Continuity mistake: Just before Sgt. Eversman rappels down from the helicopter at the beginning of the raid you can see that he is not wearing kneepads. On the way down the rope he is wearing them. Once he is on the ground the kneepads are gone again. (00:43:40)
Continuity mistake: When the Humvees and the trucks pull up to get the prisoners, there is a shot of a man shooting an M60 on top of a Humvee. In the next shot it reveals all the guns on the Humvees are .50 caliber. (00:44:05)
Continuity mistake: Grimes asks Wad why he isn't shooting back. Look in the background and you can see Eversman call Galentine over and say something to him. We then see a clip of the fire fight followed by Eversman calling Galentine over again. (00:45:20)
Continuity mistake: When they call for a stretcher for Blackburn, the stretcher is half folded up. The camera does an instant cut and it is now fully open. They don't unfold that quickly. (00:45:40)
Suggested correction: The scene shows them opening it that quickly.
The stretcher changes from partially opened to fully opened between shots. Meaning no time has elapsed to finishing opening it, which is why it's a continuity mistake.
Other mistake: During the scene when Pilla is killed there is a sniper on the roof of a building firing an AK-47 at the vehicles. If you look at his hands you'll notice they are caucasian. The other Somalis are black. (00:46:25)
Revealing mistake: When the Hummvee's are heading back to base with the casualty, there is one shot of an RPG missing the convoy and hitting a person. It is obvious that this person is substituted for a dummy. (00:47:35)
Other mistake: When several of the Rangers are carrying Blackburn's litter up to the target building and they cross an intersection, you can spot an empty, stationary Black Hawk helicopter at roof level further down that alley/street as one of the Rangers fires at the Somalis. This was after all the Black Hawks had gone into their holding pattern. (00:48:15)
Visible crew/equipment: Just after Pilla is killed we see Aidid walking with his MP5. In his sunglasses the camera is reflected as clear as day. (00:48:20)
Suggested correction: That wasn't Aidid, and the person you mention didn't have an MP5.
Factual error: In the movie the first Black Hawk helicopter (Super 6-1) gets shot down and just so happens to crash in a large four-way intersection. In the actual battle, Super 6-1 crashed in a narrow alleyway. (00:49:45)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Star 41 is called to the first crash site, it has mini guns and rockets, but when it gets to the site it has seats for people. (00:50:20 - 01:02:00)
Factual error: The first downed Blackhawk exhibits miraculous rotor behavior as it comes to earth. It does a slow roll onto its left side, and the main rotor continues to rotate. The blades are seen straight and undamaged, as if they are passing through the earth beneath the chopper without touching anything, and each emerges full length and straight to go around again and again. This is most obvious in the shot from inside a corner building when looking directly at the top of the chopper's rotor hub. (00:50:20)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the 3 Humvee column is making there way back to the base with the injured Blackburn, Dominick Pilla is killed whilst operating the .50 cal. Shortly after, Eric Bana (Hoot) takes over the gun and begins to return fire on Somalis on the rooftops. In the first shots of him shooting, he is wearing gloves. However in the next shot of his hands on the weapon, they are bare with no gloves. (00:50:40)
Other mistake: In one scene a pair of soldiers cut off from the main body of troops are trying to link up with some of their comrades. When the camera zooms in for a close-up of the soldier carrying an M-60 machine gun, the weapon appears to be loaded with a belt of blank rounds. (00:54:35)
Visible crew/equipment: After the first black Hawk has crashed, a lone US soldier guarding the wreckage comes under attack by Somalis with RPGs. In a side shot of one of the missiles flying past the wreck, you can see a wire in the air along the trajectory. (00:56:35)
Continuity mistake: When Dan Busch, one of the Delta operators on board Super Six One, is defending himself after the crash he has no goggles over his helmet. Then on longer shots he has goggles over his helmet, then there are a couple more cuts to close shots of him where he again does not have the goggles. (00:58:36)
Revealing mistake: During the Humvee convoy's dash to the first crash site, a quick, far-overhead shot shows the column racing down a dusty street, kicking up an obviously CGI trail of dust. The dust billows up from the Hummers, but travels in the opposite direction far faster than the ground below, almost as if a very strong wind is blowing in the opposite direction of the convoy's travel, but everything else in the shot shows the air to be calm. (01:06:00)
Visible crew/equipment: When McKnight's convoy rolls away from the scene where the Delta guy got his legs blown off, there is an explosion right next to one of the Humvees. You can see a small pile of dirt and the supposed grenade or RPG explodes exactly in the middle of it. Seems like it is an explosive charge that was deployed in the dirt bump for security reasons. (01:09:27)
Continuity mistake: One scene shows a Blackhawk being called into the fray from circling the city. The first outside shot shows no one inside the bay then the next shot it's full of soldiers and guys sitting with their legs dangling out. (01:12:24)
Continuity mistake: When Sizemore goes to cut off his cast, if you look closely the sleeve is down over the cast just before he pulls out the knife. Then it's rolled up. (01:14:14)
Audio problem: When trying to get Waddell on the radio, Galentine says he can't reach them. Camera changes and he's stopped talking but his mouth continues to move. (01:21:40)
