The Fellowship has
been broken. Boromir is dead, Frodo and Sam have gone to Mordor alone to destroy the One Ring, Merry and Pippin have been
captured by the Uruk-hai, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli have made friends of the Rohan, a race of humans that are in the
path of the upcoming war, led by its aging king, Théoden. The two towers between Mordor and Isengard, Barad-dúr and Orthanc,
have united in their lust for destruction. The corrupt wizard Saruman, under the power of the Dark Lord Sauron, and his slimy
assistant, Gríma Wormtongue, have created a grand Uruk-hai army bent on the destruction of Man and Middle-earth. The rebellion
against Sauron is building up and will be led by Gandalf the White, who was thought to be dead after the Balrog captured him.
One of the Ring's original bearers, the creature Gollum, has tracked Frodo and Sam down in search of his 'precious', but is
captured by the Hobbits and used as a way to lead them to Mt. Doom. The War of the Ring has now begun...
Stuart Townsend
was fired shortly after shooting began due to creative differences.
The Lord of the
Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
were filmed simultaneously.
After the terrorist
attacks on the USA
of 11 September 2001, an Internet petition was started to persuade New
Line to change the title because "The Two Towers" was offensive to victims of the attack on the World
Trade Center and that it "was picked just to cash
in on the tragedy". A few weeks later, the creators of the petition came forward and admitted it was a hoax, after thousands
had seriously signed it in support. The hoax was taken so seriously that another site was created in order to mock the first
one: the joking premise was to prevent the third movie to be called "The Return of the King" to respect the memory of Elvis
Presley.
Several members
of the cast returned to New Zealand when Peter Jackson thought
of some more ideas for scenes.
The Orc battle cries
for the Helm's Deep battle sequence were provided by a stadium of 25,000 cricket fans, who screamed the war chants, spelled
out on the Diamond Vision screen, with Jackson himself leading the crowd.
Gollum/Smeagol is
a CGI character, but Peter Jackson wanted the character to be performer-oriented, so actor Andy Serkis, the voice of Gollum,
played the character in a motion capture suit. Serkis also played scenes with Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Sean Astin (Sam) on
set to give the actors a focal point. On those occasions when Serkis was actually in shot Gollum was composited over him in
post production.
The set for the
Helm's Deep battle scene was built on location in New Zealand
over a period of seven months.
When arriving upon
the set to film the scene in which Andy Serkis (Gollum) has to catch a fish, they discovered that it had snowed overnight.
Peter Jackson had the snow cleared on the set (which included defrosting the river as well as the land surrounding it) by
1:00 PM.
The role of Éowyn,
the White Lady of Rohan, was first offered to Irish actress Alison Doody in December 1999, who had to decline the part because
she had just given birth to her second daughter. Miranda Otto then auditioned for the same role.
Director Cameo:
Wearing chainmail at Helm's Deep.
The Main Door of
Helm's Deep was built so heavily and so well that the real battering ram that was built to knock down the gates failed to
do so until the door was weakened. Someone had built the door a little bit too well and Peter Jackson can heard on the Extended
Edition DVD commenting that if they had to defend a castle, he would want the WETA workshop guys to build the door.
On the wall of Helm's
Deep during the battle, a one-eyed warrior turns to the camera, revealing his scarred empty socket. The performer who played
him showed up as an extra, wearing an eyepatch; director Peter Jackson politely asked to see what was under the patch, and
then inquired if the gentleman would be interested in appearing in the film sans eyepatch. The gentleman was reluctant at
first and quite self-conscious, but afterward said the experience had made him more comfortable with his condition.
Between takes, Brad
Dourif stayed in character by continuing to speak with an English accent until all his footage had been completed. This was
so convincing that, at the end, when he spoke with his normal voice again, Bernard Hill thought that his English accent was
real and that his American accent must be fake.
