The Lord Of The Rings trilogy [official mega-thread]

1
and now, from the completely fucking rediculous category:
Lord Of The Rings Madness

More than 1,200 people have signed an online petition in a bid to ban Peter Jackson from calling the second Lord Of The Rings movie The Two Towers. The petition argues that Jackson is referring to the attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center last September - even though author J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, "The Two Towers," was written 48 years ago . A statement on the site insists, "The title is clearly meant to refer to the attacks on the World Trade Center." It continues, "When I learned that there apparently was to be a sequel, I was overjoyed. However, Peter Jackson has decided to tastelessly name the sequel The Two Towers. "In this post-September 11 world, it is unforgivable that this should be allowed to happen. The idea is both offensive and morally repugnant. "Hopefully, when Peter Jackson and, more importantly, New Line Cinema, see the number of signatures on this petition, the title will be changed to something a little more sensitive." A voice of reason does appear on the site. One internet surfer points out, "'The Two Towers' is the title of the J.R.R. Tolkien book originally published in 1954. The title was thus established some 47 years prior to the attacks on the World Trade Centre towers."
here's the original petition, but trust me - seeing it does not make it any easier to believe...
Last edited by TC on 10/08/09, 15:53:13, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: title of this thread was originally "LOTR madness - petition to ban title 'The Two Towers'". i edited this title to reflect the new awesomeness of the megathread, built like voltron from 15 lesser threads!

2
Perhaps we should eliminate the word "Two" from the English vocabulary, just in case someone were to get offended when a person was counting out change at a store or something...

3
WHOA! Guys come on, we Americans are the center of the universe. Who knows what kind of havoc this could cause in a parrallel universe. TRED LIGHTLY MY FRIEND!

LOTR: FOTR extended DVD edition specs

4
check this shizit out:

pic courtesy DarkHorizons.com:
Image
LordOfTheRings.net wrote:4-Disc Platinum Series™ Special Extended DVD Edition Content Overview
(Complete List of Content to be Provided at a Later Date):
DISCS 1-2: The Feature

FEATURE (approx. 208 minutes) - Unique version of the epic adventure with
over 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film and
new music scored by Academy Award®-winning composer Howard Shore:

Widescreen (2.35:1) version of the Special Extended Edition
Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound
Stereo Surround Sound
Four audio commentaries by director and writers, the design team the
production team and the cast featuring more than 30 participants including
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Academy Award®
winners Richard Taylor, Andrew Lesnie, Howard Shore, Jim Rygiel, Randy
Cook…and many more
DISCS 3-4: The Appendices

Two discs with hours of original content including multiple
documentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of
images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:

DISC 3 - "From Book to Vision"

Adapting the book into a screenplay & planning the film
Designing and building Middle-earth
Storyboards to pre-visualization
Weta Workshop visit - An up-close look at the weapons, armor,
creatures and miniatures from the film
Atlas of Middle-earth: Tracing the journey of the Fellowship
An interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process
Galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists
Guided tour of the wardrobe department
Footage from early meetings, moving storyboards and pre-visualization reels
And much more!
DISC 4 - "From Vision to Reality"

Bringing the characters to life
A day in the life of a hobbit
Principal photography: Stories from the set
Scale: Creating the illusion of size
Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos
Editorial and visual effects multi-angle progressions
Sound design demonstration
And much more!
drooling yet??? :mrgreen:

set is due out November 12. and, according to my cool countdown desktop clock, it's
now precisely 190 days, 11 hours, 11 minutes, 04 seconds till The Two Towers is released....

Rings cast heads back to New Zealand

5
Studio Briefing wrote:Rings Cast Heads Back to New Zealand

Although much was written about the strategy of cutting costs by filming the three Lord of the Rings installments at the same time, it now appears that director Peter Jackson is reassembling the cast and crew in New Zealand for additional production on the first sequel, The Two Towers. According to FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman, who cited unnamed sources, new scenes are being added to fill out the romance and to beef up combat scenes. "Jackson is said to have gotten ideas about ways to make the second film better after audiences saw the first one," Friedman wrote. He noted that New Line maintains that only minor pick-up shooting is planned.
this posted for some people that refuse to believe Jackson learned anything from the response to FOTR.

LOTR criticism

6
with permission, i'm copying a lengthy analysis of LOTR by a friend from the DLDB. i thought some of you here might have something to say on this.
talking head wrote:"It's interesting to me because I've always thought
first and foremost that my job is really to make an
entertaining film. To be faithful to Tolkien was my
secondary responsibility”.

-Peter Jackson

There seems to be a large gap between Jackson and Tolkien as raconteurs.

To me, Lord of the Rings is more Tolkien that Jackson. And if I may get right to the point, where I see Tolkien pushing subtly in his storytelling, I observe Jackson continuously lean towards enormous strokes of overly bombastic dramatic pushes.Time and time again he stretches his drama to the point of overkill.

He also makes the grave error of completely changing Tolkien’s narrative focus by making the audience follow Gandalf the minute he leaves Hobbiton. Tolkien understands and makes Gandalf’s disappearance a total mystery and suspense tool by keeping his wearabouts and dealings hidden from the reader.

By doing this, Tolkien makes Frodo’s journey into the unknown commence with a deep sense of anxiety and confusion. So for around 150 pages of the book, we are left to wonder where Gandalf is and why he would leave Frodo alone to deal with such grave business. Of course, when Frodo arrives in Rivendell he meets up with the Wizard and we get to hear about his misadventures during the Counsel. Tolkien sets up a peculiar pacing here, but by jumping from thread (Frodo) to thread (Gandalf) Jackson seems to remove this important point (for me at least) of the adventure’s beginnings.

Some examples of the previously mentioned overkill appear when Boromir falls and shares a “just about to die, here are my last words” soliloquy with Strider that really pushes the situation in a realm of the silly. Strider then gets into an epic battle with the Uruk-Hai “leader”(poorly designed and ends up looking like Predator. No such thing exists with Tolkien at this point in the story) which lends itself to more flamboyant slow motion drama.

One aspect I liked about Tolkien was his lack of “leaders” in this part of the story. The enemy is seen as one giant mass of instinctual stupidity rushing from all sides rather than following an actual ground fighting authority with direction. I always thought this gave the members of the Company an advantage, seeing that most of them are above normal potency when fighting and gave reasoning to their frequent near death escapes. Another reason being that Tolkien’s story is constructed in a more classic structure that follows certain patterns (heroes win, evil looses). All of this is lost with Jackson’s Uruk - Hai leader. And the gain is what ... a “cool looking” sword sequence ... possibility of an extra money making figurine for the kids and Ring nerds?

The above mentioned “slow motion” as overly done drama repeats itself many times with Jackson - When Gandalf falls into the void at Moria (Frodo and the music fall into emotional exaggerations) When Sam falls into the water near the end - Jackson stretches the drama to the point of having them “grab hands” in the water, overly punctuating the sequence into slight absurdity. It seems that the director doesn’t trust the viewer in being able to watch and ending that doesn’t use “in your face cinematic grammar” to spell out that the ending is in progress by using a forced climax. Just look at the differences in where Tolkien finished his book and what that says about him and his relationship with the reader.

Another strange moments include when Saruman starts throwing Gandalf around, making him spin on his head (This has more to do with the modern fascination with “wizards and their energy fights” Dungeons & Dragons style, than anything Tolkien) When Galadriel starts acting antagonistic (in a reverse film stock kind of effect) towards Frodo when he offers her the ring at the mirror/ pond (why?) The list goes on and on ...

It is understandable for Jackson to have trimmed down some story elements, but one thing that seems really important to me and wouldn’t have taken much time to get across is the sad realization that Galardiel and the Elven people are doomed with the results of Frodo’s journey. If he fails, they are laid bare before the enemy and with the One Ring, Evil will dominate the “three Rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky”. Yet if he succeeds to destroy the ring, the Elven ring will loose all its powers and Lothlorien will fade.

There are however some aspects of the film that I liked. Casting was dead on in many accounts (Frodo, Gandalf, Bilbo, Saruman). I liked how they didn’t shy away from making Gandalf physically dirty. The costume design and some sets where fantastic, Like Bilbo’s house ... in fact I think the whole beginning in Bag End (skip the 15 min history lesson) is brilliant. The use of camera placements tricks (building smaller houses for Gandalf and Bilbo to walk in) was nicely realized and gives a certain concrete sense to the scenes that no amount of CGI can duplicate.

New Zealand as Middle earth was also a stroke of genius. I also found Moria (put aside the over dramatics to Gandalf’s death, poor computer effects when the heroes are running away/ cut to close ups) was genuinely “suspenseful” as the build up is constructed from the quiet tomb and unwanted noise etc.

The special effects when the white horses/ river come crashing in on the Black Riders where also nicely realized next to some other computer moments (At the Counsel when Frodo decides to be the ring bearer he seems to be popping out as the CGI works its “magic”).

So Jackson may have gotten the look of certain things correct, but in my opinion his loss of subtly (often missing the point) and dips into exaggeration as drama don’t hold true to the spirit of Tolkien at all ...

