Continuity mistake: There is no center line dividing the lanes on the street where the Lambs live, but the street is divided by a double-yellow line when Mr. Lamb puts Mr. Dainard into the sheriff's car. (00:02:43 - 00:03:43)
Continuity mistake: During the wake, a red/burgundy car is parked along the curb after the Lambs' driveway sometimes but not others. It is first seen at 00:01:30 immediately past the driveway but is not there when a light-colored (white, grey, light blue?) car is parked along the curb two or three houses down. When the sheriff's car has backed out of the driveway and onto the road, the red car is suddenly back again, a little way past the driveway entrance but before the light-colored car. The red car could not have just got to that spot because Mr. Lamb backing out of the driveway would have blocked it from getting there plus the road may have been slippery/icy (where drivers need to go slowly). (00:03:43)
Factual error: The film opens during the winter, then 4 months later you see that school is out for the summer which should be June. When Joe is visiting Charles the TV is on and Walter Cronkite is saying "the potential is there for the ultimate risk of a meltdown at the Three Mile Island atomic power plant." The meltdown at Three Mile Island had already happened by this point, being in March of 1979. (00:07:20)
Factual error: When Joe is in his room painting one of his monster models you can see in the background a model of the Invisible Man. This model was not released until 2009 by Moebius models. Although the model was created in the classic Aurora models style, this model was not available during 1979. (00:09:15)
Continuity mistake: At the train stop before they start filming, Joe is about to put makeup on Alice and asks her "Do you mind?" In the view of his face, the wind is blowing Alice's hair and several strands are over her cheek and blowing into her face. When it cuts to an angle showing Alice's face, it is clear of hair with it blowing back. (00:12:25)
Other mistake: The Super 8 cameras used are both sound models, one Eumig and one Kodak, but when the film and film boxes are shown, they are the normal Super 8 silent cartridges, which are square. Sound movie cartridges are rectangular to accommodate the sound recording mechanism in a Super 8 Sound camera. (00:15:55)
Audio problem: The train horn sound changes from what it was to a different horn sound when it passes the Lillian Depot. Then it changes back. (00:16:30)
Continuity mistake: After the train wreck, one scene shows the car they came in has a steel or wooden beam/bar stuck into the rear wheel area and debris is piled close to the car - yet when they get in it to escape, the car is clear and they easily pull out of the lot. (00:19:25 - 00:24:35)
Continuity mistake: After the train wreck, all the kids are looking for Alice. When she shows up behind Joe, his fringe swaps between brushed and messy, back and forth. (00:20:15)
Other mistake: After the train wreck, Alice would not be able to see the fake blood standing so far away in the dark and with Joe's body blocking her view... or with all the still-falling ashes floating in the air to boot. (00:20:28)
Factual error: After the train crash, the teen characters discover cube-like items. One of them states it looks like a Rubik's Cube. The movie itself takes place in 1979, but the Rubik's Cube, although invented in 1974, was not licensed to sell in the USA until 1980. It was not even called a "Rubik's cube" until 1980 (prior to this, it was known as a "Magic Cube"). (00:21:55)
Continuity mistake: Once they find the smashed truck with Dr. Woodward in it, they are standing in a way that Preston and Charles are almost shoulder to shoulder but with Martin between them slightly behind them. When the shot cuts, suddenly Charlies is in front of Martin with Preston behind Martin. (00:22:20)
Continuity mistake: While the boys are looking at Dr. Woodward in his smashed truck, there's a quick close up of Joe's face before Charlies asks Cary about the teacher taking his electronic football. Joe's face is mostly in shadow on his right half with his left half in the light from fire. When it cuts to a different angle showing Charles talking, suddenly his whole face is lit up. (00:22:30)
Continuity mistake: After the train crash and Joe is back home, his dad wakes him up and he is facing off to the side as he opens his eyes and starts to lift his head. It cuts to a different angle showing the white cube in the foreground and suddenly Joe is looking up fully at his dad. (00:26:40)
Suggested correction: I watched a few times and saw a rather good, smooth series of movements - they did not look awkward at all. I did not see what you saw, which leads me to suspect corrections were made or your DVD player "skipped."
Maybe one more person will check his/her copy.
A small hiccup in the stream might be an even better explanation for the discrepancy - in which case "I saw what you didn't see" would be more accurate than "I didn't see what you saw."
Continuity mistake: When Joe goes to Alice' porch and trying to convince her to come back to film more of the movie, her arms are down at her side in her close ups. But from the side shot, her right arm is extended up some and holding onto the chain of the swing. (00:29:57)
Continuity mistake: When the kids are gathered to film on the hill with the train crash in the background, Joe grabs the camera to get a closer look, setting up the tripod a couple feet away from Alice. Joe hunches forward to look through the camera. Then the group is shown from behind and Joe isn't hunched forward anymore. Alice is still a couple feet to the right and Cary a couple feet and forward to the right of her. When the camera comes back around to the front of them, Joe is hunched forward again, and Alice & Cary are right next to him. (00:32:00)
Factual error: In the scene where the Air Force Colonel is speaking with the Deputy Sheriff at the train crash site, there are two mistakes with the Deputy's uniform (in Ohio, all 88 Sheriff's Offices use identical uniforms). In the movie, the Deputy's badge is a 6-pointed star. In reality, it is a 5-pointed star. The "Deputy Sheriff" shoulder patches in the movie were adopted in 1997. This movie is set in 1979. (00:34:20)
Factual error: At the gas station scene when the Sheriff enters the building, the attendant is listening to a Walkman. The Sony Walkman wasn't released in the the U.S. till the following year (1980) and he wasn't reading Japanese instructions. (00:35:30 - 00:36:00)
Factual error: In the scene where there is a Military convoy rolling through town on screen from right to left there is an M35A3 truck in the convoy and those vehicles were not built until 1993. (00:41:52)
Factual error: The movie is based in Montgomery County Ohio. But a deputy said his dog was found in Brookville, Ohio, one county over. Brookville, Ohio is in Montgomery County Ohio, not a different county. (00:49:19)