In the Extended
Edition, Pippin tells Merry about a dream he had in which they smoked a large amount of pipeweed, and then Merry got sick.
During filming, Dominic Monaghan, who played Merry, did indeed get sick when he tried to smoke.
Cameo: the executive
producer appears as a Rohirrim soldier throwing a rock down on the Uruk-Hai attacking the gate at Helm's Deep.
John Rhys-Davies,
also provided the voice for Treebeard.
Peter Jackson's
children appear as "cute Rohan refugee children".
The map that Faramir
and Madril look at is the map featured in the books, drawn by Tolkien's son, Christopher.
The battle at Helm's
Deep was edited down from twenty hours of footage, shot over a three month period with the rain machine battering down on
the cast.
Viggo Mortensen
broke two toes while kicking the steel helmet by the orc pyre, and that take is the one that actually appears in the movie.
Peter Jackson said that was really impressed with the shout of pain Aragorn cried out for the fate of the two hobbits, realizing
only later that it was pain already, but for his two toes instead. He was also impressed by the fact that Mortensen continued
acting even if so seriously injured.
For one shot where
Gollum is crawling and splashing down a river after a fish, Andy Serkis was actually in the water. It had been snowing the
previous night, and the snow had been melted, but the water was still freezing cold.
To increase the
number of Rohirrim riders, many of the "men" were actually women with beards glued on. Peter Jackson and others have noted
that in many cases they were more skilled riders than the men.
In the wide shots
of Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli running after the Orcs, all three performers are running injured. Orlando Bloom had a couple
of broken ribs (from a fall off a horse); Aragorn had a broken toe (from kicking the helmet in the Orcs funeral pyre scene);
and Brett Beattie (Gimli's scale double) had a knee injury. Peter Jackson said that all three were very dedicated and continued
to film the scene, often yelling "ouch" or "ow" after "cut" was called.
Viggo Mortensen's
son, Henry Mortensen appears as an extra in some of the Helm's Deep sequences.
Billy Boyd and Dominic
Monaghan spent so much time up the tree (TreeBeard) during the making of the the film that they spent their time between takes
writing a screenplay. Additionally, it was so difficult to get up and down to their "perches" that they were left there during
breaks while the rest of the crew went off to eat, though someone was kind enough to pass theirs up to them.
To make the many
sparkling lights in Galadriel's eyes, the crew put white Christmas lights behind the camera.
Cameo: The Concept
Designer can be seen as the Rohan collecting weapons at Helm's Deep (to the left when Aragorn yell's "Then I shall die as
one of them!")
Gimli's armor weighed
about 30kg (66lb).
A stuntman broke
his leg playing the soldier who is hit by the "bolt" from the ballista type device used to hoist the ladders.
Movie theater prints
of The Two Towers were labeled "Grand Tour" on the film can and the actual reels.
Cameo: the art director
is getting suited up in the armory at Helm's Deep. Look over Aragorn's right shoulder after Legolas says "They're frightened
- I can see it in their eyes."
The first sequel
to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture when the original film did not win the award itself, and the third sequel
to be nominated for Best Picture.
There were so many
extras used in the sequences at Helms Deep, and the filming went on for so many months that almost all the extras and principal
actors got t-shirts reading "I survived Helms Deep". There were so many of these shirts that extras would often meet other
extras in New Zealand's main cities because they would recognize the shirts.
Viggo Mortensen
was so impressed with the horse his character rides that he purchased him from the owners. The horse was shipped back to New
Zealand for the additional shots that were filmed in 2002.
Sean Astin shot
his short film The Long and Short of It (2003) during a re-shoot in New Zealand.
LucasFilm was demoing their new High Definition Digital Video cameras (used on Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
(2002)) for Peter Jackson, and Astin asked the Lucas Film crew if they could stay an extra day so he could use the camera
to shoot his short film. They agreed, and Astin shot the film in six hours.
