I know there is already a “Return of the King” feedback thread. But I’m interested specifically in reactions from people who liked the movies but who have never read the books. What did you think of the third film? the ending? Any surprised people? Were you moved? Do you think you’ll read the books now?
(Disclosure statement: I’m a Tolkien book reader/fan from way back. I have enjoyed the movies very, very much & could nitpick the night away, but choose not to.)
Never read the books (except The Hobbit in high school).
I loved the movie series. I thought the ROTK was too battle intensive. How many orcs can you see get stabbed before it’s not interesting any more? But the rest of the movie I loved.
I heard too many spoilers to be surprised at any major plot points, but I was surprised at many small moments (Pippen singing, the signal fires, etc.)
I won’t read the books. I’m just not interested. From the exerpts I’ve read I could never get through them stylistically.
Never read the books; not even The Hobbit.
Having said that, I absolutely loved ROTK (and, the trilogy, as a whole.)
I found the charge of the Rohirrim and Theoden’s rally right before particularly moving.
And, I also never plan to read the books. I’ve never been much of a fiction reader, anyhow.
Haven’t read the books … not much of a fantasy fan to begin with … don’t like all the made-up names and places, to be honest with you.
Saw the first two movies this fall on DVD - my b/f is a fan. I started to doze off a bit during the battle scenes - couldn’t really be bothered to try to keep track of all the characters, their motives, etc.
Saw Return of the King on Sunday and really enjoyed it! It was a pleasant surprise … I expected sitting through almost 3 1/2 hours to be more of a chore than anything, but I found for the most part the time went by quickly. Except at the end - was it just me, or did that movie end about 4 times???
Definitely did not grab me enough to inspire me to wade through any of the books though. And I probably won’t watch it again.
I liked it. But it wasn’t as good as I was expecting given how many people said in advance that it’s the best of the trilogy. I’ve concluded that if fight scenes are what you love about the movies it’s the best, but if you don’t really care about them, you won’t be as impressed. I still like the 1st movie best, but I can’t decide if the second or third comes next.
I will, however, complain no more about there being no strong female characters in these movies 
I’m a LOTR viewer and not a reader, and I thought all three movies kicked more ass than should legally be allowed. If I had to pick the best I guess I’d say ROTK, but probably just because it was the culmination of everything.
There are a couple of thinks that I didn’t fully understand until a reader explained them to me (like why the steward of the throne of Gondor went nutso, why Aragorn was the king (in the movie it seems kinda like Gandalf just says “Guess what? You’re the king, dude!”), why the elves had to get out of dodge, etc.), but I don’t see these things as problems with the movie (except maybe the first thing I mentioned).
Along those same lines, one thing I still don’t understand is what the Scouring of the Shire is all about. I’ve only heard it mentioned in the ROTK talkaback thread and was about to open a new thread to ask about. Please enlighten me.
I’ve never been big on the elves-wizards-dragons genre (not since I was about 12, anyway), but as a serious film fan I knew I had to see these just as cultural touchstones.
I saw ROTK on Monday. I thought the exact same things I thought during the first two. I apologize in advance if this offends any fans:
The plot is incredibly complex. I have no idea who these characters are or where we’re going, and can’t we please see a map now and then?
Gollum was awesome. Unfortunately he was also the most thoroughly developed and believable character in the entire series.
Unlike some of the others who’ve posted ahead of me here, I thought the battle scenes were fan-freaking-tastic. I kept thinking, “OK, surely THIS is the climax of the battle,” and then they’d bring out some creatures that were even bigger and scarier. Serious virtuoso action scenes there.
There was a certain bizarre coldness to some of the good characters’ actions that I couldn’t really understand. Like when they’re in the middle of that big battle at that city that’s built into the mountain (sorry I didn’t catch many names): The crazy king-guy that Gandalf kept calling “steward” is about to burn his son and himself alive on that funeral pyre for some reason, and Pippin, or Merry, runs and tells Gandalf: “Gandalf! Whatshisname has gone mad! He’s burning his son alive!” And Gandalf drops what he’s doing and runs to help, in the middle of a huge, world-changing battle. In other words, the entire city is under siege from this monster army, and someone says, “Gandalf! One person is about to die in the middle of a room full of people who can easily save him!” And Gandalf leaves the battle and goes to help? I didn’t understand this at all.
The long, talky scenes almost literally put me to sleep. Finally I just sat back, quit trying to follow the plot, and let the gorgeous, epic images roll over me, and, watching from that perspective, I found it pretty enjoyable. I won’t be sitting through it again, ever, but I’m not sorry I saw it.
And by the way, did anyone else catch the Return of the Jedi moment? The blonde warrior-babe who’s hot for Aragorn (I forget her name) is there with her dad, who is mortally wounded and lying on the ground about to expire.
She’s crying and says, “Father, how can I save you?”
His answer: “You already have.”
Almost verbatim from Darth Vader’s dying scene in Jedi. I’m just sayin’.
well he’s back, thanks for starting this thread; I’ve been needing to vent a little bit about this.
Quote from Taxman, above: “Along those same lines, one thing I still don’t understand is what the Scouring of the Shire is all about. I’ve only heard it mentioned in the ROTK talkaback thread and was about to open a new thread to ask about. Please enlighten me.”
If you are still reading, here you go - in the books, Saruman - along with Wormtongue - escape from the Ents. Almost purely out of malice and spite Saruman proceeds to rouse the rabble back in the Shire, turning it into a Stalinist state, environmental problems and all. The four returning hobbits have grown enough to gather their friends in the Shire for a stand against Saruman and his invaders. Frodo, who has grown the most, shows a pacifist side. When Saruman is captured the others want to kill him; Frodo shows pity, as with Gollum. Wormtongue is finally pushed too far & cuts Saruman’s throat & is then cut down by hobbits. So ends the war of the ring.
