Under Siege goofs

During the galley gunfight, the suppressed machine pistol emits a normal muzzle report, whereas the unsuppressed semi-automatic is heard as if a silencer were fitted.

In the shot where Ryback stabs him in the head, Strannix switches from screaming and showing pain to an abrupt, blank-faced stillness (though he continues to make noises), plainly revealing that a dummy was used for the stabbing take.

Although the scene probably intends to show how well Ryback and Captain Garza know one another, regulations dictate that Ryback ought not to address a senior officer such as Captain Garza by his first name in public.

While Ryback swims along the submarine's seaward side to fix the charges, Daumer, standing on the gangway, apparently can spot him over the curvature of the hull.

Krill instructs the Marine on duty at the cool locker to "stand firm", though the proper naval command is "stand fast".

Private Nash's haircut does not comply with regulations; it is far too long and is blocked.

Although Casey Ryback labels Nash "E1 Prick" and Commander Krill calls him "Private", Nash is unambiguously a PFC — Private First Class (an E-2). Neither a Navy Chief nor a Navy Commander would ever refer to a Marine Corps PFC as "Private".

Whilst the private guarding Ryback is on the telephone with Commander Krill, the Commander orders, "Stand on your station fast." He actually meant to say, "Stand fast on your station."

At 1:38:47, when Ryback was saluting, one can see a Chief in the background with his dress blue jacket left unfastened. This would have constituted an act of gross negligence on the Chief's part and would have made him liable to an NJP.

The officer who read the disarmament code to Ryback rendered it merely as "six, four, three, five, zero, zero." In NATO forces, numbers and letters are spoken using the phonetic alphabet to avoid mistakes, so the sequence should have been "six, FOW-er, Tree, FIFE, ZE-RO, ZE-RO." Likewise, 47KU should have been enunciated "FOW-er, SEV-en, Kilo, Uniform." An officer ought to know that.

Admiral Bates ought not to be in charge, since the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff does not possess command authority; at that time responsibility should lie with the Commander-in-Chief of Pacific Command or of the Pacific Fleet.

Admiral Bates had been advised against informing Ryback of their response plan, yet during the initial radio call he told him "wait for the strike team".

Strannix, an enthusiastic fan of Saturday morning cartoons, prefers to be called "Road Runner" because he believes the Coyote never caught the Road Runner. That claim is, however, incorrect: the Coyote did catch the Road Runner on at least two occasions, but owing to cartoon-related shifts in their relative sizes he was never in a position to claim a true victory.

Tom Reynolds is billed in the credits as "Wave," but Strannix refers to his character as "Ziggs."

During the gunfight that erupts as Ryback and his colleagues rescue sailors from drowning, a terrorist with a thick brown moustache is killed on three separate occasions. He is the operative who is shot and tumbles backwards down the stairs.

Reportedly engaging a submarine located just one mile away, the battleship's guns are raised to approximately 35 degrees.

The outfit Strannix wears changes three times over the course of about five to six minutes of the film. In the party area, when the mercenaries launch their assault, he is wearing sunglasses, a blue-and-pink shirt and a jacket. In the next scene, when he delivers his "We will shoot you and the man next to you" line, he is clad in a dark jumper with no shirt, jacket or sunglasses. Shortly afterwards, as he enters the Captain's quarters he is once again wearing his shirt, jacket and sunglasses. His clothes change yet again in the control room when he shouts "get something to eat in here"; by the time we next see him cutting up meat he has returned to just the dark jumper.

After Capt Adams is killed, his body is initially left sitting in a chair; when Ryback comes across it later, it's lying on the floor.

Throughout the opening part of the film, the 16-inch guns are always fitted with tompions, but when Ryback and his men are ready to fire on the submarine, they've been removed and the guns are primed to fire.

The CIA officer at headquarters is using a telephone with no cable attached.

During Ryback's fight with Strannix he sustains a gash above his left eyebrow; the wound briefly disappears but is visible again in a subsequent shot.

