The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Boromir and Aragorn talk right before Boromir dies, you can see Boromir's right hand gripping Aragorn's left shoulder in the shot from behind Aragorn's right shoulder, but when the camera view changes to Boromir's perspective, looking up at Aragorn, his hand is not there. The scene goes back and forth between these two views several times. (01:22:40)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In all five shots, the wax seal on the envelope with the ring is shaped differently. 1st- when Gandalf first seals the envelope with the melted wax. 2nd- when he hands the envelope to Frodo. 3rd- after Gandalf leaves, Frodo looks at the envelope. 4th- when Gandalf returns, Frodo finds the envelope in the trunk and hands it to him. 5th- when Gandalf tosses the envelope into the fire. (00:31:20 - 00:36:40)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When the Fellowship meets in Rivendell, and Gimli tries to break the Ring with his axe, the axe breaks into many pieces on the platform upon which the Ring is laid. At first, the pieces are there in the close-up view. When the camera pans back for a long range view of the Fellowship, the pieces of the axe on the platform are gone. In the following close-up, the pieces magically reappear. (01:37:15)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Frodo is stabbed by the cave Troll, he falls with his face to the left. It remains in this direction as Aragorn crawls towards him, but when he reaches him and turns him over he is facing to the right. (00:32:22)

Continuity mistake: During the battle at Amon Hen, Legolas says, "The Horn of Gondor!" Aragorn then rushes past him so close that he has to lean backwards to let him pass. In the next wide shot, Aragorn runs past Legolas again but this time further apart. (01:18:20)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the Amon Hen battle scene, at the start of the fight with Lurtz, Aragorn is slammed backwards against a tree knocking his sword out of his hand. There is then a shot of Lurtz throwing his shield at Aragorn, and in the following shot, where the shield pins Aragorn against the tree, his sword is still in his hand, only to fly out again on the shield's impact. (01:21:45)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At Bilbo's party, when Merry and Pippin set off the dragon firework, they are shown inside a small tent. The tent has dishes and other things in it, and is quite full. When the firework launches, taking the tent with it, you can see that all of the things inside the tent (with the exception of Merry and Pippin) have disappeared. (00:22:00)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Gimli falls onto his knees in front of Balin's Tomb in Moria, in one shot he's a few feet in front of it, in the next he is so close to it, that he could lay his head onto the tomb. In the following shot Gimli is further away again, so he should not have been able to reach it with his head. (00:24:20)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Frodo tells Sam about the Wood Elves, they both run up the hill and crouch behind a fallen log. In the shot of their backs and the elves in the background, Frodo is on the right side and Sam on the left. In the previous shot of their faces, Frodo was also on the right and Sam on the left. Extended DVD. (00:43:35)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: The logs that Boromir carries in his arms when he talks to Frodo at Amon Hen are different in pattern and number during the conversation and right before he throws them to the ground. (01:11:05)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the Nazgul confront Arwen across the river, they draw their swords in their left hands. In the next shot this changes to their right. (01:19:10)

Continuity mistake: At the gap in the stairs in Moria, Boromir ducks as he is nearly hit by an arrow, and sheathes his sword. In the following close up he sheathes it again as he stands behind Gandalf. (00:36:12)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: After Lurtz releases his first arrow at Boromir, one of the Hobbit stand-ins is seen to Boromir's left, throwing stones. The next shot is of Merry and Pippin standing close together, looking at Boromir to their left - they have moved position to the other side of him. (01:19:35)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Sam, Merry and Pippin run across the grass towards the Bucklebury Ferry, they have two shadows; bold ones behind them, presumably meant to be from the moon, but also unexplained faint ones to their right. (This is before they pass the cottage, so it can't be light from the weak lamps hanging outside.) When Frodo is then pursued by the wraith his shadow is in front of him, yet he is running in the same direction as the other hobbits were. (00:54:20)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the hobbits are sitting at the table in the Prancing Pony in Bree, Merry comes back with a pint. Pippin leaves to get one too. Then we see Sam mention to Frodo that a man is looking at them, across the table sits Pippin and no Merry. (00:58:05)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As the cave Troll throws Pippin from its back, he is holding his sword in his right hand. When he hits the ground it is in his left. (00:32:05)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Aragorn's mouth is badly bloodied when he is headbutted by Lurtz, but the blood disappears almost immediately. (01:22:10)

Continuity mistake: Just before Frodo is stabbed by the Troll, 2 buttons are closed on his vest. When he's stabbed, 1 button is closed. When Aragorn rolls him over, after being stabbed, he has an open vest. It remains open until being surrounded by the Orcs in the great hall. Gandalf says, "This foe is beyond any of you. Run!" and Frodo's scale double has his vest fully buttoned. Just after Gandalf yells to Aragorn, "Swords are of no more use here," Frodo has only 2 buttons closed. Then as the stairs are collapsing under Frodo and Aragorn's feet, his vest is mostly buttoned again. (00:32:10 - 00:38:25)

Super Grover

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Boromir attacks him, Frodo frantically slips the Ring onto his middle finger (with the chain). Yet, as Frodo runs up the steps of the ruins, Boromir yells, "Frodo, I'm sorry!" and Frodo wears the Ring on his index finger. He is terrified, so as to remain invisible he does not change fingers. (01:15:30 - 01:16:35)

Super Grover

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring mistake picture

Continuity mistake: After Sam dives between the Troll's legs and tries to crawl away, Aragorn and Boromir pull the chain that's around the Troll's neck to get him away from Sam. In the next two shots of Sam, his left wrist has an ace bandage wrapped around it - it's at his white shirt cuff. Notice the bar on his palm between his thumb and index finger. He did not have the bandage in earlier shots, nor does he have it in later shots. (00:29:50)

Super Grover

Visible crew/equipment: After starting their four day journey through the long dark of Moria, a few shots later Gandalf pulls on his hat brim, and just as he walks (with Legolas close behind) to his left (towards the viewer's right), up some stairs, the black electrical cable leading from the staff to under the robe's left sleeve is visible. (00:19:30)

Super Grover

More mistakes in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Aragorn: Gentlemen! We do not stop 'til nightfall.
Pippin: But what about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?
[Aragorn stares at him, then walks off.]
Merry: Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.

More quotes from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Trivia: While filming the trilogy, Viggo Mortensen got so into character that, during a conversation with Peter Jackson, Jackson addressed him as "Aragorn" for more than half an hour, and Mortensen didn't even realize it.

More trivia for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Question: Since Gandalf knew how dangerous the ring was, why did he give it to Frodo and tell him that he must destroy the ring? It would make more sense to either do it himself or find someone else to do it.

Answer: The temptation of the Ring is directly proportional to the power and ambition of the bearer. To someone like Gandalf - a mighty wizard who wants to save the world - the temptation would, over time, prove to be too much, and he's realistic enough to understand that about himself. With an ordinary hobbit who only wants a nice meal and some peace and quiet, the Ring has a lot less to work with.

Answer: Gandalf can't take the ring because he would be tempted to use it, and it would ultimately corrupt him. This is true for nearly anyone who has it for any length of time, except hobbits for some unknown reason. Gandalf recognized this in Bilbo, and later in Frodo.

More questions & answers from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.