Factual error: Sgt Sanborn is shown wearing a Combat Infrantryman's Badge, and he says that before EOD he was Military Intelligence, however, Infantry is the only MOS that gets the badge while everyone else gets the Combat Action Badge. Also the Combat Infantryman's Badge would be worn above any other badge, in the movie he wears it under the EOD badge.
Other mistake: When James is returning to duty in one of the last scenes of the movie, apparently he is arriving in one of two twin-rotor helicopters. As the troops disembark down the rear ramp, they walk across what looks like the shadow of the elevator of a C130 Hercules airplane.
Factual error: The EOD team seems to travel alone much of the movie. EOD travel in a convoy for protection.
Continuity mistake: During the encounter between Sgt. James and the taxi driver, James shoot to the taxi's windshield in an attempt to make the driver go, when he's backing up you can see James following him and pointing his gun to the now unbroken windshield, when scene changes, it's broken again.
Factual error: Takes place in 2004, however, ACU uniform was not issued Army wide until 2005.
Factual error: In the scene where the taxicab overruns the roadblock, he would have likely been shot before even coming close. Rules of engagement for a roadblock dictate that any vehicle not responding to commands to stop or after firing warning shots would be lit up, especially at such fast speed, which is a sign of aggression.
Continuity mistake: During the sniper fight, when Sanborn gets the ammunition after it is cleaned, he loads a single bullet directly into the chamber. After it is fired, a magazine magically appears loaded into the rifle and he fires a second shot.
Factual error: In the scene where Sanborn goes to James trailer he is wearing two American flags on each shoulder when only one is supposed to be worn above the combat patch right shoulder. This can also be seen later when LTC Cambridge sits down with Eldride when he is playing the X-Box in which case Eldridge does not wear any flags could be he just got back from mission and has not replaced them on his uniform.
Continuity mistake: After the last guy in the window during the sniping scenes is killed, you can see William James' face covered with sand. In a shot seconds later the sand is gone, and later reappears.
Other mistake: In the scene where Sanborn is placing Thompson's ID tags into the box the outside states he is SGT-Thompson-Matthew when in fact he was a SSG.
Continuity mistake: During the sniping scenes, a fresh magazine is handed from the spotter to the firer. The magazine is filled with empty cases at first. The next scene showing a close up of the mag shows it now with live rounds.
Continuity mistake: James is searching for an IED planted in a street when a taxicab suddenly speeds through the road block, which stops in front of James. James approaches the front of the taxi with his pistol aimed at the driver, then walks around to the driver's side of the car. When the shot switches to behind James, he is back standing in front of the taxi.
Other mistake: In the opening scene when Thompson is walking down to retrieve the C4 to place on the IED there are several errors, first he is walking down the tracks then he starts looking around the area and you get his point of view at T:06:09 and he is off the tracks then back on at T:06:11. At T:07:19 as Thompson is about to pick up the trailer with the C4 you can see some tanks in the foreground which is inside the blast radius, as he gets to the IED T:08:00 there are no vehicles within 25 meters of him.
Factual error: Sgt. James (Renner) is with a 5th Generation iPod Classic in his room at Camp Victory. This iPod model wasn't released until 2005 while the film is set in 2004. In addition, he is wearing 2007-era Apple headphones, which weren't available in 2004 either.
Revealing mistake: Whenever James, Sanborn, and Eldridge are riding in the Humvee, you can see panels of wood in between the doors and windows of the Humvee. If you look closely, the grain in the wood is visible.
Other mistake: In this opening scene when the robot is heading down to the IED the camera picks up the robots tracks as if it had already been there yet this is supposed to be the first time the team has investigated the area.
Revealing mistake: In the explosion of the opening scene it is apparent that cut scenes have been shot with several hours time difference because the sun has moved. This is best visible in the reflection of sun in the helmet and shadows of the vehicles in the background.
Answer: The problem for the sniper was once he'd taken his shot, he was now pretty exposed. He didn't have a lot of cover and it wouldn't have taken the Americans long to figure out where the shot came from, hence why the enemy snipers made no attempt to move.
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