Factual error: The movie takes place during the 1990s, but throughout the movie cars are shown with Illinois license plates with "Illinois" written in cursive. These plates were not introduced until 2001. (00:24:45)
Factual error: In the poster shot and in the film, the wave from the Atlantic carrying the carrier JFK into a collision with the White House comes crashing in from the west because the south portico of the White House is seen. The Atlantic Ocean is east of Washington, so the wave should come from the other direction. And even a wave coming from the east could not have made the JFK (CV-67) crash into the White House because the carrier was retired in 2005 and is berthed in Philadelphia, which is northeast of Washington DC. (01:30:10 - 01:30:40)
Factual error: We see a caption saying "Leeds 0 Luton 1." In reality, that match was a tie game.
Factual error: In the scene when the police are heading to Clyde's house to arrest him, this tactic is highly unrealistic. In real life, when a person is simply a suspect in an investigation, the police do not all drive to the suspect location with lights and sirens going. This loses the element of surprise. They didn't even know if he was home, anyway.
Factual error: During the first tunnel sequence, all the cars travel very far into the mountains, turn lots of corners, yet not only is Gisele still able to speak to them over the radios, their GPS still works. GPS signals invariably need a clear 'sight' of the sky and can penetrate light cover, but most certainly not that depth and cover. (00:58:05)
Factual error: In the scene depicting life on Baker Street (after the "Sherlock Holmes" title), a horse-drawn carriage races through the streets of London. The only problem is, the carriage is driving on the right side of the road with others passing on the left. In England, carriages would be driving on the left. (00:07:05)
Factual error: At the start in 1989, when Mike is dancing with the cheerleaders and also just before he goes after Scarlet, in close-ups of the crowd cheering there is a man (with a white baseball cap) wearing a Paramore t-shirt. However, Paramore (a Grammy-nominated American pop rock band) formed in 2004. The style of t-shirt he is wearing is actually one of the officially licensed Paramore merchandise. (00:02:45)
Factual error: In the beginning a calendar says 2019 April, you can see April 1 being Tuesday when actually April 1 2019 was a Monday. (00:01:10)
Factual error: In one scene, focused on a period wood-staked pickup truck parked on the street, you can see clearly a modern Jeep Grand Cherokee parked on the other side of the street.
Factual error: When the team is running you can see a new model white Range Rover Sport and a red Honda Civic passing by.
Factual error: During the surgical operation, Dr. Heiter makes incisions on the buttocks for the triangular flaps of connecting flesh; but the flaps are pointing outward, rather than inward. The only way to graft the buttock flesh to the face of the next subject would be with the buttock incisions pointing inward.
Factual error: Two of the albums sent to Larry by the Columbia Record Club are Santana's "Abraxas" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Cosmos Factory". The film takes place in 1967. Both albums were released in 1970.
Factual error: When Robert Bingham is shooting at Cal, an MPD (Washington, DC) squad car shows up. However, the scene is set in Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, outside of MPD's jurisdiction. Arlington County Police would have responded instead. (01:13:05)
Factual error: Contrary to what the movie states, priests can be elected Pope - they are simply elevated to the rank of Bishop before taking the office.
Suggested correction: Him being only a priest was simply an excuse not to elect him. Those who did not want him to be pope were trying to find any reason to keep it from happening.
Any baptized Catholic male can be elected pope, although it has only happened once. Pope John XIX in the 11th century was a layman, ordained after his election.
Factual error: After James leaves the bar and is driving, you see a dealership in the background and you can see new trucks and a new model yellow mustang. The movie takes place in 1987, so the vehicles are about 20 years too new. (01:26:00)
Factual error: After they finally start spending money, and after you see them in the older model black Mercedes Benz S-Class, you see clearly a newer model silver Chevrolet Corvette ('05-'09), even though the scene is supposed to be taking place during the latter part of 1996 or early 1997.
Factual error: If you're a Hertz #1 Club Gold Member like Ryan is, you don't need to swipe your card or sign for a rental as shown in 2 scenes. You just go to your assigned car in the lot and show your driver's license at the exit.
Factual error: When New York is destroyed by the fireball, the Times Square giant TV (& other electrical items) is still on (although no picture - just static), but the super-flare would cause electrical items to overload before the main fireball hit, almost like an EMP.
Factual error: Julia Child's address on the envelope that she received from publishing company Alfred A Knopf contains a zip code. The envelope contains a letter informing Julia that Knopf wanted to publish her cookbook. That first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, was first published in 1961. The US Post Office didn't initiate zip codes until 1963.
Factual error: When the guys first set up the website to accept submissions, the year is 1997. We see a shot of the computer screen which displays that they are running Windows XP, which wasn't released until 2001.