TTT - great movie

[ralph]

JIM CAREY GETS TO BE GOD FOR A WEEK IN AN UPCOMING MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!

[The Insider]

Btw,what was the name of the head elf who came to help Aragorn at Helm's Deep..was also in FoTR. Can't remember for the life of me.

[Murr]

I really need to see it again to judge it fairly, I think.

The entire time I was dazed and mildly irritated. Farimir made me angry inside. I still think Treebeard came off as too..I don't know..he just didn't come out the way I wished he would. In the books he was a thoughtful, interesting character. In the movie he is simply an imposing figure with a voice that's a mix of Gimli, Gandalf, and Saruman, who defers to Gandalf rather than making his own decisions (even though he's the oldest creature residing in Middle-Earth).
And why did they have to make everything so overly difficult? Theoden won't cooperate, the ents don't cooperate, Farimir wants to gank the ring... come on, really.

However...
30 ents beating the living shit out of Isengard and Saruman's remaining forces was wet-my-pants-good.
Gollum was PERFECT. Wow.
Some complain about the Legolas-Gimli friendship being nonexistent. I didn't really feel that way.. Legolas defends him as in the book when Eomer's troops are surrounding them and they have a healthy rivalry..although the whole Glittering Caves of Aglarond/Fangorn deal was conspicuously absent. (Sidenote: The caves looked cool as shit)
I really liked Sam a lot better in this movie than Fellowship. Elijah Wood continues to do a great job as Frodo.
Fuck the whole Arwen flashback sequence although Elrond and Galadriel talking was cool.
I also find it ridiculous that the elves got there so fast, not to mention the changed distance between Fangorn and Isengard (they even show a map in the movie, fangorn isn't fucking directly across from Isengard as falsely portrayted).
BUT... all the elves in robes with their bows marching in unison was incredibly cool. I saw Haldir's death coming..still sucks though. His and Theoden's armor were sooooo sweet looking.
And what the fuck did they do with the breaking of Saruman's staff, etc? I guess it will be in the 3rd movie unless Merry and Pippin magically appear in Rohan/Minas Tirith, respectively. I still think Aragorn only fell off the cliff so they could put that dramatic scene where he pushes open the doors in the previews.
And finally..the Winged Nazgul were fucking sveet.

[The Insider]

Ah yes,Haldir...nm. Thnx Murr

[aychamo_aycono]

Haldir.. Lol. I was glad that fat ugly elf got killed.. My friend was like "OH NO" when he died, so i leaned over and told her "it doesnt matter, he's not suposed to be there."

[Tarissa DR]

I was sort of disappointed but I had high hopes:

1) Legolas the skateboard bowman...

2) Helmsdeep getting INTERRUPTED with slow scenes in the middle of the battle (they SHOULD have put Helmsdead and the Ent fight scene after each other if anything...) As soon as I got into helmdeep here is this quiet interlude with some hobbits... it didn't fit...

3) Some of the effects didn't blend very well... (hobbits riding the ents.. you could almost taste the bluescreen)

4) Where DID those horses come from when the king and aragorn lead their triumphant charge at their last stand inside helmsdeep (sorry, bad with names - the king and aragorn, and uh that other guy :|)

5) I saw Legolas trip as he was running in one shot... wtf... :\ How bad is that compared to the beautiful scene as they scaled the mountain pass in the first one.. everyone trudges through the snow, legolas light of foot is walking ON TOP OF IT! I thought that was an own touch... and there I saw him trip.. :|

6) Gimly was huge comic relief ;\

I guess I Just didn't get into the world as much... so much battle and action, but seeming like middle earth wasn't fleshed out or drawing me in... the suspension of disbelief was messed up with me a few times...

Eowyn falls for Aragorn fast, but with little expounding on why or how, or giving it any time to develop. And of course Aragorn is more than happy to go from first meeting this girl to hugging her with relief once she finds he's alive... a lot of implied stuff there that never even gave itself time to happen

I suppose I have to get back on griping about the editing.. so many scenes that draw you in and then push you away... bad pacing...

