Pearl Harbor

Other mistake: When the first torpedo hits the American ship (killing the two guys hanging on the side) Danny and Rafe jump up from the car. Their cue to do so is somebody (possibly the Director) shouting 'Boom.', which is still audible on the finished film soundtrack. (01:24:25)

Other mistake: When Rafe and Evelyn are on the platform by the side of the Queen Mary, the platform is going up, but the ropes are not moving through the pulleys.

Other mistake: In the scene where the U.S.S. Oklahoma capsizes, she clearly rolls to the port side. When the bow comes into the air, one can see a hole on the starboard side; obviously from a torpedo. This cannot be. The starboard side was facing the U.S.S. Maryland and thus protected from arial torpedoes. That hole should not be there.

Other mistake: When Danny and Rafe are in the dogfight with the Japanese, they are seen flying over the Waiawa Naval Communications Station and its satellite dishes...

Other mistake: Look a bit more closely at the scene in which the USS Oklahoma capsizes, as sailors are falling from the deck, etc. Despite the huge amount of dollars spent the battleship is very out of scale, especially the 14" main battery guns, which look suddenly like props in a high school play. Similar "cheap prop" shots abound in the film.

Other mistake: When the battleship Okalahoma rolls over, it appears to be rolling exactly about a non-moving longitudinal axis, like a broiler chicken on a barbecue spit. In reality, the ship should be sinking down while it rolls over, since after all it is taking on water.

Other mistake: In the scene where the USS Oklahoma is going down sideways, there is water pouring down the deck. This should not happen considering that the ship is sinking the other way and the water wouldn't be bursting out of the cracks in the dock.

Other mistake: Right after Danny gets shot, Red shoots a Japanese soldier point blank. He has the barrel of his pistol pointed about in line with the soldiers right breast, but the wound is actually lower in the body than where the gun was aimed (bottom of the ribcage).

Steve Kozak

Other mistake: Rafe is afraid of getting his wings removed because he has dyslexia (that his teachers couldn't make sense of) and that he has had "some schooling." To be a Lieutenant as Rafe is in the movie he would need a bachelor's degree. Also this mixing up letters didn't appear on all the letters he wrote to Evelyn. Or hindered his ability to read Evelyn's letters.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: For his education he got help from Danny and during his time in England he could have gotten help from any of the pilots, both to write and read. He is smart enough the get a bachelor's.

lionhead

What utter nonsense. Rafe is so severely dyslexic that he cannot read a basic eye chart. No amount of "help" would get him through flight training school or university.

Other mistake: In the scene where Danny and Evelyn are flying in a plane to watch the sunset their hairs don't move an inch and stay brushed and perfect all the time, even after the plane makes a 360ยบ turn.

Sacha

Other mistake: During take off from the carrier, 600 miles at sea, trees and a shoreline are in the distance.

Other mistake: Both of the main characters (Affleck and Hartnett) were promoted to captain when they reported to Doolittle. Nearly 1 1/2 months later on board the carrier they still both have LT bars.

Steve Kozak

Other mistake: When Doolittle's copilot is crossing himself right before take off, his hat has captain's bars on it, but his flight jacket has lieutenant bars on it.

Steve Kozak

Factual error: In the scene where Admiral Kimmel is inspecting the crew of the battleship an aide comes up with a message to send some ships to the Atlantic. Admiral Kimmel starts complaining about the orders. No Admiral would ever do this especially in front of enlisted men. In fact he was placed in charge of the Pacific fleet when his predecessor complained about moving the fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor.

Clarence Daugette

More mistakes in Pearl Harbor

President Franklin D. Roosevelt: I like sub commanders. They have no time for bullshit, and neither do I.

More quotes from Pearl Harbor

Trivia: During the attack, when the guys are in the control tower waiting for Danny and Rafe to lead the Japanese planes past them, one man says, "I'm cocked and locked." The phrase is also used during the Doolittle raid. The expression is unique to the Colt government-model .45 cal. semi-auto pistol and its clones. It means the hammer is cocked, but the safety is ON; it is how you carry a loaded .45 so it won't go off accidentally. A "cocked and locked" weapon CANNOT be fired.

More trivia for Pearl Harbor

Question: The IMDb lists a cameo by Matt Damon during the attack sequence. Can someone point out exactly where he appears?

Answer: He is in the scene where the smaller air-base is being attacked by the Japanese. You have to look really closely but he is the driver of one of the jeeps right before the Japanese bomb drops (the one that seems to be a dud and then explodes). Also, Matt seems to be one of the gunners on one of the first ships at Pearl Harbor to return fire (this is not verified but in slo-mo, one of the gunners seems to be him).

More questions & answers from Pearl Harbor

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.