*** Official THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Morgan Jolley]

This was awesome.

The only thing is, waiting a full year to see it and then finally spending a mere 3+ hours in the theater seems a bit like too much in too short a time. I need to see it again.

Definitely a lot of Oscar nods should be thrown at this. Perhaps they should try to set a new record?

Best trilogy ever, period. Star Wars, IMO, is no longer a trilogy, otherwise it would win.

 

[Arman]

If George Lucas was the one who pioneered the great film era for sci-fi fantasy genre then if it was Steven Spielberg who revolutionized it, I would say now here, Peter Jackson has just perfected it.

(I just can't resist, sorry Wachowski brothers, with due respect, you just simply don't belong there. j/k)

The Lord of The Rings: Return of the King is really an amazing and incredible film. Like an e-bay reviewer (not as a HTF film buff), I would give it with a grade of A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.

Oh, yeah seriously, LOTR is by far, the greatest film trilogy ever.

 

[Steven Simon]

Ok,

I am dead tired... Been up all day...


Just got home from midnight showing....


The movie was freakin unreal!!!!!
I had tears in my eyes at the end.....
There you have it...


5 Out of 5 Stars!!!!

 

[Matt Stone]

Just got back from Trilogy Tuesday...very, very exhausted (though no life-ending blood clots like some of you were worrying about )

I'm too tired to write up a bunch of stuff right now, but this is hands down the best I've ever felt about a film right after seeing it.

*****/*****

Kami,
We got the same collectible in Indy. I was surprised and very happy.

 

[Jin E]

Man what a ride. The first 30-50 minutes felt a little off kilter. It's odd describing it as rushed, but too slow. It was as if the editors found the beginning too slow, cut it to speed along the pace, but didn't acheive their goal. I cannot stress how incredible the cinematography was. I'm still pulling the underwear from my crack after the Shelob scence. I didn't care for the way the battle at the black gates were handled. I found the pacing a tad bit slow on the end, but I absolutly loved it's content and found it a magnificent way to end the trilogy. I'm too tired to think straight, so I'll try to jump back in the thread once I get some sleep.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Just got back from a midnight show.

The theater had it playing on EIGHT screens...and they all let out at the same time!!

Anyway, the friends I went with were ecstatic. I expected both of 'em to react like they did to the first two movies ("Definitely good; awesome action; lotsa slow stuff") but they left the theater stunned. Like they just saw the creation of the universe or something. Quite amusing.

I'm also here to inform you all that ROTK holds up QUITE well at a second visit. As if anyone reading this thread is gonna see ROTK less than 10 times over the next few years.

My crowd was great overall...BUT...here's a funny story.

I went with 5 friends. I had to hold all six seats while they were off peeing/getting big icy cups of future-pee. I successfully held all six seats by spreading my coat onto two of 'em and sitting and acting real W I D E in the other seats.

There's this one guy (50-55 years old) who comes in by himself and sits down between two groups of people. They're all in the row in front of me. OK, so the guy went to the movies by himself. That's cool. But in a theater full of open seats he opted to wedge himself in between two people.

OK, no big deal.

The trailers start: we see Kirsten Dunst talking to Tobey Maguire. The solo-guy, sitting directly in front of me, says in a very loud and clear voice (to no one in particular, as he was there by himself):

"Oh! This is Spider-Man Two!!!

The people on both sides of him each look at him at the same time and I chuckle under my breath. Next trailer:

Aww!! Harry Potter!!

Now, by this point I'm a little worried. Sure it's nice to see someone excited for a new movie...but this loonbag was talking. Loudly. Out Loud. To Himself. Surrounded by several people like myself who were seriously worried that loonbag would be yelling things out at random when the movie began.

Needless to say, he did.

When Gandalf reaches the top of Minas Tirith, loonbag mutters quite audibly:

"This movie is BETTER than the book!"

I swear I didn't make that up. He said it. When Eowyn is just about to pull off her helmet, loonbag plainly states:

"OhmyGod! She's gonna stab him!!"

A few minutes later the loonbag muttered something that I couldn't hear and the guy sitting to his right simply...

Lost

His

Shit.

"Shut the fuck up! Shut the fuck up! You've said something every nine minutes since the trailers started! Shut the fuck up!!!"

The guy yelled it so loudly and with such authority that not one smart-ass in the back row even clapped or made a smart-ass comment. It was like scary! I kinda felt bad for loonbag. But on the other hand, one cannot go to a midnight screening of ROTK, talk loudly to one's self for 2+ hours, and not expect to get screamed at.

I'm off to go post my review now! Hope you all had/have a great time with the movie...