7
and my response:
TC wrote:those are interesting points, all of them. i'm not going to quote the whole thing, but here's a couple of thoughts from me.
re: Gandalf not disappearing - yes, this is one thing i wondered how he would handle myself. it was obvious by his casting and Sir Ian's statements that Gandalf was indeed an integral part of this film. after finally seeing it, and recently re-watching it in the comfort of home, i have to say i was impressed with Jackson's decision here. your quote from Jackson above - i don't know about it. i've seen the exact opposite quoted as well - well, not the opposite, but i've seen him say that to remain true was one of his biggest concerns. there's always context. anyway, there would have been a few problems with Gandalf disappearing. first, this is the "first" movie anyone has seen. the books had the luxury of being introduced to the realm, and to a much greater extent Gandalf, by The Hobbit. so when Gandalf "got gone" early in FOTR, it was understood among fans that he would return. there was no question. the same goes for his implicit relationship with Frodo/all residents of The Shire. if Jackson elected to follow the book verbatim, i think something would have been lost. as it was, Gandalf was an important part of his rendition of the story, not an overused convention.

this touches on another problem - after realizing the above, Jackson must surely have endured thoughts that if he does in fact leave Gandalf in the story, taking liberty enough to show what becomes of Gandalf thereby relating his trial more thoroughly to the ignorant audience (afterall, many people who saw this film never read the books), then the entire cult following of Tolkien would crucify him dearly for not following the book. i'm sure he had to weigh what would work given the constraints of the film (having to account for newbies & elitists alike, time, etc.) against the truth of the books. and, in my opinion, he chose wisely. he may have taken some minor liberties with the storyline, but he did so in the interest of making the film(s) work better alone, not as merely a picture-story of the books.

also, even for a Tolkien fan such as myself, the first half of FOTR was incredibly difficult to get through; it was the worst out of all of the books. if i didn't already know in advance that things "picked up", as it were, i would never have finished the stories. Jackson "fixed" this problem. i know i'm not the only one to feel this way about the books - we've had this discussion here before.

and, on the plus side, Jackson did succeed in the nigh-impossible - effectively creating the look, the feel, the creatures of Middle Earth. the flavor of the books has never been so alive, especially in the battle scenes. so over the top, and all out of the mind of Tolkien. Jackson merely weilded the tools.

all in all, IMHO, it was an incredible effort that will only get better with the subsequent movies.

8
and his response:
talking head wrote:re: Gandalf
-it was obvious by his casting and Sir Ian's statements
-that Gandalf was indeed an integral part of this film.
I agree, he does have a an important presence, but it
is precisely why his lack is felt so deeply.

Tolkien must also think he's an integral part, no?

-after finally seeing it, and recently re-watching it in
-the comfort of home, i have to say i was impressed with
-Jackson's decision here.

Interesting. What did you think when he was spinning
around on his head?

Do you have the same opinion about the threds where he
follows Saruman when he builds his army?

-anyway, there would have been a few problems with
-Gandalf disappearing. first, this is the "first"
-movie anyone has seen.

It's not like anyone would have left the movie, he
comes right back in Rivendell.

-the books had the luxury of being introduced to the
-realm, and to a much greater extent Gandalf, by The
-Hobbit.

With all the hype, the animation films and general pop
culture knowledge (it being one of the most popular
books around) I think it would be rare for someone to
come into it without knowing a few things beforehand.
But the lack of such an important character at that
moment is the point. We sense comfortable when he is
around and then it's taken away for reasons we don't
know ... this could have been achieved in the film.

-so when Gandalf "got gone" early in FOTR, it was
-understood among fans that he would return. there
-was no question.

You think someone would think otherwise by watching
the film?

-if Jackson elected to follow the book verbatim, i
-think something would have been lost.

Following the book verbatim would have been impossible.
I understand why he had to change things, but my main
concern is with his over all style and overdramatic
leanings than anything else. His choice to follow the
Wizard is just a part of what I think is wrong with
the way he went about adapting the Tolkien story.

-as it was, Gandalf was an important part of his
-rendition of the story, not an overused convention.

Well, this rendition is an important one because now
people will be able to bypass the tremendous effort
up reading the three books by poping in their DVD.

-also, even for a Tolkien fan such as myself, the first
-half of FOTR was incredibly difficult to get through;
-it was the worst out of all of the books.

Well, it was though for me too but for that very
reason (re-reading) it has become what I remember
most of Lord of the Rings as a whole.

Which one's your favorite?

-if i didn't already know in advance that things "picked
-up", as it were, i would never have finished the stories.
-Jackson "fixed" this problem.

Yikes, that's a mighty statement.

-Jackson did succeed in the nigh-impossible -
-effectively creating the look, the feel, the
-creatures of Middle Earth.

Like I mentioned in my comments, I did think some of
what he did was nicely realized. But the above seems
more surface elements than the real spirit of Tolkien.

One of the smart things he did was based some designs
on previous Tolkien related images ... so the effect
was not so drastic.

-the flavor of the books has never been so alive,
-especially in the battle scenes.

But the book has so little to do with battles.

-all in all, IMHO, it was an incredible effort that will
-only get better with the subsequent movies.

I hope so.

9
talking head wrote:re: Gandalf
-it was obvious by his casting and Sir Ian's statements
-that Gandalf was indeed an integral part of this film.
I agree, he does have a an important presence, but it
is precisely why his lack is felt so deeply.

Tolkien must also think he's an integral part, no?
ok, there's not need for sarcasm! ;)
talking head wrote:-after finally seeing it, and recently re-watching it in
-the comfort of home, i have to say i was impressed with
-Jackson's decision here.

Interesting. What did you think when he was spinning
around on his head?
you're not gonna get anything out of me defending that. that was .. well, i don't know what that was. but it was unnecessary. i just find it impossible to be angry with this film for that one scene. if you are questioning Jackson's thinking re: the whole thing based on his filming/inclusion of that scene, i suppose i can understand that. but, to write off the film because of this question if folly.
talking head wrote:Do you have the same opinion about the threds where he
follows Saruman when he builds his army?
i'm sure you mean Jackson here, not Gandalf. as far as this goes, again i will say that in the books, there's description aplenty about the various creatures, especially upon their introduction in The Hobbit. film-goers don't get such detailed insights, such first-person descriptions. so, i can understand the inclusion of these scenes. IMO they were cool scenes. but on the other hand, if you have a certain opinion of these books based upon the feeling you got reading them and what was left up to the imagination, then i can understand you're being upset and considering such things as gratuitous spoon-feeding. but again, if you are that close to the books, i think you have to take a step back and see the big picture here. i concur with heck's comments - if the books were the shooting scripts, then we would be looking at a 600 hour film...
talking head wrote:-anyway, there would have been a few problems with
-Gandalf disappearing. first, this is the "first"
-movie anyone has seen.

It's not like anyone would have left the movie, he
comes right back in Rivendell.
yes, but readers of the books - especially The Hobbit which came before this book, already know and/or have a good feel for Gandalf and how his mind works. since Jackson did not have this luxury of assumption, i think we can garner a glimpse into his (Gandalf's) psyche with this little side-plot/scenes. i can agree that it may not add a whole lot to the overall story (next viewing i'll try skipping those scenes) but i disagree that it detracts from the film.
talking head wrote:With all the hype, the animation films and general pop
culture knowledge (it being one of the most popular
books around) I think it would be rare for someone to
come into it without knowing a few things beforehand.
But the lack of such an important character at that
moment is the point. We sense comfortable when he is
around and then it's taken away for reasons we don't
know ... this could have been achieved in the film.
again, i can agree with that. plus, it might have been interesting to just stick with the hobbits and thier trials. but again, i think that Jackson was right in including the scenes of the building army, and he couldn't have gone there without showing what became of Gandalf at that time. anyway, again - i can see your points, but i don't see how it detracts from the film. cutting those scenes would have changed the overall mood of the film, yes - but better? worse? i think it's a wash..
talking head wrote:Following the book verbatim would have been impossible.
I understand why he had to change things, but my main
concern is with his over all style and overdramatic
leanings than anything else. His choice to follow the
Wizard is just a part of what I think is wrong with
the way he went about adapting the Tolkien story.
i understand, and discussed above.
talking head wrote:Well, this rendition is an important one because now
people will be able to bypass the tremendous effort
up reading the three books by poping in their DVD.
bullshit. that's like saying that just because people can download music they will no longer buy CDs. bunch of crap. if anything, seeing the film would increase book sales and/or interest, don't you think? i mean, isn't the common concept regarding films made based on books that the book is always better? if your concern truly is that the movie takes away from the books, you're argument is pretty thin.
talking head wrote:Which one's your favorite?
tough call. hard to seperate them.
talking head wrote:-if i didn't already know in advance that things "picked
-up", as it were, i would never have finished the stories.
-Jackson "fixed" this problem.

Yikes, that's a mighty statement.
well, it sounds pretty bad taken out of the context of my arguments. i would hope you know what i meant.
talking head wrote:-Jackson did succeed in the nigh-impossible -
-effectively creating the look, the feel, the
-creatures of Middle Earth.

Like I mentioned in my comments, I did think some of
what he did was nicely realized. But the above seems
more surface elements than the real spirit of Tolkien.
i disagree. i mean, how many pages did Tolkien spend describing the look, the feel, the impression certain locations gave? such things are the foundation of the "real spirit of Tolkien".
talking head wrote:But the book has so little to do with battles.
ah, ok - here may be part of the problem. i'd love to hear what the books really meant/said to you. for example, i've argued at length with certain people about Dawn of the Dead - someone says that the film is just a huge vehicle for a serious political statement, nothing more. i insist it's a great zombie film that may inadvertantly reflect the period in which it was written/filmed. but it sounds to me like you see more issues going on with the LOTR trilogy than is outwardly explored on the pages, and i'd love to hear it.

all 117 mistakes in LOTR explained!!

