Goofs for
       Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Many viewers reported that they
spotted a car in the background of the theatrical version when Sam
says that he is now the furthest he has ever been from home. This
was never reliably verified and denials of its existence were just
as plentiful. The DVD versions reveal no such car. (see also
trivia)

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Gimli attempts to smash the ring
with an axe which is completely destroyed, breaking into several
pieces. In the next shot the pieces are missing and, when he
pledges his axe to Frodo several minutes later, the axe is
suddenly intact. In fact, he snatches the axe of the dwarf next to
him to attack the ring.

Revealing mistakes: As Frodo runs from the orcs, his cape is
clearly supported by a string to make it look flowing.

Continuity: As Boromir lies dying, Aragorn leans over him. In the
shots over Aragorn's shoulder, looking at Boromir, Boromir's right
hand rests on Aragorn's left shoulder. In shots looking at
Aragorn, the hand is not there.

Continuity: While the four hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin)
are at The Prancing Pony in Bree, Merry returns from the bar with
a pint and Pippin takes off to get his own. When the angle changes
to an over-head shot, Merry is no longer at the table and Pippin
is suddenly back in place. This was obviously a shot that carried
over from the previous scene (prior to Merry's return from the
bar).

Continuity: When Sam reveals to Gandalf what he overheard of
Gandalf's and Frodo's conversation, a map disappears and reappears
under his right shoulder.

Continuity: When Gandalf takes the ring out of the fire, the
position of the clamp around the ring changes between shots.

Audio/visual unsynchronised: When Arwen and Aragorn are alone
together on a bridge in Rivendell, her lips are moving while he is
speaking.

Audio/visual unsynchronised: In the dwarf mine, when Gandalf sits
outside the three doorways and talks to Frodo, Frodo's close-ups
are taken from reaction shots to Gandalf's speech so that we see
Gandalf's beard moving as if he was talking, even though no sound
is heard.

Revealing mistakes: As Aragorn leads the Hobbits through the woods
after leaving Bree, the pack on his back bumps the camera.

Continuity: When Aragorn's pack bumps the camera, it's on his
right shoulder, but in the next shot you it's on the left.

Continuity: Throughout the movie, Frodo's fingernails are very
bitten down and short, but a close-up when the Black Rider tries
to sniff him out shows neatly manicured nails.

Continuity: The positions of Gimli's axes as he stands in Balin's
tomb.

Revealing mistakes: The forced perspective trick becomes visible
while Gandalf and Bilbo are having tea. As Bilbo is pottering
about, Gandalf sits on a Hobbit-sized chair at a table that is too
small for him. As he shuffles slightly to get comfortable, his
knees move the table, but only his, smaller, half moves - the
other half, where Bilbo is seated, is further away from the
camera, and stays put. It can be seen that this gap between the
two table "halves" is concealed behind cleverly placed, bottles,
plates, etc. Then, when Bilbo is about to pour hot water in the
teapot, Gandalf lifts the teapot lid for him. The lid is not on
the teapot, but placed on a spike nearer to the camera to create
the forced perspective. It is also clearly visible when Gandalf
puts the lid back.

Continuity: Gandalf's belt repeatedly switches between being tied
and untied as he speaks to Bilbo.

Continuity: The rope handle of Gandalf's staff jumps around his
hand between cuts during his meeting with Saruman.

Continuity: When Gandalf first appears riding on his cart, there
is a long grey-green cloth hanging from the lantern on the right-
hand side of the cart, with Gandalf's staff on the left. In the
next shot, the lantern and cloth have switched sides with the
staff (which itself moves back and forth between shots as Gandalf
and Frodo travel into the village). It would seem that the first
shot has been flipped so that the "road" bends round to the left
to match the curve of the road as Gandalf approaches Frodo in the
next shot.

Audio/visual unsynchronised: As Saruman reveals the Palantir to
Gandalf, he lifts the cloth while speaking the line "Why should we
fear to use it?" As he finishes the line, his mouth is still
moving.

Revealing mistakes: After the huge orc battle, one of the "dead"
orcs sits up and has a good look round before lying back down.
This has been explained away in all manner of different ways, but
it strikes a sufficient number of viewers as incongruous that it
seems more likely to be a genuine error than not.

Revealing mistakes: When the Black Rider comes into shot while the
hobbits are hiding under the tree-roots, he appears on the
left-hand side of the tree without first being visible on the
right-hand side. It has been suggested that this effect was
intentionally included to make the wraith's first appearance seem
alarming, but it still doesn't really make much sense.

Continuity: When Frodo is taken by the water creature outside the
mine, he is not wearing his hairy Hobbit feet.

Continuity: As the Fellowship approaches the two giant statues of
the kings on the river, both kings have their left arms extended.
Once the boats have passed and we look back, it appears as though
the statue now on our left has his right arm extended. Indeed,
from the angle of his head, it could be said that the statue on
the right also has his right arm extended.  Some have argued that
there is no error and it is merely the camera angle that makes it
look wrong.

Continuity: When Gandalf is saying goodbye to Bilbo outside Bag
End the night of the party, the front door is as wide open as it
can get. It stays wide open throughout their conversation outside
and shows no indication in scenes before or after of being a
self-closer. After Bilbo has gone, Gandalf returns to the house
and opens the (as far as we know) already open door.

Revealing mistakes: When Boromir cuts his finger on the broken
sword, the blood is visible on his finger behind the sword before
he gets cut, and as the sword is pulled away, his undamaged
fingertip is visible through the blood.

Revealing mistakes: After fighting the Cave Troll in Moria,
Aragorn is crawling towards the camera, and bumps a 'rock' with
his left elbow, causing it to wobble.

Revealing mistakes: When Bilbo takes Gandalf's hat and staff at
Bag End. The staff has been erased behind Bilbo, preventing it
from getting a false perspective in the composited scene

Continuity: In the Extended Edition, Sam and Frodo change places
between shots when they see the Wood Elves leaving.

Audio/visual unsynchronised: When Bilbo asks Gandalf if would be
alright for him to eat Gandalf says "No, not at all" whereas his
mouth is saying something different

Continuity: When Gandalf sets off fireworks from the back of his
cart, the grumpy hobbit wife walks up to her husband twice.

Continuity: Before the water creature attacks, Frodo is facing the
lake/facing the mine entrance between shots.

Continuity: When Frodo crouches back from the Ringwraiths on
Weathertop, the Ringwraith closest to him has a sword in his right
and a knife in his left hand. After Frodo puts on the Ring, the
Ringwraith's left Hand can be seen - but the knife is gone.

From the Internet Movie Database www.imdb.com

















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