# LOTR \*MOVIE\* fans...start your engines! (GREAT first reactions) No Spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725 "2003-11-28T14:42:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/21 "2003-11-29T04:59:51Z")
Good idea for a thread; hopefully this kind of thing will help me get it out of my system in time for the actual premiere. Otherwise I’d be getting too excited and dressing up like Gandalf or something. (Not that that would be bad if anyone out there is planning on dressing up like Gandalf. It’s all good, we’re all friends here.) Last Christmas, I made my brother and my dad each take me to see Two Towers on separate viewings, and in between I watched the FOTR DVD’s multiple times, with the different audio commentaries. And the special features. And then the Rankin-Bass and Ralph Bakshi (ick) versions showing on pay-per-view. Whoever’s marketing all this stuff was loving me. Now I’m in trouble because I’ve already watched the Two Towers extended edition three times (once and then with commentaries from Jackson et. al. and the cast) plus the special features. I can’t read the book again because of my whole short attention span problem. Actually, what’s got me so geared up about the last movie is The Two Towers movie itself. The first time I read the book, I stopped for about three months in the middle just because the TT was so long and tedious, especially the battle at Helm’s Deep. The second time I read it, I managed to slog through it, but only because I knew that I liked the ending. I would’ve told anyone that the TT was unfilmable – even if they did happen to make a movie version, they would’ve had to do **major** edits on the material; I expected FOTR and ROTK to be “the good ones” with the middle movie’s being disappointing but essential, or else Hollywood-action-ified to the point of being unrecognizable. And the TT blew me away; I ended up liking it even more than the first movie. So if Jackson & crew can get that much of a movie out of a tedious part of the book, I can only imagine what’s going to happen with one of the most spectacular parts of any book I’ve ever read. Still no spoilers, but a **hell** of a lot of stuff happens in ROTK! And thanks for the link, **Avalonian** ; I may actually have to go out and buy the soundtracks now. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/22 "2003-11-29T08:31:21Z")
Gee…do you think this film might make any money? I went to an afternoon showing of Master and Commander last week and they showed the preview for ROTK…the audience, not exactly spring chickens if you get my drift, all applauded! MSNBC had a recent article about Oscar predictions…they pretty much summed it up by saying the Academy has been waiting to give Jackson his just reward, and the author of the article basically said if the film is as good as TT, it has a lock on Best Picture. If it is better, it should win every category. Having worked at one of the major studios, I have to agree…Acadamy voters are a group of people who live film…and they like to reward hard work, financial success, artistic effort and anything spectacular. Sounds to me like ROTK is a safe bet for your next Oscar office pool. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/23 "2003-11-29T18:57:10Z")
I want to watch the EE TTT again tonight. I’m still upset that they didn’t do a costume/sets exhibit in Toronto this year, but I’ll go buy the ROTK soundtrack and it will make me feel better. Is it December 17th yet? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/24 "2003-11-29T19:56:42Z")
**Avalonian** : Thank you for that link. Thank you, thank you, thank you. How’s life on Tol Eressëa? ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/25 "2003-11-29T19:57:25Z")
Yipes! **Equipoise** Were we supposed to turn our engines off between movies? You didn’t did you? We may have slowed down to idle a few times, but at our house we’ve been doing LOTR either at full speed or at least on caution laps from well before the first movie was released. We may have made an occasional pit stop–after all, my daughter needed to get her name tatooed on her ankle in elvish. We had to be physically dragged out of Barnes and Noble last night. Our friends accused us of worshiping at the LOTR altar where we were gazing fixedly at the still shots in the photo preview books on sale for Christmas. We have our tickets to the 11:57 showing (get those previews out of the way early so the movie itself will roll at midnight. December 17 is an international holiday, right? We don’t have to go to work or school or anything? We can just stay at the theater for seconds and thirds. Until our eyes bug out and our feet get hairy. We are going in costume, and I anticipate some conflict since my son insists on dressing as an orc, my daughter as a hobbit maiden, and the theater won’t appreciate the trail of leaves that will be shed from my ent costume. We’ve made plans to stop all fluid intake at noon and have a back up car. Vroooom Vrooooom. Let’s go in for 4 new tires and fuel. One more pit stop and we’re good to go. ---
