Any Lord of the Rings' fans here? Do you know how big the battle at Pelenor field was? In the movie itself, I only heard several numbers: . Rohan had 6,000 men . After the battle, when the good guys rode to the black gate to distract the Eye, Gandalf said 10,000 Orcs stand between Frodo and Mount Doom. . On the DVD, the making of ROTK, the director of photography (I think) said 600,000 Orcs were massing at Pelenor field. How could this be possible? 1) If Rohan had 6,000. Gondor could not possibly have a whole lot more. If they had a lot more, they would not have cared/ depended so much on Rohan coming to their aid. 2) How big could the Army of the dead be? These guys refused to fight before because they were afraid to lose, were they not? 3) How could the good guys destroy 600,000 Orcs, then march to the Black Gate and get outnumbered by 10,000 Orcs by a wide margin? If you have any hard facts from the books or somewhere, please enlighten me. Thks. _____________________________ _____________________
Can't answer as to specifics, but : 1) Cavalry traditionally count a lot more per unit than infantry. Infantry make up the bulk of most armies, but cavalry are often the decisive arm, and a 5 or 10 to one ratio wouldn't be all that unheard of. Add to that the fact that, in the LOTR, the Orcs and/or Goblins were terrified of the horsemen of Rohan, and it's a significant advantage. 2) Again, trying to add realism to fantasy, armies of incredible sizes have broekn and run before. Poorly trained or inexperienced troops can be reassured in large numbers, but if the front ranks start to break, it can easily cause a mass retreat. 3) Dunno. Suppose it has to do with the infinate ability of evil to create vs. the finite ability of good to simply deal with what exists.
Has anyone noticed a few sound problems with the DVD? The first scene where Gollum/Smeagol is eating the fish, the "fish" song cuts out for a second. Also, I've had trouble hearing the screech of the Nazgul, as well as the first blowing of the Rohan horns. Still, I am loving this DVD!
The most comprehensive history and guide to Middle Earth. The Encyclopedia of Arda scroll down on the left side of the page to access the alphabetical listing.
Wow! Thanks, rockHEAD. I had no idea it existed. (probably should have guessed there would be something like this!)
I do not have the ROTK yet (Waiting fot the extended version), but my Two Towers extended version DVD does this in one part. In the scene where the elves agree to fight along men. Right after the elves make their final step and turn their heads in unison, the sound pauses for a second and then it jumps to the next scene.
It's an awesome guide! I will be reading it for a while. What little I saw, it has no specific numbers about the size of the armies at Pelenor field though.
I can understand that Calvary count 5 or even 10 times Infantry in the history of warfare .... What we are seeing here is a ratio of 50 to 1 or so. The Orcs are not un-disciplined nor poorly trained either. Their fighing skill at Osgiliath, their formation and tactics at Minas Tirith ... are good. Even when the Rohirrim charge in horseback, they counter first with archers and then spearmen. By all rights, the horsemen should have been beaten back.
If a DVD has an imperfection or scratch, it will do that. In the past, I'd returned 2 for the same problem. One from Amazon, the other from Walmart. No hassles.
agreed...don't focus so much on technical detail that you lose the real meaning that someone like Tolken is trying to share...which is most certainly in the metaphor. .
I love the movie. I just bought mine from BestBuy.com, although I can't watch it till I come back to houston. oh well. Perhaps the rental place will get it soon. I can't wait!
The Hobbit was one of the first books I ever read, so I can't wait until they get that movie out. Also looking forward to the Lion the With and the Wardrobe. That genre has really busted open the studios' pocketbooks.
If I remember correctly, I believe in the book, Tolkien clearly states all the numbers. He was very detailed in the descriptions of the armies in his books. I don't have the book with me right now, but if somebody flips around in that book, the detailed numbers are there.
It will be hard to hear the screech of the Nazgul if you watching it without surround sound. Heck even surround sound wont be that good. You will be surprised at what you hear when watching something on DD 5.1. And I hear DTS or DD 7.1 is even better.
This movie was made to listen to in DD 5.1. You will miss things like the screech and the horns if you don't have that. I don't think this movie was pressed with DTS.
