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)
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.)
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.
Revealing mistake: In the scene at the Black Gate when Sauron is assumed talking to Aragorn, when he turns around you can tell that Gimli is the scale double, Brett. (02:39:40)
Revealing mistake: At Edoras, Merry and Pippin sing the song about the Green Dragon while dancing on the table. When Merry kicks Gamling's mug of ale off the table, Merry's foot gets thinner and partially disappears in this shot as does Pippin's foot in the next shot as he kicks up. (00:13:55)
Revealing mistake: When Pippin and Gandalf see the White Tree of Gondor, it goes to an aerial shot of the two actors, and Pippin looks like the scale double.
Revealing mistake: At the end of the movie when the hobbits leave the Shire, there's a shot of a lake with trees in the background. The reflections of the trees don't match their actual shape.
Revealing mistake: When Sam carries Frodo on his shoulders and struggles to carry him up to the entrance of Mount Doom, just before he says, "Look Mr. Frodo. A doorway," you can see Sam's right latex Hobbit foot slightly peeled off from his skin near his toes, as he steps up onto the step. (02:35:25)
Revealing mistake: After entering Minas Tirith with Faramir and his men, Faramir stares at Pippin who sits in front of Gandalf. In Pippin's close-up, one of Gandalf's hands hold his staff and the other is on Pippin. These are not Ian McKellan's (Gandalf) hands and this occurs quite a few times throughout the film, as when Gandalf yells, "Fool of a Took" and places his hand on Merry's shoulder. McKellan's hands are seen many times in the film and among the differences; he has age spots (the actor is currently in his sixties) on his hands. (00:55:25)
Revealing mistake: Pippin's height reaches the circular carvings on the wall near the front door and behind Gandalf's cot, when he walks towards Gandalf to steal the palantir. However, after Pip's contact with Sauron, the heights of Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf are now about the same as Pippin's in the previous shots, when standing near the same carvings! When Gandalf pushes Merry out of the way in the wide shot, this short Merry would barely reach the height of the shelf behind Gimli which is way below the carvings. (00:19:45 - 00:21:25)
Revealing mistake: At the end of the film in the shot from behind as Bilbo is walking towards Elrond and then up the boat ramp, we see the head of the "little person" playing the small version of him. His head is actually in a different proportion compared to the previous shots. The top of his head is considerably larger than before. (02:04:15)
Revealing mistake: When Gandalf is riding to the top of Minas Tirith, watch the second level carefully. You can see a background character (I think it's a soldier) disappear twice as Gandalf rides past. (00:42:50)
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 ★