Continuity mistake: At Bag End, as Frodo finishes writing in the book, from the hall the camera pans inside the study. The shadow cast on the fireplace by the bookstand differs in the close-ups of Frodo. Some of the items on the fireplace mantle differ and the two pipes on the shelves of the desk appear in the close-ups as well. (03:01:10)
Continuity mistake: When Frodo, who is alone, finishes writing and turns to the beginning of the Red Book, we see 'There and back again, a Hobbit's tale, by Bilbo Baggins' written on the page. However, the handwriting on the page in this close-up is different than when it is first seen in FotR, when Bilbo first writes it. Then when Sam comes into the study, he reads aloud, "There and back... and The Lord of the Rings by Frodo Baggins," in the close-up of Frodo's handwriting. Sam then exclaims, "You finished it!" Frodo closes the book, but as he closes it we see that page again and 'The Lord of the Rings by Frodo Baggins' is written differently than the previous close-up of that page. (03:01:40)
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)
Continuity mistake: At the Grey Havens, Cirdan the Shipwright stands behind Elrond, Celeborn and Galadriel. There are five mooring pilings on the dock near them. 1st shot, Cirdan stands to the right of the second piling (on the left). 2nd shot, he stands in front of the second piling. 3rd shot, he stands to the right of the second piling again. 4th shot, Cirdan now stands behind the second mooring piling. This has nothing to do with camera angles. (03:04:20)
Continuity mistake: At the Grey Havens, Frodo hugs Merry and when they let go of each other, in the shot facing Frodo, Merry's cloak hangs down smooth over his right shoulder, but in the next shot facing Merry his cloak is folded up at the shoulder. (03:05:55)
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)
Continuity mistake: After Aragorn cuts off the head of the Mouth of Sauron and rides back with Gandalf, Legolas and Eomer to his army, the dead body, horse and decapitated head of the Mouth of Sauron are nowhere to be seen, while no time has passed. The horse hasn't run away, so it all just kind of disappeared. (Extended Edition)
Continuity mistake: When the Witch King attacks Theoden and Eowyn fights him, the Witch King's helmet changes between shots. The gap at the bottom where the chin should be varies in width. In some shots the gap is small, nearly non-existent, while in other shots the gap is rather large.
Continuity mistake: In the battle of Pelennor fields, you can see that an Orc scratches the top of Aragorn's face with his blade, making blood form around Aragorn's forehead. In the next shot, all the blood is gone.
Continuity mistake: At Edoras, after Gandalf throws the blanket over the palantir, Pippin's hair is on the floor above his head. However, in the next shot, his hair is completely under his head.
Continuity mistake: During the "It will be spring soon" speech between Sam and Frodo on the slope of Mount Doom, notice that the light hits their faces differently based on the shot. If it is a wide angle shot, the light is on the right side of their faces/bodies. However, if the camera is in tight for a close-up, the light is shining from the left side.
Continuity mistake: When the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is wrapping up, you see Aragorn with some of his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. In the next shot (in the background you can see the Dead swarming up a mumak), his forehead has nothing on it.
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.
Continuity mistake: During the ride of Rohan, there are a number of close-up shots showing characters as well as wide shots showing the whole army. In the close-up shots, the horses you see are brown, black or white, however, the wide shots are different. They show all brown or black horses, with the exception of Theoden's one white horse.
Continuity mistake: Inside Mt. Doom, there is a wide shot of Gollum on top of the invisible Frodo. In this shot, Sam is lying in the background with his arms at his sides. Then when he attempts to get up again in the next shot, his arms are in front of him.
Continuity mistake: After Pippin has looked in the PalantÃr Merry rushes to his side. There is a shot of Pippin lying lifeless on the floor and Merry is nowhere to be seen. Then it cuts to Gandalf shoving Merry aside and Merry is again right next to Pippin.
Continuity mistake: Gandalf enters the Tomb of the Stewards and in the shot facing him he grabs the guard's spear. The guard on the opposite side stands against the wall as he holds the spear in his right hand and walks toward the center of the hallway as he watches Gandalf ride. Yet, in the next shot facing Denethor, the guard now holds the spear in his left hand as he stands with his back against the wall again.
Continuity mistake: During the fighting with Shelob, Sam hurts her in the eye with his sword in his left hand, but in the next shot it's in his right.
Continuity mistake: After the Hobbits return to the Shire it cuts to the Green Dragon Inn. In the first shot, Frodo nearly bumps into the huge pumpkin while he's holding the handles of four mugs, two in each hand. In this first shot the two mugs with white interiors are between the two with dark interiors, but in the next shot while the mugs are still in Frodo's hands, the four mugs have suddenly switched to opposite positions.
Continuity mistake: The fray, size and shape of the rip on Frodo's knickers at his left knee changes throughout the film. For example it goes from large to small to large again, and so forth.
Answer: There are only five wizards. Saruman and Gandalf are heavily involved, as we see. Radagast, while not mentioned in the film, has a particular affinity with the birds and animals - it is he who sends the Eagles to the last battle, and to rescue Gandalf from Isengard. The final two, Alatar and Pallando, known as the Blue Wizards, went into the far eastern regions of Middle-Earth and never returned. Tolkien felt that they would ultimately have fallen from grace, much as Saruman did.
Tailkinker ★