Continuity mistake: After Brody says, "You're gonna need a bigger boat," he and Quint step out on deck and stare beyond the port side. However, in the next shot from behind them, they face starboard side as the shark swims nearer, but when Quint says, "Shut off that engine," they face port side again, with a close-up of Hooper looking port side as well. Then finally Quint follows as the shark passes from starboard to port side. (01:21:30)
Visible crew/equipment: When the three guys first see the shark, it shows a shot of the shark swimming past and there are shadows of equipment and about three crew members just watching the action. It's not eqiupment from the Orca because nothing is there that looks similar to this shadow. (01:22:00)
Visible crew/equipment: After spotting the shark, which Quint declares is a twenty five footer, Brody asks, "How do we handle this?" and the crew's swaying vessel is visible in the reflection on the starboard windows. (01:22:20)
Continuity mistake: After Quint states that it's a 25-footer, he rushes below deck and when he comes up with the harpoon case, the gauges on the panel to his left are visible. When he answers the call from Amity Point light station, there is a new large black knob attached the corner of the panel, that was not there before. The paper mess at the top of the panel differs as well. (01:22:25)
Continuity mistake: As Quint lies to Ellen Brody on the radio and yammers that they caught a couple of stripers, the window above the portable stove in the cabin is spotless. However, a moment later when Hooper is on his way to get to the homing device, there is an interior view as he walks along the side of the boat outside. In this shot there are scraped blotchy remnants of a large rectangle sticker on that same window, above the stove. (01:23:15)
Continuity mistake: When Hooper runs below deck to get the homing device, life jackets hang on top of the rope, to the left of the machete. When Quint gets the machete there are no life jackets near it and when the engine hatch blows up, life jackets hang against the wall where the machete was. The life jackets near the fire extinguishers change position as well. (01:23:55 - 01:44:45)
Continuity mistake: When Hooper runs below deck to get the electronic homing device, in the wideshot he breaks apart the plastic case, throwing the clear top to one side and the yellow bottom to the other side. However in the next close-up the plastic case is suddenly intact, right below Hooper's hands. The yellow cord is in Hooper's hand in the wideshots, but not in the close-up. (01:23:55)
Continuity mistake: When Quint shouts for Hooper to tie up the first barrel, Hooper's grip on the electronic tracking device differs from one shot to the next. (01:24:15)
Revealing mistake: After Hooper delays Quint's shot of the very first harpoon into the shark, he finally shoots and hits the right side of the shark's dorsal fin. Problem is that in this particular shot there is another harpoon already on the left side of the shark's dorsal fin! This is the exact same shot seen later in the film, after Quint shouts, "Run him down Hooper!" (01:24:50 - 01:41:00)
Continuity mistake: At Orca's bow, the hole in the steel hull beside its number, is oval shape. However, after Quint is gone, when the ship begins to sink, and later when Hooper surfaces beside the wreckage of the bow, the shape of the hole in the steel hull is completely different! The white water stain lines change throughout the shots as well. (01:25:00 - 02:01:10)
Continuity mistake: During the scene where Quint, Hooper and Chief Brody are in the cabin at night and Quint tells the story of the USS Indianapolis, he puts his cap on the table, seconds later it disappears then later reappears. The fork on the plate also turns completely around, without anyone ever touching it. (01:25:50)
Continuity mistake: The seat that Quint sits in with the fishing reel disappears after that scene has finished. These seats are bolted to the deck. (01:25:50 - 01:35:25)
Continuity mistake: When the three men are in the cabin of the Orca at night, Quint is leaning forward against the table and is drinking something. In the next shot, as Hooper feels the cut on his forehead, Quint is turned towards the side leaning on the back of his seat, but in the next shot of Quint, he is leaning forward again in the same position as the first shot. (01:26:30)
Continuity mistake: When Quint and Hooper show their scars and as Quint talks about the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the leftover food on the plate keeps changing between shots, as does the position of cutlery, etc. Hooper's position on the seat (note the window behind him) changes between shots as well. (01:28:00)
Continuity mistake: As Quint and Hooper drink to their legs, Brody lifts his sweater to see his own scar. Beside the portable stove, to Brody's left, there are four canned goods behind the green canisters of gas. Just after the shark starts to ram into the boat, there is a close-up of the stove, but now there are only two canned goods, a cup appears, and other changes in position, eg the liquor. (01:28:20)
Character mistake: Captain Quint tells Hooper and Brody that the USS Indianapolis delivered "the Hiroshima bomb" in 1945. This is a myth that has persisted for decades and right up to the present. To prevent it from being lost in one piece, the Hiroshima bomb was actually delivered in pieces by various means to Tinian Island, where the parts were reassembled before it was carried aboard the Enola Gay to its target in Japan. The USS Indianapolis delivered only the detonator for the bomb. (01:29:00)
Suggested correction: This isn't a mistake since even you say it is a commonly believed and spoken of myth, so how is the captain repeating a commonly held myth a movie mistake? That would be like calling it a movie mistake if the character of King Arthur said the world was flat.
I agree with Jason, that it was correct for the character of Quint to have truly believed it. This was submitted as a "character mistake" which is appropriate. According to MM's guidelines a character mistake is "something a character wrongly states as fact... Something more significant than a minor error anyone could make."
Suggested correction: Quint likely believed the ship carried the bomb. It's unlikely he would know the details of an intricate plan to deliver the pieces separately. It may not have been factually correct, but it was correct for the character to have believed it.
Continuity mistake: When Hooper asks Quint about being on the Indianapolis, both of his shirt buttons are unfastened. When Quint answers & starts telling the Indianapolis story, Hooper's bottom button is fastened. (01:29:20)
Character mistake: When Quint is telling the story of the Indianapolis, he says the ship went down on June 29th. It actually went down at 12:14 a.m. on July 30. (01:32:45)
Visible crew/equipment: While Quint tells of his experience with the U.S.S. Indianapolis, in the close-ups of Brody a crew member's arm with a watch is clearly visible moving in the reflection on the window, just behind Brody, particularly when Quint says, "Anyway, we delivered the bomb." (01:32:55)
Continuity mistake: There are two buttons on each of Quint's shirt cuffs. When Quint pokes his head out as he works in the engine room, one button is closed on his right cuff. When he gathers the rope in hands, just as the shark surprises him, he has two buttons closed, then as the rope is pulled from his hands only one button closed. (01:36:50)
