When the Soviet Union falls, Nicolai is about 1 year old. By the end of movie, 10 years have passed and Nicolai is only about 5 years old.
The K in Kono on the ship is painted right, but in a later shot it's seen painted upwards down.
When Ava confronts Yuri about his real occupation, she is seen naked from behind. She then slips on a bathrobe. Shortly afterward she is seen kneeling in front of Yuri while he is sitting on a sofa, and it appears that she is wearing underwear (bra and panties) beneath the robe.
After finishing the painting of "Kono" and while they are bringing the painter back up aboard, we see all four letters filled out nicely and without smudges. However, in a short cut the N in Kono is smudged, and then back to normal in the very next cut.
When the soldier is firing the AK-47, it never runs out of ammo, despite the fact it only has a 30 round magazine.
At the end of the film it is said that "The world's biggest arms suppliers are the U.S., U.K., Russia, France and China." This is incorrect. According to information from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the five biggest arms exporters in 2005 were, in descending order: USA, Russia, Germany, France and U.K., while China is the 11th.
Interpol has no arrest authority in the US, but then again they have no arrest authority in most parts of the world. Interpol acts as an intergovernmental organization facilitating international police cooperation.
In his monologue about the AK-47, Yuri proclaims that the gun was on Soviet coins and on Mozambique's flag. While several African nations have put the AK-47 on their flag and/or coat of arms (including Mozambique), the AK-47 was never featured on Soviet currency.
In order to camouflage his gun-running freighter, M/V "Kristol", Orlov has the name repainted as "Kono". However, this only happens on the stern. A vessel also has its name shown on both the starboard and port side of the bow, so the agents bringing up the vessel would still have identified the ship correctly. Furthermore, the stern of a ship also sports the home port, which also would have had to be changed for the "flag-change" ruse to work, but is nowhere to be seen in the movie.
During Yuri's narration upon entering the hotel in Liberia he says, "In the most AIDS infested region of the globe, where one in four is infected ..." This is untrue for West Africa and particular for Liberia where since the identification of HIV, the prevalence rate has never reached 2%. In fact, in 1995, when Yuri is in Liberia, only 23 people in the entire country had tested positive for the virus. Even if the regional reference was meant to indicate the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region, the "one in four" statistic is still grossly overestimated as these high rates only exist in a few Southern Africa countries.
A Liberian guard wears a beret with an emblem of two crossed swords on oak leaves. This is a German emblem. However it is not uncommon for soldiers in West African armies to not be issued official fatigues or uniforms. Instead they often will wear second hand clothing that they find in the local markets. It is possible that the soldier bought the old German army beret.
In the Beirut scene, Vitaly draws a Beretta 92SB pistol. The 92SB was equipped with a hollow guide rod, so while it may appear to be missing the guide rod, it is there and the pistol would fire normally.
During the 1983 arms fair, Orlov claims that Simeon Weisz sold the Exocet missiles used in the Falklands war. Those particular Exocet missiles (French made air-ship weapons used by the Argentinean Armada against the Royal Navy) were directly brought by Argentinean president Leopoldo Galtieri from the French government. In fact, this resulted in an unpleasant reunion involving French president François Mitterrand and the British government under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the peak of hostilities. No arms dealers were involved, but it is possible that for film reasons movie makers made it so.
Aboard the Kristol, Yuri narrates about how AK-47's were code-named Angel Kings. He then speaks on the phone saying "The Angel Kings will arrive tomorrow." Later, just after Jack Valentine has left the ship, some potatoes fall to reveal a crate labeled M-16, which would suggest the contents of the crate are M-16 rifles and not AK-47's, however, there were at least 2 other shipping containers on the freighter. Yuri obviously stored the AK-47's in the others.
Both times Yuri takes Vitaly to rehab, the exact same close-up shot of Yuri's hand pouring cocaine out of a vial onto the arm rest of their limo is used. It is colored differently the second time it is used, but it is still the exact same shot.
The combination lock that Ava opens is not securing anything because the cam bar locking handles are not in the hasps and can can be clearly seen hanging down in the unlocked/open position.
In the opening scene the label on the cartridges crate is full of goofs. It says "Odessa, Ukraine", while there have never been any kind of firearms plants in Odessa, Ukraine. It says "quantity 1588", but the crate is apparently not big enough to hold 1588 cartridges. Even the crate itself is a goof - AK cartridges (and most other ammo) are shipped in metal boxes.
During the deal in Colombia, the Colombian buyer speaks with a marked Mexican accent, even using Mexican curses (as does Yuri in response).
