Continuity mistake: After falling near Frodo's body, Sam thrusts the Phial of Galadriel toward wounded Shelob as she recoils into her lair. In the shots behind Sam his hood is at his left shoulder, but in the shots from the front and in the overhead shot as he reaches Frodo's body, his hood is centered. (01:52:00)
Super Grover
9th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
9th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: At Minas Tirith, Grond destroys the door and the Trolls attack. Gandalf charges at one Troll in particular and proceeds to slash the Troll in the belly, and the Troll drops down, yet Gandalf's sword never even touches the Troll at all. (01:48:30)
9th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: At Dunharrow, Merry watches as everyone rides off, and in the shot of his back Éowyn's fingertips reach his right shoulder. In the next front close-up, she's still further back, note her fingers behind his head, but he starts to rise off the ground even as her hand is just coming closer. (01:26:05)
9th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: During the charge of the Rohirrim on the Pelennor fields, there is a close-up of Éomer. His spear is held in his right hand, he tosses it up and amazingly changes his hand position on the spear in mid-air as he rides. Another rider is behind Éomer to his left and as this man rides the spear he holds above his head bobs up and down like rubber, as does the spear behind Éomer's right shoulder. (02:00:30)
9th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: When the Orcs attack Osgiliath, Faramir takes his sword and it appears as if he plunges it into the belly of an Orc. However, he really turns the sword before it hits the Orc and the tip coming out of the back of the Orc is CG. The angle of his hand on the hilt as the blade penetrates and the CG blade in the Orc's back do not line up. (00:46:20)
9th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: In Osgiliath, while the Gondorians battle the Orcs, in quite a few shots it's obvious that the fighting is staged. In one shot in particular a helmeted Orc slams his double blade axe into the chest of a Ranger, yet it's clear that the sharp axe does not leave any mark whatsoever as he falls to the ground. (00:52:00)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: At Edoras, after Pippin steals the palantir, it rolls out of Aragorn's hands and Gandalf chases it. Pippin lies motionless on green, grey and blue bunched up blankets and a rug etc. In Pippin's close-up, just after Gandalf says, "Fool of a Took!" there is just a grey blanket under his head and a different fur rug to his right. Then in the following close-ups, it alternates between both green and grey under him, to just a grey one. (00:21:30)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Visible crew/equipment: In Shelob's lair, when Frodo is caught in the web, in the first close-up while hanging there the camera pans down to his feet. Both ankles are wrapped and have foot supports and the wire cables attached to his ankle straps are visible, especially his left. In the next back shot, as Frodo turns around the wrist/arm support at his right arm, while he holds Sting, is seen too. (01:42:30)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: In Osgiliath, when Faramir's lieutenant shots, "Faramir" and the men fire arrows at the Orcs, some of these arrows disappear and reappear in the Orcs. (00:52:15)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: When Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli reach the Dimholt Gate, a ghostly gust of wind rushes towards them and scares the horses away. Aragorn lets go twice of Brego's reins in consecutive shots. Also, the shot just before Aragorn shouts, "Brego!" Gimli faces the camera and Aragorn is some distance away from Gimli and Legolas, but in the next shot when Aragorn does shout, their positions have changed quite a bit. (01:24:30)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: On the Paths of the Dead, while Legolas tells the history of the Dead Men, there is a close-up of Gimli's face, and Legolas' bow and arrows are seen too. In the next shot, the position of his blades on his back differ, as they are now slanted, with the bow and arrows seen between them. (01:23:25)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: When Shelob retreats into her lair, Sam runs to Frodo and lays Sting down on the ground. It lies on dirt that has white rocks showing through underneath, which is even seen in the last overhead wide shot of Sam holding Frodo. Yet in the next close-up of Sting glowing blue, it is lying on plain dirt. (01:52:40 - 01:53:30)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: Sam rolls down Shelob's back, then he grabs Sting and takes a stance against Shelob. In the next overhead wide shot, Sam stands at the ready and Shelob positions herself at the stairway. Frodo's wrapped body is nowhere to be seen at the bottom of the stairs in this mostly CG shot. (01:51:05)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: In Shelob's lair Frodo runs away from her and points the light of Eärendil at Shelob to keep her at bay. He then dives, head first, down a sloped passage and as he does both of his knee pads are seen. (01:42:10)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: After stabbing Shelob the last time, Sam picks up the light of Eärendil and trips near Frodo's body. As Sam hits the ground his right knee pad is visible. (01:52:00)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: When Sam rolls down Shelob's back and falls, we see Sam's sword in the sheath at his waist. However after he stabs Shelob between her pincers, she knocks Sting out of Sam's hand, pushes him and when she tries to stab him, as he rolls we see an empty sheath. Then after he picks up the light of Eärendil, he falls and we see his sword (not Sting) in the sheath once again. (01:51:00 - 01:51:45)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: After Shelob retreats into her lair, Sam runs over to Frodo and begins to remove the webbing. In the first front shot we see Shelob's green blood on his hands. In the next shot from the side, the amount and shape of the blood on Sam's hands has changed. Then back to another front shot and the stains are the same as in the first shot. (01:52:25)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: After Frodo wakes up in Minas Tirith, Merry and Pippin stand in the doorway. Their height reaches the middle of the ornate carving on the door in the close-up, but in their next wide shot running in, they are much shorter. When Legolas and Aragorn walk in, also in a close-up, their height is just a bit higher on that ornate carving than the two Hobbits' heights were. Then when Sam stands in the doorway his height also reaches the center of the carving. (02:51:20)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: After Sam rolls down Shelob's back, he holds Sting up towards Shelob and as she advances forward Sam trips and falls back. In the shot facing Sam as he falls, when he hits the ground his left knee pad is seen. (01:51:05)
8th Jun 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: Faramir and his men ride out of Osgiliath, and in the first wide shot their shadows are behind them. Thereafter as they ride, sometimes the shadow is directly below them, in front of them or to their left, and as Gandalf rides towards them, in one shot his shadow is in front of him to his left. Obviously filmed at different times of the day. (00:53:45)
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