When Mann arrives at the train crossing, he has clearly stopped his car directly in front of the gate, which has lowered due to the approaching train. After the truck starts pushing Mann's car toward the train, in both a shot from the far side of the train (when we see Mann's car in the spaces between the train's wheels) and in a wide shot from the near side of the train, we can clearly see that Mann's car is to the left of the train gate. If the car had still been in front of the train gate when the truck pushed the car past the gate, the gate would have broken off.
After crashing into the fence, David Mann closes his car door as he prepares to go into Chuck's Cafe. Later, when he goes to get back in his car, the driver's door is open.
The streaks on the back of David Mann's car change in size and number for no apparent reason.
The truck's license plates disappear altogether in some scenes.
When Mann is at the first gas station, the Plymouth lettering on the hood is made up of individually attached letters. In all subsequent shots however, the badging on the hood of his car is actually a one piece chrome badge with the Plymouth letters stamped on it, instead of the individual lettering as seen before.
As the truck goes over the cliff in slow motion, the drivers door is already open before it reaches, and as it goes over the edge, as it had to be for the stunt driver to survive by bailing out at the last minute. But it looks like the story maniac driver could also have survived.
A radiator hose blowing in a car with only 5100 miles on it would be extremely unlikely.
The opening (3:20) and closing credits clearly show MCMXLXXII (1972) as the year the film was released, and not 1971.
It is only the extended 90-minute version of the movie that carries a copyright year of 1972, because this when it was released theatrically in international markets.
It is only the extended 90-minute version of the movie that carries a copyright year of 1972, because this when it was released theatrically in international markets.
When Mann's car was overheating on the hill, he was trying to keep it from dying, and the fuel gauge indicator was shown to be a little past F. It would not have been anywhere near F after all the driving he had done since he had filled up at the gas station long before that, which was shortly after the trucker started terrorizing him near the beginning of the movie - especially since he ended up having to leave the Snakerama gas pump before getting any gas there.
At one point, David Mann mentions to another character in the film that during his attempts to escape the pursuing tanker truck, he had been forced to drive his car 90 miles an hour, when in fact his speedometer had clearly indicated he'd reached almost 100 mph.
In different shots of the windshield of the Valiant, an inspection sticker is evident. This would support the fact that two cars were used, as odometer readings change as well.
David Mann is wearing corrective glasses in much of the movie. However, when sitting at a table of Chuck Cafe, without his glasses, he is able to see details of other truck drivers sitting far away at the bar and also to read the restaurant menu from close by.
David Mann often turns and looks to the rear over his left or right shoulder while driving. That's not something a driver would do while moving, especially at a high speed.
At Chuck's Café Mann orders, but does not eat, a sandwich. However, neither does he pay for it. Also he does not pay for the gas he gets at the Snake-O-rama gas station.
The brand name on the aspirin tin inside the cafe was taped over.
The diesel locomotives pulling the Southern Pacific freight trains are too modern to be equipped with the deep single-note airhorns as heard in the film (they are no doubt canned sounds). Leslie or Nathan muti-chime horns can clearly be seen on the cab roofs of the locomotives and should have a blaring brassier tone. The horns are not blown in the normal 2 longs, a short and a long per regulation approaching grade crossings.
When David tells the operator what phone booth he is calling from, the number that is heard spoken does not match the actor's mouth movements.
At just over an hour into the movie, when David Mann gets out of his car to confront the trucker, he exhales twice and then closes his mouth; however, a third exhale is then heard.
When Mann approaches the phone booth at the "Snakerama" he says "Odd place for a telephone booth," and gets inside, closing the door behind him. The camera pans to the right slightly, revealing the reflection of Steven Spielberg in the lower right-hand side of the glass panel, wearing what appears to be a blue Hawaiian shirt, glancing up and down at the script in his hands. Behind him, the truck's reflection can also be seen.
When Mann's car starts acting up you can see someone (Spielberg himself per various sources) in the backseat of his car in the rear-view mirror.
In the chase scene leading to Chuck's Cafe, a camera mounted on the right rear side of the car can be seen briefly.
At least once when the camera shows the rear view mirror, a crew member can be seen ducking in the backseat of Mann's car.
As David Mann is walking towards his seat in Chuck's Cafe after his visit to the rest room, the shadow of the camera can be clearly seen on his back.