Goofs

A few minutes after the office of Col. Winters is set afire and then extinguished by the sprinkler system, Winters examines the damage and there is no smoke or steam rising from the debris.

After Yates flies the helicopter into the gun tower, the helicopter begins to flip and you see that the door is no longer on Yates's side, but when it comes to a halt, not only is the door there but it's closed.

As General Wheeler and Colonel Winters are talking outside, clouds disappear and reappear in the sky above the prison.

When his Captain asks about the artillery being deployed in the yard, Winters replies "I don't know." (Something every graduate of the 'War College would obviously know.) but, later yells 'Don't let them reload the trebuchet."

It was an error to have Irwin be a 3-star general. 3-star and 4-star generals hold their ranks temporarily, as long as they occupy a 3-star or 4-star position. When they are transferred from one 3- or 4-star position to another, the President must re-nominate them for Senate confirmation. If an officer is relieved (fired) from one of those positions, he reverts to 2-star by operation of law unless awaiting retirement (and then only for 60 days). Irwin was court-martialed, so the Army certainly wouldn't keep him in a 3-star slot. They'd relieve him and he'd go to court-martial as a 2-star. See 10 USC 601.

Colonel Winters and Captain Peretz's rank and branch insignia on their BDUs (Battle Dress Uniforms) are attached incorrectly. On those now defunct uniforms, and different to enlisted personnel, Army officers wore their ranks so that the insignia was perpendicular to the front edge of the collar not centered on the V formed by the collar.

During the uprising, the sprinkler head in Col. Winter's office was no longer flowing water when Winters and Peretz stood over the extinguished fire debris. The sprinkler head would still be flowing water unless wedges were inserted to stop the flow or personnel turned off water to the sprinkler riser.

Colonel Winters and Captain Peretz both say "1700 hours" at the beginning of the movie. Military personnel never add "hours" after the time. In reality, they simply would have said "1700".

During the uprising, water flowing from the water cannon mounted on the armored car stops when an inmate turns off a remote valve. There was no supply hose attached to the armored car. Therefore, turning the remote valve would not stop the flow of water from the water cannon.

There is a common misconception that the law requires actors portraying military personnel to wear the uniform improperly (so as to not be "impersonating" military personnel). This is simply not so. 10 U.S.C. 772(f) does authorize the wear of an armed forces uniform by an actor in a theatrical or motion picture production "if that portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force." SCHACHT v. UNITED STATES was a Supreme Court case in 1970 which found the preceding quote unconstitutional. As such, actors may wear the uniform in a theatrical or motion picture production without fear that it must reflect well on the military. Short version: Any movies which depict improperly worn uniforms can't use this excuse. They just screwed up.

When the Colonel is looking out his window to see a helicopter fly by, the American Flag is not moving, even though there is a helicopter flying right next to it.

A dummy is noticeable in the pilot's seat in several shots when the helicopter crashes.

During the prison uprising when the Colonel is staring out his window, the reflection shows all the inmates standing to attention as opposed to fighting the guards.

Shortly after Winter examines the rock thrown at him, a guard yells, "Fall back! Fall back!" That guard's nightstick is fake and rubbery.

When Yates (Mark Ruffalo) commandeers the helicopter, he is holding the collective in his right hand. The collective in a UH-1 Iroquois is controlled by the aviator's left hand.

Whenever Col. Winters talks on his radio, you can hear a hiss of static after he releases the button (breaking the squelch.) You only hear this when you are receiving a message on any radio, never when you are transmitting.

The letter the General receives from his daughter has a return address of Ardmore, Oregon (a non-existent town) with the ZIP Code 95386. That ZIP code, however, is in Waterford, California.

If Aguilar was a Marine, he should have been familiar with how to salute and the history behind the salute.

During the first meeting between Winters and Yates, Yates states that his father was "a winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor." Any service member would know that the Medal of Honor is awarded, not won. The proper phrasing would be that he was 'awarded the Medal of Honor.'

General Irwin and Yates were portraying military academy graduates. Graduates of a military academy generally wear their academy rings on the left hand.

When General Irwin and Winter are talking about the battle of Shiloh, Irwin says that Grant lost 13.000 men. That number however includes men killed, wounded, captured or missing in battle. The real number of men that Grant lost (as in dead men) is 1,754.