**Author:** ![CloudCar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@CloudCar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CloudCar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/26 "2003-11-29T21:17:52Z")
The films are weak. The only decent adaptation of the texts was a BBC radio drama. Watching TTT makes me cringe with embarassment. Gollum sounds like he was voiced by Donald Duck. Gawd! How awful. And his split personality? Could Jackson have possibly been any more literal? Pure rubbish. Then there’s Evil Faramir. UGH If you were unfortunate to have been a fanatic of the books prior to the release of Jackson’s travesty you would understand what I mean. I know I’m going to get chased out of here, but I have to have my say. I understand the excitement that people have about Tolkien’s world because I used to have that excitement too. I did like ninety percent of Jackson’s handling of the battle of Helm’s Deep. And the costumes are awesome. Sean Bean was really great as Boromir. The Balrog was right on. Liv Tyler is the most beautiful being who has ever existed and a fitting choice for Arwen (even though she should have been included only in about six seconds of film time by now.) And . . . um . . . oh yeah that scene at the beginning of FotR showing the battle between the last allinace and Sauron was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/27 "2003-11-29T21:44:12Z")
Sigh. I see we have a Dunnlander in our midst. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/28 "2003-11-29T22:00:53Z")
Christ on a crutch! The MOVIES are NOT can NOT and will NEVER BE absolutely (or even close to absolutely) faithful adaptations of the books and STILL remain halfway decent cinema. You can either view them as movies attempting to capture the spirit of Tolkien if not the precise words or yet another failed attempt to bring the books to life. I prefer the former way because, quite frankly, the latter has the same chances of getting his wish as a sugar Peep does of flying south for the winter. Furthermore, lets face the facts: I imagined Gollum as something different than you imagined Gollumn and we both didn’t imagine him exactly as Peter Jackson did. That goes for all books ever adapted to film, because a book is a two part process that a movie is not. ---
**Author:** ![Tremmie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Tremmie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tremmie)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/29 "2003-11-29T22:10:51Z")
> [@](#): > > If you were unfortunate to have been a fanatic of the books prior to the release of Jackson’s travesty you would understand what I mean. I know I’m going to get chased out of here, but I have to have my say. I was a fan of the books LONG before the movies and i prefer the movie version to the books. What Peter Jackson has done is amazing and i feel sorry that you cannot bring yourself to enjoy one of the greatest masterpieces of our time because you cannot understand that what YOU got of the book is NOT what everyone else got out of it. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/30 "2003-11-29T22:13:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CloudCar \* > **The only decent adaptation of the texts was a BBC radio drama.** Radio? No, thank you good sir. You may keep your mindless opiate “entertainment” via the demon “radio waves”. Those of us who still recognise\* the True Spirit of the Original Works will insist on seeing the material only in the way it was _meant_ to be experienced: through a phonograph or even better, spoken with great conviction by a true Son of Britain, preferably while wearing a suit of the finest tweed. > [@](#): > > **If you were unfortunate to have been a fanatic of the books prior to the release of Jackson’s travesty you would understand what I mean. I know I’m going to get chased out of here, but I have to have my say.** Rave on, my brother. Fight the Power! We need more people like you, because none of us can’t read none. We just like watching the big 'splosions and the funny dwarf jokes. I don’t know from Tolkien; I’m too busy watching “Friends” to be able to make it all the way through a book that big! ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/31 "2003-11-29T22:42:00Z")
Where is Moriarty’s comments? I checked out the 3 ROTK articles at AICN and didn’t find it. thanks, Brian ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/32 "2003-11-29T23:15:37Z")
Seriously **CloudCar** , if you need to complain about the movies, why don’t you go to **Equipoise** ’s other thread? You’re right, you will be chased out of here because the OP doesn’t want this thread to be full of complaints. That’s what the other thread is for. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/33 "2003-11-29T23:27:29Z")
Egad… in the two minutes spent reading this thread, I’ve gone from “excited as hell” to “just barely stopping myself from flying to wherever New Line is based and stealing a rough cut myself.” December 17th cannot possibly come soon enough. And bravo, **SolGrundy**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/34 "2003-11-29T23:40:07Z")
