When Danny get a card that says "Shipmate enters cryonic sleep for 5 turns," it actually takes 8 turns.
The circular saw that the defective robot grabs from the hatch in its back is shown in most shots to be held closely between the robots two fingers - except when the saw is being used to cut the fireplace; here the saw is shown to have a large hub between the blade and the holding fingers.
Josh Hutcherson's (Walter) hair changes style frequently throughout the movie, even though the film is set in one day.
When the Zorgons first appear, they shoot out the windows in the kitchen. But later, when the astronaut is telling the kids to shut off all the lights, the windows are intact.
When Walter is watching SportsCenter (1979), he changes positions between the one close-up of his head and then the medium shot of him on the chair.
In the final play of the game, Walter tells Danny "You need ten to win." However, the spinning part shows only a single digit of 0-9(?) He could not possibly get a 10. He did get a 1.
Although he did get a 1, his card told him to move forward 9 spaces, totaling 10 in all; enough to win the game.
Although he did get a 1, his card told him to move forward 9 spaces, totaling 10 in all; enough to win the game.
When Danny breaks the broom on the kitchen table, you can clearly see it has been sawed halfway through.
When Danny is on the Zargon ship trying to avoid being seen by the Zargon, while grabbing at the game, you can clearly see the arm of either a camera man or puppeteer just to his right. He dodges back and forth and the arm is there at first then gone on the second attempt.
When Danny first finds the game he looks at the game and says to Walter "what's Zathura?", clearly able to read and pronounce such an unusual word. But just seconds later after the first card pops out he struggles with the phrase "Meteor shower, take evasive action". Throughout the rest of the movie Walter needs to read the cards and Danny even tries to read another card and he is unable to read words like "rescue" and "stranded".
Danny asks his father to play "Smash Brothers". This is an obvious reference to a series of Nintendo games titled "Super Smash Bros." that is only available on the Gamecube and Nintendo 64. Danny is holding Sony Playstation 2 controllers.