Revealing mistake: When Darth Vader lands on Endor there is a shot of him walking out of the shuttle, underneath the ramp there is slight black spot which probably marked the transition from studio set to matte painting. This was eliminated for the 4K release in 2019. (01:22:47)
Revealing mistake: When Luke and Vader enter the Emperor's throne room, in the shot from behind, you can see the stairs through Luke. (01:26:30)
Other mistake: Widescreen version: When Luke and Vader enter the Emperor's throne room, the stars seen through the window behind the Emperor move a little faster than the stars seen through the two other windows. (01:26:35)
Audio problem: In the beginning of the space battle, a Mon Calamari says, "Admiral, we have enemy ships in Sector 47.", but his lips don't move. (01:31:15)
Continuity mistake: When Lando says, "Fighters coming in," a whole bunch of TIE fighters come towards them. There's initially a lot anyway, but then after about a second, two horizontal lines of 4 fighters appear from nowhere (centre screen, underneath the Super Star Destroyer). They suddenly just pop into existence, large enough that we should have seen them approaching. (01:31:20)
Continuity mistake: Widescreen version: When the captured rebels are led out of the bunker, C-3PO walks out from behind a tree. In the next shot, the tree is much bigger, and C-3PO is further away from it. (01:33:10)
Revealing mistake: After the Rebels break into the bunker, a Rebel in the background punches an officer. But if you watch closely or play it in slow motion, the Rebel's hand never comes into contact with the officer's face. (01:33:25)
Revealing mistake: At the beginning of the ground battle on Endor, two stormtroopers are knocked to the ground by the Ewoks. In the following shot, one of the troopers has a big crack in the left shoulder of his armour. The crack was obviously not there in the previous shot. (01:34:40)
Continuity mistake: When the droids are hiding behind a tree before R2-D2 shoots off to help Han and Leia, the background changes twice. (01:35:45)
Continuity mistake: During the battle against the Death Star, right before the Emperor gives permission to fire the Death Star, Wedge says, "Red Three, Red Two, pull in." Another pilot answers, "Got it", but it is neither Red Two nor Three, but Green Leader. (01:36:25)
Other mistake: When the ground battle on Endor begins, Leia runs to the bunker, and as the doors close, she fires a shot. In the original version of the movie, the blaster smokes, but no laser beam comes out of it and no sound is heard (do not confuse this with the sound of the doors closing). In the Special Edition, the sound has been added, but the laser is still missing. (01:38:05)
Audio problem: After R2-D2 gets shot, Leia says to Han, "I'll cover you.", but the words don't match the movement of her lips. (01:39:00)
Revealing mistake: In the battle on Endor, there is a shot of some Ewoks on a catapult and the at-st fires at them. Notice the second time they get fired at, the blast hits the catapult. Just before the shot ends, notice there is no damage to it. (01:40:10)
Continuity mistake: When Vader throws his lighsabre, it hits one of the supports holding the catwalk, but in the next shot, it is nowhere to be seen. (01:45:50)
Other mistake: After the catwalk that Luke is standing on collapses, Vader walks down the stairs to find him. In the first shot, there's a shadow of a lightsaber blade on the right side of the steps, but Vader's sabre is extinguished at this point. It can't be the shadow of Luke's sabre. Widescreen version only. (01:46:00)
Continuity mistake: When the Imperials are tricked into leaving the bunker, they are surrounded by Ewoks, and as the shot ends, if you look through the crowd, you can see that Han turns his head to his right. In the next shot, he's facing forward again. (01:46:55)
Continuity mistake: When Han is planting explosives in the bunker, he says, "Throw me another charge." and places the charge on a crossbeam. In the next shot, the charge is on a different part of the ceiling. (01:47:00)
Continuity mistake: When Vader is searching for Luke in the dark, in the first shot, he is walking around a computer terminal, with the great window behind him. In the next shot, he's on the other side of the terminal, with the window in front of him. (01:47:10)
Continuity mistake: When Vader is searching for Luke in the dark, as he says, "If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will." he is holding what appears to be Luke's lightsaber in his left hand. But when Luke ignites his sabre in the next shot, he somehow has it again. (01:48:10)
Revealing mistake: Just before Luke chops off Darth Vader's hand in the battle at the end of the movie, you can see that the bar has already been cut (the line is visible) to give the illusion that Luke cut through the steel bar with his lightsaber as well as Vader's hand. (01:48:45)
