Continuity mistake: The huge rock rolls down to ground level, but when the angle changes it's back on a levelled position.
Continuity mistake: The position of the door through which Satipo escapes with the idol is inconsistent in every shot, sometimes it's higher, then almost closed, then back to open.
Continuity mistake: As Marion initiates the drinking challenge with Belloq, from the front she quickly tosses the drink back, tipping her head back then forward. From behind she repeats the motion.
Continuity mistake: When Indy is shot in the arm in the car, there's no blood on the windscreen at first, but in the very next shot there is.
Continuity mistake: After Marion's been thrown in the Well of Souls, a net and pair of sticks over the crate behind Belloq appear or disappear randomly between shots.
Continuity mistake: After the kids save Indy at the bar, he exits and there's a man on the right carrying a load on his shoulder. He appears and disappears randomly depending on the angle.
Continuity mistake: When Indy's crew is lifting the stone door to access the Well of Souls, big clouds of white smoke come out from every corner. A frame later, from a wider angle, they're gone.
Continuity mistake: About to grab the idol, Indy passes a stick over a pile of sand on the ground which has a leaf on the center. A frame later the leaf is on the left side.
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)
Continuity mistake: As the sergeant climbs to the truck's roof, Belloq turns his head to watch the scene. In that shot, the staff car is passing next to a group of plants. In the next shot, almost all the plants have disappeared. (01:26:55)
Continuity mistake: When Indy runs over the sergeant, the background behind the truck changes between shots, going from the desert to a mountain. (01:28:45)
Continuity mistake: As Gobler's jeep is returning to the road after being hit by Indy, Gobler's goggles move from his eyes to his cap between shots.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the Truck Chase, when Billy Horrigan starts shooting at Indy, Reg Harding's right hand goes from grabbing the front passenger seat to grabbing the metal bar of the jeep between shots. (01:23:28)
Continuity mistake: In the canyon, in the shot of Toht, just before Belloq says "Do as you will", everyone in the background (Marion and her two guards, Dietrich, some soldiers) is gone (taking as reference the giant stone behind Belloq and the characters' positions in the previous and next shots). (01:43:49)
Continuity mistake: When Dietrich and Toht look at the ghosts that pass behind them, the column of mist that is coming out of the Ark disappears.
Continuity mistake: In the Bantu Wind, the right arm of the soldier standing next to where Indy is hiding changes its position twice during Katanga's and Dietrich's speech. (01:36:18)
Continuity mistake: While the Holy Fire is killing the soldiers, in a shot of two soldiers being hit by the light, the stone wall is missing in the background of the scene. (01:47:30)
Continuity mistake: During the procession, after Indy hides behind the box, Captain Mohler can be seen walking with the soldiers behind the Ark. In the next shot, he's walking in front of the Ark.
Continuity mistake: In the first scene of the procession, the Nazis are walking in a straight line along a path. In the next shot, they are now going around a curve.
Continuity mistake: After the kliegs behind Dietrich, Belloq, and Toht explode, the Ark's energy begins to destroy the soldiers' guns and the kliegs next to them. In some shots, the kliegs on the altar are still working.
Answer: Indy and Marcus Brody believed that the Ark needed to be studied. They certainly didn't want to put it back where it was found. They believed that the U.S. government would find the best archaeologists, researchers, and scientists in the world to study the Ark. They are both upset that instead, the government has decided to simply lock the Ark away. This is why Indy says, "Fools. They don't know what they've got there," as he is leaving the building.
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