All I can say is I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job of the first two movies than PJ did (and I’m a huge fan of the books). Just watched both EE verisions that are out now, and they are definitely worth seeing if all you saw was the original theater version. Especially TTT. There is material in the 4 consecutive new scenes in TTT that round out the Gondor characters extremely well. That’s all I’ll say outside of a spoiler box. ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/35 "2003-11-30T00:10:29Z")
I completely agree with you **John Mace** about the added scenes at the end of TTT. The only thing I had with the scenes however is that they seemed to be cut together in an awkward fashion. Of course, I have no idea how I could have edited them together any better, so I’m not really complaining. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/36 "2003-11-30T02:00:36Z")
I’m still waiting. Is it the 17th now? Incidentally, I’ve been a Tolkien fan for quite a while. The first time I read them I thought I was an Ent. I may actually be an Ent. Well, an Entwife- hey, someone notify Treebeard! We’ve found one! I need to go to bed. I love the books. I’m going to reread them so I can be particularly annoying until the movie comes out- immersed in Tolkienity. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/37 "2003-11-30T03:34:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lilbtagna \* > \*\*I completely agree with you **John Mace** about the added scenes at the end of TTT. The only thing I had with the scenes however is that they seemed to be cut together in an awkward fashion. Of course, I have no idea how I could have edited them together any better, so I’m not really complaining. \*\* True. In fact this scene: When Denethor explains to Borimir why he wants him to go to Rivendell would make more sense in tFoTR from a plot flow standpoint, although it works pretty well as a flashback, too. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/38 "2003-11-30T03:40:40Z")
pilot141, sorry! 😛 N91WP, I got those Moriarty comments from another message board, but some were credited to an IRC chat with Moriarty at CHUD, and some to an AICN IRC chat. I’m confused too. I don’t have either IRC chat, but from the other message board, here’s some more of what he said (warning, profanity ahead): > [@](#): > > Moriarity’s reaction over at CHUD: > _Amazing. > Better than you think it’s going to be. > It is an emotional endurance test of the highest order, and it deserves to win enough Oscars to choke even a practiced deep-throat cocksuck like Jeffrey Wells. > It’s just now setting in… LOTR is over. I’ve set sail to the Grey Havens, and Sam’s gone home. Holy shit. Holy, holy shit. > I’ll work on my review tonight and tomorrow. I’ll have it up as soon as I can. Expect me to exhaust my thesaurus looking for words that mean the same thing as “fucking insane.”_ The Jeffrey Wells he’s talking about writes for Movie Poop Shoot. Wells hates the LOTR movies, and would like to get a backlash going against it. His most recent spewings are [here](http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/elsewhere/index.html) (warning, this will probably make fans of the movies angry). Wells likes a lot of movies I like, so I don’t dismiss the guy as a moron. He just seems to have a blind spot when it comes to fantasy and LOTR. I don’t care what he thinks, as long as people ignore the backlash he’s trying to start. I think ROTK will be SO good, that people have no choice but to vote for it. This is not like the backlash against Gangs of New York. Scorsese didn’t win because Gangs was not considered the Truly Great film everybody wanted it to be (I thought it was). There was a pressure to give Scorsese the Oscar because he hadn’t gotten one for other, better movies, and lost those times to first-time filmmakers. Voters didn’t want to be pressured, and they didn’t feel that GONY deserved the honors. They also didn’t want him to lose again to a first-time filmmaker (Rob Marshall) but luckily they had a great out. They had Polanski to give it to, so they did. (I happen to love Gangs, Chicago and The Pianist, but I would have voted for The Pianist too). If ROTK weren’t absolutely brilliant, I could see a resentment building among voters for thinking they “have” to give Jackson the Oscar to honor all 3 films. I think it will be absolutely brilliant though, so I doubt a backlash movement will take hold. I hope. If you want cites for those Moriarty comments, they’re from the [Home Theater Forum’s ROTK/TT Extended thread](http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=112673). Posts 2489 and 2491. There are a lot of spoilers in that thread, but also a lot of spoiler tag usage. Still, I wouldn’t read through it unless you’re willing to encounter spoilers that might not be tagged. Here are various other things. First, this comes from the instructional sheet given to projectionists. I don’t know what the “Reel by Reel Footage” numbers mean. > [@](#): > > **FINAL RUNNING TIME: 3 HRS 20 MIN 49 SEC** > > TOTAL # REELS: 10 > > REEL BY REEL FOOTAGE: > > 1. 1764+10 > 2. 1887+11 > 3. 1869+01 > 4. 1966+07 > 5. 1961+10 > 6. 1839+03 > 7. 1903+11 > 8. 1170+08 > 9. 1743+05 > 10. 