Helicopters would not be casually hovering around the Whit House when there are machine gun nests set up on the roof which earlier fired on other helicopters.
Throughout the first scenes in the movie before the action begins, Cale is shown wearing a suit and tie. However, in each scene, the tightness of the tie around his neck varies. Significantly noticeable prior to entering the interview room (loose and lowered from the neck), during the interview (tight to his neck), and the immediate scene leaving the interview room when his daughter asks if he got the job (loose).
When Cale is informed that the air strike is eight minutes away from the White House, well over eight minutes expire before the jets arrive for the strike.
At his ex-wife's house (around 15mins), Channing Tatum stands in doorway with a letter in right hand. Following a camera cut the letter is now in his left hand with his right hand in his pocket.
When communicating with the squirrel, Cale has the gun in his hand, then it's gone.
It is very difficult, perhaps impossible, to knock out an M1A2 Abrams tank with an RPG-7 from the front as in the film. The front armor of an Abrams is extremely thick and lined with several materials to prevent such a penetration.
Although RPGs have been known to damage Abrams tanks, these are impacts on weak points of the tank, and would not have caused the tank to explode as the film depicts.
A more suitable weapon for engaging a tank would have been an FGM-148 Javelin, an anti-tank weapon which the terrorists do possess but instead use to shoot down helicopters.
Although RPGs have been known to damage Abrams tanks, these are impacts on weak points of the tank, and would not have caused the tank to explode as the film depicts.
A more suitable weapon for engaging a tank would have been an FGM-148 Javelin, an anti-tank weapon which the terrorists do possess but instead use to shoot down helicopters.
In the film, the president opens the passenger side window in his presidential limousine as to launch the missile launcher. In reality, the driver's window is the only one that can be opened partially. None of the windows in the passenger compartment can be opened for security and protection reasons.
The Air Force Two pilot tells the Vice President that he will get the plane to "30,000 feet in 45 seconds". That would be an ascent rate of 40,000 feet per minute, (455 MPH vertically). That's at least 10 times what the plane can do under ideal conditions when completely empty.
The USS Albuquerque is a real submarine, but does not carry nuclear ballistic missiles as shown.
When the president exits Marine One on the White House lawn, the rotors are turning and the engine is clearly running. The president and his entourage are never permitted to approach or exit the helicopter while the rotors are in motion.
When Blackhawk helicopters are flying in through the city, there are numerous scenes where the helicopters are too small, relative to what they fly over and under, especially when they fly under the Chinatown arch. The size they are shown, would mean they were flown by two foot tall people.
The terrorists are able to shoot and kill White House guards/Secret Service agents without any of them getting killed themselves (meaning they're very well-trained). Yet, they're not even able to shoot Cale and Cale succeeds in killing several. (This is an extremely common depiction in action films).
After Skip starts his hack they show the young girl running and you can see the camera shadow on a pillar behind her.
When the Blackhawks carrying the Special Forces sweep into the city, they are approaching the White House from the North-West. At one point they are shown flying under the Chinatown gate which is located almost due East of the White House.
At 0:54:21 -a leather shoe would not be able to withstand the pressure exerted by an elevator gear drive.
Emily asks the President about 22 Arab nations in the region especially the conflict in Pakistan, the distant target of most actions in the film. However, Pakistan is not an Arab state, neither is Iran (it's Persian).
Emily states that the Presidential car is a modified Cadillac CTS. In reality, it is not based on any specific vehicle, but is custom-built upon a medium-duty GMC TopKick truck platform. Other than its appearance, it has little in common with the CTS.
While in the basement oval room, where Cale and Sawyer appear to start parting ways, Cale asks Sawyer to make a promise. The caption has Sawyer saying "You got my word. Thanks, John" but he actually verbally says "You got my word. Thanks, Jeff".