An excellent touch and an excellent insight into the evil of the ring. I nearly jumped out of my seat, and so it seemed did everyone else in the theatre. I've got nail marks in my arm from my girlfriend from that scene. I can't say it enough: this is the best movie I've ever seen. I'd have sat through all three of them.
I've got tickets for a 7:00 PM showing tonight. 9 1/2 hours to go. I'm going mad with anticipation. Maaaaaaaad, I tell you. I guess I'll just stare at my Frodo LOTR glass I bought from Burger King until then...
Actually the Rangers are the remnants of the Dunedain, men of Numenor. Numenor was an island created by the gods where the descendants of Earendil lived. Great sea-kings, most noble of all men in middle earth. however their kingdom failed when Sauron corrupted them. 1 house survived, Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion. They came to middle-earth and established the kingdom of Gondor. It was Isildur who cut the ring from Sauron's hand, and ended his power for awhile. Aragorn is the heir of Isildur, and king of Gondor.
I am easy to please. I can count on one hand the number of movies I actually hated. Also, historically, the movies that gross the most money in any given year are my favorites and the ones that make it to my DVD collection. I always buy into the hype and am rarely disappointed. If a movie costs 100 million to make and flops (ie Waterworld, etc) I usually find facets of the film truly enjoyable (SFX, hot chicks) So when Phantom Menace came out, I was one of those guys that went to the midnight screening. And I loved it. Likewise for Armegeddon, Pearl Harbor, Titanic, Harry Potter, any Bond film, etc. All of that being said, I was never a Tolkien guy. I hummed through high school and college on Cliff Notes and beer. And the LOTR trilogy (I know it was one book thrice parted) was among the most boring Cliff Notes I ever read. The movie has been hyped but for some reason I wasn't stoked about it. Late in 2000 I bought my son the Harry Potter books. He was 4. My wife started reading them to him but they did not hold his interest. But she loved them. So since she discovered that she loved the realm of fantasy I thought she might like the LOTR books so I bought her the Fellowship. She read it, loved it, and has been going crazy to see this film. Unbeknownst to her I snuck out and caught the midnight screening. I wasn't overly excited (unlike the rest of the night owls present) but my mind was open. The movie was simply incredible. It was remarkable. It was fantastic like no film I have ever witnessed. It reset the medium at which all movies I will see in the future are compared. The actors were, in a word, faultless. The sets were absolutlely like nothing I have ever seen or imagined. Every scene's set was elaborate beyond peer. Every special effect baffled my senses. My previous favorite special effect scene was the guy doing the cartwheel off of the screw on the sinking Titanic. I don't know if that is in the top ten now. The world created was real. It took me back to being a 10 year old kidplaying D&D with the teenagers on the block. It took me back to staying up for three straight days playing Ulitima III on my C-64. It enveloped me. I returned home that morning after stopping by Wal-Mart and picking up the three books. I simply HAD to know what happens next. With discipline I did not know I possessed I read the Fellowship book until 7 a.m. I slept until 9 went to work, caught a lunch cat nap, went home and read until 4, finishing the book. I am now almost finished with the second book and can't, in fact won't wait for the release of the second film. I was an extra in the recent film Pearl Harbor. You can imagine the angst I felt waiting for the release of the movie. I delved into the underbelly of the internet and found a black market copy of PH about two months prior to its theatrical release. I will be doing the same for The Two Towers. I short changed myself in high school and college. I am now hell bent on going back and actually reading all of the great works that constituted 1980's and 90's required reading. Chance PS-except for that Bronte crap. Those ladies sucked.
Dude, Wuthering Heights was pretty cool, but I can understand if that's not near the top of your priority list.
Question for those who have seen LOTR : I am an avid Star Wars fan but my favorite was Empire because of the Darkness and the lack of kiddie characters ( Jar Jar, Ewoks etc). I was disappointed with the Phantom Menace and felt it was not dar enough and was too kiddie-like. I am not familiar with the background but love that genre of books/movies.....any comments?
