Continuity mistake: When Capcon 1 and John Young are watching Haise start to play the background music they are standing near their fairly clean desks in Mission Control. About 20 seconds later, after the Haise children laugh and Lovell says there seems to have been a last-minute change in the programme, the camera shows Capcon 1 and Young now seated eating dinner. Considering the amount of junk food now laid over their area and Capcon 1 half-way through eating his burger they appear to have been eating for at least several minutes, not 20 seconds. (00:46:00)
Continuity mistake: When Blanche is waiting for her son's broadcast to appear on TV she is seated beside two women. When she is told "this is all the channels we get" the middle woman moves her left hand to her face. In the next frame with the camera angle in front of the viewers the middle woman's left hand is at her lap. (00:46:00)
Continuity mistake: When Lovell is writing the gimbal conversions, as Haise says the computer is up, Lovell is clutching the left side of the paperwork and writing with his right hand. In the next frame with the camera closely showing the conversions, Lovell's left hand is now holding the paperwork at the bottom (the left side of the paperwork is now clear of his left hand). (01:01:00)
Continuity mistake: Just before Gene Kranz draws a circle on the chalkboard to indicate the Earth, the erased circles from previous takes can be seen. He then draws a hasty, sloppy unclosed circle, but subsequent shots a few seconds later show a neater, closed circle. (01:07:30)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the "Failure Is Not an Option" scene, Gene writes "45 hrs" on the chalkboard. In the close-up as he writes it, the front of the 4 is curved into the spine, and the 5 is written with a flat top and flat back leading into the curve underneath. Then, Gene puts a period after "hrs." When the shot cuts wide, the 5 looks more like an S and the top of the five is curled back under. The spine of the 4 has become much longer as well. When Gene walks back to the board at the end of the scene, the front of the 4 is more angular than curved, and the 5 still looks like an S but the curl under the top line is gone. And, once the shot changes away from Gene writing it, the period after "hrs" disappears for the rest of the scene. (01:15:50 - 01:17:45)
Continuity mistake: During the re-entry sequence, there is a shot of all the condensation from the control panel pouring over the astronauts. The next set close up shots of the men's faces show them to be completely dry. (02:05:55)
Continuity mistake: After Houston reacquires contact with the spacecraft following re-entry, Gene Kranz sits down in his chair, obviously full of emotion. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of Mission Control before panning in on Ken Mattingly. Before the camera zeroes in on Ken, watch the top left corner of the screen and you can see Gene sit down again. (02:09:20)
Continuity mistake: When they are in orbit and Fred vomits you see Jim taking off his suit and an open hatch to the LEM which has not been docked yet. Later when preparing to jettison the LEM you see Jim closing the hatch over this tunnel.
Continuity mistake: When the astronauts are in space and are taking their equipment off, Jack Swigert removes his outer suit gloves then removes his white glove liners and tucks them into the floating suit glove, but next shot Swigert is still wearing the black suit gloves, and it then cuts to Swigert removing his helmet and he is still wearing the white glove liners.
Continuity mistake: While the first stage of the Saturn V is fuelled by kerosene and LOX and burns with a bright orange flame, the second and third stages are fuelled by hydrogen and LOX, which has an invisible flame. In the movie all three stages burn with bright orange flames.
Continuity mistake: While the flight director (Gene) is talking to a guy about bringing the spacecraft's power down, there is a side shot of Gene saying: "that's the deal?" now, his hands are in front of him (playing with a pen) the very next shot he has his hands by his side and the man next to him has his head in a different position (a very short time to move your arms and head like that).
Continuity mistake: When Lovell and Haise discuss their families and Haise's illness, Lovell grabs a picture of Mary from the air and comments on, while Haise is seen putting a green letter back into its envelope. It cuts to show a close-up of Haise's hands pulling the letter and the photo from the envelope as if he just opened it (which would have happened moments earlier).
Continuity mistake: The direction of the spacecraft keeps changing. After the extraction of the LM (Lunar Module), the craft is travelling with the CSM (Command/Service Module) engine bell facing forward. After the explosion, it is shown with the LM facing forward. Going around the moon, and back to earth, the CSM is again facing forward.
Suggested correction: The orientation of the spacecraft was not constant. There is no reason why it should be (and, indeed, good reason why it won't). Apollo 13 did indeed have the LM leading at some points and the CSM leading at others.
