Mistakes in Jaws

Mistake #1

When the shark bursts through the window of the cabin, in each of the shots facing Brody, including when he shoves the air tank into the shark's mouth, the glistening water is visible in the window's reflection behind Brody. The shark's reflection is never seen behind Brody, despite the shark's massive size in the small cabin. Bruce must have had the day off during Roy Scheider's takes.

Mistake #2

When the fishermen start out on the hunt, Ben Gardner appears in a close-up leaning on the windshield at forward deck, while talking about how stupid some of the others are. In the next wide shot of the boats, Ben's green boat is towards the left of the screen, and the large reflector screen and camera, that are mounted to the bow of his boat, are visible in front of the forward window where Ben is seen in the previous shot.

Mistake #3

When Hooper gets his gear from below, after the explosion in the engine room, he runs to the deck passing Quint using the fire extinguisher. The camera pans from Brody, who stands on the bridge deck, to Hooper right below him. So where exactly is the tall iron ladder that leads up to the bridge deck in this shot? It should be behind Hooper, in front of the window, but it's gone! But don't fret, it's back in the following shots.

Mistake #4

At the scene just after the fake shark scare, the real shark shows up at the pond area of the beach. As the lifeguard in a small boat reacts to everyone's panic, the shark tips over the boat then appears underneath him to tear his leg off. We watch as it sinks slowly to the bottom. You can plainly see that the lifeguard is barefoot in the boat. The severed leg has a tennis shoe on.

Mistake #5

Orca's ID number normally reads MS 15 LF on both her port and starboard side at the bow. However, after Quint shouts, "Hooper, you idiot. Aint you watchin it?" Orca's ID number reads M 15 L at port side and 15 LF at starboard. Go figure.