Mistake in the first movie?

[Morning Star]

Ok, now I enjoyed Peter Jackson's vision of Tolkiens gift to us, so I'm not having a go at the film. However I was rather surprised by what I considered an interesting mistake in the Fellowship of the Ring!

In the mines of Moria, the tomb or burial chamber where the heroes are set upon by the orcs and a cave troll (who never actually got into the chamber in the book, but hey, I enjoyed the scene as well so no harm no foul.) Now, when they companions hear the approaching horde, wide eyed Elijah Wood draws Sting. It's glowing blue of course as it is an elven blade. However, when Gandalf draws his sword...I was disappointed to see it did not glow either. Even though it should have! I am busy reading The Hobbit again and know for a fact that Glamdring Orcrist and Sting were all elvish blades and all should glow in the presence of greenskins.

Comment?

[Sirathiel]

Yeah, I noticed that, too. Gandalf's sword is definitely an elf blade. Why that wasn't taken into account in the movie, I have not the least idea... Maybe they overlooked it? But that's improbable, isn't it?

[Morning Star]

At last! A reply! You brave soul. I'm not sure what their motive was...they were probably concerned that it might raise questions from first timers unfamiliar with The Hobbit. That's the only explanation I can think of.

[I, Brian]

That would be my first thought, actually, too - the film almost certainly wanted to emphasise the magical nature of Bilbo's gifts and the central impotance of Frodo - if Gandalf's blade was shining it might have made the magical nature of it all somehow common and unremarkable.

But, then again, I've not yet seen the extended version, in case there's any relevancy to the question in that.

[ravenus]

Maybe they were all out of day-glo

[Morning Star]

Yeah, maybe old Gandalf was using the no-weapons-glow-patch v1.0 for Morrowind.

[Traveller]

There are actually a whole lot of mistakes in the films be they just continuity errors or things that have been missed out if you sit and watch them after finding out what they are then it would spoil it even more for you.

I have to say I spotted a few myself and it now makes it hard not to watch the films with out spotting them.

[Morning Star]

Funny how a lot of films that develop a massive following (or already had one from previous incarnations in media) are often riddled with mistakes.

Matrix, Star Wars, Spiderman...to name a few.

[Bladerunner]

But does it really matter? A film stands or falls on how, in general it is received by the public, I and I think most people thought LOTR's was a superb interpretation of the books. Yea we all make mistakes but I try not to notice them even when my two teenagers are saying 'Dad have you seen the car, or the labels on the apples'. I say no and I'm not even looking for them. Even though I have watched the three episodes many times already. Hey! when you've waited thirty years for someone to complete the filming and present it to Tolkeins followers I just want to appreciate Jackson's efforts.

Good on you Jacko and don't mind the mistakes just get on with 'The Hobbit' please.

[Morning Star]

There were labels on the apples?

[Bladerunner]

So my two teenage girls keep telling me and my ex used to tell me. Fraid I just looked at the ceiling and enjoyed the films, or tried to. When my ex was with me she used to continually look for mistakes in all films , perhaps had diffulty in relaxing and excepting people make mistakes, but you can still enjoy!!!

[Bladerunner]

Flippin' heck MS you get up early!!! or have you been on all night? reading through this great Sci Fi forum...

[joseftu]

Jack Flannel, who (like me, like all of us) loved the movies, has an exhaustive guide to these mistakes--apparently he has spent several transoceanic flights watching and compiling these lists very carefully.
http://jackflannel.org/lotr/

It's clearly a labor of love (or obsession!) and it's a lot of fun .

[I, Brian]

Excellent link - that is quite an extensive list.

EDIT: It also shows something of the extensive detail inherent in the LOTR books themselves, and how they were usurped to present a specific set of foci in the films themsleves.

[igneouscarl]

I have often wondered about the un-glowing sword of Gandalf, Glamdring isn't it? Anyway I came to the conclusion that a blue glowing sword would have just been compared to a lightsaber, possibly without the annoying whoosh sounds.

What really bugged me about the film was Legolas aka point-out-the-obvious-elf