Ryback's machine-gun alternates between one Heckler and Koech model and another, then switches back again, beginning when he first encounters Jordan and continuing until he uses the magnaphone to contact Admiral Bates.

At the beginning of the film, Strannix labels the submarine 'Tweety Bird' and the US military 'Wile E. Coyote'. However, later in the film 'Wile E. Coyote' is adopted as the codename for the submarine instead.

When Cates and Ziggs free Ryback from the cold store, they slide the sharpening steel that is jamming the door away behind them, several yards from the entrance. Yet when Ryback exits the cold store and locks the terrorists inside, he retrieves the steel from immediately beside the door.

After escaping the meat locker, Ryback fashions an improvised bomb by placing steel wool into a mug, adding various cooking ingredients and then heating it in a microwave. As he adds the ingredients, the quantity of steel wool in the mug appears to change between takes.

As Ryback walks Jordan Tate around the vessel, immediately after she moans about having to carry everything, his MP-5 doesn't have a silencer attached — in the following shot it is suddenly fitted with one.

The trapdoor inside the refrigerated compartment is old and heavy and usually makes a great deal of noise when opened, yet when Ryback lifts it to clamber up and hide from Cates and Ziggs, it's completely silent.

Ryback hurls the knife into the lower section of the wooden board. When he later retrieves it to use as a weapon, it is lodged in the centre.

When they discuss sending in a SEAL team, the Admiral says they would be flown in on a CH-53 (Sea Stallion); however, the SEAL team actually arrives aboard a CH-46 (Sea Knight).

Several minutes after the shooting starts at the party, armed members of the crew remain on patrol, apparently unaware of the gunfire, even though Ryback could hear it from the meat locker.

Just before Strannix launches the missiles, he tucks his index finger beneath the third switch. In the subsequent shot his thumb is shown under that switch.

When Breaker discloses Strannix's mission involving the North Korean submarine, he does not state that Strannix sank it. Trenton then asks him how he knows Strannix sank it.

Towards the end of the film, while Ryback is speaking with the command centre and transmits the self-destruct code to the Tomahawk missile, the time on his wristwatch repeatedly flips between 7:45 and roughly 7:58 several times.

In one scene a terrorist's spectacles briefly lose a lens, permitting the muzzle of a pistol to be positioned close to his eye, only for the lens to reappear a second or two later.

Commander Harris (Bernie Casey) is shown being escorted from the room when Strannix took the crew hostage. Later, when Ryback enters the party room, Harris's body is found lying on the floor.

Commander Harris (Bernie Casey) is shown being escorted from the room when Strannix seizes the crew. Later, when Ryback enters the party room, Harris's body is found lying on the floor.

In the opening scene, the sailors below-deck who discuss wearing dress whites are shown in the classic white jumper with a neckerchief, a variant of the dress white uniform. Yet when the ship comes into harbour and during the resident's speech, all the sailors on deck appear in "summer" whites, where a short-sleeved white shirt is worn instead of the jumper.

When Cmdr Krill presses the three buttons to activate the sprinkler system, they don't illuminate on the control panel.

In the climactic knife fight between Strannix and Ryback, Ryback is shown biting down on Strannix's blade with the cutting edge pointed toward his face. In the following shot he seems to be clamping his teeth on the back of the blade, on its spine. Then, in the cut immediately before he slams the knife into Strannix's head, the blade has vanished.

When the Marine sergeant lets CDR Krill into the captain's office, the sergeant's black leather hat band is correctly seated on the brim, but as he opens the door it is inexplicably pushed up too high.

At about the 1 hour 33 minute mark, as Ryback grapples with Strannix, a digital timer is visible in the background displaying 50:54:00 and it isn't advancing. In the next shot, a few seconds later, that same clock is shown counting up to 50:55:45. Then, in the subsequent shot, it has reverted to 50:54:00 and is once more frozen.

Shadow (a large black cook) is without his chef's jacket when he shoots the attacker just before they head onto the bridge. When they step onto the bridge his jacket is on again, then it is off for the rest of the film.