10
just thought that while we're on the subject, i'd rip this from the official Tolkien forums.

it's pretty damn funny. :mrgreen:
thelidlesseyes wrote:In the scene where Sam and Frodo are in the field with the scarecrow, you can plainly see a car cruising past in the distance, from right to left. Further comment - there are two different shots which show the car moving from right to left. One starts at the top right distance, and in a shot a few seconds later the car has travelled down the road a bit and is more easily visible. Complicating matters is that the dust thrown up by the car looks similar to smoke from a chimney in the right distance, making some people think it is just the chimney. But chimneys don't move, and the smoke from the chimney is separate from the moving vehicle.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT BY KIA MOTORS.

As Boromir and Aragorn talk right before Boromir dies, you can see Boromir's right hand gripping Aragorn's left shoulder in the shot from behind Aragorn's right shoulder, but when the camera view changes to Boromir's perspective, looking up at Aragorn, his hand is not there. The scene goes back and forth between these two views several times.
THE POOR SOD IS ABOUT TO POP HIS CLOGS. HIS ARMS ARE PROBABLY FLOPPING ALL OVER THE PLACE. PJ HAS DONE SOME CLEVER EDITING TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION HIS ARMS ARE STEADY AND GIVE BORRY SOME DIGNITY.

When the Fellowship meets in Rivendell, and the Dwarf trys to break the ring with his axe, the axe breaks into many pieces on the platform upon which the ring is laid. At first, the pieces are there in the closeup view. When the camera pans back for a long range view of the Fellowship, the pieces of the axe on the platform are gone. In the following closeup, the pieces magically re-appear.
ONE OF GANDALF’S PARTY TRICKS – USED TO LIGHTEN UP AN OTHERWISE SOLOMN AFFAIR.

Towards the end of the movie, where Frodo is collecting wood and he has the fight with Boromir, he puts the ring on his finger, somehow it went from the chain he had it on to his finger without any problems. the next time he has the ring is when he takes it off (no chain) and offers it to StrIder (no chain) when he is down by the river, he has it on the chain in his hand...too much action going on with that chain.
EVER HEARD OF AN ELVEN-CLASP?

When the Fellowship first sets off they are on top of a mountain and the bird spies are aproaching, Boromir says that it can't be a cloud because it's blowing against the wind, when quite clearly his hair is blowing in the same direction as the shape is moving.
THAT’S NOT THE WIND – THAT’S MERRY PUFFING AFTER HIS WORK-OUT.

When Frodo awakes in the bed in Rivendell, Frodo's shirt is open and the sheet low down on the bed in the first shot, and then his shirt's closed and the sheet pulled substantially higher in the next shot.
HE HAS NOTICED A FUNNY GLINT IN GANDALF’S EYE – IT WAS AN AUTOMATIC REFLEX.

When Frodo stops rolling down the snow covered hill, just before the shot of Boromir picking up the ring, you can see the edge of the stockings that the actors wore to protect their feet since there were walking in real snow for that scene.
THERE IS NOTHING AGAINST HOBBITS WEARING STOCKINGS FOR SNOW. NO TOLKIEN RULES BROKEN. ANYWAY - WITH THE SNOW THEY WERE CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS

After the battle with the cave troll, Aragorn rushes over to injured Frodo and brushes past some big rocks which wobble, showing that they are clearly lightweight and not real.
NO. ARAGORN IS JUST SO DAMNED STRONG.

In the scene where the hobbits ask Strider where he is taking them, he answers "Into the wild." A split second later as Strider walks past the camera the bow he carries on his back bumps into the camera, nudging the screen a bit.
THAT WAS THE PROJECTIONIST GETTING A FRIGHT. HE WAS WEARING 3d GLASSES.

After Bilbo leaves the birthday party and is leaving Bag End, he shakes Gandalf's hand. Their hands are the same size ie two humans shaking hands. Shouldn't they be quite different in size or do Hobbits just have HUGE hands for their size?
HEY – WE HAVE SEEN GANDALF CAN CHANGE SIZE. VERY HANDY FOR THE LADIES TOO.

When the fellowship is in Moria, right before the Balrog comes, they are surrounded by orcs. They all have their swords drawn, and Frodo's is not glowing blue even though they are surrounded by orcs. Some people have said they're goblins, but given that Frodo's sword was glowing during the first attack, it should be glowing later too.
THERE WERE SO MANY EARLIER THAT THE CIRCUIT FUSED.

When Arwen and Aragorn are talking on the bridge, you see Arwen's lips moving while Aragorn is speaking.
TYPICAL WOMAN ALWAYS TRYING TO GET A WORD IN EDGEWAYS.

When Frodo pulls Sam into the elvish boat after saving him from drowning, you can see Sam's foot for a second, and you see he doesn't have his hobbit feet on. Sam pulls his foot under his cloak right away to hide it. Nevertheless, it is noticeable and a bit funny.
SAM IS THE FIRST HOBBIT IN RECORDED HISTORY WHO IS ACTUALLY DISSOLVABLE IN WATER. THAT WAS WHY HE NEVER LEARNT TO SWIM.

When the hobbits first start to run away from Farmer Maggot, they are running through the corn, which is clearly much taller than them. Two seconds later, when the camera angle changes to the wide view (you can see all four hobbits running through the corn), their heads are even with, if not slightly above the corn.
DURING THOSE VALUABLE TWO SECONDS PIPPIN HAS EATEN THE HEADS OF ALL THE CORN.

When Sam tried to follow Frodo (at the very end) and started drowning in the Great River, Sam was all the way under water. Frodo saved him, and then when you see that they are both in the boat again, Sam is COMPLETELY dry. Only his head is dripping wet. Frodo also reached in to save him, and Frodo's arm wasn't wet, either.
IT WAS A HOT DAY.

When the Nazgul confront Arwen across the river, they draw their swords in their left hands. In the next shot this changes to their right.
THEY ARE FOLLOWING THE INIGO MONTOYA TECHNIQUE OF BEING AMBIDEXTROUS WITH A SWORD. HELL, BEING THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD YOU HAVE TO EXPECT THEY’VE PICKED UP A TRICK OR TWO.

When the orc kills Boromir, he shoots him twice, and you can clearly see the hole/blood stain for the third arrow between first ones, and only then the third arrow appears.
BOROMIR THE SOLDIER HAS BEEN TRAINED TO ANTICIPATE THE ENEMY. AS A REFLEX, HIS BODY HAS ALREADY STARTED TO BLEED IN THE PRECISE PLACE THE THIRD ARROW WILL HIT. WHAT A PROFESSIONAL!

When the hobbits are sitting at the table in the Prancing Pony in Bree, Merry comes back with a pint. Pippin leaves to get one too. Then we see Sam mention to Frodo that a man is looking at them, across the table sits Pippin and no Merry.
DANG THOSE HAIRY FURBALLS LOOK ALIKE DON’T THEY.

At the end, when Aragorn leans over to kiss Boromir's forehead, watch Boromir. When Aragorn's hair touches his face, Boromir closes his eyes tight.
HAVE YOU *SEEN* THE STATE OF ARAGORN’S HAIR? EVEN IF DEAD THIS WOULD BE AN INSTINCTIVE REFLEX.

When they are in front of the 2 big statues, the statues raise their left arms. When they pass them and you can see them from behind, one statue has raises its left arm and the other its right arm.
ARAGORN IS MISTAKEN. THEY ARE STATUES OF AEROBICS INSTRUCTORS.

At Bilbo's party, when Merry and Pippin set off the dragon firework, they are shown inside a small tent. The tent has dishes and other things in it, and is quite full. When the firework launches, taking the tent with it, you can see that all of the things inside the tent (with the exception of Merry and Pippin) have disappeared.
THEY WERE PROTECTED. BILBO WASN’T THE ONLY ONE WITH A MITHRIL SHIRT, YOU KNOW. FREEMAN’S CATALOGUE, SPRING 3017 EDITION P345 - AVAILABLE IN FOUR SIZES - MEDIUM, SMALL, VERY SMALL AND YOU-SURE-YOU-WANT-TO-BUY-A-CHILD-THIS

In one shot of Gandalf's first appearance at Bilbo's front door, he is wearing light-brownish hiking shoes under his robes, and when he walks in, he's got his normal grey ones on.
HE SPILLED ASH FROM HIS PIPE ON THEM WHEN HE BANGED ON THE DOOR.

When Gandalf and Saruman are talking in Orthanc, we can see a black strap around Gandalf's fingers on the hand holding his staff. In some shots it's around different fingers, in others it's disappeared completely.
TYPICAL ONE-UPWIZARDSHIP. IT’S JUST SHOWING OFF.

Right after Frodo rescues Sam from drowning, in the boat Sam's left ear, camera side, is round and not pointed like it has been in the whole movie. This shot is repeated until the scene is over.
SEE ABOVE RE SAM BEING DISSOLVABLE.

