Past Tense - S3-E4
Revealing mistake: As the helicopter takes off with the prisoner, guards shoot it repeatedly. In particular in a close-up they shoot off two grills on the engine combustion fuel drain. Looking at the close-up, you can see the wires used to detonate the charges, and bits of the black paper/gaffer tape that kept the explosion rigging together, flapping now in the wind. (00:07:55)
Past Tense - S3-E4
Continuity mistake: One of the skyjackers is about to kill Higgins, saying that one hostage is plenty already. His boss though rushes in and stops him. In the first shot the man with the gun has his arm bent and the boss is standing with his arms folded. In the second, Gun Guy has his arm fully straight and Boss Guy starts by leaning on the palm with his arm up on the trunk. (00:13:20)
Past Tense - S3-E4
Other mistake: Magnum quite literally breaks into TC's office, shattering the glass with his shoe and reaching through to unlock the door. When he and Rick leave, he reaches in again and locks the door back. They get stopped by Lieutenant Yoshi Tanaka in the corridor, have a bit of banter without them touching the door, and when the policemen walk past them, they just have to push the door to open it; it's completely unlocked already. (00:15:55 - 00:16:55)
Past Tense - S3-E4
Continuity mistake: The front of John Hillerman's shirt is practically spotless when the bad guy calls him "Sergeant Major" on top of the hill, but when he escapes with TC after shoving him down, it's a messy sweat. The back of the shirt was also very sweaty in the opening of the scene, but the sweat is different with a smaller stain when they both turn around after TC's kick. (00:23:45)
Past Tense - S3-E4
Revealing mistake: In the sequence when the three baddies are pushed down the slope, stunt doubles are used, with the black haired guy's being especially obvious. The stunt person is noticeably younger and leaner and with longer hair. (00:23:50)
Past Tense - S3-E4
Revealing mistake: TC kicks the boss villain in the face as he tries to climb back the hill; the kick misses by a mile. (00:24:00)
Past Tense - S3-E4
Continuity mistake: When Magnum speaks to Tanaka in front of the police station, he leans against his car; his hand is on the windshield in the close-ups on Kwan Hi Lim, but on the hood in Tom Selleck's. (00:27:25)
Past Tense - S3-E4
Continuity mistake: John Hillerman's shirt has a pronounced sweat stain all across his pecs when Floys leaves to go check on Jack. The stain is barely a hint 30 seconds and a couple cuts later when he hears the gunshot. (00:32:00)
Past Tense - S3-E4
Continuity mistake: Higgins' sweat on his khakis is inconsistent when Lyden ties him up, completely gone when he tells the honey story to TC in agony. (00:37:00)
Continuity mistake: In the first scene after the opening credits, when the woman approaches the very Londonian chap greeting him with "'allo ducks", extras in the background don't transition between one shot and its reverse. (00:02:30)
Revealing mistake: In the flashback of the massacre in Africa experienced by the man in the opening when he stares at the moon, one of the extras is supposed to fall struck down by a rifle shot, but she is blatantly using the arms to soften the fall, and then tries to adjust flat on the ground, making it all look like she just decided to start doing push-ups on the spot. (00:03:15)
Continuity mistake: Higgins is interrupted in his reading of Lord Byron's "So, we'll go no more a roving" by distinctly un-African music. As it happens, the book in his lap changes angle entirely in his lap. (00:06:15)
Audio problem: Higgins watches Magnum spit what he chewed on and gives him a "Magnum..." full of contempt. Magnum responds ever cheerful "Sorry, want a bite?" but the audio of the sentence is much lower than in the rest of the scene. (00:13:10)
Visible crew/equipment: After the chat on the intercom with Rick, Higgins storms back to the phone. Meanwhile Magnum approaches the window. On the wall on the left of the frame, the shadow of the boom mike appears. (00:18:30)
Continuity mistake: Higgins is still awake and Magnum sits on the couch with a glass of milk and a cookie. Between shots, the glass fills up - initially it was at the level of his middle finger, afterwards it moved up above his index. (00:29:20)
Continuity mistake: Rick gets KTFO by the mace being thrown at him. He collapses unconscious on the carpet that makes a noticeable hump, and his arm is past the pillar. Magnum comes to his rescue, and Rick is still out but the carpet straightened itself and Rick's arm is by his body. (00:32:30)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the episode, Thomas is sitting by Higgins that is playing Pac Man. TC arrives and Magnum stands up. There are two towels on the wall, and they are one on top of the other not overlapping by about 3 inches. By the time TC is in the water with Magnum, they are stacked perfectly. (00:46:30)
Audio problem: Magnum slips into the car in 1936 with his client out of the club. If you pay attention to the audio, there is sometimes a droning noise as if someone were using a leaf blower nearby (it's actually because in editing they cut out all sounds below a certain level - but some of it spiked enough to stay into the audible range). (00:11:20)
Factual error: Magnum gets to the airfield looking for TC the first time, at the very beginning of his drive you can see in the building in the background a modern window AC unit - that kind of device was available in 1936, but its cost certainly makes it unlikely, as it'd cost the equivalent of $8,000 today, not really something for the dingy shack it's mounted on. (00:16:55)
