American Gangster

Add to My Movies

American Gangster Goofs/Mistakes

Movie Goof (anachronisms): Street signs shown in the movie are green with white lettering. Street signs in the 70's were actually yellow with black lettering.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Many of the movie's Harlem street scenes feature current-day spray-painted graffiti tags and even some much larger "pieces" that would not have existed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This appears to be a common problem for movie producers filming period pieces at the current time, due to the proliferation of graffiti tags in the urban landscape.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): When Javier jumps from the ambulance, a postal service truck with a 1990s logo is visible.
Movie Goof (revealing mistake): In some scenes when snow is falling, the broad-leaf trees in the background have green (summer) leaves.
Movie Goof (errors made by characters, possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Stevie is said to be a southpaw, but throws the ball righthanded in the backyard of Frank Lucas (III)'s house.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Subway trains: During the period of the film's setting, acceptable subway trains would have been anything from R40 and before. The popular subway cars would have been any of the BMT standard, R1/9, R10-R33 cars. Even though cars of a similar design to the 1986 one shown would have been in existence, they would have been very new and very rare.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): The Checker cab Richie Roberts hijacks, in order to follow the S20,000, has post-1974 aluminum bumpers. Later in the film we have some scenes from the U.S. Army Base Bien Hoa in Vietnam, which was a base 1961-1973.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): In some scenes we can see Citicorp Center. This building was not present in the early 1970s.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): (c. 1:00:30) When Frank Lucas (III) and his new wife step out of the church and face the crowd, we see a 90s model Ford van with the words "AVIS" on it.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): While the dirty cops steal money from the drug dealer, a 1990s white service van can be seen in the background.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): In the scene where they are removing the drugs from the caskets. The use battery operated screw guns not available until the 90s.
Movie Goof (errors in geography): The scene where Richie Roberts and his partner find money in the trunk of a car has a caption that says "New Jersey". The view in the beginning of the scene is of the Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to the Lower East Side in Manhattan.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): When speaking with his nephew the baseball player in a scene set in 1972, Frank Lucas (III) confronts him because the nephew missed a meeting he set up with the New York Yankees and Billy Martin. However, Martin did not manage the Yankees until 1975; he was managing the Detroit Tigers from 1971 to 1973.
Movie Goof (errors in geography): A distant mountain range is visible in a location identified as Fort Bragg, NC; no such mountains exist around Pope Air Force Base which serves Ft. Bragg.
Movie Goof (revealing mistake): In the very first scene, when Frank Lucas is shooting the man who he just set on fire, the .45 pistol he is using jams with a "stove pipe" type jam but he continues shooting (at least the audio track includes reports and there is flame coming out of the pistol).
Movie Goof (anachronisms): The style and complexity of the graffiti throughout the film is representative of styles from the '80s and on.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): In the scene set at Smalls, the camera looks up at the Funk band singer who appears on stage after Joe Louis. On the ceiling is a Martin Atomic 3000 strobe with a DMX cable connected. DMX was not created until 1986, and the Atomic was not introduced by Martin until 2001.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): There is a scene of Frank Lucas (III) watching 'Leroy 'Nicky Barnes passing out copies of the NY Times magazine where he was the cover story. The issue with Barnes on the cover was not published until 1977, Lucas was arrested and convicted before 1977.
Movie Goof (continuity error): When Detective Richie Roberts is chasing the guy in the apartment complex he pumps his shot gun and points it in the face of a woman. After realizing this mistake he resumes his pursuit and pumps the shotgun yet again in the face of the man on the ground without firing a round.
Movie Goof (errors in geography): In the extended version of the film, there is a scene in which Richie Roberts and his team are listening to a wiretap they have placed on a phone in a business that is supposed to be in New Jersey. The scene was actually filmed on West 125th Street, between Broadway and Riverside Drive in Harlem. Prominent in the scene is "The Cotton Club," which opened at that location in 1978, and is named after the legendary Harlem club of the 1920s and 1930s, which was located at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue.
Movie Goof (revealing mistake): During the chase of the Bronco after the $20,000 drug purchase, inner-vehicle shots of Richie Roberts show a Torino name plate on the dash board although exterior shots of the chase show them in a Cadilac.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): When Detective Richie Roberts is driving a commandeered taxi as he follows a drug dealer with $20,000 bait money, Roberts drives the wrong way through some oncoming traffic before catching up to the car he's following. As he turns a corner three modern cars can quite clearly be seen parked on the left hand side, including a silver SUV (looks like a Porsche Cayenne), a blue saloon and a gold estate / station wagon.
Movie Goof (errors in geography): The street sign shown outside the store where Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson dies says "8 Ave". That corner is 135th Street and Broadway.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): On the payphone the label "A NYNEX Company" is visible; NYNEX didn't exist until after the AT&T breakup in 1984.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Richie Roberts receives a letter sometime around 1970 saying that he has been admitted to the New Jersey bar. The letter refers to his passing the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. In 1975, California became the first state to introduce a Professional Responsibility Examination. The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, based on California's test, wasn't introduced until 1980.
