Continuity mistake: When Sarah holds Toby and says, "Knock it off, come on. Stop it. Stop it," her ring is on her middle finger. However in the wide shot, still holding Toby, she says, "I can bear it no longer..." her ring is now on her ring finger. (00:08:30)
Continuity mistake: When the Goblins are spooking Sarah in the dark bedroom, she spins round as a few pop out at the same time (near the vanity table, from the dresser drawer...), and one lifts the lid of a brown case atop the tall dresser. However, in the previous shots of the well lit room and when she first entered the dark bedroom, that case was gone - replaced with flowers. (00:08:35 - 00:11:35)
Continuity mistake: Near Toby's crib there is table with a tea/coffee set with cups and other items on it. These things change their positions on the table in different shots. When Sarah holds Toby up high and asks the Goblins to take him away, when Sarah walks into the bedroom and says, "Toby, are you alright?" then when Sarah gasps at seeing the owl. (00:08:55)
Continuity mistake: When Sarah leaves Toby's room, just after saying the Goblin wish, you can see two paintings hanging beside Sarah's bedroom door. They have a wooden frame, but when the shot changes, and Sarah walks towards her bedroom door, the paintings have changed, and the frame of the painting is now metal. Then when Sarah enters Toby's room again the paintings have changed back to the wooden framed ones.The bottom picture itself also changes.In the 1st shot there seems to be a bouqet of flowers but when Sarah is outside of the room the picture is of a long bare landscape. (00:09:35 - 00:10:20)
Continuity mistake: When Sarah places Toby back in the crib, the lipped door jamb clearly has a strike plate. After she says, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away..." she shuts the light, and walks out. When Sarah turns around in the hallway to go back and check on Toby, there is no strike plate on the white door jamb - and it should be visible. (00:09:40)
Continuity mistake: When Sarah walks into the darkened bedroom, in the shots facing the double back doors the hanging light fixture over the crib, the mobile, and picture beside it are all visible. When Jareth appears, in the first shot facing him, the mobile hangs lower (note the archway), the picture is closer to the floral trim around the archway; and solely for Jareth's dramatic entrance, the light fixture is gone - though it should easily be visible in this shot, and the crib is now at an angle. (00:10:25 - 00:11:55)
Continuity mistake: In Sarah's father's bedroom, the rocking horse that sits near the back doors is seen throughout the shots in the bedroom and its positions changes several times. (00:10:30)
Continuity mistake: When Sarah walks towards Toby's cot before pulling back the sheets, just before approaching it, there is a shot of the cot. Then in the next shot it shows Sarah reach down then pull back the covers. Between the two shots the covers and pillow have moved and changed their position. (00:10:45)
Revealing mistake: When Sarah discovers Toby has gone from his cot, Goblins start moving about in her fathers room. The second goblin we see laughs, and jumps down from the top of her fathers four poster bed. As the goblin does this, you can see the shadow of a boom mic bob down onto the material that drapes from each poster of the bed. (00:11:05)
Continuity mistake: When the goblins are roaming around and sneaking about in Sarah's father's bedroom, in one shot when we see a small, black, furry goblin jump out of the chest which sits at the end of the double-bed, the rocking horse, which sits next to the green chair, by the double doors, has actually disappeared. It's clearly back, once the owl has burst through the doors. (00:11:10)
Continuity mistake: When Sarah approaches the empty crib, the pillow is semi-upright at the corner of the bars behind it and she pulls away the blankets letting most of the mattress show. However, as Jareth's shadow is seen on the floor entering the doorway, the blankets cover more of the mattress and the pillow is now flat and centered. (00:11:20)
Visible crew/equipment: Sarah's father's bedroom back doors open up and the owl flies in towards Sarah. While in the doorway, the lines that the owl hang from are visible. (00:11:45)
Continuity mistake: The twin doors in the bedroom fly open, and as a result the curtains are opened and pulled behind each of the doors as the owl flies through. However in the close-up of the owl attacking Sarah the curtains are visible and they are now blowing in front of the open doorway. Then as Jareth's shadow is seen on the rug, it's clear that the curtains are pulled apart by their shadow, which is also the case in the next shot of Jareth standing in the doorway with the curtains indeed pulled behind the doors. (00:11:45)
Continuity mistake: When Jareth's shadow menacingly appears on the rug beside the crib, Sarah's legs face the doorway on the rug - which has light stripes parallel to the doorway. However, in the close-up of Sarah's legs, when the snake/scarf turns into a Goblin, her legs face the doorway and the rug stripes run perpendicularly. (00:11:50)
Revealing mistake: It is obvious when the owl, that attacks Sarah, is a puppet and when it is a real owl, in consecutive shots. It is also obvious when the snake, that Jareth tosses at Sarah, is real and is a fake in subsequent shots. It is also very apparent when Sir Didymus' dog, Ambrosius, is a real Sheep Dog, or is a puppet Sheep Dog, in consecutive shots as well. (00:11:50 - 01:21:25)
Continuity mistake: As the white owl flies in and around the room, it is flapping wildly, but the owl's shadow is flapping at a considerably slower speed. (00:11:50)
Continuity mistake: When Jareth first appears at the open bedroom doors, the branches and leaves are seen outside behind him on both sides of the doorway. As he and Sarah start to speak, the shrubbery changes between the following close-ups and semi close-ups of Jareth. (00:12:00)
Visible crew/equipment: First in Sarah's father's bedroom, as Jareth holds and flits the crystal back and forth in his hand, then at his castle as Jareth holds the crystals while sitting in the window and in the scene with the drifting stone as Jareth holds one crystal, objects are reflected upside down within the spheres. Studio lamps and its lights are visible, as well as reflections other than Jareth and Sarah. (00:12:40)
Continuity mistake: When Jareth throws the snake at Sarah, from a back shot the snake goes over her shoulders and crosses over by her neck, but in the next front shot the snake is only in front of Sarah and isn't over her shoulders anymore. (00:13:00)
Visible crew/equipment: Jareth says, "Sarah, don't defy me," and tosses the snake at her neck. In the next shot facing Sarah as she holds the snake, a crew member's hand is seen holding the end of the 'snake' below her right shoulder. (00:13:25)
Answer: To add to that, the other door was supposed to lead her to certain death, and technically the oubliette wasn't exactly certain death.