Oh my god I just realized how much cooler the movies would have been if I hadn't have read the books first. Haha. Sucks for me I guess.
I've read the books at least 6 times and I thought the movie was excellent. Nomar, if you're right, then I would have lost my mind at the flick if I had never read them first. (Although my wife says I lost it a long long time ago)
C'mon. I only read the first two pages of the thread, so I don't know if this has been discussed. I thought those were important parts of the book. I really wanted to see that spider. I wanted to see the Saruman encounter w/Gandalf at the end. I think they could've omitted other parts instead (ahem...Arwen...), and left in those that were actually IN the story.
IMO, the Saruman/Gandalf meeting, and Shelob will happen at the beginning of ROTK. That will give enough time for everyone to get to Gondor and kick some butt.
Was just re-watching Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" downstairs - which influenced literally every single boomer action filmmaker ever - and i noted - a scene where Toshiro Mifunes wild Kikuchiyo character is following the other Samurai before he's officially joined them - they stand at the top of a waterfall and laugh as he strips down to his loincloth and then plucks a fish out of the pool at the bottom to eat. It's pretty much a direct precursor to a similar scene in "The Two Towers" notably right before when Frodo tricks Gollum into being captured by Faramir. The clothes, the fish the setting, the characters. Couldn't figure out if anyone ever noticed this or if Peter Jackson mentioned it in his commentary but just wanted to flag it for the BBS just in case.
It's weird because there's online articles talking about how the two towers Helms Deep is clearly echoes of "Seven Samurai", and ok, agreed but... crazy Guy in a loincloth catching fish in a waterfall while people look on seems way more unusual/ intentional thing to copy. Somebody must have written a film school class paper on this?
Interesting connection. The description of Gollum diving into the Forbidden pool at the waterfall to catch a fish is in the book so that is Jackson being true to the book. The Falls and pools used in the movie is an actual waterfall called Tawhai Falls in Tongariro National Park on the North Island of New Zealand.
Good call, I was hopting somebody who read the book would confirm that it came from the book. I can't find a clip online, but here's a small gif from tumblr and a description: https://64.media.tumblr.com/76824f2...e3522a0403548c691de0a1207f54e60b05dff5e9.gifv As the six samurai follow the two farmers down a country path toward their village, Kikuchiyo follows them a little way back. The group stops and looks at him and Heihachi tries to scare him away, picking up a pebble and threatening to throw it in his direction. Kikuchiyo flinches at this, the group laughs and continues walking, and Kikuchiyo continues following them. Later, the group sits on some rocks above a waterfall, resting and eating. A few of them watch Kikuchiyo down below, who strips down to his underwear and wades into the water to try to catch a fish. They all become interested to see if he has any success, and the whole group watches as he slowly submerges and then suddenly emerges with a small fish. He celebrates, and holds it up to them to see, and begins roasting it on the fire.
