| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
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WOW. |
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(let me just say that if Andy Serkis is not nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar, all is lost.) (let me also say that Helm's deep is (so far) the most awesome battle scene I have ever seen) |
Can you answer one question? If so, could you please tell me if the movie's end has any substantial degree of resolution, or if it just sorta...stops and provokes the entire audience to yelp a Moe-like "WHAAAAAAA-?" in unison? |
Maybe if I hadn't read the books, I would have liked it, but, as it was, I hurt inside. I must admit, however, that it was visually quite stunning. The ending...well, I was too busy being pissed off to notice if the audience was confused. It didn't end where the book did, surprise surprise. Yes, I am a purist with good books, damnit. They did a reasonably good job on the first one and they had to go and screw it all up. |
Plus, the acting was great. Miranda Otto was fantastic, and so was Brad Dourif. They did a good job with the ents as well. My only character beef was that Faramir didn't get enough screen time to really develop his character. If you want a word by word literal adaption of a book, go wathc Harry Potter again. I mean, it's a MOVIE. IT went from one plotline in the first movie to three plot lines in the second movie, four if you count the Arwen/Aragorn stuff. (I don't want to talk much about this because I don't want to spoil it for anone). Terrible? hardly. |
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and it is super, could have used a little less dramatic dialog. if it had been true to the book it would have been as boring as all hell except maybe for the part about faramir acting completely differently. that's a bit weird. i saw it first- nyahnyah |
I disliked a lot of the liberties they took with the plot because I, personally, thought that it changed some of the fundamental ideas of the book. But whatever. I wasn't expecting a perfect (and, as Heather points out, mindnumbing boring) adaptation of the book--I just didn't like the way it turned out, although I really liked the first one. (Especially the extended version...) I just don't like it when they fundamentally change characters (Faramir, Treebeard, etc). It irritates me no end. They also could have done without adding random shit that never happened and putting in more interesting details. I also think that audience members who hadn't read the books would have been royally confused by some things (like why Gollum freaks out when he's tied up with the Elvish ropes). But whatever. |
wow, what a tagline that would be. |
I REALLY disliked all the cheese that was liberally scattered about. Like Gandalf rearing up on Shadowfax on the skyline before he saves the day, and Sam's two speeches at the end. Come ON. I disliked the pacing and lack of good exposition -- I felt like I was relying on my dodgy memory of the books to figure out what was going on, instead of being able to tell from the action onscreen. I had too many "Wait, [who/what/where] are they again?" moments. That said, I am so happy to be able to say that I was completely blown away by the fabulousness that was Gollum. He was my favorite character in the books, and I am so pleased that the filmmakers and Andy Serkis totally nailed his portrayal. However, I found that his presence onscreen disturbed me terribly. You know the scene in which he first argues with himself? Many people in my theatre laughed at that, but it made me cry. When he wails, "I hate you!"....oh my. I'll see the movie again, just for that scene. I didn't like the idea behind making the Helm's Deep battle such a big deal, but I was very impressed with its execution. I was also happy that I got to see a brief moment of the Black Gate Opening. I can't wait for the scene in the next movie when it opens for good. Gah! Another year! |
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i thought the bit where frodo is ready to sacrfice himself to the nazgul was a good addition. it let sam save his ass and include some cheesy speeches without going into the shelob bit. arwen needs to get naked more. |
as long as they're slaughtering plots, bring on the naked scenes. |
naked. With Legolas. yeah. Okay. so. what are elves doing at Helm's Deep again? |
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Nate, are you being sarcastic? |
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I didn't like that whole scene. Why did Sam tell Faramir that Frodo has the ring in front of all of Faramir's men? It was supposed to be a secret. I can barely accept that the Nazgul couldn't tell that Frodo was holding the ring out to him because he can't see too well (though couldn't he smell it?). It seemed to me that Frodo and the ring's cover was completely blown in that scene. Does this mean that in the next movie we won't see the part in which Pippin activates a palantir and Sauron thinks Pippin's got the ring? Argh! PS. I'm glad Pippin grew up a lot in TTT...he bugged the hell out of me in the first movie. |
