Cool, thanks, Homebrew.
After being disappointed by the travesty that was The Two Towers last year, I had almost no hope for Return of the King when I went to Trilogy Tuesday yesterday. And boy was I proven wrong.
Return of the King was absolutely brilliant. The things that did deviate from the book were made up for by the multiple scenes that were done to perfection.
-The ride of the Rohirrim
-Eowyn killing the Witch King
-Sam challenging Shelob
-Sam storming the tower and rescuing Frodo
-Sam carrying Frodo up the mountain
-Hell, everything Sam did
-The whole 25 minute ending sequence
There were many other things that I really enjoyed the way they were played out.
-Pippin singing as the riders of Gondor go to their deaths. The scene is cut off as soon as the arrows are fired, but we all know what happens.
-The relationship between Denethor and Faramir
-Hell, I even enjoyed Legolas taking out the Oliphaunt. lol
It was just so unbelieveably great. I’m taking RotK to be Peter Jackson’s official appology for screwing up The Two Towers. I will now be perfectly content watching the first and third movies and pretending The Two Towers never happened. 
IIRC, there was a great “aside” to the reader when the Witch-King died in the book, where it goes into great detail about how prophecies are always so easy to interpret in hindsight, and that this one was doubly proven because neither the hobbit nor the woman were a “man.”
shy guy, your Joss is showing. “Big bad,” indeed.
Achernar, I saw that the driver tangling the reins was something of a “lucky shot”, but I almost feel like Legolas’ actions are comedic in their Pratchett-like overcomplication of the effort (to ensure that our heroes, who can only succeed against overwhelming odds, have stacked the deck against themselves enough). The “shoot the driver” idea was really just the most obvious suggestion. Off-hand, thinking back to Legolas’ demonstrated skill with the bow, I can think of
- shooting the oliphaunts’ eyes out
- shooting into their large, open mouths (as with the Cave Troll previously!)
- focus on the oliphaunts’ archers, and let cavalry with swords hamstring the oliphaunts (I think they eventually resorted to this method)
And even if those plans are each somewhat tough, I still think they’re each slightly more obvious and impromptu than climbing a moving oliphaunt via the arrows in its hide, cutting the crew cabin loose, shooting three arrows through the top of its skull, and then Moonwalking down its collapsing hulk back onto the field of battle.
Despite all of that–and really, it’s my only sore point in the film, other than missing half a scene for the reel botch–I still laughed at Gimli’s rejoinder. Although I thought I remembered that Gimli actually got the higher final tally in the book, because he was present for some wicked infantry action that Legolas was cut off from.
I, too, saw the midnight showing at the Loew’s at City Walk.
Watching that movie was probably the closest thing to a religious experience I’ll ever have. Not to overdramatize the movie, of course… I just consider aesthetics to be my religion.
There was only one thing that, for me, needed to be in the film: “I may not be able to carry it for you… but I can carry you!” Sam. Is. The. Man. SPOOFE tears were flowing like wine, I tells ya. Sean Astin deserves an Oscar, from EVERY category.
Everything, I felt, was amazing. I thought Legolas’ assault on the Oliphaunt was perfect… it shows just how differently elves behave on the battlefield, as compared to men. It wasn’t just a random “Ooh, we can make him do cool shit!” sequence… it was a systematic disabling of EVERY possible war-making capability that beast had. His goal wasn’t in disabling the monster… but the people that were huddled on top of it.
The Paths of the Dead were great. The scene where Aragorn leaps off the ship, followed by the army of dead soldiers (who, in the book, weren’t there, but I don’t mind their presence, as the Corsairs subplot was very incidental and minor). Then just seeing the army of the dead sweeping through the orc ranks… wow!
And the Legolas/Gimli exchange (paraphrased)…
GIMLI: “I never thought I’d die fighting alongside an elf.”
LEGOLAS: “How about fighting alongside a friend?”
GIMLI: “… Aye, I think I can do that.”
Good GOD, what a perfect cast. And the credits, showing the drawings of each cast member… including Sean Bean, despite his lack of a presence in the final film… very classy. I envy every single fucking person that got to work on that film, because that has to have been a memory that almost anybody would kill to have.
I can gush for hours. I love how Gandalf was wearing his ring (Nanya?) at the end… I love the smile that Galadriel gives as she leaves, telling us that, despite how bittersweet the ending is, it’s still a happy ending.
And, last but not least…
“Well… I’m back.”
Perfect. The LOTR now occupies my #1 Favorite Movie of all time, a slot which, until now, has been occupied by the first Star Wars trilogy.
I’m going to have to ring in with a not-quite-perfect on Eowyn and the WK.
Why? Because they cut out Tolkien’s language.
Yeah, yeah, I’m a nitpicker. But still.
“Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!”
and
“But no living man am I! You look upon a woman! Eowyn I am! You stand between me and the king, my kinsman! Whether living or dark undead, I will smite you if you touch him!”
have given me shivers since I was nine.