1967+06 > > TOTAL FOOTAGE: 18073+08 > > SOUND FORMAT: SR, Surround EX, SDDS, DTS > > ASPECT RATIO: 2.40 S (C) From another message board: > [@](#): > > This is a good spoiler free summary from [Rottentomatoes.com](http://Rottentomatoes.com): > > "I’ve now read 7 reviews of the film. One by Newsweek, 2 at Knowle’s site, 3 by voting DG participants,and one is up in the official RT reivews, (the worst written of the bunch, with obvious errors about the characters in book and film.) One doesnt have to be ten years old, nor an amateur, to be a bad writer. > The viewers all agree on the following points. > > 1. Best of the three releases. > 2. Emotionally overwhelming film, 2 of the DG viewers found themselves in tears over a film for the first time in several years. > 3. Jackson has deviated on important points from the book, mostly leaving things out for the sake of time. > 4. Everyone agrees in all 7 reviews this is “Best Picture” material. > 5. The film captures the emotional highlights of the book very accurately…Shelob is terrifying and real, The Witch King is involved in terribly emotional moments, (you know!), and the ending half hour is simply wrenchingly poignant. > 6. In all cases, the film was better than the viewer expected, living up to the hype. > All reviews thus far point to a glorious wrapping up of the finest traditional fantasy film of all time." ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/39 "2003-11-30T05:31:54Z")
:😭: I have to wait until Dec 26 and I know I won’t be seeing it on Dec 26. It sucks that it is being released here comparatively late – it’s being released in NZ on Dec 17. :😭: I wish I were in Wellington this weekend and tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725/40 "2003-11-30T05:37:22Z")
This is originally from the Tolkien Online message board, but was compiled and reprinted at The One [Ring.net](http://Ring.net). It’s listed as a “non-spoiler version” Q&A session with the guy who saw it (Marty), however I’m putting it in spoiler tags anyway. There are no major spoilers, but in terms of references, emotions and thoughts about the film, read at your own risk. Book readers would know what some things mean, while non-book readers wouldn’t know the references (such as “Wiki”) and such things would probably fly over their heads (nothing personal in that). The questions come from a lot of different people, so there’s some redundancy, as well as redundancy of things I’ve already posted. > [@](#): > > Message: > Here is a non-spoiler version of Marty’s answers and overall impressions to date. There is some redundancy in the questions, and it can be pretty much summed up in the first Q/A. > > Q > If you remember, you said that you were not moved in TTT in your first viewing, even though it has the word epic written all over it - and a lot of that was because the only major death was Haldir, and for you (and me) it was just kicking an empty bucket. > I suffer from second viewing syndrome - quite badly, it seems. How did your ROTK experience compare to the others in this respect? > > A > FOTR was very clinical. I didn’t know what to expect and had the same fears going in as the rest of you. I did enjoy it the first time, but experienced second viewer syndrome as well. > > TTT, I was already primed for PJ’s vision of LOTR and was more open to the experience. I loved it, but I was wowed rather than moved. > > In ROTK, I was moved beyond belief. Like I said, I’m a jaded Hollywood type and I knew what was coming, but I had to bite back tears through out the whole film. I haven’t had that experience in years. > > Q > Is the “I can’t carry it, but I can carry you” scene as good as we hoped it to be? > > A > Bring Kleenex > > Q > How good are the visual effects? Better than Matrix Revolutions? > > A > Well, Revolutions had some pretty good effects, but I think you’ll be pleased > > Q > How realistic are the action scenes? > > A > Very > > Q > Moriarty is quoted on CHUD’s forum as saying “It’s amazing. It’s better than you think it’s going to be. It is astonishing. There’s a stretch in the middle where PJ hits an emotional crescendo that lasts almost an hour and a half… I don’t think I’ve ever been so worked up in a movie. I didn’t know if I should stay seated or jump up or what. It’s preposterously great. Take all the emotional power of the first film… and double it. Take the battle intensity of the second one… and double it. Then put them together. I talked to three people at the DGA afterwards… all three are voting Academy members, and all three are guys who are part of major voting blocks. They all said the same thing: "There is no competition for that. There can’t be. And the crowd… a fairly blase industry crowd… went nuts. They applauded at least eight different scenes. Amazing. Better than you think it’s going to be. It is an emotional endurance test of the highest order, and it deserves to win enough Oscars to choke even a practiced **-** \*\* \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* like Jeffrey Wells. It’s just now setting in… LOTR is over. I’ve set sail to the Grey Havens, and Sam’s gone home. Holy \*\*\*\*. Holy, holy \*\*\*\*.” > > OK, apart from the EE version that’ll come out, did you feel the same way about it being over? > > A > It didn’t really sink in until today. > > Q > Is the Pelennor Fields battle brilliant/good/mediocre? > > A > Brilliant > > Q > What are the 4 best scenes/highlights of the film for you? > > A > Shelob, Eowyn/Wiki, Ring destruction, Grey Havens > > Q > Does the tension build well? And does the story give “payoff” to the tension? > > A > Yes > > Q > How are the digital/SFX scenes? Do they detract at times and pull you out of the story? > > A > Great and no > > Q > Did you like the way the Army of the Dead is depicted artistically and practically, eg. the way they looked and acted? > > A > Yeah, not blown away, but it worked > > Q > Is Sam shown to be truly heroic in his love for Frodo? > > A > Oh, yes > > Q > Who really stands out? > FOTR had Boromir > TT had Gollum > ROTK has … > > A > I’d say the hobbits > > Q > How do you like the score? > > A > Phenomenal > > Q > Is Arwen beautiful for the wedding? > > A > Schwing! > > Q > What did women at the screening think? > > A > My gf is the only one I spoke too, and she loved it. > > Q > How is Viggo’s overall performance? Does it merit an Oscar Nom in best actor or supporting actor? Or does Sean Astin deserve this? > > A > Astin’s better. > > Q > How are the epic cinemagraphic shots? Are there brilliant long shots to give the scope and full impact of what is happening? > > A > Yes > > Q > Is it a better film than the Rankin/Bass animated classic? > > A > A little > > Q > general audience reaction - many tears shed? > > A > Through the roof. Not a dry eye… > > Q > Tell us the general feeling you got. I sit everything you hoped on first viewing? Can you now see the single event picture? Does it work? Is it BP or not? > > A > I’ve been saying it will win BP since FOTR lost and my prediction remains. > > Q > Best of the 3 movies? Better than TTT at least? > > A > Yes, but I liked TTT more than FOTR > > Q > Is it an “action” movie or a “character” movie? > > A > Both > > Q > One question for me, will most who see it say to themselves…Yup this is worthy of best picture??? Meaning will critics, and general public be satisfied also. > > A > Hard to say, still reeling from the experience, but given the crowd’s reaction, they will be hard put to give it to anything else I’ve seen this year. > > Q > In your opinion, does the Grey Havens sequence come off as “cheesy” at all, or is it as emotional powerful as most of us expect? > > A > Cheese free if you’re not too jaded. I’m quite jaded, but I was moved to tears. > > Q > Does the WiKi look silly, or really boss? > > A > Boss > > Q > How heartbreaking is The Choices of Master Samwise? > > A > Quite > > Q > if possible Marty could you give us the complete Eowyn vs Wiki scene line by line? How much is new and how much is taken from the books… > > A > You’re not serious, are you? > > Q > How many soft-filtered closeups of Legolas’ pretty eyes are there? > > A > Leg’s got a few moments, but his presence isn’t as strong as in the other two. > > Q > Does PJ pimp his kids in another useless cameo? > > A > I think so. > > Q > Does your bladder start throbbing in agony at the 3:07 mark or the 3:15 mark? > > A > 1:15 > > Q > What I’d like to know is just how emotional it is, and elaborate on how much you liked it…is it much better than the other two? > > A > It’s certainly more emotional than the other two. I spent most of the film with a lump in my throat. Yes, I do think it’s better. It has a climax, after all. > > Q > How is the very ending? > > A > Moving to the extreme. > > Q > As a book adaptation, how “close” did you feel the film was to the books as compared to FoTR and TTT? > > A > Quite close with one major change. > > Q > How much did you enjoy the film versus the first two? Was it your favorite? Least favorite? > > A > Most, but not by a large margin. > > Q > Did you cry? > > A > Nearly, but I was with my GF so I had to keep up my manly facade. > > Q > Is it worth the wait? > > Yes > > A > Is it as good as it was cracked up to be, and is it as good as we all hope it will be? > > A > Yes > > Q > Did you look at your watch during the last half hour? > > A > No > > Q > How do you rank it compared to the first two acts? > > A > Better, but quite in keeping with the others. > > Q > Did you hear any feedback from other viewers today, besides the GF? > > A > Other than the multitude of ovations, not really. > > Q > Does Aragorn really stand up with authority and become the King we all want? > > A > Yes > > Q > Is the suffering of Frodo truly moving? > > A > Yes > > Q > How is the editing and flow of the movie? > > A > I liked the flow, but you could tell there’d be plenty of material for the EE > > Q > How is Miranda in her fight with the Wiki? > > A > One of the highlights of the film. I was moved more than I’d ever imagined I would be. > > Q > Were there any scenes of the film that you felt were extraneous and/or unnecessary? > > Q > None come to mind > > A > And along that same line, did you ever feel that instead of seeing _insert scene X_, you’d of rather seen the filmmakers include _insert deleted scene Y_ instead of cutting it? > > A > It was all necessary. However, like most here, I would have liked to have seen fewer cuts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-movie-fans-start-your-engines-great-first-reactions-no-spoilers/215725.md?page=3)