Continuity mistake: At the Internet Store, Spencer was told his house was "right outside" the service area, internet was not available, and a satellite would not work. At the Phone Store, Chad told Lynn and Zoe they were in the "dead zone." When Lynn answered Spencer's call by putting her head out the upstairs window, she said, "The service is great up here." Lynn and Zoe could listen to the news on their cell phone in the kitchen and Zoe read about asteroids just outside the front door. Internet worked? (00:04:53 - 00:28:00)
Revealing mistake: Based on the size of the dinosaur's back shown behind the 6' high cement enclosure, there is not enough room for the rest of the dinosaur's tail and the enclosure is not high enough to accommodate its neck and head. (00:16:29)
Continuity mistake: A back view of the group of four-wheelers starting out driving through the field showed distinct tire tracks in mostly low, dry brown grass. Various other views showed little or no discernible tire tracks, tall lush green grass, and mixed dry brown and green grass. Even though the four-wheelers appeared to travel some distance, the end of the field that was visible from the onset was just reached. (00:21:35)
Character mistake: After banker Karl was reported missing from his home, the police detective did not even think to locate his car - which he could have merely driven away in (meaning he was not kidnapped).
Revealing mistake: When Alana is walking toward the students, the hedges are mostly dark green, sheared level across the top, and reach to her elbows. Later (after Gary tells Alana he will take a mirror), the hedges turn mostly yellow and flower-like across the top, are quite uneven, and are as high as her shoulders in spots. (Use of a green screen is apparent). (00:00:40 - 00:01:26)
Suggested correction: One look at the scene make it apparent this entry is totally incorrect. The bushes look natural. The yellowness is just colour grading. There is no sign of green screen usage whatsoever. It would make no sense for this film, especially if you realise that director PT Anderson is known to be very much against the use of any sort of VFX or green screening.
Continuity mistake: When Brandon is talking to his sister Shannon about the car photos, the clock goes from 11:50 to 11:40 and back to 11:50. (00:25:37)
Continuity mistake: Annie's car's steering wheel is on the left side, but her dashcam showed her on the right side. Both hands appeared to be on/near the steering wheel (not adjusting the dashcam), followed by a brief view of her right hand playing on a keyboard, then returning to Annie who was now on the left side with her left hand on the steering wheel and a cigarette in her right hand. Also, when Annie was on the right side driving, there was no overhead light on above her head, but there was after she moved. (00:15:32 - 00:16:02)
Audio problem: When Charles knocked on the man's door to offer storm repairs, the sounds didn't match; they were slightly delayed, with the last knocking sound coming after Charles stopped knocking and lowered his hand.
Plot hole: Kyle got a flat tire and there was no cell phone reception to call for help, so he and Julia decided to walk to the Ghost Town. However, almost all vehicles - especially a relatively new SUV like Kyle's - have a spare tire. Kyle surely had a spare and could have at least tried to change the tire himself. (When Kyle saw his damaged tire, he complained that it was a $300 loss, not that he did not have a spare tire with him). (00:04:55)
Other mistake: Grace Lewis shot a man in the head when he was standing less than three feet from her, but Grace did not get any blood splatter on her face or elsewhere. Neither did George Clements, who was standing near both of them. (01:15:03)
Continuity mistake: Before opening the door, the "M" on Eric's letter jacket is on his right lapel but on the left when he enters the room, as well as when he exits. (This is separate from the "M" being on his right lapel but on the left when facing the mirror). (00:40:09)
Factual error: At the end of the film, Hellfire Jack returns the toy soldier to the son of the late William Hawkins in 1917. Hawkins son is shown taking it upstairs and placing it in front of a photo of his father, in between two medals. These are the British War and Victory Medals - these did not exist until 1919, and in most cases were not even issued until the 1920's.
Continuity mistake: Samantha placed the bottle of glue on top of the metal object she glued, but the bottle of glue was on the desk and the metal object was gone when the doorbell rang. (00:04:56)
Continuity mistake: The police officer stopped his cruiser some distance behind Malik's SUV, but the cruiser was closer to Malik's SUV when the officer was talking to him and when he pulled his gun on him. (00:19:27 - 00:21:55)
Factual error: He grabs a Glock handgun and a suppressor and begins threading on the suppressor. For this to work in real life, the handgun would need a threaded barrel which extends half inch past the end of the slide. The one he grabs, the barrel is flush with the slide, no threads. (01:05:35)
Deliberate mistake: When James started to fall off the ladder, he tried to jump to reach the other side. Thom grabbed his right hand with his and was able to pull him to safety. James' weight and the force with which he jumped and swayed would have most likely resulted in James pulling Thom over the edge with him, and both being seriously injured or killed. (01:22:26)
Continuity mistake: There isn't anything immediately in front of the storage shed when Edee opens the door. Inside, looking out, there is some type of diagonal, long thin branches or vines extending to the ground, which are gone in the subsequent view. (00:09:42)
Continuity mistake: Before Jen gets on the yacht, Aileen's green halter strap can be seen because the left side of her hair is on or over her shoulder. When Jen gets on board, Aileen's hair is in front, covering up the green strap. The camera shifts when Lewis is hugging Jen and Aileen's green strap is visible again with the left side of her hair behind her. There is no noticeable wind and Eileen is standing in the same place. (00:32:10)
Continuity mistake: The appearance of young JR's hair has many inconsistencies. For example, JR's parted bangs (on the left) are long enough to hang part-way into his right eyebrow while he is walking toward the bedroom, but his bangs are well above his eyebrow when he is standing in the bedroom doorway. When JR is in bed that night, his bangs are separated along the right side of his forehead, but neatly combed together (no gaps) after a camera shift and contrary to gravity. (00:05:10)
Factual error: All Arabic texts in the film suffer from wrong directional rendering. Arabic is a right-to-left language. Its letters have different joined and disjoined forms. The film, however, has rendered Arabic texts from left to right in disjoined letters. These texts aren't semantically wrong, though. For example, deciphering the Arabic message at 0:40:45 point gives "أليس "التنين فنان؟ Translation: "Isn't the Dragon an artist?" The film has even adopted a good font for them.