Factual error: The idea of two spacecraft blasting off together so close to each other at the same time is a joke. One would put the other at great risk. Not only is there massive fire and heat, but the vibrations from the noise of the exhaust do great damage to the surroundings. And there is great inconsistency about just how close the two spacecraft really are. The first still shot taken in the dark has them at different towers about 150 yards apart. But, then all the men take an elevator up ONE tower and are split apart into the two groups at the top of the tower. Furthermore, the launch takes place at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39: the fixed and rotating service structures built for the Space Shuttle are visible. The pads at LC 39 are 8,700 feet apart (just over 1.5 miles). (01:00:00)
Continuity mistake: Mr. Furlong pushes Zeke into the fishing tank and it breaks, soaking him from head to toe with water. Moments later they are walking out and he is dry.
Plot hole: The first time they communicate with the "entity" in the spaceship, they find a correspondence between numbers sent by the entity and letters of the alphabet. The entity presents itself as "Jerry". Later on, the entity tells Dustin Hoffman, "Stop calling me Jerry" - and then Dustin Hoffman realizes that the number-letter correspondence was wrong, and the actual name of the entity was "Harry". But if that is true, how could they have communicated without problems before? The very first word that the entity used was "hello", which would have to be displayed wrong, since it begins with an "h" and has an "e".
Continuity mistake: When Mulder and Scully start frantically running from the bees inside the dome Scully is clearly seen untying her belt twice. (01:01:55)
Character mistake: One of the other trainers said he rode over on a Pidgeotto, but it was a Pidgeot. (00:40:07)
Factual error: When the bus breaks down, steam is shown coming out of the front of the bus. GMC buses have the engine and radiator in the rear.
Continuity mistake: When they are driving away in the white car they go on their side and drive around and then get flipped back up and there is no damage to the car whatsoever.
Factual error: The Apaches in the film are depicted with dual machine guns on each side of the cockpit, mounted directly on the windows. In real life, Apaches cannot mount such cannons, and instead use an M230 Chaingun in a turret underneath the helicopter, which the film Apaches have, but for some reason do not use. (00:49:25)
Suggested correction: Yes, we can all see they are supposed to be Apaches but not once are they mentioned by name. The US Army obviously didn't allow for real Apaches to be used. This isn't a mistake as there would have been no official licence to use the real deal.
Factual error: While the tidal wave is enveloping Manhattan, there is a scene where Washington Square Park is destroyed. A large arch is hit by the wave before reaching the rest of the park. The problem is the arch is on the UPTOWN side of the park, not the DOWNTOWN side which according to the movie was the direction the wave was coming from.
Revealing mistake: In the beginning scene on the Bak'u planet the stone bridge bends under the weight of the child. (00:04:15)
Continuity mistake: When Emma is protecting John at the top of the stairs and he says, "I didn't kill anyone," her hand is at her side. In the next shot, her arm is raised in front of him. One shot later, it's back at her side. (00:23:40)
Revealing mistake: During the attack of the Global Sedition on the space station at the beginning of the film, several objects can be seen with dark grey boxes around them - CGI artifacts. One clear time is when Ranger 1 is saying "Damn, can't shake him". (00:02:35)
Factual error: In the beginning, when pi is listed, it reads: "3.141592652631245..." when pi is actually "3.141592653589793...". (00:00:31)
Visible crew/equipment: When Alan throws his father's broken radio into the box and he turns around to talk to the girl on the ladder, the reflection of a crew member wearing a white T-shirt can be seen in the monitor on the desk as the camera follows Alan. (00:30:40)
Continuity mistake: When Vivo finds Pantucci snooping around the cargo, he throws him to the middle of the mercenaries, and they all get around him, including T. Ray who smiles at him; when T. Ray smiles at Joey he is standing up, but when he gives the first kick he is sitting down.
Continuity mistake: When Jacquouille gets frightened by the television set, he throws a statue in it, making the TV set explode. The blankets placed over the couches as well as various objects are sucked into the set. In the next shot, the couch right in front of the TV is still covered by its blanket, which disappears in the following shot.
Factual error: During the Mars-flight, the way the spacecraft uses the rocket thrusters is unrealistic. For example when they are nearing Mars, they should be using the rockets against their movement, to slow down the speed. But in the movie they are using the rockets towards Mars.
Continuity mistake: When Mike and Jodi are walking through the "deserted" town, supposedly everyone in town has been killed by The Tall Man, when the Tall Man walks down the middle of the street you can see an old lady pushing an empty shopping cart, and a car driving around a corner in the distance.
Continuity mistake: During the final fight between Cain and Todd, Todd breaks Cain's arm at the elbow and wrist. In the next shot Cain is staggering backwards as Todd winds up for another blow. You can clearly see that Cain's arm is fine and resting comfortably at his side. (01:24:13)
Continuity mistake: As Buddy and the kid pull away in the car for the first time, Buddy is staring out the right side of the car. The shot cuts to a different angle and he's looking more toward the left.