Goofs

During "King Herod's Song", in a closeup of the pianist, a female is sitting on the piano. Later on, the female gets up to dance. In another closeup of the pianist after the dancer leaves, the dancer is still sitting on the piano.

When Judas hangs himself, the sky changes multiple times between cloudy and clear. Similar alternation is seen when Jesus is crucified.

During the flogging, Jesus is not struck all 39 times that Pontius Pilate counts off; Pilate counts off some numbers while the flogger is drawing the lash back.

Differences from the source material are not to be counted as goofs. Historical inaccuracies, such as tanks and guns in the year 0033, are also not counted as goofs, especially when related to artistic decisions.

During "Poor Jerusalem", Jesus sings "Neither you, Simon, nor the fifty thousand, nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas, nor the twelve, nor the priest, nor the scribes, nor doomed Jerusalem itself." Judas was one of the "twelve", so adding him to the twelve would have made 13 apostles, not 12.

This redundancy is deliberate to emphasize Judas' importance to the story.

In the title song, Judas asks "could Muhammad move a mountain or was that just PR?" Muhammad wasn't born until 500 years after Judas died. However, this scene is set in a heavenly dimension which need not be bound by conventional linear chronology.

When Pilate turns to face the crowd after he claims that Jesus doesn't deserve death, Pilate's cape gets caught on a soldier's arm.

It is completely believable that capes could get caught on any number of things, including someone's arm.

When Jesus is hanging on the cross, he moves his hands away from the wooden crosspieces, showing that the nails are just nail heads stuck to Ted Neeley's palms.

During the crucifixion, the sun casts shadows both behind and in front of the cross.

In the long shot of Judas Iscariot hanging himself, the noose is attached to a flesh-colored harness on Carl Anderson's back.

After Jesus finds his apostles asleep, the camera cranes up next to the leaves of a tree. At one point (about 1:00:48 on the DVD) a twigs swings back and forth wildly, indicating that the camera has brushed against it.

During "Judas' Death", Caiaphas sings to Judas "What you have done will be the saving of everyone", but his mouth is saying "the saving of Israel", the song's original lyric.

During "Gethsemane", Jesus sings "If I die, what will be my reward? If I die, what will be my reward?" but he is clearly mouthing the words "If I die, what will be my reward? Have to know, I have to know my Lord".

After Judas told the Pharisees that Jesus would be at the Garden of Gethsemane, a chorus is heard singing "Well done Judas / Good old Judas". However, the subtitles mistakenly show "So long Judas / Poor old Judas", which is actually heard after Judas hangs himself. [On the 20th Anniversary remastered BluRay edition]

During the opening of "Superstar", after Judas steps off the chain, his lip sync is out of time with the song. It's corrected after the first cutaway.

When Jesus is arrested in the garden and says, "Put away your sword", a distorted reflection of the camera man is on the side of the Roman soldier's silver helmet.

During "Superstar", after the first cutaway of Jesus carrying the cross, two big light rigs are in the background. A grip climbs up a ladder just under the "star filter" effect of the light on the right. He's visible just above Carl Anderson's hand.

At the end of "King Herod's Song", the camera shakes when Herod throws a bagel at Jesus.

When Peter denies Jesus 3 times, Mary says that Jesus predicted this. Mary wasn't at the Last Supper when Jesus said this, and it is unlikely that Peter would have told her about the strange claim.

The character to whom Jesus sings "Neither you, Simon, nor the fifty thousand" was credited as Apostle James.

During Hosanna, as Caiaphas moves down the scaffolding, just before he sings "Tell the rabble to be quiet" he appears to slide/trip as he moves from one platform to the next.