The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Corrected entry: Look closely just after Boromir is shot a third time with an arrow. The Horn of Gondor has split neatly down the middle and the two halves are held together with an inner hinge of duct tape. (02:39:53)

Correction: Absolutely false. The Horn of Gondor is broken in two halves near the end of the horn, where thereĀ“s a wide band of golden metallic ornament. The two halves stay together by this metallic ornament.

Corrected entry: In Balin's tomb, when the Fellowship can hear the Orcs coming, they block the door and prepare for battle. The thing is, there is a HUGE hole in the wall behind them (they even leave through this after the fight is over to get to the bridge). Why didn't they run through there after blocking the door in the first place? I realise that we wouldn't have a great battle scene, but it still would have saved a lot of hassle.

Correction: The reason that they don't go out of the other door is because they realize that it would be no good escaping the room with heavy pursuit behind them; the orcs could break through the wall, and they soon would catch up to the fellowship. This is true to the book.

Corrected entry: At Bilbo's birthday party, he is wearing a red jacket with a green collar. He then disappears. When he re-appears, he still has it on. When he grabs the walking stick, it has turned all green.

Correction: This scene is not in real time - some time has elapsed between seeing Bilbo come into Bag End and take off the ring, and this next shot of him gathering items and packing to leave. He already has a bag out and things are stacked around it ready to pack - he has also changed his party jacket for his travelling one.

STP

Corrected entry: After the fellowship passed the statues of Argonath, the river ends by a huge waterfall. There's a huge rock on the very tip of the waterfall, yet the reflection is not visible on the water; compare it with the Argonath statues which have its reflections on the water.

Correction: In this shot, nothing is reflected in the water but the sky (compare the rock, Tol Brandir, to the banks to the left and right). In a later shot, Tol Brandir reflects along with everything else. Although the rock was added digitally to this footage, it's clear the filmmakers have been careful to match its reflection and general appearance to the rest of the scene.

STP

Corrected entry: The doorknob to Bilbo's Hobbit hole is in the center, as mentioned in the books. However, the interior doorknob is at the side of the door, in the normal place.

Correction: The door - among other things - was made to function correctly, so that it would open and shut normally. While it is unusual to have the two doorknobs in different places, the latches still work - so this is not a mistake.

Corrected entry: When Sam tried to follow Frodo (at the very end) and started drowning in the Great River, Sam was all the way under water. Frodo saved him, and then when you see that they are both in the boat again, Sam is COMPLETELY dry. Only his head is dripping wet. Frodo also reached in to save him, and Frodo's arm wasn't wet, either.

Correction: The cloaks that the Fellowship were given in Lothlorien repel water extremely well, but even so you can see that Sam's cloak is several shades darker from his immersion and it is covered with water droplets and rivulets of water running down. His shirt is also several shades darker and water can be seen running down his chest and arms as well. As for Frodo's arm and hand, both are dripping with water. The side of the cloak where he reached in to grab Sam is also covered with water droplets and is slightly darker. Claims that both hobbits are "completely dry" are ridiculous.

Corrected entry: In the scene where Arwen first appears she has her hair loose. She talks to Frodo in elvish and you see a close up of his face, then the camera goes back to her and her hair is all in little plaits.

Correction: Arwen's whole appearance changes in this scene - hairstyle, clothing etc. At first (as she is seen from Frodo's POV) her true appearance as an Elf is revealed - white, shining, perfect - and then it changes to show her in her riding clothes, looking more normal. The book refers to this happening with Elves on a number of occasions - and once or twice even with Aragorn.

Corrected entry: When the Fellowship is running through the mines of Moria, after they have fought with the orcs and cave troll, they reach the bridge of Khazad-dum. Then they are stopped again by the great number of orcs. When the Balrog arrives, they run further to Khazad-dum; the filmmakers used the exact same shot for this scene as when the Fellowship was running from the orcs in the first place.

Correction: The long shots of the Fellowship running through the Great Hall were all CG (as Peter Jackson says on his commentary on the extended DVD) and the background of columns is very repetitive, so the shots look similar, but they are not the same.

STP

Corrected entry: In the movie, Bilbo's book is called "There and Back Again - a Hobbit's Tale," but in the book "The Hobbit," it's "There and Back Again - A Hobbit Holiday." Maybe Peter Jackson thought audiences would misinterpret Bilbo's British use of the word "holiday"?

rbryant73

Correction: At the end of 'The Hobbit', when Bilbo is writing his memoirs, certainly it is stated that 'he THOUGHT [my emphasis] of calling them 'There and Back Again, a Hobbit's Holiday' ' - however by the end of the 'The Lord of the Rings' this has changed significantly. When Frodo has finished writing his part of the tale, he hands the book on to Sam for completion (last chapter, 'The Return of the King'), and Sam sees that 'the title page had many titles on it, crossed out one after another, so: My Diary. My Unexpected Journey. There and Back Again. And What Happened After. Adventures of Five Hobbits. The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the accounts of his friends. What we did in the War of the Ring. Here Bilbo's hand ended and Frodo had written: The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King. We can hardly blame the film-makers for avoiding all that and just keeping it simple!

Corrected entry: Towards the end of the fight in Moria, the cave troll slams Pippin on his back, but in the very next shot (look at the bottom center), Pippin is standing up as if nothing happened.

Correction: There is enough time when Pippin is off-screen for him to jump to his feet again. He'd have to do it quickly - but I think the possibility of an enormous cave troll squashing you as you lay there would be motivation enough.

