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.
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)
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.
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.
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)
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)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Lt. Dan is waiting on Forrest at the dock, and Forrest jumps overboard off his boat to swim over to meet him, Forrest's hair and face are mysteriously dry for him to have just come out of the water, as if he towelled off his head before climbing the steps up to the platform.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Forrest is attacked by boys who are throwing stones he is hit underneath his right eye. In the next shot you can see Forrest bleeding from a wound on his forehead.
Continuity mistake: Young Forrest's foot gets trapped in a sewer with a bunch of leaves around. When the angle changes the leaves are gone.
Continuity mistake: The first time that Forrest runs across the football field, a front view of the coach's head shows him following Forrest without moving his head, coach just moves his eyes. But a back view of the coach's head shows the head moving, following Forrest's movement. Back to the front view and the head is still. (00:20:30)
Continuity mistake: When Forrest sees Lt. Dan again after buying the shrimp boat, he dives off the boat and you see the boat going to the right, but after chatting for a short while they see the boat going in the opposite direction and crash into the pier. Even if it somehow turned itself around, it would would take longer than that.
Continuity mistake: When Forrest lifts Lt. Dan to carry him out of the jungle, there is a pack slung over Lt. Dan's left shoulder. When the shot changes to Forrest carrying him over his shoulder the pack has disappeared, without time for it to have fallen off. Notice, this pack is separate from Lt. Dan's large field pack, which Forrest does unbuckle before he lifts him onto his shoulder.
Continuity mistake: When Lt. Dan gets lifted off the bed by the male nurse, the handle he was holding on to disappears when the camera cuts to Forrest - it was so low that it should be in the picture. (00:55:30)
Continuity mistake: In the scene just after Jenny shows up while Forrest is mowing his yard, Forrest and Jenny are walking and they happen upon Jenny's old house, where she lived with her father. She starts out by throwing her shoes, which she is carrying in her hand, at the house. The shot changes to view her from behind as she is throwing rocks, and she is standing on or just in front of a patch of grass in the driveway. As the shots change from in front to behind her, her position in the driveway has moved back from her original position, which is farther from the house by several feet, and when she finally collapses to the ground in tears, the patches of grass in the driveway have disappeared.
Continuity mistake: When young Forrest goes to young Jenny's house and he finds her in the backyard, they run away from the back of the house to get away from her drunken father. They kneel down in a patch of corn and pray to turn into birds and fly away. The camera then pans up over the corn and you can see that they are in the corn field in front and just to the side of the house, not the back of the house. (00:17:35)
Continuity mistake: After Forrest gets his medal he meets Jenny at the anti-war demonstration. When she goes to the bus to leave they are standing talking. In one shot his medal is tucked inside his jacket, but in the next shot (right before he takes his medal off) it is on the outside of his jacket. (01:09:15)
Continuity mistake: When the platoon is walking down the trail and he says they are always looking for a man named Charlie, he has a pack of matches in his helmet from his rations. When they get on their feet, he has a pack of napkins next to the matches. (00:44:15)
Continuity mistake: When Forrest stops running, the close-up on him shows a sunny road with no painted lines on. The rest of the angles are of a shadowy place with painted yellow lines. (01:53:10)
