Corrected entry: When Benjamin Gates' parents first reach the City of Gold and see the other characters, they yell to each other. They yell "Ben" and Nicholas Cage yells "Jon" (presumably Jon Voight) instead of "Dad".
Corrected entry: History "genius" Ben Gates incorrectly states the phrase "his name is mud" originated from Dr. Sammuel Mudd, who was convicted and later pardoned in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The phrase has its earliest known recorded instance in 1823, 10 years before Mudd's birth, and is in fact based an obsolete sense of the word 'mud' meaning 'a stupid twaddling fellow'.
Correction: While your description of the term "mud" is correct(although based on a quick Google search), Ben's account of the origin of the phrase "His name is Mudd" is absolutely correct.
Corrected entry: When Ben's father is explaining to Ben and Riley about the three statues of Liberty, why does he only mention two of them? They have no way to know it's not the other one.
Correction: He says something like: "there's the one in New York, one in the Luxembourg gardens, but he only referred to one as 'his lady'" and then the scene cuts to Paris, so we can presume he said "he only reffered to one as his lady - the one in Paris".
Corrected entry: Mitch didn't have to die. Since the door is tension loaded, just open it, prop something under it while everyone goes through, then remove whatever you used to prop it open (there's no shortage of loose objects around!) If the current flow is a concern, just have the two strongest go through first (Ben and Mitch), they brace up against the object holding the door open, everyone goes through, then they just remove the object so the water is trapped inside as depicted.
Correction: Ben DID try to prop it open near the end of the scene so both he and Mitch could get through, but the door was way too heavy and broke the object. And on the other side of the door, there's nothing holding the door open that could be reached by any of the characters. And, lets be honest, if you were trapped in a situation like this, there really isn't that much time to think reasonably.
Corrected entry: Ben's mother recognises the symbols on the wooden plank as being Olmec and proceeds to translate their meaning. Only problem is that, to date, only one example of Olmec inscription has been found and it has never been deciphered.
Correction: This is called "fiction". If the film-makers wish to portray a character as capable of deciphering Olmec, then it's irrelevant whether such experts exist in the real world, in exactly the same way as, say, a superhero or a scientist working on a fictional technology can be portrayed without them actually existing in reality.
Corrected entry: While investigating the Statue of Liberty, Ben says, "Laboulaye had to leave a clue somewhere". However, when he says this, his mouth doesn't move.
Correction: Mr. Cage has a tendency to speak without moving his mouth a lot and as he says those lines with the camera to his back, it is difficult to claim that he is not moving his mouth at all.
Very true... In most of his movies he speaks without moving his lips.
Corrected entry: Although there are two resolute desks, one being in the Oval Office of the White House, the other is not in Buckingham Palace. It is in the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth, England. It is also smaller than the White House desk, and does not contain any drawers.
Correction: There has been some confusion about whether yet another desk exists that is an identical twin to the one in the Oval Office. We wrote to the Royal Collection at St James' Palace in London to ask for clarification, and they were kind enough to send us this reply: I am afraid that in reality there was never any twin desk made. As I am sure you are aware, the famous desk in the Oval Office of the White House was made from the timbers of the HMS Resolute. Papers in the Royal Archives do confirm there was also a small writing table made for Queen Victoria. This is the table you have seen which is now at the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth. As you have noticed, it is much smaller and different in style from the Presidents desk, and cannot really be described as a twin.
Corrected entry: The reenactment of Lincoln's murder is not historically correct. Booth shot the president in the back of the head. One of Lincoln's guests - Major Rathbone - jumped from his seat and tried to prevent Booth from escaping, but Booth stabbed the Major violently in the arm with a knife. Rathbone quickly recovered and grabbed onto Booth's coat as he was preparing to jump from the sill of the box. Booth vaulted over the rail and down to the stage. His foot was caught on the Treasury flag, and Booth came down full-face to the audience, thus breaking his leg.
Correction: This is essentially what is depicted in the film, though for time the sequence had to be abridged and the fight with Rathbone is omitted. Booth's foot is shown catching in the flag, causing him to crash on the stage. The scene even includes the correct line being spoken during the play right before Lincoln is shot. There are other minor details about the scene the film flubs, but the broad sequence isn't one of them.
Corrected entry: The city of gold has presumably been underwater for centuries, but when the chamber is drained and we see it for the first time, there is no mud, silt or algae on it at all. It is perfectly clean and gleaming.
Correction: The city of gold has not been underwater; water had been flowing through it throughout the centuries, so not all of the city had been completely touched/submerged by water, so there is far less of a chance, if at all, of algae or anything, especially with the strong currents of flowing water.
Corrected entry: Towards the end of the movie, when they are in the City of Gold and they see Ben Gate's parents, Ben yells out, "Helen, we found it" instead of the character's name, Emily. (01:44:10)
Correction: It doesn't make sense that Ben would call his mother by either name, since he refers to her as "mom." He said "Here, we found it!"