Although the Captain is killed while seated in his chair, when Ryback enters the Captain's quarters he finds the Captain lying on the floor.

In Strannix's "this little piggy" scene with the missile-switches, he raises the first and second green-hooded switches, yet in the following shot the second switch is once more in the down position.

Ryback's knife inexplicably vanishes between shots: he raises it to fight John Machado in one shot, but it is gone by the following moment when the two engage one another.

The scene in the galley where Ensign Taylor confronts Ryback appears to contain a portion filmed afterwards. When Taylor first arrives, Seagal is standing in front of a light-coloured background, with even a sailor in blue positioned behind him. By the time he speaks to Taylor about the captain's forthcoming surprise party, the backdrop has suddenly become blue and the sailor has vanished. As soon as Taylor departs, the area behind Seagal is light-coloured again and the sailor reappears.

Shadow's (Eddie Bo Smith Jr.) position keeps shifting during the party scene on board the ship. While the band are playing, the mercenary disguised as a cook is standing immediately beside the stage. In the very next cut he is shown carving a roast for the crew, and the following shot places him back once more by the stage.

As Ryback discovers Jordan Tate inside the huge cake, he nudges it aside with his foot. At that moment a pulley fixed to the floor is plainly visible, drawing the cake away from him.

Although the vessel is meant to be out at sea, channel buoys are visible in the background.

When a private alerts Ryback to a fire, Ryback tells him to "take my pies out of the oven." The private is then shown removing pies from an oven, but the burners visible are those of a propane cooker. The US Navy does not use propane or natural-gas ovens — carrying such gas aboard a warship would be highly dangerous. All cooking in a ship's galley is carried out on electric appliances.

When the vessel pauses in the Pacific to come alongside a submarine, it drops its anchor. That would make little difference, because the anchor chain is far too short to reach the seabed at such a distance from shore.

Throughout the film, Casey's rank is addressed by a number of different titles. He holds the rank of Chief Petty Officer. Early on, Ensign Taylor calls him "Petty Officer", a form of address an officer would not use, even to express contempt. Commander Krill calls him "Mr. Ryback", a form normally reserved for junior officers. He should be addressed as "Chief" by everyone.

Contrary to what is said in the film, damaging the sub's diving plane will not stop the submarine from diving. It would simply make it more difficult to hold trim and to manoeuvre while submerged.

In the film, a Harpoon missile is fired from the Missouri in an attempt to destroy a satellite relay station on a nearby island. The Harpoon is an anti-ship weapon and is not intended for use against land targets; its warhead is built to acquire and engage surface naval targets using radar guidance. The televised footage of the building's destruction would more plausibly have been produced by an air-launched AGM-65 Maverick. A surface vessel would, in reality, be far more likely to employ a Tomahawk cruise missile to strike a fixed land target.

Towards the end of the film, Jordan Tate is depicted wearing a Navy enlisted Service Dress uniform. Members of the civilian population are not authorised to wear military uniforms.

While Casey Ryback is unscrewing the fuse from a shell in the ship's galley so he can use the explosive to fashion the bomb he affixes to the submarine, the casing looks to be roughly 10" calibre. The Missouri only carries 16" turret guns and 5" mounts — there are no intermediate calibres, so the shell Ryback uses should not be aboard the Missouri.

No military formation — whether the Navy, the Army, the Air Force or the Marines — deploys a lone fighter aircraft; they always fly with a wingman.

CDR Krill asserts that Ryback had been awarded a Purple Heart with a cluster. The Department of the Navy does not use oak leaf clusters to denote multiple awards of the same decoration, as the Army and Air Force do. Instead, multiple awards are shown by service stars.

When Ryback is preparing to blow up the helicopter on the deck he picks up a branded can of paint thinner. For one thing, flammable substances like this would not simply be left about on a flight deck. For another, any such product would have been issued through the Navy's supply system and would bear a very plain, generic-looking label.

In the opening news commentary the presenter suggests that the Missouri is leaving harbour because it allegedly carries nuclear weapons. It is the policy of the United States government — and of the United States Navy — not to disclose or discuss the presence of nuclear weapons on any station or vessel.