 

[Chris]

Incredible. I'm exhausted. Only time in my life I've ever been to a theater that started a movie on four screens, and had to "widen" it that evening to an extra 3 because, due to online ticket sales, etc. they had an overcommittal of tickets All films released at the same time.

Madhouse in the parking lot But, it was all worth it.. a row in front of me of all girls rooted on their apparent favorite character (care to take a guess?) and there were notable sobs and cheering at the right moments; ended with a big standing O.. that's rare.. to be honest, outside of really cult films, I can't think of any other film to ellicit that in a public showing.. not since Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (and that -was- a cult audience)

 

[Jin E]

Well our RotK anicdote of the day:

The Carmike theaters only sell tickets on the day of the show. So this morning a friend of mine went to buy us tickets. As as soon as he gets up to the booth and starts handing the girl some money a big-rig slams into a light pole in front of the movie theater, knocking it over and cutting the power out. Luckily for him the power came back on in about 2 minutes... but after about 5 minutes the power went back off again and the theater was without power for another 4 hours. I bet that really PO'd some people behind him!

 

[Seth Paxton]

oh man do I have tears going on that story.
great stuff Scott.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Film discussion...

well, I was somewhat annoyed with how rushed Sam's rescue and the walk across Mordor were. I mean good lord, try spending more than 10 minutes total there. Bring on the EE for that.

Minus Morgal really looked great.

The battle scenes in this film actually looked BETTER than I had ever imagined them. Some serious destruction by the catapults from both sides, terrible destruction by the Nazgul on the retreating Gondorians.

CGI or not, fakish or not, Legolas does some cool shit, but this was the coolest. My friend said he could hear Gimli's joke coming a mile away, but honestly I think that is the sign of great writing and setup more than being a bad line. It sure as hell got the best response from everyone else including my spontaneous applause.


The Witch King....oh mama. And what a cool death for him too.

Another thing put on-screen by Jackson that was off-screen in the books, the recruiting of the Army of the Dead. Awesome. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Loved them in action, love how the captain spoke and acted. Give me more.

I was choked up when Gandalf went riding out to save the early retreat from the Nazgul attack. Also teared up when Arwen steps out at the end, mostly due to Hugo's facial expression.


Those battles were incredible and I really loved how diverse they made Sauron's various armies. The orcs in general have been nicely varied over the 3 films, giving them an appropriate "racial" mix among their species.


Boy, they really did bring that battering ram to life, didn't they. That was a real treat.

I really hope the EE spends time with Faramir being healed and the romance between Faramir and Eowyn. Personally I think the audience would have eaten it up even in the theatrical because Faramir is such a good guy, trying to live up to his name and Eowyn is the great hero also trying to prove herself. They both have that great underdog, secondary hero thing going for them that makes audiences really latch onto them. Too bad they had to get shoved aside in the end.

 

[Paul W]

Did anyone notice that the first aerial tracking shot of Edoras was run in reverse? It looked like it was the same footage of Eowyn at the golden hall from TTT in reverse.

I wonder if it was intentional.

 

[ThomasC]

I got teary-eyed two times:

"You bow for no one."

Frodo's departure.

Best ever conclusion for a trilogy, even though it's not supposed to be one.

 

[Max Leung]

Yeah, I felt the same way too! Way to go Hugo!

Just an incredible movie.

Oh, and I was stunned when my friend said the 2nd movie was better. Grrr I almost pulled a Gollum on him!

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I DID notice that! It saw the smoke going INTO the chimney!

Here's just a bunch of random stuff:

The Battering Ram - Awesome. Just awesome.

"Whatever comes through those gates" - Three massive cave trolls in armor! Woo-hoo!

The beacon-lighting - A great sequence for many reasons: gives a sense of distance between MT and Rohan; gives a fascinating look at how cultures could communicate by long distance; gave Pippin something heroic to do...though I bet Gandalf could have lit that beacon from down there where he was sitting. Lazy Gandalf!

The catapulted heads - Nasty, but not TOO nasty. Upped the "Oooh, I hate these villains" ante quite a bit, which always helps.

There was one tracking shot that showed Mumakeila in the foreground, a Nazgul flying over center, and then a pan-left to the Cave Troll whacking the door with a giant hammer. Middle-Earth has some dangerous wildlife!

Sam finding the Lembas - Seemed silly to me. Sam KNEW that he didn't eat the stuff, and he KNEW that Gollum was a sniveling sneakbag, so him finding the Lembas seems a little redundant...not to mention highly unlikely.

The gates opening at Minas Morgul - That one screech that the first fell beast gives out. Zowie!

