After having seen all EE versions of the movies multiple times now I have to agree that FOTR has a quality that really stands out, and that the other two lack.
I think it benefits quite a bit from not having a split story like the other two do, where you are following two or even three groups of characters at the same time.
Beyond that though Fellowship is definitely the best edited of the three. Very few wasted moments, especially compared to ROTK. (Personally I found the Frodo and Sam in Mordor sequences practically interminable, even in the theatrical release.)
This thread is really making me think. I think I agree–FOTR is certainly the most exciting one for me.
I do like (in EE) the small scenes between Eowyn and Aragorn–but I like that story line so much that I think I give any weaknesses it might have a pass.
Not so with Liv Tyler–gorgeous but Arwen? Yes, until she opens her mouth…
And what is with her crying after she washes away the Ringwraiths in the river? She collapses like some 3rd rate heroine in Perils of Pauline and cries out for Frodo not to “go”. Pardon me, but that was a bit of disconnect. Maybe you need to stay ON the horse and ride like hell?
Another thing that bugged me–there are too many scenes of Frode waking up in bed and having Merry and Pippin jump on the bed etc. It’s repetitive, even if it did happen that way in the book. It’s more like a curtain call for the Fellowship in a way. Here’s Gimli and here’s Legolas and here’s Aragorn and last, but not least…heeeeere’s Sam!
I think the whole Helm’s Deep thing would have worked better if, say, Theoden and the Riders had gone out to meet Saruman’s army in open battle, say, reinforcing an existing Rohirrim army that was trying to hold them at the borders, say, a ford or something, and then got a message to the effect that the border garrison had been smashed, and they had to retreat to Helm’s Deep as a Plan B. And then Gandalf could have gone off in search of the garrison, having had news that a fair part of it had escaped intact under a strong captain, and brought it back to help, along with the Ents and Huorns. And all the principle characters would be broadly in agreement as to policy instead of going around assuming all the others are idiots.
If only someone had thought to write it that way, so that it made sense.
Nope. It’s my favorite of the three*, and the one in which I think most of the extended scenes added some depth and complexity to the movie as whole, rather than just some nice stuff we’d like to see but didn’t necessarily have to be in there.
*I’ve seen it over 100 times.
I enjoyed that whole speech, delivered wonderfully by Sean Bean. “Not with 10,000 men could you do this! It is folly!” I find myself wanting to say that at work a lot …
Bwah! I am sitting here chuckling over this thread–I may have to watch the movies again this weekend (oh, wait, it’s nice out now, bag that idea) just to hear all of it again.
On the extended DVD’s an actor (I’m 99% sure it was Bernard Hill playing Theoden) says that a fan told him this and he always wanted to use it as a line. He persuaded Peter Jackson, and the rest is history…
Tolkein wouldn’t use the construction “from whence.” He understood the English language better than that, despite modern usage that seems to accept that redundancy.
I always liked “They have a cave troll.” I thought the delivery was great. Very “Of *course * they have a cave troll. Why *wouldn’t * they have a cave troll? God, I hate Mondays.”
What’s wrong with: “We will make such a chase as shall be accounted a marvel among the Three Kindreds: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Forth the Three Hunters!”
You can count me in. Fellowship is far and away the best of the series. The others are good, but there are too many moments that just come across as leaden or awkward. There’s hardly a single scene like that in Fellowship. Except for Galadriels CGI freak-out.
Joining in to say I, too, like “The Fellowship of the Ring” best of Peter Jackson’s LOTR movies. While I don’t actively dislike the other two, I love and adore this one.
Re cheesy dialogue: I agree with most of the posts, yet I still enjoy the movies, very, very much.
and the cheese factor is still way below that of Lucas or Cameron (Titanic dialogue, anyone?)