(at around 21 mins) Artemisia, sitting in her captain's seat, is eating an apple. When she first takes a bite, it is green. A closeup of her hand at a different camera angle appears and the apple is red. Switching back to the original camera angle--the apple is now green once more.
When the young Artemisia is training, the last two close-ups of her face reveal plenty of freckles. In an earlier close-up, there were none.
The Greek soldier considered the "Hero of Marathon" was Miltiades, not Themistocles. Themistocles was the main General of the Greeks in the Battle of Salamina.
Admiral Artemisia's street-urchin back-story is completely fictional. She was born with a proverbial silver spoon in her mouth to the royal family of Halicarnassus in what is now Turkey, and inherited great wealth and power.
Sparta did not believe in democracy; in fact they hated it. When they conquered Athens they replaced their democracy with an oligarchy of Spartan sympathizers.
(at around 1h 30 mins) In one of the last lines in the movie Themistocles notes that "All of Greece has united against you, Delphi, Thebes, Olympia, Arcadia and Sparta". In fact most of Greece remained neutral and the powerful city state of Thebes was allied with the Persians. It is of course possible Themistocles was simply bluffing, but the tone and finality of the scene implies otherwise.
(at around 22 mins) It's not a mistake that the severed head blinks. Oxygen remains in the brain for several minutes after a head has been severed. There are reports of the heads of guillotined victims looking around and even attempting to scream. So, this is probably a recognition that in reality, the beheaded victim would have had a few minutes of awareness, including that he was being kissed by the woman who'd just beheaded him.
(at around 10 mins) Obvious flipped shot when Artemisia is sending Xerxes off into the desert to become the God-King. The two small moles on the right side of her forehead switch to the left side.
When fighting the final battle with Admiral, splashes of blood appear on the camera lens.
(at around 57 mins) When Themistokles returns from the ship of Artemisia telling the others that "The next time that we face her, she's going to bring all of hell with her." he looks to the side and in a close-up his contact lenses are clearly visible.
The Persian ships seen in naval battle, especially Artemisia's flagship, are wildly anachronistic.
The colossal boat she commands could never have been built during the reign of the Persian empire. The Persians were not known for their shipbuilding or their seafaring prowess.
By the time the technology existed to build such opulent ships, the Persian empire had long since ceased to exist.
The colossal boat she commands could never have been built during the reign of the Persian empire. The Persians were not known for their shipbuilding or their seafaring prowess.
By the time the technology existed to build such opulent ships, the Persian empire had long since ceased to exist.
(at around 1h 25 mins) Near the end of the movie, during the battle on the ships, a Persian wearing a mask kills a Greek soldier and throws him off the ship, revealing the modern sole of his shoe.
(at around 19 mins) Extra wearing what appears to be white tennis shoes as she prepares food(?) when Queen Gorgo and Themistocles first meet. She's an older lady with her skirt gathered in one hand at the back wall.
The training room where young Artemisia is sword-fighting looks more like something from Games of Thrones than ancient Persia.
The technology simply did not exist to build such (relatively) modern palaces.
The technology simply did not exist to build such (relatively) modern palaces.
Around 44 minutes when Themistokles shouts the word "Now" his mouth stops moving before he has finished saying the word (your lips come together when you say anything ending with an ow sound whereas his do not before the camera cuts away).