General Chat / Official Return of the King Chat

Tell her to watch Hidalgo when it comes out.

Ok I have a question... I'm trying to rebuild minas tirith at the moment and I can't find any pictures of the very top level of minas tirith, where aragorn is crowned. I've done the great hall and the first beacon, but there's a large jutting out section of this level and I can't remember if anything is on it or not... was it just plain marble, or is there a flag, building or sculpture of some sort? Any help is appreciated!

Remember to include the gap in the wall that Denethor runs through. I thought it was just marble really...maybe a little grass?



can't see any flagpole or anything...

Yes. The place where Denethor jumps off will be symbolized... let's just say appropriately...

other than the tree, i cont help you out.

mantis- that poster of that place is marvelous. i love minus tirith.

Minas Tirith

I can't with any heart criticise this trilogy in any way. Who in their wildest dreams could have imagined such a glorious screen version of the lord of the rings.
The rich detail of the adaptation is so perfect and un-holywood all credit to Jackson for fighting for his vision of the book.

Of course the books were never intended to be in three volumes, this was something forced on Tolkien by the publishers. And in fact I like Jacksons dividing of the volumes better in the films: Having Boromier die at the end of the fellowship worked well, as did moving Shelob to this last film and highlighting the two towers with the Helms deep battle. Perfect

My four favourite personel 'bits' were 1. The battle with the Orc Boar riders in the two towers 2. The opening sequence of two towers with Gandalf battling the Bowlrog (sp) only briefly mentioned in the books and yet perfectly realised in the film, 3. Gollum (from his scabby back to his blackend teeth) a CGI masterpiece 4. Sean Austin....so perfect as Samwise.

Looking forward to those missing ROTK scenes in the four disc collectors set next Autumn.

TerrorTech Library

4. Sean Austin....so perfect as Samwise.

It's so obvious that he's not British, but who cares? He plays the character with such emotion it's unbelievable. Of course it's not his breakout movie in that area as Rudy was incredible as well.

Tell her to watch Hidalgo when it comes out.

Speaking of accents and such, it's hard to believe he is British. The perfect cowboy.

Well I finally let myself into this thread - it's been sort of a locked cage over the past month - but today I got around to going to the theater, and although I went with my sister and her boyfriend, I sat alone. This was not a social outing. This was an experience. And I was going to live it.

We sat down and watched a few previews, although there weren't as many as I expected, and then it started. And right then I knew. I knew it was going to be like nothing I'd ever seen before. The other movies didn't do something like the Smeagol kills for the ring scene. I knew. I knew it was going to be a fucking epic.

If anyone hasn't seen the movie in the theater yet, then a) you shouldn't be in this thread, and you need to go see it. You don't get to experience things like this on a screen this big very often. I mean, I was waiting for Troy. For that epic battle sequence. But this is a fantasy. It's one, long, edge of your seat daydream. I...I'm speechless, man. I'm fucking speechless.

Things I disliked:
Hmm, not many. I have little gripe about things that weren't in the movie as it was 3 and a half hours, and I could never take anything out; plus, the Shelob scenes were incorperated into the third part. I do kind of wish the armies of the dead had sort of followed Aragorn out of the mountain, the whole ships thing was kind of dumb. I don't know. Like Terrortech, I feel bad critisizing any part of the movie. It's my favorite of all time.

Holy shit, I raved about the stunt where Legolas hops up onto the horse in TT? Wow, was that Oliphant scene something. You would have thought someone would have hit him. Also when the WWF dude on the Oliphant gets speared, man, I cheered at that, he pissed me off.

And when Gimli says his line about a dwarf dying by the side of an elf, and Legolas is like "how about a friend?" Man that touched my heart. I almost cried at the "my friends, you bow to no one" at the end, wow.

Anyway I sure plan on going back to that theater, perhaps more than once. I'll see if I'm clutching my chair again when Shelob's stinger comes down on the camera - and when she hovers above Frodo. *shudders*

50/10.

Viggo Mortensen is American.

Ok I have a question... I'm trying to rebuild minas tirith at the moment and I can't find any pictures of the very top level of minas tirith, where aragorn is crowned. I've done the great hall and the first beacon, but there's a large jutting out section of this level and I can't remember if anything is on it or not... was it just plain marble, or is there a flag, building or sculpture of some sort? Any help is appreciated!

On top of Minas Tirith, there's loads of Grass and Marble. Oh, don't forget the statues of the kings, or whatever they are!

Bit late now... it was my NEPT entry for last week... what you said is pretty much what I did anyway though, maybe apart from the grass...

