Revealing mistake: During the final battle, some samurai horsemen are lighting hay panels to create a smokescreen. At one point a horseman rides past two of them without touching them with the torch at all, and they still catch fire. Moreoever, they start to burn from the bottom, not where the flame could have touched them (which of course it didn't).
Continuity mistake: When he is lying back on the tree and talking to Katsumoto before dying, Nobutada calls him chichiue (father), but the subtitles say brother. [May have been corrected for the DVD.]
Audio problem: Every time a sword is drawn, be it fast or slow, there is the 'shiiink' sound that is made when a steel sword is drawn from a steel scabbard (a sound that a western sword would make), yet Japanese swords have a wooden scabbard so the draw should be silent.
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)
Factual error: In the scene before the Americans are to be introduced to the emperor, they are told that the "Meiji" emperor is reform minded. However, Meiji is a posthumous era name, in other words, given after the emperor's death, which occurred many years later, whereas he is still very young in the period depicted.
Continuity mistake: In the final scene as Algren approaches the village, his horse is on his left. When he sees his girlfriend, the horse is on his right.
Other mistake: The Gatling guns used in the final battle scene are indiscriminate weapons. We see the warriors hit multiple times with spectacular entry and exit wounds, as well as rounds impacting with the ground leaving dust clouds. But the horses seem to be spared as if by an invisible shield.
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: 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)
Audio problem: In the scene where Algren is talking to Katsumoto about General Custer, there is a shot from behind Katsumoto's head and it is clear that he is talking and yet his mouth isn't moving.
Audio problem: When Algren fights the five "ronin," he does not shout out when he kicks at one of his opponents; yet in a flashback a few moments later, it is obvious that a war cry was added in.
Continuity mistake: The first time Algren is eating with the family, there is a shot with the older of the 2 boys in the corner. He takes a bite of his food with his chopsticks at his mouth, but immediately after, his chopsticks are down in the bowl again, there is no time in between shots for him to put the chopsticks down.
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)
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)
Continuity mistake: When Algren is sitting down with the photographer and talking to him, the old man with the pipe's arm changes position in between shots(the old man is standing next to Algren on the right).
Continuity mistake: When Algren and the samurai leave the village on horseback for the final battle, all the remaining villagers line the road and bow to them. You see Taka getting back up and when the shot changes, she's coming up again.
Continuity mistake: When Katsumoto's son gets shot and Algren rescues him from the bridge, watch the dribble of blood on his lip; it keeps changing lengths from down to his neck, to not there at all, to on his chin.
Continuity mistake: During the training scene near the beginning, Algren is showing a soldier how to aim and fire a rifle-musket. The soldier is looking down the barrel and is about to fire, but the musket's hammer is down (uncocked). The shot changes to the coloniel and we hear Algren talk to him. This lasts for a few seconds that are devoid of sound effects (ie. a hammer being pulled back). The shot then changes back with Algren in mid-sentence and we see the hammer is now cocked and a percussion cap has been fitted.
Continuity mistake: In the ninja attack scene, when Tom Cruise stabs a ninja in the chest, in one shot the sword is poking out his back, but in the very next shot, it isn't.
Continuity mistake: In the final scene Algren has his horse on his left. The horse changes to Algren's right when Algren confronts his girlfriend.
Suggested correction: They are using modern terms and words so that the film and characters are easier to understand.
Greg Dwyer
It doesn't change the fact that this is a factual error, no matter the reason behind it.
Epigenis
Yes it does. Almost nobody outside Japan would have known the name "Mutsuhito." Films often use modern terminology to make things easier for audiences to understand. Like saying "vegetarian" instead of the older term "Pythagorean."
LorgSkyegon