STP

Corrected entry: When Aragorn is letting Frodo go to Mordor, in one shot it shows him facing the camera and you can see that Frodo is up to his shoulder, before Aragorn kneels down. In the next shot, Frodo is only up to his waist, but Aragorn hasn't moved.

Correction: This is the effect of forced perspective - Aragorn and Frodo are some distance apart, and the shot referred to here is over Frodo's shoulder, so that he is closer to the camera. He therefore looks taller than when he is further away, but his actual height hasn't changed.

STP

Corrected entry: When Bilbo Baggins is leaving Bag End after his birthday party, he picks ups his backpack. The shot shows that his backpack is a black leather hiking type. However, when he's at the door, the backpack is fabric, and much thinner.

Correction: As he picks up the bag, view it in slow mo to get a better grip on what you are seeing. As he picks it up, the underside of the bag is made of a leathery black material. However, as he flips it over, only the TOP is made of the other type of material.

Corrected entry: At the end of the film, when Boromir is racing up the hill to the rescue of Merry and Pippin, you simply see his dark clothing as he climbs. Then the camera cuts away, returning to a shot of Boromir still coming up the hill, only this time the horn of Gondor is suddenly evident, flip-flopping wildly with his every step.

Correction: It's just twisted round his body on its strap as he's running.

Corrected entry: There are two parts in the film where Sam refers to what "Gandalf told him". When he first tells him (in the cornfield) he says "Don't you lose him Samwise Gamgee", but at the ending (right after Frodo saves Sam from drowning) he says, "Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee."

Correction: How is this a "mistake"? Sam could have remembered what Gandalf told him two different ways; memory is a very subjective thing. Or he could have chosen to use the word "leave" rather than "lose" the second time because it had more impact. Or he could have decided that even though Gandalf had said "lose", what he truly meant was "leave". There are a dozen other plausible reasons for this.

Corrected entry: When Saruman is summoning an avalanche on Carhadras a bandage can be seen on his left middle finger.

Correction: This isn't really a mistake - although it was a real bandage from an injury (it is mentioned in the commentary on the extended DVD) it isn't anachronistic in any way.

Corrected entry: When Frodo and Gandalf are discussing the fate of the ring in Bilbo's house, the ring is on the table in front of them. When the camera goes to close ups of the ring it is sometimes to the left of the table and sometimes to the right. Looks like a simple camera reversal.

Correction: These changes represent the different points of view - sometimes we see the ring from Gandalf's POV, sometimes from Frodo's. The items on the table are all in the correct places to support this, and there is often a close-up of the relevant person right before the shot cuts away to the ring.

Corrected entry: When Lurtz is thrown on the ground by Aragorn before shooting Boromir with a point-blank arrow, he holds his bow. Nevertheless, after getting back up in a split second, he holds both his broad-bladed sword and his shield.

Correction: He rolls away when Aragorn tackles him and picks up the sword and shield of a fallen Uruk beside him.

Corrected entry: When Borimir is about to die and Strider is running towards him, one of the supposedly dead Orcs lifts his head to watch Strider run by and then promptly lays his head down again.

Correction: Debatable - looks more like he's just wounded but has no energy to get up and continue the fight.

Corrected entry: When Legolas arrives in Rivendell, you see him dismount his horse and turn to view the area. Right after he jumps off you see he is just behind his horse's front leg. After the shot changes, he is a couple feet forward from his last position.

Correction: This scene is not supposed to be in real time - there's simply wide shots, showing Boromir, Gimli and Legolas arriving, then a close-up of Legolas' face, showing his joy at being in Rivendell at last.

Corrected entry: When Frodo pulls Sam into the elvish boat after saving him from drowning, you can see Sam's foot for a second, and you see he doesn't have his hobbit feet on. Sam pulls his foot under his cloak right away to hide it. Nevertheless, it is noticeable and a bit funny.

Correction: We can only see the sole of his foot, so it's not obvious that he has his hobbit feet on, but they are definitely there. Sean Astin has often talked about getting cut by glass when they filmed this scene, and that getting medical attention was made more difficult because he had his feet on.

STP

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Other mistake: When Sam and Frodo are in the field with the scarecrow, you can plainly see a car cruising past in the distance, from right to left. Further comment - there are two different shots which show the car moving from right to left. One starts at the top right distance, and in a shot a few seconds later the car has traveled down the road a bit and is more easily visible. Complicating matters is that the dust thrown up by the car looks similar to smoke from a chimney in the right distance, making some people think it is just the chimney. But chimneys don't move, and the smoke from the chimney is separate from the moving vehicle. [It is deleted on the DVD, but you can still see an obvious bit of image fakery on the hill just left of the smoking chimney. One can see the hill, tree, and surrounding area move up and down and shimmer slightly where someone has done a cut and paste to cover up the auto. The "car inclusive" scene appears on the National Geographic documentary, "Beyond the Movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." Also, watch the music documentary on the Extended DVD - when it shows this scene the car is still in it. Bizarrely, in his commentary Peter Jackson said he never saw a car and doesn't know what people are talking about, but the production/post-production team say in their commentary that despite not thinking anyone would be able to see it, they took it out anyway.] (00:42:55)

More mistakes in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

[Another Hobbit drunkenly hits on Rosie, Sam's crush.]
Frodo: Don't worry, Sam. Rosie knows an idiot when she sees one.
Sam: [Worried.] Does she?

More quotes from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
More trivia for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Question: When Gandalf is hanging on the edge of the bridge in the mines, what does he say just before he drops? At first I thought he said 'run you fools' but it sounds different every time I hear it.

Answer: "Fly, you fools"

More questions & answers from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

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