Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the submarine dock of Geheimhaven, Captain Mohler is a man with dark hair in his mid or late thirties. But during the procession, he seems to be much older, with grey hair.

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the temple collapses, Satipo is crouching looking at the chaos. Indy starts to run and there's a wide angle of the passage ahead but Satipo is nowhere around. He couldn't have managed to run that distance in half a second.

Sacha

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

Suggested correction: He had a couple of seconds to run away from that spot.

It's a straight passage so he should be seen somewhere along it and he isn't.

Sacha

This is incorrect. Both Indy and Satipo are shown coming from one corner when they arrive in the room where the idol is. Satipo simply stood up and fled that way when the camera focused on Indy.

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: As the bad guys are leaving the dig site for Cairo, there is a shot of the black vehicle (lead car) looking right at the driver. On the bottom of the shot is a shadow of film equipment that shouldn't be there. The shot lingers, so the shadow is very visible. (01:22:50)

manthabeat

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Marion arrives on the deck of the Bantu Wind, Dietrich turns to look at her. Katanga is in the background, behind the colonel. But, just before Marion hits Dietrich, Katanga appears on the opposite side from where he was and catches Marion. (01:36:00)

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: While the Holy Fire is killing the soldiers, in a shot of two soldiers being hit by the light, the stone wall is missing in the background of the scene. (01:47:30)

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Dietrich and Gobler come into the tent, Toht's leather case can be seen already opened. In the next shot, the case is suddenly closed.

Big Game

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

Suggested correction: Already listed: https://www.moviemistakes.com/entry162690.

Sacha

This is not the same mistake as the one you listed. Yours speaks about the style of the box (that changes from vertical planks to horizontal planks). Mine speaks about the size and position of the text.

Big Game

Mine is about the box and the text "The 'Top Secret' sign is put on the crate across vertically laid planks. A shot later the sign appears slanted." Yours is a duplicate.

Sacha

Yours never mentions the size of the text or the position of it with respect to the box's side bars. Of course, your mistake is still correct, but mine is not a duplicate of it.

Big Game

Slanted is a definition of the position.

Sacha

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Over Belloq's left shoulder and behind Toht, a soldier stands next to a klieg with a machine gun. In the next shot, the soldier's gun has disappeared. (01:44:25)

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: During the procession, after Indy hides behind the box, Captain Mohler can be seen walking with the soldiers behind the Ark. In the next shot, he's walking in front of the Ark.

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Indy abruptly brakes the truck and the Ark box slides backwards, the poles on either side of the box disappear for the rest of the chase.

Big Game

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.

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the two soldiers place the Ark on the altar, they move to the walls of the canyon, and Toht stands next to Belloq. A few shots later, the soldiers are next to the Ark's poles (where they will be in the next shot), and Toht seems to be very huge. (01:44:39)

Big Game

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).

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Dietrich and Gobler walk forward to stand next to Belloq while he's saying, "Once again, Jones..." In the next shot, Gobler has disappeared (this can be spotted by the distance between Belloq and Gobler's foot in the first shot). (01:10:57)

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Indy runs over the sergeant, the background behind the truck changes between shots, going from the desert to a mountain. (01:28:45)

Big Game

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.

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the canyon, in the shot of Toht, just before Belloq says "Do as you will", everyone in the background (Marion and her two guards, Dietrich, some soldiers) is gone (taking as reference the giant stone behind Belloq and the characters' positions in the previous and next shots). (01:43:49)

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Gobler's jeep is returning to the road after being hit by Indy, Gobler's goggles move from his eyes to his cap between shots.

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the Truck Chase, when Billy Horrigan starts shooting at Indy, Reg Harding's right hand goes from grabbing the front passenger seat to grabbing the metal bar of the jeep between shots. (01:23:28)

Big Game

Raiders of the Lost Ark mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Near the beginning of the movie where Indiana is running away from the tribe of South American Indians after Belloq robs Indiana of the gold statue, in one shot you can see that the Indians are only a few meters behind Indiana, but in the next shot, they are at least 50 meters behind. (00:11:20)

More mistakes in Raiders of the Lost Ark

Sallah: Indy, why does the floor move?
Indiana: Give me your torch. [He drops it in and sees why.] Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?
Sallah: Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.

More quotes from Raiders of the Lost Ark

Trivia: When a Nazi falls from the back of the truck carrying the Ark, a "Wilhelm scream" can be heard.

More trivia for Raiders of the Lost Ark

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

More questions & answers from Raiders of the Lost Ark

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