***** The Lord of the Rings: Official Thread *****
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Last: 9 days ago by Brian Earl Spilner
Yeah so this isn't nerdy or even that LOTRish but my favorite LOTR memory is my dad thinking he was taking me to go see the 2nd one in theaters.
It's a Sunday afternoon and he's like "Hey, let's go see the Ring movie"
I was a little caught off guard wondering why my dad wanted to see a horror movie because it definitely wasn't his thing. We get to the movies, sit through the previews of which the LOTR: The Towers is an advertisement comes on. He says nothing.
Previews are over and the movie opens with those two teenage girls sitting on a bed in modern day, and my dad murmurs,"I think we're in the wrong movie." I had, at this time, realized he had mistakenly thought the movie "The Ring" and LOTR were the same thing, and just laughed uncontrollably till an usher showed up to shut me up.
We stayed and watched the entire movie because we had payed already and the movies were an hour from our house. And for a movie that i thought was pretty lame during the initial screening, it did have me having seconds thoughts about it for weeks afterwards.
It's a Sunday afternoon and he's like "Hey, let's go see the Ring movie"
I was a little caught off guard wondering why my dad wanted to see a horror movie because it definitely wasn't his thing. We get to the movies, sit through the previews of which the LOTR: The Towers is an advertisement comes on. He says nothing.
Previews are over and the movie opens with those two teenage girls sitting on a bed in modern day, and my dad murmurs,"I think we're in the wrong movie." I had, at this time, realized he had mistakenly thought the movie "The Ring" and LOTR were the same thing, and just laughed uncontrollably till an usher showed up to shut me up.
We stayed and watched the entire movie because we had payed already and the movies were an hour from our house. And for a movie that i thought was pretty lame during the initial screening, it did have me having seconds thoughts about it for weeks afterwards.
I think Frodo kept the ring...
bonus comment from Reddit:
Viggo Mortenson is older now than Ian McKellen was when filming started.
Viggo Mortenson is older now than Ian McKellen was when filming started.
Solo Tetherball Champ said:
My favorite LOTR meme:
language warning:
Mine:
Language warning
Wow.West Texan said:
Language warning
That had me rolling at "I don't live in JONdor!
Solo Tetherball Champ said:Wow.West Texan said:
Language warning
That had me rolling at "I don't live in JONdor!
The jackass gackass part always gets me
So good.
The catapult gif (pronounced jif) is an absolute classic.
The catapult gif (pronounced jif) is an absolute classic.
For those who haven't seen this. Easter egg from the ROTK dvd.
The Lord of All Golfcarts
Brian Earl Spilner said:
Don't forget about noonsies.
Apparently I'm jumping in on this thread a little late. I love the movies and the books. I've made it through The Silmarillion as tough as it was. Probably need to read it again though. Most of the books I've purchased have been older copies except for the Hobbit. I couldn't find an older version of the book that I liked and was in good condition. I may need to go ahead and re-read them all again. The last few times I've listened to the audiobooks.
And hopefully this hasn't been asked, but does anybody have a favorite addition that was included in the extended editions? Mine's kinda small, but I like that they included the rest of the Orcs being taken out by Fangorn after Helms Deep. It would have been cool if they'd included the Scouring of the Shire and let Lobelia have her day in the sun, but I guess that went out the window when they killed Saruman and Grima.
In no order:
Overall, I feel like ROTK is the only one where the Extended version is preferable. In my most recent rewatch, I watched only the theatrical versions. (Which I hadn't done in a while.)
It wasn't until ROTK that I really felt like I was missing important scenes, like I watched an incomplete version. (That might just be due to me having seen the Extended version of ROTK way more times than the others.)
- The death of Saruman
- The Mouth of Sauron
- The Boromir / Denethor flashback (Which gives you a whole new level of understanding/apprecation for Boromir in FOTR.)
- Eowyn / Aragorn scene in TTT (Her feeding him the awful soup, and him revealing his true age.)
