The Matrix
The Matrix mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Neo lands on the ground after being shot on the roof, there's no sun/shadows, but when the agent comes up to him straight afterwards, there's a very defined shadow behind Neo. (01:42:10)

Revealing mistake: When Neo stops the bullets flying at him at the end you can see that the bullets don't have any ridges from the rifling. (02:05:15)

Other mistake: When Morpheus makes his escape, Agent Smith shoots through the walls with a noticeable time between shots. However when you see the bullets in motion (the 'bullet time' sequence), they're so close together in time that Morpheus doesn't appear to move in the interval between shots. Even if these are supposed to be later shots they could not be fired so close together either by the agents or by the guns used. The first two bullets are some distance behind Morpheus, corresponding to the change of direction of the shots fired by agent Smith to track Morpheus' movement - this also doesn't fit with the shots seen in the 'bullet time' sequence.

Continuity mistake: Right at the beginning of the film, where Trinity is running for the phone box, a shot of the box is shown and we see the lights of the truck appear on it. In the next shot we watch the truck turn and then see its lights swing onto the phone box. (00:05:30)

Visible crew/equipment: When Neo is in the car and asking Trinity if she's seen the Oracle, the white reflective screen is visible in her glasses where the windshield should be.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: No, that is the windscreen. If the sun was shining directly onto the windscreen, it would appear bright in a reflection.

Continuity mistake: Near the end, after Neo steals the cell phone, as he's running away, you first see the cell phone owner from the front, waving his right arm and shouting. The next camera angle shows the owner from behind waving his right arm, but he has obviously already been inhabited by the agent (the suit colour's the giveaway). The next cut has the "Agent inhabiting body" sound effect, and he turns around to begin chasing Neo. (01:54:20)

Continuity mistake: On the rooftop when Neo and Trinity are trying to save Morpheus, one of the Agents starts shooting at Neo. You can see the glass behind Neo doesn't shatter whilst he is shooting.

Deliberate mistake: In the rooftop fight scene where Neo unloads 2 pistols at an agent and misses, you can hear the guns firing from behind, followed by 2 clicks suggesting that the clips are empty. Neo's guns are both semi-automatics and would therefore not click when empty as the slides would be locked back after the final shot. The click sounds were obviously added later to indicate to viewers that his clips were empty. (01:46:15)

Continuity mistake: In the subway shootout with Neo and Smith, when both are firing face to face, their automatic pistols are firing but the actions are not working. (01:50:05)

The Matrix mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When Neo is being trained in the "jump program" Neo jumps and fails to make it across. When he is closer to the camera, the wind blows up his shirt and you can see the black safety harness on his abdomen. (Easier to view in slow motion). (00:54:35)

Continuity mistake: When Morpheus fights Neo in the training program, Neo is pushed backwards and slides along the floor. In the close-up, his head stops level with one of the black stripes on the floor, so that his eyes are looking at it. In the wide shot in which Morpheus jumps in slow motion through the air, Neo's head is past the line so that it is level with his chest, as if he has slid forward further, despite having stopped previously. In the close-up, the line is again level with his eyes, but when we see Morpheus' knees crashing into the floor, Neo has again moved forwards such that his head is no longer level with the line. (00:50:45)

The Matrix mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Cypher is making the deal with agent Smith, he cuts off a big piece of steak. A few seconds later when he actually puts it in his mouth, it has changed shape and shrunk considerably and changed from medium rare (mostly red) to medium (pink in the center). (01:01:20)

Audio problem: In the lobby shootout, you can see two soldiers firing at Neo just before he does his cartwheel. Both of their weapons have the sound of an M16, but the first soldier is actually holding a pump action shotgun. You can even see the shell being ejected.

The Matrix mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: In the "Desert of the Real" scene where Morpheus is sitting on the chair while explaining the Matrix to Neo, at a certain point he raises the head to the sky and in that moment the boom mic is visible reflected on his sunglasses.

Continuity mistake: When Morpheus shows Neo the agent training simulation, the girl in red turns into an agent. When they pause the simulation you can see the reflection of Neo with a gun pointed at his head in Morpheus' glasses. When you look in one shot there is a visible white line/mark (scenery?) between the gun and Neo, in the next shot it is gone and then right at the end in the final shot it's back again.

The Matrix mistake picture

Revealing mistake: At the end of the movie when Neo bursts into Room 303 and Agent Smith is there, watch the second shot. The overhead view shows a blank-firing shell ejecting (crimped end). (01:57:45)

Continuity mistake: When cops are in the room with Trinity at the beginning, just before she attacks the first cop, the chair she sat in is really close to the table, yet when she is in the air its a lot further away from the table. Also, the cop holds in his left hand a torch, which disappears when Trinity goes up for the kick. (00:02:50)

The-Immortal

Continuity mistake: During the lobby shoot out Neo does a cartwheel to pick up a gun on the floor. If you look closely at the wide shoot, his hand grazes the gun and starts to lift off the ground without it. In the close up shot imediately after, he picks up the gun near the trigger. (01:43:22)

Revealing mistake: When Neo and Agent Smith are fighting on the subway tracks, Neo leaps up to avoid being hit by the train. While the shot is in slow motion, you can actually see the wire supporting Keanu Reeves (just look at Neo's hands grabbing them). The wire becomes momentarily visible right when he is reaching the highest point of this jump. (01:58:15)

Continuity mistake: When Neo is being interogated by Agent Smith he says "How about I give you the finger and you give me my phone call?" Neo gives him the finger; in one shot the other fingers are bent all the way down. In another they are only half bent. (00:19:55)

Agent Smith: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species, and I realised that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer on this planet, you are a plague, and we...are the cure. (01:02:20)

More quotes from The Matrix

Trivia: Due to the popularity of the film, Carrie-Ann Moss stated that it is impossible for her to go out wearing sunglasses because she is so easily recognizable - her character Trinity constantly wears sunglasses in the film.

Allister Cooper, 2011

More trivia for The Matrix

Question: How did Neo know about the existence of the Matrix if he was stuck in the Matrix for most of his life?

Answer: He doesn't know that he's plugged into a giant computer and that most of humanity is a power source for robots. He's merely aware that there is something wrong with life in general, something odd that he can't quite explain.

Gary O'Reilly

More questions & answers from The Matrix

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.