Factual error: At the "Prototype Exhibition" party, Jimmy and Joe hop in two cars for a run through the Chicago streets. But, CART cars do not have built-in starters, they need external ones.
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: Joe Jackson batted left-handed in real life, not right-handed as Ray Liotta portrayed. He also threw right-handed and not left-handed like it shows when Kevin Costner is hitting him fly balls to left field.
Factual error: In the scene where Vince returns to his dorm room and finds Dennis Franks has moved in, Franks informs him that Coach Vermil is mixing the veterans with the rookies. In 1976, Dennis Franks and Vince Papale were both rookies.
Factual error: We see a caption saying "Leeds 0 Luton 1." In reality, that match was a tie game.
Factual error: During most of the basketball games, you can see an American flag in the background. This is not the problem, the problem is that it is hung wrong, the stars should always be on the top LEFT not RIGHT.
Factual error: In one game the camera pans to Herb and behind him we can see a man wearing an Under Armor hat. Under Armor didn't come out until 1996.
Factual error: One sweep through the town shows a Dodge Durango in a parking lot. The movie takes place in 1988; the first Dodge Durango was the 1998 model, ten years later. (00:34:15)
Factual error: In the penitentiary, the guards should be wearing a United States flag patch since it is a federal penitentiary, not the Texas flag patch. (00:08:45)
Suggested correction: Paul Crewe was arrested by local police and not charged with a Federal crime, therefore he would have been incarcerated in a State Prison, not a Federal Penitentiary.
But the prison is named Allenville Federal Penitentiary so they should be wearing American flag patches and not state patches.
If he was arrested in California by local cops, why would he be incarcerated in a Texas State Prison and not a California State Prison?
He was arrested by locals but under Federal probation for shaving points. He went to Federal prison for probation violation.
He violated his federal probation. He would have been initially charged by the local district attorney, but the feds would also charge him due to the probation violation, and the local charges would be dropped.
Factual error: In the coffee shop when Roy Hobbs is having coffee, there is a Coca-Cola sign in the window featuring the "fishtail" logo used between roughly 1957 and 1961, not the time period portrayed in the movie.
Factual error: The poem Ali quotes in the movie before the Frazier fight, "Ali comes out to meet Frazier, Frazier starts to retreat, If he goes back any further, He'll end up in a ringside seat..." was in fact the poem he used before the first Liston fight and began, "Clay comes out to meet Liston, Liston starts to retreat..." and ends with the lines, "Never did they think, When they laid down their money, That they would witness, The total eclipse of the Sonny". Poor effort.
Factual error: When the results list is posted at the regional competition. "Wooster, MA" is printed next to Zoey Bloch and Avril Dishaw. The correct spelling of the city is Worcester. Wooster is in Ohio.
Factual error: During Lee Iacocca's slide presentation to Henry Ford II in 1963, there are two slides that reference James Bond. One shows him standing next to the Aston Martin DB5, which made its debut in "Goldfinger" in 1964, and another shows a still image from "Thunderball", which was released in 1965.
Factual error: In the opening game of the movie the announcers at the ball park are referring to the visiting team as the Peninsula White Sox. The team shown on the field is the Hagerstown Suns. (00:07:00)
Factual error: For a baseball movie, you would think they would have known the rules of the game better. There is a scene in which Henry uses the "hidden ball trick" to pick a runner off of first base. He stands on the rubber on the mound with only the rosin bag in his hand while the first basemen holds the ball. It is a violation for him to stand on the rubber or straddle it without the ball in his hand and is called a "balk". Technically the runner should have been awarded second base.
Factual error: In the shot of the infield at the Saratoga racetrack several Canada geese are shown landing. However, the calls inserted on the soundtrack are the quacks of mallard ducks not the honks of Canada geese.
Factual error: Right after Lance gets hurt and Mox replaces him Mox's first play is a 40 yard pass for a first down after which everyone starts yelling he needs to stop the clock and the camera shows the clock moving. The problem is that in high school football the clock stops on first downs while they reset the chains so the clock should have stopped running until the first down markers were moved and the ref set the ball.
Factual error: Another flag gaffe: The Canadian flag in the 1920s was either the red ensign or the Union Jack. The Maple Leaf only became the national flag in 1965.
Factual error: In at least two scenes, cars from the 1990's can be seen, despite the fact that the film took place two decades earlier. (00:50:00)
Factual error: During the Marshall-Xavier game the announcer refers to Xavier as the "Pirates", but Xavier's nickname is and was "Musketeers".