Goofs

The trees surrounding the White House change from being fully green, to autumn colors then back to fully green.

When Ken and Bobbie leave the White House to go to the Soviet Embassy, they leave in a 1963 Cadillac limousine. The car shown driving down the street is a 1961 Cadillac. When they pull up in front of the embassy they are again in the '63, only to arrive at the rear security entrance in the '61.

When the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. goes to battle stations, a gunners mate is shown loading a light blue-painted 5-inch round into the breech, an inert device used for training or firing practice, while the plot describes it as a star shell, which would be painted white.

On the first day, O'Donnell walks in to meet Greenwood to discuss the day's schedule. When they meet, Costner's suit is blue. Later that morning he is wearing a gray suit. The tie is different as well.

The report card says "Kevin O'Donnell" on the top, but it is supposed to be Kenny Jr's card, who is trying to trick his dad into signing it in spite of mediocre grades by saying it is a 'permission slip'.

The secret deal with the Soviets for the removal of the Turkish missiles was shared with all the members of the Executive Committee. In reality this deal was only known to very few people (the brothers Kennedy, Rusk and Sorensen, perhaps also McNamara). Robert Kennedy vaguely hinted at this deal in his 1968 book Thirteen Days: A memoir of the Cuban Missile crisis. It was not until 1989 that the existence of the secret deal was officially confirmed by Ted Sorensen.

Numerous Kennedy administration officials, including Ted Sorenson and Robert McNamara, have said since the movie's release that Ken O'Donnell - far from being the central staff figure during the Cuban Missile Crisis - played almost no role at all. Moreover, numerous scenes - including O'Donnell's phone calls to Cmdr. Ecker and to Adlai Stevenson - never occurred.

Correct as some of Major Anderson's evasive actions as shown in the film may have been, the operational ceiling of the U-2 is recognized as about 72,000 feet. At that altitude and speed, it is operating only 5-10 mph above its stall speed at that density altitude. This is referred to as the "coffin corner" (of the flight envelope) by its pilots. The balancing of this aircraft was so critical that film in one downward looking camera fed one way, while another fed the opposite direction. The pilots evasive actions with rapid altitude gain to an excess of 90,000+ feet as shown in the film are not possible.

Romania wasn't member of the U.N. until 1965, yet in the beginning of the Security Council of the United nations meeting a statement condemning the U.S. is read in Romanian.

Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff can be seen wearing Vietnam Service ribbons. These ribbons were not authorized until 1965.

President Kennedy wanted an eyewitness account so badly that Commander Ecker was ordered to the Pentagon to brief the Joint Chiefs of Staff immediately after landing his RF-8A Crusader, sweaty flight suit and all. This is often thought to be a glaring error in the movie, but his attire is absolutely accurate. Cdr. Ecker was not even allowed to exit his Crusader when he landed at NAS Cecil Field, Jacksonville FL. His film canisters were unloaded from his aircraft, he was refueled and sent immediately to Washington D.C., landing at Andrews AFB and whisked by limousine directly to the Pentagon where he met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apologizing right away for appearing at the briefing in his sweat-soaked flight suit. Cdr. Ecker, parched from the Cuba overflight and then the flight north to Washington, asked in a hoarse voice for a drink of water when he arrived. He refuses it in the movie.

In several shots of the Soviet cargo ships approaching the American naval quarantine, the freighters are clearly flying the flag of Lebanon, not that of the Soviet Union. However, the first vessel stopped by the blockade, the 'Marucla', was in fact a Lebanese vessel, and not all ships sailing to Cuba were of Soviet registry.

A protester in front of the White House carries a sign decorated with "peace" symbols, which were introduced as "nuclear disarmament" symbols in 1958.

In the early scene where O'Donnell is signing his kid's report card, on the right page of the report card it lists ratings of the performance of the student. It lists available ratings for the teachers to choose from : A, B, C, U (instead of "D"). Despite this, under the "Effort" category, the teacher gave a "D".

Before the meeting with Gromyko, Kennedy states that he does not want the Russians to know that they (the U S) know that there are missiles in Cuba, but then he asks Gromyko if he can confirm that there are no missiles in Cuba. That in itself would make Gromyko suspicious that the Americans do know.

When the Congressional leadership is contacted about the crisis, one of the operators puts through "Speaker Rayburn"; in reality, Sam Rayburn, longtime Speaker of the House, had died in 1961.

After the news about the coup, it is mentioned that there are tactical missiles called FROG's stationed in Cuba. In reality, the FROG-7 missile entered service in 1964, after the crisis.

During one point in the movie, the O'Donnell's (a good Catholic family) are finishing up a big breakfast on Sunday. The mother then says "Everyone ready for church?" In 1962, you were required to fast from midnight before receiving communion. No Catholic family would be having breakfast before mass.

Near the end of the film, there is a plaque on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. The plaque says, "O, God, Thy sea is so great and my boat is so small." The plaque was a gift to Kennedy from Admiral Rickover. However, the events of the film take place in 1962 and Rickover did not give the plaque to Kennedy until 1963.

Northrop F-5s are shown on the flight line. The F-5 entered operational service with the Air Force in October of 1963, a full year after the missile crisis.

Kennedy's lips don't match the words he says during part of his address to the nation, when the TV is shown as a mirror reflection on the glass.

On the map depicting the range of the SS-4 "Sandal" the country of Colombia is misspelled "Columbia".

When the two fighters take off for their low altitude surveillance flight, presumably from Florida, tall mountains are visible in the background. There are no mountains of this type in Florida.

When RFK leaves the White House to go to his meeting with the Soviet diplomat at his Justice Department office, he and O'Donnell are shown driving down Pennsylvania Ave NW and turning by the Treasury Department. While this affords a nice shot of the US Capitol in the background, it is exactly backwards - one goes past Treasury and then up Pennsylvania to Justice.

Throughout the film, specially during scenes taking place in the Oval Office and other indoor takes, microphone booms are repeatedly seen.

Neither General Maxwell Taylor (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) nor most of the other Army staff officers are wearing shoulder sleeve insignia on their uniforms. All should have had their current unit patch on the left shoulder, with the option of also wearing the patch of their former combat unit on the right shoulder.

After his aerial photo mission, Commander Ecker is called back to the White House, where he is still wearing his pistol and shoulder holster. In a real situation of this type, he would have left his weapon behind.

In one scene when a declaration from the OAS is being discussed, President Kennedy says to State Secretary Dean Rusk "Unanimous, Dean". In real life, President Kennedy did not call Dean Rusk by his first name, and there is no single recollection of just one occasion in which the President did otherwise.