Lord Of The Rings (Real reviews, please)

[JohnT]

Movie Spoilers Ahead!

Originally posted by devilmunchkin People who hadn't read the book (of which there were most likely none last night. all us nerds vied for the snak preview seats. heehee) might be perplexed by the cut off.

followed by...

Originally posted by Ecthelion
devilmuchkin - I would have thought that watching the movie without having read the book must make the movie pretty lame, since all the quick changes of locations and actions etc etc really make it very complicated, and without a map in mind, you're lost...

Well, I haven't read the books except for the Hobbit (so I knew the backstory) and I think that the movie was relatively clear in the characters progression through Middle Earth. They did go to an awful lot of locations though, and while I wasn't concerned with plotting the movements of the party, I would've liked to have seen how the various lands/races interconnected with each other. Perhaps a couple of cut shots to a map with a line showing the characters movements ala Raiders of the Lost Ark would have helped here.

I liked it a lot, gave it a 9 out of 10. Definitely a movie you want to see in a first class theater as it will lose a lot when it gets translated to TV.

But there are some quibbles...

The orcs/goblins/whatevers are afflicted with Stormtrooper syndrome: the complete inability for any number of enemy troops to hit any target, no matter how undefended. The party member to kill ratio got to be so bad that I wondered why is Middle Earth worried about these clowns - for every 50 of the enemy, send just one of your fighters. If they send an army of 100,000 all you'd have to do is round up 2,000 fighters - 3,000 if you really want to kick their ass.

While it makes for great shots, doesn't it make better sense for a party on foot to try to stay as low in the mountains as possible. It seemed like they approached a mountain range, looked at the mountains, and said "there's our path - right over the peak of the tallest mountain."

There are a few scenes where the characters are near death, freezing on some mountain top or other and then, cut!, the next scene shows them at a door, entering mines, or whatever, with no mention of how they are getting their falling-down frozen mates to the mines.

You are standing on a piece of rock that weighs, oh, 20,000 pounds and has broken off from its support. This rock is now somehow "waving" back and forth, trying to find a direction to fall. You and your companion weigh, maybe, 300 pounds soaking wet and the rock is currently going in the opposite direction from where you want it. Is it possible to get the 20,000 pound rock to swing to the other side just by standing on the edge?

Regardless, it was a great looking, fast paced movie, and well worth the $6.50 ticket.

[Q Classic]

umm.... johnt?

this stormtrooper syndrome...

it was there in the books, too.

besides, with these heroic epics... the heroes are always superhuman. they have some sort of ability to deflect projectiles and have greater accuracy than their opponents.

and they always look good in the process.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

dp

[OneFootInTheGrave]

I have seen it last night and the movie is brilliant.

It is a classic, I just hope that the next parts will be as well made as this one. And Peter Jackson is a genius too . I haven't read the book, but I have seen the animated film, so I am somewhat familiar with the story (but not in detail) therefore the Liv part doesn't annoy me the least bit, and it made perfect sense to me. (she is a better rider ) The elves might be similar, but you could easily conclude from the story that these are not Elrond and Arwen. And Cate Blanchett (was that her ) as Galadriel wow, , wow. She was better than I could imagine ,and her test, brilliant, everyone has a dark side, and you have to chose against it And as Chegitz said, even though you know that Gandalf doesn't die, and Borimir does, it leaves a true impact. I'd say this is the best film I have seen in quite a long time. 9/10 (noone gets 10/10) is fair. I have to see it again, +it will probably lose some of if "epic" feeling on a tv, so a must see in the cinema.

[November Adam]

In the book Bilbo found the ring... the riddle contest was so Gollum wouldn't kill and eat the Bagginsess.

So I just saw the movie last night and it was spectacular. The casting was very well done. The fellow who played Bilbo did a great job. He played the difficulty in giving up the ring perfectly, not to over the top, yet not flat either. So was I the only one who had a bit of a jump when Bilbo's face did that wierd switch-a-roo in Rivendell?

I didn't mind the Arwen thingy... it fit in well. And about Arwen and Galadriel looking alike... I'm sure to elves all humans look alike too!

Kate, Kate... she was definetly Galadriel. She has an ethereal beauty about her, and is such a good actor that she showed Galadriel's strength.

The hobbits were good in their imagery, as they were supposed to be very quiet, and good at hiding when they wanted to be. I liked the scene with Merry and Pip talking about the different meals.

One thing that kinda erked me, and may prove troublesome, is the lack of an explanation for the leaf brooches that "magically" appear on everyone. Unless of course Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas, have no problem tracking the orcs without finding it in the field. Granted PJ may always just use a flashback. At least they show Galadriel giving Frodo the starlight vial.

This is a movie I'm going to have to see again. Plus I'm lucky.. when this comes out on DVD I'll be able to watch it on the in-laws big screen TV.

[knowhow2]

I have to say that reading the books resently doesn't do you any good. Because when you sit there at the cinema you just get so annoyed with all the small details that wasn't right. For example, at the end scenes Aragorn spoke with Frodo before Frodo decided to walk alone. That didn't happen in the Book.

Gandalf and Saruman never went stickcrazy on eachother in the Book. Saruman didn't say that he wanted to "join" Sauron in the Book. He wanted the ring for himself.

The Uruk-Sai (sorry about spelling) was not descibed like that in the Book. The had long arms and didn't have those van Daam bodies.

Bilbo didn't find the ring. He won it from Gollum (this one I not sure about).

All critique aside, some amazingly great scenes. When the fellowship stood togther the first time. When Gandalf went in and the fellowships grief afterwards. Great stuff!

I think the movie will do better together with the other two.

