Factual error: When Meryl Streep is walking outside and talking to Mrs. Miller about the potential abuses of her son, you can see a basketball court in the background and on the court is a 3-point line. The movie is supposed to take place in 1964 and the 3 point line wasn't introduced until 1979/1980. (01:10:20)
Factual error: The doctor parks his car under the house before the storm hits. Since the house is on the beach and the wind and water hit the house, there is no way his car would start and be so clean after such a storm.
Factual error: In the film, Sgt. Jack Lupino is depicted as a United States Marine Corp Sargent. However, when Max is watching an interview with Lupino it shows him wearing either a Gunnery Sargent or Master Sargent chevrons. Not only that, but the chevrons happen to be upside down. No US Marine would ever make a mistake like that.
Factual error: When Chuck is stapling fliers to the telephone poles, the tree behind Vanessa has changed colors for Fall, but still has a lot of orange leaves. The scene takes place after Christmas. In Pittsburgh, PA, the leaves are long gone by December.
Factual error: The Moon is pushed into a "more elliptical" orbit. When the orbit it shown, it is more eccentric than the Moon's real orbit. However, it is centered directly on the Earth. This violates Kepler's first law of motion, which states that a natural satellite has the primary body at one focus of an elliptical orbit. In other words, the Moon should come much closer to the Earth at one end of the ellipse, and recede very far from it at the other end, rather than receding to the same distance in both directions.
Factual error: When the soldiers return to HQs, the American flag, hung vertically over the entrance, has the blue field with stars on the right. The flag, when hung vertically, is supposed to have the blue field on the left..
Factual error: There are Velcro straps holding the pads on the blocking sled, and there is an end zone goal post with one base. Both of these items did not exist until the late 60s.
Factual error: The scene that takes place at the Ford release of their 1971 models has two Mustangs driving to the event. The one in front is obviously a 1973.
Factual error: The Bielski brothers go on a raid of a German post to acquire some "Ampicillin" to treat members of their refugee band who have typhus. Ampicillin is a penicillin derivative that wasn't available until the early 1960's, and in any case, typhus is properly treated with chloramphenicol or tetracycline, antibiotics of different classes from penicillin. Besides, the German didn't have penicillin of any type during World War II.
Factual error: Approximately three quarters of the way in to the film, there is a close up of a German soldier handing an officer a file of documents. The helmet that the soldier is wearing is a post war 1960s version. This can be determined by the lack of an air vent and rivet on the side of the helmet.
Factual error: The globe that April shows to the children is post-1992: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Germany is united instead of being divided into Eastern and Western Germany.
Factual error: When Marley runs on the field during the Marlins' Bark at the Park night, the stadium scoreboard can be seen briefly behind him and John. "WAS" (Washington) is listed as one of the teams playing a game that night, despite the fact that Washington did not have a team before 2004 and the film takes place in the early 90s.
Factual error: Breast pumps need a tight seal in order to work and would NOT stick to Kate's sweater as seen.
Factual error: The only ways Tim/Ben could have died are by heart failure and/or respiratory paralysis. Both of which mean that the toxins reached the heart. If they hadn't, then he would only have had a paralyzed right arm and been in extreme pain. The logic of this movie implies that either his heart was unaffected by the toxins and he still somehow died or his heart was affected by the toxins and they decided to transplant it anyways.
Factual error: After punching an opposing hockey player, Deacon is sent to the penalty box. Goalies are never sent to the box; they are assessed penalty minutes, and their time is served by a teammate.
Factual error: Bryan's hot wiring of the Volkswagen Golf is feasible, all except that he doesn't break the physical steering lock that would prevent him from turning the wheel. Old Volkswagens are quite difficult to break the steering lock, a sharp snap of the wheel does not break it as it's quite a bit more sturdy than a mere pin. Pulling at the wires does nothing to affect the steering lock, and the lock is shielded precisely to stop outside tampering. Not enough time had passed for him to achieve the task of removing the security. The scene shown is not a condensed montage scene, it's a complete scene from start to finish of what Bryan did to steal the car, and the steering lock was never broken.
Factual error: In a scene that is twenty-eight minutes into the movie, one of the characters is seen running up to check out a new Cadillac that had been given to him by the owner of Chess Records. A 'super' appears at the bottom of the screen which reads "1952" in order to set the chronological time. Only problem is, the Cadillac is a 1956 model. Any old car buff, particularly one like myself who writes a weekly column for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, would know in a heartbeat that this car was four years ahead of the year indicated on the screen. Bruce Kunz, a.k.a. "The FIN MAN"tm www.thefinman.com. (00:28:20 - 00:29:15)
Factual error: When Leonardo DiCaprio is arriving on the tarmac at what is supposed to be Abu Dhabi, the main (and very distinctive) Dulles airport terminal is visible in the background.
Factual error: At the end of the film, Wyatt and McQuarry each take a briefcase containing $5 million dollars. $1 million dollars in $100 dollar bills (highest denomination in circulation) weighs approximately 22lbs = 110lbs for $5 million. $5 million in $100 dollar bills is also approximately 3445 cu. in. in volume. This would not likely fit in the cases they are carrying, and would not be as easy to carry as they are.
Factual error: Although correctly addressed as "captain" towards the end of the film, Richthofen continues to wear the rank insignia of an oberleutnant (lieutenant).