Author Topic: Lord of the Rings  (Read 57809 times)

Offline Darby

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #105 on: December 17, 2003, 03:40 PM »
 ;D  I was in #2.  We had to wait in that huge line until midnight so another movie could let out.  Lots of people were cutting, and there was no room to breathe.  But it was worth it, once we got inside.

ROTK is the best of the three, one of the best films of all time, but probably ten minutes too long.  Of course I'll be waiting for four hours of it on the DVD, so I think I'll have to see it again to know if it was just the late night fatigue.  So many great things to look forward to on the DVD, since A LOT was left out, some of which is visible in the trailer and on the TTT preview.  


Offline jadesfire

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #106 on: December 17, 2003, 04:33 PM »
So...  Beth?  Spuff?  How was it?  As awesome as we're all anticipating?!  No spoilers though...  Beth, did you make it through the entire Trilogy Tuesday unscathed?  Was it great to see them all back to back to back?  Or was it exhausting by the time you were nearing the end (which I can't possibly imagine being the case)?


No sleep yet, just got back from the long drive home.  Still can't even begin to describe how fantastic the whole trilogy was transcribed from book to screen.  Peter Jackson did one helluva job and deserve's all the praises he has been receiving.
Sam, Frodo and Shelob.....INCREDIBLE!!!
Eowyn and the Witchking....AWESOME!! (and then some, the only time the entire theatre cheered!!)
Merry and Pippen....DELIGHTFUL!!  (and wonderfully done by both actors).

The battles and the music that went with were enough to keep you on the edge of your seat (even if you read the books) and tons of stuff I'm sure I missed the first time around.  

Did it seem like I was there for over 3 hours?? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
This is what it was like in the 80's when the final installment of Return of the Jedi hit.  A fantastic ending, tying up all the lose ends.  

Must get some sleep now, going back tomorrow to see it again after work.  At least here we don't have commercials before the show (15 frickin' minutes of coke commercials and 5-6 previews with only Spiderman and Harry Potter of any interest to me).

Good night  ;)
Beth

Offline JediMAC

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #107 on: December 17, 2003, 05:42 PM »
Did it seem like I was there for over 3 hours?? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Beth, didn't you go to Trilogy Tuesday yesterday?  As in about ELEVEN straight hours of LOTR?  I thought you did...

I just got back from picking up my tickets for the 7:45 show tonight.  Wish I could just play hookie from work and go watch it RIGHT NOW though!  Guess I'll try to be patient for another few hours...   :-\

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #108 on: December 17, 2003, 06:23 PM »
Went to the midnight show last night as well. Wow, there's so much that's good about the movie that its difficult to sum it all up. Everyone's mentioned the highlights of spectacle that happen, so let me just add how great some of the more subtle touches are -

Gollem has taken yet another leap forward in realism. There's scenes with him and Frodo on long, holding close-ups of the two of them in the same frame. The CG performance is so good, you forget that its an animated character at all.

This time around Peter Jackson has pulled off classic horror-style suspense with the Shelob sequence. It feels fresh and tense but with a classic feel to it. I thought it was a great touch and a good wink to his roots.

Then there's the battles. The glorious battles. :)

It's not ALL good, however.

It's probably because we've been conditioned to the EE's on DVD, but you feel the absense of material that will obviously be restored next year for home video. Even at 3h20min it feels short!

The absense of resolution for Saruman is brushed off with a Lucas-flimsy dismissal. We know the sequence is returning on the DVD, but considering the time afforded at the end for all the other characters to wrap-up, you're left wanting.

Also, as well as the Sam/Frodo relationship develops in the movie, the dialog runs out of gas long before their actions do. As a result, expect a lot of 'Mr. Frodo!' 'Oh, Sam' remarks and longing, loving glances that, well... push the boundaries of male bonding.

These are, of course, minor hiccups in an otherwise fantastic movie. Worth seeing again, me thinks!

J

Offline Darby

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #109 on: December 17, 2003, 06:29 PM »
There is far too much to pay credence to.  The most fantastic moment for me (besides Eowyn and the Witch King) was the Ride of the Rohirrim.  Glorious film making.  And then the mumakil.  I didn't think the utter despair that surrounded Helm's Deep could be topped, but the Pelennor Fields was a zero sum battle, a nuclear war where the nukes are horses and elephants and dead men.  I'm still reeling.

