Corrected entry: During the attack on Darwin, Army signs display "19th Infantry Battalion". The 19th is a World War 1 unit. In the Second World War, the Second Australian Imperial Force was raised and the 2nd 19th Infantry Battalion AIF was formed. The correct citation is 2/19 Infantry Battalion. Also, the bombing of Darwin occurred on February 19, 1942. The 2/19 Inf Bn AIF was captured in Singapore on 15 February 1942.
Corrected entry: Despite all the talk of not using the names of the dead, Nullah refers to Flyn by name after he's been killed by the stampeding horses.
Correction: While it is true that we Aboriginal Australians have this belief, we have no belief against saying white peoples names after their death (although sometimes it is done for someone greatly respected). When the Drover says to Nullah (upon thinking Lady Ashley is dead) "We can't say her name anymore," it is purely for a poignant and emotional moment in the film.
Corrected entry: At the scene where Fletcher & Co light fires to scare the cattle, it's night. When the cattle start stampeding it's suddenly broad daylight.
Correction: As mentioned in a previous correction, the fire is lit to start the stampede in early morning, just before sunrise. The sun comes up while the chase is going on.
Corrected entry: The Army uniform that Nicole Kidman's character wears is not consistent with the designs worn at the time. The Australian Army did not issue blouses with small twin-creased pockets with button flaps.
Correction: She is not wearing an Army uniform, as she is a civilian. She is employed by the Army (or possibly doing volunteer service), but is not herself enlisted. As such, she can wear whatever she pleases, but has obviously chosen to adapt a semi-military look in her clothing, so as to better fit in.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Nulla is hiding in the water tank with the police down below looking for him, the windmill is turning quite fast, however cut away shots of the trees, vegetation and the long hair of one of the trackers shows no sign of any wind whatsoever.
Corrected entry: The mission island shown in the movie is fictional. Father John McGrath, a Catholic priest conducting missionary work on Bathurst Island, was not the first to spot the Japanese planes. That honour goes to a coastwatcher on Melville Island. McGrath later sent the message, "An unusually large air formation bearing down on us from the northwest." The mission was not attacked by air, nor did any Japanese army forces land on Bathurst Island.
Correction: The movie is not intended to be entirely historical, or a perfectly accurate depiction of the Australian defenses of Darwin. We also don't know who in the movie was the first to notify the defenders of the Japanese air fleet approaching Darwin, because it's simply irrelevant to the plot.
Corrected entry: No ship called the Barossa was sunk at Darwin in the 19 February 1942 attacks.
Correction: Artistic license, this is not a documentary.
Corrected entry: When Ashley and Drover are driving past the jumping kangaroos and one gets shot, the kangaroo is then inexplicably on the top of the truck.
Correction: Time passes between the shots, it's a standard film making technique in such cases, and adds some humor to the scene.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Nicole and Hugh are at the Ball, she starts out with 3 white flowers in her hair. Later on there are a lot more. Her lipstick changes throughout this sequence as well. It goes from being vibrant red, then fades and become vibrant again.
Correction: How much later on? Women do freshen up their makeup when at a party, and during the course of the evening, she could have been given more flowers.
Corrected entry: In the scene where the cattle are startled by fire, it is late evening, yet by the time they've run to the edge of the gorge 400m away, it's daytime again. A few minutes later, David Wenham's character states that, 'they must have pushed on during the night'.
Corrected entry: The scene where the Japanese aircraft are seen flying over water approaching the Darwin foreshore is incorrect. That would mean the aircraft would be approaching from the south. The aircraft attacked from the north.
Correction: Artistic licence - this is not a documentary.
Correction: The 19th infantry Battalion was in fact a Militia Battalion that was deployed to Darwin in late 41. They were redeployed to PNG in Sep 42 so were present during the Feb 42 airborne attack on Darwin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_Battalion_(Australia)