Trivia: Many of the major shots depicted in the movie are duplicates of Alan Lee's illustrations, in the LotR books, that had been published years before. In many shots, the actors were positioned in the same poses, as the drawings in the books. One example is, when Frodo pulls Gollum's head back and holds Sting up to his throat. (00:10:40)
Trivia: Before he was cast as Legolas, Orlando Bloom was nearly killed in 1998 when he broke his back in a fall out of a window and fell three floors. He was told he might not walk again. He was operated on, and twelve days later he walked out of the hospital with the help of crutches.
Trivia: While one of the most accomplished horsemen of the Fellowship, Viggo Mortensen (who loves and own horses) was united with a horse who tended to kick into reverse gear in busy shots. As a result, much film was wasted re-taking scenes in which Aragorn backed right into the crowd he was trying to escape from.
Trivia: During the location shooting at Edoras, there were very strong winds, as can be seen by the actors' hair, especially Éowyn's. During one particular day's filming, the wind was so strong that it tore Peter Jackson's glasses right off his face, and blew them straight down the hill. He had to spend the rest of that day without them.
Trivia: It took seven months to build the Helm's Deep set on location.
Trivia: 12 million plastic links were used to create the chain mail armor worn by the movie's heroes. The links were made from thin slices of 14 mm tubing.
Trivia: In the battle for Helms Deep, a man falls and the famous "Wilhelm" scream is heard as he falls. This is a signature sound effect, recorded in 1951 at Warner Bros., used as frequently as possible by sound supervisors at George Lucas's Skywalker Sound and Weddington Productions in Los Angeles, CA. On the "Rings" trilogy, two of the re-recording mixers and at least one of the sound effect designers work for Skywalker.
Trivia: In the cave scene in which Faramir lifts the Ring from under Frodo's shirt, David Wenham was afraid of accidentally stabbing Elijah Wood, so a swordsman was brought in to do the scene.
Trivia: At the battle of Helm's Deep, when the Uruk-Hai are storming the gate, we see a black-haired man throwing a spear. The man is director Peter Jackson in a cameo.
Trivia: While filming the scene where Aragorn is floating unconscious down the river, Viggo Mortensen almost drowned because the rapids were worse than expected.
Trivia: 200 Orc masks were handmade for the movie's enemies.
Trivia: The Warg scene that includes the infamous shot of Legolas leaping onto the horse, was filmed on the same day that Orlando Bloom fell off his horse and cracked his rib. He landed on a rock and Gimli's scale double (Brett) fell on top of him. So the filming crew could not film Bloom actually jumping onto his saddle, because of the injury. Later in post-production, about six months before the release of "The Two Towers," Bloom had grown a beard, for the filming of "Ned Kelly" (2001). He was not permitted to shave, which meant he could not do the pickups for this scene in "The Two Towers," so the CG animators at WETA created a CG Legolas to do the actual springing onto the horse. (00:10:35)
Trivia: At Helm's Deep, the one-eyed man who shouted, "Fire" after Theoden gives the order for a volley, really is missing an eye; it's not a CG effect. Director's commentary, extended DVD. (01:04:15)
Trivia: Haleth, son of Hama, is played by Calum, son of Philippa Boyens. When it was time to do the ADR for the movie, Calum's voice was much deeper by then, so another young boy's voice was dubbed to say these powerful lines, "...The men are saying we will not live out the night. They say that it is hopeless." Director's commentary, extended DVD. (00:56:40)
Trivia: In Elrond's vision of a dead Aragorn, it is Anduril he has clasped to his chest, not his ranger sword. This is a bit of a spoiler, as Elrond himself reforges and gives the sword to Aragorn in the third movie. In the books, he reforged the sword right before or after the council at Rivendell.
Trivia: In one of the first wide shots of Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn tracking the Uruks, all three actors are running injured. Viggo had broken his toes doing a previous scene, Orlando Bloom had a cracked rib from falling off a horse and the scale double of John Rhys-Davies had a knee problem.
Trivia: There is a clear parallel to a scene in 'The Wizard of Oz.' In the scene where Frodo, Sam, and Gollum reach the Black Gate of Mordor, they peer over the edge of the mountain at the army marching below. The gate swings open, and the army enters. I couldn't help but be reminded of when Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man reach the Witch's castle and watch the columns of her soldiers march into the fort.
Trivia: Many scenes in this movie, such as the gates of Mordor, Helm's Deep, and Orthanc, as well as in the Fellowship of the Ring, closely resemble the actual artwork of Alan Lee, the artist who did watercolor illustrations for the anniversary edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's book in the early 1990's. He has been involved in the concept making process of the films.
Answer: The movie makes it clear that Gandalf has lost some of his memory and his personality has changed. Gandalf actually did die and pass over to the "other side", as it were but was sent back to complete his task. However, he was sent back as a similar, but different entity. Gandalf the White does not have all the memories of Gandalf the Grey, at least at first. He doesn't even remember that he used to be called Gandalf the Grey until someone points this out to him. It is implied that Gandalf doesn't even remember Sam until Aragorn mentions him. Gandalf then searches his memories and remembers who Sam is and his eventual importance to Frodo's quest. When he finally remembers this, he is pleased that Sam went with Frodo, as he will play a crucial role near the end of the journey.