The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Continuity mistake: As Sam is getting into the boat, in Lorien, you see Boromir's body (not head) on the right of the screen and Aragorn's body (not head) to the left. All three including Sam, are wearing the cloaks they received in the scene before. While Sam gets into the boat, the voice-over you hear in these few shots is Celeborn, who is actually talking to Aragorn on shore. Then in the next shot of Aragorn talking to Celeborn, Aragorn isn't wearing his cloak, as he's receiving the knife gift from Celeborn. The next problem is, while Merry and Pippin talk about Lembas, Boromir is in the background without his cloak. In the next shot when Sam gets into the boat, in the background we see Boromir's body with the cloak on again. Next we see Aragorn still talking to Celeborn on shore, in the background we see Boromir and he's not wearing the cloak yet again. The shots were obviously put together out of sequence, and none are flashback. (01:02:15 - 01:03:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: During the end fight scene with the Uruk-hai, the fight scene takes place on the side of a hill for the most part, but you can see that sometimes the sunlight shines down the hill and sometimes it shines across the hill, meaning it was filmed at different times of the day. (01:18:50)

Sol Parker

Continuity mistake: After Sam dives between the Troll's legs and tries to crawl away, in the first shot the Troll lifts his leg and in the second shot he's about to step on Sam, who is in the middle of the floor. Yet in the very next shot Sam is already at the wall raising his left arm and wincing at the giant foot coming down on him. (00:29:50)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: The Fellowship hide when they spot Crebain from Dunland. In the wide shot when Aragorn picks up his stuff, Frodo runs and lying on the ground under the rocks in front of him are blankets, coats, etc. Then in the next close-up under the rock, the position of those things lying on the ground is different just before Frodo dives onto them to hide. (00:06:40)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Extended Version only: When the Sackville-Bagginses are knocking on the door, Bilbo walks to a beam to look at them through the window. In the shot from behind we see that he walks to it and leans his right arm on it, peeking round. From the front he's leaning his whole shoulder on it, looking more relaxed. (00:17:00)

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

Continuity mistake: When the hobbits first start to run away from Farmer Maggot, they are running through the corn, which is much taller than them. Two seconds later, when the camera angle changes to the wide view (you can see all four hobbits running through the corn), their heads are even with, if not slightly above the corn. After it shows that the corn is about their height, there is the last shot of them coming out of the corn field and the stalks are again much taller than them. (00:50:20)

Continuity mistake: There's a close-up of Frodo's face after the camera shows the stone Trolls, and Frodo's face is shining with sweat. Then Sam says, "Look Frodo, it's Mr. Bilbo's Trolls," and there's a shot farther away from Frodo's face. In this shot, Frodo's face has no signs of sweat on it. Extended DvD. (01:14:40)

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

Continuity mistake: When the invisible Bilbo returns to Bag End he chats with Gandalf, then leaves dropping the Ring on the floor near the door. In the first shot of it after he's left, the Ring is touching a crack in the tile. When he gets closer, the Ring's moved away from it. (00:28:50)

Continuity mistake: When Lurtz was about to kill Boromir, Aragorn knocked the Uruk-hai down. He falls, drops his bow and arrow, then he picks up a sword and shield off a dead Uruk. Once Aragorn and Lurtz start fighting, the dead bodies disappear. When the fight is over and Lurtz is dead, all the dead reappear. (02:40:43)

Continuity mistake: At the beginning, when Gandalf first knocks on the door at Bag End, Bilbo runs out and hugs Gandalf, with both arms around Gandalf's neck. In the shots behind Gandalf, both of Bilbo's arms are around Gandalf. In the shot behind Bilbo, only his left arm is around Gandalf. (00:15:55)

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

Continuity mistake: When Arwen and Aragorn are talking on the bridge, she caresses his cheek and forehead. In the next shot, her hand is no longer on his face.

