The Patriot

Continuity mistake: In the fight scene between Benjamin and Tavington near the end of the movie, just as Benjamin is about to stab Tavington in the throat, the "blood" on his left sleeve appears to be green. In the next shot (as he turns away) it is a dark red. This was seen on a HD television broadcast.

Continuity mistake: In one scene where Benjamin rides up on the horse with the flag in the hand the flag changes. One shot it is old, the next is new. The white goes from dirty and then to clean.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Gabriel is in the tent with Benjamin and another officer, the officer has a jar in his hand and in the next shot he is handing Gabriel a piece of paper then in the following shot the jar is gone. What happened to it?

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Benjamin is meeting with General Cornwallis (when they have captured the "scarecrows"), and making agreements with him, watch the white feather sitting on his desk. First it's facing sideways then it's facing frontward this mistake continues about six or seven times in that one scene.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Benjamin and his fellow militamen got ambushed, the first wagon is half full with cargo and there are two men driving the cart, in the next scene several British soldiers jump out of the cart.

Continuity mistake: During the final battle scene with Col. Tavington, a close up shot shows Ben Martin holding the last lead ball cast from his son's toy soldiers close to the muzzle of his pistol, about three inches away. The next longer shot of him shows him holding the ball about ten inches from the pistol.

Scott215

Continuity mistake: After being shot by Col. Tavington, Rev. Oliver collapses, his left hand alternating between shots of him either grasping the forestock of his musket or not.

Scott215

Continuity mistake: When Benjamin Martin grabs the bone out of John Billings' hand, Martin is next to Billings, but when Martin throws the bone to get the dogs out of the wagon, he is at least three feet away from Billings, enough distance to allow the dogs to pass between them.

Scott215

Continuity mistake: Early in the film, as Benjamin says goodnight to the girls, the candles he's carrying are approximately 3" long and remain so as he descends the stairs. As he reaches the bottom step the camera cuts and from there forward the candles are at least ½" longer.

Continuity mistake: When the movie begins it is 1776 and that is when Gabriel enlists in the Continental Army. In his letter home he mentions the fall of Charleston, which occurred in 1780. After Benjamin gets his commission as a colonel after the pitched battle, Gabriel states that he has been a soldier for 2 years. That would put the formation of the militia in 1778, 2 years before Charleston was captured by the British.

Steve Kozak

Continuity mistake: In the final confrontation between Benjamin and Tavington, when Tavington is charging and Benjamin is running at him with the flag, during the closeups of Benjamin, he's charging at Tavington, but when the focus shifts to Tavington, Benjamin can be seen in the foreground already kneeling, with the shaft of the flag planted in the ground. This back and forth occurs 2 or 3 times and each time Benjamin's position is different, until he flips Tavington's horse.

kaevanoff

Factual error: In the scene at Lord Cornwallis' outdoor party celebration, right after Benjamin Martin and his Continental Army blows up a British Ship, one of Lord Cornwallis' Captains throws back a big gulp of his drink from his Martini glass in grief and disbelief - the problem is this movie takes place in the mid 1700s and the Martini Glass wasn't invented until the 1920s, during the Roaring Jazz days.

More mistakes in The Patriot

Colonel William Tavington: Kill me before the war is over, will you? It appears that you are not the better man.
Benjamin Martin: You're right. My sons were better men.

More quotes from The Patriot

Trivia: At the beginning of the movie when Benjamin is taking the children to Aunt Charlotte's house in Charleston, there is a woman on the street that does not move, and wearing a big hoop dress. She is there to hide the fire hydrant on the street underneath her dress.

More trivia for The Patriot

Question: Who was the baby in Charlotte's arms in the closing scene? Why was the baby not alluded to previously?

Answer: At the end of the film, it is implied that Charlotte and Benjamin Martin have married and had a child together. It wasn't alluded to earlier because it is meant to show that a person's life can start over, even after tragedy and loss.

raywest

Answer: Additionally, in the film Charlotte says to Benjamin "I am not my sister," alluding that they were different people as Benjamin gets closer to her. As colonials were religious given the time, in the Bible in Leviticus 18:18 it says "do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living." Since his wife was dead, this no longer applied and they believed in starting over, as the above post states.

More questions & answers from The Patriot

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