General release
prints of the film were made from a digital master that has been digitally noise and grain reduced. As a result there is less
grain but also digital noise reduction artifacts in the form of smearing of textures (the worst case is in a shot shortly
after Aragorn falls off the cliff).
Prior to Emiliana
Torrini, Björk was originally approached at several stages of the production to both co-write and sing "Gollum's Song". She
refused them all due to her pregnancy. Although she was not officially involved, producers did pick three artists with a similar
sound, and asked her to choose. Her pick didn't work out, and after approaching her one final time to sing, the song went
to Torrini.
Andy Serkis (Gollum)
was ruled ineligible for a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 2003 Academy Awards because his character onscreen was
computer generated.
While filming the
trilogy, Viggo Mortensen got so into character that during a conversation, Peter Jackson referred to him as "Aragorn" for
over half an hour without him realizing it.
When an Elvish warrior
falls off the Deeping Wall, the scream is the famous "Wilhelm Scream", commonly used in scenes where someone is hit, or is
falling to their demise.
The sound of the
fell beasts that the ringwraiths ride is actually the noise of a donkey.
When Frodo (Elijah
Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are in Osgiliath, Sam says, "By rights we shouldn't even be here." In the original novel, Frodo
and Sam never go to Osgiliath as prisoners of Faramir.
The scene where
Gamling (Bruce Hopkins) and Theoden (Bernard Hill) get ready for the battle (speech from Gamling), Bruce Hopkins's sons, Tom
and Joe, are sitting at the entrance of the room, their backs to the camera, as Refugees.
In the extended
DVD version on the first movie disc, go to chapter 29-30 under the scene selection. Press down under chapter 30 and a gold
ring will appear. It's a hidden extra of the MTV awards for Andy Serkis receiving best virtual performance.
Rendering Gollum
would often take six hours for one shot, so WETA would leave the shot to render over night and check the results in the morning.
Every now and again a computer glitch would occur, for instance, one morning the team woke up to find every hair on Gollum's
head standing upright in a sort of punk looking afro, or his eyes would pop in and out of his head as he spoke.
One frame of Gollum
would take around eight minutes to render, while one frame of Treebeard could take up to 48 hours to render.
The Deeping Wall
blowing up and the boulder smashing into a tower in Osgiliath weren't created digitally, but by destroying the miniatures
Andy Serkis did
the voices for the three orcs arguing with each other at the Fangorn Camp scene
In an earlier version
of the script, Arwen was to have fought alongside Aragorn at Helm's Deep. Footage of Arwen fighting some Uruk-Hai was shot,
but was not used in the final film.
The scene with the
Orcs before the Battle for Helms Deep starts, where they stomp their spears into
the ground, was inspired by the same act the stuntmen would do between takes to pass time. After seeing it, Jackson
liked it, and put it in the movie.
Andy Serkis said
that he based Gollum's voice on the sound of a cat coughing up a hairball.
The Lembas Bread
that Sam and Frodo eat in the beginning of the film was actually shortbread cookies made by the art department
Early trailers for
The Two Towers included a brief scene of Éowyn waiting to attack an Uruk-hai from behind a pillar; this scene is not included
in either the theatrical version or the extended edition.
Gollum's pupils
signal his frame of mind. "Treacherous Gollum" has narrow pupils; "friendly Gollum" has slightly wider pupils. This is most
obvious in the scene when the two sides of his personality struggle with each other.
John Rhys-Davies
(Gimli) had lost the tip of his left middle finger in a farm accident when he was younger, so special prosthetic fingertips
were made from a cast of his right middle finger.
Bernard Hill was
originally considered for the role of Gandalf.
Bernard Hill cracked
his sternum while riding his horse.
In the cave scene
where Faramir lifts the Ring from under Frodo's shirt, David Wenham was afraid of accidentally stabbing Elijah Wood so a swordsman
was called on to do the scene.
During one take
while filming the scene when Aragorn is floating down the river, Viggo Mortensen was dragged under water for many seconds.
