Revealing mistake: The two doors of the CG Black Gate continue to open wide, as Aragorn and the others ride away from the approaching Orc army. When Aragorn rides as he shouts, "Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers....when the age of men comes crashing down," at the top of the screen the 'closed gate' is visible above the shadow. (01:13:00)
Super Grover
16th Dec 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
15th Dec 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: At the Black Gate, as the Mouth of Sauron speaks, in the wide shots Gimli's height is way above Legolas' shoulders and is blocked by the bow and knives. However, in the close-ups he barely reaches Legolas' shoulders and is blocked by neither the bow or knives. Similarly this occurs in many shots throughout. (Extended Edition) (01:09:20)
15th Dec 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Deliberate mistake: In the Extended Edition, the location of the Tomb of the Stewards is shown to be behind the city of Minis Tirith, at the cemetery on the mountainside, accessible via a long bridge. Flaming Denethor later runs to the far prow of the city, leaps off and plummets. The distance between the two areas makes it is obviously entirely impossible for someone, even adrenaline charged Denethor, to run this distance while his oiled flesh burns. Admitted on the commentary that it's poetic license, due to director Peter Jackson's long awaited vision for this dramatic shot. (00:13:15 - 00:30:50)
15th Dec 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: Gandalf enters the Tomb of the Stewards and in the shot facing him he grabs the guard's spear. The guard on the opposite side stands against the wall as he holds the spear in his right hand and walks toward the center of the hallway as he watches Gandalf ride. Yet, in the next shot facing Denethor, the guard now holds the spear in his left hand as he stands with his back against the wall again.
17th Oct 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Audio problem: At the battle on the fields of Pelennor, before Legolas leaps onto the Mûmak, as he kills the Orcs audibly he shouts, "Fifteen! Sixteen!"; however, visually his lips do not. (02:12:05)
15th Oct 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: When the combined Rohirrim/Gondorian army halt upon arrival at the Black Gate, Aragorn rides up and stops beside Legolas in the close-up. Éomer's double, who has a much fuller and longer beard, is blatantly visible behind Aragorn in this full frontal shot. (02:28:25)
13th Oct 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: After Aragorn's coronation, he and Arwen approach Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry. When they all bow to the Hobbits, in the close-ups the people surrounding the Hobbits are very close. However, in the overhead wide shot there is a large gap between the Hobbits and the crowd. (02:57:10)
10th Oct 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Continuity mistake: As Aragorn et al are in front of the Black Gate, Aragorn shouts, "Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth!" In the first overhead shot, Éomer is second from the end, the rider with the flag is at the very end and Gandalf is a good distance away from Aragorn. Yet, in the next close-up, Gandalf is right beside Aragorn and in the next rear shot, Éomer is at the very end as the rider with the flag is now second from the end. (02:30:00)
10th Oct 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Audio problem: At the Black Gate, Aragorn shouts, "...This day we fight!" and in the wide shot as Aragorn continues, "...that you hold dear on this good earth..." his lips are not in sync with the words. (02:32:05)
18th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: The two wounds on Frodo's chest are noticeably changed in appearance, from the first shots of Frodo while Shagrat and Gorbag are behind him, to the following shots before and after Sam rescues him. (02:18:50 - 02:21:10)
18th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: Frodo is tied up in the Tower at Cirith Ungol and in the first few shots his wrists are tightly bound left over right. Yet after Gorbag threatens Shagrat, in the shot of Frodo as we see them fight behind him, Frodo's now bound right over left and in this shot his hair and webbing are completely different than the previous shot. The rope, its knots, his hair and webbing change throughout the shots. (02:18:20)
18th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: As Gollum says, "Too risky. Too risky. Thieves... Musn't wake them," in the two close-ups Frodo and Sam sleep with their backs against a wide rock wall and a single tree between them near Sam's head. However, when Gollum says, "Musn't ruin it now..." and after Sam yells, "You treacherous little toad!" in the next close-up and wide shot of the area, it is very different than in the first two shots. (00:15:10 - 00:17:45)
18th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: When Deagol comes out of the water, the shot opens as he is submerged in water below his arms. As he crawls up there is quite an obvious difference in wetness of the overalls that were submerged for the take and the area above it, including the overall straps. Also, as Smeagol goes after the Ring, there's a close-up of Deagol's backside and there are patches on Deagol's pants that are completely dry. Then Smeagol begins to choke Deagol and as he goes down to the ground, his backside is completely wet again. (00:01:55 - 00:03:15)
16th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: Deagol stands up on shore, raises up his right fist and in the wide shot there are blades of grass on his fingers. In the next close-ups while there are no grass blades, the tips of his fingers are visibly much cleaner than in the next wide shot as Deagol stares at the Ring in his palm with extremely muddy fingers. Yet in the next close-up of Deagol's fingers closing over the Ring, after Smeagol says, "Give us that, Deagol, my love," the fingers look the same as in the previous close-up. (00:02:00)
16th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Audio problem: After Gollum frames Sam with the lembas, Sam starts to hit Gollum while shouting at him. When Sam yells, "Call me..." his mouth does not move. Then when Frodo pushes Sam away, Sam shouts, "I'll kill him!" but his lips are moving before we even hear those words, it is out of sync. (01:04:15)
16th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: As Gollum steals the lembas while Sam and Frodo are sleeping, Sam's sword lies under him, with the hilt near his face and his right arm over it. However when Sam opens his eyes the sword now lies near him. (01:02:00)
15th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Continuity mistake: At Cirith Ungol, the white paint stripes on Gorbag's face change position, thickness and whiteness in the shots while in the tower and when he falls downstairs. (02:18:35 - 02:19:20)
15th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Revealing mistake: After Gorbag says, "You touch it, and I'll stick this blade in your gut," Shagrat and Gorbag start to fight. A few shots later there's a close-up of Gorbag who is bald, he's not wearing his hairpiece/wig in this shot, as he's being pushed towards the right of the screen by Shagrat, just before falling into the hole! (02:19:00)
15th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Visible crew/equipment: While Frodo is tied up in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, Gorbag says, "It's going...along with everything else." In the next shot of Frodo, behind his right shoulder a crew member is moving around in the background. It is not Shagrat or Gorbag. Also, when Gorbag says, "and I'll stick this blade in your gut," in the close-up of Frodo as he moves his tied wrists, between his right elbow and waistline of his pants a crew member's face is visible at the top left of the screen. It is not Shagrat or Gorbag. (02:18:45)
15th Jul 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Deliberate mistake: After entering the Tower of Cirith Ungol, Sam runs down a passageway and looks up and in the next shot he starts to run up the stairs. These two shots are flipped as things on his body are backwards. (02:20:10)
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