Continuity mistake: When Pacino is talking to Rolando, he has a bottle of beer in his hand. The bottle hops all over the place in the scene. One minute it's in his hand, then on the table, then he's taking a sip from it...without Al Pacino moving. (00:16:25)
Factual error: Throughout the movie, you see Carlito using a Beretta 92F semi-automatic pistol. The movie is set in 1975, that model pistol wasn't introduced until the mid 80s.
Factual error: Penelope Ann Miller's stripper character does a striptease to Cheryl Lynn's disco hit "Got To Be Real," which was released in 1979. There's only one problem - the movie's set in 1975.
Visible crew/equipment: In the last sequence at the train station, when Carlito runs through the main hall after the shooting on the escalator, you can see whole crew standing next to the wheeled platform with camera operator on it.
Revealing mistake: Al Pacino talks to the older man named Ron in a club filled with mirrors. If you look at Al Pacino's lips when "Ron" is speaking you can see Al coaching the actor playing Ron on his lines.
Deliberate mistake: At the end of the film when Pacino and the gangsters are shooting each other on the escalator, the escalator takes a long time to get to the bottom, way too long.
Factual error: In the scene where the mobsters are chasing Carlito, they chase him on to subway and are about to get him when some New York City Police Recruits also board the same subway. The mistake is that this cannot be possible because New York City had a hiring freeze from 1974-1980, and the movie takes place around 1975, thus there could not have been any recruits around that time.
Other mistake: The scene in which Carlito and Kleinfeld are disposing of a body off of Kleinfeld's yacht, it is obvious that the body walks across the top of the yacht, even though they are supposed to be carrying him. Also, when is the last time you seen a body do a summersault when thrown?
Continuity mistake: There's a scene where Al ducks into a bar from a very wet and rainy night outside, and he's soaking wet. However a couple of shots later his hair appears perfectly blowdried.
Continuity mistake: When Carlito and Gail are in the coffee shop, Gail lifts her cup to her mouth with both hands in the closeup, but when it cuts to the wide shot it's only in one hand.
Continuity mistake: In a scene at a coffee shop, the same few period vehicles keep passing by on the street in the background.
Revealing mistake: In the last scene of the movie after Carlito gets shot by Benny Blanco and Carlito's friend says "Let's get out of here", Benny Blanco turns and shoots him too. Right before he shoots him though, you can see Carlito's friend's eyes close and put on a facial expression as if bracing for the shot.
Factual error: In the scene where Al Pacino is talking on the phone in a phonebooth, you can see that the cars passing on the street behind him have rear window break lights. This movie is set in 1975 and rear window break lights weren't put into use until they were government mandated for the 1986 model year.
Continuity mistake: When Carlito and Gayle are embracing in the coffee shop, the characters' heights keep changing between shots. Also, Gayle's head position in different from shot to shot.
Continuity mistake: When Carlito first meets Benny Blanco, a cigarette disappears and reappears in Benny's hand throughout the scene.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Carlito is being chased by mobsters; as they are about to close in on him in the subway car , several New York City Police Recruits board the same subway car. The uniforms they are wearing weren't worn by police recruits until the late 1980's, and the movie takes place in the early 1970's.
Other mistake: In a scene where Al Pacino is sitting at a bar smoking, his package of cigarettes are Kool brand. However, the cigarettes hanging out of the package as well as the cigarette which he is smoking are Marlboro brand.
Factual error: As Carlito is being carted off, the camera pans across an intravenous line in his hand. The end that is taped to his hand is actually the drip chamber, which pierces the bag or bottle of fluid, not the skin. Also, paramedics would not "stick" a patient there; there are no major veins in that part of the hand.
Continuity mistake: Carlito tells Dave that he plans to rent cars. The lawyer sinks his head and laughs. When the angle changes, his head is raised.