frodo is total cheese ass in the book. frodo is so damn annoying. i have noticed that the whole frustrated homosexual thing between frodo and sam has been pretty much left out of the movies. i guess that is good? i don't know. |
And it wasn't homosexual love...it was tender and abiding devotion between a servant and his master which cannot be comprehended by modern thinking. Or something. Anyway, I'm glad they left it out because, AGAIN, it would have turned into cheese on the screen. Well, it wasn't completely left out: speaking of annoying, would it be too much to ask for Frodo to stop giving Sam those sad-eyed smiles? Please! |
the books are cheesy. i don't think the movies should be any different. |
Tolkein was trying to create an epic story, and you can't have an epic without melodrama. I thought the movies crossed over into Cheese when they bashed you over the head with sentimentality (e.g., Sam's ending speeches), which the books were better at avoiding. The ending of the ROTK is pretty gloomy, too (though it's my understanding that the movie will cut those scenes out), and isn't gloom the anti-cheese? |
Unless you are talking about the gloomy series of appendices? |
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period. |
I dunno, I saw quite a bit of repressed desire in thier eyes when they look at each other... And the ENTS. Gotta love the ENTS. |
I got a 42. I am chagrined....and yet, yay! Gollum! |
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I love the movie whole-heartedly, even with some of the sappy stuff. Especially when they are speaking Elvish! |
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This isn't turning into a game of Tolkien oneupmanship is it? |
the bible is usually one volume, too, isn't it. |
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Oh, and Sem! One of these freaks said that he had read an interview with Elijah Wood in which he said that he (Wood) cried when he saw the ending of the ROTK for the first time, so you're right about the gloom being left in. But apparently Jackson has said -- either on the DVD commentary or in an article -- that the scene that I hinted at above will not be in the film and that the taste of it that we got to see in the FOTR is all that we'll get to see. Unless it's in the extended version of the ROTK... |
Of course, after return is released, then the extended version, I suppose a platimum complete trilogy set will come out.... money, it's a drag |
Yeah, that was cool. Was it just me, or was that whole scene ripped from Wizard of Oz when they're trying to get into the wicked witch's castle to save Dorothy? And when they slid down the loose rock in front of the gate and the 2 guards couldn't see them after they hid themselves under a blanket, I was like, "Yeah right. Eh, fuck it. Must keep suspending disbelief." Also, I did a "Moe-like "WHAAAAAAA-?" at the end too, but didn't notice any of the rest of the audience doing the same. I was annoyed by the family in front of us who must've set a world movie-going record of getting up to go pee. I'm going to re-read the series. Been a long time. |
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I gotta pick me up one of those. I just read the latest issue of Cinefex, with a feature on the Two Towers. It's well worth going to B&N or Borders and reading in the store (most folks balk at the $10 cover price, but it is an industry mag after all). Anyway, it's all about the fx used in the movie and has a lot of really neat details. Like the trolls that open and close the Black Gate are Mountain Trolls, which are 1 and a half times bigger than cave trolls and those two were extra muscular to boot, from spending their lives opening and closing that sucker. |
I must have weird taste in men because Legolas, Aragorn, Boromir, they were all OK but whatever. I actually think Sean Astin looked hot it these movies. |
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Eri, you should rent the extended version DVD and listen to the actors' commentary -- Sean Astin is just adorable. |
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(hi.) |
Oh and cheering when Craig Parker (that other elf) gets killed. |
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He did look good with long blonde hair. I'm a sucker for guys with long long hair or shaved heads. Why is that? |
So -- Yay, Boromir flashbacks! Yay, Denethor! Yay, explanation for why Faramir was made into a jerk! Plus, more Ents. |
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