LoTR: The Two Towers

[Zero]

Originally posted by korn469
Calc II

don't they have some kind of early bird special? here the movie is 6.50-7.00 bucks for a night time showing and 3.75-4.50 for the early show

if you are going to watch it i'd say do it in the theater, it's a big story and the screen and 65 thx speakers give it the backdrop it needs

by the way what did you dislike about the first film?

I havent paid 4.50 for movie since couple of years ago... The matinee for afternoon too is 6.50 I think.

Dunno. Slept thru it. Second's trailer does look appealing though

[FrustratedPoet]

hmmm ... sounds like some changes have been made that don't really add anything, but i guess I'll wait until I see it myself before criticising. Elves turning up at Helm's Deep is a bit strange.

I actually think that giving Arwen a bigger part and cutting Glorfindel/Tom B makes a lot of sense, narratively speaking.

The Frodo/Sam/Gollum bits from the book got on my nerves too Wombat - I doubt the film will be any different.

[korn469]

sounds like some changes have been made that don't really add anything, but i guess I'll wait until I see it myself before criticising. Elves turning up at Helm's Deep is a bit strange

elves turning up at helms deep actually made sense in the movie, it might not be true to the book, but it seemed quite plausible in the movie

[FrustratedPoet]

fair enough

[Immortal Wombat]

my arse it did

[FrustratedPoet]

Wombat's arse has spoken. Case closed.

Maybe your arse is just grumpy because it had to have you sitting on it through 2 showings of the movie?

[korn469]

why wasn't it plausible as far as the movie went iw? not from a book standpoint, but just in general?

[Immortal Wombat]

Well, my arse did get a little grumpy. It was 7 hours

korn, if you ignore all the history of Middle Earth, disregard Tolkien's account of it, and use solely the film, then you're bordering on possible. If you can explain how a party of archers on foot managed to get from Rivendell to Helm's Deep in under two days.

[Drake Tungsten]

I think the Elves were from Lothlorien. It's Haldir and Co., right? Still stupid, but maybe possible...

[FrustratedPoet]

Interestingly, Haldir isn't named in the extended DVD version ... not in English anyway.

He introduces himself to the Fellowship as "Haldir of Lorien" in Elvish, but the subtitles don't translate it.

God I'm sad.

[korn469]

iw

i have only read the fellowship of the rings, and nothing else by Tolkien, and the archer's looked like they came from Lothlorien but i'm not sure if that would have made a difference, although since galadriel and elron could see the future, maybe they sent them out in time

[Drake Tungsten]

God I'm sad.

Yes you are.

[hexagonian]

I felt Gollum was the best part of a good movie. The whole idea about his dual personality was in the book, but really brought out nicely in the movie. And the empathy Frodo felt for him was highlighted too - again it's stronger in the movie than the book. You have to remember that there is not a whole lot of action happening while they are tramping around the fence of Mordor looking for a way in.

...Faramir taking Frodo back to Osgiliath was a stretch though. I can see why Jackson did it though - present the use of the Ring against Sauron as a huge temptation for humans, but Frodo standing on the top of the wall with a Nazgul right in front of him about to grab him was a little over the top.

Boy those Nazgul are pansies. Sauron better get some better servants to finish the job.

Overall, FOTR was better, but TTT was incredible in its own right. I'll be getting the DVD!

[Kepler]

Some comments on TTT, which we saw today.

1. It was good. Solid B+. Just like FOTR.
2. It's less childworld than FOTR (insofar as the Hobbits are stand-ins for kids in the audience, which is about all they amount to characterwise in the movies), and so it's better.
3. If you have Elf archers, don't charge a heavily armed Orc brigade like shock troops. That's just dumb.
4. The good/bad Gollum got tiresome quick.
5. Legolas is hot. Damn it, he's just hot. I'm going to be in therapy for a while.
6. They did their best to drag a couple women into the storyline, but they just aren't there in the books. Women in the books are ethereal wisdom creatures above sexuality. Tolkein just wasn't interested in them.
7. Damn, these are gorgeous movies. They are the best cinematography of the "epic" style I've ever seen.
8. Boy the Ents do their doubletake pretty quick, for Ents.
9. What the hell was that voicetrack on the music during the closing credits? Is that the director's 16 year old daughter, or 16 year old mistress, or what? Good god, it was worse than Enya, and that's saying something.

[Arrian]

It was pretty good (B+ if I had to grade it) but I don't see the reason for most of the changes.

The Elves at Helm's Deep? Eomer riding in w/Gandalf instead of the other guy from Westfold (name escapes me)? Making charging out at dawn Aragorn's idea instead of Theoden's? It's not that those things screw up the story, really, but I just don't see why Jackson didn't leave them be.

The dream interludes with Arwen were annoying.

Faramir was a much nobler character in the book. This was the change that irked me most. Taking Frodo & Sam captive and dragging them to Osgiliath? I can maybe understand that Jackson was trying to show us the attack on Osgiliath & show that Gondor was losing ground, but I still think it weakens Faramir, who was one of my favorite characters in the book.

The battle was impressive, but I think I read too much hype about it beforehand. I will probably get to see the movie again on the big screen, and perhaps I'll like it better the second time 'round.

-Arrian