Continuity mistake: When Indy and gang are racing the Nazis to the canyon of the Crescent Moon, Indy looks at the Nazi convoy with binoculars. Close-ups of Indy show the sun is clearly behind him, and the binoculars are in his shadow. But then a glare from the lens alerts the Nazis to their presence. (01:24:25)
Suggested correction: It is not clear that the glare is coming from the binoculars rather than the car behind them (after all, the Nazis target the car with the tank).
They see a glare rather than a car. But anyway, regardless, the problem remains that the sun is behind the car too.
Continuity mistake: When the white robed men ambush the Nazis just after they blow up Salah's car, there's a shot over a Nazi's shoulder as he fires at one of the white robed guys running up a hill. The Nazi's machine gun is held straight out and doesn't move but the dust that flies from the squibs suggest that he fired as he moved the gun right to left which he did not do. The odd thing is that AFTER the squibs go off, the Nazi turns his gun to the left. (01:25:55)
Continuity mistake: When Indy takes four horses before battling with the tank, three are black and one is bay (brown with black legs, mane and tail). Sallah is riding a chestnut. When they ride to the Grail Temple, there are two black horses and two chestnuts. Where did the second chestnut come from? (01:28:00 - 01:39:25)
Continuity mistake: While Henry and Marcus are being held inside the tank, Indiana rides in circles and baits the tank to ram into one of the cars. In a following shot when we see Vogel walking toward the window inside the tank it's a flipped shot, note everything is backwards. Then two shots later, when Vogel shouts "quick" in German it's another flipped shot, and about five shots after that again flipped. (01:29:30)
Continuity mistake: During the big chase scene leading up to the three challenges, Indy uses his gun and begins to takes the high road on his horse. Harrison Ford couldn't seem to find the holster for his gun, so you can see his holding the gun by his side until the scene changes. (01:31:15)
Continuity mistake: As Sallah pulls Dr. Jones senior off the tread of the tank, Indy lets go of his whip and turns towards the German colonel and they continue fighting face-to-face. You can see that Indy punches the colonel so that he loses his balance and stumbles backwards. A split second later, the colonel is standing behind Jones with his arm around Indy's neck. They did not have nearly enough time to so radically change positions. (01:32:15)
Continuity mistake: When Indiana is fighting on top of the tank, he kicks the periscope. It spins counter-clockwise, but the handles inside spin clockwise. (01:32:45)
Continuity mistake: WHen Indy is hanging off the side of the tank, his face becomes completely caked with dirt. After he gets back up on to the tank, his face is relatively clean. (01:34:40)
Continuity mistake: When Sallah rides up to the tank to rescue Henry we see Indy toss the whip over the side of the tank, but after the tank falls over the cliff, when Indy climbs back up then walks over to stand between Henry and Sallah the whip is coiled and back in its place, hanging from his belt. Even Indy can't do that. (01:36:00 - 01:37:40)
Continuity mistake: When the tank goes over the cliff, the turret detaches upon impact. But in a subsequent shot, the tank is shown rolling over with the turret still attached. (01:36:35)
Continuity mistake: When we first see the knight guarding the Grail, his cloak is tied off with a braided rope, which hangs down on his right side. It stays this way until he says "You have chosen wisely," where the rope has somehow shifted to his left side. The rope goes back to normal when the knight waves goodbye at the end of the movie. (01:49:10 - 01:54:05)
Continuity mistake: In the temple in the Canyon of the Crescent Moon: After Harrison Ford cures Sean Connery by pouring water from the grail over him, Sean stands up with the grail in his hand. In the next shot, however, Alison Doody picks the grail up off the floor. (01:55:50)
Continuity mistake: When Indy is trying to hold Elsa and keep her from falling and she's trying to reach the Grail, you can see her hand coming out of her glove. In the first shot of her hand coming out, it comes almost all the way out. In the next two shots, her hand is about halfway out, then it slips out and she falls. (01:57:00)
Continuity mistake: When the soldier walks up the steps to attempt the first trial with his sword drawn, in the shots from the front, he's holding the sword on his right side. In the shots from behind, he's holding it on his left side.
Continuity mistake: In the temple in the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, Indiana Jones rushes to his father's aid with the Holy Grail filled with water. He is shown pouring every last drop onto his father's wound by turning the Grail upside down, yet another camera angle shows his father clutching the grail to his chest, and there's still a bit of water in it.
Continuity mistake: When Indy is stepping on the letters, he steps on the "O" and knocks the "P" loose. In the next shot, the "P" is intact.
Continuity mistake: In the motorcycle chase scene after the escape from Brunwald castle, Indy's hair is noticeably longer than it was in the castle scenes. It returns to the shorter length when they stop at the crossroads.
Continuity mistake: In the beginning of the boat chase two bullets hit the windscreen of Indy's boat. In the next shot the location of the holes has changed.
Continuity mistake: As Indy swings through the window to rescue his father, he gets hit on the head by a vase. His hat is all crumpled and tipped quite far back, then in the very next shot his hat is neat and level.
Continuity mistake: When Indiana is showing Marcus the Grail Diary in his fathers home, he closes the book 4 times in a row without opening it - first 3 times inside the room, and then once on exit.