Continuity mistake: When Gandalf knocks on the door at Bag End, there is a small uneven path of stones mingled with grass in front of the door, where Gandalf stands. Once Gandalf and Bilbo enter Bag End, in the interior shot that area is visible past the front door, and now it is an even stone path with no grass whatsoever between the stones. (00:15:30)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In the scene at the Council of Elrond, in Rivendell, after Frodo has placed the Ring on the stone table, the council argues about who will take the Ring. Just a moment before Gandalf does that touching look towards Frodo, he starts yelling at Boromir. His posture and action in the wider angle shot do not match that close-up moment. Extended edition. (01:43:25)

John Patton

Continuity mistake: There is a scene where Merry is throwing rocks into the water in front of the Walls of Moria. The camera shows him starting to throw a second rock into the water, and then the shot cuts faraway to show the rock landing in the water. In this brief faraway shot, Pippin is sitting. In the very next shot, however, Pippin is standing, poised and ready with a rock in his hand. (00:14:52)

Continuity mistake: In the Chamber of Mazarbul, with Balin's Tomb, Pippin backs up towards the well, we see the pail and there is a thick bunch of chain hanging out of it. In the next shot of Pippin as he backs up and turns, the pail now has one line of chain hanging out of it. Then Pippin touches the quiver of the arrow, and in the first shot of the head falling back into the well the pail yet again has a thick bunch of chain hanging out of it. Then in the next shot of Pippin turning around towards Gandalf the pail once again has the one line of chain hanging out of it. (00:26:45)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In the establishing shot of Gandalf and Frodo riding along in the horse-drawn cart, Frodo reaches the brim of Gandalf's hat. Yet when it goes in for the closeup, either Gandalf has grown a foot or Frodo has shrunk. (00:11:40)

Continuity mistake: This mistake is at the end of the film, when the Orcs are walking outside Saruman's tower going to catch the Hobbits. The colour of the sky changes between grey and blue. (02:20:00 - 02:21:00)

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

Continuity mistake: When Gandalf arrives at the Shire, some children start chasing the wagon yelling for fireworks. At this point we can see a Hobbit couple watching the children run past. The female Hobbit places her hand on her hip, and then in a close-up, she puts her hand on her hip again. (00:13:55)

Continuity mistake: Before Bilbo leaves out the door for his journey, he has a tuft of hair that is high above his forehead. When he turns around to talk to Gandalf outside, his tuft of hair is not as tall as it was before.

Continuity mistake: Near the end when Frodo has tears running down his face. In the first shot the tear on his right side is short and the left side tear is down to his chin. in the next shot they are reversed. Some people have said it's just that one tear lengthened and a new one started, but look at the right-hand one (the longer one in the first shot). If there was a new tear, we'd still see the damp path of the first one, but it's rolling down a dry cheek. (01:25:45)

Visible crew/equipment: After starting their four day journey through the long dark of Moria, a few shots later Gandalf pulls on his hat brim, and just as he walks (with Legolas close behind) to his left (towards the viewer's right), up some stairs, the black electrical cable leading from the staff to under the robe's left sleeve is visible. (00:19:30)

Super Grover

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

Aragorn: Gentlemen! We do not stop 'til nightfall.
Pippin: But what about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?
[Aragorn stares at him, then walks off.]
Merry: Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.

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

Trivia: According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Lord of the Rings holds the record for the greatest number of false feet used in one movie: 60,000.

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

Question: Since Gandalf knew how dangerous the ring was, why did he give it to Frodo and tell him that he must destroy the ring? It would make more sense to either do it himself or find someone else to do it.

Answer: The temptation of the Ring is directly proportional to the power and ambition of the bearer. To someone like Gandalf - a mighty wizard who wants to save the world - the temptation would, over time, prove to be too much, and he's realistic enough to understand that about himself. With an ordinary hobbit who only wants a nice meal and some peace and quiet, the Ring has a lot less to work with.

Answer: Gandalf can't take the ring because he would be tempted to use it, and it would ultimately corrupt him. This is true for nearly anyone who has it for any length of time, except hobbits for some unknown reason. Gandalf recognized this in Bilbo, and later in Frodo.

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

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.