Continuity mistake: After the sweeping pan of Edoras, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn ride up towards the Golden Hall. In the first shot, behind them is a wood fence with a wood ladder, leading up to a tower and seen behind Legolas are two girls standing on stone steps. Also seen in this first shot, to Gandalf's right, is a man with a white beard, hooded shirt and long vest. In the very next shot, is the same bearded man (use zoom) wearing the same clothes, standing near a cart. In the next shot, the first close-up of Aragorn, to his left, are a woman (partially seen) and two men wearing hats, standing under a wooden structure. Aragorn looks up at the Golden Hall, and sees Éowyn. The next shot of Aragorn, behind him to his left, are the same wood fence, ladder, tower and two girls on the stone steps, as in the first shot of them all. As they continue to ride up, Gimli remarks, "You'll find more cheer in a graveyard." Just after Aragorn looks up at the Golden Hall again, in the next close-up of Aragorn, to his left, are the same woman and two men standing under the same wood structure, as in the first close-up of Aragorn!! (01:16:25)
Continuity mistake: After Aragorn says to Haleth, "Give me your sword," in the wide shot we see that Aragorn is sitting on the tail of his coat and the coat is draped down the steps under his legs. When Aragorn rises, just after Haleth says, "...They say that it is hopeless," we see that the coat is not draped down the steps under his legs, as in the earlier shot. It is not the legs' shadow. (00:56:40)
Continuity mistake: When Aragorn fights with the Orc riding the Warg, Aragorn knocks the Orc off and he falls to the ground. Then the Warg tumbles off the cliff with Aragorn. If you notice, the Orc falls a fair distance from the cliff, but when Legolas and Gimli ask him what happened, he is much closer to the cliff edge. (00:12:45 - 00:13:40)
Continuity mistake: Throughout the movie, the size of Gimli changes several times. Upon entering Edoras, his height is just under Legolas' shoulder. When the Uruk-hai attack Helm's Deep and they are waiting atop the wall, you can hardly see Gimli's helmet, but all of the other characters (for example Legolas) stand there behind the wall that reaches the height of their kidney-area. (01:18:00)
Continuity mistake: At night at the Dead Marshes when Frodo is lying down he is holding the Ring in his hand and he's stroking the Ring with his middle finger. In the very next close-up he's stroking the Ring with his index finger then in the next wide shot he's stroking the Ring with his middle finger again. (00:47:25)
Continuity mistake: On the way to Helm's Deep, when they stop for the night, Éowyn offers Aragorn some stew. As Aragorn is putting the spoon into his mouth, in the wide shot, there is a piece of 'white food' hanging over the side of the bowl near his right hand, Aragorn's hair is messy, blowing on his forehead and his hair is put behind his left ear. In the following close-up shot of his reaction to the taste of the stew, the 'white food' isn't hanging off the side of the bowl, his hair isn't as messy on his forehead and he has more hair in front of his ear now. (00:01:40)
Continuity mistake: At Helm's Deep, in this opening wide shot, soldiers call out, "Come on, keep moving. Quickly now," as the people walk towards the Glittering Caves. We see the soldiers standing up against the wall, as the people go past. Next, in a side close-up, Aragorn talks with Legolas as they walk past the soldiers, and other people. In the next shot from the front, as the conversation continues, they're still walking past the guards and people. In the second and third shots the people around them differ and in all three shots the guards differ too. (00:50:45)
Continuity mistake: Elves, as can be seen all through the battle of Helm's Deep, carry their sword and arrows on their backs, protruding some distance above their shoulders. When the elves arrive at Helm's Deep, however - none of them appear to be carrying a sword (it is possible that the sword could be sheathed at the waist, under their robes, but it seems unlikely that they'd change it to a back-sheath later on), nor do they have any arrows for the bows that they are carrying. (02:04:25)
Continuity mistake: Merry and Pippin run into Fangorn Forest and drop down on the ground. First there is a wide shot of Pippin falling, then there's a close-up of them, and last there's an extreme wide shot of the area. The area that Merry and Pippin are lying in is different in all three shots. (00:38:15)
