Goofs

When Phillip's mother is serving the eggs for breakfast, there is a small cut visible above her eyebrow. Later the cut disappears but reappears freshly when she is attacked.

When Butch is at Dottie's restaurant talking to the waitress, his glass suddenly goes from less than half full to three-quarters full between shots.

When Butch is blocked by the police car in the alley, he puts the car in reverse and rams the squad car without any damage to his own. In fact, throughout the whole ordeal with the two squad cars, he manages to keep the car from being damaged at all.

When Red "requisitions" the governor's trailer to use on his manhunt, the first thing he does is tear off the red, white and blue bunting from the side of the trailer. The bunting on the rear of the trailer was left in place, as can be seen when they drive away. Later, when Sally is speaking privately with Red inside the trailer, the bunting outside the window that Red had previously removed can be seen.

When Butch is fleeing the police after leaving the store and smashing the police cars, they chase his car into an alley behind some buildings. He cuts the wheel left and gets into a wild skid, and the hubcap can be seen flying off the passenger side front wheel and rolling away. But in the next scene, and the whole rest of the movie, the hubcap is back on the wheel.

Near the beginning of the movie, Kevin Costner and his partner escape from prison by climbing down a single strand of rope made of bed sheets which they'd tied off to some plumbing. To mask their escape, once they're on the ground, they release the tied off bed sheets by giving them a couple of simple tugs which send the sheets tumbling down into their arms. They would have had to fold the rope in half and tie a slipknot to the plumbing, climb down the correct side of the doubled up rope, then tug on the other half to release the knot.

It's implied in the movie that Jehovah's Witnesses don't watch television, which at the time of the film's setting would be correct. Jehovah's Witnesses of later decades, even comparing with the film's premier in 1993, do not have the same firm objections towards watching television, as long as it is non-violent and non-sexual content.

When Butch stops for his partner to make a phone call, he takes the keys to prevent Butch from leaving. On a '59 Chevy Impala, the ignition switch has 4 positions, Start. On, Off, and Lock. Butch most like switched from On to Off. On this model, you could remove the keys but could still start the car without them. You have to switch to Lock to prevent this. So Butch could have started and driven away. However, Butch and Terry had just stolen the vehicle a few hours earlier, and perhaps Butch simply wasn't familiar enough with the vehicle to be aware of this feature.

When Butch is driving the blue Bel Air, the gear-shifter can be seen in P position.

The film takes place in autumn, as shown by the opening scenes of costumed kids out on Halloween night. Yet throughout the movie, all the grass and trees are bright green, indicating spring or summer.

Butch's right arm changes positions after he is shot. At first, his right arm is laying straight down by his side. However, when Butch is shown again from a helicopter aerial view, his right arm is up and bent, so his hand is resting under his head.

Terry Pugh fires his revolver two times at the kidnap site, two times at the water tank and shoots two bullets through the car roof. So the revolver is empty when Phillip has to aim it at Pugh. When Pugh recovers the revolver he checks to see whether it is really empty. It is, but not only the bullets but also the empty shells are gone.

When Lottie goes to pour Butch's coffee, it can be seen that there is no coffee being poured into the cup.

The credits give "Special Thanks" to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, and Texas Department of Corrections. The Texas Rangers are a division of the Department of Public Safety, making these separate credits redundant; the film was made in 1993, but the Department of Corrections had been renamed "Texas Department of Criminal Justice" four years earlier, in 1989.

In a scene where the police are getting some candy together, some of the candy is in boxes from the 1990s, a design that did not appear until almost 30 years after the time in which the movie is set.

The station wagon Butch steals is a either an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser or its twin, the Buick Skylark Sports Wagon, easily identified by the glass "skylights" around the edge of the roof. However, these cars were not introduced until February 1964. Earlier in the movie, a reference is made to an upcoming visit to Dallas by President Kennedy, so the car could not exist during the time frame of the movie.

Based on the references to President John F. Kennedy and the Texas governor's re-election campaign, the events in the movie take place between October 31 and November 2, 1962. The US paper money shown at the end of the movie and in the opening are modern post-1964 Federal Reserve Notes instead of Silver Certificates, which were the only currency in circulation in 1962.

During the final standoff in the field, an extra portraying a Texas state trooper walks briefly past the camera wearing a short-sleeved uniform. The film is set in 1963, but the Texas DPS did not authorize short-sleeved uniforms until the early 1970s.

While Butch and Phillip are in the Friendly's store, a radio ad for a Ford dealer playing in the background mentions the "exciting Mustangs." This film takes place in 1963 but the Mustang was not introduced until April 1964.

When Dick Suttle is explaining the features of the trailer, a crew member is reflected in the windshield.

The child in the film, the son of a devout Jehovah's Witness, says "I'm going to go to hell for this," after stealing a Halloween costume. Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the concept of hell.