Continuity mistake: At the start when Azeem is tied up in the prison, at one point when he asks the Christian to free him, his hands are tied at the wrists, then apart tied to the wall, and then back to his wrist all in three quick takes. (00:05:15)
Continuity mistake: When Robin reaches his homeland, after he kisses the ground, he rolls over in the water. His coat is covering him, then in the next scene, it isn't, then it is, then it isn't. (00:12:15)
Revealing mistake: When Robin Hood is fighting the sheriff's men under the tree, Robin throws a crossbow at one of the men. You can see the plexiglass, which is protecting the actor, get marked up and shake from the impact. (00:18:02)
Continuity mistake: When Robin and Azeem are escaping on horseback from the sheriff's men at Marian's castle, crossbows are being fired at them from the left side and one hits Robin's horse. When Robin pulls the crossbow bolt from his horse a minute later he pulls it from the horse's right side. (00:35:05 - 00:36:00)
Continuity mistake: When Robin is testing the river before they cross, the rope that trips him is seen below the water looking bright yellow. But once out of the water, it looks brown with moss on it. (00:39:00)
Continuity mistake: Just before the 'one true weapon' speech, one of the villagers shows Robin what the soldiers did to his son, Will walks toward Robin and pulls his dagger from its scabbard, after Azeem says 'if it's fame you seek.' the camera goes back to Will and he is no longer carrying it. In the behind shots, it can be seen back inside its scabbard. (00:55:00)
Continuity mistake: When the soldiers are taking anything valuable out of a village church, when they put up a wanted poster outside, Robin shoots an arrow into the poster and then Little John rips it of the wall and shows it to the men. When someone says, "Give it back" the soldiers drop what they are holding, and the poster is still on the wall with the arrow through it. (01:00:00)
Factual error: The Sheriff of Nottingham seems to use timekeeping as we do today in the modern age of clocks. However, in the 1100's, when the film takes place, an accurate tell of time was only available during sun-up hours using a sun-dial that needed daily adjustment in order to stay accurate. So sundials would save this mistake, however, the use of torches in the scene as well as an additional source of cool light (the moon) suggests it was nighttime when 10:30 and 10:45 were mentioned. (01:05:30)
Continuity mistake: When Robin and his men steal the cart of brew and Friar Tuck, the Friar's trousers (that he is wearing under his brown robe) change colour repeatedly between shots. When he is singing, and when he is trying to sit up after the men have opened the chest of money, the are flesh coloured (cream). But when he has been hit on the head by the branch and falls from the cart, they are brown. (01:05:40 - 01:06:45)
Deliberate mistake: In the scene with the forest battle, the scene with flaming arrows being fired was filmed on grass (look at the ground) in a separate location, because it wasn't safe to fire them in a real forest. (01:33:25)
Continuity mistake: In the big fight scene in the forest Robin is not wearing his necklace. But when he goes to help save Fanny before he swings across the necklace suddenly is around his neck. (01:39:40 - 01:40:25)
Continuity mistake: During the hanging scene, after Wolf attacks Will, when Will is brought to the front of the crowd the manner in which the two guards restrain him changes repeatedly between shots. (01:54:05)
Continuity mistake: During the hanging scene, when Bull cuts the rope to close the gate, he cuts it and runs so he doesn't get squashed by it, but in the zoomed out shot, he is suddenly on the ground and rolling away. (01:57:20)
Plot hole: The Bishop in the film is performing the duties you would expect of someone in his position (giving mass, hearing confessions, performing weddings etc.) He has his own private chambers in the cathedral, refers to Robin as 'the boy I knew' and talks about hearing his Father's confession four months earlier; so he's been around for a while. The problem is the credits refer to him as the 'Bishop of Hereford'. No explanation is ever given for why the Bishop of a city 100 miles away is living and working in Nottingham rather than looking after his own diocese; or why the Bishop of Nottingham isn't around to look after his. (The Bishop of Hereford was an enemy of Robin Hood in the original ballads, and it's likely the filmmakers just gave that name to the Bishop in the film due to its familiarity, without thinking about the plot hole this creates).
Factual error: Robin and Azeem land at the white cliffs and Robin says something like, 'Tonight we will dine with my father'. Those white cliffs are the Seven Sisters in East Sussex, about 200 miles from Nottingham. It would probably take about two weeks to walk it. They also reach Hadrian's Wall in the next scene, which is 200 miles further north than Nottingham.
Continuity mistake: When Robin is burying his father, he cuts his hand saying, "I swear it by my own blood" and that he will avenge his fathers murder. We see the blood dripping over his fingers. Suddenly the camera shot changes and Robin's hand has no blood seeping between the fingers.
Factual error: There is no reason why the executioner would have an axe just conveniently lying around on the scaffold to use on Will Scarlet. All the criminals were sentenced to hang, he wasn't expecting to behead anybody. (For those thinking this might just be a contingency - beheading as a punishment was only ever used on members of the nobility. It's not like the executioner or the Sheriff would have prepared this as a back up 'just in case' - public executions didn't work like that).
Factual error: When Marian is embroidering at home, she is singing to herself "Le chant des oiseaux", which Renaissance composer Clement Janequin didn't write until the 16th century.
Continuity mistake: When Robin reaches the cliffs after escaping from prison, he jumps out of the boat and starts kissing the ground. He then reaches out with his right hand for help up, but when the camera switches, he's being lifted by his left.
Factual error: Aside from the earlier mentioned mistake of them apparently walking to Nottingham in less than a day, if Azeem was facing Mecca to pray, they set off in a southerly direction anyway.
Chosen answer: The masked men weren't part of a cult, they were the Sheriff's soldiers, the same ones that Robin meets when he first returns home. They are just in hoods and masks to appear intimidating while trying to kill the noblemen, like Locksley.
Bishop73