Continuity mistake: In the POW camp, Co Bao is discovered by a guard who points a handgun at her. Rambo shoots an arrow into the guard's forehead, who then falls back against a tree with his cap down low over his eyes. In the next shot his cap is much higher on his head, and the arrow is pointing at a different angle. How could his cap have moved up that far with the arrow holding it to his forehead? For that matter, how could the arrow have moved when it was firmly embedded in the guard's skull? (00:33:25)
Continuity mistake: When Rambo fires the rocket launcher at the Russian Hind helicopter, he is clearly seen aiming a LAW rocket launcher. The LAW is fired by pressing a lever on the top. But when Rambo fires, a quick edit from a previous shot (on the patrol boat) shows him pulling a trigger from the Russian RPG launcher he used to dispatch the Vietnamese patrolboat earlier in the film. The film returns to show him holding the LAW rocket launcher again.
Continuity mistake: In the end of the film after Rambo blows up the Russian helicopter, there is a hole in the front window through which Rambo shoots the rocket. In the next few scenes we see Rambo's helicopter and the hole in the window is gone, then it's back again, then it's gone, then it's back again when he lands.
Continuity mistake: When Rambo has rescued his first POW and running to escape to meet his check point, he is followed by the Vietnamese soldiers who chase him knee deep through a muddy swamp. The film scene then shows Rambo, seconds later, still running with the POW, but then returns to the Vietnamese soldiers who now have wet but very clean trousers.
Continuity mistake: When the Russian is shooting from the helicopter at Rambo in the water, the rocket pods are missing from the helicopter, but after Rambo gets in the helicopter and takes over, they are back.
Continuity mistake: During the helicopter chase scene, the mini-gun and the manual m-60 on Rambo's chopper change sides.
Continuity mistake: When Rambo leaves the village after blowing stuff up with the explosive arrows, he has about 15-20 arrows in his quiver, but when he kills the Vietnamese soldier, he only has one.
Continuity mistake: When Rambo is introduced to Murdoch, Murdoch asks for a drink and the man gets 1 from the drink machine, no other can drops down and no other shelves are full. Yet he brings 2 cans over.
Continuity mistake: When Rambo is attacking the POW camp, the Gatling gun on his helicopter is firing (spinning) in one shot, not in the next, then back and forth, yet it never stops making firing sounds or killing people.
Continuity mistake: After Rambo lands with the POW's and Ericson says "Glad you made it", Ericson has his hands on his hips. In the next shot his hands are on his side and back to his hips in the 3rd shot.
Continuity mistake: When Rambo is escaping with the POWs in the helicopter, one of the POWs clearly machine guns the Russian helicopter and one of its rocket pods falls off and into a tree near a house, yet in the next scene it's back on.
Continuity mistake: As the Russian Hind comes up over the trees, it angles just right and it can be seen that the rocket launchers are empty.
Continuity mistake: The length of Rambo's beard goes from a little long, to shorter, then shaved between getting to the camp and speaking with Murdock on the radio.
Continuity mistake: The small wound that Rambo got from the knife moves throughout the film.
Continuity mistake: When Rambo is firing at the computers at the end of the film the amount of ammo feeding into the gun goes from very little to much more in the next shot.
Continuity mistake: When the Russian chopper first spots the Huey on the ground, smoke is pouring out the left side of the Huey. A second later, there's barely any smoke.
Continuity mistake: In the aerial pursuit, the Huey goes from in front of the Hind, to port, then back to the front in a matter of five seconds.
Suggested correction: The arrow was able to move because upon piercing the skull, the arrow penetrated the brain, a soft matter that would not hold the arrow in place. The brain matter is much softer than flesh. Imagine shooting an arrow into a watermelon. It is not fixed, but moveable.
But the point of the arrow is sticking in the tree. If it wasn't the guard would have fallen to the ground. So it shouldn't have moved.
lionhead