There are plenty of great examples of unscripted moments in films becoming some of the most famous or memorable parts of the story, and Lord of the Rings is no exception, and has many moments like this throughout the 3 extended editions. From mildly comedic moments to heartbreaking anguish and excellent combat skills, there are some truly unexpected and unscripted moments throughout the trilogy.
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Arguably the most well-known of the happenings across the films occurs quite early on, in the 2001 film adaptation of the Fellowship of the Ring by Peter Jackson. In order to create the illusion of scale, due to the fact that hobbits are much smaller than humans and wizards, the films were cleverly shot in two variations of the same set in two different sizes.
The hobbit scenes were filmed in the large sets, making the actors appear much smaller, and Gandalf the Grey wizard’s scenes were filmed in the small set, making Ian Mckellan, the actor who played him, seem much bigger. In the scene when Gandalf interrupts Bilbo writing about Shire-reckoning in his red book, and is invited in for tea, he turns and bumps his head upon a wooden beam of Bag-end, Bilbo’s home. Whilst this was completely unintentional, the actor managed to remain in character and laugh it off, and the effect was thought to be so endearing that it was kept in the final movie.
It comes as no surprise to Lord of the Rings fans that hobbits love celebrations, parties, and all things related to festivity. In the opening scenes of the Fellowship of the Ring, the audience is made aware that preparations are heavily underway for Bilbo’s 111th birthday. Mathoms are making their rounds of The Shire, food has been ordered from all around, and Gandalf has even brought a cart of his fireworks for the big day.
Once the party begins, and all of the guests are distracted, Pippin, who later becomes the youngest member of the fellowship, and by far the most mischievous, sneaks in and steals one of the largest fireworks under the encouragement of his cousin Merry. But the two hobbits don’t actually know how Gandalf’s magical fireworks are set off, and accidentally light it inside of a tent. When the firework fizzes off with a bang, Pippin can be heard shrieking in panic and surprise.
As the actor who plays him (Billy Boyd) didn’t know that the loud noise was going to happen, the frightened squawk is genuine, and was kept in the film for accuracy.
Another well-known anecdote about the films is that many injuries took place during the recordings. Sean Astin who plays Sam Gamgee cut open his foot on a large shard of glass, Orlando Bloom who plays the elf Legolas in the movies unfortunately fell off his horse and broke 3 ribs, and there was a whole multitude of cuts, bruises, and general scrapes that took place during the stunt scenes.
However, the famed example is, of course, when Viggo Mortensen kicked the heavy metal helmet and broke two of his toes. The scene happens when Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn have tracked Merry and Pippin to a pile of burned Uruk-hai corpses, on the advice of Eomer the rider of Rohan, who they passed not long before. Upon finding that their companions are seemingly dead, (although they have actually escaped into Fangorn Forest) Aragorn kicks a helmet, and his cry of pain and grief sounds so real that this is the cut they put into the film. Little did Peter Jackson know at the time that it sounded so real for a reason.
Another really cool effect took place in the Two Towers, at the hall of Edoras. As the companions ride up to the great hall of Rohan atop a steep hill, Eowyn can be seen in a white dress standing at the entranceway. She is currently suffering much grief, at the death of her cousin Theodred, the seemingly vacant and ill state of her Uncle Theodred the king, and as the haunting pursuit of the lustful Wormtongue who wants to claim her for himself.
The scene where she sees the strange riders approach is made dramatic and awe-inspiring by a flag of Rohan that is whipped from its balustrade and flies away on the wind. This moment is both iconic and atmospheric and occurred completely by chance. The location that was chosen for filming, namely Mount Sunday in New Zealand, happens to sit in a valley that sits in the path of several directions of strong wind, and it was so breezy during shooting that the flag was pulled out of place. The director Peter Jackson also reportedly lost his glasses on the set as they too were ripped from his face by the gust.
And possibly the most impressive and unbelievable of all of these accidentally caught on camera moments is when Aragorn deflects the dagger that Lurtz throws at him just before the death of Boromir. As the captain of Gondor calls for aid, knowing that he is losing the battle to protect the hobbits against the Uruk-hai, he is shot 3 times in the chest. As Lurtz, the leader of the orc army goes to shoot a final arrow into his head, Aragorn comes racing in to try to save his friend.
Lurtz licks the blood off of a dagger (which is unscripted too) and then throws it at Aragorn during their fight sequence, which he is able to knock out of his path with his sword before it hits him straight in the chest. However, in filming the scene, the stunt double playing Lurtz wasn’t supposed to throw the heavy prop so close to Viggo Mortensen. Luckily the actor was known by everyone on set to be highly skilled with a sword, and managed to divert the weapon for real with his quick reflexes.
Everyone was so inspired that it stayed in the post-production edits, and is one of the coolest moments in both the character and actor’s history. Aragorn then goes to lay beside his brother in arms, Boromir, as he passes out of the world in an honorable death. The two are thought to be modern-day versions of the kings of the Argonath, and will hopefully reunite in the peaceful resting place of Gondorian nobility when Aragorn eventually ends his rule and dies of old age.
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