Factual error: At the end of the film Rainwood has established his innocence of the drug charges and is happily back at work as a senior mechanic for a large airline. However, part of the sentencing and plea bargain protocols at his arraignment is his previous conviction on a lesser drug charge years before. It goes without saying that he did not advise his employers of this when he started work for them - no airline in the world (even pre 9/11) would hire someone with a drug conviction on their record! Now this is out in the open the airline knows that Rainwood is a convicted drug user (on the lesser, legitimate charge) and that he lied on his original job application. They wouldn't hire him again to sweep the floors.
Factual error: The film takes place in a private boarding school the 1950's, however one of the students is studying from a 1980's chemistry textbook. The obvious giveaway is that the spine of one book shows HBJ as the publisher. Jovanovich was not added to Harcourt Brace until the 1970s.
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 assault on Fort Wagner, the regiment attacks the fort from the wrong side. In reality, the troops attacked from the south.
Factual error: After the first victim they claim to have found a shell with 'Megan Turner' on it. That's not possible as we see Ron Silver fire at the victim and immediatley run away. If it had been an automatic then the gun would eject the shell, but it's a revolver, which doesn't eject shells.
Factual error: When Harry and Sally are driving away from the University of Chicago at the start of their road trip there is a long shot of them driving on Lake Shore Drive, but they are heading south towards the city with the lake on their left. If they were leaving the city from UofC, which is in Hyde Park, they would already be driving away from the city on Lake Shore Drive.
Factual error: When they are at the Cadillac dealership, taking delivery on a car in 1956, the American flag in the background is incorrect. It should have been a 48 star flag, not a 50 star flag.
Factual error: [Special Edition] The Statue of Liberty is incorrectly shown to be facing the Narrows bridge.
Factual error: The motel's billboard advertised HBO, which did not exist in 1971 when the movie was set.
Factual error: At a scene where Ron is in the Veteran's hospital doing physical therapy, it is supposed to be 1968, but the song playing is "American Pie." The song didn't come out until 1971.
Factual error: When Bigfoot is about to drive through the car dealership it squeals tires with a high pitched squeal. IF it could spin those big meats it would be a deep hound dog like bark. (01:40:40)
Factual error: When Diane visits her father in prison, she hands him a pen, but visitors in prison are very closely searched - no way could a visitor give a prisoner a pen of any kind (they're contraband for prisoners as they can be used as weapons), let alone a heavy pen like that one. Even if he were in a minimum-security prison (which his orange jumpsuit seems to indicate he's not) this rule would still apply.
Factual error: In the scene where Joe Clark and the Vice Principal go to the project buildings to see the young girl's mother, they walk down a short ramp to an apartment. Those project buildings are in Paterson,N.J. (where the story takes place), but walking down that ramp takes you to the boiler room, not an apartment. None of those buildings have apartments like that.
Factual error: In the opening scene at the baseball game, the announcer thanks the crowd for coming to see the St. Louis Cardinals. The fans are sitting in yellow seats, but all of the seats in Busch Stadium in St. Louis are red.
Factual error: For someone who has been given one more month (minus the two weeks since her escape from the closed ward) because of a brain tumor Eddie looks way too healthy. (01:03:20)
Factual error: In the shot where Uncle Buck is in the living room dancing with that woman, the song "Laugh Laugh" by the Beau Brummels is playing. However, the 45 we see spinning on the turntable is not "Laugh Laugh". It is a 45 on the Uni label, and the Beau Brummels' 45s were on the Autumn label.
Factual error: In the opening scene when the guys are shooting craps, Little Quick shoots the large man squarely between the eyes. The man wasn't looking downward and it would have been impossible for a 4 foot tall kid to shoot a 6 foot tall man at that angle squarely in the forehead.
Factual error: An animal that lives in the deep sea cannot live in the open air above the water.
Factual error: Three different characters (including two police officers) describe the car driven by the bad guys as being a maroon Ford wagon. Yet in the two scenes showing the car, it's a Pontiac.
Factual error: In the scene with the Christmas decor in the front yard, all the trees are green as well as the grass and landscaping. Even in Louisiana at that time of the year, most everything would be dormant. (00:59:23 - 01:02:24)
Suggested correction: Even today in 2023 felony convictions might not show up on a background check. Not all information has been uploaded to the internet yet. It was extremely easy in the 1980's for a conviction to be missed by a background check especially if there was no prison time served or it occurred in a rural county or town.
He just got out of prison and establishing his innocence involved the violent deaths of at least two people. Do you not think that his employers just might have followed his story? He'd be all over the news media. The idea that not one person would have followed up on his criminal history is beyond absurd - we are talking about a safety critical job that involves the safety of hundreds of people.