The guard on the train has sweat on the front of his shirt all the way down the front of the chest. In the next shot it is gone.
When they climb onto the train car, there are rails/handholds on it - in fact there are similar rails on all of the cars along the entire train - but when we see them on top of the car climbing down the hatch, nearly all the rails are gone.
At the beginning of Dirk's and Al's tumble down the sand dune in the pickup bed, their hands are handcuffed together. In the long shot, you can see Dirk's hand un-cuffed.
When on the yacht and Al gets a beer, it has a plain red label. In the next shot it's a Budweiser, then it changes back to the red label.
Likely that's all the Product Placement that Budweiser was willing to spend money on.
Likely that's all the Product Placement that Budweiser was willing to spend money on.
When Dirk is getting pulled over on the river he throws the soldiers a rope which they tie to the near side. When Al floors the yacht the rope is on the other side of the soldiers' boat, thus flipping the boat.
When the Arab scholar reads from a scroll, he says the unknown ship was flying a flag with a single star. While the flag of Texas would have had a single star, it would not have been used by a ship of the Confederate Navy. Rather such a vessel would have flown the Confederate Naval Ensign and Naval Jack, both of which had thirteen stars.
Just after entering the Texas, Dirk Pitt claims the walls are two feet thick (correct for a typical Confederate ironclad) of steel (incorrect, the sides would have been oak with an overlay of a few inches of iron plate). When the bullets penetrate the sides, it is obvious that they are not two feet thick.
After Dirk says they need to "pull a Panama" Rudy asks Al when they were in Panama. Al answers that they were never in Panama but were in Nicaragua, but "we thought we were in Panama." Problem is, Nicaragua doesn't border Panama (Costa Rica lies between them). Dirk and Al were Navy SEALS, they might have made a mistake near a border, but not two countries away. It would have been better if the script said they thought they were in Panama but were really in Colombia or Costa Rica.
During the Civil War, the James River at Richmond was not deep enough to float an ironclad. This is why a group of Confederate warships were burned well down the river to prevent their capture as the Union army advanced on the city.
In the 5th minute one sees a picture postcard titled 'Sahara.' The postmark is on the picture side, and while this is not necessarily unrealistic, it is not the norm, as the postmark should cancel the postage stamp(s) used, usually on the side for address and message. The postmark itself is completely unrealistic as at the top it reads 'LAGO-'. with no country in the postmark. The city is presumably meant to be Lagos, Nigeria, which appears several times on a hand drawn map later in the opening sequence, and is the location to which the group travels.
Al would have been incinerated once the tower was sabotaged and he was blown out of the corridor.
Blast flames travel upwards. He was below the outlet of the fire, so - warm but not incinerated.
Blast flames travel upwards. He was below the outlet of the fire, so - warm but not incinerated.
When driving the car to get away from the helicopter, at one point you can clearly see daylight through the front grille. In a real car you could see nothing but radiator.
Of course it's a real car. It's a replica of a 1936 C28 Avions Voisin, built by D. Tessier, a restorer of Avions Voisin automobiles. See the Trivia entry.
Of course it's a real car. It's a replica of a 1936 C28 Avions Voisin, built by D. Tessier, a restorer of Avions Voisin automobiles. See the Trivia entry.
51st minute: if Eva believed there may be pathogens in the drinking water well, she would not have waited until reaching bottom to put on her mask and latex gloves, nor would she then remove them while still at the bottom, as shooting is heard outside.
She wasn't going to drink it and she wasn't concerned about anything airborne under the dirt fill.
She wasn't going to drink it and she wasn't concerned about anything airborne under the dirt fill.
The environment, particularly that of the Sahara Desert, have not changed sufficiently in 150 years to have allowed the Civil War gunship to end up in a modern day underground cave in the desert.
The drawing of the Ironclad was in the cave. The ship itself was buried in a sand dune, uncovered in a sand slide caused by Eva's dynamite.
The drawing of the Ironclad was in the cave. The ship itself was buried in a sand dune, uncovered in a sand slide caused by Eva's dynamite.
In the 13th minute when Eva awakes on the hip, the maps on the wall are mostly empty, the large one to the left in fact has nothing written/printed on it.
