The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Continuity mistake: When Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli reach the Dimholt Gate, a ghostly gust of wind rushes towards them and scares the horses away. Aragorn lets go twice of Brego's reins in consecutive shots. Also, the shot just before Aragorn shouts, "Brego!" Gimli faces the camera and Aragorn is some distance away from Gimli and Legolas, but in the next shot when Aragorn does shout, their positions have changed quite a bit. (01:24:30)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: When Gandalf says, "The board is set, the pieces are moving," he has black/grey eyebrows. But in the next scene when he asks Pippin to light the beacon, he has white/grey eyebrows. (00:43:40)

Continuity mistake: When Frodo and Sam wake up in the culvert, the area of ground just outside of it in the interior shot looking out differs from the exterior shot as Sam stands at the opening. (00:06:15 - 00:07:25)

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: After stabbing Shelob the last time, Sam picks up the light of Eärendil and trips near Frodo's body. As Sam hits the ground his right knee pad is visible. (01:52:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Shadowfax breaks down the door to the Tomb of the Stewards, in the shot facing Gandalf he grabs the guard's spear and points the blunt end towards Denethor on the pyre as Shadowfax rides forward. In the next shot from behind, never altering his tight grip, now the tip of the spear is pointed at Denethor as he charges forward. (02:02:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: After Pippin retrieves the Palantir, in the close-up facing him, he stands directly in front of the center of the spokes at the wheel's hub, as he hands the Palantir to Gandalf. However in the next shot as Gandalf takes hold of the Palantir, they are quite far from the wheel. Next shot Pippin stands close again. (Extended Edition) (00:17:55)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Pippin is being tended to by Gandalf after being affected by Sauron through the palantir. The blankets under Pip's head differ in some of his close-ups. Then when looking down on Pippin, Gandalf's hand is touching Pippin's head throughout most of these shots. Though when looking up at Gandalf, his hand is not at Pippin's head in at least two shots that are wide enough to see a hand, if it were there. (00:21:45)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Sam rolls down Shelob's back and falls, we see Sam's sword in the sheath at his waist. However after he stabs Shelob between her pincers, she knocks Sting out of Sam's hand, pushes him and when she tries to stab him, as he rolls we see an empty sheath. Then after he picks up the light of Eärendil, he falls and we see his sword (not Sting) in the sheath once again. (01:51:00 - 01:51:45)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Legolas always carries two matching knives, crisscrossed under the quiver at his back. When he boards the Mûmak, Legolas removes one of those knives and uses it. Problem is, while the knife is still in his hand, there are two long silver blades that are still quite visible under his quiver. (00:42:30)

Super Grover

Audio problem: When Arwen returns to Rivendell to question her father, she says "Tell me what you have seen. You have the gift of foresight. What did you see?" The last line of "what did you see?" was obviously dubbed, as her lips look like they're saying "Tell me what have you seen?" again. (00:28:45)

Continuity mistake: Faramir and his men are riding towards the gate of Minas Tirith on their way back to Ithilian. They ride past a crowd of many people. In this first shot, they pass Billy and Katie Jackson (Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson's children in one of their RotK cameos) in the crowd, as the riders head from left to right on the screen. The next two times Billy and Katie Jackson are shown amongst the crowd, the riders are going from right to left on the screen. The children did not cross the path of the riders to stand on the other side, nor is it the camera's angle. (01:06:30)

Super Grover

Deliberate mistake: After Denethor shouts, "Abandon your posts! Flee! Flee for your lives!" in the flipped shot of the soldiers at the wall, please note all the sword sheaths at the right side of their hips, instead of the usual left. (02:01:20)

Super Grover

Factual error: Gollum's body wouldn't sink into the lava if he fell in it as shown in the movie. Rather his body would burst into flames, and turn to ash. Falling in lava isn't like falling into a lake. Lava is more than three times denser than water, which prevents a human shaped body from sinking in.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Gollum isn't human.

It doesn't matter if Gollum isn't human. Gollum is still a life form with skin organs and bones. Any life form with skin organs and bones would burst into flames and turn to ash if it fell in lava whether it was human or not.

You're talking about the properties of magical metal in a magical volcano in a fantasy movie. Who knows how it will behave?

The entry is talking about what would happen to Gollum realistically if he fell in lava.

It says lava's density prevents a human shaped body from sinking in. It doesn't say it's lava's density prevents a human from sinking in. Gollum's body is the same shape as a human body.

Continuity mistake: As Frodo and Sam walk by the cross-roads of the Fallen King, they pass the large severed stone head. The area around the head, including plants, branches, etc., differs between the two close-ups and the overhead shots. (Extended Edition) (00:51:25)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: As soon as Aragorn walks into Theoden's tent, behind him stands a suit of armour. While speaking with Elrond about the Army of the Dead, there is a sudden gust of wind and the armour falls in the background in this one shot. Throughout the entire scene preceding and following this one shot, this armour is seen upright. (01:17:20)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: During the Mûmakil battle, when a Mûmak topples over, as Éowyn and Merry fall off their horse, in some of the shots their sheath straps hang from their left shoulders to their right sides. Also, please note Merry's chinstrap buckle which is on his right, but is normally on his left. (00:34:50)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Sam and Frodo wear the Orc armor and slide down the rocky terrain. After they spot the army of Orcs approaching the run off to the side and sit. In the next few wide shots the rocky area behind and around them is completely different. (Extended Edition) (01:00:45)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Shelob retreats into her lair, Sam runs to Frodo and lays Sting down on the ground. It lies on dirt that has white rocks showing through underneath, which is even seen in the last overhead wide shot of Sam holding Frodo. Yet in the next close-up of Sting glowing blue, it is lying on plain dirt. (01:52:40 - 01:53:30)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Faramir and his men ride down towards the front gate of Minas Tirith, certain men and women in the crowd actually reappear in different areas along the path. (01:29:00)

Super Grover

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

Continuity mistake: Inside the Haunted Mountain, Legolas and Aragorn turn around to see all the ghosts appear. The shot has been flipped - their Elven brooches and Legolas' quiver are the wrong way round, and Aragorn is holding the torch in his right hand and his sword in his left, whereas in the previous and following shots, the torch is in his left hand and the sword is in his right hand. (01:24:25)

[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
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King trivia picture

Trivia: When Gandalf is talking about the gathering of the armies of Sauron, the next shot shows the Corsairs on a ship. Walking from right to left is Peter Jackson in a cameo as a Corsair pirate. In the extended version he is pierced in the chest by Legolas' arrow and dramatically dies. (00:38:30)

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

Question: Where were the other Wizards during the fight for Middle-Earth?

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

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