He managed to kick himself back up off a rock, perhaps saving his life. A safety team then rescued him and took him to shore.
Dedicated to Carla
Fry, Brian Bansgrove and Brent Robb.
Many of Treebeard's
lines come from the book, but were spoken by Tom Bombadil in the first volume.
The warg attack
against the Rohirrim was originally supposed to be set at night, and at Edoras. After working on the Edoras set during the
day, Peter Jackson decided that it was too windy and too cold to bring cast and crew back for a night scene, so the scene
was re-written to happen during daylight.
On Miranda Otto's
first day of shooting, Liv Tyler was said to have welcomed her with enthusiastic open arms, saying, "I'm so glad there's another
woman in this film."
The dawn shot of
Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas pursuing the orcs came about when Viggo Mortensen persuaded the second unit team to camp out on
location. Mortenson's efforts in organizing the overnight trip were so effective that actors and crew from the other film
units, including Miranda Otto, came out to join him.
In each film in
the trilogy, the subtitle of the film is incorporated as dialogue. In this instance- Saruman: "Who now has the strength to
stand against the armies of Isengard and Mordor, and the union of the two towers?"
The scene of Denethor
was removed in the theaterical version, which made his first appearance in "The Return of the King." However, he appeared
in the Extended Edition.
Continuity error:
Several shots after Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn encounter Eomer and his men have been reversed (leaf-brooches are upside down,
and Legolas' chest straps and quiver are on the wrong side).
Continuity error:
When King Theoden is having his armor strapped on, his aide fastens the left shoulder strap, then we see the leg greaves being
strapped on, and gloves being tied. In the next shot, the aide goes to fasten the left shoulder strap again, and there are
no greaves on his legs or gloves on his hands.
Continuity error:
At times the character Gimli is as tall as Aragorn's shoulders. At other times, he is much shorter.
Continuity error:
The length of the chain in which Frodo carries the ring changes throughout the film
Continuity error:
Near the end of the film, when Frodo and Sam are in Osgiliath, the chain around Frodo's neck with the ring on repeatedly switches
between being caught around one of his buttons and hanging freely between shots.
Continuity error:
When Gandalf the White first enters Theoden's hall, the position of his staff changes from being held perpendicular to the
ground to being held parallel between shots. Director Peter Jackson noticed this error for the first time while recording
the Director's Commentary for the Extended Edition of the DVD.
Continuity error:
(flipped shot) When Legolas says in Elvish, "There's something out there," the Elvish Broaches (leaf broaches holding their
cloaks together) are facing the opposite direction. Peter Jackson first noticed this error while recording the Extended DVD
Director commentary.
Continuity error:
When Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are entering Theoden's throne room for the first time, Gandalf turns quickly around
when the doors close but in the next shot his head is centered.
Continuity error:
Aragorn's sword disappears from his hand shortly before he falls off his horse, but reappears in its scabbard later.
Continuity error:
When Treebeard is talking to Merry and Pippin at the Entmoot, the stars that can be seen behind him change.
Continuity error:
The gash on Merry's face changes sides throughout the movie. Sometimes it is on his left brow, sometimes on the right.
Audio/visual unsynchronized:
When Saruman is talking to the Uruk-Hai, they are obviously screaming and yelling, but there is no noise coming from them.
Continuity error:
Gandalf's horse "Shadowfax" is obviously played by at least two different horses in the movie, as different markings can be
seen on the horses.
Continuity error:
Aragorn's beard repeatedly changes length between shots in King Theoden's hall.
Continuity error:
Merry and Pippin switch position between shots when Merry is making his speech to Treebeard at the Entmoot.
Continuity error:
When Frodo, Sam, and Gollum are in the Dead Marsh and the Nazgul flies over, Frodo goes after the ring with his left hand,
which Sam grabs and holds. Frodo is then shown putting his right hand to his chest, but in the wide shot, his right hand is
still lying at his side.