Overall, I feel like ROTK is the only one where the Extended version is preferable. In my most recent rewatch, I watched only the theatrical versions. (Which I hadn't done in a while.)
It wasn't until ROTK that I really felt like I was missing important scenes, like I watched an incomplete version. (That might just be due to me having seen the Extended version of ROTK way more times than the others.)
I haven't watched the theatrical versions in so long I'm not even always 100% sure what was in them and what wasn't. I'd actually forgotten that you don't see Saruman die in them. I was really impressed with all of them though. I only kind of knew the books existed before the movies so some of that backstory when those came out was helpful.
The single greatest addition (to me) was the Boromir / Denethor flashback. For all of his faults, Jackson did right by Boromir. Every other scene really didn't seem necessary to me, with the possible exception of getting closure to the Saruman subplot, but I felt like that should have naturally been in Two Towers.Brian Earl Spilner said:
In no order:
- The death of Saruman
- The Mouth of Sauron
- The Boromir / Denethor flashback (Which gives you a whole new level of understanding/apprecation for Boromir in FOTR.)
- Eowyn / Aragorn scene in TTT (Her feeding him the awful soup, and him revealing his true age.)
Overall, I feel like ROTK is the only one which is the Extended version is preferable. In my most recent rewatch, I watched only the theatrical versions. (Which I hadn't done in a while.)
It wasn't until ROTK that I really felt like I was missing important scenes, like I watched an incomplete version. (That might just be due to me having seen the Extended version of ROTK way more times than the others.)
The Mouth of Sauron sequence just didn't have any power to me. With the way the book was set up, the reader is shocked when the Mouth is taunting Gandalf and co because we have no idea what Frodo and Sam are up to; last we saw of them was in the previous book and Frodo had been captured. In the movies, we know that Frodo and Sam are currently climbing up Mount Doom at that very moment.
The only other notable thing about this scene in the movies is that Jackson once again showed he didn't understand what he was working with by making Aragorn kill the Mouth: good guys are good because they don't do stuff like that, this isn't Game of Thrones.
You keep saying this, but you haven't really made a good argument for it. I have to say I disagree with you strongly on that.Quote:
The only other notable thing about this scene in the movies is that Jackson once again showed he didn't understand what he was working with by making Aragorn kill the Mouth: good guys are good because they don't do stuff like that, this isn't Game of Thrones.
The good guys kid bad guys by the hundreds in both the books and the films.
Good guys don't kill the messenger. Aragorn, IMO, would have respected that tradition.Brian Earl Spilner said:You keep saying this, but you haven't really made a good argument for it. I have to say I disagree with you strongly on that.Quote:
The only other notable thing about this scene in the movies is that Jackson once again showed he didn't understand what he was working with by making Aragorn kill the Mouth: good guys are good because they don't do stuff like that, this isn't Game of Thrones.
The good guys kid bad guys by the hundreds in both the books and the films.
Book Aragorn, maybe. But we've firmly established that book Aragorn and movie Aragorn are two very different portrayals.
Doesn't necessarily mean that PJ didn't understand Tolkien. It's simply his own interpretation, as all adaptations are. That's what I take issue with.
Doesn't necessarily mean that PJ didn't understand Tolkien. It's simply his own interpretation, as all adaptations are. That's what I take issue with.
I agree they are different, but I still feel that beheading the mouth was outside of movie Aragorn's character as well.Brian Earl Spilner said:
Book Aragorn, maybe. But we've firmly established that book Aragorn and movie Aragorn are two very different portrayals.
Doesn't necessarily mean that PJ didn't understand Tolkien. It's simply his own interpretation, as all adaptations are. That's what I take issue with.
I have almost no problem with PJ's interpretation of him otherwise.
