Character mistake: In the scene on the boat, when Quinn, Hooper and Brody are gathered below, Quinn gives the date about the USS Indianapolis sinking as June 29, 1945. It is actually July 29, 1945. The first atomic bomb wasn't actually detonated until July16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico making it impossible for the Indianapolis to be delivering the bomb in June.
Other mistake: When Cooper is first examining the remains of Chrissy, the medical examiner takes her remains out of a cupboard of sorts, and carries them to a table. He doesn't struggle, and lifts the tray rather easily yet when Hooper is describing the remains of the body, he says "The torso has been severed mid thorax, the right arm has been severed above the elbow, the left arm, head shoulders sternum and portions of the rib cage are intact" The mistake is that Hooper describes way more of the remains than can have fit in the small tray and or be lifted so easily by the medical examiner.
Continuity mistake: When Quint is up in the crow's nest, Brody tells him "Let Hooper take a turn" (regarding chumming the water). When Quint, while looking down at Brody, says "Hooper drives the boat, Chief", his right arm is across his body and looks to be resting on the safety railing of the crow's nest. When Brody looks up at Quint, his right arm is away from his body and is just holding onto the crow's nest railing with his hand.
Character mistake: Chief Brody and Hooper go to the wharf to dissect a large tiger shark and examine the contents of its stomach. Finding nothing unusual, Hooper recommends they go offshore that night to search for the real killer shark because "he's a night feeder." Coming from a marine biologist, that remark really makes no sense. Hooper knew that, in addition to eating Chrissie the midnight swimmer, the shark also ate Pippin (the black Labrador retriever) and the Kintner boy in the middle of the day at a public beach. Based on all available evidence, the shark was no more likely to feed at night than in broad daylight.
Suggested correction: The statement is correct, the shark was a night feeder, as opposed to just being a day feeder, meaning the shark will likely be hunting at night.
Again, given all the evidence (including the daytime attacks), Hooper had no more reason to suspect the shark was a night feeder than a day feeder.
Except that's not what the conversation was about, he wasn't speculating on whether the shark was more likely to attack during the day or the night. He simply states they should go out at night to find the real shark responsible for the attacks because that shark will be feeding at night as well (and by going out at night they wouldn't have to face the daytime crowd). If he made an statement such as "the shark isn't a day feeder" or "the shark is strictly a night feeder", those statements could be considered mistakes.
Even when Chrissie was killed at night and two men later on in the movie tried to catch the shark for the reward...at night?
Visible crew/equipment: When Quint is doing his speech at the town meeting the camera slowly moves towards him. When the camera passes the man in the grey suit you can see a moving shadow near Quint. Everyone in the room is stationary in this scene apart from the cameraman and film crew. (00:20:55)
Revealing mistake: When the shark swims away with three barrels, in the next shot all three men are standing at the back of the boat watching it. Look at the sea in front of them and you can see one of the barrels waiting to pop up.
Continuity mistake: In the first scene of the Orca at sea, Hooper holds a green tackle box as Quint cracks open a beer. The way Hooper holds the tackle box varies between shots. (01:13:05)
Continuity mistake: As Brody flips through his shark book, he pauses to look at a photo of two fishermen and their catch. The photo is on the right page, but in the previous shot where we see Brody stop flipping through, there was no picture on the right page as seen in a reflection on his glasses, just words. (00:25:30)
Continuity mistake: In the medical examiner's room, before Hooper splashes water over his face, he rolls up his left sleeve just a bit. His wristwatch is in view, but between shots the watch tucks itself away under his sleeve. (00:32:40)
Continuity mistake: Prior to departing on the Orca, Hooper and Quint discuss the anti-shark cage. At the onset, a rigging rests on Quint's left shoulder. But between shots the rigging repositions itself away from his shoulder. (01:09:50)
Continuity mistake: When Brody jumps from his seat to get Michael out of the sailboat, he lifts Ellen by her arms. But then, one shot later, he's lifting her by the hips instead. (00:23:35)
Continuity mistake: Throughout the movie we see a number of underwater scenes with the camera shot looking up under the swimmers where the water is very clear and blue given how many swimmers we can see from a distance. The only problem is that the water everyone is swimming in is greenish and cloudy as can be seen with the camera shots that are half in and out of the water right along side of the swimmers.
Continuity mistake: When Quint shouts for Hooper to tie up the first barrel, Hooper's grip on the electronic tracking device differs from one shot to the next. (01:24:15)
