The Last Samurai (2003)

Continuity mistake: Tom Cruise has a cushion on his seat when he is taken to meet the Japanese delegation in restaurant at the beginning, maybe to make up for his small stature. The first shot shows no extra cushion but on sitting there is one there. (00:06:20)

Continuity mistake: When Algren teaches a soldier to shoot, the soldier has a chin strap below his lip. Yet, in the next shot there is no strap. (00:19:35)

Continuity mistake: The scene with Billy Connolly holding a cigar when Tom Cruise is describing the scalping technique to Timothy Spall, Billy's arm goes from leaning on the chair that T. Spall is sitting in to holding the cigar mid-abdominal comfort zone several times. (01:00:00)

Continuity mistake: During the ninja attack, Algren, Taka and her children retreat inside their house. The older boy goes to bring his father's sword to fight a ninja and another ninja is pushing Algren's face towards a sword's edge. When the boy screams and engages in combat, we can see Algren in the back stabbing the ninja in the head with a sword fragment. A couple of short scenes later, we see Algren stabbing the ninja again, only this time he actually holds the fragment, for during the first stabbing it's still lying out of reach. (01:07:40)

Continuity mistake: In the fight scene where the ninjas invade the village, right before Algren runs in to help Katsumoto, it shows a shot of Katsumoto and two ninjas. One has a sword, the other has two sais. The two shots are close-ups on each ninja. The shots show each one having a sword. Then in the next shot, when Algren runs in, the ninja has sais again. (01:07:55)

swiftpenguin

Continuity mistake: During the scene where Nobutada's top knot is cut off, his hair magically changes positions multiple times. When the police officer begins cutting his hair, you see his face close up, and there is no hair on his shoulders- it's all behind his head, presumably still connected to the topknot. You then see Nobutada from a distance. The officer's finishing cutting at his hair, and you can see a lot of it resting on the front of his shoulders. The next shot of Nobutada is a closeup on his face and shoulders again, and his hair's all behind his head- his shoulders are clean. The officer then kicks him down to the ground, and his hair's back in front. The two different angles were shot separately- one while the officer's cutting his hair and one where the officer finishes and kicks him to the ground, thus the inconsistency. (01:25:30)

Chris Moyer Grice ★

Visible crew/equipment: When Algren is dressed by Katsumoto's sister in her dead husband's armour, she backs away and kneels down. Next to her knee is a blue dot, which would be her "mark" for where she was supposed to kneel. (01:44:05)

Revealing mistake: Before the final battle, just after Katsumoto says that the Imperial army will not surrender, there is a cut, appearing when the Japanese army are ready to attack. You can see, at the right side of the screen, a transparent man walking in front of the troops. Actually you can only see a pair of legs walking without any body. (01:50:15)

Continuity mistake: When Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays Ujio, is riding his horse and charging the howitzers, he gets shot by the gatling gun and falls down dead. In the next scene he can be seen in the upper left corner still riding, wearing his distinctive gold circle armor. (02:04:40)

Revealing mistake: During the melee in the final battle, towards the end, Algren looks around, seeing the death around him (much of this is in slow motion). In one of the shots focusing on Algren, behind him, on the left side of the screen, you can see an army soldier using his rifle to fight in close quarters. As he brings his rifle up, it noticeably flexes, indicating that it's a stunt-friendly rubber prop, rather than metal and wood. (02:04:45)

Tailkinker ★

Continuity mistake: During the climactic horseback charge, Algren is shown holding his sword with the blade pointing upwards. There is, however, one shot, immediately before Colonel Bagley shouts "Aim", where, despite Algren's hand being visibly in the same orientation (so he's not twirling the sword), the blade is pointing downwards. Immediately after Bagley shouts "Aim", another shot of Algren shows the sword back in the upwards position. (02:09:45)

Tailkinker ★

Factual error: When we see the United States flag, it is the wrong flag. It has 43 stars, something the flag did not have until 1891.

Revealing mistake: The road leading out of the samurai village has distinct tire tracks from vehicles.

Factual error: The Japanese soldiers are using the cap lock musket, which only yields one shot at a time. In several scenes we see the same soldier firing several shots without reloading his gun.

Continuity mistake: When the samurai are entering the village, the geishas that the photographer was taking a picture of are seen entering a house behind him. Then the shot changes. When it returns to the photographer, you see them entering the same building again over his shoulder.

Factual error: The scenes in the samurai village all have long grass in full seed, this can only happen in the summer not in the early spring as shown in the film.

Continuity mistake: When Algren is trying to prove to the Colonel that the soldiers are not ready to fight, by having the man try to shoot him, the first barrel band on the soldier's musket (the one closest to the muzzle) is detached and dangling just behind the front sight. It stays in this position for several shots and then magically resets itself after the weapon is fired.

Revealing mistake: In one of the large battles (the last if I recall correctly), one of the soldiers in the foreground can be seen clutching his chest before an arrow hits him. It's only an instant before the arrow hits, but noticeable.

Continuity mistake: During the rescue scene, the heroes cross a bridge and are followed by the Imperial Army. The first batch of Imperial soldiers rips a hole in the paper door/window/wall. In the next shot the door/window/wall is intact.

Continuity mistake: When Algren is saying good bye to Taka, who is ending her bath, the position of her hair changes between shots.