Continuity mistake: At the beginning when Indy is talking to Spalko, his hands keep alternating from being in his pockets to just resting at his sides between shots.
Continuity mistake: At the start, just as the carful of teenagers joins the convoy of military vehicles on the road, there are very long shadows being cast on the road, which vanish in the following shots. Their long shadows return when the convoy turns onto another road, but disappear again as they arrive at the main gate. (00:00:45)
Continuity mistake: During the siafu ant attack, while fisticuffs ensue between Indiana and Dovchenko, note the direction of Dovchenko's belt, with its buckle prongs to his left. Then, when Dovchenko falls backwards and the ants swarm all over him, his belt is worn around his waist the opposite way, with its prongs to his right (neither are flipped shots). (01:26:55)
Continuity mistake: At Hangar 51, after the Soviets open the crate with the mummified alien, Indiana grabs his whip and secures guns for Mac and himself. In the close-up and wide shot, Indiana is gripping the whip within his palm, but in the next shot, the whip is held with only his index finger; then it's back to being gripped in his palm. Also, while Indiana is aiming the gun at Spalko, the military jeep behind him changes its distance, depending on the shot. (00:13:15)
Continuity mistake: After Indiana and team fall off the disappearing stairs as they make their way into the lost city, they are walking around in the water. But when they step through the next door into the treasure room, all are completely dry.
Continuity mistake: When Indiana and Mutt are in the diner, at the start of the scene there is a pretty blonde girl sitting at the counter just past the corner. A moment later, her seat and the one next to it are occupied by the two Russian guys in suits, and she is talking to a guy with glasses who was earlier by himself. Not enough time had passed for that to change.
Continuity mistake: At the start, when the carful of teens pulls up alongside the convoy's lead vehicle, in the first shot of that lead driver (his reflection is in the round wing mirror), the side of the hood reads "U.S. Army" and "276***," the partial serial number beneath. Then, in the next shot and subsequent shots, the lead vehicle's serial number reads "1B7731" to the side of the hood. Just to add, when Spalko arrives at Hangar 51, her vehicle has that "276" serial number with license plate W-539. (00:01:05)
Continuity mistake: When Indiana is with Mutt while the boy rides the motorcycle, Indiana's shoes change; note the soles change from heels to flat rubber-type soles, then back to heeled soles.
Continuity mistake: When Indiana Jones is locked in the chair at the Russian camp, there is a reel-to-reel tape recorder machine running to Indy's left. When you first see it, the amount of tape on the left reel is low. Then, when Irina Spalko walks in, she goes over to it and flicks a switch. As the camera moves out, the tape on the left-hand reel is suddenly nearly equal to the one on the right.
Continuity mistake: In the tent, Indy's wrists are tied and he's facing the crystal skull. From one angle his hands are clenched fists, but from a different one they hang loose. The difference is noticable because the angles keep swapping and the hand positions are not continuous.
Continuity mistake: In the forest car chase, towards the end of Mutt's sword-fight, we see Indy driving a car behind Mutt. It cuts to Mutt picking up the skull and then back and Indy's car has disappeared. Then, as Mutt falls off the car, magically Indy appears in time to catch him.
Continuity mistake: During the beginning chase with Mutt and Indy, the bus goes from next to them in one shot to behind them in another.
Continuity mistake: When Indy and Irina are standing in the foreground analyzing Ox's drawings, look over Indy's shoulder and you will see Ox, Marion and Mutt standing up and moving forward. After the scene cuts a couple of times, a soldier asks them to stand up and move forward again.
Continuity mistake: When Indy and Mutt first meet in the diner scene, look out the window behind Indy. A group of leather-clad bikers are sitting and talking on their motorcycles. They vanish and reappear at least three times during the scene.
Continuity mistake: In the jungle chase scene, Indy and the others blow up the front-running plough machine. They then continue to drive around in a ploughed jungle alley. They should be hitting a lot of trees.
Continuity mistake: Just before the Russian backhands Indy in front of the warehouse at the beginning of the film, his hands are crossed behind his own back, but immediately in the next shot, they're crossed in front of him.
Continuity mistake: When Mutt slams his fist on the table in the diner, the ketchup and mustard bottles fall over. When the shot pans to Indiana's back, the bottles are standing up again. He then tells Mutt to sit down and the camera pans back to Mutt. The bottles are lying down again and Indiana picks them both up.
Continuity mistake: After visiting Ox's jail, Indy arrives at the ruins and it's pitch dark. He enters the burial room several minutes later and sun beams are now coming through the ceiling.
Continuity mistake: In the opening scene with the drag race, the lead car in the caravan speeds ahead in response to the challenge. In the next scene, the caravan turns right and the challenger continues straight. At this point, the entire caravan is together despite the fact that the lead car would have been far ahead by that point.
Continuity mistake: When they fall into the water, while the stairs disappear, the skull splashes twice.
Chosen answer: Because the film had a global release date, and premiered the same day in every country in the world. Obviously, the studio felt this was the best day to do it.
Twotall