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: When Legolas identifies the moving cloud as Crebain from Dunland, everybody hides and when they pass Gandalf is seen standing back up from behind a large rock. The camera angle changes and he is seen again standing up but this time it's from behind a different rock. (01:38:03)
Continuity mistake: When Boromir goes to the door of Balin's Tomb in the mines you can see Aragorn in the background putting his torch on the ground, then when it switches to Aragorn and the others he puts the torch down again. (00:27:05)
Continuity mistake: When Pippin says "What about second breakfast?" he's crouched over by the pony, a bit away from Merry. Aragorn says a line and the camera goes back to the Hobbits. Now Pippin is further from the pony standing right by Merry, not crouched at all. He couldn't have moved that far during Aragorn's line and be standing so naturally.
Continuity mistake: In Isengard, while Saruman is talking to the Uruk-Hai, dark liquid is running down the Uruk-Hai's chin, and is dripping to the floor. Saruman then says "Whom do you serve?" and the Uruk-Hai replies "Saruman" but in that shot the dark liquid is gone. (00:58:15)
Revealing mistake: When Gandalf tells Frodo to 'keep it secret, keep it safe' there is a close-up of Gandalf's face and he is wearing contact lenses. (00:31:45)
Revealing mistake: When Frodo and Gandalf are on the wagon talking about Bilbo, and we see footage of Bilbo in Bag End, look closely at his foot. You can obviously see it bounce, showing that it is not his real foot but a prosthetic one. Extended DVD. (00:12:25)
Continuity mistake: After the hobbits take the tumble from farmer Maggot's field, they land in a heap with twigs in their hair. Frodo stands on the road and looks down it. He says, "I think we should get off the road" and the twigs are there. He looks back down the road and the smoke and leaves come swirling at him, he yells, "Get off the road" - no twigs. They hide from the wraith, then make their escape. Merry says, "What was that?" - and they have the twigs in their hair again. (00:51:10)
Continuity mistake: Just after Frodo has fallen down in the snow and loses the Ring, in the long shot (with the Ring in the foreground), Frodo's left hand is higher than his right. In the close-up, immediately afterward, his right hand is higher. (00:07:20)
Continuity mistake: When Frodo is pulling Sam out of the water at the very end of the movie, the underwater shots show Sam's hand grasping Frodo's wrist (Frodo's palm is against the inside of Sam's wrist), but as soon as he gets him above water, Frodo has a grip on Sam that forces Sam to keep his palm facing away from Frodo's arm (Frodo's palm is against the back of Sam's arm). Short of releasing Sam completely, there is no way to change grip like that in between the two shots. (01:31:05)
Continuity mistake: As Gimli bows before Balin's tomb in Moria, the camera circles around the tomb and the body which Pippin later disturbs is visible in the background. It appears fairly substantial, is wearing a breastplate and has its head on its chest. However when Pippin touches it the body looks different; more skeletal and covered in cobwebs, with the head in a different position. (00:24:20 - 00:25:20)
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: When Legolas jumps up on a rock to look at the approaching flock of birds, you can distinctively see his breath showing. But at no other time do you see his, or anyone else's breath showing in the scene. (It occured to me that this might be smoke, but he doesn't have a pipe.) (00:05:55)
Audio problem: At Orthanc, as Saruman and Gandalf walk towards the Palantir, Saruman asks, "Why? Why should we fear to use it?" but his lips say something completely different. (00:48:40)
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: When Gandalf arrives at Bag End and hits the light fixture with his head, the order of the candles (watch the small one on the right) is not the same as the next shot. (00:16:05)
Continuity mistake: When Merry is collecting firewood at Amon Hen he has a visible breath. None of the other characters do however.
Continuity mistake: During the prologue when Isildur and his men are riding through the woods, you see Isildur ride alone in front. Then the orcs attack, and when you see the orc jump at Isildur you can see a flag beside Isildur, meaning he is carrying it or someone beside him does. We previously saw him riding alone in front and when it cuts from the shot beneath Isildur we see the flag is gone and that there is no one beside him that is carrying the flag. (00:04:35)
Continuity mistake: When Bilbo and Gandalf are smoking pipes before the party, Bilbo makes a hoop with the smoke. The hoop first goes forward in west way position. But in the next shot the hoop is going directly forward in north way position. (00:19:25)
Other mistake: When Frodo is riding along with Gandalf the Grey as they pass the kids in the cart, we see a shot of the path they are riding along that shows an automobile tire tread in it.
Answer: "Fly, you fools"