At about 1:35 the container that Ava Fontaine stands in front of is obviously not locked but merely has the doors pushed together, as seen clearly when compared to the containers to either side whose doors are closed/locked and flush with the front of the box.
In the scene where Jack Valentine enters the port, the name on the entrance "Port Odessa" (in Russian) is backwards so that it can only be read from the inside of the port not from the outside correctly.
In the opening "Life of a Bullet" scene, although every other feature depicted is false or incorrect, the wooden crate used is a standard Communist Bloc design. Each standard wooden crate normally contains two sealed sheet-metal ammo cans and a large can opener. Groups like the African militia seen at the end of the segment usually discard the packing materials. They then loose-pack the ammunition in sacks to reduce its weight and cover up where it was procured from.
When narrating the story about early stages of his business in 1980s, Yuri Orlov mentions that he has carried several passports at that time, including the Ukrainian passport. Ukraine didn't get to issue its own passports until 1992.
The T.V. Yuri has in his house wasn't available in 1991.
The newspaper Yuri reads to his brother is dated Wednesday July 7, 1983, however, the headline story "Arias Peace Plan Calls for Stabilizing Central America" occurred August 7, 1987.
During the first scene in the restaurant kitchen (set during the Carter administration), a spice jar above the stove prominently features the recognizable black-and-white "Nutrition Information" block that didn't appear on products until 1994.
During Yuri's 'first break' in Beirut in 1984 the rifles he is selling are marked "AR-15A2", as can be seen during the close-up shot. US Peacekeepers had been using the M16A1, the full-auto military version of the AR-15. The Colt AR-15 is the civilian-market semi-auto version of the M16. The AR-15A2 model would not be available until 1986.
When Simeon Weisz comes to buy weapons from Yuri's uncle, his lips stay still yet you can hear him saying his name. His lips only start moving again when he asks the soldier if he knows who he is.
When INTERPOL has Yuri and his uncle at gunpoint, asking for his papers, Jack Valentine asks whether the ship they met on before was named the Kono or the Kristol. Right after Yuri replies with a smart comeback, the INTERPOL agent to the left-hand side of Yuri supposedly cocks his gun telling him to "answer the question". The INTERPOL agent who supposedly cocks his gun has his right hand holding the gun, and clearly has his left hand on Yuri's shoulder while the gun is cocked. None of his hands could have cocked the gun.
When Yuri telephones home from the Ukraine, he wakes up his wife in the middle of the night (say 11:00pm-5:00am, total darkness). That would be daytime where he is (about 1:00pm-7:00pm), but the movie shows a night scene.
When Jack Valentine visits Ava, he leaves his Interpol business card for her. The phone number on the card has a 515 area code. 515 is the area code of central Iowa, nowhere near New York City.
When the brothers arrive in Monrovia and Andrei tells them the shipment is for "my neighbours to the West", Vitaly says Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is to the north of Monrovia. Heading "west" from Monrovia would take them over the Atlantic Ocean.
Sierra Leone, particularly when Yuri and Baptiste's son go to meet with the Revolutionary United Front commander, is depicted as a dry desert country. In reality, Sierra Leone is mostly bush land, farmland, and rain forest and has no arid regions.
Yuri's voice over claims the "U.S. Army" got a cut of his sale in Lebanon in the form of Lieutenant Colonel Southern, but the officer was wearing a Marine Corps uniform and wearing Colonel (not Lieutenant Colonel) rank. Lieutenant Colonel rank, whether Army or Marine, would be represented with a silver oak leaf, not an eagle. Additionally, this Marine Colonel is wearing the cap of a General but the Emblem of an Enlisted Marine, which makes the rank and service of his entire uniform incorrect.
Yuri's uncle Dmitri Orlov is introduced as a Major General and wears two stars on his shoulder boards. Although two stars means a Major General in the US military, in the Soviet/Russian Federation Army two large stars means a Lieutenant General, which is a higher rank than Major General.
In the arms fair scene set in 1983, Yuri says that Weisz "sold" to both sides during the Iran-Iraq War. Weisz also speaks in the past tense when referring to that conflict. The actual time period of the war was 1980 to 1988, so the war was still going on in the timeframe of this scene.
During Yuri's first deal with two Russian gangsters, Yuri claims the gun he is selling comes with 9mm hollow points, however, the bullets seen in the case are full metal jackets.
When Valentine left Yuri alone in the desert this contradicts what Yuri says ("Valentine was the rarest type of law enforcement officer, the one that knew I was breaking the law but wouldn't break it himself to bust me"). Yuri's health and safety are Valentine's responsibility for the legally permitted twenty-four hours.