The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Revealing mistake: After Aragorn demands, "Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth," as he says, "Fall back," Gandalf and Pippin, who wears his Gondorian helmet, are seen close-up. It is blatantly obvious that it is not Billy Boyd, but his scale double under that helmet, as the face is perfectly visible in this extreme close-up. (02:30:30)

Super Grover

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: In Cirith Ungol where Frodo is tied up, as the Uruk and Orc fight, Shagrat throws Gorbag on top of the hole. In the next shot of Gorbag, as he brings his left leg up out of the hole, three circular lights are visible in the hole below. It may be necessary to darken the brightness of your screen, in order to see the three lights properly. (Extended Edition, Disc 2). (00:48:45)

Deliberate mistake: At Minas Tirith, Gandalf slams his staff across Denethor's face and shouts, "Prepare for battle." In the next shot he rides Shadowfax, from right to left, past a fix-it shop and three shots later he rides past the same shop, from left to right - the second shot is flipped. (02:01:35)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: The two wounds on Frodo's chest are noticeably changed in appearance, from the first shots of Frodo while Shagrat and Gorbag are behind him, to the following shots before and after Sam rescues him. (02:18:50 - 02:21:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Gollum chokes Frodo, Sam throws a rock, hitting Gollum in the head and Gollum falls. In the next front close-up of Frodo, as he catches his breath, the necklace is caught up in the collar of Frodo's shirt and the Ring is at his right shoulder. Yet in the next side shot, the necklace is now flat on his neck and the Ring is centered in the middle of it. (02:37:40)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: When everyone is sleeping on the floor in the Golden Hall in Edoras, Gimli is seen lying on the floor next to a man. They're the same length - you can tell my the position of their feet under the blankets. Gimli is supposed to be about 4 feet or so, whereas a man is supposed to be around 5-and-a-half to 6 feet.

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)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Near the end, when the four Hobbits are seated at the table in the Green Dragon, Frodo passes out the mugs of ale to himself and the rest. Look at the interior of the mugs, not just the exterior. Frodo and Merry have the same colored mugs as each other and Sam and Pippin have the same as one another. When they lift their mugs to drink, look at the interior of the mugs, now Sam and Merry have the same color and Frodo and Pippin have the same as each other. (02:59:05)

Revealing mistake: Gandalf is supposed to be riding Shadowfax without any equipment, however, in close up shots of the horse, you can see the clear breast collar reflect light.

Continuity mistake: As Frodo and Sam walk in Mordor, Sauron's Eye turns towards them and Sam yells, "Frodo, get down!" Frodo collapses and when he hits the ground, in the close-up, the Ring on the necklace is at his right cheek. In the following wide shot, the Ring is lying lower down on his shirt. In his next close-up, the Ring is at his right cheek again. (00:29:20)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: At Rivendell, Arwen sits holding the book and we see the bouquet of flowers, the chair at the side of the table faces the camera, the pillows beside her that switch positions and the patterned floor is brightly colored rose tones with high gloss. Yet, in the close-up dropping the book (and following shots), though the floor has the same pattern, it's now light pastel tones, matte and granite-like, with no gloss at all. After Elrond lifts the book, in the wide shot the flowers are very different and the chair is now in front of the table facing the chaise lounge. Then when Elrond takes her hands in the next shot the chair is on the side of the table again. (00:30:15)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Pippin lights the beacon of Minas Tirith, the soldiers outpost and surrounding mountainside terrain differs between the close-up and wide shots. (01:05:00)

Super Grover

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At Isengard, when Pippin recovers the palantir, in two shots it's large enough to fill both of his hands, so that he has to spread all of his fingers to hold it. In the next shot of Pippin and Gandalf, Pippin raises one hand holding the palantir and Gandalf quickly takes it. In this particular shot, as Pippin hands the palantir to Gandalf with one hand, the circumference of the palantir is noticeably much smaller (while still in Pippin's grasp), than it was in the previous shots. (00:11:30)

Revealing mistake: During the charge of Pelennor fields, when the Rohirrim are fired upon and when they clash with the Orcs, in many shots either the Rohirrim, horses' bodies or Orcs partially disappear and may reappear within the melee. For example, when the riders are fired upon the real horses run right through some fallen CG horses and riders and in another shot two Orcs' arms disappear as horses ride by. (02:00:10)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: On the ledge by the stairs of Cirith Ungol, Sam tends to Frodo, who has collapsed after intervening in Sam's violent beating of Gollum. As Sam's offer to, "Carry it for a while - share the load," echoes in voice-over, there's a close shot of Frodo's face, wherein contact lenses are visible (in the right eye in particular). They are also noticeable in the following close shot (after Sam tells Gollum to "Go away. Get out of here") as Frodo says, "No, Sam... it's you." (Elijah Wood did not wear tinted lenses, only corrective lenses.)

Continuity mistake: Just before Eowyn is about to strike the fell beast's neck with her sword, a huge gash running down the entire left side of its neck can be seen. When the scene cuts to a close-up of Eowyn, who is on the beast's right-hand side and is about to strike again, the gash is now only across the top of the neck and a few inches down the left side. (02:09:30)

Continuity mistake: As the Rohirrim approach Minas Tirith, they arrive on the flank of the Mordor army, putting them to the north of the battle (the Mordor forces are attacking from Osgiliath in the east to Minas Tirith to the west). As they do so, the Sun appears behind them, rising in the north rather than in the east. (01:57:05)

Revealing mistake: When Gandalf and Pippin are riding up through Minas Tirith, there's a wide shot of them going down one street with their shadows projected towards the right. However the shadows of other people walking are projected forward, towards the camera, and are much longer.

Audio problem: As Gollum falls backwards toward the lava in Mount Doom, he holds the Ring in front of him and admires it. When he brings the Ring toward his torso, a distinct reverberating 'chinggg' sound is heard, as if it touched another metal. The Ring did not touch anything else, let alone another metal. This is obviously heard for dramatic flair. (02:43:40)

Super Grover

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)

Super Grover

[After Legolas single-handedly takes out an Oliphant and its drivers.]
Gimli: That still only counts as one.

More quotes from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Trivia: At the end of the film, young Elanor Gamgee is played by none other than Sean Astin's own daughter in a cameo. Not only that, but Frodo Gamgee (the baby) is played by Maisie McLeod-Riera, the daughter of Sarah McLeod, who plays Sam's wife, Rosie.

More trivia for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Answer: Aragorn is 210 years old when he dies. Some of the early texts give his age at death as 190, but Tolkien eventually confirmed that 210 is the correct age.

Tailkinker

More questions & answers from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

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