It is stated that Chief Ryback could only move into a Yeoman role or serve as a cook (Mess Management Specialist) after losing his security clearance and his status as a SEAL. However, a Yeoman post demands a secret clearance, so he would not be eligible for that rating.

At one stage the terrorists use one of the ship's CIWS mounts to shoot down an F/A-18 that is flying alongside the vessel to investigate why it has gone silent. In reality, CIWS are fully automatic and configured to engage only incoming threats; they would not fire at an aircraft flying parallel to the ship.

The opening voice-over claims the USS Missouri was "Built to avenge Pearl Harbor." That is not strictly accurate, as Missouri was already under construction when the attack occurred: she had been ordered in 1940 and was laid down in January 1941. Although the United States did complete the eight battleships that were under construction at the time of the Japanese attack, no further battleships were ordered afterwards, since it was clear that such vessels had had their day.

Ryback calls Pvt. Nash an "E1 prick," yet the insignia on Nash's collar — a single chevron — denotes Private First Class (E2). It is quite likely Ryback knew nothing about Nash (Nash had only recently joined the ship and was unfamiliar to Ryback), may not have seen Nash's chevron (which is black against his camouflage) while Nash stood in the background in the galley, and simply assumed his grade after Krill addressed him as "Private Nash" (an E1 rank). Therefore the mistake lies with Krill: as a senior naval officer accustomed to dealing with sailors and marines, he should have observed proper protocol and referred to him either as "Nash" or, more formally, "Private First Class Nash."

The Tomahawk is depicted as white with orange tail and fins. This colouring appears only on a test flight; genuine Tomahawks are grey.

The assault team are aboard a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, not a CH-53 as stated. The US Navy does not operate attack helicopters, and the AH-64 Apache is exclusively used by the US Army. The Marine Corps, which falls under the Department of the Navy, would employ an AH-1W Cobra for attack roles, but not in the manner depicted in this film.

At the film's conclusion, the medical officer instructs Casey to attend the infirmary. Aboard ships, the hospital is usually referred to as the sick bay.

Chief Warrant Officer Flicker displays rank insignia on both collars. Warrant Officers, however, wear a rank device solely on the right-hand collar and retain their former enlisted speciality rating device on the left-hand collar.

When Ryback leaps over the ship's fantail, the lettering of the vessel's name appears white, whereas it ought to be black.

When the Tomahawk is shown leaving the vessel, its fins are already extended. Before that point the fins remain folded and only open once the missile is airborne.

Ryback and his team, together with Strannix, are not wearing any protective headgear when firing the 5-inch Starbursts and the 16-inch shells. They would all sustain ruptured eardrums, and even cupping one's hands over the ears would not prevent it.

The "real" USS Missouri bears a circular commemorative floor plaque marking the spot of the Japanese surrender that brought the Second World War to an end. That plaque is never shown in the film, which makes it clear the USS Alabama is doubling for the Missouri.

SEAL Team 5 were reported to be en route on an H53, but the helicopter shown was an H46.

Several crew members have hairstyles that do not comply with regulations, particularly Krill and Ryback. Krill also falls outside the permitted weight limits.

Ryback rigs the grenade so that it falls and goes off the moment the hatch is opened. That would leave the latches released on one side of the hatch. When the grenade exploded, the door should have been blown open yet remain attached to the bulkhead by its hinges; it would not have been hurled across the deck.

Tom Breaker cites Executive Order 136 as the policy authorising the CIA to "neutralise" Strannix. However, Executive Order 136 (issued by Taft) actually amends a provision of EO 128, changing the term "light-ship" to "light-house tenders and light vessels".

When the helicopter touches down on the battleship, the national insignia on its fuselage is incorrect. That marking had been obsolete since 14 January 1947; the proper insignia should feature horizontal red stripes bisecting the all-white bars.

Strannix is shown talking with "the frog" on a red telephone in the Combat Information Centre. Red telephones are not capable of "dialling out" to telephone lines.