In the Amon Hen battle scene, at the start of the fight with Lurtz, Aragorn is slammed backwards against a tree knocking his sword out of his hand. There is then a shot of Lurtz throwing his shield at Aragorn, and in the following shot, where the shield pins Aragorn against the tree, his sword is still in his hand, only to fly out again on the shield's impact.
ARAGORN USED TO HAVE ONLY A BROKEN SWORD BUT NOW CARRIES LOADS. THAT’S HOW HE HAD FOUR EXTRA FOR THE HOBBITS EARLIER. THE GUY’S JUST OVERCOMPENSATING.

The logs that Boromir carries in his arms when he talks to Frodo at Amon Hen are different in pattern and number during the conversation and right before he throws them to the floor.
IT’S ACTUALLY A BABY ENT WRITHING IN HIS ARMS.

When Gandalf pulls Sam in through the window at Bag End and throws him on the desk to ask him questions, several items fall off of the desk. The scene switches back and forth between Sam and Gandalf's perspectives several times. When Sam is shown, sometimes there is a wooden box or book on the floor to the left side of Sam's head and sometimes there is nothing on the floor.
STANDARD WIZARD INTERROGATION TECHNIQUE. CONFUSE.

Look at the faces of Boromir, Legolas and Merry after they leave Moria and get outside. They have dirt on their faces in a particular pattern. Then they make their way to Lothlorien and get cleaned up. But in the final scene, the dirt returns in exactly the same places.
EVERY ANIMAL HAS AN ELECTROSTATIC FIELD ABOUT THEM (NO, NOT THE FORCE). OBVIOUSLY SOME PLACES WILL ATTRACT DUST ETC MORE THAN OTHERS. JEEZ – READ A SCIENCE BOOK.

In Balin's tomb (in Moria), just before the Orcs break in and the fight begins, watch the hobbits (behind Gandalf). In the front view (where you see their faces), they are huddled together in close proximity. When the shot changes to the rear view, you can only see two hobbits behind Gandalf because they are much more spaced out. When the camera comes back to the front view (they draw their swords), they are close together again.
THEY ARE ACTUALLY LINE DANCING.

When Gimli falls onto his knees in front of Balin's Tomb in Moria, in one shot he's a few feet in front of it, in the next he is so close to it, that he could lay his head onto the tomb. In the following scene Gimli is further away again, so he should not have been able to reach it with his head.
THIS IS ACTUALLY A TRADITIONAL DWARF MOURNING RITUAL MOVING CLOSER AND THEN FURTHER FROM THE DECEASED LIKE A WAVE. THE DWARFS MISTRANSLATED THE MANNISH “WAVING GOODBYE”.

At the scene where Gimli and Aragorn fends off the orcs, right after Boromir has died, Gimli’s beard changes from two to one plaits in a matter of seconds.
A TRADITIONAL DWARF MATING RITUAL. THE NUMBER OF PLAITS INDICATES HOW MANY OF THEIR COMPANIONS THEY FIND HOT. NOW THAT BOROMIR WAS DEAD AND HE DID NOT FANCY ARAGORN, HE NEEDED ONLY ONE PLAIT.

When Gandalf arrives in Hobbiton, you can see a long silver scarf (as described in the book) dangling from a post on his cart - next to the driver's bench. In the first shot it is on the right hand side of his cart In the VERY next shot, the scarf has moved to the left hand side of the cart, nearer to Gandalf.
IT IS ACTUALLY A LONG WINDSOCK HE STOLE FROM EAGLE EYRELINES. AS THE WIND CHANGES SO DOES THE DIRECTION OF SAID ITEM. IT CAN EASILY BE MISTAKEN FOR A RELATIVELY SHORT SCARF

Just after Frodo has fallen down in the snow and loses his ring, on the zoomed out shot one hand is up, the other down, on the zoomed in shot the hand that was up is now down, the hand that was down is now up.
HE’S EXERCISING. IT’S DAMNED COLD, MAN!

When the hobbits are hiding under the tree trunk from the Ringwraith in the beginning, you can see space to the left and right of the tree above them. Logically when the Ringwraith rides past the tree you would see it on the right side of the tree first, then on the left, but you don't - it looks like it walks out of the tree instead of behind it.
THE SHOT OF WARPED SPACE FRODO SEES EARLIER EXPLAINS THIS. THE RIDER IS ACTUALLY NAKED AND WRAPPED HIMSELF AROUND THE HORSE (HEY HE *IS* SUPPOSED TO BE EVIL) THUS MAKING EVERYTHING INVISIBLE. WHILST BEHIND THE TREE HE SADDLES UP PROPERLY AND PUTS ON HIS ROBE.

At the end of the film, when Boromir is racing up the hill to the rescue of Merry and Pippin, you simply see his dark clothing as he climbs. Then the camera cuts away, returning to a shot of Boromir still coming up the hill, only this time the horn of Gondor is suddenly evident, flip-flopping wildly with his every step.
VIAGRA HAS NOT YET BEEN INVENTED. YOU CAN’T EXPECT A MAN TO HAVE A HORN ALL THE TIME.

When Saruman and Gandalf are fighting in Isengard (Orthanc), Saruman is pushed to the wall. When he "crashes" to the wall, you can see the black, short hair of the stuntman losing the white hair of Saruman.
A REFERENCE TO SARUMAN OF MANY COLOURS.

When Arwen enters the water after being chased by the Ringwraiths, as she turns the horse, you can clearly see the fake hobbit (representing an injured Frodo), bounce up and down like a rubber band.
WELL, DUH, IF YOU WERE ABOUT TO ENTER THE WRAITH WORLD YOU WOULDN’T HAVE MUCH CONTROL OVER YOUR BODY EITHER.

In the Prologue, right after King Elendil, Isildur's father, is struck by Sauron and killed, you see him land next to the cliff and a close-up shows that Elendil's helmet is still firmly on his head, although it is damaged. In the next shot of Isildur running up and holding his father's head, the helmet is nowhere to be seen. Isildur did not remove it, because it is not on Elendil's head when Isildur runs up and crouches next to him.
SAURON STOLE IT. HE IS EVIL IN WAYS YOU CANNOT IMAGINE.

At the end of the movie, when they are standing at the river and Frodo has left with Sam, Aragorn is attaching some kind of arm brace. Then he puts his hand on Gimli's shoulder and it's gone, then back again.
HE IS SCARED IT MIGHT GET CAUGHT UP IN GIMLI’S BEARD AND SO TAKES IT OFF ESPECIALLY FOR THE HAND ON THE SHOULDER BIT. A CLEAR REFERENCE TO HIS CARING FOR HIS COMPANIONS.

Aragorn's mouth is badly bloodied when he is headbutted by Lurtz, but the blood disappears almost immediately.
YOU MISSED THE SPLIT-SECOND SCENE WHERE LURTZ LICKS HIM LIKE A LOLLIPOP.

When Gandalf arrives at Bag End and hits the light fixture with his head, the order of the candles (watch the small one on the right) is not the same as the next shot.
ONE OF THE CANDLES WAS TO CLOSE TO THE RING OF NARYA (FIRE) AND MELTED VERY QUICKLY.

When Gandalf first visits Bilbo in Bag End they sit at a long table that is positioned lengthways from the camera. Bilbo potters about at the far end of the table and Gandalf goes to the left at the end closest to the camera. As he sits down the near half of the table wobbles but the far half does not. This seems to expose the fact that the table is actually in two parts, a small sized piece of table close to the camera next to which Gandalf looks large, and a normal sized piece of table a bit further away that looks the right size for Bilbo. The two pieces are filmed from such a perspective that they look like they join together in one long table and the fact that there is really a gap between them so that Bilbo is further away than it seems, makes him seem small compared to Gandalf. There is a round of cheese and various pieces of crockery on the near piece of table to disguise the gap.
BILBO ACTUALLY HAS A BROKEN TABLE BUT IT WASN’T INSURED. HE NEVER BOTHERED TO FIX IT.

After Bilbo returns from the party invisible and finds Gandalf by the fireplace, look at Gandalf as Bilbo walks between him and the fire. There is no shadow cast on him when there clearly should be. Also as the camera pans round following Bilbo's movements, you can see Gandalf is casting a shadow on the floor but not on the table, but when Bilbo walks up to it he does, even though Gandalf is between him and the fire light.
GANDALF IS THE OPPOSITE OF SAURON AND THEREFORE DOES NOT CAST SO MANY SHADOWS.

When Galadriel pours water from a pitcher into the fountain, three set lights can be seen reflected in the pitcher.
THAT IS ORION’S BELT (MENELVAGOR). HE WAS IN A RUSH WHEN HE LEFT IT BEHIND - CELEBORN ALMOST CAUGHT THEM TOGETHER.

At Isengard, Gandalf is on top of the tower, it starts to pour with rain. Cut to Saruman and orcs "the trees are strong, their roots..." etc. No rain at all. Cut back to Gandalf and wide aerial shot over Isengard, still pouring.
THEY ARE UNDER A TREE.

When Gandalf is leaving Bag End in a hurry, right after Frodo has received the Ring, he clearly bends down and passes below the light fixture in the main entrance hall without touching it. When he turns around to answer Frodo’s question, the light fixture is swinging back and forth as if he bumped it.
HE WAS TRYING THE OLD GROWING LARGE / SHRINKING TRICK AGAIN TO SEE IF HE HADN’T LOST HIS TOUCH.

When the fellowship is outside Moria's gates and Gandalf is trying to open it, you see Merry throwing a stone into the water and Pippin sits on the ground next to him. In a closer shot it is Pippin that stands up and try throwing stones into the water. You can't see Merry anywhere.
HE FELL IN.

