Continuity mistake: When the Russian Major is talking to the other lower ranking soldier just outside the train, in one particular shot the soldier is looking directly at the Major. Then in the following shot he is looking down at his feet, and lifts his head up twice to look at the Major again. (00:04:15)
Continuity mistake: When the Major and General are on top of the train just before they jump from one train to the other, the Major and General walk across the top and they pass one, maybe both, of the hijackers. When it cuts to another view, the hijackers are passing the Major and General again. (00:11:30)
Continuity mistake: When the hijackers are setting the nuclear bomb, they drill a device to the face of the bomb, and on the right of the screen there are wires sticking out of the little silver box. In the following shot one of the hijackers opens the little silver box and pulls the wires out again. (00:12:10)
Continuity mistake: Just before the two trains crash, there are 4 poles along the track and not far apart, then when the camera cuts to a wider shot, there are fewer poles and at a much greater distance from one another. (00:14:20)
Continuity mistake: When Julia is first seen she is explaining the satellite images to a guy, and in one particular shot she holds the photograph near the bottom of it. Then in the following shot of the photo, her hand has moved up to the top of the photo. (00:18:25)
Continuity mistake: When Julia is giving a brief to the people in the room about terrorists and such, Tom interrupts and walks over to the screen. In this shot Julia is raising her hand/hands and pointing at him, yet in the following shot her hands have not moved from her side only her head has moved to the mic. (00:23:35)
Continuity mistake: When Tom and Julia are in Julia's office, Tom sits down while Julia is on the phone and begins to read the small card from the flowers. In one shot Tom's three/four fingers are on the back of the card, then in the following shot he is holding the card at the edge with just his fingertips on the card. (00:26:55)
Continuity mistake: When Tom and Julia are on the way to Vienna Tom changes seats to sit opposite Julia, and he puts his mug down with the mug's handle facing towards the plane's window. In the following shot the mug has turned around its handle is now facing Julia. (00:33:30)
Continuity mistake: Just after they get the information from the guy's computer, Tom's friend picks them up. His window is up as he pulls up to pick Tom and Julia up, yet the next time we see it a second later it is down then it is back up in all other shots. (00:45:00)
Continuity mistake: When Tom's friend gets shot and the other guy starts to shoot at the windshield, the bullet holes change between shots. (00:46:35)
Continuity mistake: Just after George Clooney's friend has been killed, he roars off in his car, banging the BMWs. A bit of plastic each side of the bumper falls open, nearly coming off. A few shots later the car's driving towards the camera and they're both back in place. (00:46:50)
Continuity mistake: During the Vienna chase, the guys in the black cars are behind a red van, and the red van passes the side street where Tom pulled into, yet from Tom's POV it's passing again. (00:47:50)
Continuity mistake: When Tom and Julia get out the Mercedes before it explodes, Tom shuts the drivers door after getting out, yet in the following shot it is open. (00:51:00)
Continuity mistake: Just after the explosion in the square, we see a shot of the Mercedes' door, and it's still bright silver. In the shot immediately afterwards of George Clooney and Nicole Kidman getting to their feet, it's charred black. (00:51:10)
Continuity mistake: When Julia gets email on her laptop in a Vienna hotel room, Tom walks up and looks at it. In this shot Julia taps quite hard on the keyboard then take her hands away from it, yet in the following shot her hands are still on the keyboard. (00:53:50)
Continuity mistake: When the Colonel, who is carrying the nukes in the truck, has to stop at a checkpoint, he shoots two guys out at the front of the truck beyond two round small containers, but they suddenly disappear in all the following shots. (01:05:15)
Continuity mistake: When George Clooney is waiting for permission to enter Russian airspace in the helicopter, you can see all three choppers hover about 2 meters above the ground, but in following scenes, they are at much greater heights. (01:06:50)
Continuity mistake: When Tom jumps from the helicopter, into the truck that is hanging over the bridge's edge, the rope that is attached to him remains attached until Tom and Alec start fighting. Then it disappears, and suddenly reappears when Alec wraps the rope around Tom's neck. (01:14:05)
Continuity mistake: In the fight scene between Tom and Alec in the truck that is hanging over the edge, when Tom is pulled up by the helicopter he cuts the rope and lands on his back. He actually loses his knife which is in his right hand, yet in all following shots its reappeared back in his hand. (01:15:05)
Continuity mistake: When the bomber walks on to the streets of New York, he passes a violinist standing next to a tree. There is a man with a red coat sitting on the trees ledge and a black man standing next to him, yet in the following shot (perhaps 1 second later) the man sitting on the ledge and the black man are both standing up about 4 feet away from the tree. (01:33:00)
Answer: Presumably they couldn't take the risk that removing the wire would stop that plate detonating, and/or were worried that there might be a failsafe to detect a wire being cut. Physically removing the charge seemed like the safer bet.
Jon Sandys ★