…if there’s anything you want to know. Please bear in mind that the last time I read the book was 10 years ago, and I’ve forgotten many of the salient points of the books. But I’d be happy to put the “Is Saurumon dead or not?” debate to rest if anyone wants to hear it.
Let’s hear it.
Yep spoil away.
and be quick about it 
Definite Spoilers!!
FAQ Page 1
FAQ Page 2
FAQ Page 3
First off, excellent movie. Incredible visuals, excellent effects (especially Gollum), and decent pacing, despite the three hour length. The battle at Helm’s Deep was very well done, especially the way the cinematography was used for the very wide CGI shots.
It was a bit darker than the first, but also more intentionally humorous at times, sometimes to the detriment of the film and characters.
Try and see a late show, because children tend to find Gollum’s soliloquy funny, and they were laughing through it at the theatre I was at, and I thought it was one of the more powerful parts of the film.
And Saurumon doesn’t get killed. In fact, he has a fairly small role in the film overall. Treebeard gets more screen time.
Just one question: The orc-killing contest?
It’s in there.
How did you manage to see it last night?
Not sure if this is where Dante saw it, but I think the world premiere was in NYC last night.
Nothing so glamorous. A friend of mine is a theatre owner, and he gets to see pretty much everything about 3 weeks before it hits the the local cineplex. I just get to tag along every once in a while.
::ahem::
w00t!!!
OhIcannotwaitttenmoredaysI’mgoingtostartfondlingmyadvanceticketandcallingitPrecioussssssss…
::twitch::
Do they show how Gandalf escaped from Mount Moria?
They go over it, but I’m not sure how the detail compares to that of the book. I think it’s time to read my Tolkien again…
But you’ll LOVE the opening 10 minutes. It follows Gandalf’s descent and battle with the Balrog. Incredibly well done.
Eeeeeexcellent… And the city of the wraits, any good??
I can not wait until I get to see this one. Is it this book when Aragon rides trough the valley of the damned or next? I like to seee how they do that, it was pretty creepy in the book. No wait it’s the “Return…” isn’t it…AAAAARG!
Check out today’s (12/9/02) Hollywood Reporter for a RAVE review.
OK, you know the scene in which Frodo falls asleep with his head on Sam’s lap on the way up the staircase to Shelob’s lair, and Gollum sees them and goes through a strange transformation (becoming more hobbit-like and benevolent) and pats Frodo’s knee, and then he becomes evil again when Sam wakes up and accuses him of sneaking…is that in there?
(That’s my favorite scene in the entire trilogy.)
As far as I recall, there was no city of wraiths in the movie.
But you’ll LOVE the Dead Marshes. Very creepy.
EEEK EEEEK EEEEK!!! I’m geekin’ out! I gotta have this film NOW!!! Eaaarrgh!
Shelob is only referred to as “her” at the very end of the movie, during an aside by Gollum. I assume she’ll make an appearance in the next movie.
Earlier in this post, I mentioned a soliloquy by Gollum, and this may be the one to which you refer. It’s very well done, and quite moving. But like I said, there’s sort of a dual personality feel to it, and some people find it amusing.
On an aside that has no basis in fact, and is just a rumour I heard, the A.I. that they use for the battle scenes at Helm’s Deep is supposed to be incredibly complex, and it shows.
Apparently the A.I. is so intelligent that when they ran the first simulations, the 300 humans defending Helm’s Deep against the 10,000 Uruk-hai fled…