The film's events are said to occur in mid to late December 1991. At one point Admiral Greer summons the USS Nimitz task force to respond to the threat, and it does so. In August 1991 the Nimitz had just returned to her base at Bremerton, Washington, after a deployment in the Persian Gulf. From October 1991 to May 1992 she was undergoing "selected restricted availability" (SRA), meaning she was receiving maintenance, upgrades and repairs during that period and thus would likely not have been in a position to assist Pearl Harbor. Moreover, Pearl Harbour has its own naval and air bases that would have been more than capable of countering the danger posed by a rogue battleship armed with nuclear missiles, and would probably have been closer to the USS Missouri than any forces embarked on the Nimitz.

Ryback presents an MP5 to Jordan as an 'assault rifle', though the MP5 is actually a submachine gun. He also calls it an MP5 when the weapon shown is in fact an MP5K (Kurz, meaning 'short' in German). Later, when he hands Miss July '89 a firearm, he labels it an MP5K even though that particular weapon is merely a standard MP5.

When Chief Ryback passes Jordan the MP5, he mistakenly calls it an assault rifle. The MP5 is, however, a submachine gun rather than an assault rifle.

After seizing the Missouri, the assailant launches a missile that destroys a watch station on Observation Island in the Hawai'ian island chain. No such island exists in Hawai'i. There is, however, a vessel called Observation Island (T-AGM-23) that monitors missiles and airborne threats, but the Harpoon unmistakably impacts a land-based structure rather than a ship.

The Tomahawk is depicted during unloading without its rocket motor, which should be affixed immediately aft of the fin section.

The microwave Ryback used to booby-trap the kitchen was fitted with a rotary dial rather than a digital display, so it wouldn’t have emitted the beeping that, in a digital model, would have warned Strannix of the impending explosion.

When the Missouri docked in Honolulu, all the shells for the 16-inch guns and any other armour‑piercing rounds were offloaded. While Ryback and his team try to sink the submarine they acknowledge this, noting that the only ammunition remaining on board consists of 5-inch starburst rounds. Yet in the shots showing the crew loading the guns and preparing to fire, the powder bags and shells being used are clearly those for the 16-inch batteries.

A heavy-duty marine door, like the one Ryback attaches the grenade to, would not be blown clean off its hinges as portrayed here. In reality, the grenade would detonate on the far side of the door, sending some shrapnel and flames through, but the door itself would remain fixed in place.

Had Casey ripped out the throat of the mercenary he was fighting, he would have been splattered with a substantial spray of blood.

In several scenes it is plain to see that the ship is actually the USS Alabama standing in for the Missouri, noticeable by its shorter hull and single funnel. The radar sets on the gun directors are also of an older type. On Iowa-class battleships the pilothouse sits within an armoured conning tower; what the film presents as a control room is merely an enclosed gallery surrounding that conning tower.

Although the majority of the terrorists carry rifles fitted with silencers, the gunfire during the shooting sounds as if it comes from unsuppressed weapons — for example when Cate and Ziggs are sent to the galley.

When Rybak deploys the MAGPHONE satellite antenna, he is in a covered lifeboat. Satellite antennae require a direct line of sight to the satellite to operate.

In the film, Ryback and a small band of allies are portrayed as being able to operate the 16-inch guns. In reality, 79 sailors were needed to operate the 16-inch/50-calibre Mark 7 gun.

Strannix is in clear communication with the stolen submarine. Submarines of all types depend on very-low-frequency transmissions, since radio waves do not propagate effectively through water. However, the vessel is close to the surface and may be hoisting a radio mast.

A 16" battleship turret can lob a 2,700-lb shell up to about 25 miles when angled at the maximum 45 degrees. CDR Krell's fleeing submarine was just over four miles away. Casey elevates the turret to 28 degrees, which would have sent the shell nearly 17 miles. To hit a target that close the turret would have needed to be set flat, at 0 degrees, so the battleship would instead employ its 5" guns.

Even after finding out who the cook is, Strannix acts as if he does not know the man or his abilities and keeps up that pretense for much of the film. Only in the final confrontation inside the CIC does Ryback recognise him, and Strannix admits he knows Ryback.

