In exterior shots, the ship is shown pitching up and down and rocking side to side in very heavy seas caused by the hurricane; yet interior shots, except for a mild "rocking" of the camera, show little manifestation of these violent motions.
Once aboard the Russian ship, when the crew is about to enter the control room for the first time, you can see through the ship's windows to reveal a shipyard on the opposite side rather than the open sea and the storm.
When Everton is in E-Deck Workroom 14 and watches a headless torso rise up from the tabletop, a tattoo in the form of the Russian Red Star is visible on the left side of the torso. In the next shot, the tattoo has transferred to the right side. The entire shot has been mirrored for some reason, as the mechanical parts fused to the torso have also switched sides.
After Woods is shot with the nail gun by the robotic critter, the bloodstain on his shirt changes between shots, going from large and pale to smaller and darker.
Just before they go outside, Foster is just wearing a sweater and jeans, but in the next shot of her outside, she is wearing her raincoat.
Foster uses a standard "floating needle" field compass to discover the direction to which the ship was "turning itself." Floating needle compasses are ineffective on modern steel ships.
When the crew gets the message from the alien entity that has taken over the ship, they need to translate it. Richie chooses an English language function with an American flag. Internationally, English is represented by the British Union Jack.
The language options on the Russian computer are written in nouns, not adjectives. It states a person's descent, not type of language.
The anchor chains of large ships are secured to a bulkhead or the deck in the chain locker. However, the attachment is not intended to restrain the chain should it run free as is shown when the ship's anchor is dropped through the tug. The end of the chain should have brought debris from its tearing free from its attachment. Also, the length of the chain should have been far, far longer, typically about 1,000 feet.
In the eye of a storm, the sea isn't calm as depicted in the movie.
Midway through the film, when the typhoon reappears, the external shot of the Russian "ship" is a painfully obvious miniature in a small water tank.
In one of the scenes, you can see a North American electrical outlet, not a Russian one.
Near the beginning of the film, when the energy beam coming from the Russian station strikes the research ship, the whole control room shakes and crew is thrown off balance. Yet, a chess board on a nearby table remains completely undisturbed, revealing the "movement" is simply a shaky camera.
The tug shown is one that would be used in a harbor or perhaps for short-distance towing, not in the open ocean. Furthermore, the short-chain method shown is not suitable for ocean towing. It would have snapped in any decent roller, and would not have lasted for more than a few minutes in the storm shown.
A red Communist Lenin banner is hanging on the wall of the Russian ship, but the film is set around 1999, eight years after the Soviet Union had fallen. In 1999, the ship would have carried red, white, and blue Russian flags and banners, not red Soviet banners.
When the tug is first approaching the Russian ship Woods is attempting to reach them by radio. During one transmission Kit goes on deck to join the Captain. In the shot through the window it is clear that Woods is standing, but he has no radio to his mouth even though he can clearly be heard broadcasting on the radio.
The discovery of someone on board the Russian ship should have changed the tug captain's reward expectation. An abandoned ship would be worth 10% of its value as salvage (as described in the movie). A ship with even one person from the original crew on board would not be abandoned. The rescuing crew would only be eligible for a finder's fee or the towing fees to take it back to port. Moreover, even if there was nobody on board, salvaging or towing a foreign navy ship is illegal, so the crew could not have possibly expected a reward.
Nadya's "husband" is recognized by the wedding ring on his left hand. Orthodox Christians, the most common Russian religion, wear their wedding ring on the right hand; wearing it on the left signifies that the wearer is widowed.
When Nadia Vinogradiya first appears and fires on the crew, Steve says something about having an Uzi fired at them. The weapon used is actually a Czech Republic Skorpion.