few) appears to be an iPhone 5s. This is obvious by the rectangular body with fingerprint sensor. In addition, in some places the latest iPads are used, the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 - These were released in 2013 and beyond. Finally, although I am not 100% sure, towards the end of the film as the woman steps in to the car for the final time on the hill next to the boat, it appears she is wearing a gold Apple Watch or other smart-watch which was released later than 2010.
Factual error: When Patton orders his driver to drive to the Carthaginian battlefield he addresses him as "sergeant". He is, however, wearing corporal's chevrons. A famous stickler for discipline and ceremonial, Patton is not likely to have made a mistake like this.
Factual error: The type of surgery shown made by the machine transversely cuts the rectus abdominis muscles. Besides not being a standard surgical incision in order to "remove a foreign body" as stated, it seriously damages important muscles of the abdominal wall making any immediate active mobilization of the trunk virtually impossible, even under strong analgesia.
Factual error: Lauda is an Austrian. Yet when his name appears on scoreboards with his country abbreviation, it shows AUS, which is for Australia. AUT is for Austria.
Factual error: Dexter the capuchin is in the African mammal display. Capuchins come from South America.
Factual error: Most of the parachutes are PX type. These came out in the 1960s. They only used X type during the war - only a few of those are seen in the film. (00:07:00)
Factual error: During the plane ride into France, the Paratroopers are holding/carrying their weapons by their sides. In reality, their weapons (M1 Garands, B.A.R.s, etc.) would be carried in special "bags" strapped to their parachute harness. This not only protected their weapons, but also secured them to their person.
Factual error: Ben, Abigail and Riley arrive at the Library of Congress to take the President's Book very late at night. However the Library of Congress, despite being shown as open, consistently closes at 5 PM.
Factual error: While the Leonov has a centrifugal section to simulate gravity, the ship's bridge is not part of it (evidenced by the stationary views outside its portholes). Yet in various scenes, including the one when Floyd rushes in to discuss his plan to return to Earth sooner with Tanya, gravity seems quite evident. Floyd marches across the compartment onto the raised pilot area's floor, then steps down from it, his foot landing audibly. Tanya's open jacket also hangs down normally as she moves about. Yet when Floyd demonstrates his plan using two pens, they float in mid air. (01:26:50)
Factual error: The movie and events take place in 1958. However, two Fender amplifiers that are used by the band, "Johnny Casino and The Gamblers" are "Silverface" models that were only manufactured between 1967 and 1981.
Factual error: Tom Cruise says of the song 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay' "my folks loved it". However, his father died in 1965, his mother died "shortly after him", and the song wasn't written until 1967.
Factual error: In the poster shot and in the film, the wave from the Atlantic carrying the carrier JFK into a collision with the White House comes crashing in from the west because the south portico of the White House is seen. The Atlantic Ocean is east of Washington, so the wave should come from the other direction. And even a wave coming from the east could not have made the JFK (CV-67) crash into the White House because the carrier was retired in 2005 and is berthed in Philadelphia, which is northeast of Washington DC. (01:30:10 - 01:30:40)