Continuity error:
In the storeroom where Sam is suggesting that Frodo use the Ring to escape, Frodo is initially sitting in front of a barrel.
When Faramir arrives, Frodo and Sam are sitting on a cloak and there are no barrels in sight.
Continuity error:
When Gimli enters Helm's Deep for the first time, he speaks to Eowyn about Aragorn's fate. Before she speaks, Gimli's helmet
is on and his axe is covered in blood. After she speaks, his helmet is off and his axe is clean.
Continuity error:
In the battle at Helms Deep, when Aragorn unsheathes his sword, the shot is reversed (he draws it left-handed when he is right-handed).
Continuity error:
When Legolas is pulling Gimli and Aragorn to safety using the rope during the battle of Helm's Deep, Gimli is on Aragorn's
right side for every shot except the first close-up of Aragorn in Gimli, where he is clearly on Aragorn's left.
Continuity error:
When the main characters are standing on the cliff looking out towards Mordor, you can see Helm's Deep over their shoulders.
The hole in the wall from the gunpowder is conspicuous by its absence.
Crew or equipment
visible: A small gas pipe, leading to one of the large torches outside the Golden Hall, is briefly visible in some scenes
in Edoras.
Continuity error:
Legolas' eyes are brown for the majority of the battle of Helm's Deep, instead of their customary blue. It has been pointed
out that elves' eyes change color with their mood. However, a story is reported that, in fact, this particular color change
came about when Orlando Bloom's blue contact lenses were forgotten during some of the shooting for this sequence.
Revealing mistake:
In the beginning of the movie, when Frodo and Sam are walking on the rocky mountain their rubber artificial feet can be clearly
seen flapping around.
Continuity error:
When Faramir is holding Sam and Frodo in Osgiliath, and is about to let them go, the shot of the Hobbits is reversed (leaf
brooches face the wrong way).
Audio/visual unsynchronized:
In the initial shot when Theoden is talking to Gamling on the wall outside Helm's Deep, Gamling's mouth is moving like he's
replying to Theoden's orders but no sound is heard.
Audio/visual unsynchronized:
When the Rohirrim surround Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli at the beginning, you can see Éomer's lips moving in one of the wider
shots and he obviously talks to the three but there is no sound coming out of his mouth.
Continuity error:
When the Rohirrim surround Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli and Éomer starts talking to them, the sunlight changes direction and
intensity.
Continuity error:
When Merry and Pippin are dropped to the ground by the Uruk-Hai, Merry is lying very close to Pippin. In the next shot Pippin
is obviously a few feet away for he has to crawl closer to Merry to be able to talk to him
Continuity error:
Pippin's hands are tied, but when he falls under the horse, his hands are untied and apart. When Aragorn is working out what
happened we see, in the flashbacks, that Pippin did not cut his bonds until after the horse incident.
Miscellaneous error:
When Éomer mounts his horse after talking with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli his sword fall out of its scabbard (look over Aragorn's
right shoulder).
Continuity error:
When Sam is telling Frodo to use the ring to escape Faramir, the light changes directions (from the left in the wide shot,
from the right in the close-up).
Continuity error:
In the "dream sequence" where Aragorn remembers his time with Arwen prior to embarking on the quest to destroy the ring they
embrace and kiss. As they do so, Aragorn's left hand is alternately on her face/around her waist between shots.
Continuity error:
(flipped shot) When Aragorn is tracking Merry and Pippin from the orc pyre to Fangorn Forest, his ring (usually on his left
hand) is on his right forefinger and his glove (usually on his right) is on his left hand.
Revealing mistake:
As Théoden, Aragorn and the others ride out of Hornborg at the end of the battle, when they ride down the "bridge", one of
the computer generated orcs, on the side of the bridge that is closest to the camera, goes straight through one of the horses
before he is thrown from the bridge.