As for the ending, I actually quite liked the pace it played out at with all the fades. If people were bored by the ending, then they shouldn't have gone to the movie in the first place. When I see a great movie, I don't want it to end. The way some people describe it, it sounds like they couldn't wait to get out of there. The ending of LOTR was always a little bittersweet I think. Just like soldiers returning home from WWII, home is never how you remember it and more importantly, the soldiers returning are not the same. What was once comfortable now seems awkward. The movie needed to slow down at that point because it doesn't have a 'happily ever after' ending. If you go from the coronation ceremony to the wedding to Frodo sailing west and then end the movie you miss out on the emotion of the scenes. They had to be played at a somewhat uncomfortable pace. I wish there was more to the ending actually.

Corkscrewed, you were talking about using transition shots instead of fades and while I agree that would have sped things along more smoothly, that presupposes that the ending we saw is how it was written. I have a feeling the ending was assembled in the editing room and a lot of small scenes were left out. Peter Jackson probably never shot those transition scenes because other scenes were meant to be in there but were later cut out. I remember thinking Two Towers was very choppy throughout and when I saw the Extended Edition DVD I realized that was because scenes were taken out throughout the movie to shorten it that really needed to be there. This is probably the case with ROTK too so we'll have to wait and see how it cuts together with the added scenes.

And there are some moments along the way that I thought more time should have been spent on. One of the most memorable scenes iin the book for me was when the armies are marching into Minis Tirith before the battle with different colored flags and armors and Pippin is sitting over the gate watching it all. That was a powerful moment and I missed that scene. When Frodo is incapacitated by Shelob, the movie showed us right away that he was still alive. That was disappointing I thought because there was a small section in the book when Sam must take the ring and go off on his own believing Frodo is dead and I wish that was in the movie too.

Still, making a movie is about compromises and I can't fault Peter Jackson for his interpretation because he gave us so much. I've still only seen the movie once having seen the other two at least 7 times each, so it's tough for me to compare. I particularly loved Theoden's speech before the final Rohan charge. But there were lots of great moments throughout. I hope I get a chance to see it a couple more times before it leaves the theater because nothing compares to watching a movie on the big screen. Nothing.

As for the ending, I actually quite liked the pace it played out at with all the fades. If people were bored by the ending, then they shouldn't have gone to the movie in the first place. When I see a great movie, I don't want it to end. The way some people describe it, it sounds like they couldn't wait to get out of there.

Agreed.

And do remember, everyone, that the ending of this movie is not just the end of Return of the King; it's the end of the entire series.

I thought the long ending made up for Two Towers not really having an ending.

Did anyone notice Aragorn saying things like "you will regain yer 'onour!" Whenever he started shouting his accent changed so much.

He was allowed to go to Valinor because he was a ringbearer, he went because the shire was not for him anymore and he was never going to recover from his old wounds (the Nazgul blade wound, but though it is not mentioned in the film, Frodo got very sick every year on the anniversary of the destruction of the ring).

Well, since most people that sail to valinor are elves, they don't... but Frodo is not given immortality.

Okay, I reread the book, and Frodo DEFINITELY gets sick on the anniversaries of his stabbing at Weathertop and of his being stung by Shelob. If you have the books, go to Appendix B. Towards the end, in the section entitled "The Chief Days from the Fall of Barad-Dur to the End of the Third Age" look at the dates. On October 6, 3019 T.A., "Frodo feels the first return of pain," referring to Weathertop. On March 13, 3020 T.A., "Frodo is taken ill (on the anniversary of his poisoning by Shelob)." It's on page 417 of my book. So basically, Frodo gets sick on the anniversaries of the Nazgul wound and the Shelob poisoning.

The book makes no mention of him getting ill on the anniversary of the ring's destruction, and there's no reason to think that might be true:
1. The Ring didn't injure him in any particular spot internally, like the Witch King and Shelob did.
2. Even if he did, and lets suppose it was the finger, that finger was bitten off.
3. There's no reason why Frodo should get sick on one particular day if it was due to the Ring. In any case, it was because the Ring was destroyed that Frodo grew weary of Middle Earth, or at least that was part of the reason.


Also, while I have no proof, I believe that all those who passed on to the West to the Undying Lands WERE given immortality. The elves were obviously already immortal, but to my understanding, the Undying Lands is the land of the Valar. Remember that the Numenoreans were barred from sailing west into the Undying Lands. Their fall was the result of the kings resenting being mortal, and they actually tried to attack the Valar, believing that if they controlled that land, they could become immortal.

Now, maybe that was just what Sauron told them, and that it wasn't really true, but that's what I think at any rate. I've seen nothing to suggest that's false (though I don't see any place that says it's absolutely true either, to be honest).

Anyway, yeah. I'm sure about the Shelob part though.

WOW. This was the best movie i have ever seen. I personally thought it was perfect, except the ending dragged slightly, but not much to do about it since they had to go by the book. It was definitely the best of the three tho.

Now i'll go and actually finish the books. Then i might have a clue what corky is talking about with shelob and Nazgul.

But seriously, the movie was great.