As the terrorists and Miss July walk past the CH-46 helicopter, the rotor blades are shown turning in the same direction. Although CH-46 rotors do counter-rotate when in operation, the engines had been switched off at that point. Therefore no power was being supplied to the rotors; they were simply "windmilling", that is, turning with the wind.

When the Phalanx CIWS shoots down the F/A-18, the ammunition belt seems stationary. This is because, on the 20 mm Phalanx CIWS weapon system, rounds are fed from the ammo tank to the chamber within a closed shroud — essentially a tube that hides the moving belt.

When Tackman asks Jordan to demonstrate how to load his firearm, she does so with the muzzle pointed at herself, which is extremely reckless and dangerous. However, since it is made clear that she has no experience handling firearms, it is understandable that her character would make this error.

Ryback wedges a grenade into a hatch's wheel that is rigged to detonate when the hatch is opened. However, when the hatch is opened the grenade explodes instantly, whereas it ought to have a three- to five-second delay.

When the F/A-18 Hornet pilot is tracking the Tomahawk, he first reports the range as 15 miles, yet in under five seconds the distance is shown as 5 miles — a reduction far quicker than the Hornet could possibly cover. He then fires an air-to-air missile that closes the remaining 5 miles in less than two seconds, once again far beyond any realistic missile speed.

The film never explains why Ryback’s team launched a 5‑inch Starburst before firing the first heavy round. Both Ryback and Krill recognised the Starburst would be ineffective, yet it effectively warned Krill. If they had fired the primary round immediately, the submarine would have been caught completely off guard instead of being given an opportunity to dive.

It is also baffling that Krill assumed they were safe from a second shot, since the submarine had not yet submerged and clearly remained within range.

Finally, the Starburst is British ordnance, and I can find no evidence that a US battleship would carry one. The "complete" inventory Admiral Bates demanded earlier in the film likewise makes no mention of any Starburst systems.

Although this is only revealed later when Krill reviews Ryback's dossier, none of the privates or officers who place Ryback under arrest are in the least surprised that a cook can somehow physically overpower several men, perform Aikido randori just before his arrest, and neutralise five men in succession with ease.

As Strennix and Krill step into the Captain's cabin, Capt. Adam's chest still heaves, even though he has been shot twice in the heart.

Ryback 'trapping' the knife with his teeth could in no way overpower Strannix's grip with his whole arm, yet Strannix is suddenly unable to take it back from Ryback's jaws, even going so far as to release his hold.

Ryback seizes Kane Hodder from behind in a single-armed rear chokehold while simultaneously kicking the nearest henchman. Ryback's one-armed partial chokehold somehow leaves Hodder completely immobilised, and the struck henchman is inexplicably sent flying by a mere kick that is clearly lacking in force.

While pulling Jordan to safety, Ryback kicks one of the hijackers in the back and, with his free arm, chokes another. The kick he delivers is largely ineffectual and lacks real force, yet the armed assailant is sent flying and remains down, as though a mere kick to the back had rendered him unconscious.

The XO commands the Nuclear Weapons Officer to halt security patrols while nuclear weapons were on board. COMNAVSURFPAC regulations in force at the time of the film prohibited such a measure. Regardless of the XO's wishes, the Nuclear Weapons Officer would have been obliged to bring the matter to the captain's attention without delay.

Mr. Pitt makes a remark about the SEAL strike team who "think they can fly in under our radar", which is, in fact, accurate; however, the SEALs on board the incoming helicopter are flying at approximately 300 feet ASL (above sea level), which is inexcusable given that a stealth approach to flying beneath a ship's radar requires keeping to about 40 feet above sea level, and certainly never above roughly 100 feet in order to avoid radar detection. Thus, had the SEALs flown at the appropriately very low altitude, there would have been a very good chance they could have been inserted very close to the Missouri without being detected.

