Continuity mistake: After Achilles kills Hector, Achilles reaches for the plain rope end of the rope at the back of the chariot, which he ties to the chariot bar. When Achilles rides away while looking up in the close-up, in the next shot as the body is being dragged, the knot's excess rope now has a wide black tip at the end. (02:01:50)
Continuity mistake: When Achilles first starts fighting on the beach of Troy he is holding his shield with his left hand. Later in the fight he switches to his sword and is able to swing his shield onto his back because of a leather strap around his neck and shoulder. There was no strap around his neck or on his shield when he was fighting earlier.
Continuity mistake: While holding Briseis, Agamemnon says, "A Trojan priestess scrubbing my floors," the collar of his armor fits snugly round his neck. Yet when he continues, "And at night," the collar is pulled a good bit away from his neck, to expose plenty of fake skin for the stabbing shot. (02:27:35)
Continuity mistake: Just after Briseis leaves with Paris, Achilles falls over and dies on the grass in a close-up. The position of Achilles and also the arrows on the grass differ between this shot and the following aerial shot. To be precise regarding Achilles, in the close-up: 1. He is much farther from the stone, behind his head, that surrounds the grass, than in the aerial shot, where it is quite close to the stone. 2. His left arm is outstretched upwards towards the stone, and his hand is near the stone behind him, whereas in the aerial shot his left arm is downwardly outstretched. 3. His left knee (the leg with the arrow) is bent more (even visible as he falls over on the grass) than in the aerial shot, where that leg is straighter. (02:30:50)
Continuity mistake: When Hector stops Helen from leaving during the night, her cheeks and the area around her eyes are both very red, and her eyes are tearful with tears down her cheeks. In the shot from behind her, when she briefly turns round her cheeks are not red or wet and though her eyes are teary, they are not as teary and red as the shots facing her. (01:01:45)
Continuity mistake: When Odysseus and the Greeks reach the gates to the palace, before Glaucus shouts, "Soldiers of Troy, you men are warriors..." the long horizontal wood that is secured across the doors is visible. When the Greeks break through it is an entirely different piece of wood that splits. (02:25:05)
Continuity mistake: After Hector is speared, when Achilles thrusts forward with the sword, the tip of the blade makes contact on Hector's torso, under the large center medallion of the armor. However in Hector's close-up the blade is above the center medallion. (02:01:30)
Continuity mistake: When Boagrius throws the first spear at Achilles, it hits Achilles' distinctive shaped shield. In the shot facing the back of the shield, their proximity differs, and the spear penetrates the shield in a completely different area than shown in the next shot, facing the front of the shield. (00:08:00)
Continuity mistake: As Troy burns, there is an overhead shot of Achilles walking along the side of the building. In the shot immediately prior to this one, of soldiers running to the right of the screen, the large legs of the white statue stand and the broken body lies on the ground. Many shots later, after Achilles starts to shout for Briseis, that same statue is just being pulled down, as the legs remain in place. Once again, many shots later, as Agamemnon shouts, "Burn it! Burn it all!" the same statue is being pulled down yet again in the distance. (02:21:30 - 02:22:35)
Continuity mistake: After Menelaus is killed, when Ajax kills some Trojans and Hector notices him, the pattern of the blood on the front and back of Ajax's shield changes in consecutive shots, such as being clean in an area where it was bloody in a previous shot. (01:19:10)
Continuity mistake: In Sparta, when Paris enters Helen's room, she faces him and says, "You shouldn't be here," When she turns around to face the wall, now there are short curls at her forehead and the hair curls at the sides of her face are now curlier and neater. Then when she is standing in front of Paris with her hands at her sides, in the two shots facing her, her hair goes from the front of her shoulders to behind, and the cute curl at her forehead is gone. This type of thing occurs throughout the film in consecutive shots. (00:11:40)
Continuity mistake: When Achilles arrives on the battle field in Thessaly, after being summoned by the boy, at the start of the shot as he rides passed the large army of soldiers, the cliff with its distinctive rock face is to his left. When he faces off with Boagrius, the area of cliff that was far in the distance in the opening shot is now substantially closer in these shots. (00:06:40)
Continuity mistake: After Hector, Paris and Helen arrive home, when Hector hugs Priam and Andromache, there are at least six small gold clasps at the back of Hector's hair, yet when Hector kisses Briseis, the large one differs and all the small clasps are gone. (00:29:35)
Continuity mistake: In the scene near the beginning, where Achilles is standing at the palace where the golden statue is, he throws a spear into one of Hector's men. When the shot goes to him, you can see that he has his left arm stretched out; you can see his hand. Yet when Hector rides on, the soldier on the floor now has his arm beside him and not outstretched. (00:43:20)
Continuity mistake: After the Greeks climb out of the 'Trojan' horse, some run to the front gate. There is a long rope hanging on the left side of the gate, the base of the left stone pillar that holds the flame is aligned with the edge of the huge gate's door frame and the pillar stands perfectly upright. However, as the camera pans to the left, when the soldiers start to run up the stairs on the left, the rope is gone, the actual tall stone pillar with flame is moved at least two feet and it now stands very crookedly. (This has nothing to do with camera angles.) (02:19:20)
Continuity mistake: Hector's sword slice,s Achilles's armor but the one shot shows the hit much higher up near the right shoulder than when we see a close up view and the cut is down by his ribs.
Continuity mistake: During Achilles and Hector's duel, in the wide shot Hector uses his shield to shove Achilles' spear tip down to the ground, beside his right foot while his left foot is way behind him. However, in the next close-up as the spear tip is still on the ground right behind Hector's left foot, his right foot comes forward to snap Achilles' spear. (01:59:20)
Continuity mistake: While in Phtia after Odysseus says, "My wife will feel much better...I'll feel much better," Achilles takes the sword out of Patroclus' hand and then pats him on the bottom with his own sword. As he does this in the shot from behind Achilles, the ground area in front of the bushes is sword free. However, as Odysseus says, "A thousand ships," there is a sword lying on the ground in front of the bush. This is either a continuity error or simply the lack of sound of a sword being thrown to the ground, since it's likely to be Patroclus' sword that Achilles threw. (00:23:30)
Continuity mistake: Achilles stabs Hector in the chest in their climactic battle. Hector, dying, falls to his knees and falls onto his right side with his arm underneath him. Achilles goes to his chariot and returns with a rope. Hector now has his right arm stretched out with his head lying on it. (01:01:45)
Continuity mistake: When Paris and Menelaus face each other and then begin to fight, the shadows keep changing, and when the camera angles show each man's perspective, each man has his shadow to his own right hand side, even though they are opposite each other. (01:14:00)
Answer: They didn't know the Greeks weren't bringing cavalry. The Greeks did use them and sometimes brought them by sea. It was there to stop a cavalry charge and to break up fighting formations.
LorgSkyegon