[chequita guevara]

I jumped when Bilbo's face did that thing, cuz I wasn't expecting it. My GF screamed, and even other people in the audience jumped.

Remember, these are heroes. They kick butt. Orcs are generally worse warriors, but there are so many of them and they breed so quickly that they overwhelm their enemies. The Uruk-Hai, i.e., the half orcs, were quite abit tougher.

I don't mind Arwen taking over Glorifindel's role. No point introducing several incidental characters, though it should have been Gandalf who sent the floods down at the Nazgûl.

I don't mind the inconsistences, because they help the story move along. I don't mind at all Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Wights missing from the story. It was a digretion. I think that the Nazgûl invading Bree was brilliant. It added a wonderful element of terror, and the look on Butterburr's face as they glided through his inn was perfect. Here was a man terrified beyond reason, and he acted it perfectly.

[General Ludd]

Well, I just got back from the movie, it was great - but my experience was terrible. Firstly, I went to a new theater and tried these so-called "VIP seats" which are basically a scam to get people to pay more to sit at the back of the theater . Since I had to sit at the back of the theater, I couldn't see the movie in any detail, because I am short sighted . If that wasn't bad enough, my plan to avoid a large crowd by going to a 12:30(noon) show on thursday failed miserebly, a high school took a trip to see the movie, I was crammed in the theater with 6 bus loads of teenagers . And they couldn't sit still or keep quiet the entire movie .



I'll go again when it isn't so crowded, and maybe when I've got some glasses.

[November Adam]

Silly Osweld... get some glasses man. I hear being able to see the screen helps very much.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by November Adam
Silly Osweld... get some glasses man. I hear being able to see the screen helps very much.

I've never sat at the back of a theater before and wasn't expecting a problem...

[Meisman]

No one's tossing any dwarves!!!

[Immortal Wombat]

Originally posted by Meisman
No one's tossing any dwarves!!!

and that's a bad thing?

[MOBIUS]

Well I've just seen it for the second time...

And will be seeing it for a third time with a bunch of friends on Saturday!

A truly magnificent film!

Basically IMO all the main changes to the book version were for the better and helped move the film along... Basically all the 'humour' in the film is not in the book and things like cutting out Tom Bombadil was a masterstroke - I loathed that character! The Numenorean blades he gives to the Hobbits are merely given by Aragorn instead...

Apparently a lot of the movie never made it past the cutting room floor - in the UK the trailers have a scene of Galadriel blessing the fellowship that isn't in the movie, maybe that full scene included how they got their brooches as well?

I just hope we don't have to wait nearly 30 years for the Lord of the Rings Redux...

My main gripes were the staff fighting scene where Gandalf is hurled against the ceiling of the tower - but you next see him on the roof? He must have cast a spell on himself to pass through stone just before impact...

Also in Moria, doesn't the Balrog's whip actually pull him down in the book - if Gandalf was just hanging there, I can't imagine say Boromir going back to pull him up.

As for the hero killing 50 enemies - I do think it went a trifle OTT when Aragorn calmly walks into the midsts of the entire Uruk-Hai force!

I think my favourite lines were the 'Dwarf tossing' line and Boromir with his "And they have a Cave Troll" line that was dripping with sarcasm...

Another gripe were the slow motion 'death' scenes of Frodo at least twice, Boromir and Sam almost drowning - each were about twice as long as they needed to be, if indeed they were needed at all...

Still nothing can take away my sheer unalloyed delight of seeing Middle Earth come wondrously to life!!!

[The Rusty Gamer]

Disaster at Auckland Premiere!

I don't know if you heard this or not but at the New Zealand Auckland (or is that Orcland?) premiere they played the reels in the wrong order! What a thing to happen! A lot of people were really peeved, especially one guy who'd paid over $1000 for tickets for him and his friends. The theatre apologised profusely, but I don't know what they'll be doing to make it up to the punters. I suppose they could've pretended that the movie was done in the Tarrentino style.

[Kaak]

in a word wow... I was lucky enough to get to go to the premier on tuesday night at 12:01 and I was stunned! The movie in its own right is amazing. The effects and scenery are incredible. The story line never lags, and it is an overall great film.

I do have a couple of qualms tho. Having read the books (and just rereading them), I am a little disappointed in some of the characterization of the film. There was no reason for the prelude to the entrance to Moria to be rewritten. In the books, Gandalf was the one whom anticipated the need to go into the mines before attempting caradhas, and aragorn was the one whom insisted on trying the pass first. This kind of portrays gandalf as week, scared, and shortsighted, when he is supposed to be the one of the wisest in middle earth. Also, I did not like the council of elrond scene at all. The big arguement and yelling match breaking out was a little rediculous. All those there had enough respect for gandalf and elrond that such would have never transpired. (Boromir travelled half of the known world to seek the coucil of elrond...)

oh! and :

And why did he (elrond) have brunette hair when all the other elves are blonde?

His full name is Elrond Halfelven He is only half elf, and therefore can look a little different, no?

Arwen (liv) is WAY hot in the movie.

fordo was good, as was sam (but both were a little whiney)

aragorn was great, but I don't like how they changed his characterization either. It portrayed him as running from his past, not even carrying the sword that was broken (AND IT DIDN'T SHOW IT BEING REFORGED!!!!!!!), and scared of the future. This is definately quite anti-tolkien aragorn. The movie kind of belittled the signifigance of the characters and their honor, and that was its only short coming in my opinion.

OH! and i almost forgot! it doesn't show the friendship develop between gimli and legolas

Overall, the casting was good, and i loved the movie.

ps: as for aragorn walking calmly into a party of uruk hai, he faced and defeated 5 nazgul with a sword and a stick'o'fire. If he can even stand to face the nazgul, i can see him strolling into a party of orcs....