Continuity mistake: When we first see Colonel Dietrich, he, Belloq and Gobler are crossing Tanis on foot. The scene cuts out when the three of them arrive next to some wagons. However, seven minutes later (in movie time) they are shown again in exactly the same position as they were in the first shot, continuing their actions. This is also seen in the two soldiers in the background on a hill and in a soldier on horseback going from left to right. Even Indy’s team is visible in the first shot, when he is supposed to be in another place only with Sallah. (00:50:09 - 00:57:00)
Continuity mistake: When the sergeant throws Indy out of the truck window, the adventurer grabs the Mercedes logo with his left hand. After two shots, he is to have let go. However, in the next shot, Indy is grabbing it again. (01:27:25)
Continuity mistake: As the Nazis are preparing to leave Tanis, a soldier fires a shot into the air, causing several Arabs to fall to the ground and land in the middle of a circle of soldiers. In the next shot, as Belloq heads for the car, all the downed Arabs, the sergeant and the circle of soldiers have disappeared, with only the soldiers who were loading the Ark onto the truck remaining. (01:26:55)
Continuity mistake: Just as Indy crashes Gobler's jeep for the second time, you can see that beside the desert road is a large forest. However, the jeep falls off a cliff that appears out of nowhere. (01:25:37)
Continuity mistake: When Indy throws Terry Leonard out of the truck, the forest they were driving through disappears. Then Indy closes the truck's door and the forest reappears. (01:24:22)
Continuity mistake: In Geheimhaven, Indy watches the submarine hidden behind some ropes. When Marion comes out of the submarine and the camera focuses on the back of Indy's head, the ropes disappear. (01:39:13)
Character mistake: When Gobler informs Dietrich about the preparation of the Flying Wing, the former calls the Colonel "Herr Major." (01:16:25)
Plot hole: When the sergeant takes control of the truck, Dietrich directs him to approach to crush Indy between the staff car and the truck, which takes time and allows Indy to make his famous scene. However, Dietrich could easily have shot him and arrived in Cairo with the Ark in his possession. (01:27:40)
Suggested correction: Shooting means risking hitting the truck's engine, which means finding new transport for the ark. All of which takes time off their schedule. Bad guys are always on a schedule.
True.
Revealing mistake: While Indy and Marion are in the Well of Souls, and they encounter the snakes, Indy falls to the ground only to be confronted by a hissing Cobra rearing its head. Look carefully and you'll see the snake's reflection on the safety glass between it and Indy. Briefly you can also see the torch's reflection while he's waving it around. You can also see Marion's reflection when she falls in later on and is face to face with the cobra. [This has been corrected in the new DVD set. You can only see it if you have the original VHS. I think it's visible in the "making of" on the DVD as well.]
Continuity mistake: When Indy goes to save Marion in the tent he removes the handkerchief gag. But when he decides to leave her there, he puts the gag back on and some of her hair gets caught underneath the gag on one close up shot from the left. But when the camera goes to the back of Indy, her hair is no longer caught underneath the gag. (00:56:00)
Continuity mistake: Near the beginning of the movie where Indiana is running away from the tribe of South American Indians after Belloq robs Indiana of the gold statue, in one shot you can see that the Indians are only a few meters behind Indiana, but in the next shot, they are at least 50 meters behind. (00:11:20)
Revealing mistake: Watch the shadow of the stone Indy pushes out to escape from the Well Of Souls - it bounces down the sand dune, exactly the way a large rock shouldn't. (01:15:30)
Plot hole: When Indy and Sallah visit the gentleman who translates the staff headpiece for them we hear the staff should be "six cadams high." Indy replies, "About 72 inches." Then, turning the headpiece over, "Wait - take back one cadam to honor the Hebrew God whose ark this is." It's definitely referring to the staff length - Indy says afterwards "Their staff is too long." So, about five feet now, right? But, when Indy goes to the map room the staff is much taller than him. If the staff is about five feet high, Indy would be around three feet tall. (00:48:25 - 00:53:05)
Visible crew/equipment: As soon as Marion gets locked in the cockpit of the Nazi plane, you can see a crew, a blue van, a ladder, and a crew member with a white sleeveless shirt and a big brimmed hat, all in the reflection of the glass. (01:18:20)
Continuity mistake: Before the shoot-out in Marion's bar, before the Nazis enter and ask her for the amulet, she's sitting alone at the table. She pulls the amulet out of her shirt, the chain still around her neck, and stares at it in the candlelight. The next moment the chain is not around her neck and she hangs the necklace onto the table centrepiece. (00:28:20)
Revealing mistake: After Indy gets behind the wheel of the truck containing the ark, he jerks the steering wheel to the right to run the pursuing jeep off the road. He then jerks the wheel to the left to hit an upcoming motorcycle. In neither case do you see his body sway with the presumably drastic swerve of the truck. Apparently this was filmed in a stationary vehicle, or one in tow that was fitted with a prop steering wheel.
Revealing mistake: When Indy fights the driver of the Nazi truck, he gets thrown through the windshield, and eventually ends up underneath the truck. When he is climbing underneath the truck, heading towards the back of it, you can see the trench that was dug down the middle of the road to provide the stuntman (this being one of the few stunts that Ford didn't do himself) with the extra room needed to do this feat. (This is backed up by DVD commentary. The director stated that the truck was too low to the ground so they had to dig the trench in order for there to be enough room for the stuntman). (01:27:50)
Factual error: The film starts in the year 1936, and just like the RPG Indy uses to threaten Belloq with, the MP40s (or at the earliest, MP38s) are an arms-historical anachronism in this movie. As the numbers in their names imply, the MP38 was first produced in 1938. The weapons in the movie are not the similar-looking ERMA MP-36, you can see the ribbed, vertically angled magazine holders typical for the MP40 - its predecessors had either a 30°-canted, smooth magazine holder (MP36) or a round viewing port for checking the ammo (MP38). (01:31:45)
Continuity mistake: When Indy is distracted by the young girl and her eyelid message, the girl changes from a window seat to another row when the bell rings to end class.
Continuity mistake: In the Himalayan bar scene when the sherpas leave, Marion starts to pick up the shot glasses and puts them on a tray - there's a large group left at one end of the table, one in the middle, and two by a bowl at the other end. When she returns for the rest, the two by the bowl have vanished. (00:26:20)