Corrected entry: When Ben is trying to find the 4 digit code for the Resolute desk in Buckingham Palace, the first code he tries doesn't work. When he tries a different second code, and the first two numbers are the same (1 and 8), yet Ben opens the draws again as if they have not been moved.
Correction: He had to close them to reset the mechanism, just like you have to do with any combination lock.
Corrected entry: Considering that the Olmec civilization was confined to southern Mexico, it would not have been able to construct a gigantic gold city in South Dakota.
Correction: It is extremely unlikely, but we cannot assume it was impossible. Who really knows what happened hundreds of years ago, or what the ancient cultures were capable of? With their primitive technology they were able to construct massive pyramids. It would not stretch the imagination to think that they could transport gold through (what was then) the wilderness of ancient America to start a new society.
Corrected entry: In the movie, the bad guy steals one of the good guy's cell phones and "clones" it so he can listen in on their conversations. Although cell phone "cloning" is possible in real life, it does not work this way. What would happen would be that whichever cell phone the tower finds first would be the one that would ring, so the bad guy could pick up the phone and make the connection (although his voice would most likely give him away). It would not, however, let him eavesdrop on a connection already made between the other cell phones.
Correction: That may be true in the legitimate world, but the start of the movie identifies Wilkinson's group as mercenaries that work outside the law. It's entirely feasible they've a acquired illegitimate software through their work that allows them to tamper with the phones in the way depicted.
Corrected entry: In the Easter Roll scene at the White House, the bunny tucked into Nic Cage's jacket pocket is different to the bunny we see tucked into his pocket later on in the scene just after he has found the seal in the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. (00:50:00 - 00:53:00)
Correction: It's the same bunny that Abigail hands to him earlier; the carrot is just not visible when he follows Connor and Abigail into the White House.
Corrected entry: The model of the Statue of Liberty was built in 1870. The Resolute was only retired in 1879. How could the makers of the statue know that the Indian markings would be hidden in desks made of wood from the Resolute 9-10 years in advance? Or were the markings only put there in 1880? That would mean that the diary entry was made 15 years in advance of the clue being put on the Laboulaye Lady.
Correction: Actually, the Statue seen in the movie was dedicated on November 15, 1889. The Statue you're referring to is the smaller replica used by the sculptor himself for the final version which is at the Jardin du Luxembourg.
Correction: The Statue of Liberty previously located in the Luxembourg Gardens was moved to the Orsay Musee to protect it from the weather/elements... a replica now stands in the Gardens.
Corrected entry: The idea that Queen Victoria would side with the South because of, as Cage and Kruger say in one scene, cotton and to divide the U.S., has little historic basis. Prime Minister Palmerston thought positively about a break-up of the United States; however, this was never a issue he expressed during the war. On the other hand, with cotton stocks high and overproduction in the British textile industry, cotton had lost its influence on Great Britain during the Civil War. Queen Victoria siding with the South is absurd as she was pacifist and wished to keep the country out of any military struggle at the time. British help to the South would have required just such a military action.
Correction: An opinion on what a person would or should do is not a mistake. The whole premise of Victoria's "aid" to the South is that she could not openly state it; the letter and all help she could give had to be done in the utmost secret. Publicly, she would of course present a different and more politically correct view, but she could still harbor secrets and have a different opinion in private.
Corrected entry: How could the diary in 1865 have a code word saying Laboulaye Lady - when the first model of the Statue of Liberty was not made until 5 years later? The movie said Laboulaye was to hide clues later, but in 1865 no one knew he was going to construct a 'Lady'.
Correction: The movie mentions that he had the *idea* for the lady, not that the statues were built. It's likely he was commissioned to build the statues to include the clues by the time the diary was written. It takes the artist time to plan and build a sculpture of those scales, while probably working on other pieces at the same time, so having the idea come to completion five years later is not unusual.
Corrected entry: During the scene where Ben Gates' father is stopped by the police in the boat, the side of the police boat says Maryland police, yet they are in Virginia.
Correction: Mount Vernon is on the bank of the Potomac. The border between Virginia and Maryland is actually right there on the bank, thus it would be the jurisdiction of Maryland police. More specifically the Charles County, Maryland police.
Corrected entry: In the scene when everyone is moving the wheel so to close the (gates which would eventually stop the water) there in one scene the lamp is on the wheel which is being turned and in the other scene when a top angle shot of the wheel is taken it is not there. (00:41:30)
Correction: This is not true the oil lamp does not move it is there in the top view it is just more difficult to see.
Corrected entry: In the end of the movie when Riley walks along the sidewalk there are no cars there. When he backs up in his returned car, he crashes into something. It is highly un-likely that he backed up over the curb.
Correction: There's at least one car parked behind (plus another in front) of his car. The car behind him is what he hits.
Correction: Ben is shouting "Mom!"