Continuity mistake: When the Austrian Emperor and Gustav's father die on the same day Gustav puts their photographs on a sideboard. The close-up of Gustav's father's picture shows a white background, in contrast to all wide shots. (00:44:15)
Deliberate mistake: In the scene where Marie is trying on shoes, a pair of powder blue high top Converse sneakers can be seen next to her feet. It must have been done intentionally, but since there is no trace of modern apparel anywhere else in the film (the closest would be the mere mention of hot pink dress fabric but, as it's not shown, we don't know what exactly Marie calls "hot pink") these shoes (and the fabric) can't be considered part of a thematic element or artistic license. (00:55:35)
Continuity mistake: After swimming, Tehanni and Maimiti exit the sea with bare behinds, but they are covered in the following shot.
Factual error: On a number of occasions uniformed Wermacht officers and men are shown saluting Albert Speer. Speer was a civilian and (obviously) not in uniform. Military men do not salute civilians.
Factual error: The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria are shown starting back for Spain at the end of the first voyage. In fact, the Santa Maria had wrecked by this time; the return voyage would be made only by the Nina and the Pinta.
Factual error: Jan Christiaan Smuts is referred to as the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa in this film when Gandhi is there. Smuts didn't gain the office until 1919, after the death of Prime Minister Louis Botha. Gandhi left South Africa in 1914 and never returned.
Audio problem: During the wild boar hunt, they are interrupted by Aleander who says, "Prince Frederick of Saxony. He refuses to surrender Luther to you, Your Holiness," but nothing matches his lip movements. He utters a couple of syllables, at most, out of sync with the two full sentences heard in the movie. (English DVD version). (01:03:15)
Continuity mistake: In the sequence entitled "Their State flag. The spirit of the South". When Ben Cameron enters the room and picks up his little sister, he is wearing his saber. When he then carries her across the room and shows her the flag, his saber is missing. (00:28:30)
Visible crew/equipment: When Li's sons is doing "pushups" on one finger while flying up into the air you see the wire attached to him. (00:29:50)
Continuity mistake: When Eli enters Daniel's office, as he goes to sit down his hand move from in his lap, to his side, then back again.
Factual error: Catus Decianus actually managed to escape from the massacre at Camulodunum and fled to Gaul.
Continuity mistake: Early in the film, Michael talks to Harry Boland on a boat. During this scene, a cigarette appears in Boland's mouth that was not in the previous shot. (00:40:40)
Factual error: The movie is set in Rwanda in 1994. At the start of the movie you see a billboard advert for MTN, a South African cellular service provider that was not available in Rwanda in 1994.
Other mistake: The scene where the British army is crossing the Buffalo River is in the historic place but they are crossing in the wrong direction.
Deliberate mistake: During the gunfire of the Portuguese soldiers at the end, seconds before Jeremy Irons is killed, an old Indian woman is shot in her chest, but the actress/extra forgets to react and continues walking.
Continuity mistake: In the final destruction-of-the-temple scene, the huge statue of Dagon starts to topple head first, but in later shots it is sliding towards the camera feet first. This is because director Cecil DeMille was not satisfied with the first take and had the temple re-erected then collapsed a second time. Shots from both destructions are spliced together in an exciting sequence, but rather puzzling architectually.
Continuity mistake: At the end, during the fight scenes in the first class cabin, the number of overhead compartment doors that are open changes.
Factual error: Philip uses his left hand to sign the decree declaring Joan officially crazy. No one in the 15th century would have used his left hand to write, as 1) it was considered the wrong hand to write with and 2) writing with the left hand would have smudged the fresh ink and rendered any document unreadable.
Continuity mistake: Saigo is told to empty out the chamberpot because it is full. But it is not full when he is taking it outside to empty it.
Factual error: When the Marines strip off and run into the sea in the final scene, Doc takes off a pair of white socks that would be more appropriate for a final at Wimbledon. Not only are they white rather than khaki, they are virtually spotlessly clean which would be impossible after a week of fighting on the black sands of Iwo Jima.
Suggested correction: Speer, in his capacity as Reichsminister of Armaments and Munitions, would have been very recognizable to all Germans at this time and respected. Additionally, no Wehrmacht members actually salute or interact with Speer (by my memory), only Waffen-SS, who would doubtless be more loyal to a senior party member and willing to salute him. More so, if the entry refers to the Hitlergruß, the Hitlergruß was given regardless of rank per National Socialist ideology related to social equality.
One of Speer's many defences at his postwar trial was that he was a civilian, mistrusted by the military and never accorded military courtesies, which included them saluting him.