Continuity mistake: When Aragorn dreams of Arwen, he lies on this couch with Arwen leaning above him. She caresses his cheek down to his jaw. Then the camera angle changes and her hand is near his hair. (01:19:56)
Continuity mistake: The first two shots of people leaving Edoras are shown, and in the wide shot Éothain and Freda are seen on their horse, as well as the people in front and in back of them. Next are shots of Theoden and Gamling speaking, and the Aragorn and Éowyn confrontation. Then in the next shots the people are still seen leaving Edoras, including Éothain and Freda with the same people in front and in back of them as was seen in the much earlier shot! (01:33:50 - 01:35:50)
Continuity mistake: When Sam, Frodo and Gollum arrive at the Black Gate, they hide at the top of the cliff looking down on the soldiers approaching Mordor. As the ground crumbles beneath Sam, the soldiers are some distance from the Gate's entrance, the shot switches as he falls then quickly resumes its original position. Yet the soldiers have now entered the Gate, all within the space of a split second. (01:04:30)
Continuity mistake: After riding down the Causeway at Helm's Deep, Aragorn looks up and sees Gandalf. In the first shot his hair and face are very sweaty and shiny. In the second shot when he says, "Gandalf," his face is dry and sweat free. His hair is different in both shots too. The second shot was pinched from the earlier scene in the Keep when he looks up at the window remembering Gandalf's words, "Look to my coming." Confirmed on commentary. (01:29:25)
Continuity mistake: Before Gandalf makes his reappearance, when Gimli says "The air is so close in here" he has two axes at his waist, one in hand (and one on his back as seen earlier). The axe on his waist at his left has a solid head. Later, when Aragorn tells him to lower his axe, one is missing from his waist. It reappears in his hand just as Aragorn starts to draw his sword. Then, just as the three are about to attack the wizard, Gimli doesn't appear to have an axe in his left hand. Yet, in the subsequent cut, he throws one with his left hand. Then, when Gandalf reveals himself and Gimli bows his head, the solid-bladed axe appears to have moved to the right-hand side of Gimli's waist (as they cower in Gandalf's brightness). (00:39:55 - 00:42:00)
Continuity mistake: In most scenes with Gollum, he has a small pouch attached to his narrow belt over his right hip. Early in the scenes where Gollum is leading the Hobbits through the bog, you don't see the pouch. Both in the preceding and following shots he had the pouch. (00:41:40)
Continuity mistake: When the three companions first meet Gandalf, after Aragorn drops his sword, Gimli lowers his axe and holds it by his right hand. When the shot changes, Gimli holds it by two hands and in a ready position. The same thing with Legolas, his bow changes position, and Aragorn with his legs. (00:52:50)
Continuity mistake: When Aragorn is dreaming of Arwen, they stand and kiss. In the close ups, his hands are on her cheeks and jaw, but in the wider shot his hands are on her waist. (00:05:35)
Continuity mistake: At Osgiliath, when Frodo first brings Sting to Sam's throat, in the first close-up the chain is not caught up on the vest button. When Frodo falls back and drops Sting, the Ring's chain is hooked up on the button. The shot changes to Sam then quickly back to Frodo, and Frodo says, "I can't do this Sam" and the chain is no longer hung up on the button. (01:34:50)
Continuity mistake: Faramir and his men capture Frodo and Sam, and Sam is thrown to the ground. In these shots, Sam's cloak is lying straight under him, as can be seen when he says, "Wait. We're innocent travelers." When one of Faramir's men grabs Sam's shirt to pull him up, his cloak is lying on the ground, up near his shoulder out to his right. Sam has not moved, Faramir's man had a blade to his throat. (01:45:15)
Continuity mistake: The flower that Theoden is holding while he is in front of his son's tomb has 8 petals, but when he drops it, it has only 6, and the flowers on the ground have only 5 petals. (01:25:30)
Chosen answer: "Do they give good sport" is simply a way of asking whether they're being kept alive to provide later entertainment; could they be used in some sort of organised hunt, could they serve as gladiatorial fodder in an arena fight, that sort of thing. The weird thing with the tongue really just seems to be a sort of odd tic, designed to emphasise his rather disgusting nature.
Tailkinker ★