Though “Do not get between a Nazgul and his prey” managed to make it in, for which I am pleased.
I wanted to see Denethor wax poetical about the ships with black sails. Leaving out the palantir he had seems wrong to me – he just seems like an angry insane old man, not a great and lordly yet flawed guy who was driven insane by having a direct line to Sauron in his attic.
I wanted to see Sam’s big temptation on the mountain. All he wanted was a bit of earth. sniff
But I also wanted Galadriel to give him the little box of earth and the mallorn seed, and I wanted to see that carried through to the end. Another thing that stuck with me when I was a kid.
All in all, though, even better than I’d hoped.
I just got back from seeing it myself -
In a word: Amazing … Stunning … Beautiful …
On a different note, I was feeling the same way one of the previous posters did after seeing the horrible hack job on “Two Towers.”
As a result, I walked in feeling rather ambivalent.
3.5 hours, a numb posterior, and 2 sleeping feet later I was feeling as stunned and overwhelmed as when “Fellowship of the Ring” had ended.
This movie is an amazing piece of work that will take you through just about every emotion possible.
I grew up on the books and have adored them for over 30 years. I am in the process of getting my fiance hooked on them by reading the books aloud to her in the evenings.
( Tolkien is wonderful to read and even better to hear read aloud.)
As with the previous movie adaptations, I think that the Extended DVD release will be a significant improvement over the theatrical versions.
This movie show obvious signs of being very heavily trimmed down to get to the current running length.
Sadly, much of what seems to get cut from the theatrical releases involves significant character development and background events
I will definitely be seeing this one again in the theaters and will be waiting and gnashing my teeth until the Extended DVD verion becomes available.
~ Fitz ~I just got back from seeing it myself -
In a word: Amazing … Stunning … Beautiful …
On a different note, I was feeling the same way one of the previous posters did after seeing the horrible hack job on “Two Towers.”
As a result, I walked in feeling rather ambivalent.
3.5 hours, a numb posterior, and 2 sleeping feet later I was feeling as stunned and overwhelmed as when “Fellowship of the Ring” had ended.
This movie is an amazing piece of work that will take you through just about every emotion possible.
I grew up on the books and have adored them for over 30 years. I am in the process of getting my fiance hooked on them by reading the books aloud to her in the evenings.
( Tolkien is wonderful to read and even better to hear read aloud.)
As with the previous movie adaptations, I think that the Extended DVD release will be a significant improvement over the theatrical versions.
This movie show obvious signs of being very heavily trimmed down to get to the current running length.
Sadly, much of what seems to get cut from the theatrical releases involves significant character development and background events
I will definitely be seeing this one again in the theaters and will be waiting and gnashing my teeth until the Extended DVD verion becomes available.
~ Fitz ~Very good, I was pleased, and of course like every fan of the book I’ve got moments I kind of wish were done differently, but I can’t begrudge Peter Jackson his decisions.
I noted two very different conversations when I walked out of the film. One was a Tolkein fan loudly complaining about the lack of the Scouring of the Shire and one a person who was complaining about how long the ending went on for. Since the second type is likely to outnumber the first by about a thousand to one it seems the right choice was made on that regard.
I think I would have liked a more competant Denethor as well; giving him the slight spin into the Nero type without any of the reasoning made him a bit thin of a character.
And where were the orcs terrified of the great warrior Samwise?
Well, they looked a little nervous when they saw his shadow. They should have been terrified, though. Sam kicked major ass in this.
I knew Sam was going to live up to all my wildest expectations in this movie - Sean Astin is, indeed, the man - but I was surprised to see just how cool Pippin became. I don’t even really know what I liked about it so much, but whatever they did with the character absolutely worked for me.
I was a little disappointed with the changes they made in Denethor, but only a little. His death was a little lame, though. They handled Faramir beautifully in this, though, didn’t they? The scene where Denethor is sending him back out to Osgiliath… man oh Manischewitz.
A small question on Pippin’s song - it seemed familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite figure out from where. Can anyone help me place it?
Just curious, is there any mention of the Red Ring of Fire being passed from Gandalf at the conclusion? This was mentioned almost as an aside at the end of the The Silmarillion and I don’t remember if it was described in the LOTR book(s). I suspect it would be left out so as not to create confusion for the audience.
I saw it at midnight in a small packed theater. The crowd cheered when the lights went down and when the credits rolled.
The movie was perfect, as far as I am concerned. Oscars for Peter Jackson, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, and of course, Andy Serkis.
Did anyone else see a similarity between the dead warriors and the ghosts from Jackson’s “The Frighteners?”
I’m going to give you a big fucking complaint - Gandalf killing Denethor, then shrugging it off without a touch of remorse. There’s also some really ropey CGI - the destruction of the Ring sucks, as does Legolas trunk-surfing.
It was a good movie. But don’t insult the first two by setting it alongside them, because Jackson dropped the ball at the end. If the Academy don’t give it Best Film, I will not be able to blame them.
