Factual error: There were absolutely no signs of ice or frost in any scenes while they were in the Bering Strait. (00:14:50)
Factual error: During the scenes where Santos is working on the main engines, he is actually working on a generator. A tug of that size would have a set of much larger engines with reduction gears (transmission), or be hooked up to large electical power plant to provide propulsion. (00:30:00)
Factual error: The gold bars that the crew finds must be some new type of lightweight gold. There's no way that Julianna could stuff a gold bar in her back pocket and then pull it out and toss it on the table and Greer simply tosses it back and forth like it was plastic. A gold bar weighs around 27 pounds, you definitely wouldn't be tossing it around. (00:42:05 - 00:47:50)
Factual error: In the passenger list there is a note after Katie's name, "viaggendo solo", travelling alone. The correct Italian expression would be "viaggiando sola", in the feminine and not the masculine. (00:50:45)
Factual error: The Italian words/phrases that can be seen on the ship doors, billboards, etc. are very badly translated. In particular, the phrase "Veleno di attenzione" in the flashback part, in English would sound like "Poison of Attention." The correct Italian translation would be "Attenzione: Veleno" (01:07:45)
Factual error: A ship as large as the Antonia Graza going down that fast would drag down everything around it too, but Epps (within about 50 metres of the boat as it sinks) doesn't even have to struggle to escape its pull. In reality, she would have drowned. (01:20:25)
Factual error: Murphy tells the story of the "Mary Celeste" all wrong. As this is a real incident, from real life, there would be no need for him to make anything up or tell it as a "tall tale", and as a professional salvage expert he would be familiar with it. The "Mary Celeste" was carrying 1700 barrels of denatured alcohol, not cotton, like he says. And she did not sail into the Mediterranean on her own to be found off Tripoli, but was discovered straight on course in the Atlantic, despite having been abandoned for some time (according to the last log entry). See http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmaryceleste.html for more details.
Factual error: In the opening scene, when all the people are cut in half, one man's top half falls off his body taking his spinal cord with him from the bottom half. Surely this would have been cut in half along with the rest of his body.
Factual error: The wire which cuts the dancing characters in half severs their torsos in a neat line a few inches below their armpits - but their arms remain intact. They should have been severed too, a few inches below the shoulder, and should fall away from their bodies separately.
Suggested correction: The dancers for the most part have their arms extended roughly horizontally around their partner, hence the wire generally passing below and leaving them attached.
Factual error: When they have discovered the gold aboard the Antonia Graza, Murphy is asked how much it is worth. He says that it might be worth 200 or 300 million (dollars). A fine ounce of gold (31.04 grams) goes for $360; thus, a kilogram of gold costs about $11,000. There are seven crates of gold. Since every single one of those can be handled by two men, they can't weigh more than, say, 150 kgs (and that's probably pushing it). Thus, the maximum amount of gold would be one ton (approximately). Given the aforementioned gold price, that'd be about 11 million dollars. Still respectable, but nowhere near the figure Murphy mentions.
Factual error: Maritime law states that you are given a percentage of whatever you find, not the entire amount of whatever you find.
Factual error: When Murphy goes into the "Cabina de Capitano" (Captain's Cabin), he sees the glass with a little alcohol in it, and the bottle standing next to it, without a cork or stopper. If left standing open like that, after 40 years, the liquid would have evaporated. However, it can be said that the Captain's ghost made it appear to entice Murphy.
Suggested correction: I think the captain's ghost did that just like Francesca had the lit cigarette inside the ash tray.
I amended my entry to reflect your suggestion, thank you.
