Jaws

Revealing mistake: When Hooper encounters Ben, the shape and size of the hole in the hull of Ben Gardner's boat, as well as the paint stripes on the hull, all change in this shot. (The close-ups of Ben's appearance were shot later in pick-ups after principal photography wrapped.) (00:49:30)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: After Hooper enters the shark cage, Brody takes Hooper's eyeglasses and places the left earpiece in his mouth, but when Hooper tells them to try and keep the shark off him till he's lowered, it's the right earpiece that's in Brody's mouth. (01:52:20)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: As the shark jumps on to the back of the boat, a metal wire is visible from the shark's fin. It's not the barrels because it disappears in the next shot. (01:56:50)

Continuity mistake: At the harbor, just as Brody asks, "Help me get those guys out of the boat, will you?" in the wideshot there are five men standing on the dock and three standing in the boat. Then in the next close-up, there are four on the dock and four in the boat. The one in a black/white check shirt is now at the end of the dock and the one in a black rain slicker, that was standing on the dock, is now suddenly standing in the boat below, at its stern. (00:28:45)

Super Grover

Jaws mistake picture

Continuity mistake: During Quint's attack, as the shark's biting down on his legs, Quint's bare hand is grabbing the shark's snout. Subsequent shots show Quint wearing gloves as he's devoured. (01:57:35)

c00ld00d

Character mistake: In the beginning of the movie, Chrissy goes swimming on the night of July 1. Her remains were found the next morning on July 2. The police report that Brody types up states that the incident happened at 11:50 p.m. On July 1 and that Chrissy's remains were found at 10:20 p.m. On July 2 and not in the a.m. As the movie shows. Also on the police report, it states that Chrissy was removed to the "CORNERS OFFICE" and not the coroner's office. (00:09:30)

Continuity mistake: Before Alex's attack, the guy who plays with his dog Pippet on the beach wears a bright yellow Izod polo shirt with straight hemmed sleeves, in all of his close-ups. However, in all of the wideshots the polo he wears is pale yellow, with shorter sleeves that have the classic rib-knit sleeve openings. (00:14:10)

Super Grover

Visible crew/equipment: When Quint hears the clicking fishing reel, he puts on the harness and slowly lifts the rod. At the start of the shot facing the reel, a crew member's hand and the top of his head are reflected in the circular chrome. (01:15:25)

Super Grover

Jaws mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Quint goes below deck to get the machete, with the intent to cut the barrel lines, the machete he takes is shiny and clean, with no rust or pit marks at all. Yet, when Quint holds it over his head and then embeds it into the side of the boat, the entire blade is rusty and full of pit marks. (01:44:40)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: At the boathouse, when Hooper cuts open the tiger shark, it is very noticeably a fake shark (note its sewn seams) in contrast to the real tiger shark hanging on the dock earlier. (According to "The Jaws Log," by Carl Gottlieb the local fishermen had been unable to catch a big enough shark for the dock scene, so they found a freshly caught 13-ft tiger shark in Florida then flew it to Massachusetts on a private plane, but by the time the scene was filmed the shark was already decomposing and had a foul stench). (00:43:40)

Super Grover

Jaws mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Brody is throwing chum in water and Quint is in the chair they show him wearing no socks and old tennis shoes. After Brody falls and then sets a new chum marker Quint has brown socks on and loafer type shoes. (01:12:45 - 01:14:00)

Continuity mistake: Throughout the film, Hooper wears on his left ring finger a gold ring with a distinctive design and a small black stone. When Hooper is lowered in the shark cage, underwater the ring design differs and the stone is a much larger oval shape. (01:53:05)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: When the shark takes the fishermen's bait, the attached chain pulls one corner piling at the corner of the small dock. When the dock gives way in the wide shot, another line around the second corner piling visibly pulls it as well, in order for the dock to break apart effectively for the stunt. (00:26:25)

Super Grover

Jaws mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Quint slams the machete into the wood beside the side cleat, and rigging lines. However, when the shark joins them aboard the boat and Quint is sliding towards its mouth, the machete's position changes - it is farther down towards the stern, note the black anti-slip mats. (01:44:30 - 01:57:00)