Uhm, okay, I’ll admit that it’s been a little while since I read the last book of the trilogy, so don’t kill me if I simply misremember, but did it bother anyone else that Frodo pushed Gollum into the Crack of Doom? As I recall, Gollum bites off the finger, does a little happy dance, and, in so doing, mis-steps and falls off the cliff. That part of the books always stuck with me because not only has the Ring ruined Gollum and Frodo, it becomes the cause of its own undoing. Having Frodo push Gollum just robbed it of some of its poetry, I think.
Other than that, though, bang-up job by the whole team. These movies, but especially this one, were just ridiculous in how well-made they were.
Wow, Evil Death. I think you’re the first one to not love the hell out of it.
A lot of parts had me teary eyed, but this had me bawling like a tiny child. Christ, I’m welling up just thinking about it!
I loved it. No complaints here. Definitely will be seeing it again.
I saw it this morning. I basically watched while I thought “Well, I wonder how they’re going to do X?”
Things that gave me a thrill of “Yes! This is how I totally imagined it!”
- Eagles at the final battle! Eagles! Kick ass!
- Frodo finally succumbing to the ring.
- Eowyn’s battle with the Witch King.
- Sam
- Pippin’s encounter with the palantir.
- Paths of the Dead.
Things that made me go “Whu? Bhu? Fhu?”
- Arwen.
- Legolas’ oliphaunt acrobatics.
- Saruman who?
- Star Blazers aka Cirith Ungol.
Cry Moments:
- Gandalf’s doubts and description of the afterlife.
- Pippin finding Merry.
- All of Gondor bowing to the hobbits.
- The Grey Havens.
Missed Moments:
- Saruman. Scouring of the Shire, Wormtongue’s treachery etc.
- Aragorn’s palantir showdown.
- Explanation of Denethor’s madness.
- Houses of Healing with Eowyn and Faramir.
- Frodo receiving his Grey Havens ticket from Arwen.
Needless to say, I have to see RotK again to formulate a more coherent opinion. Generally, a kick ass film and my two thumbs up!
Just got back from seeing it.
Oh. My. God.
THE best special effects/action sequences of any movie ever made.
Incredibly, indelibly, indescribably powerful movie. I was moved almost to tears at least three times and I very very rarely am moved to that point by a movie.
Frankly, I feel like going back and seeing it at a midnight movie…I NEED to see it at least twice more, maybe more than that.
This is the movie that DEFINES the word “epic.” It’s beyond words…simply awe-inspiring.
I’m not sure where the lyrics come from, but I read today that Billy Boyd wrote the music (as well as sang it himself, obviously). His voice was so perfect for both his character and the music that it was one of the first times tears started rolling down my cheeks.
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Houses of Healing will be in the extended version, I understand (and there was a shot at the final Gondor scene of Eowyn standing next to Faramir, which I missed, probably because my vision was already blurring from tears).
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And when Arwen was trying to save Frodo from the Nine at the ford, she passed him “whatever grace I might have from the Eldar” or something along those lines, which I thought was probably PJ’s version of his Grey Havens (rather than go into long explanations about ringbearers and all that).
I’ve had all day now to think about the movie, and I’m with SPOOFE. I felt like I’d experienced an absolutely transcendental moment by the end of the movie. Even though I’d been sitting in the theater for over ten hours before ROTK started, I literally didn’t notice my physical self (except to realize that I idiotically had cleaned all the kleenex out of my purse and thrown away every napkin so had nothing to wipe my nose with!) for the whole movie. The emotional play and the power of the characters brought to life by that incredible, wonderful, stupendously amazing cast was just so overwhelmingly captivating that I was wholly caught up in Middle Earth.
The fact that we had the single best moviegoing audience I’ve ever sat in a theater with didn’t hurt, either – we all reacted virtually in unison to everything. And not a single annoying interruption, electronic or otherwise.
I’m almost afraid to go back and see it – can perfection be recreated???
As someone who is both an amateur novelist as well as an amateur filmmaker, I gotta disagree… it’s very hard to get a line or speech that works VERY well in a book and putting it into a movie… especially in the middle of an action scene. Granted, while I can think of ways that the dialogue could have been put in, it would have come at the cost of time… which was already at a premium. Would you have taken Tolkein’s dialogue in favor of losing, say, Faramir’s charge on Osgiliath?
Oh, by the by, if anybody in the San Fernando Valley plans on seeing the movie again, say so… maybe we can organize a small Doper viewing.
Thing is, in my opinion, they sucked out all the drama from that moment and removed its mythic quality.
I loved Faramir’s charge on Osgiliath; I got all weepy. I don’t think it’s always appropriate to go with Tolkien’s dialogue; it just doesn’t always work for a movie. But I was SO looking forward to hearing Miranda Otto curse at the Nazgul.
It’s my favorite set of lines out of all the books; I’m rather partial to it. 