I would agree if Aragorn was meeting with a being that wasn't so clearly pure evil. Sauron's minions needed to be exterminated. Aragorn would have shown mercy if there was any possible redeeming quality to the Mouth, as he did when Theoden was about to kill Wormtongue. In this case, he was compeltely justified.
powerbelly said:I agree they are different, but I still feel that beheading the mouth was outside of movie Aragorn's character as well.Brian Earl Spilner said:
Book Aragorn, maybe. But we've firmly established that book Aragorn and movie Aragorn are two very different portrayals.
Doesn't necessarily mean that PJ didn't understand Tolkien. It's simply his own interpretation, as all adaptations are. That's what I take issue with.
I have almost no problem with PJ's interpretation of him otherwise.
I don't think it's too far outside movie Aragorn. We see how protective of the hobbits he is when he thinks Merry and Pippin have been killed along with the Uruks. When he kills the mouth of Sauron, it has just tossed the mithril shirt to Merry and told them "who would have thought one so small could endure so much pain. Oh and he did Gandalf, he did"
It's after this that Aragorn trots out from the group to kill him.
100%.
He wanted to spare Wormtongue because this was a man who had served Theoden for many years, and might find remorse in his exile. (And turned out to be of vital importance as he took out Saruman.)
Mouth of Sauron? What good can he bring to the world after Sauron's defeat? He was literally taunting our heroes with the death and suffering of Frodo. How can you possibly not think he deserves death?
He wanted to spare Wormtongue because this was a man who had served Theoden for many years, and might find remorse in his exile. (And turned out to be of vital importance as he took out Saruman.)
Mouth of Sauron? What good can he bring to the world after Sauron's defeat? He was literally taunting our heroes with the death and suffering of Frodo. How can you possibly not think he deserves death?
Fair enough. Agree to disagree.Brian Earl Spilner said:You keep saying this, but you haven't really made a good argument for it. I have to say I disagree with you strongly on that.Quote:
The only other notable thing about this scene in the movies is that Jackson once again showed he didn't understand what he was working with by making Aragorn kill the Mouth: good guys are good because they don't do stuff like that, this isn't Game of Thrones.
Quote:
The good guys kid bad guys by the hundreds in both the books and the films.
The good guys don't execute the messenger, especially if he is unarmed.
Brian Earl Spilner said:
100%.
He wanted to spare Wormtongue because this was a man who had served Theoden for many years, and might find remorse in his exile. (And turned out to be of vital importance as he took out Saruman.)
Mouth of Sauron? What good can he bring to the world after Sauron's defeat? He was literally taunting our heroes with the death and suffering of Frodo. How can you possibly not think he deserves death?
Hmmm... if only we had a key character's thoughts on the subject. Wait! I've got it! The old man from scene 24!
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."
- Some old dude
The power of mercy, even to the undeserving of it, is a key theme of Tolkien and it permeates work.
I guess we watched different scenes. In the version I saw, he didn't come out to broker a peace or give terms. He came to taunt and provocate. Got what he deserved.Quote:
The good guys don't execute the messenger, especially if he is unarmed.
As for being unarmed --
Sword hilt is visible.
Officially licensed action figure --
Brian Earl Spilner said:I guess we watched different scenes. In the version I saw, he didn't come out to broker a peace or give terms. He came to taunt and provocate. Got what he deserved.Quote:
The good guys don't execute the messenger, especially if he is unarmed.
Deserved has nothing to do with it.
You disagree with Aragorn's decision, which is totally fine. That's a different topic of discussion than what my point was, which was countering the argument that Peter Jackson had some fundamental misunderstanding of Tolkien's work by having Aragorn execute him.
Aragorn is a flawed man just like anybody else in Middle Earth.
In fact, book Aragorn threatened to kill anyone who touched his sword when arriving at Edoras...
Aragorn is a flawed man just like anybody else in Middle Earth.
In fact, book Aragorn threatened to kill anyone who touched his sword when arriving at Edoras...
Well thanks to you guys I just went and bought the whole damn extended series box set on Amazon. And to be frank, I'm not even sure if I have a working DVD player!
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