Continuity mistake: When the guy is leaving the observatory, the door is left almost fully open while getting in his truck. When we see him drive off the door is now half closed despite us seeing the door come to a stop in the previous shot. (00:05:33)
Continuity mistake: During a scene where the boss of the TV station is talking to his staff, when he finishes he takes off his glasses and starts to move off his chair. Yet in the next shot he gets off the chair still wearing his glasses. (00:07:30)
Continuity mistake: When Jenny is first talking to her mum, her mum gets the name 'Chloe' wrong. When she does she has nothing in her hands besides the cigarette. Camera changes and now she's got a watch in her hands. (00:09:40)
Continuity mistake: When Jenny is talking in front of the Capitol Building, the lady she's talking with has a hold of her bag in a distinctive way. When the shot changes she's no longer holding her bag. (00:10:50)
Continuity mistake: During the scene where Jenny is on the dock trying to interview Secretary Rittenhouse, the sun changes position a few times during the scene. When Jenny is talking to the little girl, the sun is behind Jenny appearing to be the middle of the afternoon. When Jenny walks to look over at the cargo, the sun is now ahead of her to the west, getting closer to sunset. When Rittenhouse appears on the boat, the sun is back to the previous position, for a second until the camera pans back to Jenny with the sun out west again. Rittenhouse ushers off his daughter & she walks off as Jenny tries to talk to him, all the while the sun is now behind Jenny to the mid afternoon setting. When Rittenhouse walks off, the camera pans around and now the sun is in the west again near sunset and remains this way until the end of the scene. (00:12:30)
Continuity mistake: Just after Jenny Lerner talks to her Dad in the rain, she hails a taxi with her left hand, in the very next shot she is hailing the taxi with her right hand.
Continuity mistake: When the astronauts start drilling on the comet, they ask Spurgin Tanner how they are looking for time until the sunrise cooks them all, to which he replies "it's getting tight... 1:36:30." A few seconds later they show the display in the ship and in the bottom corner you can see "SUNRISE CLOCK 00:44:11." Moments later the camera zooms fully on the corner of the display and it shows "SUNRISE CLOCK 01:36:00".
Continuity mistake: When Leelee Sobiesksi gets on the motorcycle with her husband, the baby's head cushion moves from full coverage of the baby's head to partial coverage, to full coverage, back and forth, several times.
Continuity mistake: When Orrin the astronaut is saying his good-byes to his wife and kid, we see him reach out to the screen as if to touch them with his right hand. When we switch to the shot within mission control, he's reaching with his left hand.
Continuity mistake: When they are on the motorcycle near the end, he is first traveling with the flow of traffic that is stopped (west). When she gets on the bike with him and the baby, they keep going with the flow of traffic. Than the smaller asteroid enters the atmosphere, it is traveling in the same direction they are driving on the motorcycle. But when it passes the girl's family in the van, now the asteroid is traveling against the flow of traffic (east).
Continuity mistake: On the comet the screen shows the position of the vessel right at the sunlight line. A few moments later the position is shown as being on the far side of the comet away from the line, even though the comet didn't turn.
Continuity mistake: When the boy takes the motorbike from the garage the mirrors are out of line. In the next shot before he rides out, the mirrors are all in line.
Answer: There is no logical reason. It can be argued that people are just stubborn and/or reluctant to leave their homes under any circumstance. However, this is a movie, and showing the last-minute chaos of people attempting to evacuate heightens the tension and the drama.
raywest ★