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

[Sean Cauley]

As someone who hasn't read the books, I will say that there were a couple of places I assumed we'd lost a bit to the running-time limitations, especially with regard to the Houses of Healing everyone's talking about. I spent half the Black Gate scene trying to figure out if all the severely wounded main characters (Merry, Eowyn, Faramir) were present and in decent shape, and if so, how and why? I've got to guess that'll be in the EE and will help to give the impression that the journey to the Black Gate (and Frodo's and Sam's journey across Mordor to Mt. Doom) won't seem so quick. Also, there's bound to be something in there to make it logical that Eowyn seems so happy for Aragorn and Arwen when the last time she and Aragorn shared a scene, he was breaking her heart (I did notice her obvious bond with Faramir and hope that's addressed, too).

As to the ending, I have to say that the last scene to really pack an emotional wallop and bring tears to my eyes (or, as ESPN's The Sports Guy says, "the room got a little dusty") was "You bow to no one." Just thinking about it gets me welling up again. The Grey Havens didn't do it for me as much. I did like the ending, though I think the length of time the black (or white) screens were held after the fade-outs are what give people the impression the movie could have ended at those points. After the coronation ceremony, a guy and his kids headed for the door of the theater, like skipping the encore of a concert to beat the traffic.

One of my favorite moments in the film was Theoden's death scene, and for a reason I don't think anyone's mentioned here yet: that his first words to Eowyn were a repeat of the line he uttered upon coming out of the spell in TTT: "I know your face...Eowyn." That killed me. I don't know if, in either place in the story, that's a Tolkien line or a Walsh/Jackson/Boyens line (again, haven't read the books yet), but I loved it. And as for Eowyn slaying the Witch King, I saw it coming a few minutes in advance (when they said he couldn't be killed by any man, I thought, "but there's a woman and a hobbit running around out there, so watch out, pal!"), and I agree that the "I am no man!" line bordered on cheesy, but somehow when she said it, it brought tears to my eyes. After a couple of viewings of The Two Towers (especially after the EE), she officially became my favorite character in that film, so to see her have such a huge moment in this one really got to me.

One last visual touch (that I can think of at the moment) that I liked: When Denethor ran, flaming, off the cliff (which was, admittedly, silly-looking at first), the long shot of him falling in front of the white city showed him kind of disappearing to the viewer's eye in favor of the chaos of the battle below before he even got halfway down the cliff. It kind of gave the impression that this man, who'd held himself in such high regard as the Great Steward of Gondor, was ultimately very insignificant against this greater evil. Nice visual storytelling, intentional or not.

 

[Richard_D_Ramirez]

Once the MOS is unmasked in the EE, you'll discover it's Baghdad Bob! "The servants of the enemy infidel will never enter Mordor! There is no Ring in our land!"

 

[Rob Gillespie]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Saddam"

 

[Graham Perks]

Was there ever a poster for ROTK that wasn't the hero-faces one? Something like the Argonath for FOTR?

 

[Graham Perks]

Did anybody spot a Peter Jackson cameo in ROTK? I didn't (TTT was too easy

I didn't see any cars in ROTK, either

 

[Chuck Mayer]

We have at present witnessed and killed three horsemen of Rohan and five of your Gondorian warriors. We have beaten them back!

Always funny!

Any predictions for what the giftset of ROTK will include as a bonus Sideshow Weta piece? I'd love a mini-Minas Tirith Or a nice Mt. Doom, or Barad-Dur...

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Marvin Richardson]

or a Grond...
suppose the gift set will include a "special" edition of that new National Geographic Behind The Movie DVD?

 

[Greg*go]

I could be wrong, but I think I saw Peter Jackson as a ghost. It could've just been a different short fat guy though. It was pretty hard to tell since he was ghost-like.

 

[EricW]

i'm just wondering: does that 'danger beacon' system work both ways? if Theoden wanted the help, could he have started the fires the other way to Gondor? what's the story behind the seperation of the two kingdoms of men anyways?

a FOTR question: in the movie, Aragorn is aware of Gollum tracking Frodo/the ring. couldn't he have at least 'taken care' of him before leaving Frodo on his journey?

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I don't remember much, but the kingdoms were split in two, with Gondor in the south, and Arnor in the north. During some period, the Witch King kept making war against the North, and he eventually overcame Arnor, and renamed the kingdom Angmar (?). This sets Aragorn to be in exile.

 

[Kami]

Peter Jackson's cameo was the only shot of the men ON the Corsair ships. PJ is the captain/guy yelling out orders. Hard to tell at first but I confirmed it the 2nd time I saw it....has to be PJ

 

[Kevin Grey]

Listening to the soundtrack I think the final scene in the Grey Havens would have been more powerful if they had tracked "Into the West" on top of it. Listening to the song and thinking of the images of that final scene is more moving to me than the score that actually accompanied it.

 

[Steve Kuester]

Something that I thought was kind of funny...

When Merry and Eowyn were at camp and they were off to the smith to sharpen his sword. The way Merry was running and swinging his sword reminded me of Ralphie running through the kitchen after he got his BB gun in A Christmas Story.

Off topic, I know. But it still gives me the chuckles thinking about it.

 

[Josh Lowe]

PJ was the guy in Bree holding a carrot in FOTR and the corsair captain in ROTK. Does anyone know if/what he was in TTT?

 

[Max Leung]

Josh, he was the spear-throwing chainmailed soldier as the Uruk-hai were battering down the door. He filled most of the frame and gave off a mighty yell!

 

[Richard_D_Ramirez]

PJ was a Rohirrim warrior chucking down a spear at an Uruk-hai at Helm's Deep in TTT.

 

[Graham Perks]

Mmm, thanks.

Those two kids get everywhere, too!

 

[Max Leung]

Everytime I see PJ's kids I get taken out of the movies...they are a major distraction for me actually. Oh well.

 

[Daniel DeLawter]

Actually the witch king founded Angmar north of the kingdom of Arnor, which was split into three regions over time. Each region was conquered one after another by subversion and arms. Finally Cirdan from the Gray Havens, Gondor and Elrond's forces under Glorfindel (who had the power to directly challenge the Lord of the Nine. Liv Tyler's Arwen replaces Glorfindel's role in FOTR in the movie, confronting all 9 nazgul at the ford, it makes less sense to me - he had a better resume!) combined to drive the witch king out and destroy Angmar, but it was too late to save the northern kingdom.

As the witch king escaped, Glorfindel told his forces to let him go, "Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall"

 

[Holadem]

No, Arnor was never renamed Angmar, it was destroyed. Angmar is the Kingdom of the Witch King, also located in Northern Middle Earth. The Witch King of Agmar is single handedly responsible for the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, Arnor.

Rohan has little to do with all this.

Eorl the Young, the greatest King of Rohan long ago, was vaguely related to Gondor. The Rohirrim are a noble people, but of a significantly lower lineage than Gondorians at this point, though I realize that may not have come through properly from the films. If there was ever a hint of Numenor in their blood, it is long gone.

--
H