Goofs

When Chris walks into work, several close-ups of incoming telex transmissions are shown; these have some date discrepancies. The first telex, shown right before Chris walks in the door, has a date stamp of March 2, 1976, while others show September 9, 1974. Also the cipher card he pulls out of the binder is marked September 1, 1974.

Early in the movie, when Daulton Lee and Christopher Boyce have breakfast, the label on the Smucker's jelly jar changes position even though neither character has used the jelly.

The buttons of a cipher lock pressed by Christopher Boyce make DTMF (telephone touch-tone) sounds, but, in reality, they only click when pressed.

At the end of the movie, Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee are being transferred to jail after sentencing. They are shown in blue jumpsuits marked with "L. A. County jail". They were, in fact, imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island and their jumpsuits would have been marked accordingly.

Less than twenty minutes into the film within a secure facility Boyce spins a combination lock left and then right, to open it. Government combination locks are so secure because they employ three numbers and then a final turn to just past zero to open them. Sergeant and Greenleaf locks (of which this is one) require precision of movement. If the dial is off by a half a number, it will not open.

In the end credits, Abbey Road Studios is misspelled "Abby".

Boyce's pet is shown consistently as a juvenile large falcon, either a peregrine or, more likely, a peregrine hybrid - except for one scene, in his parents' garden, when it's an adult Harris's hawk, which is not a falcon at all.

(at around 17 mins) Christopher signs for a folder of top secret material. The two signature lines above his show dates of 1984, even though this scene takes place over ten years earlier.

The Venice Beach where Boyce's apartment is located in the movie, is the post-gentrified Venice of 1985, when the movie was filmed, not the derelict slum that was Venice Beach in 1975, when the movie is set.

Although set at the end of the Nixon presidency in 1974, it is very lazy about being period correct. The depicted computer technology is about a decade ahead of the mid 1970s. Many vehicles, clothing, and hairstyles were contemporary to the release date of 1985.

During the border crossing, a 1978-80 Buick Regal coupe is seen although the film took place between 1974-1977. Numerous early 1980s automobiles are seen in Mexico City.

In the beginning of the movie, Dalton (Sean Penn) is talking to his attorney in a conference room. During the conference, the attorney refers to him as "Sean" during a heated discussion. The attorney says "Sean" in a stern, attention-getting voice.

At the border crossing, "Snowman's" Mustang has the license plate "213-IMW", but on the computer terminal in the field marked "plate number", the U.S. border guard enters "NRQ410" (echoed back on the screen as "NNRRQQ441100"). NRQ could stand for "NARCOTICS" as sort of an in joke by the producers.

A Russian addresses Daulton as "Comrade Lee." The title "comrade" was reserved for fellow Soviets, especially Communist Party members. No ordinary non-communist foreigner would ever have been called "comrade," but rather "Mr."