Raiders of the Lost Ark

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)

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Dietrich and Gobler walk forward to stand next to Belloq while he's saying, "Once again, Jones..." In the next shot, Gobler has disappeared (this can be spotted by the distance between Belloq and Gobler's foot in the first shot). (01:10:57)

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Continuity mistake: Dietrich asks, "If we refuse?" Next to him stand four soldiers in a row, looking at Indy. In the next shot, the soldier who was holding a rifle is gone, and the two with machine guns are now giving their backs to Dietrich. (01:42:52)

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Continuity mistake: When Indy is entering Marhala Bar, Steve Hanson is right behind him, following Indy inside. In the next shot, Steve is suddenly standing next to Belloq (he seems to have arrived before Indy did). (00:43:08)

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Continuity mistake: Between the shots of Indy dressing as a Nazi and Captain Mohler reporting to Belloq and Dietrich, the Wurrfler appears to have advanced several inches forward (taking as reference the background behind the submarine, Mohler's location, and the fact that Belloq turns his head to the left to look at the Captain).

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Continuity mistake: As Dietrich, Toht, Belloq and Marion board the Wurrfler, a naval officer descends the ladder and turns, his back to the ladder. In the next shot, he is facing the ladder.

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Continuity mistake: The Angel of Death, judging from the position of the lid of the Ark (the two angels can be seen below the ghost), is located just above Dietrich's head. However, Toht screams as if it were right in front of him and Dietrich as if it were in front of Belloq (judging by their looks).

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Dietrich and Gobler come into the tent, Toht's leather case can be seen already opened. In the next shot, the case is suddenly closed.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Marion arrives on the deck of the Bantu Wind, Dietrich turns to look at her. Katanga is in the background, behind the colonel. But, just before Marion hits Dietrich, Katanga appears on the opposite side from where he was and catches Marion. (01:36:00)

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Continuity mistake: When the gunfight at The Raven begins, the Ratty Nepalese crawls next to two tables (one of them has the medallion and the log). He knocks down the one without the medallion, but in the next shot, the knocked down is the one that has the log and the medallion. (00:31:10)

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Continuity mistake: Eaton and Musgrove are sitting, waiting for Indy to open the book. When Indy opens it, suddenly Musgrove is standing. (00:19:43)

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Indy abruptly brakes the truck and the Ark box slides backwards, the poles on either side of the box disappear for the rest of the chase.

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Continuity mistake: When the Wurffler arrives to Geheimhaven dock, six soldiers and an officer are running towards the submarine. In the next shot, the seven men have disappeared.

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Continuity mistake: On the blackboard, between the numbers 4 and 5, the word "and" is written. After the girl shows the "Love you", the word is replaced by a dot. (00:13:49)

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Over Belloq's left shoulder and behind Toht, a soldier stands next to a klieg with a machine gun. In the next shot, the soldier's gun has disappeared. (01:44:25)

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Continuity mistake: During the procession scene, in the shot before Toht takes off his hat, about twenty soldiers can be seen walking. After Indy leaves the procession and hides behind a box, in the next shot, there appear to be twice as many soldiers as in the first scene. Just before Indy shouts "Hello!", the quantity has returned to twenty.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the two soldiers place the Ark on the altar, they move to the walls of the canyon, and Toht stands next to Belloq. A few shots later, the soldiers are next to the Ark's poles (where they will be in the next shot), and Toht seems to be very huge. (01:44:39)

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Continuity mistake: As the Ark is placed on the altar, Toht moves to the left of Belloq. Behind the German, a soldier without cap can be seen filming with a hand-held camera. In the next shot, that soldier has moved to the opposite side of the canyon and is squatting. (01:44:24)

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

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)

More mistakes in Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indy: There's a big snake in the plane!
Jack: Oh, that's just my pet snake Reggie.
Indy: I hate snakes, Jack! I HATE 'EM!
Jack: Oh, come on! Show a little backbone, will ya?

More quotes from Raiders of the Lost Ark

Trivia: When a Nazi falls from the back of the truck carrying the Ark, a "Wilhelm scream" can be heard.

More trivia for Raiders of the Lost Ark

Question: After the scene where Indy first goes onto the German U-boat, he runs around apparently looking for something, then the scene changes to the inside of the sub where you can hear that the order has been given to dive. Was there an actual scene cut out of the film where Indy lashes himself to the periscope? (When Raiders first came out in Aus, I vividly remember seeing it with this scene.)

Answer: The scene you describe was indeed filmed. It was cut out of the US release of the film although I cannot speak for the Australian version. The scene also appears in the Marvel Comics adaptation. http://www.theraider.net/films/raiders/deleted_scenes.php has a list of this and the other deleted scenes.

Phil C.

More questions & answers from Raiders of the Lost Ark

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