Aragorn has a ring on his right index finger with a marquise shaped stone. When we first see it, as Boromir is teaching Merry and Pip to fight, it is whole. Next as Aragorn prepares to draw his sword on Boromir if he does not return the ring to Frodo, it is broken. After the Fellowship is buried under snow, we see it again and it is whole. Finally we see it as Aragorn lets Frodo go, and it is broken again.
IT IS BROKEN, BUT THE-HANDS-OF-A-KING-ARE-THE-HANDS-OF-A-HEALER IDEA DOESN’T WORK 24-7.

During the scene where Elijah is stabbed by a wraith, it zooms up on him. If you look closely, you see that Elijah's contact has slipped to the left side. A good way to solve the argument: Are Elijah Wood's eyes really that blue? (His eye colour never changes despite the fact his contact is half on and half off).
WELL GETTING STABBED BY A MORGUL BLADE DOES HAVE STRANGE SIDE-EFFECTS, NOT ALL OF WHICH HAVE BEEN PROPERLY DOCUMENTED FOR LACK OF VOLUNTEERS.

In the scene where the fellowship of the ring have just arrived in their boats past the two massive statue things, Sam sits down. He is in the background of the main shots and at one point he is deeply asleep, then suddenly he is halfway through cleaning his sword, then he's deeply asleep again.
SAM WAS ASLEEP THE WHOLE TIME. YOU HEARD OF SLEEPWALKING? SAME IDEA.

At the secret meeting scene at Rivendell, when Pippin and Merry appeared to join the fellowship, Elrond's head movement was not in-sync with the path the two hobbits took when they ran towards Frodo and Sam.
HE WAS ACTUALLY TRYING TO GET A SNEAKY LOOK AT FIGWIT.

When the Uruk-Hai strings his bow to shoot Boromir for the first time, the arrow he pulls back looks much different from the one he lets fly a few seconds later. The arrow he pulls back has a nice feather on it (looks striped, like a turkey feather). The feather he actually shoots Boromir with is tattered and black.
DID YOU SEE HOW DIRTY LURTZ’ HANDS WERE?

In Boromir's death scene, when Aragorn puts the sword into Boromir's hand, Aragorn's finger with the ring on is covered in blood. When we see his hands on Boromir's chest a second later, the blood has vanished.
BOROMIR SAW LURTZ LICK ARAGORN EARLIER AND THOUGHT HE’D GIVE IT A GO. AT LEAST HE COULD DIE THINKING HE HAD THE BLOOD OF ISILDUR IN HIM. YEARS LATER, BLOOD TRANSFUSION HAD BECOME A MORE ACCURATE SCIENCE.

When Frodo and Gandalf are discussing the fate of the ring in Bilbo's house, the ring is on the table in front of them. When the camera goes to close ups of the ring it is sometimes to the left of the table and sometimes to the right. Looks like a simple camera reversal.
THE RING IS TRYING TO GET BACK TO HIS MASTER. FRODO CONTINUALLY HAS TO PUSH THE RING BACK TO WHERE IT WAS.

When the hobbits enter Bree through the gate, there is a distance shot from above, and the principal actors have clearly been replaced by their shorter doubles. Worse than that, however, is that their sizes are completely wrong. The last hobbit through the gate is really really fat - much fatter than any of the hobbits really are. And he isn't even supposed to be Sam, who is the stockiest of the hobbits: when the view switches to a closeup of the principal actors from inside the gate, it's actually Merry who's last - and he certainly isn't obese.
THOSE DARNED HOBBITS ACTUALLY STOPPED OFF FOR A VERY FILLING THREE-COURSE MEAL RIGHT AT THE GATE.

During most of the movie, Frodo's fingernails are short and bitten down. Yet in the scene where the Black Rider appears after they have just been in Farmer Maggot's field, and Frodo struggles to avoid putting the Ring on, you see a close up of his hands and the fingernails are normal.
NO – HIS HAND IS SMALLER. THE RING HAS GIVEN UP SHRINKING / GROWING TO FIT ITS BEARER. IT NOW SHRINKS / GROWS THE HAND OF THE BEARER.

In the scene where Gimli kneeling is at Balin's Tomb, his axe changes positions. The blade faces forward, then suddenly it is turned around backwards, again alternating depending on which shot was used.
THIS IS ANOTHER PART OF THE TRADITIONAL DWARF MOURNING RITUAL. THE AXE IS WAVING GOODBYE.

Just after Gandalf enters the Bag End for the first time he looks the map of the Middle Earth on the table. In first shot when he is grabbing the map, you can see that there are two scrolls and a flat empty paper stacked on the map. In next shot, there is only one scroll and a paper with some kind of pattern on it.
HE HAS STOLEN IT. HIS HORSE ATE HIS A-Z.

During Arwen's race to the Ford of Bruinen, she rides at least two different horses. The first horse seen is a lovely grey (white and black hairs) and is likely to be of Andalusian descent. The second horse is a fleabitten grey (white with red hairs) with COMPLETELY different hind-end conformation and muscling, and looks as if it is an Arabian. The switch occurs several times. If you aren't a horse person, you can see this change by watching the horses' necks. The first horse has a very thick neck, and the second horse's neck is much thinner.
THIS IS TO CONFUSE THE WRAITHS. SHE GOT THE IDEA FROM WATCHING VARIOUS HEIST MOVIES.

Right at the end, when Aragorn is telling Legolas and Gimli what they are going to do next, Legolas' arrows change colour from bright yellow to bright green in two shots.
THESE ARE ‘MOOD’ ARROWS THAT SHOWS WHAT THE OWNER IS FEELING. BRIGHT GREEN MEANS FRUSTRATION AND FEAR. “I TOLD YOU THAT A THREAT HAD BEEN GROWING IN MY MIND BUT OH NO, YOU IGNORED ME AND NOW YOU WANT TO PLAY LEADER. WE ARE GOING TO DIE.”

After the Hobbits go through the gate at Bree it is raining heavily, however there are no raindrop splashes in the puddles further up the road.
THAT’S NOT RAIN. IT’S THE GATEKEEPER’S SPRINKLER SYSTEM ON THE BLINK.

After Frodo leaves the Fellowship with Sam at the end of the movie. Aragorn and Legolas are talking to each other about what is to happen next. When the shot centers on Legolas alone you can clearly see he has modern arrows in his arrowshaft. They're factory made wooden arrows with plastic tip ends to fit the string. The same thing can be seen with Aragorn in the next shot.
OF COURSE. AFTER BEING AROUND FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AN ELF WOULD HAVE PERFECTED THE ART OF ARCHERY SUPPLIES.

When Gandalf is talking to Saruman in the tower at Isengard, the sunlight is streaming through the window behind Saruman. When the shot switches to Gandalf, who is opposite Saruman (and facing him), the sunlight is streaming in through the window behind him as well.
THAT’S ACTUALLY THE LIDLESS EYE OUTSIDE SPYING ON THEM AND MOVING AROUND TO GET A BETTER VIEW.

During Gandalf and Frodo's journey on the cart near the beginning of the film, the close ups show a background of a level grass field with no track and the cart travels in a straight line. In the long shots the cart is on a proper path, weaving uphill between the hobbit holes.
GANDALF’S CART ACTUALLY DOUBLES AS A GRASS-SEEDER.

In one scene we see a man cutting wood. A close up shows him putting a piece of wood on the stump, but when we pan out to see the dog barking, the piece of wood is gone.
THE WOOD ESCAPED – IT HALF EXPECTED THE MAN TO PICK IT UP AND THROW IT FOR THE DOG. IT MADE ITS BID TO ESCAPE DURING THE DISTRACTION.

At the council of Elrond, when the fight breaks out between the Dwarves and Elves, we see a closeup of the ring showing a reflection of the scene. The mirrored scene should appear back-to-front, but it doesn't.
IT IS AN EVIL RING. IT WILL ALWAYS DISTORT THE TRUTH.

When Frodo rescues Sam in the river near the end of the movie, he grabs his hand. After a moments pause Sam grabs Frodo's hand in return. But when the two break through the surface, the two hands are turned the wrong way. There is no way that they could have gripped each others' hands in that position.
WELL, FRODO AND SAM HOLDING HANDS AND EVEN KISSING ON OCCASION HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE WITH READERS.

Gandalf is seen wearing brown hiking boots on the top of Orthanc, when he tells the moth to find the eagle lord Gwaihir. You can see them as the camera follows the moth from above. Gandalf is sitting crosslegged on the roof with his feet not covered by his robe.
WELL, IF YOU HAD TO DO A LOT OF CLIMBING YOU WOULD HAVE HIKING BOOTS ON TOO. GANDALF HAD PROBABLY READ THE BOOK AND EXPECTED HE TO HAVE REACHED THE ROOF VIA SOME STAIRS.

Not only do the arms on the two large statutes at Amon Hen change, the statutes themselves switch places. When we first see them, the statute of the younger man has a winged helmet and is on the left and the older with the smooth helmet is on the right. In the shot once the boats have gone past, the winged helmet statute is on the right and the smooth helmet statute is on the left.
NOT ONLY ARE THEY AEROBICS INSTRUCTORS, THEY ARE CROSSDRESSERS AS WELL.