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #110 on: December 17, 2003, 07:10 PM »
I'm still trying to digest it.  I went to an 11:40 AM showing.  It was incredible, to say the least.  And to those who don't think Peter Jackson knows how to pull at the heart strings, you probably haven't seen this movie yet.
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #111 on: December 18, 2003, 05:11 AM »
Wow.  Just epic.  Breathtaking.  It was just so sad to see it finally end, and to have to say goodbye to all these great characters (with the exception of Bilbo and Gandalf who will be in The Hobbit later on)...

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and I'm not even sure if the Academy can do this, but I'd give the Best Supporting Actor award to Gollum/Smeagol/Andy Sedarkis. That character's just amazing. Totally real, and totally incredible.  I think he deserves it, regardless of the fact that he's mostly a CG character.  Definitely plenty of awards headed in this movie's direction next year...  I'd love to see them sweep it all!

One thing's for sure - the LOTR trilogy beats the living crap out of the Prequels.  No question about it.  It'd be near sacrilege to suggest it's better than the OT, but it's sure damned close.  Nostalgia will probably keep the OT a smidge ahead in my books though...   ;)

Though I enjoyed the long and diverse ending, I guess I can perhaps see why some folks think it was too long and drawn out (like my wife did).  But I was happy to see everything wrapped up all nice and purty...  Lot's of crying throughout the final 20-30 minutes as well, all throughout the theater - guys too!

Just sad to see it all come to an end...  But what an absolutely amazing ride it's been!  Peter Jackson deserves all the credit in the world, for giving us something that has provided us such joy and wonderment, and will continue to do so for many, many years to come.  It's everything that a movie, or series of movies should be.  PJ went ALL OUT from the start, and didn't disappoint.  I can't imagine anyone else possibly coming close to what he accomplished with the adaptation from the books.  I honestly wonder if I'll be this depressed after Episode 3, to have to say good bye to the franchise.  I highly doubt I will...

Can't wait for the ROTK extended edition on DVD now...   8)  Gimme a date Matt!  When's it due out?!

Offline Mikey D

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #112 on: December 18, 2003, 07:22 AM »
Amazing.  Brilliant.  Incredible.  ******* Awesome.  That pretty much sums up my take on the movie.

Shelob freaked me out, as I have a big distaste for spiders, but that whole scene was excellent.

Every major character had their chance to shine: Eowyn and the Witch King, Legolas and the oliphant, Merry and Pippin, Sam with Shelob and the Orcs, Gandalf kicking major ass with his staff and sword kung fu style and Aragorn with the Army of the Dead.  

Smeagol (not Gollum) is one evil son of a bitch, as evidenced right from the beginning.  Good job on Serkis' part on all aspects of his characters.  A Best Supporting Actor nod just might be coming.

And it didn't seem anywhere 3 and 1/2 hours.  The time flew by and at the end I wanted more.

I'm going again to see it today with a co-worker.  I hope to catch everything I missed last night.
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Offline Mikey D

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #113 on: December 18, 2003, 07:46 AM »
Another thought.... What trailers did everyone get before the movie?  The only two I really remember are Harry Potter and some stupid ****** ass movie "Captain Skyranger and the World of Tomorrow"  Dumb looking to no end.  I read online that Spider man was showing and was hoping for it.  Alas it didn't happen.  I said after the previews to no one in particular "No Spiderman and they give us that ****"  The only bad part of my ROTK experience :(
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Offline jadesfire

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #114 on: December 18, 2003, 09:48 AM »
I'm listening to the CD right now and forgot to add how heart wrenching Pippen's song was with the flashes of Faramir going to his final battle and the mental demise of Denathor.  Brilliant work!!
Beth

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #115 on: December 18, 2003, 09:56 AM »
I got Spiderman 2 on mine, which was ok actually.  Relatively long, and a decent trailer.  I'm not even a Spidey fan.

I also got The Mask 2 which has some CGI baby in it.  It appears to me to be the type of film you would get a nosebleed if you thought about for more than 5 seconds.