Continuity error:
In Helms Deep, as Legolas throws the shield onto the stairs, he has his bow in his left hand. As he runs to jump onto the
shield, the bow is gone. As he is sliding down the stairs, he is using the bow again.
Continuity error:
When Frodo and Sam are hidden under the elvish cloak at the Black Gate, we can see from under the cape the feet of the enemy
soldier through a gap in between the cloth and the floor. But in the next shoot when Frodo unfold the cape (that looks like
a rock) we can see it was well buried in the dust and there is no possible gap.
Continuity error:
When Legolas has to hand over his weapons, he takes the knives from his back. When Aragorn hands over his own sword, we see
Legolas taking off his knives again in the background.
Continuity error:
When Legolas is waiting on the wall for the Urak Hai battle to begin at Helms Deep his hands repeatedly change position on
his bow between shots.
Continuity error:
When Aragorn is lying on the river's shore, he forces himself onto an unsaddled horse. But, when he sees the Orc Army and
starts to gallop towards Helms Deep, he is riding with a saddle.
Continuity error:
When Gandalf and Theoden are talking outside town, near the burial mounds covered in white flowers, all the shots of Gandalf
show the wind whipping his hair around, but in all the shots of Theoden there is not even a hint of a breeze in his hair.
Continuity error:
When Frodo is sliding down the hill outside the Black Gate he has a pack on his back but when he covers Sam with his cloak
the pack is gone
Continuity error:
When Pippin climbs Treebeard, he has several smudges of blood on his face. These have disappeared seconds later, when Treebeard
is holding both Pippin and Merry.
Continuity error:
Just after Sam says "How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?" we cut to a shot of Aragorn
which is a reversed shot - the scar on his lip is on the wrong side.
Continuity error:
When Theoden the king grasps his sword, Gandalf's grey coat is not on the floor at the wide shot.
Revealing mistake:
As women and children enter Helm's Deep's caves, a rock stalactite swings back and forth after an extra touches it.
Continuity error:
When the three ladders are raised on the Keep in the Helms Deep sequence, the wide and close-in shots alternate between the
outer two ladders being about 30 feet apart and less than 5 feet apart, respectively (the third is in between them and never
makes it up).
Continuity error:
When the Uruk-Hai that captured Merry and Pippin set up camp, one of the orcs suggests to eat them and charges the hobbits.
His head is chopped off by Ugluck and the two hobbits squirm away. If you look at the bottom of the screen you will see the
same orc that was decapitated, being eaten with his head still on.
Revealing mistake:
Very near the beginning of the Extended version, some of the real fog in a valley visible at a distance behind Frodo and Sam
abruptly disappears. While some close-ups were filmed in studio, it is also possible that there was a delay in filming these
"on location" shots.
Continuity error:
After Legolas shoots two arrows into the shoulder region of the Uruk-Hai running with the torch, the arrows are nowhere to
be seen in the shot that shows the runner diving into drain on the side of the wall of Helms Deep.
Continuity error:
When Theodred is buried, Gandalf's hair is grey and sticking out to the side, in the next shot it is Gandalf's usual color
of long flowing white.
Revealing mistake:
At Helm's deep, several elves draw and shoot their bows (complete with sound effects) but no arrows are seen (all arrow were
added digitally).
Revealing mistake:
In the shot where Aragorn orders the men of Rohan to fire their arrows (just after the elves do from the wall at Helms Deep)
his sword's blade disappears as it comes toward the camera.
Continuity error:
When everyone is traveling to Helm's Deep, Gimli is riding on a horse. The head of his axe changes positions (blade down,
blade up) several times when his is talking to people.
Continuity error:
The orcs use axes to chop the trees into smaller logs, but, when the logs are thrown on the fire, the ends are smooth, as
if cut with a saw.
Continuity error:
Gamling's cloak is alternately over his shoulder and behind his back between shots as he is being instructed by Aragorn.
