Character mistake: When Schaeffer, McFee, and Fergie walk down the dusty road to Amish village, Western gunslinger style, they make a silly mistake no cop would make - they assume that Amish villages are unarmed and undefended. No so. The Amish have no prohibition on guns and almost every house would have at least one hunting rifle or shotgun. The three bad guys are risking being shot to bits before they get halfway down that hill; they don't even make an attempt at concealment. (Wouldn't they also at least think John - a police officer - would still have his gun or might have got hold of a firearm from the Amish?)
Continuity mistake: When Harrison Ford confronts (and beats up) the tourists, there are a number of close-up shots of the people in the first wagon, including one where Viggo Mortensen leans forward and tells the driver to do nothing, even though he is being provoked. In all these close ups, Mortensen is bare-headed. When the shot changes to Ford's perspective, from the cart behind, we see one of the tourists grab a straw hat from Mortensen's head. The hat has appeared out of nowhere in a split second. There is a child with a straw hat behind Mortensen, but the hat stays on his head in both shots. (01:22:50)
Plot hole: When John tries to start his car with the flat battery the least he should have done is switch the windshield wipers off. (01:33:50)
Continuity mistake: When the people are having their break during the barn raise there is a panorama shot where most of the roof is gone that had been already fixed. (01:12:20)
Visible crew/equipment: After the funeral service, Eli, Rachel, and Samuel go back home by carriage. When the carriage is shown from the front you see a reflection of a camera in the windshield in front of Eli's hat. (00:06:25)
Revealing mistake: During the barn raise you see the some men using ridiculously small nails to connect huge beams. (01:20:20)
Continuity mistake: On the way from Lancaster to Philadelphia the length of the train changes. It's fairly long when it enters the Lancaster station; after leaving the station, in one shot it's just a locomotive and one car, while in a later shot it's a locomotive and three cars. (00:09:00)
Audio problem: When John milks the cow you hear the milk splashing into the bucket but you don't see any. (00:57:05)
Continuity mistake: When Samuel shows his new toy to Rachel she looks out of the kitchen window into the fields. Two shots later she looks out of the same window and, surprise, there are Eli and John putting up the bird house. When she talks to Eli later there is same window in the background, with no bird house to be seen. (01:23:50)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the film, during the wordless good-bye scene between Kelly McGillis and Harrison Ford, she stands at the door wearing her Amish bonnet. The straps hang untied in front of her shoulders, but after a cut to Ford, the bonnet straps are behind her shoulders. (01:42:30)
Continuity mistake: When John says good-bye to Samuel you see them from across a brook, sitting on the bank. In the next shot they are shown from behind and the brook is gone. To top it off, John even walks off in the direction where the brook was before. (01:41:35)
Continuity mistake: When Schaeffer and the bad cops approach the Amish Farm, it's late afternoon/early evening. But when Samuel runs to the Hochleitner farm, and when the other Amish come running, it is mid-day or early afternoon.
Suggested correction: I always thought Shaeffer and Co arrived at dawn, not dusk. Workers could have been in the fields a bit later when the bell rang. But the morning does seem to brighten quickly.
Factual error: When Rachel and Samuel leave for Philadelphia by train the train overtakes Daniel's cart after quite a while. That's not possible since Daniel was still standing on the platform when the train left the station. (00:08:45)
Continuity mistake: When the train overtakes the cart you see in alternating shots either the cart on the road with clear field in between or, in an angle showing Rachel's and Samuel's faces, a built-up area with station and factory looking buildings. (00:08:50)
Continuity mistake: When Rachel dances with John Book, she is chastised by her Father-in-law outside the house. As the camera angle switches back and forth from over his shoulder, then hers, the distance between them is radically different. Over her shoulder the brim of his straw hat is nearly touching her. From his perspective there appears to be a good three feet of distance. (01:05:00)
Continuity mistake: When John puts up Rachel and Samuel with his sisters they are shown to their bedroom. The sister goes down the stairs and says a few words to John before he leaves. When she comes back Rachel and Samuel have already changed into their nightgowns - not at all enough time for that. (00:21:15)
Continuity mistake: In the garage shooting John uses a white car for cover. This car is parked a bit diagonally, thus providing cover because McFee is attacking from the front. After the shooting the car is parked straight and closer to the wall. (00:30:45)
Factual error: The car John Book was driving was a 1971 Squareback Volkswagen. They were "repairing the car" under the hood, but the engine on that model was in the rear.
Suggested correction: It is never specified that they were working on the engine. They could have been working on the brakes or the steering, both accessed via the bonnet/hood.