Shrug, or maybe my expectations were just high... probably too high.

[aychamo_aycono]

Aye.. They really didn't do any of the beautiful scenes a la the fellowship.

but like you said, a problem is definitly the expecations. i actualy thought of that about a week ago when I was running. that most of us have been waiting for SO long for this movie (a year) to come out, and the first was so good, any little thing we will complain about and make it sound as if it ruins the movie..

who knows.. i'm anxious to see whats in the deleted scens... 11 months!@

[ArkturusMaximus]

Those of you knit-picking the changes should be banned from RotK. Books do not literally translate well to movies...its a different forum of expression entirely.

You say they destroyed Faramir's character? Re-read the books again...its not like he wasnt tempted at all by the ring, PJ just took it a further so that he could develope a few of the characters a little more and show off another gorgeous set piece...I mean wasn't cool to see what Osgiliath looks like? The important part is he redeems himself while the Ring is still within his grasp, any redemption Boromir achieved was after the Ring was out of his reach....A VERY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION. Faramir's story-arc takes place in the third movie and nothing Jackson did in this one will affect that.

Others of you lamenting on the loss of certain parts, changes to some characters, lesser developement than you think should have been there....I dont want to sit through a 5 hour movie...the movies are all about finally visualizing this wonderfully imaginative moral tale and the world its set in. Every single one of us has a different vision of the books, and if every single one of us made a movie out of the books we would all have different movies (even if we followed the book literally). Just be thankful that someone has come along and filmed a version that is truly a joy to watch, and when you go see RotK next year, put away your fanboy checklists and enjoy art the proper way...opening yourself up to the experience.

Just a final note, THANK GOD THE MOVIES ARE DIFFERENT. If I got the exact same story from watching the movies it would destroy the expierence I have every year of sitting down with the books over X-mas break. Now I have a version I can enjoy with myself and a version I can enjoy with all my friends.

[Stave]

Movie rocked.. not much else to say.

One thing sucks tho.. now us EQ players get to see all the dwarf twinks with windblades named names like Gymleee and Ghiiimlii runnin around EQ for the next few weeks.

[Xenox]

Very pleased with this movie, though it did have it's faults.

Pros-

Ents were amazing, and the battlescene couldn't have been done better. The tree that was on fire that dunked it's head in the water almost made me pee my pants.

The attention to detail, montsers moving black gate at Mordor, etc. The entire movie was just epic.

Legollas was so bad ass.

Cons-


I really felt too much of it was battle shots. Seems like they axed content in favor for action. One of the main things I loved about Fellowship was how it wasn't just some action movie, and actually had an amazing story as well as great action. TTT seemed more like an action movie.

Not enough Gandalf =( Was very excited when he returned, but after that he was in maybe 3 more scenes. He needed many more scenes.

Too much Gollum and a misinterpretation of Gimli. 2 minutes of Gollum would have been great, 30 minutes kind of ruined the character and made him annoying. Gimli also played JarJar Binks in TTT, and delivered some stellar comic relief. The only shitty part is it was just plain stupid.

Felt Saruman,Sauron, and Gandalf all could have had more action in the movie, and less of Gollum and battleshots. I guess I just felt the whole movie lacked structure.

Anyway, it's all mostly just nitpicking. I loved the movie and will go see it again shortly.

[Diakonov]

Where to start......

I thought the panoramic views in the TwoTowers were on par with the Fellowship. I was curious to see the Glittering Caves, i live near the Carlsbad Caverns and am there on a bi-monthly basis and i thought that they pulled that element off quite nicely.

Muisc was absolutely beautiful, as compared to the Fellowship where all of the main theme melodies were established there was nothing really i could hum after leaving the cinema in the TwoTowers excluding Gollum's Song, well...i guess the really nice Rohan Theme with the Hardinger.

I wish the Fight with the Balrog on top of Ziragikil (something like that) would have been a bit longer, one of the parts i was most anxious to see.

