Revealing mistake: Blank firing adaptors are visible on the bow machine guns of Oddball's Shermans as they shoot up the rail yard. (01:00:05)
Continuity mistake: Big Joe gets out of his jeep, salutes Captain Maitland, and converses about the upcoming time off for the men. Behind Big Joe is one of his half tracks and he is on Maitland's right. The scene cuts and Maitland's "liberated" yacht is behind Big Joe and he is directly in front of Maitland. (00:25:00)
Factual error: Oddball tells Kelly their commander had been trying to get them killed ever since they landed at Omaha (beach). Oddball's tanks are part of the U.S. sixth Armored division (the Super Sixth, as the unit shoulder patch on his jacket indicates) which actually landed at Utah beach on July 18, 1944. (00:30:50)
Factual error: During the scene where Clint Eastwood is trying to convince Don Rickles to join in the heist, there is a box of Almond Joy candy bars behind Don's head. They weren't introduced until 1946. (00:28:50)
Factual error: As Oddball and his motley crew depart with the "purchased" Tiger, Moriarity is standing up in the hatch, fiddling with his cap. Since this is the driver's position, and very cramped, either he is straddling the driver's shoulders, or driving with his feet.
Suggested correction: The tanks used in the film are mocked up Russian T-34's (As mentioned in another mistake) which changes the proportions of the interior. Additionally, in regards to the "cramped" quarters; Tiger 1 tanks are actually quite infamously known by the soldiers that crewed them for having spacious driver, and assistant driver (Bow gunner) positions; with some crew even able to lie down inside of them.
Continuity mistake: As the squad are taking a break on top of a hill, just before the fighter-bomber attacks them, Corporal Job is distributing ammo and Jonesey can be seen walking past in the background with four boxes of K-rations. A moment later, Crapgame and Jonesey are sitting together sharing the contents of the boxes. After Crapgame goes to the jeep for some water, the shot cuts to Kelly sitting by a tree. Jonesey walks up to Kelly with a message from Big Joe - carrying four unopened K-rations boxes. (00:51:05)
Continuity mistake: When Kelly asks Little Joe for the brandy to interrogate the German officer, he is handed a square bottle with a short neck. In the next shot, as they sit down for their "friendly drink" Kelly sets down a round bottle with a long neck. (00:10:05)
Other mistake: When they are lifting the boxes of gold at the end of the movie you can tell that the boxes are empty.
Continuity mistake: At the end when confronting the last tank to get the bank doors open, Oddball, Big Joe, and Kelly line up in an alley as if they are directly facing the tank and start walking forward. In the next shot, which is wider and much farther away, you see that they are actually walking down a curved alley and can't see the tank until they come all the way around the corner.
Continuity mistake: After Oddball's tank gets across the river, the movie returns to the general's headquarters where Carroll O'Connor is yelling at his officers for not knowing anything about the battle. There is a soldier standing behind O'Connor with his hands on his hips and his shirt sleeves rolled up. The scene changes briefly to show the officers that O'Connor is yelling at before switching back to O'Connor. The soldier behind O'Connor still has his hands on his hips, but now his sleeves are rolled down.
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the film as Oddball's Sherman drives into the French town, the amount of ammunition in the ammo holder on the turret .50 calibre machine gun gets larger in almost every shot. As the tank crashes through the bushes approaching the town there is hardly any ammo in the box, up until the second Tiger is ambushed when suddenly there is plenty of ammunition.
Factual error: At the beginning of the film as the camera follows the security sergeant he taps a man on the shoulder. The man was standing next to the crossroads signs in a camouflage poncho. As he turns, you can see that he that he is wearing jeans and not a standard uniform of the era under the poncho. (00:00:35)
Revealing mistake: After Kelly tells Big Joe he's going after the gold "with ya or without ya", a soldier in the background walks past a steel tank trap weighing a quarter ton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_hedgehog). He bumps it with his backpack, and it flips up in the air. (00:24:35)
Continuity mistake: The scene where Crapgame is telling Oddball about Kelly being a former officer, Oddball is holding a gold bar in his hand. The front shot of Oddball has him holding the bar at a low angle with the tapered top of the bar facing upward, while the shots over Oddball's left shoulder shows him holding it higher with the wider base of the bar facing upwards, instead. (00:37:20)
Continuity mistake: The Tiger tank blows a hole in the bank door, so the team can gain access. A check made previously for another entrance was obviously not successful since it was necessary to blow the hole with the tank. Kelly et. Al enter through the hole but immediately are joined by others from some unexplained side entrance.
Continuity mistake: While Big Joe is talking down to the Captain in the boat, Joe is blocking the stairs to the upper deck with his whole body. As the Captain moves up the stairs, Joe is off to the Captain's right. When the Captain emerges from the lower deck, Joe is dead center of the Captain and then moves out of the Captain's path. (00:12:00)
Suggested correction: Watch closely as the captain starts climbing the steps. Joe moves to the screen right ever so slightly but still covering most of the steps. When the shot changes to outside the boat, Joe is still slightly to the side of the steps with his arm across the rest. He then moves out of the way completely. No mistake here.
Continuity mistake: When the last surviving Tiger rages in Clairmont, shooting at surrounding buildings, there are a couple of shots, when we see both the tank's gun firing and the 'shell impact' effect. The tank's gun is not always pointed at the exact spot where the 'shell' explodes - it's particularly visible when the Tiger lowers the gun and shoots a hole in a wall, immediately after Big Joe threw a grenade and fired at the tank with his SMG. The hole in the wall appears a good few feet to the left, from where the gun points and the actual projectile would hit.
Other mistake: When Telly Savalas drives into the farmhouse he leaves the chaplain in the jeep which is approx. 50 feet from where Clint Eastwood and the rest of the soldiers are planning to steal the gold. For about five minutes they are arguing quite loudly about if it is a good idea and afterwards they then agree to the heist and they all crowd around the map and are extremely jubilant. Is the chaplain still sitting in the jeep listening to all this? We never see him again. (00:38:15)
Suggested correction: This isn't a mistake; at best it's an unresolved plot point. The chaplain became irrelevant to the plot at that point so their story line ended without explanation. If anything it makes it more realistic.
Continuity mistake: In the scene when Kelly is shown the Oddball's tank for the very first time, the Sherman has a loudspeaker mounted on the right hand side of the turret. The loudspeaker is placed on the opposite side of the turret for the rest of the movie. Also as far as luggage and other external storage is concerned, this tank actually looks different in every scene. (00:32:50)
Other mistake: During the battle at the bridge, Kelly asks Oddball about the other Shermans. Oddball replies, "No man, they've both had it. One is in the river and the other is on the other side burning." Soon afterwards we see Big Joe and Cowboy arguing with Bellamy about staying behind to fix the bridge, while crouched beside a Sherman. This is obviously not Oddball's Sherman as Big Joe and Cowboy are on the opposite side of the river, therefore it must be the one that Oddball said was burning. However, no right-minded soldier (or anyone else) would crouch next to a burning Sherman.
