When Shia LeBoeuf is riding the elevator up to the roof to the helicopter, the elevator opens on the same level as the helicopter. However the next wide angle shot of the rooftop shows the helipad is completely flat, and therefore there is nowhere for the elevator to appear.
CORRECTION - This fact above is incorrect as there is a box-type object on the lower left corner of the building top that would be the elevator door vestibule.
(at around 9 mins) As Gekko and Moore are walking around the Zoo/Park the length, and shape, of the back of Gekko's hair changes from camera angle to camera angle.
When Jim Cramer's show comes on TV, the banner on the screen incorrectly says "HYDA," and in the next shot it appears correctly as HYDRA. - CORRECTION : This is actually not a goof or a mistake. HYDA is the shortened company Ticker title on the New York stock exchange.
When Jake Gives a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label to the Chinese investor, he says: "This is for you - American Whisky." Johnny Walker is and always has been Scottish.
The movie begins and ends with a claim that the "disaster" of the Cambrian Explosion opened up all sorts of new possibilities. In fact there was no particular disaster associated with the relatively sudden appearance of new life at the start of the Cambrian Era.
As Winnie was signing the paperwork for the 100 million in Zurich, the amount is listed as $100,000 and not $100,000,000; however, the form says "Please leave $100,000 in my account", which means approximately 100 million was indeed transferred.
In the scenes in which MSNBC is on the television, the Dow Jones Average shown on the ribbon at the top of the TV screen is the same throughout the movie, even when the market drops "777" points at the nadir of the financial crisis, the average is still over 11,000. The average dipped below 7,000 in the real world in the time frame of the film.
When Jake Moore first enters Gordon Gekko's apartment, a white actor's position mark is visible on the floor.
In a scene where Gordon Gekko and Jake Moore are riding in a cab, it shows the cab driving for quite a long time before showing the meter, which only reads $2.90. Given that New York cab meters start at $2.50 and would increase to $2.90 after only 1/5 of a mile, it is apparent that the meter was either not really running or shot at a different time in the cab ride than was shown in the movie.
The Toyota Prius Winnie is showing driving was a model not yet available in 2008.
At the beginning of the movie when Gordon Gecko is leaving prison, he receives a check for $1810. The guard says at $.50 a day less expenses. If the viewer assumes he has been in jail since the 1987 movie, and the year of his release is 2001, that's 14 years. So that $1810 figure mathematically could work. However later in the film it is revealed that he was in prison only eight years since 1993 which would amount to something less than $1400. Oops.
The high definition feed of New York City cable network NY1 is shown on a television screen in Jacob's loft. NY1 did not start broadcasting in the 16:9 HD aspect ratio until October 2009, over a year after the scene was set.
When he hands the Chinese the Johnny Walker as a gift, he does not say what the subtitles indicates as "This is for you -- American Whiskey". What he says is actually translated as "I think you will like this".
In several of the close-up shots of Jake on his motorcycle you can clearly see a dolly with the camera crew in the reflection in Jake's helmet visor.
The scene which allegedly shows Zurich, Switzerland was obviously not shot there. Zurich trams are blue, not red. (It was shot in Prague.)
In the final scene, on the roof top terrace, there are 'photos' being taken. Briefly an 'in-camera' view pops up and displays the ISO as 3200. In daylight you would normally be at roughly ISO 200, ISO 3200 would only be used in the absolute darkest situations. The resulting image would've been overexposed. ISO refers to the sensitivity of the camera's sensor to pick up light - the higher the number, the more light it lets in.
As Winnie was signing the paperwork for the 100 million in Zurich, she printed her name where it said to sign.