Then - you get the wrap up with Sam & co. rebuilding the Shire, Sam & Rosie marrying, and Frodo being too wounded to stay in Middle Earth.
That’s the best I can do, late at night.
Never read any of the books nor did I really have much desire to read them.
As for the ROTK, it was probably the best cinematic experience I ever had. First of all, the movie did not seem 3+ hours long and I did not have the urge to look at my watch at any point. Also, the full theater was so quiet during the movie, I was actually surprised. If all movie audiences were this well behaved, I would definitely see more of them. I admit, now I see the series as one long movie rather than three separate ones.
As for the long talking scenes, I was totally caught up and interested in what they were saying and did not find it dull or that it brought the movie to a halt. Unlike The Phantom Menace, where such scenes were IMO badly done and did slow down the movie.
As mentioned above, I have no idea what the scouring of the Shire is, but am looking forward to the DVD release of the movie. After seeing so many movies these days like the current Star Wars films that are effects heavy and plot weak, it is nice to see something where the story and special effects fit together and complement each other. (hope this makes sense, it does to me)
I am not much of a fiction reader but am planning on reading the LOTR series. I have just started reading The Hobbit and am enjoying it so far. I also have to admit, I have grown tired and uninterested in the Star Wars and Star Trek movies of late and it is nice to see a movie I can get “lost” in.
I preferred Two Towers over all the others. Here’s what I posted in another thread.
Another vote for “eh.” I have never read the books and frankly, I shouldn’t have needed to in order to understand all the questions that have been asked in this thread. To wit:
I tried to read LOTR back when I was about 14, but I found it slow and tedious. I never made more than about halfway through TTT. I think Tolkeen did a great job of creating an interesting world, but I think he’s a horrible storyteller.
I loved the movies. They fixed the pacing problems with the books. I know how long the ending of the books is, and understand why Jackson did what he did. The movie needed an epilogue to resolve things like the hobbits’ return home. The trouble is that by adding the epilogue, more questions are raised. I had to talk to a friend who recently read the books to answer my questions about Gimli and set straight some false assumptions about Legolas.
I’ll wager most of my questions will be resolved in the extended version. After seeing Galadriel’s gift giving scene, one of the few scenes I remember from the books, added to the extended version of Fellowship I have faith that the ending will receive proper treatment on DVD. If fact, after seeing how important the gift giving scene was, I’m left wondering how much important information was left out of the other two movies.
[nitpick]
Theoden is not her dad, he’s her uncle. He is her king and she ‘saves’ him.
[/nitpick]
That said, I didn’t get any Star Wars feel from it…
Never read the books beforehand but read The Hobbit and the first 1/4 of FOTR.
Having not read the books beforehand, the movies were exceptionally awesome but did leave me with lots, and lots of questions. The extended versions answered a lot of “just what was that characters motive?” questions that I had (why was Farimir so stubborn and draging Frodo back to Osilgrath? oh, he’s trying to please his father) but there were still others that I think will only be answered when I read the books.
The movies must be loaded with references that only the readers pick up on.
Examples-
Gandalf mumbling “riddles the dark” while sitting in Bagend referencing that he’s thinking about Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum or “look sir, mister Bilbo’s trolls” just zip right over your head if you’ve never read the Hobbit.
In the movie it seems like maybe a week passes between the time Bilbo leaves the Shire and when Frodo leaves the Shire when it actually was “10 years”.
The biggest chip on my shoulder is the army of the dead.
The movies had a very humanistic feel to them all the way through even though other characters weren’t even human.
Orcs, elfs, wizards flinched and yelped and bled when pain was inflicted and everyones mind was either strong or weak against mystical powerful forces. Then the dead army shows up like an added special effect with no depth to win the war. Not PJs fault since it was in the books but it was not very emotional having ghosts fight. I would have rather seen an army of dwarves come to the rescue. That could have been awesome.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it were an intentional homage to the ROTJ scene, though. Now, if that bit of dialogue had *ended *the interaction between Theoden and Eowyn, I would be really annoyed. Fortunately, the dialogue continues, and Theoden even gets his wonderful “halls of my fathers” line afterward.
Didn’t Peter Jacksom & some of the Weta guys visit Lucas & ILM before starting LOTR? I bet you’re right.
Actually, the Army never saw that battle in the books. Aragorn used them to wipe out a pirate army that had been harassing villages elsewhere (that all happened “offstage”). After he does that, he loads the troops that had been tied up keeping them at bay and brings them to the battle*. Unfortunately, that would have been too long to explain.
*[sub]May not be exactly as happens[/sub]
I agree.
But, in FOTR, she kinda had a purpose, in that, she rescued Frodo from death. Aragorn could’ve just as easily taken him to Rivendell, but I don’t think he could’ve done that thing with the flood.
I’ve gotten through the books once. I’ve made a few abortive attempts before and after getting through them, but it was about three years ago. I forgot everything that happened in ROTK.
And I loved the movies. You think the MOVIES are confusing? Don’t get near the books. There’s great stuff in there, but I find it very hard to pick out. Jackson did that brilliantly, IMO. Not perfectly, of course, but very very well.
I’m usually not a fantasy fan, but I really liked these movies, simply because of their visual beauty. Even though half of the time I had no idea what the hell was going on, I enjoyed just watching the gorgeous sets and special effects.
Did anyone else notice that at the end of the movie, the special effects sort of had a nose-dive in quality? The scene in which Aragorn is crowned had an awful blue-screen of the crowd, as well as the scene in which Frodo and Sam flee from the lava. It makes me think the producers were incredibly weary after more than ten hours of movie, and just said “to hell with it.”