Revealing mistake: When Maverick is tied up following his horse truck tracks are visible on the ground. (01:15:05)
Continuity mistake: When Annabelle tells Maverick that she is short of $4000 to enter the big game he goes and extorts money from the Russian Duke. When he hands it over to her he holds a small bundle of bills, but when the camera angle changes the money is fanned out. Plus, when you pause the DVD you can count only eight $100 bills. (01:18:45)
Other mistake: Right before Bret meets Annabelle on the Lauren Belle (before the big game) the drummer in the band (he's on the far right) is just moving his drumsticks up and down, there's no drum set in front of him but you can hear the drums in the music being played. (01:18:57)
Revealing mistake: During the explanation of security procedures on the paddlewheeler there is a modern ceiling fan in the backround. (01:21:00)
Continuity mistake: When the final game first starts you see a waiter walking to the commodore's table with 4 glasses of wine on his tray, the camera angle changes to a closeup of the table and you now see the same waiter with an empty tray picking up empty glasses. The camera angle changes to another perspective of the same table and you now see the same waiter delivering those original 4 drinks. (01:28:00)
Continuity mistake: When the bad guys lock Maverick in his room on the Lauren Belle, the camera shooting from outside the room shows the door moving a few inches as Maverick tries to open it, but the camera shooting from inside the room shows that he can't move the door at all. (01:33:00)
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Maverick is 'taken away' to get his hands chopped off by his Indian friends, there is a vehicle driving down a highway in the distance. It can be seen in the far background, but it is obviously an automobile.
Other mistake: In one of the final scenes where Maverick is having a bath/sauna, enjoying his victory, you see a man walk past with only a towel on. As the man climbs the stairs, his towel opens a little bit and you could see he is wearing white underwear or briefs. In those times that kind of underwear did not exist.
Factual error: Maverick and the rest of the poker players throughout the movie are using plastic poker chips. You can tell by the sound they make when thrown. Poker chips during that time were made out of wood or ceramic.
Continuity mistake: During the scene on the paddle boat with Bret Maverick (Mel Gibson), Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster), and a third character (the law enforcement type), when the camera switches from Maverick to Annabelle and back multiple times, you always can see part of the paddle wheel. It's rotational speed is significantly different depending which camera is used.
Character mistake: After Maverick gives the "actors" their hundred dollars, he says "News travels fast in the Old West." Why would he refer to the west as "old" when, for him, it's the present? This is an expression that didn't come about till later on, when the west BECAME old.
Suggested correction: This was a joke, since it's a comedy movie.
Factual error: When the camera focuses in the the clock striking five, we see the clock has patent number "19701". While this patent does apply to a clock, it was not issued until 1900, 25 years after the movie was set.
Continuity mistake: In long shots of the town when the movie begins, the town is on different banks of the river in different shots.
