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: During College, when Forrest first visits Jenny in her "all girls school". Jenny shows her breasts to Forrest and lets him touch her. When she hurries and puts on her bra, her right bra strap is twisted. When the camera pans away the bra strap is straight again.
Revealing mistake: In the black-and-white newsreel footage of Forrest's All American team visiting President Kennedy in the White House, Kennedy is handling a football and you can see to the right of his grip "N STATE" printed on the ball and beneath that the signature "Rip Engle." The producers obviously spliced stock footage of when the Penn State team visited the White House following their Gator Bowl win in 1962. Rip Engle was their coach at the time. (Kennedy's hand hides the first three letters of Penn State).
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 Forrest and Bubba meet Lieutenant Dan for the very first time the sun changes between shots.
Plot hole: When Forrest finds out he is receiving the Medal of Honor, he is addressed as PFC Gump (Private First Class, E3). "Two weeks later", he leaves Vietnam, and is then shown receiving the medal from President Johnson. In this scene, he is wearing Sergeant's stripes (E5). There is no indication or mention of him receiving a promotion, let alone two. (01:02:10 - 01:03:05)
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 Forrest comes home after being discharged from the army, his mother greets him outside and it's overcast. The shadows on the ground are very faint. But in the shot from inside the house, it's suddenly sunny outside and the shadows are very dark.
Factual error: When Forrest is running in the desert they show a couple of saguaro cactus that are about 3 ft tall with arms growing out the side. Saguaro cactus do not grow arms for up to 75 years and at least 10 ft tall.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Lt. Dan thanks Forrest for saving his life and "makes his peace with God", before he jumps overboard off the shrimp boat, the water is flat calm. In the next shot when he does jump and is doing the backstroke, the water is slightly choppy or rippled.
Audio problem: John Lennon's lips don't sync with what he's saying. Neither do Kennedy's or Johnson's or Nixon's.
Revealing mistake: When Forrest is playing ping pong in the gym and an officer comes to give him his discharge papers, Forrest reaches for his paddle and the ball but when he picks up his hand, there is no ball although he is acting as if there were. The ping pong scenes used CGI to put the balls into the scenes and this was obviously overlooked.
Continuity mistake: In Washington, when Forrest runs to meet with Jenny he runs between the same people twice. Check the man on the right with the black top hat and a violet ribbon.
Continuity mistake: When Forrest Gump stops running, the road has paved shoulders. In the close-up, the shoulders are all weeds.
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 Lt. Dan shows up to be Forrest's first mate, he is smoking a cigar. From one angle the cigar has more ash than the next.
Audio problem: In the shot that shows Forrest punch a man three times, there's problems with the sound effects. The first punch has no sound. The other two are too late, they appear after the punch.
Factual error: There is a modern 1960's car in the background when Forrest says Bubba's grandmother cooked shrimp. As young as his grandmother appears to be, no such car would have existed at that time.
Suggested correction: Bubba's grandmother is never seen. The person we see serving shrimp is Bubba's mother and then it skips to his great-grandmother.
