Raiders of the Lost Ark

Audio problem: After Dietrich says "And Gobler, I want plenty of protection", a German voice can be heard saying "Jawohl, Herr Oberst", just before the tower behind Belloq explodes. This voice sounds extremely close to the three villains, although neither of them have spoken, and there are no more people next to Dietrich.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: During the procession, after Indy hides behind the box, Captain Mohler and Arnold Toht can be seen walking behind the Ark and on the Ark's right, respectively. In the next shot, Mohler is walking in front of the Ark and Toht, on the Ark's left.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the first scene of the procession, the Nazis are walking in a straight line along a path. In the next shot, they are now going around a curve.

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Continuity mistake: When the Wurffler arrives to Geheimhaven dock, six soldiers and an officer are running towards the submarine. In the next shot, the seven men have disappeared.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: Just before the shooting starts at The Raven, you can see that Otto's shadow movements do not match the German's movements. Also, when Marion fights with Toht, behind her you can see the shadow of a man with short hair and no hat moving to the left (Indy still has his hat on during this scene).

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Continuity mistake: During the procession scene, in the shot before Toht takes off his hat, about twenty soldiers can be seen walking. After Indy leaves the procession and hides behind a box, in the next shot, there appear to be twice as many soldiers as in the first scene. Just before Indy shouts "Hello!", the quantity has returned to twenty.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: After the kliegs behind Dietrich, Belloq, and Toht explode, the Ark's energy begins to destroy the soldiers' guns and the kliegs next to them. In some shots, the kliegs on the altar are still working.

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Character mistake: In the original Latin Spanish dubbing, Dietrich calls Gobler "Glober" while walking next to the destroyed Flying Wing.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Just before Belloq says "It's beautiful!", there is a black machine (which is not the German camera or the generator) in the bottom middle of the screen, just below the approaching ghost. It is also visible when the Angel of Death is revealed. This machine disappears when the Ark begins to kill the soldiers.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: After the kliegs and generator explode, there is a shot of Belloq and Toht on the altar. Belloq has the ivory rod in a vertical position. In the next shot, the rod is horizontal.

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Continuity mistake: When Indy and his excavation team arrive at the true location of the Well of Souls, we can see that it is on a low hill, just a few meters from the Nazi excavations. However, when it gets dark, we can see that the excavations have disappeared from view and now the Well of Souls appears to be on a considerably high mountain (taking as a reference the illuminated camp on the right of the screen).

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Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the Nazis are aboard the Bantu Wind, in the full scene of the ship deck, Toht stands behind Belloq. But, after Marion tries to hit Dietrich, the camera focuses on Belloq, then on Dietrich again. Toht is not seen anymore on the deck.

Continuity mistake: In the chapel, before Indy turns the chalkboard over to explain the staff of Ra and the medallion to the G-men, the chalkboard goes back and forth from tilting forward to tilting backward a few times.

Continuity mistake: When Belloq and the Germans are at the Well of the Souls, a top-down view shot when Indy yells, "Why don't you come on down here and I'll show you!" shows Belloq and a German officer kneeling down to the left of him, also looking down into the hole. But the side view shots show only Belloq standing near the opening.

Revealing mistake: During the big car chase where Indy follows the ark, he comes down a hill on a horse to get into the truck. You can tell the ground has already been disturbed by the horse from previous takes.

manthabeat

Revealing mistake: After the German is chopped up in the propeller and the plane explodes, you can the blasting cord exploding along the path to the explosion.

Other mistake: In the opening scene Indiana is with horses and scouts. A few minutes later he is running for his life and in a few moments he's at a waiting plane. Why does he need scouts and horses for the cave is in walking distance from the plane and how did the scouts and horses get there?

Marion: You're not the man I knew ten years ago.
Indiana: It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.

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Trivia: In the Well of Souls, you can see hieroglyphics of C3PO and R2D2 on the wall.

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Question: Considering how powerful and dangerous the Ark is, why would Indy hand it over to the United States government, instead of putting it back where it was found and to ensure it's never located, lie to them and say him or the Nazis never found it?

Answer: Indy and Marcus Brody believed that the Ark needed to be studied. They certainly didn't want to put it back where it was found. They believed that the U.S. government would find the best archaeologists, researchers, and scientists in the world to study the Ark. They are both upset that instead, the government has decided to simply lock the Ark away. This is why Indy says, "Fools. They don't know what they've got there," as he is leaving the building.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: To add to the previous answer, there is no way that the ark could have been secretly returned to where it was found and then conveniently forgotten. Too many people already knew of its existence and location. It would only be a matter of time before someone more sinister would retrieve it.

raywest

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