Movie Goof (crew or equipment visible): When Frank shoots Tango at the fruit stand a cameraman can be seen filming who is stationed just behind three pineapples and the silver water cooler.
Movie Goof (continuity error): During the scene where Frank Lucas shoots Tango in the head in the midst of a crowded street, when Frank leaves the gun on Tango's chest, the hammer can clearly be seen that it's cocked back although after firing, it should have gone back.
Movie Goof (continuity error): When Det. Richie Roberts moves Frank Lucas (III)' picture to the top of the board, Dominic Cattano's picture next to it goes from facing forward to facing sideways and back to facing forward in different shots.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Just after Frank Lucas (III) hears the news of the imminent fall of Saigon on TV and goes to ring his contact, we see a modern car drive past the window.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): In one of the early scenes, Frank Lucas (III) is in his apartment recording some figures in a notebook. He reaches over to the table and keys in some numbers on a slim electronic calculator of the type not available until a decade later.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): In one of the scenes at Fort Bragg/Pope AFB, you can clearly see a modern-day C-17 Globemaster III in the background. These planes weren't added to the Air Forces inventory until 1993.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): In a scene set around Harlem in 1968, Bumpy Johnson laments having a McDonald's fast food restaurant on every street corner. However, the first McDonald's in New York City wasn't opened until the early 1970s - in Harlem.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Moses Jones (played by RZA of the Wu Tang Clan) sports a prominent Wu Tang Clan tattoo on his left upper arm, especially visible in the first briefing scene of the newly formed narcotics unit. Additionally, upon close examination, the tattoo features his name 'RZA' set inside the Wu Tang Clan logo.
Movie Goof (continuity error): In the first courtroom scene, when Richie Roberts is speaking with his attorney, the camera angle alternates between a wide shot of both and one of Richie from behind his attorney. In the wide shot, his arm is straight across the bench behind her, while in the shot from her back, his arm is hanging behind the bench. This alternation between shots occurs many times.
Movie Goof (continuity error): Frank Lucas (III) is introduced to a Mr. Svbota at his cocktail party. Frank asks what he can get him, and Mr. Svbota responds with "how about a left hander Charlie says is your nephew." Later in the movie, Stevie Lucas can be seen in the backyard of Frank's house playing catch with another relative, and he's throwing the baseball right handed. Frank then goes on to ask him why he didn't show up for a meeting he scheduled with the Yankees and Billy Martin.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): During the scene where Richie Roberts is walking with his wife and son, the park is overflow by a 747, which would not have been possible for at least another year since they didn't start commercially flying until 1970.
Movie Goof (errors in geography): When Richie Roberts chases the car over the George Washington Bridge, the film claims that Richie is coming from New Jersey to Manhattan, where he doesn't have jurisdiction. In fact, he begins to tail the suspect on the Manhattan side of the George Washington Bridge going into New Jersey, then winds back up in New York.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): The tops of the fire hydrants seen in the movies were not introduced until the 1990s. They looked different in the 1970s.
Movie Goof (factual errors): In the closing captions, Frank Lucas (III) is said to have been incarcerated from 1976 to 1991 continuously. In fact, Lucas was paroled in 1981. He remained free for three years until he was arrested and convicted of parole violations and drug offenses in 1984 and was sent back to prison until he was released in 1991.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): The C-130 in the movie is actually a C-130A; check the pylon tanks and the 3-bladed props. Also, at that time period (Vietnam), C-130's were painted in a camouflage pattern. The gray overall paint scheme wasn't introduced until the late 1980's or early 1990's.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): In the scene where Richie and Javier serve Campizi the subpoena, you can see fire alarm horn/strobes that were not available until the mid 1990's. Other instances of buildings with modern fire alarm system devices are viewable in the movie.
Movie Goof (factual errors): In the film, Richie Roberts is both the lead detective and the prosecutor in the case against Frank Lucas (III). This is not permitted in any American courtroom, as Richie as a potential witness could never act as an attorney in the same case.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Frank Lucas (III) drives to Washington, D.C. past a sign saying I-395, a road name not used until the late seventies.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): In 1968 Saigon, Frank Lucas (III)'s cousin Nate uses turn-of-the-century terms like "aight" for "all right" and "fiddy" for "fifty". Several other characters use "aight" throughout the film.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Banknote counter. In a scene we can see a bill counter with a numeric green LED display. Computerized bill counters were not introduced to the market before 1981.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Night time shots clearly show streets lit with high pressure sodium lamps that give a warm red/orange glow. These were not introduced until the mid 1980's.
Movie Goof (crew or equipment visible): Ridley Scott's reflection is visible on a television set during the scene where Detective Trupo is searching the Frank Lucas (III) residence. There's a brief glimpse of Scott while the television is showing the caskets of deceased American GIs, right before cutting away to Russell Crowe in the cargo hold of a C-130 examining caskets.
Movie Goof (factual errors): While Frank's cousin is wearing a wire, he stands at a distance while Frank is on the phone. In the next scene, the tape is played for the police, and both sides of the phone conversation can be heard, which would be impossible from an external microphone at a distance.
Movie Goof (factual errors): In the movie, Bumpy Johnson dies in New York City on a day there are flurries outside. Bumpy Johnson died on July 7, 1968, during the summer.
Movie Goof (continuity error): When Det. Richie Roberts is lifting weights, discs attached to the olympic bar vary from shot to shot.