The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Revealing mistake: On the Pelennor fields, the Rohirrim battle the Haradrim on Mûmakil with their bows and arrows. In one particular shot the Rohirrim in the foreground ride towards the right of the screen and the rider at the left lets loose one arrow, then reaches behind him to get another arrow and brings his arm back to the front. However, no arrows are ever visible in his hands. (02:05:20)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: After Aragorn is crowned king he greets Legolas and they place their hands on each other's shoulder. In the shot facing Aragorn when he starts to move toward Arwen, the semi profile seen on Legolas is not Orlando Bloom, but that of his double. In the previous shot facing Legolas, Aragorn and the Elf are the same height and eye level, but in the shot facing Aragorn, Legolas is considerably taller. (02:55:05)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In the charge of the Rohirrim if you look in the background all the horsemen are ordered and are charging in formation, much like they were before the charge. However, in the overhead shots there are no separate groups, all the horses are charging in one large group together.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Pippin steals the palantir, Gandalf's right hand grasps the sword below the hilt's cross-guard in all of the close-ups. However, in the wide shots Gandalf's hand grasps the grip of the sword above the hilt's cross-guard. The bed sheets differ between the shots as well. (00:20:00)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: When Pippin offers his services to Denethor, he crosses in front of Gandalf. Against Gandalf's white robe, the outline around Pippin is noticeable, due to the CG editing, which causes this shot to look unnatural. (00:35:10)

Audio problem: As the King of the Dead and his army listen, Aragorn shouts, "You have my word! Fight, and I will release you..." However, in the wide shot as he continues, "...from this living death!" Aragorn's mouth shouts something completely different. (Extended Edition) (01:56:10)

Super Grover

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: At Minas Tirith, in the opening wide shot as Gandalf smokes on the balcony, the large light whose body is mounted on the ceiling behind Gandalf, is perfectly visible overhead, to his left. (Extended Edition) (00:52:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Whilst Sam runs up the stairs to rescue Frodo, before Shagrat makes off with the Mithril shirt, quite a few changes occur between the two consecutive shots. The larger hole in Shagrat's chain maille sleeve shrinks, his hair goes from flat and stringy to fuller and neater, the way he grips the shirt differs, and in the second shot he wears something reddish - which is seen through the chain maille tears, but in the previous shot it was black. (00:53:00)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: At Minas Tirith, Grond destroys the door and the Trolls attack. Gandalf charges at one Troll in particular and proceeds to slash the Troll in the belly, and the Troll drops down, yet Gandalf's sword never even touches the Troll at all. (01:48:30)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Sam is heading to the top of the Tower of Cirith Ungol to rescue Frodo, there is a shot of four Orcs and Uruks coming down at the same time. After Sam growls echo loudly, the next shot shows an Uruk turning and starting to run back up. When they attack Sam, there are only three. The fourth one, who is clearly not Gorbag, could not have run into the tower, because when Sam stabs Gorbag at the top of the tower, the light of Sting goes out, indicating there are no more Orcs in the vicinity. (On the Extended DVD, it is the Uruk Shagrat who escapes and hides, as he holds Frodo's mithril shirt, while going down the tower when Sam heads up.) (02:20:30)

Deliberate mistake: After Frodo puts on the Ring at Mount Doom, when the Nazgûl fly away from the Black Gate, the next close-up of Gandalf's reaction is actually a flipped shot - the wizard's smudges are on the opposite side of his face.

Super Grover

Deliberate mistake: During the battle between the Rohirrim and Orcs, when Théoden shouts, "Bring it down…Bring it down!" there is a close-up of Gamling as he releases the arrow with his bow held high, but next shot he is behind Théoden holding his sword up. (00:34:40)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Gandalf and Pippin reach Minas Tirith, Gandalf's cloak is fairly clean. As they ride up through all of the gates of Minas Tirith, the bottom of Gandalf's white cloak is filthy, yet when they reach the top Gandalf's cloak is much cleaner again. During their ride glimpses of the stirrups are visible. (00:32:00 - 00:33:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Gandalf coughs and mockingly says, "Guard of the Citadel," two of the tall candles on the hanging ceiling fixture (not the wall fixture) are visible behind him now and in following shots too. When Gandalf says, "It's the deep breath before the plunge," those two candles, as well as the others on the ceiling fixture, are nearly entirely melted, though they are tall again in subsequent shots. (Extended Edition) (00:52:45 - 00:53:20)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: As Sam walks in through the doorway of the Tower of Cirith Ungol there are bodies scattered all over the floor of the entryway in the close-up. However in the next overhead wide shot, there are no bodies in the entryway behind Sam. (02:20:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Theoden is planning the attack before the battle of the Pelennor fields, Grimbold rides across the front of his horse and rides a considerable distance, but in the next shot, he hasn't even set off yet, and is still behind Theoden. (01:58:00 - 01:59:00)

Continuity mistake: As Gollum says, "Too risky. Too risky. Thieves... Musn't wake them," in the two close-ups Frodo and Sam sleep with their backs against a wide rock wall and a single tree between them near Sam's head. However, when Gollum says, "Musn't ruin it now..." and after Sam yells, "You treacherous little toad!" in the next close-up and wide shot of the area, it is very different than in the first two shots. (00:15:10 - 00:17:45)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: After Éowyn stabs the Witch King, in the two wideshots as he withers away, Merry has his head turned to his left as he watches. However, in Merry's close-ups his body is turned the other way and his head is turned to his right, as he watches the Witch King disappear. (00:40:30)

Super Grover

Gimli: Certainty of death; small chance of success...what are we waiting for?

More quotes from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Trivia: At the end of the film, young Elanor Gamgee is played by none other than Sean Astin's own daughter in a cameo. Not only that, but Frodo Gamgee (the baby) is played by Maisie McLeod-Riera, the daughter of Sarah McLeod, who plays Sam's wife, Rosie.

More trivia for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

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

More questions & answers from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

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