Continuity mistake: At Amon Hen, Merry and Pippin run from the Uruk-hai after distracting them from Frodo's escape. After they run over the bridge, the next shot is of the two of them stopping short when Merry sees more oncoming Uruk-hai. In this shot it is only Pippin's Elven brooch that is facing the opposite way it normally faces. (01:20:55)
Continuity mistake: When Frodo and Sam are in the field with the scarecrow, in the close up shot they're a lot closer together than in the wider shot. Nothing to do with perspective - check out the amount of green corn in front of Frodo in the two shots. The scarecrow also changes place and it's sometimes next to some corn and sometimes not. (00:42:40)
Continuity mistake: In the sequence of the first 'meeting' with the Nazgul, where the four Hobbits hide under a tree root and the Black Rider is above them, sniffing the presence of the ring, the closeup of supposed Frodo's hands shows hands with 'normal' fingernails, dirty but normal. In the following scene, after the four Hobbits jump and run, Frodo's hand holding the ring is his 'real' hand, with short, bitten fingernails, as we can see in the rest of the movie when his hands are visible. (Extended DVD). (00:52:15)
Continuity mistake: Before the Black Rider rides up to the man chopping wood, in the close-up the tree stump he's chopping on does not have wood in front of it on the ground. In the wide shot, there is wood lying on the ground in front of the stump and the man places the axe down against the stump. After he answers the Black Rider and says, "That way," the axe is not leaning on the stump anymore, but there is a piece of wood on it now. (00:34:15)
Continuity mistake: In Balin's tomb, just before the Orcs break in and the fight begins, watch the Hobbits behind Gandalf. In the front view, they are huddled together in close proximity. When the shot changes to the rear view, you can only see two Hobbits (Pippin and Sam) behind Gandalf because they are much more spaced out. When the camera comes back to the front view, they are close together again. (00:27:24)
Continuity mistake: At Dwarrowdelf, when Gimli runs into the Chamber of Mazarbul with Balin's Tomb, once inside seen to his left is a big stone with corpses and armor on and around it. When they hear the Orcs, Boromir runs to the door and we see the same big stone again. That stone and some of the corpses are positioned very differently in both of these shots. (00:25:05 - 00:28:05)
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)
Revealing mistake: When Boromir dies, Legolas and Gimli are standing nearby. This shot of Gimli's face and beard are very different here, because they changed Gimli's appearance after this. Most things were shot out of sequence. Compare his face in this shot to when they're fighting the Uruk-hai or when Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas are by the shore and decide to "hunt some Orc." (01:28:10)
Continuity mistake: The braids over Legolas' ears on his scalp change drastically in position, shape, amount and how it is braided, as well as the amount of his side hair that is swept up into the back braid, in consecutive scenes or shots. It's impossible for him to change his hair between the following shots. At Balin's Tomb, after Pippin's carelessness, when Legolas turns around with Aragorn to look at the door. When he aims his arrow at the door, waiting for Orcs. When he lets loose the last arrow into the Troll's mouth. After leaving the chamber, when Gandalf says, "A Balrog of Morgoth." When he leaps across the broken stairs. Catching Aragorn after Aragorn drops from the broken stairs. While he stands outside Moria, after losing Gandalf. (00:28:00 - 00:42:55)
Continuity mistake: Frodo is getting ready to leave Bag End - Gandalf says "Travel by day, and stay off the road" and hands Frodo his walking stick. The black grip on the walking stick that Gandalf hands to Frodo is close to the top of the stick. In the next shot, the walking stick that Frodo takes hold of has a black grip that is way lower from the top of the stick. Each actor filmed individually. (00:41:50)
Continuity mistake: At Orthanc, after Gandalf throws the cover over the Palantir, before and during the fight the cover's length and position on different sides of the pedestal changes in many shots. It has nothing to do with the angle of the camera. (00:48:55)
Continuity mistake: In the side shot as Sam slams into the other three Hobbits from behind who are standing at the edge of the cliff, Frodo is standing farther out with his arm outstretched and Sam grabs hold of the pack on Frodo's back as they start to go down. In the next front shot Frodo is now sandwiched between Sam, Merry and Pippin, and Sam's hand is now holding onto Pippin's arm as they go down. This is not because of Sam's momentum, pushing on Frodo. In the two shots, Frodo's body position is simply different. (00:52:30)
Continuity mistake: When Gandalf is riding in the wagon with Frodo, the children yell for fireworks behind them. He then shoots off some fireworks, and the children start to jump for joy. In these consecutive shots, the arrangement of the children differ in the shot from behind and in the shot of them from the front. The girl with the straw hat moves positions, when the children are all stationary. The girl with the long golden hair also differs with her arms between the two successive shots. (00:14:45)
Continuity mistake: Gandalf grabs Sam through the window, and just as he's throwing Sam down we see on the table's edge many books, papers, a candlestick and a plate. Yet in the earlier shot of the table, when Frodo comes from the kitchen holding the Ring and stands in the archway saying, "We never speak of it again," the corner of the table has a cutting board with bread, some papers and a candlestick showing. It is the same table and no one has touched the table. (00:39:40 - 00:42:15)
Continuity mistake: The Troll throws Boromir across the room at Balin's Tomb, and when Boromir hits the wall he then crashes to the floor. In the first shot Boromir shakes his head and spit flies out of his mouth, landing on his coat at his right and left shoulders, making them wet. An Orc then lifts his knife to stab him. In the next shot only the left side of Boromir's coat is wet. Aragorn then throws his sword at the Orc. Then in the next shot as Boromir sits up and shakes his head again, now both sides of his coat are dry. (00:30:05)
Continuity mistake: When Gandalf and Frodo are speaking in the wagon as they're riding towards Bag End, Gandalf says, "How is the old rascal?" There is no pipe in his mouth, his hands are holding the reins and they are just riding past stone walls. Gandalf continues to say in the very next shot, "I hear it's going to be a party of special magnificence," and the pipe is now in his mouth and there is another long stone wall reaching far behind the wagon to their right. Gandalf was mid thought, they didn't have time between shots to pass so much wall. This whole sequence of shots was filmed two ways, with Gandalf smoking his pipe and with Gandalf not smoking, but sucking on caramels. In editing they took certain shots of both. (00:11:45)
Continuity mistake: At the Council of Elrond, when Gimli says, "I will be dead before I see the ring in the hands of an Elf!" in the close-up shot the two Elves on the sides of Legolas stand up. In the next wide shot the Elf on Legolas' right is just getting up. (01:42:45)
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: At Bag End, the table opposite the fireplace with the two oval portraits changes in the variety and arrangement of all the objects on it, seen in shots that are supposed to take place right after each other. In the first shot, when Bilbo packs and then takes his bag off the table, we see what is on the table. The second shot, when Gandalf stands to confront Bilbo to leave the Ring, the table is seen to his right and we see what is on the table. The third shot, when Gandalf sits by the fireplace and waits for Frodo to come back from the party, the table is to his left and again we see what is on the table. The objects differ in every shot. (00:26:20 - 00:30:15)
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)
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.