Excalibur (1981) - 66 mistakes

Continuity: At the beginning of the movie Merlin says, "Show the sword" and we see Excalibur for the first time in a human hand. Uther at first holds the sword with his thumb wrapped around the handle, then in the close-up his thumb is pointing upward then in the next shot his thumb is wrapped around the handle again.

Continuity: Uther wants Merlin to get Igrayne for him to sleep with and they both climb to the top of a hill so that Merlin can cast a spell on her. Merlin says, "Annal Nathrach" with his scepter held high in the air but in the next shot the scepter is at eye level.

Continuity: Cornwall rides out in pursuit of Uther and is impaled as his horse throws him off. The next time we see him a few shots later as Uther makes love to Igrayne the spears protruding from his chest are not in the same spots.

Continuity: Igrayne Says, "My lord" as Uther takes her into his arms. At first she holds him with her right hand around his waist but in the next shot her right hand is on his arm.

Continuity: Uther walks into Igrayne's chamber and says of Morgana, "She watches me with her father's eyes". At first the baby is holding onto Igrayne with his right hand then in the next shot his right hand is in the air.

Visible crew/equipment: As Merlin asks for his son, Uther takes the child in his arms from Igrayne and the shadow of a crew member standing to the right of them off camera appears on him and the child.

Audio problem: Merlin appears and says to Uther, "The child is mine" but his lips actually say, "Your child is mine, Uther".

Audio problem: Uther takes the child from Igrayne to give to Merlin as she screams. In the next shot we still hear her screaming but her mouth is closed.

Audio problem: As he chases Merlin into the wilderness, Uther takes Excalibur and trusts it into the stone. The battle didn't take place there, but if you look at the mud around the stone there are many footprints from the crew members' feet.

Continuity: Uther thrusts Excalibur into the side of the stone. In the next shot many years later, Excalibur is stuck into the top part of the stone.

Continuity: Several knights joust and the winner has the right to try to pull Excalibur out of the stone. The winner tries but cannot do it and sets the sword rocking back and forth in the stone. The shot lasts until Excalibur stops moving, then in the next shot it's wobbling back and fourth again.

Deliberate "mistake": Arthur has just pulled Excalibur out of the stone and he goes running through the woods chasing after Merlin. When he finds him there's a close-up of Merlin and you can see the crew in his shiny silver helmet.

Continuity: Out in the forest Merlin sleeps and Arthur stands next to a branch along side Merlin's staff. A large snake slithers down, Arthur touches it and runs away. In the next shot the snake is gone.

Continuity: At the siege of Leondegrance's castle, Arthur gives Uryens Excalibur and asks him to knight him with it. Arthur has been out of the water for a few minutes but as he is being knighted his hair is dripping wet again and a large area of blood appears on his neck.

Continuity: At the party after she dances, Guinevere hands Arthur a cookie that, she says, "will heal you". He holds it in his hand and you can see by the top of the cookie that it rotates in his hand between shots.

Continuity: Merlin tries to catch a fish in the stream while King Arthur asks, "Who is this knight?". If you look up at Lancelot's tent his blue and white flag flies to the right then to the left and back again between shots.

Continuity: When we first see Lancelot in a close-up sitting on his horse next to his tent there are no jousting sticks anywhere to be seen. Later when King Arthur comes across the bridge we see the tent again and there are many jousting sticks around it and near the flag.

Continuity: King Arthur's second horseman carries three extra jousting sticks as they ride to the far end of the field preparing for the joust. After the first charge Lancelot says, "You joust well, Sir, I offer you another lance" and King Arthur rides back to his second horseman who now only has one jousting stick.

Deliberate "mistake": Lancelot says to King Arthur, "I sought only not to harm you" before he dismounts and they fight with swords under a tree. If you look closely at the tree there are no marks on it before they start fighting, King Arthur strikes one blow and as Lancelot pushes him away there are several marks on the bark of the tree.

Visible crew/equipment: Lancelot's armor is so bright and shiny as he fights with King Arthur that it's impossible not to see the cast and crew's reflection shining in it.