Days of Heaven goofs

Both of the First World War aeroplanes featured in the film made their maiden flights in December 1916 (the Sopwith) and July 1917 (the Fokker Triplane), so it is very unlikely that either would have been flying in Texas in 1916–17, the period in which the story is set.

In the hunting scene, ring‑necked pheasants are clearly visible. These non‑native game birds were not introduced to Texas until 1933 or 1934.

The biplane in the "Flying Circus" is a De Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth, an aeroplane first built in 1931.

Although set in 1916, the film features a 1920 and a 1923 Ford Model T, and one of the lorries ferrying the labourers from the train to the farm is a 1926 International Harvester S-24.

Any Fokker Dr.I triplanes available immediately after the First World War would have been fitted with their original rotary engines rather than radial ones. The distinction is that a rotary engine rotates with the propeller, whereas a radial engine does not. The Fokker shown at the 59th minute unmistakably has a radial engine.

At approximately 7 minutes 25 seconds into the film, the camera lingers on a pastoral farmyard where a cluster of white ducks amble by, yet the audio unmistakably contains the honking of Canada geese.

After Bill and Abby share a bottle of wine by the river, Bill makes a comment and Abby replies, "Nobody asked you to." Her lip movements don't match the audio.

A boom microphone is visible on the verandah.

Stuart Margolin, who plays the mill foreman killed early on in the film, can be glimpsed again on the left-hand side in the background during the later farm sequences when they perform the "clogging" dance.

Immediately after the film opens at the steelworks, we glimpse a goods train silhouetted as it crosses a high trestle, its wagon roofs appearing completely empty; yet a cut to a close-up looking along the train's roofs reveals scores of migrant workers sitting and sprawled atop the wagons.

Near the film's conclusion, after Bill is shot and killed in the river, one unmistakable shot shows him tumbling face‑first into the water, yet the very next cut depicts him floating on his back.

It is obvious that filming did not take place in the Texas panhandle, where the story is set. The actual panhandle is remarkably flat, whereas the farm shown is rather hilly and mountains can be seen in the background of a number of shots.

Near the end of the film, Bill fires three rounds from a double-barrelled shotgun without reloading.

The Texan flag appears upside down in several shots.

At the start of the film, as a train draws up beside three red grain elevators bearing sunburst emblems, passengers can be seen alighting. One of the freight cars is stencilled with A.P.R.A., standing for the Alberta Pioneer Railroad Association, which never operated a rail line in the Texas Panhandle; however, that sequence was filmed in Alberta. Some freight cars also display 'C.P.', indicating Canadian Pacific — another railway company.

When the farm manager finds the farmer lying dead in the field, the farmer's right arm is resting on the ground. In the next scene, when he is beside him, that right arm is extended straight from the elbow.

At about 1:29 the Canadian Red Ensign, the unofficial national flag of Canada prior to 1965, can be seen briefly on a tall flagpole at the upper left, as part of the historical display at Heritage Park, Calgary. (However, it is plausible that a Canadian migrant residing in Texas might fly his homeland's flag.)