Factual error: The four-door Jeep Wrangler used in the movie wasn't made until 2007, three years after the date of Judgment Day as established in Terminator 3 (Saturday 24th July 2004). (00:33:15)
Continuity mistake: When Marcus and Kyle are being chased by Moto-Terminators, Kyle kicks the oil barrel off the truck to hit one of the Moto-Terminators. Later, as Kyle reaches rearward to release the tow hook, the barrel is shown still on the truck, standing as it was before Kyle kicked it off. (00:41:25)
Continuity mistake: In the original terminator film, Sarah is recording tape number 7 when she mentions Kyle, and the line 'a person could go crazy.'. However in Terminator Salvation, it is tape 28, and she now says ' tape 28 of sarah Connor to her son john' (00:19:30)
Continuity mistake: Right after Marcus gets the Jeep to start, they begin running from the Aerostat. They start off going down a steep hill and the windshield is practically sparkling clean. Once they get to the road at the bottom, the shot shows the windshield caked with mud. (00:34:00)
Continuity mistake: When the Harvester destroys the Saab sedan that is fleeing the fuel station, the car's chassis is shown sailing through the air, stripped of its interior and drivetrain, throwing random sparks, but not on fire in any way because there's really nothing left that would burn. But moments later, it is completely engulfed in flames as it crashes through the awning over the gas pumps. (00:38:20)
Continuity mistake: During the tow truck chase scene, Marcus basically bangs a U-turn and the one bike hits the bus. As they go under the overpass, it has a shot from directly above the truck showing Kyle on the bed right at the center of the cab's rear window. Then the very next shot has Kyle at the passenger door and he asks "where's the other one?" But then the shot moves to a ground level shot looking up as the bike jumps over the truck and Kyle is now standing back on the bed, not at the passenger door. (00:41:30)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Marcus finds Blair hanging from the power tower, it shows a dark tan stripe around her eyes, but in the following shots it is much lighter and less dark than the previous seconds. (00:47:00 - 00:48:00)
Visible crew/equipment: During the Harvester attack on the petrol station, the Harvester uses its cannon on a fleeing car, blowing it up into the air. During the shot of the remains of the car spinning through the air, the cylinder of the special effects cannon used to fire the car into the air is visible protruding from the centre of the vehicle. (00:39:20)
Continuity mistake: Just after Marcus rips out his chip and throws the stool, he jumps to the lower level. As he walks up to the resistance soldier on the MRI table, if you look at the top edge of the screen, you can see that the awning is all damaged from being shot by the terminator that Kyle stabs in the neck. However, the scene where this occurs happens about a minute after Marcus jumps to the lower level. (01:32:55)
Continuity mistake: As the tow truck flees the fuel station after believing the Harvester has been destroyed, a car explodes just ahead of the truck in the right lane. The shot immediately following this has Reese facing the camera looking back at the Harvester, but ahead of the truck we can see the road and the exploding car and all the smoke, fire, and debris have all vanished and the lane is clear, even though they can't have passed this car yet. (00:40:30)
Continuity mistake: When Marcus stops the Jeep at a ruined fuel station, he parks it between the two gas-pump islands. The Harvester blows the Jeep up and its remnants rain down back on the spot where the Jeep stood: between the islands. We can clearly see the Jeep's grille fall to this exact spot. Marcus and the others are thrown against the wall of the building when this occurs. As Reese crawls to Marcus, he does so across the Jeep's grille, which is now 30 feet or more from where it actually landed. (00:37:50)
Continuity mistake: When Marcus hits the side of the compartment that contains Kyle and Star with an axe for the second time, we see the panel's left edge separate from the vertical column, bent in a large "V" inward into the compartment. The next exterior shot as Marcus is grabbed by the harvester shows the panel has only the one small hole in it that Marcus created with his first axe strike. The damage from the second hit is gone. (00:44:15)
Continuity mistake: Once the tow truck is attached by cable to the HK, it is spun around. As the truck's rear end is approaching the Honda Element, we can see Kyle making his way into the cab for protection. But a quick external shot of the rear of the tow truck shows Kyle is behind the cab, holding onto the exhaust stack. Then a high shot showing the Honda get hit shows Kyle is gone, apparently safe inside the cab. (00:43:15)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the tow truck chase, an HK appears overhead, turns and fires at a completely empty portion of the bridge's road surface (tho Honda Element is between the truck and explosion in the left lane). Yet when we see it from within the truck, the explosion is shown to be of a car of some kind.and the Honda has vanished. Then, as the truck spins-out and comes to a stop, the external view shows that Honda is back and undamaged. (00:43:10)
Continuity mistake: As the tow trucks crosses the bridge at the end of the chase, it passes three cars (one is overturned) to the truck's right that will act as a ramp for the bike in a moment. Then, as the truck spins to a stop, a shot from beneath the truck looking rearward shows the three cars it has already passed are not there behind it. Yet the very next distant shot shows the cars are back in place in time to send the bike into the air. (00:43:00)
Continuity mistake: At the start Connor jumps in a helicopter and takes off, at which point it gets shot down. When it crashes upside down he undoes the lap belt and falls out of the seat, problem is he never did the belt up in the first place and he was wrestling with the controls, so he couldn't do it up when crashing.
Revealing mistake: When the tow truck is dragging the bike, as it goes onto the bridge the drag line is visible in the mud from previous takes.
Continuity mistake: While John Connor is above the small lake in a helicopter searching for Marcus, he and his crew are attacked by snake-like robotic arms that rise up from the water. The arms partially penetrate the cockpit but in brief, subsequent shots of chopper, the arms, which should be extending from the exterior, are nowhere to be seen.
Revealing mistake: In the final scene when Marcus get John in the helicopter he is wearing a glove with markers where his metal hand should be.
Continuity mistake: When the truck rams a silver wagon that is blocking its path, a dark-color 1970s Firebird is parked nose-to-nose with the wagon, at the roadside, and just beyond the Firebird, a silver 1990s minivan is parked on the same side of the road. When the shot changes to show the moto-terminator analyzing the airborne wagon, the Firebird and minivan are gone, replaced by a silver modern sedan. Then, as the wagon crashes to ground after the bike passes under it, nothing is parked on that side of the road except a 1970s Cadillac sedan which is further back along their path of travel. (00:41:05)
Answer: Perhaps, but once the submarine captain learns that John Connor has just jumped off the helicopter, what is he supposed to do? Let John drown? John must have known the Captain would have little choice but to pick John up.
XIII