Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: When Denethor holds the Horn of Gondor, the metal loop (with rope), which is affixed at its wide end, is located at the outer curve where it is cloven. However in both FotR and TTT, the metal loop at the Horn's wide end, is located on the inner curve where it is cloven, on the opposite side. (There are only two metal loops and they are permanently affixed.) (00:44:50)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: Gandalf and Pippin walk to the prow of Minas Tirith, and while the wizard says, "Childless lords sat in aged halls, musing on heraldry..." the camera passes the two tall stones at the prow. The depth of the stones are the same at both the narrow top and wide bottom, they are irregularly shaped and the actual points are curved. The prow's short side stone walls meet the two front stones at their edges and part of the wall is broken. However, after Gandalf says, "The rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men," in the next shot facing Mordor, the stones are completely different. The two tall stones come to a perfect point, they are straight at all sides and the design of the stone differs. The wall is not broken and both sides jut out past the side edges of the two tall pointy stones. (Extended DVD.) (00:48:40)

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

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

Continuity mistake: At Minas Tirith, after injured Faramir is carried up, Denethor walks away and sees the Orc army for the first time. In the next shot when the Troll lifts the rock onto the catapult, this catapult is totally different in the close-up and following wide shot. (02:00:35)

Super Grover

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

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

Continuity mistake: There are trebuchets atop the walls of Minas Tirith; however, in the front wideshot (not side shots), as Faramir and the rest of the Gondorian soldiers ride towards Osgiliath, with Minas Tirith directly behind them, all the trebuchets are gone. (01:31:10)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: Legolas sends an arrow directly to Grima atop Orthanc, and as Grima starts to fall back the arrow is quite visibly well below the coat's fur. However, when Grima actually hits the ground, the arrow is now higher up, protruding from the fur. (Extended Edition.) (00:16:35)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: In the opening shot as Gandalf stands on the balcony at Minas Tirith the many buildings beside the balcony are shown. When Gandalf says, "If the garrison at Osgiliath falls, the last..." as he continues, "...defense of this city will be gone," the buildings beside the balcony are once again visible. To say that the buildings are completely different in the two shots would be a vast understatement! (This has absolutely nothing to do with camera angles. Extended Edition.) (00:52:10 - 00:54:30)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: Just before and after Sam yells, "Frodo get down. Hide!" the sores at Frodo's neck caused by the Ring's burden are visible. Frodo then falls to the ground after seeing the Eye and the sore on the right side of his neck is seen again, but completely different. The sores change many times in consecutive shots. (02:29:00)

Super Grover

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

Trivia: When Gandalf is talking about the gathering of the armies of Sauron, the next shot shows the Corsairs on a ship. Walking from right to left is Peter Jackson in a cameo as a Corsair pirate. In the extended version he is pierced in the chest by Legolas' arrow and dramatically dies. (00:38:30)

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

Visible crew/equipment: When Sauron's forces start to surround Aragorn et al. at the Black Gate, there is a close-up of Éomer glancing towards the right of the screen. The next shot is of Orcs advancing to left of the screen. Fourth frame in, a dark haired crew member is visible behind the Orcs near the center, click some more and again he and others are visible in the background. (02:32:55)

Super Grover

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

Visible crew/equipment: At the Black Gate, Sauron's forces march towards Aragorn and his army, there are close-ups of Pippin drawing his sword and of Merry taking a deep breath. The next shot is of Orcs running to the right of the screen. As that shot opens, click five-six frames in and two crew members are seen between the Orcs on the right of the screen, click a few more times and more crew members, one with a hat, are visible in the middle, between the Orcs. (02:33:15)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: At the end, when the four Hobbits are entering Grey Havens, Sam is wearing a yellow vest with brown buttons over a white shirt. The vest can still be seen when Sam and Frodo hug. But when Frodo makes his way onto the ship and turns back to smile at his friends, Sam is no longer wearing the yellow vest. The vest is still not there when the three Hobbits turn to leave Grey Havens. But, when Sam returns home to the Shire and is holding his daughter, he is once again wearing the yellow vest. (03:09:05)

Cate

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

Visible crew/equipment: In Shelob's lair, when Frodo is caught in the web, in the first close-up while hanging there the camera pans down to his feet. Both ankles are wrapped and have foot supports and the wire cables attached to his ankle straps are visible, especially his left. In the next back shot, as Frodo turns around the wrist/arm support at his right arm, while he holds Sting, is seen too. (01:42:30)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: After Frodo wakes up in Minas Tirith, Merry and Pippin stand in the doorway. Their height reaches the middle of the ornate carving on the door in the close-up, but in their next wide shot running in, they are much shorter. When Legolas and Aragorn walk in, also in a close-up, their height is just a bit higher on that ornate carving than the two Hobbits' heights were. Then when Sam stands in the doorway his height also reaches the center of the carving. (02:51:20)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: After Smeagol kills Deagol, Smeagol opens up Deagol's fist to claim the Ring. In the first shot, Smeagol leans over Deagol, then Smeagol's right hand holds Deagol's wrist and Smeagol's left hand opens Deagol's fingers. Yet in the close-up, now Smeagol's left hand hold's Deagol's wrist and Smeagol's right hand opens Deagol's fingers to reveal the Ring. (00:04:20)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: In one of the final scenes of the movie, Frodo is writing in the book "There and Back Again," adding his own story. As he is finishing, he clutches the wound he received from one of the Nazgul in "The Fellowship of the Ring." Frodo does put the quill down, but that happens before he gets the pain in his chest. Frodo has the quill in his hand when he starts to write again. Frodo is not shown putting the quill down between these next consecutive shots. In the first close-up, Frodo has the quill in his hand as he clutches his chest, because of the pain. Next shot, Sam enters the room. In the next consecutive shot, Frodo, who is still clutching the pain in his chest, does not have the quill in his hand. (03:01:50)

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

Continuity mistake: In the second half of the film, Frodo has a scar on his lower right cheek, close to his chin. Many times throughout the rest of the film the scar changes position and size on his right cheek. It also appears on his left cheek in flipped shots (most obviously on the slopes of Mount Doom when Sam is cradling his head). (02:31:05 - 02:34:00)

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