Ents raiding Isengard could have been much longer, i have some qualms with the Ents at first refused to help but i guess that goes along with the whole "it is not our problem" or "we refuse to help" theme (see lothlorien with admitting the fellowship, Gondor not helping Rohan with the invasion of the Westfold, ents, rivendell and lothlorien help with arms in general)

About Faramir.....this character might have been modified drastically but that is in line with PJ's projection of the One Ring being a great corrputing force. Not one has mentioned that Galadriel's lust for the ring was radically shown, as with Aragorn, Boromir (a bit more than described in book).

I am interested to see how this Arwen leaving Middle-Earth thing will be resolved and if PJ shows Eowyn falling in love with Faramir.

Gimli..........have to agree, they made him a funny character without sacrificing his fierceness (well, not too much) for a stupid laugh like JarJar. I loved when he started to talk about the dwarven women, would have been funny if PJ took that a step further and had Gimli take off his helmet and he had a picture in his helmet of the lil' dorf lady he left behind.

As far as the foreign languages go, i heard actual Rohan spoken only several times, some dorf would have been nice also

Anyone notice how it is kinda strange how some of the characters gets sneak up by 100+ people. In the FotR where Aragorn is talking to Frodo and the see's Sting glow and turns around and there is a great bunch of orcs, bah. as loud as they are i think he would have heard them. Also, when Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli have the initial run in with Eomer, they all of the sudden appear out of now where and jump out of the way in the nick of time.shrug. and how Sting never glows, even at Osgoliath maybe some other times but i just didn't notice untill then.

Kickass movie and i will see it at least 7+ times.

adios!!

/drool for Extended Version of the Two Towers

[Camu]

4) Where DID those horses come from when the king and aragorn lead their triumphant charge at their last stand inside helmsdeep (sorry, bad with names - the king and aragorn, and uh that other guy :|)

Those were the company of Eomer Gandalf went away to gather and bring to battle as promised to Aragorn. (King name is Theoden).

reading Murr Durr post, i must say i agree with 100% of what he said...

They turned every character into a stubborn not helping character willing to mind his own business until he has no further choice... see Theoden Treebeard Faramir...

Theoden who was beeing Heroic in the book is turned into an hesitating wuss...

Treebeard who is supposed to be the master of Fangorn just learned hundreds of trees were cut down?

Faramir, strong minded captain resisting the temptation of the Ring, is like changing his mind in Osgilliath in the wrong time IMO... i mean as a captain of gondor, you see the ring bearer nearly giving the ring to a Nazgul (hella sweet looking btw), what do you do? You send that guy who barely resisted to a Nazgul directly into Sauron's land? that is so illogical...

Besides that... a nazgul on his wings, just in front of two hobbits, keeping the ring that attract him so much, fly away because his mount took one arrow ??? wtf one arrow... how can even humans aim at it, they are supposed to be dazzled by fear...

Another thing... WTF are elfs doing in Helm's Deep? that makes no sense at all, there is no alliance anymore between Elfs and Humans...

oh and wtf is Elrond leaving Middle Earth for? as the wielder of Vilya the Ring of Air he is here to lead the resistance to Sauron along with Galadtiel and Nenya and Gandalf with Narya... How is leaving Middle-Earth to Eresseä considered an act of resistance? that is stupid...

However the battle scene were kinda nice besides the exploding powder (wtf do that do?), i liked the Wargs, the Balrog scenes were amazing although too short.

Finally, not to complain about anything i just loved Gollum... he was perfect... Samwise and Frodo are perfect also, they fit in their roles.

I didn't mind the 'dwarf humour' scenes, i found them funny... Legolas is the shit, Aragorn and Eowyn are perfect also...

[Synd D`nys]

Eowyn falls for Aragorn fast, but with little expounding on why or how

That actually did happen pretty much that way in the book and with Eowyn having a much smaller role too. Tolkien makes it very clear in just a few short sentences that she is quite smitten with Aragorn.

its not like he wasnt tempted at all by the ring

Tempted, yes, but he immediately resisted that temptation and with very little difficulty.