Continuity error:
When Saruman tells the Orc to send out the Warg riders, his staff is in his right hand. In the next shot it's in his left
hand.
Audio/visual unsynchronized:
When Saruman tells the Orc to send out the Warg riders, a couple of seconds later the Orc's lips are moving in a reply, but
no sound is heard.
Crew or equipment
visible: Immediately after Legolas slides down the steps on the shield, a rain-sprinkler can be seen at the top of the frame
during his close-up.
Continuity error:
When Gandalf and crew march into Theoden's house, Legolas is gripping Gandalf's arm when seen from the front, but not when
seen from behind (and it looks as though Gandalf was expecting him to be gripping it, with his arm cocked).
Continuity error:
When Aragorn first comes to Helm's Deep, the cut on his shoulder disappears during the sequence when Theoden tells Gimli that
he can defend his own keep.
Continuity error:
When the orcs are carrying Merry and Pippin on their backs the wide shots show the orc carrying Pippin to be closer to the
camera with the orc carrying Merry to his left. But in the close-ups they have swapped places with Pippin having to turn to
his right to speak to Merry.
Revealing mistake:
When Aragorn and the others ride down "the bridge" from Helm's Deep, some riders scan be seen slashing with their swords as
if orcs are there, however none are and they just slash air.
Continuity error:
At Osgiliath. Frodo is seen walking toward the wall and clearly has no sword. When he stands on the wall and is about to be
snatched by the Ring Wraith, Sam grabs him and they tumble down the stairs. Frodo pulls a sword and puts it to Sam's throat
despite the fact that he had no sword and had been in Faramir's custody and would not have been left armed anyway.
Continuity error:
Shortly after Grima is introduced to gunpowder while in Isengard, he walks outside with Saruman, only to lean right and have
the candle he is holding extinguished behind what looks to be a spike in the wall in the close-up. While it can be said the
wind (seen in Saruman's hair) may have put it out, the spike is missing in the next shot.
Continuity error:
Eomer's assault on the Uruk-hai takes place right at the edge of Fangorn forest. When Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas meet Eomer
in the next morning, a glimpse can be seen of the place where the corpses have been burnt, but there is no forest to be seen
nearby.
Continuity error:
At the very End of the Battle of Helms Deep when Gandalf, Theoden, and the others ride up to look at the way towards Mordor,
you can see Helm's Deep in the background but the wall is no longer broken as it was during the battle
Revealing mistake:
At the end of the film when Gollum is crawling through the woods talking to himself, his hands and feet disappear into the
ground.
One section of credits
is for the "Hammerhands" (presumably for carpenters). This is a reference to
the name of the "historical" founder of Helm's Deep, Helm Hammerhand.
In November 2003,
an extended edition was released on DVD with over 40 minutes of new footage. The EE is a complete re-cut of the movie and
almost every scene includes small changes in framing, pacing, dialogue or camera angle. Major changes:
* After Frodo wakes up, there is a scene of Frodo and Sam descending a cliff with the help
of the elvish rope. The title now appears over a panoramic shot of the hills.
* There is a brief shot of Frodo and Sam huddled under their cloaks during a rain storm, with
Gollum following.
* After his taming, Gollum debates whether to take the hobbits to Mordor or not
* The first scene with Merry and Pippin is expanded. It is made clear that there are two groups
of orcs, one from Mordor and one from Isengard. They also force Merry to drink a vile orc draught.
* In Saruman's first scene, he orders his orcs to cut down Fangorn forest to feed the fires
of Isengard and the wildmen swear allegiance to him.
* An extended sequence in which Eomer finds Theodred at the Fords of Isen and brings him back
to Edoras.
* When Eomer is banished, he is presented with a banishment order signed by King Theoden.