In Moria when Frodo is hiding around the column from the cave troll, Frodo slides back to where he thinks the cave troll isn't, and breathes a sigh of relief. However, Merry and Pippin are directly to his right, looking at the spot where the cave troll pops out of and surprises Frodo. Don't you think they would have warned him?
NO. THEY ACTUALLY HAD A LARGE BET ON AS TO HOW LONG FRODO WOULD LAST AGAINST THE CAVE TROLL.

If you look carefully through the glare at Arwen's first appearance, you can see as she dismounts that it's a stuntwoman.
ELF MAGIC.

After Arwen has crossed the river at the Fords of Bruinen and is challenged by the Ring wraith Witch-King, she draws her sword and holds it high and ready to strike. Arwen then calls upon the waters of the river for assistance. When the rush of water with horses heads comes around the bend and into view there is a clear shot of Arwen’s back as she is watching the water come down on the ring wraiths and she is not holding her sword up. Shortly after all the ring wraith’s are swept away, there is a scene of Arwen’s face and upper body and she is still holding the sword high and ready to strike.
SHE’S ACTUALLY WAVING TO GLORFINDEL WHO IS STRANDED ON THE OTHER SIDE.

While in the mines of Moria, Gandalf points to the bridge of Khazad dum, clearly above the party. They proceed to go to it, going downwards (lower) the whole time.
WELL, WHAT GOES DOWN MUST COME UP.

When Gimli jumps up on Balin's tomb he crosses his axes in front of his face. The shot canges to his front and now he's holding the axes straight up (so you can see his face), the shot switches back and the axes are crossed in front of him again.
HE IS ACTUALLY USING SEMAPHORE TO LEGOLAS SAYING THAT HE LOVES HIM. HE’S SHY LIKE THAT.

When Frodo is first seen, he is reading a book. When he gets on Gandalf's cart, he no longer has the book. Did he just leave it in the woods?
NO, IT IS A VERY ABSORBING BOOK AND HE THREW IT TO TOM BOMBADIL AS HE SCURRIED TOWARDS GANDALF. IN FACT THE BOOK WAS SO INTERESTING BOMBADIL WAS TOTALLY ABSORBED AND WASN’T SEEN FOR THE NEXT 2 HOURS 40 MINUTES.

As Bilbo leaves the Shire, he drops the ring just inside the door. The ring is seen on the floor over Bilbo's shoulder after he walks outside. You can see Gandalf step over the ring and through the doorway without touching the door. The door is FULLY opened, and the ring is in the light. Why then is Gandalf opening the door and a shadow cast over the ring as he goes back inside to examine it?
THE DOOR TO BAG END IS ACTUALLY BROKEN AND CAN SWING OPEN AND SHUT ALL BY ITSELF WITH THE SMALLEST OF BREEZES. THAT IS WHY FRODO *NEVER* BOTHERS TO CLOSE IT BEHIND HIM WHEN HE ENTERS BAG END.

As the fellowship approaches the Argonath, you can see in the long shot that the statues stand with the top half in sun and the bottom half in shadow. But as they move by in the close up of the foot, they are all in full sun.
THAT’S NOT SUNLIGHT. FRODO TOOK OUT THE PHIAL OF GALADRIEL FOR A QUICK POLISH.

After the hobbits take the tumble from farmer Maggot's field, they land in a heap with twigs in their hair. Frodo stands on the road and looks down it. He says, "I think we should get off the road" and the twigs are there. He looks back down the road and the smoke and leaves come swirling at him, he yells, "Get off the road" - no twigs. They hide from the wraith, then make their escape. Merry says, "What was that?" - and they have the twigs in their hair again.
ARE YOU ACCUSING THE ACTING AS BEING WOODEN? SAVE THOSE JOKES FOR TREEBEARD IN TTT.

In the Mines of Moria, when the cave troll has barged in and started fighting with the Fellowship, the troll hits the tomb, causing Gimli to leap over to the side and fall on the floor. In this shot you can see Legolas fighting an Orc up some stairs behind the troll, but just a second later, Legolas is seen firing two arrows UP at the troll, from the level where Gimli just was.
DAMNED QUICK THOSE ELVES, EH?

At the counsil of Elrond's you see Frodo putting the ring on the "table" in the middle. It is waist-high to Frodo, but to be any use to the elves it should be waist-high to them i.e. Frodo should barely be able to look over it.
IT’S NOT A TABLE. IT’S AN ELF POTTY WITH A COVER ON IT.

When Gandalf arrives in Hobbiton, some children start chasing the cart yelling for fireworks. At this point we can see a hobbit couple watching the children run past. The female hobbit places her hand on her hip, and then in a closeup she puts her hand on her hip again.
#YOU DO THE OKEE-COKEE AND YOU TURN AROUND, THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT#

While at Weathertop, after Frodo puts out the fire, they hear a Ring Wraith. When they are all standing Sam is holding a small pot with a cloth on the bottom to hold it with so he won't burn himself, but his thumb is actually touching the pot and he doesn't get burned.
SAM ACTUALLY HAS A BAD CASE OF THUMB-SUCKING AND THIS IS HIS LAST ATTEMPT AT TRYING TO RID HIMSELF OF THE HABIT.

When Frodo is recovering in Rivendell from the Ringwraith dagger he is first seen lying in the bed with a chain necklace clearly visible (to which the ring is attached) - in following scenes the necklace is sometimes there - sometimes not.
SOMETIMES TRYING TO DECIDE WHAT JEWELRY TO WEAR CAN BE A TIME-CONSUMING AFFAIR.

In the scene where the now invisible Bilbo returns to Bag End he chats with Gandalf then leaves dropping the ring on the floor near the door. As Gandalf goes to pick it up the ring is on a tile with a crack in it and the ring is about 3" from the crack. In the next shot from side on, the ring is almost touching the crack.
AS NOTED EARLIER, THE RING IS TRYING TO GET BACK TO ITS MASTER. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY WHEN FRODO ENTERS LATER, YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE A BRICK THAT GANDALF HAS PUT IN ITS PATH.

Throughout the movie, the ringwraiths have different bits on their horses. They are all being ridden in loose ring snaffle bits (gentle, mild action) which can be seen at the Ford of Bruinen sequence, sepecially when two of the horses rear. However, anytime a closeup of a horse's head is seen, the bits are cruel-looking. Includes: modified Tom Thumb short-shank curb (some of the shots where the hobbits hide under the tree, one shot during Ford of Bruinen), full-cheek snaffle (other shots during hobbits-hide-under-tree scene), long-shank pelham bit with upper cheek (chase in the dark to Buckleberry Ferry), and double-bridles (two bits, two sets of reins. Seen during Saruman's speech about the Nine leaving Minas Morgul. Only the upper bit is being used by the rider. The other times that two sets of reins are seen, the reins are actually attatched to the nosebands of the bridle, and are not there for any reason other than decoration.)
AND WHY SHOULDN’T A RING-WRAITH HAVE SPARES?

In Isengard, while Saruman is talking to the Uruk-Hai, there is a blue liquid running down the Uruk-Hai's chin, and is dripping to the floor. Saruman then says "Whom do you serve?" the Uruk-Hai says "Saruman!" but in that shot the blue liquid is completely gone.
THIS WAS LURTZ PRACTICING HIS LICKING TECHNIQUE ON HIMSELF.

Right before Gimli says, "The walls of Moria" one can clearly see a broken acqueduct fallen backwards with water flowing UPhill and then falling off the front edge.
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A WARNING TO THE FELLOWSHIP THAT EVIL WAS AFOOT. A SUBLIMINAL EXERCISE BY PJ. WELL SPOTTED.

Near the end when Frodo has tears running down his face. In the first shot the tear on his right side is short and the left side tear is down to his chin. in the next shot they are reversed. Some people have said it's just that one tear lengthened and a new one started, but look at the right-hand one (the longer one in the first shot). If there was a new tear, we'd still see the damp path of the first one, but it's rolling down a dry cheek.
FRODO *HAS* PERFECTED THE LICK LIKE A LOLLIPOP TECHNIQUE. HE JUST HOPE SAM DOESN’T WANT TO PRACTICE ON HIM.

When Saruman is talking to him, Lurtz has bright green eyes. Later, when he is shouting "Find the halflings!" in the sunlight, he still has green eyes. When he is shooting Boromir in the sunlight the fourth time, however, he has brown eyes.
ANOTHER ORC IS CELEBRATING BUT MISUNDERSTOOD THE PHRASE “HERE’S MUD IN YOUR EYE” AND THREW A HUGE PIECE OF EARTH IN LURTZ’S FACE.

When the fellowship is running through the mines of Moria, after they have fought with the orcs and cavetroll, they run to reach the bridge of Khazad dum. Then they are stopped again by the great number of orcs. when the balrog arrives, they run further to Khazad Dum; the filmmakers used the exact same shot for this scene as when the fellowship was running from the orcs in the first place.
HAVE YOU SEEN DWARROWDELF? IT’S ALL THE SAME. AND THERE ARE NO SIGNPOSTS. THE FELLOWSHIP WERE ACTUALLY RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES AT ONE POINT.

During the scene when Gandalf is reading about the ring there are candles burning to the left of him. When he starts reading the first page the candles are barely melted, but by the time he has finished that one page, they are almost burned out.
TRANSLATING DWARFISH IS A TIME-CONSUMING BUSINESS. A SUBTLE REFERENCE TO TOLKIEN SAYING THAT NO NON-DWARF REALLY MASTERED THEIR LANGUAGE.