After neutralising the terrorists' submarine, Ryback and his team stand on the deck beside the No. 1 turret, admiring what they've done. Although the Missouri is still held by the enemy, they remain on the open deck, lit up and completely exposed to enemy forces.

Ryback would have been detained and court-martialled for striking Krill.

It would have been utterly impossible for Ryback, sealed inside a heavy-duty meat locker with a heavy steel door between him and the outside, to have heard Cates and Ziggs whispering to Private Nash — let alone have realised quickly enough what was happening, somehow let the creaking steel door fall without making a sound, clamber up into the ceiling without a stepladder and close the heavy steel door, all in complete silence.

When Ryback tells Jordan he is a cook, she cries, "Oh my God, we're going to die!" At that moment she does not yet realise the ship has been taken over.

It was reported that Ryback struck his SEAL commanding officer, yet there is no mention of any court-martial or other disciplinary proceedings. He apparently retained his rank as Chief Petty Officer.

Early in the film, Ryback is confined to a storeroom. When Strannix asks whether there is another exit from the storeroom, he is told there isn't. By keeping the door locked, Ryback would be rendered completely neutralised and unable to disrupt the terrorists' mission.

When the military officers become aware that one of the Tomahawks has "slipped through", a surveillance camera monitor in the background is showing footage of a casino croupier dealing cards.

Ryback detonates the helicopter on the ship's aft deck and then leaps off the stern to clear the blast. When the mercenaries arrive searching the smouldering wreckage, several white propane cylinders with hoses attached are visible, fuelling the blaze. Indeed, two of the cylinders can be seen wriggling about in the wreckage on the right-hand side of the screen.

Although the Missouri is presented as being out at sea in deep water, the water surrounding the ship looks murky in a number of shots, suggesting the scene was filmed on or near the USS Alabama.

Cates and Ziggs burst into the meat locker with their weapons firing, intent on killing Ryback. After a few moments Ziggs hangs back to reload while Cates moves toward the rear of the freezer. A close look shows he has only about five feet of space in front of him, and it's clear there's no-one standing there for him to shoot at, yet he continues to spray gunfire in all directions for no obvious reason.

When Ryback steps into the Quarters, he notices the late Capt. Adams blinking and realises the Captain's fate.

When the grenade by the doorway detonates, it becomes apparent that the figures are mannequins.

During the shoot-out scene in which Ryback is locked in the freezer, the two terrorists appear to be carrying HK MP5Ks fitted with silencers (supposedly suppressed). However, when they fire the weapons they do not sound properly suppressed, suggesting the "Silencers" were non-functional or that the gunfire noise was dubbed in during post-production.

At 1h29m24s, immediately after the Tomahawk is launched, the Captain sitting two seats to the right of Admiral Bates is handed a red folder and calls out "Admiral!" Admiral Bates, the senior officer in the room, turns and replies "Yes, sir!" An Admiral would not address a lower‑ranked officer as 'Sir'.

Squibs detonate in the refrigerated compartment (hidden in a pack of chilled meat nearest the camera) before Cates and Ziggs point their weapons and fire in that direction.

In the closing fanfare Ryback is depicted with gold insignia on his dress whites. After being disciplined for his misbehaviour, he would be required to wear red.

The stunt double for Strannix can be glimpsed briefly during the knife-fight when his face appears on screen; the sequence was evidently filmed to minimise these sightings, with the camera chiefly concentrating on Ryback and his movements.

When Cates and Ziggs enter the meat cold room and open fire, they spray bullets at anything in sight, and it is while they are distracted that Ryback manages to get away. The space is, however, plainly small enough for Cates to realise Ryback is not there as he reappears, yet Cates still stands firing at the walls for no convincing reason (other than to allow Ryback time to slip away for the sake of the story).

When Cates and Ziggs are firing indiscriminately, several objects (notably the fish at the back) are struck in the meat locker before either Cates or Ziggs even aim their weapons at them — a clear sign the actors were not synchronised with the squibs and did not know when they would go off. Other items are sent flying in the opposite direction to the supposed source of gunfire, for instance the large bottles of mayonnaise when the men first enter the locker.