Continuity mistake: When David squeezes his dad's shoulder, after he just won chess, David has a severe bruise on the middle fingernail of his left hand, which disappears as soon as he gets back to work.
Continuity mistake: When David and Steven are on their way to the mothership, in shots facing David's right side the black safety harness and metal clasp are upside down, but in other shots the harness and clasp are on properly.
Continuity mistake: While David is talking to his wife, he holds the Johnny Walker bottle in his hand, then it is suddenly on the window sill.
Continuity mistake: When President Whitmore and the rest get to Area 51, you see David Levinson in the background. Right before they go through the doors, he has a sunglasses clip over his glasses. As they start walking down the ramp, they are still on, but right after the glass doors open, you can see for a second or two the clip is off the glasses. Then when they go for a close up of Levinson, you can see him take the clip off. (01:14:55)
Continuity mistake: Steve and Jasmine are asleep and the house starts to shake. There are 3 pictures on a night stand. Two of the three fall. When they wake up the 2 pictures are back up. (00:22:20)
Continuity mistake: Air Force One's cabin window shades move up/down when President Whitmore and Connie are talking, beside the President's sleeping daughter, and when the President asks General Grey for an update about his wife's whereabouts.
Revealing mistake: At Area 51, when the president's entourage fire their guns at the alien, the stunt wires attached to its upper body are visible, pulling the alien backwards. These stunt wires have nothing to do with Dr. Okun's medical equipment.
Continuity mistake: When Jimmy and Steven climb into the F/A-18 cockpits, there are various stickers on the backs of their seats which completely differ when they are airborne. (00:58:20)
Continuity mistake: When Russell boards the F/A-18 and when he is airborne - such as when he salutes Major Mitchell (who is back at command center), he wears his Hawaiian style short-sleeve shirt and is gloveless. After he says, "Eagle 20, Fox 2," in the close-up as he presses the launch button (resulting in launch failure), the arm shown wears both a green jumpsuit and gloves, neither of which Russell actually wears.
Visible crew/equipment: When the President stands by "the big tamale" he asks Dr. Okun if he can tell them anything useful about them. When Okun rushes up the ramp as he passes Nimzicki, the actor's mark is visible on the ramp, directly in front of the Secretary of Defense. (Only visible on fullscreen DVD.)
Visible crew/equipment: After General Grey shows the nuclear missile and launch mechanism to Steven and David, when Connie asks, "Why you?", in the next shot just as a woman in a white lab coat passes David, his yellow actor's mark is visible on the floor at his feet. (Only visible on fullscreen DVD.)
Continuity mistake: When the alien aircraft settles over New York, there is a taxi cab driver that stops to look, and the truck behind actually hits it twice. Also, there is a parked yellow school bus which the front half of the taxi passes in the wideshot, but in the close-up, when the driver gets out, the taxi is actually much farther back, the bus is gone, just take note of the gate in the background. (00:22:25)
Continuity mistake: At the decimated MCAS El Toro, when the First Lady asks Jasmine what she does for a living, the First Lady holds the bowl out with her left hand in the shot facing Jasmine, but in her right hand in the shots facing facing her. The direction of the bowl's handle also changes.
Revealing mistake: In the exterior shot of Air Force One and its accompanying jets in the air, just before the shot of David getting nauseous aboard Air Force One, something suddenly comes up along the entire bottom edge of the screen. This is only visible on fullscreen DVD. (01:08:10)
Suggested correction: That is another jet guarding Air Force One.
Continuity mistake: In the interior shot, when Jasmine tries to explain why she doesn't want Steven to leave she pulls open the white curtains, to view the alien ship through the window (the window closest to the door), and as Steven walks out the front door she stands by that open window. Then when it cuts to the exterior shot, in an instant that window's brown venetian blinds are now down and the white curtains are drawn closed, as Steven walks down the lawn.
Continuity mistake: In the old Plymouth on the way to DC, when David comments, "Can't this thing go any faster?" the lock on his door is down as the shot fades in on him, but when it cuts to his close-ups the lock is up, unlocked. (00:33:20)
Continuity mistake: In the kitchen, when Steven is packing up before leaving for El Toro, the blue dolphin figurine faces the TV and is about six inches away. In the following shots it faces the opposite way and is about three feet away. (00:28:50)
Continuity mistake: At the club, in Jasmine's dressing room, there are either two nail polish remover bottles beside the TV, or two white bottles - one large, one small, depending on the angle of the shot. (00:38:35)
Continuity mistake: When the two couples say their goodbyes, before Steven and David's mission, Jasmine has her right arm over Steven's shoulder in the shot facing her, but next shot her right arm is down, under his arm.
Continuity mistake: When David removes the bottle that Connie put in the fridge, in the next shot as Connie says, "Research and development," the coffee filter behind her moves from the edge to farther down the table. (Fullscreen only) (01:33:45)
