Continuity mistake: When the school principal shows the poster with the IQ requirements for regular schooling to Forrest's mother, the grip on his pencil changes back and forth in shots from the front and from behind. (00:07:50)
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: 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 was running in the first football scene, it shows cheerleaders and a couple of football players on the sidelines, then the next scene in closer view of Forrest running it shows the same cheerleaders and players in the same exact spot as if Forrest ran that same part of the field again. (00:22:15)
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: 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 is in Vietnam and they are all under attack in that little bunker, pay attention to Lt. Dan. In one shot there is a gun behind him, but a few shots later it is gone. (00:47:45)
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: 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: 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: 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 Forrest meets Jenny at his house, Forrest stands up with the lawn partially mowed. After he hugs Jenny and the camera is on him it shows the path of grass completely mowed. The grass changes between mowed and unmowed a few times. (01:44:34 - 01:45:12)
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)
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: In the scene where Jenny is adjusting Forrest's tie before their wedding, a man wearing a brown jacket can be seen on the porch behind them. Then in the next shot when Forrest sees Lt. Dan approaching, the man is gone. (02:00:20)
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: 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: 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.
