- Continuity: At the beginning of the film, when Taylor and his crew are trekking out of the forbidden zone, Taylor's backpack disappears and reappears between shots.
- Continuity: The stump Dr. Zaius is tied to changes shape twice.
- Continuity: Several of the outside shots of the spacecraft show the outer hatch removed long before Taylor orders it to be blown.
- Crew or equipment visible: The shadow of the camera is visible on the wall as Taylor goes down the spiral stairs in the "human museum".
- Revealing mistakes: "Stuffed" humans in the ape history museum, including Taylor's companion Dodge, can clearly be seen to move as Taylor walks past them.
- Continuity: The strap on Taylor's rifle while pointing it at Dr. Zaius while outside the cave in the forbidden zone.
- Anachronisms: As we arrive at the water's edge during the opening sequence, there are white boats docked at the shore.
- Revealing mistakes: While being hunted, many humans dive prematurely either before they get to the net or even before the net goes up.
- Continuity: Taylor's hands switch from hanging down to holding the net around his neck and back between shots.
- Continuity: When we first see the dead woman Stewart, her arms are bent with her hands across her chest. When the chamber begins to flood, her arms are now extended straight down at her sides.
- Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Landon sets up his tiny American flag, Taylor lets out a howling laugh, but in the shot his teeth are clenched.
- Revealing mistakes: During the horseback ride into the forbidden zone, you can see tracks in the sand where a horse has been ridden though several times already.
- Continuity: When Lucius comes to liberate Taylor, he clobbers Julius whose cigar falls out of his mouth. The next shot shows it back in his mouth.
- Revealing mistakes: Actors' lips and teeth can be seen behind the ape make-up at several points, giving the apes two rows of teeth. One example is Dr. Zaius in his first scene.
- Continuity: The font Taylor writes the "My name is Taylor" note on is drastically different from that he later writes notes for Zira and Cornelius in while in their home.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The astronauts find a plant which they declare their first "life" seen on the planet. They are oblivious to the grassy ridge behind them, seen when they are squatting. Scientist Dodge's first reaction to the "life" is to tear it up for no reason, something no sensible, ethical person would do.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Just before the spacecraft sinks, all the power goes out, and the crew abandon ship. Taylor takes a final look at the stopped clock, frozen in the last moment it recorded, as clocks do in real life.
- Factual errors: In the opening crash sequence water is seen flooding into the space ship under tremendous pressure. The crew compartment is the part in the air and since the ship is "floating" half in half out there would not be that kind of water pressure.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Landon says that the Icarus was "not programmed to land in the water." Yet it conveniently has a rubber raft and other aquatic gear stored on board for just such an occasion.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Goofs below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- Anachronisms: SPOILER: In the original (later edited out by the studios after the first release) when Taylor falls by the Statue of Liberty an Ocean Liner can be clearly seen on the horizon.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: SPOILER: The sunshine on the Statue of Liberty shows that the she is facing west, not east as in reality. This turnaround is the result of a cataclysm.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): SPOILER: In the cave, Taylor says "Dr. Zaius, would an ape make a human doll that talks?" as if this is inconceivable, and Dr. Zaius seems to grudgingly agree. But in the real world, we have dolls of talking animals (including apes) and fantasy characters such as the Walt Disney and Jim Henson creatures, so why wouldn't an ape toymaker make talking human dolls? It is fallacious to assume that a child's toy must be a faithful depiction of reality.
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