Super Grover

Plot hole: When Hooper and Chief Brody are trying to get the Mayor to re-close the beach after finding Ben Gardner's boat, they fail to mention they also found Ben Gardner's severed head. The Mayor would be forced to re-close the beach if yet another confirmed shark fatality had been mentioned, but Hooper and Brody never bring that important detail up. [This is still a mistake, but the explanation for this is that the scene where they find Ben Gardner's head was not in the original script. Originally, they just found his boat. Spielberg felt the scene needed a little more shock value so they shot the part with the head in a swimming pool long after the main filming had been completed.] (00:50:20)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: First off, it wasn't a severed head as you can still see the body attached to it, and second, what difference would that make? Two people and a dog already died, with the death of the Kitner boy being witnessed by several people, and the beaches still stayed open because the mayor was too stupid to close them. Not only that, but during the scene you mentioned, I believe it was Hooper who said that THREE incidents had occurred BEFORE the third killing takes place on-screen.

And not only that, but the mayor witnessed Hooper saying that the shark they caught was not the same one, or at least it was possible that it wasn't. Either way, shark attacks were happening, but the mayor did nothing about it.

Revealing mistake: When Charlie and Denherder, the two fishermen, first wrap the link chain around the corner wood piling, the dock they stand on is clearly visible. A bit later when the shark takes their bait, the crossbeams at the base of the dock are actually gone for the stunt. (00:25:00 - 00:26:20)

Super Grover

Visible crew/equipment: After losing Quint, Brody is in the flooded cabin as the ship tips. Just before the shark bursts in, there is an exterior shot looking into the cabin through the window with the shards of glass. A crew member wearing a jacket and hat is visible in the reflection of the triangular piece of glass, at the top right of the screen. (01:57:55)

Super Grover

Factual error: After the shark tries to attack Brody on Orca, it swims backwards out of the cabin, just as it does in other shots. No shark can swim backwards. (01:58:05)

Character mistake: When Quint is telling the story of the Indianapolis, he says the ship went down on June 29th. It actually went down at 12:14 a.m. on July 30. (01:32:45)

More quotes from Jaws

Trivia: Quint's boat is named Orca. The orca is the only natural predator the great white shark has (besides humans).

More trivia for Jaws

Question: When Quint and Hooper are comparing leg scars, they are sitting near each other with legs overlapping. The shot moves to Brody, then back to Quint and Hooper at the table, sitting apart. Quint is fastening his pants, buckling his buckle, and zipping his zipper. He obviously showed them something that was edited out of the movie. What was it?

Rick Neumann

Answer: Possibly a scar from having his appendix removed, I've been told.

The appendix shot is Brody - he is feeling inferior as the other two share tales of the sea and the only scar he has is from his appendix being removed.

Chosen answer: I just watched this on DVD. As the men were supposed to be comparing their body scars to one another, it appears that Quint had just shown one that was hidden beneath his pants. Whatever this was, it was edited out. When movie scenes are originally filmed, they are usually much longer in length than what is in the final version. After editing, some actions, dialogue, and character movements are deleted either to shorten the running time, for better storytelling flow, or the action was considered unnecessary to the scene. Also, film censorship at this time (mid-1970s) was far stricter than it is today, and it may have been that a review board deemed it inappropriate to have a character unzipping his pants in that manner and insisted it be removed from the final version.

raywest

I believe it was Brody, not Quint that was looking down his pants. And I believe that he was embarrassed that his (maybe appendix) scar was not as big or impressive as Quint and Hoopers.

Watch it again and as Quint is scooting back over to his spot he's fastening his pants, but no explanation is given.

I thought Brody had been shot as a cop in the big city (and that was why he took the job in a quiet, small town) and that in this scene he was looking at the scar and comparing it in his mind to the scars the other guys were showing but not saying anything to them about it.

Answer: After Brody looks down at his abdomen scar (probably an appendix scar) the camera switches back to Quint and Hooper. As Hooper starts talking, watch Quint. He is buttoning his pants and then struggles to zip them up. He leaves his belt unbuckled. I've seen Jaws more times than I can count - starting the year it premiered in 1975 - and I didn't notice this weirdness until a few years ago.

More questions & answers from Jaws

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