When the fellowship are travelling down the Anduin (southwards) Legolas looks off to his left to where he senses the Uruk-hai are. However the Uruk-hai are on the west bank of the Anduin - which should be on Legolas's right.
NO. HE THOUGHT HE SPOTTED A MIRROR AND WANTED TO CHECK HIMSELF OUT.

When Gandalf and Saruman are about to fight, Gandalf switches his staff from his left to his right hand. When Saruman smashes him against the wall, the staff is back in the left hand. The staff continues to switch from hand to hand during the fight.
RINGWRAITHS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO FOLLOW THE INIGO MONTOYA TECHNIQUE OF BEING AMBIDEXTROUS. THIS SEEMS TO BE TRUE FOR ALL CREATURES A FEW THOUSAND YEARS OLD.

When the fellowship is buried in an avalanche on Caradhras, Bill the pony is swept off the cliff which they are standing on, but is fine later.
IT WAS A STUNT PONY.

After Bilbo turns himself invisible, we see a view from on top of the hill of Bilbo going back to his house. At this point, we can see down below at the party, and everyone is running towards where Bilbo was before he turned invisible. That had to have only been a few seconds after Bilbo disappeared. Magic ring or no magic ring, there's no way anyone, never mind a hobbit, could have run up the hill in that time.
NO. IT TOOK EVERYONE SO LONG TO RECOVER FROM THE SHOCK.

Before the passage of Caradhas, Boromir is fencing with Merry and Pippin. When they tackle him you can see Merry's face and it's obviously a dwarf stand-in for the actor.
OH YEAH? WHERE’S THE BEARD THEN?

In the beginning of the movie Gandalf and Frodo drive pass the old couple and the children. The couple is standing by the gate and the lady has her hand on her hip. When Gandalf has sent of the fireworks for the children the lady returns to the house. But when you see her again she's standing next to her husband again.
MANY WOMEN ARE IN TWO MINDS ABOUT LEAVING THEIR HUSBANDS.

Most of the time the hobbits are barefoot, but when Frodo and Sam are first walking through the fields, Frodo's leg come above long-grass level and his shoe is clearly visible.
NO. HE JUST HAS REALLY, REALLY DIRTY FEET.

When Boromir goes to the door of Balin's Tomb in the mines you can see Aragorn in the background putting his torch on the ground, then when it switches to Aragorn and the others he puts the torch down again.
PERHAPS HE IS ‘CARRYING A TORCH’ FOR BOROMIR. *GROAN*

About 45 minutes into the movie Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin enter Bree to meet up with Gandalf and there is an old geezer (I assume he is the gatekeeper) at the door/gate/entrance to the town. Some 10/15 minutes later, the 9 Ringwraithes suddenly appear and as we all know they break down the gate and presumably crush the gatekeeper in the process. If you look carefully, where the gatekeeper is supposed to be (underneath the door as it's going down) there is no one there.
HE DIDN’T WANT HIS WORK TO GET ON TOP OF HIM.

When the fellowship are sailing down the river (through the two statues) the foot of the left statue looks as if it's at the same level as the water. Then in the next scene (camera angle from above) the foot is not at water level. It appears to be on a high rock.
WHO KNOWS HOW QUICK THE TIDES ARE IN MIDDLE EARTH? TOLKIEN NEVER FULLY EXPLORED THIS.

In Balin's tomb, when the Fellowship can hear the Orcs coming, they block the door and prepare for battle. The thing is, there is a HUGE hole in the wall behind them (they even leave through this after the fight is over to get to the bridge). Why didn't they run through there after blocking the door in the first place? I realise that we wouldn't have a great battle scene, but it still would have saved a lot of hassle.
AH. BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE ORCS WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THEM TO DO. IF IN DOUBT, CONFUSE THE ENEMY.

In the beginning of the film we see Isildur attacked by orcs. Isildur is in fairly heavy armor, yet when we see him shot full of arrows in the water, he is floating. With that much armor on, Isildur would have sunk like a rock.
THE ORCS STOLE IT AND MADE A NEW DISCO BALL OUT OF IT.

After the fight in the Hall of Records in Moria, you can see that Balin's tomb (which had been smashed by the cave troll's club during the fight) is just an empty box. Don't tombs normally have bodies in them?
HEY – ORCS GET HUNGRY TOO. THEY JUST FANCIED A PRE-PACKAGED MEAL FOR A CHANGE.

When Bilbo flees from the party, turned invisible by the Ring, as he opens the door to Bag End we see out through the door and the camera shoots off against a black drape. In subsequent shots through the door at night moonlight scenery has been added.
THAT WAS ONE HELL OF A CLOUD YOU NOTICED THERE.

In the credits, the word "Technical" is spelled "Technicial" in one instance (it's on the right side, reasonably early on - it is used in the phrase "technicial continuity." ) .
I GET 4,300 HITS USING YAHOO TO SEARCH FOR ‘TECHNICIAL’ SO OBVIOUSLY IT MUST BE A PROPER WORD.

In the beginning, Gandalf's pipe keeps mysteriously vanishing from each scene, when he is guiding the cart with Frodo.
HE IS DESPERATELY TRYING TO GIVE UP SMOKING BUT JUST CAN’T BRING HIMSELF TO DO SO.

Okay, I know Sam is rather large, but why the hell did it take him so long to RUN DOWN the hill to Frodo at the end? He was heading that way before the battle with the Urak Hai even began, and come at least ten to fifteen minutes later, he is still running down there.
TYPICAL HOBBIT. HE STOPPED OFF FOR A FRY-UP.

When Sam tells Frodo that if he take another step, he will be farther away from home than ever before, he stands next to a scarecrow. In the next scene, we see both Sam and Frodo, and Sam has passed the scarecrow by several metres. Another zoom at Sam, and he stands by the Scarecrow again.
A CLEAR REFERENCE TO THE WIZARD OF OZ AND FOLLOWING THE ROAD. OR HAVING NO BRAIN.

When Frodo is lying on the floor after Arwen defeats the Ringwraiths, you can see a pimple under the right side of his mouth. The same pimple can be seen when the fellowship aproaches the Pillar of the Kings on the Emyn Muil; in the rest of the movie there is no pimple.
THAT WOUND WILL NEVER FULLY HEAL.

At the end of the movie, when Frodo takes the boat to continue on his own. Sam runs into the water to follow Frodo as he promised Gandalf. When Sam is about half way to the boat, he goes under water because he cannot swim. He almost reaches the bottom of the flood, and does not swim up at any time. Suddenly, Frodo takes his hand and pulls him into the boat, but Frodo has not moved an inch and Sam did not swim to the surface.
EVER HEAR OF A CURRENT? SCIENCE REALLY ISN’T YOUR STRONG POINT, IS IT?

When they are all walking up the snowy mountain the camera starts off with a larger view and then goes to a closer view of the people. In the larger view there are no footprints but in the smaller view there are.
GOLLUM IS BEHIND THEM FILLING IN THE FOOTPRINTS HOPING TO MISDIRECT SAURON / SARUMAN AS TO WHERE THEY ARE.

Think about this for a minute. We can tell that Bilbo's party is Spring/summer (acccepting that some things may have changed from the book, just checking the weather). We also know that Frodo WAKES UP in Rivendell on October 24 (Gandalf says so). And with all the hurrying everyone is doing, and considering the Ringwraiths are already leaving when Gandalf is on his way to Gondor, there is no logical way it could be over a year. So in the film, Bilbo left the Ring on his birthday, and a few months later (say, 6), he ages so much because he does not have the Ring. Gollum, on the other hand, had the Ring for 500 years, and after more than fifty years of being separated from it, he does not age at all. The ratios don't match up. 500:50, 50:1/2... Logically, Gollum should age a LOT since he was once very closely related to hobbits. If you ask me, Tolkien was much more logical in claiming 17 years went by from when Bilbo left to when Frodo got there. The "few months" statement might be a bit off depending on how seasons work in Middle Earth, but it's definitely far less than 5 years, so there's serious inconsistency there.
EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT CALENDAR IN MIDDLE EARTH. READ THE APPENDICES FOR GOODNESS SAKE.

When Frodo is talking with Gandalf while sitting at the table in Bag End, he is pouring tea into a teapot in one shot, then Galdalf talks for about 3 seconds, and in the next shot Frodo has a cup of tea to his lips.
WELL IF THE SHIRE IS SUPPOSED TO BE RURAL ENGLAND, THIS IS AN ACCURATE REFLECTION ON HOW ADEPT THE ENGLISH ARE AT MAKING TEA.

11
Ok TC, you asked, I came.

I think Jackson did a pretty good job of making a socially acceptable version out of the books. By socially acceptable I mean that the movie had to be of reasonable length and he'd (most probably) be limited to a trilogy. As I recall the series is actually 6 "books" with 2 in each volume. I believe that with those to work with things would have been more true to the original but I don't think the public would stand for a 6 movie series.

Having said that, I still wish Tom Bombadill had been in it. I was really interested in how that would come out.

I do wish he had taken a bit less poetic license with the romantic interest between Strider and Arwen. As I remember the books she only shows up in the first volume at the council and doesn't really do anything other than make some googoo eyes. There was way too much smoochy, teenage girl stuff thrown in for me.

