Visible crew/equipment: A camera shadow briefly intrudes on the right side of the screen as Kirk asks Mr. Scott about the sensor readings. (00:00:55)
Revealing mistake: McCoy's stunt double's face is visible several times during the fight with the berserk orderly in the sickbay lab. (00:19:15)
Continuity mistake: During McCoy's struggle with the orderly, only half of the plastic colored bottles strewn on the table are knocked off onto the floor. But when Nurse Chapel hurries over to tranquilize the orderly, the rest of the bottles vanish, leaving the table completely clear. (00:19:10)
Continuity mistake: Sulu's hooded viewer is up as he reports that the Defiant is starting to drift. In the next shot, a reverse angle showing the screen, the viewer disappears. This recurs throughout the episode. (00:06:10)
Continuity mistake: When Kirk is being beamed aboard near the end, the crewman operating the transporter has a single lieutenant's stripe. But in the close-up of his hands on the controls, the stripe changes into the braid of a lieutenant commander. (00:46:40)
Other mistake: After Chekov goes beserk on the bridge and Dr McCoy and Scotty restrain him, Spock enters the scene and grabs Chekov by the sides of his face. His hands are close together as a human's face is around eight inches wide. When the camera cuts to Chekov's perspective view of Spock, Spock's arms are spread way far apart. Either Chekov's face has ballooned to over two feet wide or Spock is grasping the Panavision camera by its two sides. (00:14:34)
Visible crew/equipment: In the very beginning, the boom shadow is visible at the top of the screen as Kirk walks to Spock's station on the bridge. (00:00:30)
Visible crew/equipment: After Uhura asks McCoy if she'll become like Chekov, McCoy reassures her about finding an antidote. Then, when it cuts to Engineering, there's an actor's black tape mark and a chalk T-mark visible on the floor. (00:38:10)
Continuity mistake: After Spock nerve pinches Chekov when he goes mad and he is taken to Sickbay, the Tholian ship appears and hails the Enterprise. When Spock says "on main viewer," the shot of Loskene is on the screen, but the back of Chekov's head can be seen when it should be in Sickbay.
Audio problem: Spock uses the intercom to call Mr. Scott who is in engineering. As the shot cuts to a side view of Scotty standing at the controls, he answers "Scott here" but his mouth or lips never move. (00:44:24)
Continuity mistake: When Checkov turns on the viewer in the transporter room, the Defiant is seen directly from the starboard side, when it should have been seen from the quarter profile port side, as it was drifting to the Enterprise's port side.
Audio problem: When Chekov goes berserk on the bridge, he emits a scream and shoves Spock. When Spock holds Chekov's face, the closeup on Chekov shows a scared look, and the original scream is played again, but Checkov's mouth doesn't match.
Other mistake: After the shot of McCoy checking Sickbay, there's a shot of Chekov. It was a quick shot but it can be seen that the film was run back and forth through about a second, as his movements can be seen to repeat rapidly in reverse and forward twice. (00:06:56)
Continuity mistake: When Kirk, Bones, Chekov, and Spock go over to the Defiant, the suits they have on have a black support bar in the left side of the headpiece. When the camera looks down at the dead men and back to Kirk, you see the bar is on the right, and his hair is parted on the right. The very next look at Kirk, the bar and the part of his hair is back on the left.
Chosen answer: If they're in orbit, they're being pulled along by the planet's gravity well, therefore, impulse engines would only be used for minor corrections and would be "on standby" while in orbit, but not active. (Like keeping your car idling without revving the engine and creating plumes of exhaust).
Captain Defenestrator
Thank you for the info.
Movie Nut