" 'So that is the answer to all the riddles! The One Ring that was thought to have perished from the world. And Boromir tried to take it by force? And you escaped? And ran all the way - to me! And here in the wild I have you: two halflings, and a host of men at my call, and the Ring of Rings. A pretty stroke of fortune! A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality! Ha!' He stood up, very tall and stern, his grey eyes glinting.

Frodo and Sam sprang from their stools and set themselves side by side with their backs to the wall, fumbling for their sword-hilts. There was a silence. All the men in the cave stopped talking and looked towards them in wonder. But Faramir sat down again in his chair and began to laugh quietly, and then suddenly became grave again.

'Alas for Boromir! It was too sore a trial!' he said. 'How you have increased my sorrow, you two strange wanderers from a far country, bearing the peril of Men! But you are less judges of Men then I of Halflings. We are truth-speakers, we men of Gondor. We boast seldom, and then perform, or die in the attempt. Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them.

'But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which man must flee. Sit at peace! And be comforted, Samwise. If you seem to have stumbled, think that it was fated to be so. Your heart is shrewd as well as faithful, and saw clearer then your eyes. For strange though it may seem, it was safe to declare this to me. It may even help the master that you love. It shall turn to his good, if it is in my power. So be comforted. But do not even name this thing again aloud. Once is enough.' "

Probably my favorite passage from The Two Towers. Most likely why I took the change so badly. It really shows how easily Faramir resists the temptation of The Ring and how much stronger he is then Boromir.

[Stridar]

I loved the movie. If I had to pick which was the better of the two out so far I couldn't.

I hated what they did to Faramir. I was like wtf is he taking them. Then when all the men were just standing there staring at Frodo and the Nazgul. Not one of them seemed to be effected by it at all. I was ready for it to fly down low over them and they all just kinda of freeze.

The eliaphants(don't know how they spell it and don't have book with me at work to see) were awsome. I've been hoping for a year that they didn't leave those out.

Gimli and his comedic prowess was good at times and bad at others. I actually thought when he fell off the horse and then covered by saying he done it on purpose was done well. He is always bitching about having to ride horses in the book. But the part on the wall in Helm's Deep was too much for me. It was a very dramatic scene, and while funny I would have liked it much better had they let the drama build up till the fight begin.

When Aragorn went over the cliff my wife started crying right away. Asked why I didn't tell her about that. I was like, hmm because it doesn't happen. I think that was put in just to work on the love story more, which shouldn't be in there at all with Arwyn.

I loved that he showed Legolas and Gimli keeping count of how many they killed. Would have been great to hear Gimli counting away as he hacked em down after he was "Tossed".

Merry and Pippin were right on and while they didn't have as large of a role in this one as everyone else, they should be able to make up for it inthe last if done right.

I loved the Ents. When they went to town kicked orc ass I was going nuts. Thta was one of the best parts and I wished they'd shown more of it.

Gollum, Smeagol was great. They did that very well I thought. How he switched back and forth and you could really tell his disdain for Samwise(the fat one).


Fight scenes were kick ass as I expected. The scenery was awsome, and Helms Deep as I saw it in my mand as I was reading the book.

[Schezanna]

Very awesome movie. I didn't like the Faramir thing, but I chalked it up to translation. The Ent part was cut short, but that's to be expected too. The Entmoot took days, not hours, and they decided on war, not needing to be prsuaded by the midgets. But it works well. It allowed for more character development and hell, a city council meeting of trees would be boring no matter how pretty the CGI is.

Legolas kicked ass. Didn't need to shieldboard, but it was only one minor mar on an otherwise badass character. Gimli being comic relief was actually kind of fun. Dwarves in Middle Earth aren't all gloom and doom.

I think PJ is saving the meeting at Isengard between Gandalf and Saruman for the last movie, kind of like where Boromir is shrivened by Aragorn in book 2, but he put that in the first movie. It'll be a rematch between the wizards, probably right before or right after Shelob. He'll probabaly axe the whole part where Faramir's dad tries to burn him alive to make more time for the Paths of the Dead and the battle at Gondor. I'd also be surprised if Gollum bites Frodo's finger off at the end. Also expect the whole deep friendship between the midgets and the kings to get gutted.

It's only 12 more months.