Continuity mistake: Uhura has mascara make up Egyptian style to the sides of the eye, but when she is in a lift with Spock it's gone for a few shots and later reappears. (01:05:10 - 01:06:15)
Continuity mistake: As Kirk and Spock Prime are arguing about Spock meeting his younger self, the shots from behind Spock show his hair, ear, and coat to be illuminated by a blue light. But the reverse angles have no evidence of this light at all. And when Kirk walks away, Spock is still standing in the same spot. Now suddenly Spock is all illuminated by blue lights that they were obviously not standing under moments before. (01:26:00)
Continuity mistake: After their discussion of younger Spock's emotional compromise, Spock Prime stays in the same spot while Kirk goes to the transporter pad. They are still talking as they do. Shots from afar show Spock is illuminated by the blue lights over his head as is the walls around him. But each time it cuts to a close up, he and the walls no longer show any hint of this blue. He also appears to be standing in a different location in the close ups. (01:27:00)
Continuity mistake: While being sucked around through the aquatic gerbil maze of a coolant system in the Enterprise's engineering, there is one part where Scotty is being pulled up. The shot shows him get sucked out of the J pipe and begin being pulled up the shaft rather quickly. The shot cuts to Kirk yelling "No. No!" The shot then cuts to Kirk running off to the right, and it shows Scotty getting sucked out of the same J pipe a second time. (01:28:15)
Continuity mistake: Scotty is whizzing through the liquid-filled glass tubing and Kirk opens the release valve, saving him from his doom. When Scotty hits the floor, the camera pans across a piece of machinery, obscuring him for a second or two. When the camera picks up Scotty again on the other side of the machine, his arms are in a different position, bent closer to his body. Obviously a cut in the film where they removed the stunt person and replaced him with the actor to finish the scene. (01:28:40)
Continuity mistake: After Spock chokes Kirk and then relinquishes his command due to being emotionally compromised, Kirk takes command of the Enterprise. As he sits in the captain's chair, he is still winded from the assault and is panting. Uhura walks up and says she hopes he knows what he is doing. As she says this, the side shot shows Kirk is looking straight ahead with his mouth open and leaning forward, panting. The shot then changes to Kirk in a close up and suddenly he is sitting back in the chair, looking more towards Uhura's direction, and his mouth is open less. (01:33:00)
Character mistake: When Chekov is discussing the plan to hide behind Saturn, he says, "...if Mr. Scott can get us to warp 4...". But on the viewscreen, it shows they are already traveling at warp 4.31. (01:34:40)
Continuity mistake: After Chekov explains to Kirk his plan to hide behind Titan, Saturn's moon, Spock rejoins the group and tells them he will beam aboard Nero's ship. As he approaches, watch Scotty. The shot of Spock walking to the group shows Scotty has his head nearly straight, and his mouth closed. The shot changes to a close up on McCoy and Scotty is seen beside him. Suddenly, Scotty's mouth is open, and his head is leaning slightly more to his right. (01:35:40)
Continuity mistake: When Kirk is sneaking about on the Romulan ship, just after Spock takes off in the ship, we see a shot of him walking down a dark corridor, carrying what is very clearly a Romulan pistol (quite long and thin). When the shot changes, he suddenly has his standard Federation Phaser in his hand when he confronts Nero. He doesn't get a Romulan pistol like that until after the fight with the first officer, when his phaser falls over the edge. (01:42:55)
Continuity mistake: When Kirk confronts Nero in person for the first time, one of the Romulans hits him and knocks him onto his back. Nero rushes over to attack him. The shot of Nero running over is an aerial view, and Kirk is seen partly trying to recover on his back. Clearly, his right arm is partly stretched up in the air and his left arm moving as he has his head lifted up. But the shot cuts to Nero getting to him in a close up and suddenly Kirk is totally flat on his back with arms down and head down. (01:43:25)
Continuity mistake: After Nero learns that Spock has stolen the ship and destroyed the drill, the tip of his left ear is missing and his right ear is whole. In all other scenes, the tip of the right ear is missing. (01:44:50)
Continuity mistake: Just after Nero's ship goes into warp speed to chase after Spock, the scene cuts to Kirk being confronted by one of Nero's men. Kirk jumps off the ledge of the platform and lands on another ledge. His arms grab onto the ledge with his arms stretched out. The next shot shows his arms now next to his body. He then stretches out his right arm to try and climb on some more. The next shot shows both arms stretched out. (01:46:20)
Continuity mistake: As Kirk is being choked by a Romulan, he says "I've got your gun", then pulls the weapon and kills the Romulan. As the Romulan falls, Kirk grabs the edge of the platform and begins to pull himself up onto it. From well above, we see the Romulan's gun is lying on the platform pointing directly away from Kirk. But when the camera angle changes to show Kirk's face with the pistol between him and the camera, the gun now points to Kirk's left (our right). (01:46:40)
Revealing mistake: At the end of the film, when Kirk is receiving his medal, in the background you can see the female alien crewmember from the Enterprise bridge clapping with very human-like hands. (01:56:15)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the film when Kirk is being awarded his medal, behind the Federation Counsel you can see 3 flags in the background- the center flag is the California state flag. After Kirk shakes Pike's hand, and the camera pans up and back, the California flag is hanging significantly different so that it is no longer recognizable, seeming almost blank white. As the ceremony is indoors and all attending are standing motionless, this flag should not have moved. (01:56:25)
Other mistake: When the Kelvin is about to impact Nero's ship, the countdown, in seconds, goes from xx.00 to xx.30. Meaning the fraction of the seconds start at .30 when they should start at .99.
Character mistake: When the Enterprise first comes under attack from the Narada, Captain Pike gives the order "transfer power from port nacelles to forward shields" (confirmed by subtitles). As the Enterprise has only one port nacelle, his use of the plural is not correct.
Continuity mistake: When Kirk and Sulu are beamed aboard the Enterprise they land hard on the transporter pad, breaking the glass and it goes across the floor. When they get up and Spock uses the transporter, the glass on the floor is gone and the glass is unbroken.
Visible crew/equipment: As the camera closes in on a Young Jim Kirk in the Corvette, the camera rig is reflected in the vent window glass.
Answer: Kirk's never met Uhura - he wouldn't know where she's from. When he asks her name, she says that her name is "just Uhura" - Kirk's expecting to hear two names, first name and surname (just as he introduced himself as "Jim Kirk"). As such, his first question is to ask whether they don't have surnames on whatever world she comes from. As it happens, she is from Earth, she just doesn't want to tell him her full name; he doesn't know that, so he's making assumptions that are, in this case, completely wrong.
Tailkinker ★