Revealing mistake: At Minas Tirith, after Frodo wakes up and finally sees Gandalf standing at the center of the footboard, there are three wideshots which face the doorway from the side of the bed. In that second shot, when Gimli stands in the doorway, just as he throws his arms open, a laughing Gandalf's eye contact is not in line with any of the Hobbits. Frodo, Merry and Pippin are huddled together in Frodo's bed, and Gandalf's eyes are actually looking to their sides.
Revealing mistake: Though the effort is made to hide Shadowfax's saddle under Gandalf's cloak, bits of it are still visible in some shots as Gandalf rides the horse. For instance, when the wizard rides with Pippin to save Faramir from Denethor, just as they exit the tunnel in front of the Witch King, the brown saddle is seen right behind Gandalf's knee, though his robe is deliberately secured at the bottom to prevent this.
Revealing mistake: In the scene of Shelob's lair, upon seeing Shelob Frodo falls down with the light of Earendil in his hand, and the forefront foam 'rock' hops upward upon his fall.
Revealing mistake: When Bilbo is boarding the boat at the Grey Havens, in the wide shot, the body doubles are standing at the dock. This is most noticeable on the leftmost of the hobbits, who is standing with his face staring straight ahead, unlike the others who are following Bilbo going up the ladder.
Revealing mistake: In several crowd shots of Minas Tirith during Faramir's suicide charge (particularly the one featuring Irolas), the top of the set is visible. Buildings stop unnaturally, and the sky is visible where the other walls of the city and the mountain range behind it would have blocked it.
Revealing mistake: When The Steward of Gondor is about to burn Faramir on the pyre, Gandalf dramatically bursts through the doors on Shadowfax and rides to the pyre. Look at the rider's face - it is obviously not Gandalf, but a double in some of these shots.
Revealing mistake: When everyone is sleeping on the floor in the Golden Hall in Edoras, Gimli is seen lying on the floor next to a man. They're the same length - you can tell my the position of their feet under the blankets. Gimli is supposed to be about 4 feet or so, whereas a man is supposed to be around 5-and-a-half to 6 feet.
Revealing mistake: Gandalf is supposed to be riding Shadowfax without any equipment, however, in close up shots of the horse, you can see the clear breast collar reflect light.
Revealing mistake: On the ledge by the stairs of Cirith Ungol, Sam tends to Frodo, who has collapsed after intervening in Sam's violent beating of Gollum. As Sam's offer to, "Carry it for a while - share the load," echoes in voice-over, there's a close shot of Frodo's face, wherein contact lenses are visible (in the right eye in particular). They are also noticeable in the following close shot (after Sam tells Gollum to "Go away. Get out of here") as Frodo says, "No, Sam... it's you." (Elijah Wood did not wear tinted lenses, only corrective lenses.)
Revealing mistake: When Gandalf and Pippin are riding up through Minas Tirith, there's a wide shot of them going down one street with their shadows projected towards the right. However the shadows of other people walking are projected forward, towards the camera, and are much longer.
Revealing mistake: When Pippin and Gandalf see the White Tree of Gondor, it goes to an aerial shot of the two actors, and Pippin looks like the scale double.
Revealing mistake: At the end of the movie when the hobbits leave the Shire, there's a shot of a lake with trees in the background. The reflections of the trees don't match their actual shape.
Answer: In the book, it absolutely was his birthday.
Brian Katcher
What chapter in the book where smeagol kills deagol?
DFirst1
The Fellowship of the Ring, chapter two 'The Shadow of the Past.'.
Brian Katcher