Continuity mistake: As Aragorn et al are in front of the Black Gate, Aragorn shouts, "Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth!" In the first overhead shot, Éomer is second from the end, the rider with the flag is at the very end and Gandalf is a good distance away from Aragorn. Yet, in the next close-up, Gandalf is right beside Aragorn and in the next rear shot, Éomer is at the very end as the rider with the flag is now second from the end. (02:30:00)
Continuity mistake: At Edoras, after Pippin steals the palantir, it rolls out of Aragorn's hands and Gandalf chases it. Pippin lies motionless on green, grey and blue bunched up blankets and a rug etc. In Pippin's close-up, just after Gandalf says, "Fool of a Took!" there is just a grey blanket under his head and a different fur rug to his right. Then in the following close-ups, it alternates between both green and grey under him, to just a grey one. (00:21:30)
Continuity mistake: During the drinking game, after Legolas says, "I think it's affecting me," in the close-up when Gimli slams his mug down and slurs, "What did I say?" the tower of mugs are in front of him. When Gimli passes out the tower of mugs are visible from the other side, but it's still obvious that they're positioned differently. (Extended Edition) (00:21:20)
Continuity mistake: After entering the Tomb of the Stewards, Gandalf grabs the spear, charges forward and ahead of him stands Denethor on the pyre which is now engulfed in a tall blaze on the left side. Yet in the next shot as Gandalf reaches the pyre, only the tip of the fire is barely visible below the height of the pyre. Then in the next shot as Gandalf strikes Denethor, it is once again a high fiery mass. (02:02:10)
Visible crew/equipment: Near the very end when Frodo is making his farewells to the three Hobbits, there are closeups of their faces as they each hug. Clearly reflected in some of their eyes are four bright studio lamps, forming the corners of a square array. (03:01:00)
Deliberate mistake: Just before Gandalf approaches the archers and shouts, "Not at the towers! Aim for the Trolls! Kill the Trolls!" in the previous close-up and wideshot of just the archers, their quivers are on their right, instead of the left side of their hips as usual. (02:04:30)
Continuity mistake: When Pippin first kills an orc in Minas Tirith, his blade has no blood on it but a second later, blood appears. (02:01:05)
Continuity mistake: Deagol stands up on shore, raises up his right fist and in the wide shot there are blades of grass on his fingers. In the next close-ups while there are no grass blades, the tips of his fingers are visibly much cleaner than in the next wide shot as Deagol stares at the Ring in his palm with extremely muddy fingers. Yet in the next close-up of Deagol's fingers closing over the Ring, after Smeagol says, "Give us that, Deagol, my love," the fingers look the same as in the previous close-up. (00:02:00)
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.
Audio problem: When Aragorn is talking with Elrond in Theoden's tent, a gust of wind, which shakes the tent, knocks over the suit of armor that stands behind Aragorn in this one shot, which makes absolutely no sound when it hits the ground. (As mentioned in another mistake, it is standing in the next shot, that is why there is no audio of it falling in this shot.) (01:17:30)
Continuity mistake: When Eowyn steps in front of Theoden to stop the fell beast from eating him, it tries to bite her but she jumps out of the way and cuts off its head, though her sword and arm should have been caught in the fell beast's mouth as she jumped out of the way. (02:09:25)
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 Sam and Frodo slide down the rocky terrain wearing Orc armor, they run to the side and Sam's chin strap hangs down and is not buckled. Yet, in the very next shot and the following shots when the army of Orcs approach, the chin strap is tightly buckled. (Extended Edition.) (01:00:55)
Continuity mistake: In Minas Tirith, while Gandalf and Pippin speak on the balcony, the position and actual height of the chair beside the fireplace varies significantly, as does the position of the candle wall fixture which is attached to the wall, above the chair. (This has nothing to do with camera angles. Extended Edition.) (00:53:50 - 00:55:00)
Continuity mistake: At Minas Tirith, Gandalf tells Pippin, "Go back to the Citadel!" and while Gandalf battles the Orcs, the area of the two adjacent benches, one is a two legged bench and the other is a three legged, change in consecutive shots. For example, the legs of a man lying under the three legged bench are in a shot, then they're gone, then back again in the same position. (01:36:15)
Continuity mistake: At the Black Gate, as the Mouth of Sauron speaks, in the wide shots Gimli's height is way above Legolas' shoulders and is blocked by the bow and knives. However, in the close-ups he barely reaches Legolas' shoulders and is blocked by neither the bow or knives. Similarly this occurs in many shots throughout. (Extended Edition) (01:09:20)
Continuity mistake: In the poignant close-up, Theoden's last word is, "Éowyn," and he dies with his head towards his left, facing Éowyn, who then puts her face on the top of his chest. In the consecutive wide shot, with her head still resting on his chest, now his head is facing towards his right. She did not move his head. (02:16:05)
Continuity mistake: When Frodo, Sam and Gollum reach the "dead city" of Minas Morgul, the stones, pebbles and dirt along the path and on the ground, below the Gargoyles, change in the consecutive shots. (00:55:40)
Continuity mistake: After Pippin swears his oath to Denethor, the Steward derides Faramir about disloyalty, and standing behind Faramir are four men (servants perhaps), seen in the far and close-up shots. When Faramir asks, "What would you have me do?" two of those four servants leave in this close-up. In the next far wide shot, as Denethor taunts, "Is there a captain here..." the same four servants are behind Faramir. Then as Faramir says, "...I had died and Boromir lived..." in this close-up, there are two servants again. (00:59:20)
Continuity mistake: On the fields of Pelennor, when Pippin finds Merry, he rolls the large Orc off to Merry's side, but the Orc's long black hair is still beside the Hobbit's head. However, only in Merry's close-ups the Orc's black hair is gone. (00:49:10)
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 ★