ROTK: Anyone else feel kind of..."Eh"?

Cafe Society
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SPOILERS, obviously. I’m speaking to people who have already seen the movie.
I loved the books. I loved the first movie. I liked the second movie. By the third movie though, I almost felt as if PJ was writing his own story.

The whole Arwen thing, while I gave him 2 years to straighten it out, ended up just as pointless and time-wasting as I thought it would. Not to mention it seemed to me like it would be a little confusing to non-book readers (something I thought he was trying not to do.)

If he was going to wrap the Sauraman situation up so quickly he could have at least shown the guy’s face so people would be sure of the wizard Treebeard spoke of.

The happy/triumphant music in the dark/hopeless situation was WAY overused. It almost got to the point where I was laughing because it was happening every 3 minutes.

Flashbacks were way overused.

The Smeagol/Deagol scene seemed an uneccesary and unfortunate way to start the movie off. They had already explained what needed to be known about that and Deagol looked ridiculous being pulled through the water.

The battle of the Pellenor Fields was utterly dissapointing. All I kept hearing was “Helm’s Deep was a skirmish. Helm’s Deep was nothing.” Well, Helm’s Deep sure felt like a bigger and longer battle on screen to me.

The ring going into the fire was a HUGE dissapointment for me. I waited years to see Gollum dance around and fall in only to see that Mr. “I’ll take the liberty…” changed that too.

Overall the little things didn’t break the movie. I can live without Sauraman, I can live with Deagol, and I guess I can live with Frodo throwing Gollum into the fire. I think what broke the movie for me is that it just tried way too hard to be “epic” and, in my eyes, failed. The music, the fades, they speeches…etc. were all just too much and they just got to the point where they were taking away from the movie instead of adding to it.

My favorite books were ROTK–>TTT–>FOTR but the movies have reversed that order.

My favorite movies were FOTR–>TTT–>ROTK.

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Can you live without Saruman? Or Sauron? Nitpicking? Yes but you’re the one who started it…

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well, I think most of your criticisms are way off base and I submit that you had unrealistic expectations :slight_smile:

It would have been nice to see Saruman, and we will when the EE comes out, but I thought it was handled okay.

I thought the Smeagol/Deagol prologue was great. So did my wife, who has never read the books. She said it made her feel sorry for Gollum for the rest of the movie.

The Arwen story was kind of “meh” for me too. I understand that PJ was just trying to give a more personal motivation to Aragorn. Fine, whatever. It didn’t exactly bother me.

I keep seeing people complaining that Frodo “pushed” Gollum off the ledge. What I saw was the two of them struggling and falling, with Frodo managing to catch himself. I don’t think Frodo pushed Gollum intentionally. I might have to see it again.

Well, this is totally subjective on the viewers part. I think it wildly succeeeded (especially the music). Not only was this, IMHO, the best of the three films, it made the other two better.

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The music was great, I just thought it was used inappropriately.
As for the EE, well, that’s all well and great a year and $30 from now but I’m talking about the theatrical release.

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You are suffering from a textbook case of First Viewing Syndrome. Symptoms include unrealistic expectations, constant comparisons to the books, and regret that the moviemakers failed to read your mind and make the movie that’s in your head instead of the movie that was in theirs.

Fortunately, professional Ringologists have been studying this malady for the last two years. There is a treatment which is successful in many (but not all cases): see the movie again.

Multiple treatments be necessary,

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I will admit to a bit of postpartum depression. I’ve spent the last few weeks really looking forward to the movie, and now I’ve seen it. What do I look forward to now?

Well, there’s the three Mars landings coming up in the next month. Then the Cassini mission to Saturn. But still…

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Well, I’ve never read the books, and I thought it was fabulous, beginning to end. The parts with Arwen were just fine, thanks, no confusion here. As for the quick dismissal of Sauraman, what other wizard would they have penned up in there? Someone who hadn’t entered into the story till then? There’s no need to bludgeon people over the head with the obvious.

I was specially fond of the prologue. When I read The Hobbit, I just figured Gollum was always a creepy, slimy little thing. The backstory of how he came by the ring, and just how much it had changed him was a terribly cool few minutes, and it underscored just how powerful and insidious the ring was.

I was fine with Frodo and Gollum wrestling for the ring. It showed just how much the ring had gotten to Frodo, and ultimately, it’s the same thing. Gollum’s efforts to save the ring and keep it for himself destroyed him and it together, just the same as it did in the book. This just added a little drama to it for cinematic purposes. Whoop-de-doo.

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Anyone else feel kind of…“Eh”?

