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)
Continuity mistake: When Boromir blows the Horn of Gondor in the close-up (the second time he is seen doing it), slung around his neck are both sides of the horn's attached rope in front of his torso, as he drops the horn to grasp the sword with both hands to fight the Uruk beside him. In the following shots it varies, the horn is either slung over the same way or it is slung over his shoulder, with one side of the rope at his back! (01:22:05)
Continuity mistake: Boromir is blowing the Horn of Gondor, Aragorn is running to him, fighting Uruk-Hai on the way. At one point he stabs one through the stomach and is chased closely by three Uruk-Hai. When he slices another in the leg and then the neck, the three chasing closely behind him aren't in these two shots. They were too close to Aragorn not to be seen in those two shots. (01:22:05)
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: At Amon Hen, just after Boromir blows the Horn again, in the two wide shots, Pippin holds his sword with his right hand. In the next close-up, Pippin holds it in his left hand. Also seen behind Pippin in this close-up, is Boromir's sword already sticking up out of an Uruk. In the very next wide shot, showing Pippin jumping onto an Uruk, seen between Pippin and the Uruk, is Boromir's sword in the body and Boromir is just removing his hand from it. (01:22:10)
Continuity mistake: As Boromir blows the Horn again at Amon Hen, in the first wide shot, he's battling an Uruk. In the close-up, he slices the whole arm off that Uruk, just under his shoulder, which starts to spurt, and the dismembered arm isn't seen. In the next wide shot, we see the whole arm of that Uruk still there and he is just dropping his sword out of his hand, then falls to the ground. (01:22:10)
Continuity mistake: As Arwen tries to escape from the Ringwraiths, after she crosses the Ford of Bruinen, Arwen's long hair is behind both of her shoulders in every one of her close-ups. However, Arwen's hair is in front of her shoulders, in the four close-ups of Frodo. (01:22:10)
Continuity mistake: Before Boromir is hit with the first arrow, he smashes an Uruk-hai's shield away and slashes him in the stomach. Lurtz pulls the first arrow back on the bow string, then we see part of that same shot with Boromir but from a different angle. (01:22:30)
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)
Continuity mistake: Boromir gets hit by Lurtz's second arrow, drops down to his knees in front of Merry and Pippin, gathers strength, turns around and stabs an Uruk. In the next wide shot and close-up, he stands and is about to stab an Uruk in the back and the two arrows in his chest are there. Yet, in the next wide shot, as his blade is going down into the Uruk, Boromir has only the lower arrow in him, the one near his shoulder is not there, for 23 frames. In the next close-up, the upper arrow is back. These arrows are not CGI. (01:23:40)
Continuity mistake: After Boromir is hit with the second arrow, he falls to his knees. When he shoves his sword into the Uruk in the close-up, the silver clasp on Boromir's red shirt, at the center of his torso, is not clasped to the red loop on the opposite side (but it was in previous shots). However, in his extreme close-up, when he screams out, it is properly clasped like the rest on the red shirt, but in the very next shot it is not clasped yet again, and of course it is in following shots. (01:23:40)
Continuity mistake: In Boromir's death scene, when Aragorn puts the sword into Boromir's hand, Aragorn's finger with the ring on is covered in blood. When we see his hands on Boromir's chest a second later, the blood has vanished. (01:23:50)
Continuity mistake: When Gandalf sits near Frodo in Rivendell, he explains, "I was delayed." As he thinks back, in the first wide shot as Gandalf lies on the floor at the top of Orthanc, the bowl sits at the left side of the spire wall. Saruman forces Gandalf over the opposite edge and then onto his stomach towards the center of the floor. As Gandalf lies on his stomach and says, "And he does not share power!" in the next shot however, Gandalf is actually sitting up against the spire wall and the bowl is to his right. (01:25:00)
Continuity mistake: Aragorn stabs Lurtz in his thigh and in the first shot the long handle is sticking way out in front. Next shot, the knife's long handle is NOT seen anywhere above Lurtz's knee - his hand would not be able to cover the very long handle and in the same shot, Aragorn's already put his hand down. Yet in the next shot, Lurtz punches Aragorn in the face and Aragorn's hand is still at Lurtz's leg. Next, Aragorn rolls over and in the side wide shot of Lurtz going closer to Aragorn, we should be able to see, but DON'T see, the long knife handle in front or blade in back, protruding from anywhere in his right thigh. Only after he lifts Aragorn, headbutts him and punches him down, we see the knife handle and blade protruding from Lurtz's leg. (01:25:10)
Continuity mistake: When Frodo finally sees Bilbo in Rivendell he opens the Red Book and reads the title page, "There and Back Again..." The handwriting on the page in this close-up is different than when it is first seen at the start of the film, when Bilbo first writes it. (01:25:15)
Continuity mistake: Near the end when Frodo has tears running down his face. In the first shot the tear on his right side is short and the left side tear is down to his chin. in the next shot they are reversed. Some people have said it's just that one tear lengthened and a new one started, but look at the right-hand one (the longer one in the first shot). If there was a new tear, we'd still see the damp path of the first one, but it's rolling down a dry cheek. (01:25:45)
Continuity mistake: As Frodo stands by the shore holding the Ring in his hand in the opening wide shot, the oar is seen lying lengthwise in the boat, atop all the gear inside. However, after remembering Gandalf's words Frodo walks towards the boat, but the oar is not lying in the boat as it was in the earlier shot. We see all the gear in the boat, but the large distinctive leaf shape oar is not atop any of the gear as previously seen. We do, however, see the very tip of the handle sticking out the right side of the boat, just as Frodo climbs in. (01:28:35 - 01:29:55)
Continuity mistake: Right at the end, Aragorn is telling Legolas and Gimli, "Let us hunt some Orc." In the two close-ups of Legolas that follow, the colour of the feathers on his arrows are light green, differing from the Mirkwood arrows he always carries. These close-ups were shot as pickups, months after filming ended. Commentary, extended DVD. (01:29:35)
Continuity mistake: At the shore, after remembering Gandalf's words, Frodo pushes the boat into the water, then jumps in, and the gear in the boat is seen. In the boat, as Frodo says, "Go back Sam," once more the gear in the boat is seen. When Frodo rescues Sam and he's climbing into the boat, the gear is seen again. In all three shots of the boat, some of that gear is arranged quite differently. (01:30:00)
Continuity mistake: Frodo is in the boat and Sam yells out, "And I'm coming with you!" in the far wide shot, Frodo is not holding the oar in his hands, as he does in the close-up shot before and after. (01:30:20)
Answer: It is a different staff. Look at the branches at the top of the staff.
Garlonuss ★