The Two Towers (Finally!!) *spoilers*

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The beard joke, IMO, has probably been around for as long as the bearded dwarf has existed in the popular imagination, and Gimli's comment before Aragorn makes his aside is paraphrased from Tolkien. Anyway, it was one of the two Gimli jokes I didn't object to in any way (the other being "we can take them" as mentioned in another thread) - well, at the risk of sounding like Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition, I also thought the chainmail joke was alright...

I initially objected to Faramir, since he wasn't like I'd imagined (I'd better not say portrayed in the book, because I know I've misinterpreted the book on several points). However, after seeing the character for a bit decided I liked him because he seemed to fill the role left by changing Boromir slightly.

Wormtongue seemed too openly malicious for my tastes, although I will acknowledge that's most likely due to my misinterpretation - especially since Tolkien states that only Theoden trusts him and all the other Rohirrim call him Wormtongue behind his back. I had always imagined him as being more subtle in his influence - a bit like his last line when he tries to chat up Eowyn, less "I am evil! You are only listening to me because you are under a spell! Muahahaha". On that point I thought Theoden's effect was too strongly exaggerated as well. I seem to have written quite a bit on a relatively minor character. Probably because in my interpretation I saw Wormtongue as a weak character, who was only evil because Saruman was able to exploit his weakness - weakness, unfortunately, which I see in myself.

I think it is interesting to hear what people who haven't read the books think of the films. Perhaps those of us who have are too blinkered in looking for inconsistincies that we miss subtle things. For instance, one of my gripes with the films was that I thought Saruman was portrayed more of a servant of Sauron's than a would-be usurper. However, when I mentioned this to my sister, who hadn't read the books she said that she got the impression he was planning to overthrow Sauron.

 

I thought the film was good for the most part, and that the differences with the book were on the whole reasonable. However I really didn't like the reversal of Faramir's character - in the book he is consistently portrayed as a man with much more wisdom than his brother Boromir, and was able to reject straight away the temptation of the Ring. How did the film gain by turning him into Boromir, part II? If some drama was needed at that point, the scene in the book of his interrogation of Gollum could have been more closely followed, leaving the audience wondering what he is up to; coupled with his decision to let "her" take care of them, that would lead to more of a cliff-hanger.
Less important was the portrayal of Rohan's armed strength; in the book, Theoden is able to lead out a reasonable army from Edoras to Helm's Deep, and there are more soldiers there; if this had been followed, there would have been no need for the Elves (who seem to have all died anyway). If indeed Eomer had the only 2000 soldiers that were available in the whole land, where will they find an army to use in the third film, where (in the book) Theoden leads 6000 troops to war?

 

Okay, spoilage ahead...

I saw the movie yesterday, and what can I say? It was great! Un-freaking-believably cool.

You guys have all debated on the many points that I would make, so I see no need to make them. Gollum rocks. Gimli being the comic relief worked well, and had me laughing my lungs out and people staring at me. The battle of Helm's Deep rocked, although I have to wonder why the heck they did nnot use the obvious strategic advantage of the road-thingy to roll stuff down on the orcs...

I loved the scene where the leader of the riders says that he would cut off Gimli's head if it were any higher, and Legolas has him at arrowpointin a blink of an eye...

But now, for my more debatable opinions...

Oh my gawd, there was so much sexual tension between Legolas and Aragorn that I could have done with one of those things you use on babies who drool... the scene when Aragorn returns, thought dead, for example... damn!

*me ducks and hides from a furious Eze* I am not a traitor, Eze! I am just taking what I get with no Aragiorn/Boromir goodness to enjoy...

And between Frodo, Sam and Gollum, it's a clear case of love triangle.

*waits for the noises of gagging to subside*

Well, i thought so when I realized it, too. Sam is jealous for the attention his beloved Froso is giving to Gollum, who is in love with Frodo, who wished to redeem Gollum. You saw how GOllum was all over his Master at some scenes, like at the gates of Mordor...

More to follow

Ara
(The resident sicko)

 

I saw the movie an hour ago - and I'm pretty pleased with it.
Since I made peace with the fact that there never will be no made-for-fans LOTR movie that would last 7 hrs a piece, I managed to enjoy what I saw. Needless to say that I yesterday watched the all 4 of the FOTR DvDs, which also changed my aproach to the film a bit.

The movie is fun, enjoyable - of course with some minor faults like many have already mentioned, but overall - good.

I loved the way they picted Rohans like Vikings - similar helmets, armor and architecture - exactly like I had them in my mind...
That scene with Eomer and Gimli is really great! Legolas' fast reaction shows some entropy of the group...
But those 179 mins went by so fast, I was just getting in the mood...

 

We're going to see it on Sunday! Our free time FINALLY coincided with our babysitter's free time!

The toddler was able to watch HP:CoS all the way through, but we think LotR:TTT will be a bit too intense for him.