Not in the least.
My immediate reaction was more along the lines of…“Wow.”

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Yes, and I’m not comparing to the books. I haven’t read them in 15 years.

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Those who felt “Eh”, how much of the pre movie hype did you expose yourself to. I realize it was hard, I had to change the channel every few seconds last week just to avoid the commercials. But I learned my lesson with the second movie. I enjoyed the first so much, that I soaked up as much “the making of” before the second as I could. When I saw it, however, I was severly disappointed. It was not until I way it again much later that I could appreciate it. This movie was much better, and I attribute the difference to avoiding the hype beforehand.

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It’s been a while since I read the books so I’ve forgotten a lot of the precise details. When Gollum got the ring and was dancing around with it, I was hoping he didn’t just fall in thinking that would be kind of lame. I think having them fight is an improvement over the book.

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First off: I DON’T MIND THE CHANGES OR OMMISSIONS FROM THE BOOK!

But I did feel kind of “Eh”.

The whole thing felt pretty rushed. Of course there’s the argument that, hey, there’s a lot of info to get into a “movie lenth” running time. But consider this: ROTK is the shortest of the books and the longest of the movies (theatrical release) and they cut the last third of the book. For this installment there was a much more favorable ratio between Events to Communicate Vs. Time Restrictions than there was for the other films- and yet they did not feel rushed.

I saw it in packed theatre filled with LOTR Movie Fans and throughout the movie there was a great deal of laughter at points that weren’t supposed to be fuuny. The laughs were coming because the presentation was very melodramatic. The melodrama came from everything being so weighted and intense without any build-up or back story.

Don’t go hitting me with the old “What do you expect? a 5 hour movie?” As I noted above, the other films did not feel as rushed, yet they were shorter films based on longer books.

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I didn’t feel that at all.

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Gandalf would be proud of you. In the books when he tells Frodo Gollum’s story he says something like “I think it’s a very sad story, and could have happened to some hobbits I know”.

Gandalf’s (and, ultimately, Frodo’s) pity for Gollum is a critical element in the story, and the fact that the movie audience feels the same way is a tribute to P. Jackson’s skills and understanding of the story.

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<< The Smeagol/Deagol scene seemed an uneccesary and unfortunate way to start the movie off. They had already explained what needed to be known about that and Deagol looked ridiculous being pulled through the water. >>

I had that same reaction, I would rather have seen the Gandalf/Saruman confrontation. On some reflection, however, I think it was a key scene. It sets up (or repeats) the “conflict between brothers” theme, such as Faramir and Boromir or between Gandalf and Saruman (metaphorically). It also sets the stage for Gollum trying to sow conflict between Frodo and Sam.

That whole bit (Gollum trying to split Frodo from Sam) was not in the books, but I thought it worked brilliantly in the film.

<< I guess I can live with Frodo throwing Gollum into the fire. >>

I agree with Skammer that Frodo and Gollum were struggling and both fell, but Frodo happened to catch the ledge.

My son (Son of Dex on the infrequent occasions that he posts) predicted this two years ago. He’s a screenwriter, and he said that they’d never be able to sell the book ending.

In the book, Gollum bites the ring from Frodo’s finger, and Frodo lays dazed on the cliff edge; Gollum dances around, so excited about having his precious back, that he slips and falls. It’s basically an accident. A movie, after that long build up, can’t have the world saved by “accident.” My son predicted (rightly) that Frodo would have to DO something, however small, so that Gollum falls in because of Frodo, not by sheer dumb luck.

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I wish I’d seen the earth-shatteringly wonderful film so many others did, but I didn’t. I’m firmly in the “eh” category. I thought it was an acceptably good movie, but nowhere near what it should have been. Reasons? Nothing that hasn’t been brought up before: Deagol/Smeagol, the lack of on-screen motivation for Denethor’s behavior (yes, I knew from the book - but it wasn’t communicated on screen at all as far as I could tell), the way-too-drawn-out ending(s), too many obviously CGI effects, et cetera.

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Well, I feel sorry for the folks who didn’t enjoy it. For me, ROTK was a brilliant, exciting epic that had me on the edge of my seat even though I knew what was going to happen.

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http://www.killermovies.com/h/thehobbit/articles/3390.html

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There’s still time…I’m sure ROTK will be playing in theaters for months to come… :smiley:

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A wonderful flick! Intensely satisfying. Not perfect, but about all I hoped it could be in most areas, and exceeded expectations in others.

But one can’t please everyone, now, can they?

Back to re-reading The War of the Jewels, edited by CJRT, for me now.