Factual error: During the 1972 New Year's Eve celebration, Forrest drinks a Dr. Pepper with a logo that wasn't devised until around the mid 80s.
Factual error: When Forrest and Lt. Dan first try catching shrimp on the new boat in the mid 70s, they catch a bunch of junk, including a Mello Yello can, which wasn't launched until 1979. (01:30:05)
Suggested correction: The time frame is right on track. It took Dan a lot of years to get to the point where he joined Forrest on the boat. 1979 tracks with what comes before and after.
You should watch the film again. Hurricane Carmen, which happened after Lt. Dan joined, and they were struggling to catch anything, was in 1974. And Forrest leaves the shrimp business in 1975 when he finds out his mother is dying of cancer. 1979 comes well after all those events. Not to mention that it's only 1981 when Forrest is sitting on the bench telling his story.
Revealing mistake: When Forrest finally catches shrimp on the boat, the net drops shrimp on the deck which are not only already dead, they're headless and very obviously processed for shipment to market. (01:32:30)
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Lt. Dan chases the hookers out of his apartment, if you look closely at how he's carrying himself you can see Sinise use his real leg (which was then hidden by the special effects people) to push himself back into his wheelchair.
Factual error: Jenny shows Forrest a clipping of him in U.S.A Today (first published in September 1982), but on Jenny's grave it says she died on March 22 1982, before the paper even existed.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Forrest goes and visits Jenny (and is introduced to his son), there is an iron on the ironing board in the background. It stands up, then down, then up. The child's artwork in the background also disappears. (01:56:25)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the movie, before meeting Jenny, Forrest is sitting on a bus bench wearing the Nike shoes he received from Jenny and ran across the country in. When he arrives at Jenny's and crouches down to meet little Forrest, he's wearing brown loafers.
Suggested correction: It's certainly possible that he brought a nicer pair of shoes in his suitcase to change into when he arrived to her place.
Except nothing in the film suggest he had a chance to change shoes. He was so excited to see her and when he found out he's only 5 or 6 blocks away, he runs all the way to her apartment. It wouldn't be in his character to then stop and change shoes before knocking on her door.
If we look closely, those are just dirty shoes. Same ones Jenny gifted him.
Of course it would be in his "character." Forrest Gump was always a tuck in your shirt and straighten your tie kind of guy.
Factual error: When Forrest is talking to Jenny at her grave, he says "You died on a Saturday morning." But 22 March 1982 (the date on the grave) was a Monday. (02:04:05)
Factual error: In the scene where Forrest gets his discharge papers, he is practicing table tennis in a gym. The gym floor has a three-point line on the basketball court. It is a college or high school three point line- 19 feet, 9 inches. There was no three pointer in basketball at that time, especially at that distance. (01:21:40)
Continuity mistake: When Forrest runs towards Jenny in the reflecting pond during the Anti-Vietnam Rally, he runs by the same man twice. Look carefully for the man in the top hat and you will see it is really the same shot from two different angles. (01:04:40)
Factual error: In the scene where Forrest's platoon is crouched down along the side of the road, and the narration is introducing some of the soldiers, you can see a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in one of the men's helmets. On the side of the pack is, "Marlboro Miles." These weren't available until the 1990's. (00:44:00)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Forrest is getting on the school bus for his first day at school, he is standing at the door talking to Dorothy Harris, the bus driver. The shot from behind Forrest shows Dorothy's right hand on the gear shift knob. In the next shot, from inside the bus looking down at Forrest, her right hand is on the door-open lever. This shot changes several times, and each time her right hand is in those two different positions.
Continuity mistake: During Forrest's first football game, he is standing staring off into space when they receive the kickoff, his teammate runs over to him, hands him the ball, and tells him to run. Forrest says, "Okay". The camera cuts to the coach on the sideline who is yelling for him to "run!, run!", while at the same time his head is turning as if he is watching Forrest run past him. The next camera shot shows Forrest running, but he has not yet gotten to the point on the sideline where the coach and the team are standing.
Factual error: Near the end of the movie when Jenny visits Forrest, it is supposed to be July 4th, 1976. On her TV is the New York Harbour Bi-centennial Celebration, and a shot of the Statue of Liberty shows her with a "gold" torch, which was added as part of her restoration in 1986. (01:43:50)
Continuity mistake: When Jenny comes to see Forrest when he's mowing the lawn they hug. Jenny's left arm is down on Forrest's back in one shot, but up around his neck in the reverse shot.
Factual error: In the scene where Forrest Gump is wheeling Lt. Dan across a street between a bunch of taxis, the car they go behind is a 1973 Chevrolet Caprice (see the tail lights). However, several scenes later we know the year is 1971 because it is New Year's Eve 1971 because we see the TV flash 1972 as the year changes. (01:13:30)
Suggested correction: 1971 to 1976 was the second generation of these automobiles, with production of these models beginning in mid-1970. This car would absolutely have existed at the time depicted in the movie.
Continuity mistake: When Forrest sees Jenny at the anti-war demonstration in Washington D.C. he runs through the crowd towards the pond. We see that the gap between the people who let him through closes immediately after him, but in the last shot it remains wide open, obviously to allow a more dramatic view of Jenny's and Forrest's reunion. However, when the crowd is shown from the other side there's no gap at all. (01:04:40)
Factual error: We've already seen George Wallace on the school steps in one of the scenes where Forest is inserted into the footage, and this happened in June of 1963. Then it shows an All-American team meeting with JFK but that was created in December. But there was no way JFK would have been there as he was assassinated the previous month.
Audio problem: During the football match when Forrest runs and bumps into the band players, we hear what sounds like cymbals crashing/dropping to the ground. But if you look at the band players he knocks over, there are no cymbals anywhere near them.
Continuity mistake: When Bubba and Forrest have just arrived in Vietnam, they are walking along a boardwalk and pass a sign. The shot changes and faces them, but the sign is gone. (00:40:05)
