Continuity mistake: Before the white Beetle is hit by the truck, a shot shows that the truck and most of the police cars have already safely passed the Beetle and the green Buick that pushes the Beetle forward in the next shot. (00:07:10)
Continuity mistake: When Axel and Jenny pull up to the Bonded warehouse, you see Axel's arm resting on the passenger door but when the camera angle changes his arm is inside the car.
Continuity mistake: When Maitlands guys remove the bonds from the box, they have opened the lid and 4 nails are sticking out. But they don't hammer them back in. Nevertheless the nails disappear from one shot to the next.
Continuity mistake: When the tractor-trailer turns off the pavement to avoid the roadblock, just before the second trailer separates, a quick shot (watching the truck from the front as it enters the shot from the camera's right) shows that there is no second trailer at all. (00:07:25)
Continuity mistake: When Axel is booking into the Beverly hills hotel the clerk and the manager change from standing very close to each other, to very far apart, depending on the different camera angle.
Continuity mistake: When Axel is telling Bogomil what he's really doing in Beverly Hills, you see Bogomil's hands in the front of him as he is talking but when the camera angle changes only one hand is in front and the other is to his side. Happens about 3 times during the scene.
Continuity mistake: When Mikey loses a bet at the pool table, his arms are hanging down by his sides as the 8-ball sinks. In the next frame he's got his hands full of cash instead. (00:14:05)
Continuity mistake: When Axel visits Victor at the club he throws Victor's henchman across the buffet table. When the henchman gets up he has a strawberry smashed into his hair at the top middle-right portion of his forehead. Later on the strawberry is gone but there are green leaves that now are on the middle-left side of his forehead. This is evident as the camera regains focus although the colors can be seen when the the view of him is blurry. (01:04:30)
Continuity mistake: When Axel and Mikey are playing pool, the guy Axel is playing calls out his shot and you see about 3 balls on the table not including the cue ball. Mikey bets the guy that he can't make the shot and you now see only the 8 ball on the table.
Continuity mistake: When the police pull up to the back of the semi, Axel was holding the money in his hands to his side but as the camera angle changes he's now holding the money up in the air.
Continuity mistake: When Axel is talking his way into the club to see Victor, right before he's allowed to see Victor the camera angle from the back shows him rubbing the back of his head with his left hand but the camera angle from the front shows his hand at his sides.
Continuity mistake: When Axel and Jenny go to Victor's warehouse you see Axel walk up to a crate and put both of his hands on it. The camera angle changes and his hands are no longer on the crate and he's pointing to a label on the crate telling Jenny that this is what they are looking for.
Continuity mistake: The hands on Axel's wristwatch change position frequently when he's being questioned by Bogomil about his fixation with Victor. (01:07:00 - 01:08:00)
Continuity mistake: When Inspector Todd is yelling at Foley you see Jeffrey standing right behind Axel looking at the lockers, and when the camera angle changes he's now looking right at Axel.
Continuity mistake: When Axel and Mikey are at the bar Mikey puts his hand on Axel's neck. The shot changes and the hand is now on Axel's shoulder. The shot changes again and the hand is missing.
Continuity mistake: When Axel shoots Zack at the mansion, he falls to the floor, dead. It cuts to Axel, and then back to Zack, whose position on the floor has changed a little bit. The white piece of wood that he fell on is gone too. Also, I can't be too sure about this, but it does look to be a different actor.
Continuity mistake: After Victor leaves the warehouse, Axel fights off the remaining thugs. He throws a guy into some boxes, and 5 seconds later, the exact same shot is repeated.
Continuity mistake: During the first chase, a cop car crashes against some orange barrels. When the shot changes, the car is meters beyond and crashes again. (00:06:29)
Continuity mistake: When the movie starts and the police car shows up, Axel raises his hand holding dollar bills. From the opposite angle his hand is lowered.
Continuity mistake: When Jenny and Axel first get in her Mercedes, you see the rear view mirror. But in the shots of her driving, it's gone.
Chosen answer: Much of Axel Foley's lines were improvised, including this scene, according to the commentary. But many other actors improvised their lines too, most notably Bronson Pinchot. The script was originally written with the intent of Sylvester Stallone playing Axel and as such, the issue of his race wasn't scripted and the director tried to avoid mentioning race in the film. It was Eddie Murphy that would bring it up in improvised lines.
Bishop73