LOTR:TTT Extended Edition to be Rated PG-13 (1 Viewer)

[Chris Farmer]

Did Michjael J Fox drop an F-bomb in BttF? I remember quite a few "shits," "assholes," and the like, but didn't catch any f-bombs.

 

[Grant H]

Can't say I recall any either, except maybe in the outtakes.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I was watching Back to the Future the other day, and I was just MARVELED by the amount of profanity (F-bombs etc) dropped by MJFox... yet that was only PG.

Huh? What version did YOU see? I recall not a single "f-bomb" in any of the BTTF flicks. Could be wrong, but I really don't think they're there...

 

[Nathan V]

I'd say The Phantom Menace was better than FOTR (as far as duels go, anyway)...Helm's Deep was terribly underwhelming for a battle of that intensity. And don't get me started on the "documentary-style" (re: drunken monkey helmet-cam) camera work...

I'm sorry, but I find the battles in LOTR to be astronomically better than anything in The Phantom Menace.
And anyway, they're two different types of battles- Phantom Menace has sanitized battles that are limited by their PG rating; the duels are more 'formal,' like samurai fights (haha, this ruins my Kurosawa comparison ). Thus, steady/tracking shots fit in with the mood of the scene. Whereas the LOTR battles are dirtier, gorier, grittier and more violent affairs. Thus, the handheld camerawork; steady, composed shots would contrast with the scene's mood.

In the end, it comes down to one question- what defines a good battle/fight scene?
To me the answer is, a sense of intense energy, intense realness; a sense of being 'there,' experiencing what the character's are going through. Reality.

Going off of this criteria, it's unfair to judge SW's duels/battles, because they take place in a nonrealistic environment in a kid's movie. They have very little ability to be "real" or "gritty." They can't help it; they're under too many restrictions to be what, say, Black Hawk Down is. Within the aforementioned "restrictions," the SW battles are fantastic. But they still pale in comparison to Amon Hen or Helm's Deep. (All this IMO, of course!)

Great Discussion.


Disclaimer: this post is not meant, in any way, to instigate a SW/LOTR bashfest

Regards,
Nathan

 

[Dennis Pagoulatos]

Hmm...I think editing and storyboarding of shots are the 2 most important things in putting together an action or battle scene. One of the best at putting together visceral in your face action without the drunken monkey cam effect (ie not knowing who is doing what to whom and why, completely disorienting and aggrevating to watch) is James Cameron. His edits flow together "like butta" and you're never scratching your head asking "WTF is going on??!" I think the Helm's Deep battle in particular is underwhelming for that very reason; not coherently shot and edited together. For chaos and carnage, watch the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan" and see another master director put together a gripping battle scene. PJ is great at coordinating, but I think by spreading himself thinly during the simultaneous shooting of the 3 films, we get some incoherent stuff (ie 2nd units shooting scenes that PJ probably should have directed and shot himself). All in all they are marvels to behold, but they don't compare favorably IMO to other great battle scenes. Grand scope and scale only gets you so much "wow"; sustaining that "wow" for a long battle scene is an art in itself...

-Dennis

 

[MarkHastings]

Dennis,

Great post! I too thought that TTT was a bit difficult to follow at times. The darkness and quick camera action was definitely confusing. Hopefully a few times through with the DVD will clear that up though

 

[Carlo_M]

I too hope they do not add "more gore" because it would be against the spirit of the novel. Tolkien is known for not going into great, gory depths in his depiction of battle. Probably because he lived through 2 World Wars (and served in at least one and maybe both of them) that is totally understandable. If the book were gory and graphic then I'd want the films to be as well, but that is clearly not the case here.

 

[John CW]

I too hope they do not add "more gore" because it would be against the spirit of the novel. Tolkien is known for not going into great, gory depths in his depiction of battle.

I distinctly remember some fairly graphic stuff at the end of RotK, but I think the level so far has been perfect. Saying that, I would happily watch an 'R' rated TTT!

~ Johnny

 

[Tommy G]

Colin, you neglected to look at the quote prior to my making the statement about "The Patriot". I don't disagree that "The Patriot" should be rated R. However, I was referring to the following quote:



Hope that clarifies things a little bit.