Goofs

The remnants of the invasion are on the beach, the waters behind them are empty. French troops approach and are then fired upon by the HMS Indefatigable that appears in a instant. Such a ship would be visible for miles, yet no one appears to see it.

General de Charette refers to restoring His Catholic Majesty. That title was used by the kings of Spain. The kings of France were known as the Most Christian King.

The guillotine would not be transported with the blade raised.

When the British sailors are offloading one of their cannons from the boat, it's clear that the tube they're hauling is fiberglass, not only by the texture but also the fact that a tube like that would weigh about 3,240 lbs, yet eight men can carry it by hand.

When the convoy is weighing anchor, right after some British sailors run obey the order to man the capstan, one of the French officers visibly trips on a rope holding a deck cannon and lightly stumbles into a British soldier. Yet, neither men react.

Right after Hornblower finds the cap of the artillery soldier, when the British are crossing the meadow (1:12:56 mark), the soldier closer to the viewer pulls the trigger of his rifle, but it does not fire. While the flintlock rifle shown in the film was known for misfiring occasionally, particularly when wet, the soldier does not react to his weapon not working, and even acts out the recoil.

(at around 1 min) one of the British soldiers has a hole in his trousers, revealing his modern underwear.

Major Edrington tells Hornblower in Plymouth that the detachment he commands is from the 95th of Foot. Given Hornblower has now passed his Lieutenant board, this sets the episode around 1800-03, according to the books, by which time the 95th had been reformed as a rifle company, wearing green uniforms and using the Baker rifle, whereas Edrington's men are in the standard infantry's more usual red, with the British Pattern musket. This timing, though, validates the Ancient Mariner quotation by Pellew. However, if this was the Quiberon invasion of 1795, as posited elsewhere, the 95th of the time were en route to the Cape of Good Hope. But the Ancient Mariner is ruled out.

The story is based on the Quiberion Expedition of 1795, albeit loosely. Captain Sir Edward Pellew quotes "As idle as a painted ship/Upon a painted ocean" from S T Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This poem was not published until 1798 (in Lyrical Ballards).

The invasion is supposed to take place in Brittany (Bretagne), which has an oceanic climate, with abundant rain leading to a green countryside. However the location used for filming seems to be Mediterranean, warm and dry, dusty, and with typical vegetation (less grass, coniferous trees like pines), possibly Provence.

When rowing the Indefatigable, the ropes are slack, indicating that they are not pulling it. Furthermore, in the absence of wind, leaving the sails up would cause drag and slow them down.

Early in the movie Captain Pellew and Lieutenant Hornblower board their ship's boat to return to the ship. Pellew boards the boat before Hornblower. This is contrary to naval customs of the day (and present). The senior officer always boarded a boat last (and left it first).

After disembarking Horatio at Musiac, Mr. Bracegirdle reports to Capt. Pellew that "all boats returned" but just before the French column leaves the beach, and after the fleet sails off, two boats are clearly visible on the beach. These boats are clearly not there at the evacuation.

At many times when the Marquis speaks to his own men, the town's mayor or the crowd, he speaks English instead of French. In fact, full conversation among French men occur in a English with a heavy accent, instead of French.