Continuity mistake: When Eowyn steps in front of Theoden to stop the fell beast from eating him, it tries to bite her but she jumps out of the way and cuts off its head, though her sword and arm should have been caught in the fell beast's mouth as she jumped out of the way. (02:09:25)
Continuity mistake: During the fighting with Shelob, Sam hurts her in the eye with his sword in his left hand, but in the next shot it's in his right.
Continuity mistake: After Sam and Frodo slide down the rocky terrain wearing Orc armor, they run to the side and Sam's chin strap hangs down and is not buckled. Yet, in the very next shot and the following shots when the army of Orcs approach, the chin strap is tightly buckled. (Extended Edition.) (01:00:55)
Continuity mistake: In Minas Tirith, while Gandalf and Pippin speak on the balcony, the position and actual height of the chair beside the fireplace varies significantly, as does the position of the candle wall fixture which is attached to the wall, above the chair. (This has nothing to do with camera angles. Extended Edition.) (00:53:50 - 00:55:00)
Continuity mistake: At Minas Tirith, Gandalf tells Pippin, "Go back to the Citadel!" and while Gandalf battles the Orcs, the area of the two adjacent benches, one is a two legged bench and the other is a three legged, change in consecutive shots. For example, the legs of a man lying under the three legged bench are in a shot, then they're gone, then back again in the same position. (01:36:15)
Continuity mistake: At the Black Gate, as the Mouth of Sauron speaks, in the wide shots Gimli's height is way above Legolas' shoulders and is blocked by the bow and knives. However, in the close-ups he barely reaches Legolas' shoulders and is blocked by neither the bow or knives. Similarly this occurs in many shots throughout. (Extended Edition) (01:09:20)
Continuity mistake: In the poignant close-up, Theoden's last word is, "Éowyn," and he dies with his head towards his left, facing Éowyn, who then puts her face on the top of his chest. In the consecutive wide shot, with her head still resting on his chest, now his head is facing towards his right. She did not move his head. (02:16:05)
Continuity mistake: When Frodo, Sam and Gollum reach the "dead city" of Minas Morgul, the stones, pebbles and dirt along the path and on the ground, below the Gargoyles, change in the consecutive shots. (00:55:40)
Continuity mistake: After Pippin swears his oath to Denethor, the Steward derides Faramir about disloyalty, and standing behind Faramir are four men (servants perhaps), seen in the far and close-up shots. When Faramir asks, "What would you have me do?" two of those four servants leave in this close-up. In the next far wide shot, as Denethor taunts, "Is there a captain here..." the same four servants are behind Faramir. Then as Faramir says, "...I had died and Boromir lived..." in this close-up, there are two servants again. (00:59:20)
Continuity mistake: On the fields of Pelennor, when Pippin finds Merry, he rolls the large Orc off to Merry's side, but the Orc's long black hair is still beside the Hobbit's head. However, only in Merry's close-ups the Orc's black hair is gone. (00:49:10)
Continuity mistake: The two wounds on Frodo's chest are noticeably changed in appearance, from the first shots of Frodo while Shagrat and Gorbag are behind him, to the following shots before and after Sam rescues him. (02:18:50 - 02:21:10)
Continuity mistake: When Gollum chokes Frodo, Sam throws a rock, hitting Gollum in the head and Gollum falls. In the next front close-up of Frodo, as he catches his breath, the necklace is caught up in the collar of Frodo's shirt and the Ring is at his right shoulder. Yet in the next side shot, the necklace is now flat on his neck and the Ring is centered in the middle of it. (02:37:40)
Continuity mistake: At Bag End, as Frodo finishes writing in the book, from the hall the camera pans inside the study. The shadow cast on the fireplace by the bookstand differs in the close-ups of Frodo. Some of the items on the fireplace mantle differ and the two pipes on the shelves of the desk appear in the close-ups as well. (03:01:10)
Continuity mistake: Near the end, when the four Hobbits are seated at the table in the Green Dragon, Frodo passes out the mugs of ale to himself and the rest. Look at the interior of the mugs, not just the exterior. Frodo and Merry have the same colored mugs as each other and Sam and Pippin have the same as one another. When they lift their mugs to drink, look at the interior of the mugs, now Sam and Merry have the same color and Frodo and Pippin have the same as each other. (02:59:05)
Continuity mistake: As Frodo and Sam walk in Mordor, Sauron's Eye turns towards them and Sam yells, "Frodo, get down!" Frodo collapses and when he hits the ground, in the close-up, the Ring on the necklace is at his right cheek. In the following wide shot, the Ring is lying lower down on his shirt. In his next close-up, the Ring is at his right cheek again. (00:29:20)
Continuity mistake: At Rivendell, Arwen sits holding the book and we see the bouquet of flowers, the chair at the side of the table faces the camera, the pillows beside her that switch positions and the patterned floor is brightly colored rose tones with high gloss. Yet, in the close-up dropping the book (and following shots), though the floor has the same pattern, it's now light pastel tones, matte and granite-like, with no gloss at all. After Elrond lifts the book, in the wide shot the flowers are very different and the chair is now in front of the table facing the chaise lounge. Then when Elrond takes her hands in the next shot the chair is on the side of the table again. (00:30:15)
Continuity mistake: When Pippin lights the beacon of Minas Tirith, the soldiers outpost and surrounding mountainside terrain differs between the close-up and wide shots. (01:05:00)
Continuity mistake: At Isengard, when Pippin recovers the palantir, in two shots it's large enough to fill both of his hands, so that he has to spread all of his fingers to hold it. In the next shot of Pippin and Gandalf, Pippin raises one hand holding the palantir and Gandalf quickly takes it. In this particular shot, as Pippin hands the palantir to Gandalf with one hand, the circumference of the palantir is noticeably much smaller (while still in Pippin's grasp), than it was in the previous shots. (00:11:30)
Continuity mistake: Just before Eowyn is about to strike the fell beast's neck with her sword, a huge gash running down the entire left side of its neck can be seen. When the scene cuts to a close-up of Eowyn, who is on the beast's right-hand side and is about to strike again, the gash is now only across the top of the neck and a few inches down the left side. (02:09:30)
Continuity mistake: As the Rohirrim approach Minas Tirith, they arrive on the flank of the Mordor army, putting them to the north of the battle (the Mordor forces are attacking from Osgiliath in the east to Minas Tirith to the west). As they do so, the Sun appears behind them, rising in the north rather than in the east. (01:57:05)
Answer: Aragorn is 210 years old when he dies. Some of the early texts give his age at death as 190, but Tolkien eventually confirmed that 210 is the correct age.
Tailkinker ★