That's because they're not maps, they're charts for plotting possible routes from N America to Africa. Labelling N America and Africa wasn't necessary as Dirk already knew their names.
That's because they're not maps, they're charts for plotting possible routes from N America to Africa. Labelling N America and Africa wasn't necessary as Dirk already knew their names.
When Dirk swings from the camels neck, a "hobble" or rope limiting the camels movements is seen pulling out of the sand. It is attached to his right rear leg stretching to a point "off camera" beyond the left side of the frame.
A hobble is a normal, accepted method of keeping a camel from wandering off. There's nothing unusual about it and it's not a goof.
A hobble is a normal, accepted method of keeping a camel from wandering off. There's nothing unusual about it and it's not a goof.
The shot looking into the Texas through the gun port shows Dirk and Al preparing the cannon. Even though it should weigh tons, the barrel jiggles up and down whenever they barely touch it.
When Dirk, Al, and Eva are driving away from the attack helicopter, in the close up shots, the driver's side is correctly on the right. However, in the longer shots, as the car skids right before entering the desert building, the driver and steering wheel are on the left side. It also appears that only the stunt double is driving the car.
The film makers had only the one replica car and it's not easy to switch the steering wheel to accommodate a stunt driver. Also, McConaughey reportedly likes doing his own stunts.
The film makers had only the one replica car and it's not easy to switch the steering wheel to accommodate a stunt driver. Also, McConaughey reportedly likes doing his own stunts.
As the CSS Texas sets sail from the dock at Richmond she is shown flying the first version of the Confederate national flag. At the time claimed she would have been flying either the second or possibly the third national flag. The shots are from a movie involving the CSS Virginia, which would have flow the first national flag.
When Dirk looks at the Gold Coin stuck in the barrel, he wiggles it easily but needs to pull hard on it to dislodge it from the barrel. He would not be able to wiggle it as easy as he does if it's lodges that deeply that requires that much effort to remove it.
If the black powder in the store (used to fire the cannon) and in the shells was still viable after 140 years and managed to actually fire the cannon, then the shell that hits the helicopter would have torn through the helicopter. It most certainly would NOT have been stopped by the back wall of the cabin of the helicopter. Obviously, that was done for dramatic purposes, so that the war lord could look back at the seemly harmless shell roll around, then see the still burning fuse and panic before being blown up, rather than having the helicopter downed by the shell ripping through it.
Additionally, the only possible viability factors are humidity and water, (which would dissolve the saltpeter) and they're not plentiful in the desert.
Additionally, the only possible viability factors are humidity and water, (which would dissolve the saltpeter) and they're not plentiful in the desert.
An armed helicopter, pursuing and firing upon the protagonists, fires rockets. Later shots of the helicopter show only chain guns equipped.
In the fifth minute one sees two, silver-coloured, two-handled generic trophies on the shelf. As these are neither engraved nor accompanied by a plaque, they are clearly unrealistic props.
When the ironclad is leaving the dock, you can briefly see a flag flying on it. The flag is the 1st Confederate flag, but that sequence is set in 1865. At that time, it should have been flying either the 3rd Confederate flag or the Naval Jack(commonly known as the Rebel flag).
When Sandecker is talking to Carl, and he's about to ask him for a favor, and Carl says, "... it's strictly hands-off" his mouth doesn't match the words, and his mouth continues to move after he's finished speaking.
Lagos, Nigeria, is far south of the Sahara.
Dirk, Al, and Eva race from the top of the fort to meet the train. Not only was the train so far away from them it was much closer the energy plant than they were, meaning that there was no way the three of them could make it from the top of the tower to their camels, race across the desert, and bury themselves in the sand all without being seen and before the train passed them.
It has been well established that, in order for a lit cigarette to ignite gasoline, there has to be a very narrow set of conditions. Hot glowing recently inhaled cherry and still air to allow fumes to collect. None of which were present when they did the Panama.
Pitt states the Confederate gold coin was minted in 1865. Jefferson Davis could not have given one to Stonewall Jackson, who had died on May 10, 1863.
At the end when Delroy Lindo gets on the elevator he takes his tie off. In the next scene as the elevator is going down his tie is back on.
The woman tells the WHO doctors that light hurts his eyes and yet she shines a flashlight in his eyes.