I agree with Talking Head about the final battle scene. He should have left that one alone and not done the Hamlet death scene thing. It was over the top.

Now for the meaty stuff...IMHO the Gandalf sequencing should have been preserved. I was disappointed at the theater when the whole ordeal was spelled out. There was no suspense (even though I, of course, knew what was coming). I think you should be able to sit and ponder what's going on with Gandalf while the other stuff is happening. It's not always necessary to spoon feed the audience.

Man, it's tough to try to act intellectual about LOTR while eating lunch and listening to Springsteen...something just doesn't click.

Pucknut

12
Pucknut wrote:Man, it's tough to try to act intellectual about LOTR while eating lunch and listening to Springsteen...something just doesn't click.
Funny you say that I was thinking the same thing while commenting on Attack of the Cloans. Kept envisionong Chris Farley talking into the fan...."LUKE IIII AMMMM YOURR FAATTTHHHER!"

:lol:
"Your just jealous the voices are only talking to ME!!"

13
Ok, appareantly, I had a totally different viewpoint than all of you guys. I hadn't read any of the books before I saw the movie. I'd been meaning to read them since my high school band performed LOTR music (in 95), but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. Then I saw the movie in March (yes, I was a slacker there, too), and because I didnt want to wait 9 months to find out what happened, I read all the books, plus The Hobbit. It was nice, then, to watch the animated film & finally understand it. I watched Jackson's version again, and I think that he did an awesome job all around. I mean, yeah, there were some things he did and/or cut that might annoy fans of the books, but there is no possible way that he could make a Hollywood movie & satisfy everyone (though, I agree, I could've done w/o the slo-mo stuff).

14
blues22 wrote:Ok, appareantly, I had a totally different viewpoint than all of you guys. I hadn't read any of the books before I saw the movie. I'd been meaning to read them since my high school band performed LOTR music (in 95), but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. Then I saw the movie in March (yes, I was a slacker there, too), and because I didnt want to wait 9 months to find out what happened, I read all the books, plus The Hobbit. It was nice, then, to watch the animated film & finally understand it. I watched Jackson's version again, and I think that he did an awesome job all around. I mean, yeah, there were some things he did and/or cut that might annoy fans of the books, but there is no possible way that he could make a Hollywood movie & satisfy everyone (though, I agree, I could've done w/o the slo-mo stuff).
ah, excellent! i was hoping to get the opinion of someone who hadn't read the books prior to seeing the film. you bring a fresh viewpoint to the discussion, very welcome.

15
Pucknut wrote:Ok TC, you asked, I came.
indeed - glad to have you! (and your speakers.... ;) )
Pucknut wrote:Having said that, I still wish Tom Bombadill had been in it. I was really interested in how that would come out.
interesting - it's been so long since i've read the books, i could use a refresher here. care to expand? (note to self: re-read the books ASAP!)
Pucknut wrote:I do wish he had taken a bit less poetic license with the romantic interest between Strider and Arwen. As I remember the books she only shows up in the first volume at the council and doesn't really do anything other than make some googoo eyes. There was way too much smoochy, teenage girl stuff thrown in for me.
i'm of a mind that it's usually the "side love story" crap that ruins a movie - any movie. you name it, it's there and lame, forced, hollywood crap. but in this case, i didn't notice anything that seemed "too much". again, taking into acount that it's been a very long time since i read the books, so maybe i'm not remembering correctly....
Pucknut wrote:I agree with Talking Head about the final battle scene. He should have left that one alone and not done the Hamlet death scene thing. It was over the top.
perhaps. perhaps the film could have used a bit more reality in it's depictions of death, perhaps Jackson was grasping a bit too much at those heartstrings. but then again, the story is based in romance, and i'm not just talking man-woman romantic love here. given the romantic feel of the story, is a Shakespearian death scene out of place?
Pucknut wrote:Now for the meaty stuff...IMHO the Gandalf sequencing should have been preserved. I was disappointed at the theater when the whole ordeal was spelled out. There was no suspense (even though I, of course, knew what was coming). I think you should be able to sit and ponder what's going on with Gandalf while the other stuff is happening. It's not always necessary to spoon feed the audience.
agreed, but as i said i'm not sure that following gandalf was the intent there as much as showing the building of the armies/resurrection of sauromon...

16
TC wrote: indeed - glad to have you! (and your speakers.... ;) )
Someday you'll have to come hear them. :D
TC wrote:
Pucknut wrote:Having said that, I still wish Tom Bombadill had been in it. I was really interested in how that would come out.
interesting - it's been so long since i've read the books, i could use a refresher here. care to expand? (note to self: re-read the books ASAP!)
When the hobbits make their escape from the Shire they didn't just ride to the Prancing Pony, they cut through a "hole in the wall" behind Frodo's new abode. They ended up in the Old Forest where they got lost and got in trouble with Old Man Willow (i.e. eaten by a tree). Tom Bombadil came to their rescue. They spent the night with he and ...errr...dang, can't remember her name...Gold-something. Anyway, he's a madly eccentric woodsman who's been around longer than the hills...literally. They leave his place and get lost again and in trouble with the barrow wights and once again Tom saves them.

The eccentricity of the character in the book is what piqued my interest about how he'd be played in the movie...kind of a Robin Williams or Howie Mandel role, IMHO.

Hope that made sense...I'm on my way out for the day and proofreading just ain't in the cards.

Pucknut

17
Pucknut wrote: When the hobbits make their escape from the Shire they didn't just ride to the Prancing Pony, they cut through a "hole in the wall" behind Frodo's new abode. They ended up in the Old Forest where they got lost and got in trouble with Old Man Willow (i.e. eaten by a tree). Tom Bombadil came to their rescue. They spent the night with he and ...errr...dang, can't remember her name...Gold-something. Anyway, he's a madly eccentric woodsman who's been around longer than the hills...literally. They leave his place and get lost again and in trouble with the barrow wights and once again Tom saves them.
Goldberry... and I think it would have been quite fun seeing him in the movie, if only they had the time. But oh well....

As for the love story, even being a girl, I think Hollywood can make movies quite stupid by adding a love story. Now if the movie is just a romantic movie, fine. But, when you have a huge disaster (i.e. Titanic, Pearl Harbor) where a thousand people die, and then you focus on a young couple? Its ridiculous. I mean, granted, its a writing style...just making everything simplistic... but I just think its so cold hearted. Don't get me started on Titanic... I just think that in about 50 years, they're going to do the Titanic treatment on 9/11.

But, in this movie, at least, I liked how little of a love story there was. And, if I recall correctly, in the books Arwen didn't show up until the end (final movie...not sure which "book" that would've been). She was only briefly mentioned (IMO too briefly, since she has to leave her kind to join Aragorn) until RotK.

Speaking of the final movie, I hope they film the ending...well, in a way that its a little less disappointing to me than the book. I mean, dont get me wrong, I like the books and all... I just didnt like what happened to Frodo (I'm talking about the very end). Of course, then I saw a really hilarious (as in, shouldn't have laughed at it when I did...) animated version of "Return of the King." It was really cracked me up, but the ending didn't seem so...sad. It seemed like a good ending. I don't know... I can't really explain w/o SPOILERS (for those who haven't read/can't remember RotK).

18
blues22 wrote:I don't know... I can't really explain w/o SPOILERS (for those who haven't read/can't remember RotK).
spoiler, schmoiler - spill it! just do like this:

**************** SPOILER ALERT ***********************










spoiler text here












************************** END SPOILER *************************

see? easy! 8) i'm actually developing code that will make any spoiler text transparent - i.e., you couldn't see it unless you highlighted it with your mouse. that will help, no??

19
check out these comments from a guy who just can't bring himself to register here but has read all of this:
Kanuck wrote:Did anybody ever stop to think that maybe they didn't want to perfectly recreate the books? They're making a movie, to appeal to everyone, not just nitpicky Tolkein nerds. In my opinion, they still tried too hard to appeal to just those die-hard fans, which made the movie totally inaccessible to people like me who have no interest in the books - I walked out of LOTR halfway through.

So instead of sounding like a Star Trek fan complaining about continuity errors, just relax and enjoy it - after all, it's just a movie! :)
:o :o :o

20
TC wrote:check out these comments from a guy who just can't bring himself to register here but has read all of this:
Kanuck wrote:Did anybody ever stop to think that maybe they didn't want to perfectly recreate the books? They're making a movie, to appeal to everyone, not just nitpicky Tolkein nerds. In my opinion, they still tried too hard to appeal to just those die-hard fans, which made the movie totally inaccessible to people like me who have no interest in the books - I walked out of LOTR halfway through.

So instead of sounding like a Star Trek fan complaining about continuity errors, just relax and enjoy it - after all, it's just a movie! :)
:o :o :o
I feel like hitting people who say the movie was inaccessible. I mean, come on, I knew almost nothing about the series, and I followed it easily. Appareantly, he has a really short attention span. Now, if its just not "your cup of tea" fine. But... his is a pitiful excuse. Just say that you don't like sci-fi or fantasy. I have a friend who fell asleep during LotR (because it was too long), and SW: AotC (because it was too slow). But at least, after some mocking, she will admit that it was partly because she's not into "those kind of movies".

As for the Spoiler space. I understand that concept... but I'm just too lazy to use it, when the spoiler is just a miniscule part of my post. :wink: