Factual error: The truck that the T-1000 uses to try and run down John in the overspill, is a Freightliner FLA 9664, which uses a diesel engine - it does not use petrol. Diesel is much harder to combust in comparison to petrol/gasoline, and the spark from the battery cables on the spilt diesel would absolutely never ignite under those circumstances. (00:37:55)
Factual error: In the scene where there is a train passing, the cars are marked "Burlington Northern." There was NO Burlington Northern until 1970, 7 years AFTER the shooting.
Factual error: Many of the vehicles in the movie have Pennsylvania inspection stickers on the lower driver's side windshield. This is not surprising being that most of the movie was filmed in Pennsylvania. However, they should have been removed when the car is suppose to be from another state. For example, the Senator's daughter, just before her abduction in Tennessee, is seen driving a car with Pennsylvania inspection stickers. Also, the driver for Yourself Storage in Baltimore also has Pennsylvania stickers on his car.
Factual error: In the scene where Earl is fighting the other prisoner, he is using a "sword" made from a bar of metal, it has a blade that is well over 2 feet long from the tip to the hilt. At the end of the fight the other prisoner is standing with his back against a solid concrete pillar, but Blake somehow manages to shove the "sword" through him all the way up to the hilt. This wouldn't be possible unless Blake were somehow able to shove the bar into the concrete.
Factual error: When the crew member aboard the Excelsior detects the incoming shockwave, he states, "Energy wave at 240 degrees, mark 6, port". However, when the shockwave hits the Excelsior seconds later, it is coming from her starboard side. (00:04:05)
Factual error: When Julia Roberts first moves to the small Iowa town, she picks perfect fall apples off her neighbor's tree, which draws his attention. But the next day, that tree, and most of the others in the town, appear in SPRING bloom. Some days later, she attends a July 4 parade. That timing might work with the blossoms, but certainly not with the apples.
Factual error: After JD steals Louise's money, Thelma decides to rectify the fact that they're broke by robbing a convenience store in Oklahoma. She holds the clerk at gunpoint, asks for all the cash, and then requests he hand over a bottle of booze. The problem is, due to the liquor laws in Oklahoma, one can only buy 3.2 beer and wine coolers at grocery stores and convenience stores, not "hard" alcohol.
Factual error: In the second skydiving scene Patrick Swayze tells the pilot to fly the plane at 4000 feet, which he does as this can been seen on an altimeter. When skydiving from 4000 feet it would take 25 seconds before you hit the ground but the skydive in this scene lasts 1 minute 51 seconds.
Factual error: The football game at the end of the movie supposedly takes place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. However, the overhead shots after Milo is killed show that the endzone says "SAN DIEGO". The end zone paint is red, white, and blue. This footage was obviously shot in San Diego, most likely during the Holiday Bowl college football game, which is held in San Diego in mid-December. (01:36:30)
Factual error: In the beginning when the Mcaffrey brothers' dad is killed, he pushes Scott Glenn (Adcox) into an adjacent room. Then the whole floor explodes - why wasn't Adcox hurt? He should have been blown up with the rest of the floor.
Factual error: When the school starts the war games and Chucky switches the paint rounds for live ammo and a few people get shot, this is impossible because those types of guns have been modified so they can't fire live rounds. All Chucky would have done is taken away their ability to fire anything.
Factual error: 'Cape Fear' is based in North Carolina, and cars shown in the film have North Carolina license plates. However, the cars have plates on both the front and back, and in North Carolina, cars only have plates on the back.
Factual error: Take a look at the directory listing on Chris' computer. It is absolutely absurd. The game Battlechess, for instance, is shown having the filename BATTLECH.ESS . No popular program uses an .ESS extension. It should be BATTLE.EXE . Besides, Battlechess takes a whole CD by itself. It would not be on a single floppy with a bunch of unrelated files. (00:32:40)
Factual error: While the 1960s-70s era Hong Kong vehicle licence plates were period-correct as far as number sequence (no letter prefix) and having white plates front and back, the type of plastic, retro-reflecting plates shown are from the modern era (post-1983). Cars in HK from that period had non-retro-reflecting plates, with either numbers painted on with stencils, or individually mounted plastic letters.
Factual error: Towards the end of the movie Ritchie visits Chas the Chair. Chas tells one of his guys to wire a police scanner in the GNX parked in the garage. As we see the car once Richie's in it, it's very easily noticeable that it's not a Buick GNX, it's the regular Buick Grand National. The badges are on the fenders where the fender louvers should be on a GNX, the hood has the 3.8 SFI Turbo, among other differences. Trust me, I've owned one and have driven many.
Factual error: A little spoiler about the ending: Bob Hoskins' character saves his life by breathing underwater because he "has his own tank," namely his asthma inhaler. That's not how inhalers work. They are not little scuba diving tanks full of oxygen; they are full of the drug they need to puff into your respiratory system.