- Crew or equipment visible: In the movie clip after the credits, you can see the reflection of the camera man in the picture frames.
- Factual errors: Stark is said to have graduated from MIT summa cum laude, but MIT does not graduate people with honors.
- Revealing mistakes: When Stark is lying on the table and asking Pepper to remove the power cell from his chest, the prosthetic chest used for the effect is moving up and down to simulate his breathing. If you watch Downey Jr.'s upper chest you can clearly see that his actual breathing is out of sync with that of the prosthetic chest.
- Continuity: When Tony Stark drives his Audi R8 to Disney Hall for the benefit event, there is no front license plate affixed to the vehicle. However, when he pulls up to the entrance, his "STARK4" vanity plate is clearly visible on the front of the car.
- Continuity: When Tony Stark is being interviewed by Christine Everhart, his goatee is small, thin, and pointed, and his mustache appears almost drawn-on. The following morning, after seducing her, his goatee and mustache have grown, becoming round and full, in far too little time to be natural.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Stark is suiting up for the breakout with his fellow prisoner, and the guards are attempting to open the door, the man says the guards are speaking Hungarian, which he doesn't understand. The thugs approaching their prison truly shout in Hungarian, the following: "Kezeket fel! (Hands up in Hungarian)" although with such a heavy accent that it's impossible that they are Hungarians. Furthermore no Hungarian would say "Hands up!" to somebody who he can't see and detect what the other is doing. Yinsen, in response, shouts back "Egy perc!", true Hungarian for "One minute!".
- Revealing mistakes: Several of the devices in Tony's home display live transcriptions of what Tony says. In some cases, the transcript appears slightly before Tony says the words.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Tony asks Pepper to exchange the power cell in his chest the black and white leads of the ECG monitor are reversed.
- Factual errors: Tony is seen using a Verizon phone (LGVX9400) in Afghanistan. CDMA service doesn't however work there.
- Continuity: When Tony Stark is working at his computer, his coffee mug is upside down. In the next shot, it is right side up and partially filled with coffee.
- Continuity: When Pepper brings a cup of coffee balanced on a brown paper wrapped parcel, the parcel is on its side (taped ends are horizontal, box is on its longer side). When Tony later moves the coffee mug and proceeds to unwrap the parcel, the taped ends are now at the top rather than the side (it's resting on its shorter side).
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): One of the Air Force personnel says that an "AWAC" is in the area. "AWACS" is an acronym (Airborne Warning and Control System) and it is incorrect to refer to a single AWACS aircraft as an "AWAC."
- Revealing mistakes: When the terrorists are filming Tony Stark's hostage video, the blank firing plug is very visible through the slits on the flash suppressor of the rifle being held to his head.
- Revealing mistakes: The woman holding her children whilst her husband is being held at gunpoint appears to have false or manicured nails, not something you would expect in a poor desert village.
- Continuity: Stark secures his upgraded power supply in his chest by turning it clockwise (from our point of view) until it clicks into place. When Stane steals it, he also turns it clockwise to unlock and remove it, instead of counterclockwise.
- Continuity: In the sequence where Tony demonstrates the Jericho rocket to the military assemblage, the point of view switches from close to long to close again. During the long shot, Tony is seen to raise both arms, but when the scene cuts back to the close shot, his arms are at his sides again. Then he raises them again a moment later.
- Continuity: The amount of grain on the bags that Yinsen is lying on in the cave changes in between shots.
- Continuity: When Yinsen is showing Tony the picture of the Jerico the terrorist wants him to build, his hand position holding the picture changes between the in-front and point-of-view shots.
- Crew or equipment visible: Crew are visible in the reflection of Yinsen's glasses outside of the cave when Tony "agrees" to create the Jericho missile.
- Crew or equipment visible: When Pepper is replacing the miniature arc reactor in Tony's chest, the prosthetic chest piece used to make a hole for the reactor to go in is clearly seen. The edge of the vest is a different shade of skin than his actual arm.
- Continuity: During the scene when Raza is threatening Yensin, he picks up all of the papers with designs for the Mark I and when he places them back, there are other papers sitting there as if he hadn't picked them all up.
- Continuity: While Stane is in Afganistan, he uses his electric stun device on Raza. Stane reaches down and takes the drink given to him by Raza. Stane does not have any earplugs in (it shows his head, clear shot, no ear plugs.) The next shot is on Raza, Stane's left hand (with the drink), and the stun device, which comes up from behind Raza, in Stane's right hand. After Stane stuns Raza he has the ear plugs in. How did he put the ear plugs in? He had a drink in one hand and the stun device in the other.
- Continuity: When Iron Man punches through the wall to grab Abu Bakaar, he is missing his wrist armor.
>>> 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.
- Factual errors: SPOILER: Ironman encounters icing on his suit at his greatest altitude and assumes that the higher he flies the more likely Iron Monger will suffer from icing. Icing only occurs in visible moisture, cloud, fog or rain, of which there was none, plus it only occurs at temperatures of TAT +10 degrees C or below and above a static air temperature of -40 deg C. As Ironman was not in visible moisture and at the altitude that was quoted the air temp would be below -40, then there would have been no icing (and incidentally would be more likely to ice up on descent if he passed through clouds on his way down with the cold temperature of the suit).
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