The new Punisher trailer was also up...  Again, not something I'm into, but it was there.

beyond that I can't think of any other trailers off-hand.  There was a commercial for some robotics company working on the first C-3PO unit for humanity that will be mass-marketed.  

Everyone kind of laughed at the stupidity of the advertisement.

And that was that.

Mid-way through the film, it broke on the reel (Sound was bad throughout too), and I thought a riot was about to ensue.  Scary times when geeks lose their film mid-way, hehe.

:)
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Offline Mainland05

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #116 on: December 18, 2003, 10:46 AM »
I got Spiderman 2 on mine, which was ok actually.  Relatively long, and a decent trailer.  I'm not even a Spidey fan.

I also got The Mask 2 which has some CGI baby in it.  It appears to me to be the type of film you would get a nosebleed if you thought about for more than 5 seconds.

The new Punisher trailer was also up...  Again, not something I'm into, but it was there.

beyond that I can't think of any other trailers off-hand.  There was a commercial for some robotics company working on the first C-3PO unit for humanity that will be mass-marketed.  

Everyone kind of laughed at the stupidity of the advertisement.

And that was that.

Mid-way through the film, it broke on the reel (Sound was bad throughout too), and I thought a riot was about to ensue.  Scary times when geeks lose their film mid-way, hehe.

:)

We had all that 2, and the new THX logo, which instead of it being the huge glass ball that explodes it is the THX logo with Podrace sounds and Jurassic Park and Back to the future, in the background, and then you hear the nice THX sound!!!
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #117 on: December 18, 2003, 12:29 PM »
I really did have a blast at the movie last night, and I haven't felt that pumped about a movie in ages.  It really gave me the urge to buy LOTR figures, and if the Toy Biz line were a little better, broader, and more consistent in quality (And perhaps a little cheaper) I'd be much more interested in it.

Seeing the wide variety of characters, army builders especially, just makes you wish for a better line.  I pick up one here and there that I really REALLY like, or if it's on uber clearance, but beyond that I just can't bother with a line that just doesn't do the films justice I don't believe.

Imagine if they had a wider range of characters, better sculpts, and a consistent "standard" of articulation such as that found on figures like the Berzerker Uruk Hai...  That line would clean house in the toy aisle.  It sells amazingly well as it is, but it could be so much more to the fans I think.

Oh well...  Perhaps someday, though they'll never have the push as they do now with the films and the toy industry being as it is today.
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Offline Ben

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #118 on: December 18, 2003, 01:09 PM »
The trailers I saw were the Punisher, Spider-Man 2 (can't wait for that one) and some Vin Diesel dreck.

I'm going to see the flick again on Friday with my siblings. They'll probably have to piss by the Battle of the Pellenor.
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Offline BigDumbWookiee

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Re: Lord of the Rings
« Reply #119 on: December 18, 2003, 09:42 PM »
I dont even know what to say about this movie. I saw it the other night, I've finally managed to collect myself enough to express my sentiments. This is by far the best movie I've ever seen. The entire experience was very moving, exciting, intriguing and magical. I went into this having such high expectations that I almost knew that no matter how great it was, it would not meet those expectations. The movie blew away my expectations completely. I knew what would happen, but it was still a fantastic experience. I knew what would ultimately happen with Sam/Frodo/Gollum and the Ring, yet I was still on the edge of my seat. I knew how the story would end, and I was still weeping like a baby.

The only bad thing I could ever say about this movie is that it is simply too short. By making up for scenes that were from The Two Towers, it felt like they didnt spend as much time on the ROTK content. I would have loved to see more about the shire. Once the ring was destroyed, it wrapped up too quickly. I cant wait for the extended edition, and the ultimate trilogy edition (the entire trilogy will be released as a set, with even more material added).

If these movies would have came out before the second Renaissance of Star Wars merchandise (ie pre 95), my room would probably be filled to the brim with LOTR merchandise right now. I still hold Star Wars near and dear to my heart, but the LOTR trilogy shows that you can have awesome, realistic effects in a movie, and still have a strong heart and soul on screen, quite unlike the prequels....

Maybe I'll luck out and win the lottery. If I do, Im going to go LOTR crazy...
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