The way Sauron's eye kinda B U L G E D out a little before the phallic/ocular bastard finally crumbled into the dirt. And the way Sauron's eye could look like a lighthouse beacon. Creepy.

The way the Nazgul go screeching back toward the mountain when they know they're screwed bad.

Gimli's entrance at the "pillow fight" scene. Got a BIG laugh tonight. Don't love the scene as a whole all that much, but it's nice.

And of course... the etchings of the cast members!! Would it have killed 'em to include Chris Lee on there? :frowning: (Probably a union thing...)

The moment where Sam lifts Frodo up. Perfect combo of setting, emotion and music.

The far-off shot of Gandalf riding out to protect Faramir and his men. Gorgeous. (But why was Pip with Gandalf at this particular moment?)

My favorite Shelob moment (by far) is when we see the overhead shot of her "second" appearance (following the scene that sees Gollum tumble out of sight). Amazing Arachnids, Frodo! I also love how you see Sting (not the singer) in the foreground right before Sam pops up to save the day.

I think my favorite non-action bit is simply Gandalf's arrival the Minas Tirith. Just amazing.

Jacksons' Corsair cameo.

The elven smith who reforged Aragorn's sword looked like the kids who sing mmm-bop.

Pippin diving into a burning pyre to shove Faramir to safety. Pip's been my favorite character since Chapter 1, so I love that he got to do some heroics.

--Now here's a few questions:

Trailer scene of Eomer sobbing on the battleground? Who was he holding? I assume it's Eowyn and this was removed as part of the "House of Healing" sequence. Anyone?

Did the Eagles show up on their own or did Gandalf invite 'em? At first I thought he had called them, but now it seems clear that the lil' moth showed up WITH the Eagles, none of whom were really expected. And why couldn't those damn birds have helped out at Helm's Deep?

Why didn't Elrond help out in the battle? He's a bad-ass!

...back later...

 

[Max Leung]

...and I really liked Gandalf's expression when they charged in. "Oopsy!".

Ack. I think it is time for bed. But damn I'm hyped.

 

[Holadem]

Some random thougths, before I go to bed like everyone

The Beacon lighting sequence may be my favorite in the whole trilogy.

I take back everything I said about Gollum's story not belonging in ROTK. I will be haunted by that sequence for a very long time. It evoked in me such tremendous pity for Gollum, but also loathing and litterally FEAR of the ring, and by extention, genuine fear for Frodo, or even Sam, because of their proximity to such an infinitely evil thing.

The RING... and that CREEPY music... while we all know the ring is evil, for the first time it was actually palpable. If anyone has failed so far to feel the ring at a visceral level, this is the time.

--
H

 

[Malcolm R]

 

[Jeff Adams]

I have not read through all pages of this thread so forgive me if this has been asked and answered. Does anyone know how long the EE of ROTK will be? Are we going to get a lot more character development like we did with TTT and FOTR?

 

[Chuck Mayer]

There are my favorite moments after special movies...

Discussing them with everyone

Seeing what other saw that I missed, and sharing details.

I made a review, and frankly did not do the film justice. I actually would NOT have gone last night if I could have seen it later in time. I was just not in the LOTR mood, not in a film mood, etc. But the film still worked. It was still magical, and when I sit down with all 3 EE's (or see them in the theater...I am envious of those that got to experience Trilogy Tuesday, it was not in the cards for me), it will be a grand experience.

No film could replicate FOTR for me, but this one comes close. So much beauty, so much awe.

It was easiest the best-looking film I have ever seen. And I've seen a bunch, even just this year.

Grond

Minas Tirith

Gandalf riding out

The Witchking of Angmar on the tower of Minas Morgul

Frodo and Sam

Pippin singing


I had my problems with the film, but they wash away easily with recollection.

I did expect more ooomph at Eowyn vs. the Witchking, but it still worked. I just expected to fall out of my seat. Some of it was Miranda's utterance of the GREAT LINE.

It does feel like it's missing material in places (and not just because I didn't see the Mouth of Sauron). Just little bits here and there. No doubt the EE will smooth those over.

More as I remember,
Chuck

 

[Chuck Mayer]

And Scott...great story. Made me chuckle quite a bit.

I was a little miffed when my midnight showing started at 12:20 AM with about ten minutes of ads, and then some sorry-ass trailers for some sorry-ass movies.

That, and the squatter in the best row (front row, stadium section) saving 15 seats for his friends, and whining how he had been there since 11 AM. Yeah, well then YOU should get the best seat. If you are gonna save seats, don't save the fifteen BEST ONES by yourself. He had a rough hour...I helped make it so.

Take care,
Chuck