* In the camp outside of Fangorn, extra dialogue makes it clear that the orcs think Merry or
Pippen has the Ring. An orc sneaks up behind the hobbits and is about to attack them when he is beheaded (thus correcting
a goof in the theatrical version). There is also a little more action when the Rohirrim massacre the orcs.
* During the passage of the marshes, Gollum refuses to eat the elvish bread. There is additional
dialogue between Frodo, Sam and Gollum.
* Lots of extra dialogue in the Gandalf reappearance scene, including Legolas noting the the
elves taught the trees to talk and Gandalf predicting that Merry and Pippin will rouse the Ents.
* While taking the Hobbits to his home, Treebeard recites poetry that puts the hobbits to sleep.
He then leaves them there, going off to summon the Ents.
* During the ride to Edoras, Gandalf and the others camp for the night. Gandalf and Aragorn
discuss the coming war and Frodo's quest. Part of this was in the trailer.
* After the Black Gate sequence is a new scene. Merry
and Pippin drink from a stream near Treebeard's home and grow taller. They are then attacked by a tree before being rescued
by Treebeard. Treebeard then tells them about the Entwives.
* After Aragorn stops Theoden from killing Wormtongue, he extends his hand to Grima. Grima
spits on it and then runs off.
* A brief funeral scene for Theodred which includes Eowyn singing.
* A new scene in which Aragorn calms Theodred's horse Brego and sets him loose. (This is the
horse that later picks up Aragorn beside the stream).
* A new scene in which Grima describes Aragorn to Saruman, who scoffs at the "Heir of Isulder".
This was seen in the trailer.
* Before leaving Edoras, Theoden assures his squire that they will return.
* Extra dialogue when Sam and Frodo are captured by Faramir, emphasizing Faramir's dislike
of war.
* During the march to Helm's deep, Theoden tells Aragorn about Eowyn. Eowyn serves Aragorn
a vile-looking stew during the trip and he tells her his remarkable age.
* Additional dialogue in Arwen and Aragorn's parting.
* When Frodo and Sam are brought to the cave, they are told that Boromir's cloven horn was
found. Faramir then remembers a dream of Boromir's funeral boat passing him on the river. This leads to an extended flashback
of Boromir and Farmair reclaiming Osgiliath from Mordor. Denethor (their father) expresses his disappointment with Faramir
and then sends Boromir to Rivendell to claim the Ring.
* Faramir's men beat up Gollum after catching him.
* Right before the women and children are sent into the caves, Eowyn asks Aragorn to let her
fight beside him.
* During the preparation at Helm's Deep, there is a cut to the Entmoot. Treebeard tells the
Hobbits the Ents have just finished saying "Good morning".
* A little more fighting during the battle at Helm's Deep.
* After Treebeard discovers the destroyed part of the forest and sounds the alarm, thousands
of trees depart to join the battle at Helm's Deep.
* When the orcs retreat from Helm's Deep, they find a forest waiting to destroy them.
* We find out who won the orc-killing contest between Gimli and Legolas.
* After the destruction of Isengard, Merry and Pippen discover a rich larder of food, including
a supply of pipe-weed.
* Faramir shows Frodo and Sam a way out of the city. He realized that Gollum's secret route
is Cirith Ungol and advises Frodo not to take it, then threatens Gollum.
When Frodo, Sam,
Gollum and Faramir arrive at Osgiliath in the Extended Edition, Minas Tirith can be seen in the background. It was removed
from the theatrical version to avoid confusion with Helm's Deep.
In the extended
edition, the scene where Frodo and Sam are first captured by Faramir uses a different take. In the theatrical version, after
giving the order to bind their hands, Faramir turns and walks away from camera. In the extended edition, after his extended
dialogue and order to bind the hobbits, he walks towards camera.
The scene where
Faramir interrogates Gollum is slightly different between the two versions. In the theatrical version, he enters the room
only after his men have beaten Gollum. In the extended edition, he is in the room during the abuse, but stands apart, not
actually taking part in it himself, before telling them to stop.