A few random thoughts: An odd thing for me is that while Fantasy (and NOT Science Fiction; two different, though related, genres) is BY FAR my favorite genre, I hold Star Wars more dear to my heart than anything. You will LOVE The Lord of the Rings. The Star Wars trilogy is still my favorite story/movie of all time, but LOTR is equal to it for me, and that says a ton. When I told my family that, they were simply astounded, knowing my love for Star Wars. LOTR is the best movie I've ever seen. I'm still on a high from it. Empire is also my favorite Star Wars movie.
Saw it last night here is Australia at the premiere in Adelaide, sensational, fairly true to the book, love the portrayal of most of the characters, thought Hugo Weaving was great in his small part. Action was excellent, love the war scenes in the beginning. The scenery was what hit me the most, the country side, hills, moutains and panaramic shots were sensational and certainly have ignited some interest in visiting New Zealand. Go Froddo!!!
Bring on the flame, but the movie seemed very comical to me (in places where comedy clearly was not intended). I guess I need to believe in the reality of the situation to take it seriously. And I didn't. I mean every word swelled with danger and every act could lead to the end of the world. I just didn't buy into it, so some scenes were, for me, too melodramtic. I did, however, enjoy the final battle. My emotions were stirred!
I was only slightly disappointed with the omission of Tom Bombadil, the Barrow Wights, and the elves that Frodo should have met in the Shire. It had little effect on my enjoyment of the movie though. I was a little pissed that they expanded Arwen's part, probably just to give a female character significant screen time. Otherwise it was preety close to the book. I am glad they made it 3 hours long instead of cutting more stuff out to get down to two. This is probably now my favorite movie as well. I thought Sean Astin was great as Sam, and he will have a very big part to play in the third movie. There are rumers that they will make the Hobbit after all of these movies are released. I have not seen any numbers yet, but if FOTR has huge grosses, you can count on it.
And He looked upon the film, And He saw that it was good. Astonishing. Astounding. The coolest thing I have ever seen. Met all of my expectations. There were, of course, a few things I would have done differently. But everyone has an opinion. spoiler I missed Tom Bombadil, for a couple of reasons. Mainly because I wanted to see what they'd do with it. I also would have liked to see what they'd have done with the Barrow Downs. I really missed the battle between Gandalf and the Ring wraiths at Weathertop. I thought they could have done some amazing things from both Gandalf's point of view, and the point of view of Strider and the hobbits. I missed the tension between Bilbo and his relatives. Wonder how they'll wrap that up at the end of the third installment. I felt like they really ran over the moment with Boromir blowing on the horn of Gondor. They missed a golden opportunity to really grab a cool cinematic moment. I was confused by the choice to have Aragorn, Merry, and Pippen realize Frodo was leaving, but it won me over eventually.....probably made the best cinematic sense. Of course, I realize that my version would have run four hours, but hey.... I'll just keep my hopes up for the DVD
Oh hell, I hadn't even thought about the DVD with deleted scenes and all the other extras. Damn, I can't wait!
Saw LOTR yesterday...there's no way my words can do this show justice. My only complaint, and I think it has been said, 12 months is a long time to wait... Might as well read the books. RR
LOTR doesn't open until 26th Dec here, and it's been a while since I've read the books. But, is Gollum in FOTR? I can't remember if he comes into it at the end of FOTR or the start of TTT...if he is in FOTR, how is he portrayed? Is he a CGI character or not?? Thanks....can't wait for the movie!! Merry Christmas all!
greatest movie ever, end of story i thought this would be like those nerdy movies all sci-fi and all but it was absolutley awsome
He is in it toward the end. You don't really get a good look at him, but you can see his eyes. Definitely looks like a cgi character.
The movie was excellent, except for the ending. I know it's a trilogy and all.....but usually each individual movie in a trilogy has some type of ending. Considering the fact that I don't plan on reading the book, I now have to wait a few years to find out what the hell happens................and that sucks. An old lady sitting next to me said, "Hell, I might be dead when the next one comes out. I guess I'll never know what happened". Overall a great movie though. Anyone know where I can find a female elf with a big bootie.......around 5'5 and 130?????
I've been waiting for years for Hollywood to treat the fantasy genre seriously, and by "fantasy," I do NOT mean "science fiction." I was so disappointed in movies like Dragon Heart and the Dungeons and Dragons movie. Major props to Peter Jackson for finally giving fantasy fans what we've always wanted in a movie. I've GOT to go see it again, and SOON!!!!!