 

Well it's about time I throw in my two cents on this latest addition to the series. I enjoyed it more than FOTR and I think it's becuase I knew a little more what to expect. I still stand by the idea that the books could have been more accuratley portrayed and the movies even better if they weren't squeezed into three (looooong) films. I think stretching it out into four possibly even five films would have been no more or less risky of a venture than filming all three at the same time and hoping for the best. Obviously a good turn out was expected or they would never have taken that risk in the first place.

But enough of wishing for things we don't have and let's begin looking at what we do have. TTT may have been as long as FOTR yet it didn't feel as long. So that was good, because FOTR feels much much longer than 3 hours. I still think that Aragorn is the man and I like the character of Elrond too. New additions to my favorite characters are Eomer and the Ents. Eomer may have had a small role but I liked his attitude, plus showing up at the end with Gandalf was cool and much needed for the battle scene. I started to get a bit worried when it broke away from the battle at Helm's Deep and focused on Faramir and Frodo in Gondor or the Ents attacking Isengard. I was like "don't tell me that's it", but a smile broke across my face when Eomer and Gandalf showed up on the hill. And the Ents were cool too. I especially liked when Treebeard said that ents don't like to say anything unless it's something that takes a long time to say.

I'm neutral on Gimli being used for humor. While nothing he said or did made me laugh particulary, nothing turned me off either. I chuckle here and there and move along. I take a similar approach with Jar Jar in TPM. It seems people either really like or really hate these characters. Me, I'm just neutral, take the characters as they are, and move on.

My three favorite moments of humor are 1) the quote of Treebeard's I mentioned earlier 2) the ent that's on fire and puts his flames out in the rushing water during the attack on Isengard (seen in a wide shot) and 3) the "what's taters?" "you know - POE - TAY - TOES" exchange between Gollum and Sam. Yes I find humor in the strangest of places.

Rivendell still remains the most beautiful place yet.

So far both movies have done a good job of portraying the idea that the various races will have to put their differences aside and work together.

It was great seeing Aragorn show off those ranger tracking skills of his.

The skirmish with the worg riders was a great action sequence, besides the obvious battle at the end.

Gollum was cool as a character. He looks a bit too ugly and repulsive, but I guess that's what they were going for. Of course the discussion with himself and the alternating camera angles was the best part of his performace.

Overall an improvement, and I look forward to the finale. Still, I am hoping it can get even better.

 

Regular showing here was kinda late, I just watched it last night. Went into the theater about 1 hour into the movie, and what I saw was some deviations from the book. Spent about half an hour thinking to myself "This is not Tolkien. How could PJ do so much injustice.". I got to watch it again from the beginning, this time with a more open mind. Guess what? I enjoyed the show despite it's many deviations, extensions, deletions, it was fantastic. And definitely worth watching over again. Most were already mentioned and the need to repeat them is not worth the time. Just one thing I wanted to share... although I get the feeling that most of you would think I'm sick after saying this. The scene was when Legolas handed Arwen's pendant back to Aragorn, and they looked each other in the eye. I felt the urge to shout "Kiss him Aragorn! Kiss him!" ...and I was bewildered why Eowyn was sad to know that Aragorn and Legolas are not gay at all.

 

Aragorn isn't into Legolas. Didn't you see him hug that rock in the beginning?

"Ah rock, how I love thee"

 

PJ is doing a damn fine job of putting THE STORY onto the big screen in a way that's approachable by the general world population. Trust me, no studio would ever see enough profit in catering to the small minority of anal-retentive Tolkien fanatics for the "perfect" LOTR movie to ever be made. However, PJ's work will surely create a new generation of Tolkien *fans.*

I really enjoyed TTT. The movie brought home how the separate threads of the shattered Fellowship continued to strengthen and develop. When reading the book I would often get lost in the pages and pages of lyrical descriptions of scenery as people rode here, then rode there, then rode somewhere else. That didn't happen for me with the movie (and I will admit it's been 15+ years since I've read the books).

As for -
Gimli: He wasn't anywhere near as ridiculous as this topic led me to expect. Maybe Aragorn's most impressive feat was that one-handed toss, tho'!

Arwen: People here are so busy looking for sexual innuendo that they're missing the larger picture - that Frodo's Quest has implications for everyone in Middle Earth. Also, the conflict on Aragorn's face before he realized that Merry and Pippin had escaped the orcs - should he have tracked them or gone after Frodo? - was painfully evident.

Scorekeeping: Re-read the books. If it was "elf-ly" enough for Tolkien to WRITE, how can we say otherwise?

Faramir: Again, re-read. He was tempted as Boromir was; his nobility didn't show until he made the other choice. Aren't younger brothers supposed to learn such things from older brothers?

We've already told my in-laws that we'd like to receive the boxed set of DVD's (director's cut, of course) for Christmas, 2004!

 

Rallymama, a suggestion if I may.
TTT for December 2003 and ROTK for December 2004 from your in-laws would be so much better don't you think.

[ January 14, 2003, 16:50: Message edited by: nior ]

 

So is it Legolas that started the idea of skate-boards?

Movie itself, brilliant!

 

My brother said he would take me but

i simply do not have money for extras even one as big as this hehe

[ January 16, 2003, 22:42: Message edited by: X ]