Revealing mistake: When the Federation fleet is preparing to warp to Vulcan, you'll see the first ship blast off, but the second ship blasts off out of nowhere. You could argue that the ship was out of sight and below the Enterprise, but the light trail isn't that long. The light trail starts in front of the Enterprise where you should be able to see a star-ship. (00:40:45)
Continuity mistake: When Kirk, McCoy and Uhura enter the bridge to tell the captain about the attack on the Klingon ships, Uhura stops right in front of Spock. In the next shot they are standing apart. (00:44:45)
Revealing mistake: At the end of the film, when Kirk is receiving his medal, in the background you can see the female alien crewmember from the Enterprise bridge clapping with very human-like hands. (01:56:15)
Continuity mistake: When Kirk confronts Nero in person for the first time, one of the Romulans hits him and knocks him onto his back. Nero rushes over to attack him. The shot of Nero running over is an aerial view, and Kirk is seen partly trying to recover on his back. Clearly, his right arm is partly stretched up in the air and his left arm moving as he has his head lifted up. But the shot cuts to Nero getting to him in a close up and suddenly Kirk is totally flat on his back with arms down and head down. (01:43:25)
Continuity mistake: While being sucked around through the aquatic gerbil maze of a coolant system in the Enterprise's engineering, there is one part where Scotty is being pulled up. The shot shows him get sucked out of the J pipe and begin being pulled up the shaft rather quickly. The shot cuts to Kirk yelling "No. No!" The shot then cuts to Kirk running off to the right, and it shows Scotty getting sucked out of the same J pipe a second time. (01:28:15)
Continuity mistake: As Kirk and Spock Prime are arguing about Spock meeting his younger self, the shots from behind Spock show his hair, ear, and coat to be illuminated by a blue light. But the reverse angles have no evidence of this light at all. And when Kirk walks away, Spock is still standing in the same spot. Now suddenly Spock is all illuminated by blue lights that they were obviously not standing under moments before. (01:26:00)
Continuity mistake: Right in the beginning of the scene where Kirk is taking his third attempt at the Kobayashi Maru, it starts out with Uhura telling Kirk what 'Starfleet' commands. Right as she finishes what she is saying, she cocks her head sideways to her right in an almost mockingly fashion. The very next shot jumps behind Kirk's shoulder with Uhura still in frame and her head is up straight. (00:31:25)
Continuity mistake: After Kirk is in the bar fight, he is sitting down and talking to Captain Christopher Pike. Pike asks him a question and Kirk replies back with "Maybe I love it." The shot just before he says this is behind Kirk's head. Watch his head movements. He turns his head to the right, then straight again and tilts his head back some. Then the next shot where he says that line, he is suddenly looking down to his right. (00:23:30)
Character mistake: When the Enterprise first comes under attack from the Narada, Captain Pike gives the order "transfer power from port nacelles to forward shields" (confirmed by subtitles). As the Enterprise has only one port nacelle, his use of the plural is not correct.
Continuity mistake: As young Kirk jumps out of the car, just before it crashes down into the canyon, his right arm is backwards along his body as it opened the door, while the left arm is stretched forward. In the following side shot, both his arms are stretched backwards. (00:13:50)
Continuity mistake: When Kirk meets Uhura in the bar, there is an alien nursing his beer between them, and he never takes a sip, yet in one of the following shots, the beer is now significantly lower in the glass. The alien is in shot between Uhura and Kirk for the majority of the scene, and in the intervening shots, there is not enough time for him to have taken a sip of his beer. (00:20:15)
Continuity mistake: After Chekov explains to Kirk his plan to hide behind Titan, Saturn's moon, Spock rejoins the group and tells them he will beam aboard Nero's ship. As he approaches, watch Scotty. The shot of Spock walking to the group shows Scotty has his head nearly straight, and his mouth closed. The shot changes to a close up on McCoy and Scotty is seen beside him. Suddenly, Scotty's mouth is open, and his head is leaning slightly more to his right. (01:35:40)
Continuity mistake: After Spock chokes Kirk and then relinquishes his command due to being emotionally compromised, Kirk takes command of the Enterprise. As he sits in the captain's chair, he is still winded from the assault and is panting. Uhura walks up and says she hopes he knows what he is doing. As she says this, the side shot shows Kirk is looking straight ahead with his mouth open and leaning forward, panting. The shot then changes to Kirk in a close up and suddenly he is sitting back in the chair, looking more towards Uhura's direction, and his mouth is open less. (01:33:00)
Continuity mistake: The first ship seen in the film is the USS Kelvin, which Kirk's father kamikazes into the bad guys' ship to save all the escaping shuttles. Later, Captain Pike is talking to Kirk about his father's heroic action and how he saved 'over 800' people from the Kelvin. So, since several died in the battle, that ship had to have at least 900 crew members. The USS Kelvin, a pre-alternate timeline vessel, is depicted as having a far larger compliment than the largest Star Fleet vessel (Dreadnought class, holding 500 people) from TOS times. Since the timeline had not changed at that point, this violates the "established" history. (00:24:25)
Visible crew/equipment: As the camera closes in on a Young Jim Kirk in the Corvette, the camera rig is reflected in the vent window glass.
Continuity mistake: Scotty is whizzing through the liquid-filled glass tubing and Kirk opens the release valve, saving him from his doom. When Scotty hits the floor, the camera pans across a piece of machinery, obscuring him for a second or two. When the camera picks up Scotty again on the other side of the machine, his arms are in a different position, bent closer to his body. Obviously a cut in the film where they removed the stunt person and replaced him with the actor to finish the scene. (01:28:40)
Continuity mistake: When Kirk and Sulu are beamed aboard the Enterprise they land hard on the transporter pad, breaking the glass and it goes across the floor. When they get up and Spock uses the transporter, the glass on the floor is gone and the glass is unbroken.
Continuity mistake: Just after Nero's ship goes into warp speed to chase after Spock, the scene cuts to Kirk being confronted by one of Nero's men. Kirk jumps off the ledge of the platform and lands on another ledge. His arms grab onto the ledge with his arms stretched out. The next shot shows his arms now next to his body. He then stretches out his right arm to try and climb on some more. The next shot shows both arms stretched out. (01:46:20)
Continuity mistake: Uhura has mascara make up Egyptian style to the sides of the eye, but when she is in a lift with Spock it's gone for a few shots and later reappears. (01:05:10 - 01:06:15)
Chosen answer: Phasers fire nadion particle bursts or bolts, which are fictional but are presumably similar to photons, and would therefore have mass and kinetic energy - so depending on the power output of the phaser, it should impart a not insignificant momentum change.
Sierra1 ★