Directed by: Mimi Leder
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood, James Cromwell, Vanessa Redgrave, Téa Leoni
Revealing mistake: When Jenny Lerner is first having drinks with her mother at the beginning, her mother's cigarette is obviously fake. It is not emitting any smoke throughout the entire scene. (00:09:20)
Revealing mistake: During the scene where the two teenage stars are outrunning the tidal wave through the hills, the girl is supposedly carrying her baby sibling strapped to her chest. However, the legs that can be seen dangling out of the baby-carrier belong to a dummy.
Factual error: While the tidal wave is enveloping Manhattan, there is a scene where Washington Square Park is destroyed. A large arch is hit by the wave before reaching the rest of the park. The problem is the arch is on the UPTOWN side of the park, not the DOWNTOWN side which according to the movie was the direction the wave was coming from.
Jenny Lerner: When I was 11, I stole $32 from your wallet.
Jason Lerner: When you were a baby I once dropped you on your head.
Trivia: If you happen to have the DVD version of the film, have a look at one of the trailers. In the movie trailer they show the comet hitting the ocean at an almost right-angle. In the actual movie the comet enters the atmosphere at an angle, thus letting the people watch the comet travel to across the sky into the ocean.
Question: How does the government hear about the comet? The scientist saves the information to a disk then takes the disk in the car with him. He crashes and the car catches fire. The disk would have been destroyed.
Answer: It could have been salvaged and worked on, plus he was calling people in authority. There would have been an investigation into the crash, which leads back the young boy and the comet.