Just saw Return of the King...

[Baconfoot]

Well I just got back from seeing Return of the King. (Early charity showing in Palm Springs)

It's late but I couldn't live without imparting the following bits of information ye even onto the democratic underground people:

1)If Return of the King doesn't win the Oscar for best picture it will be nothing less than a repudiation of the genre.
2)Sean Astin should clearly get a Best Supporting Actor nomination at least.

This movie will make long-time LOTR fans and "only the movie" people alike cry.

What a movie. WHAT a movie.

[Archae]

1. Don't spoil it!

Does Frodo and Sam destroy the One Ring? :-)

[SideshowScott]

2. was it really THAT good?!?!?!?! Im Dieing to see it!

I was floored by both movies ( fellowship and two towers ) how does this one stack up? As long as its good as the other two im happy..So does it beat the triolgy curse?

[Kenneth ken]

3. thanks for the post

I'm sure I will see it in the theater. I'm sure I'll like it. I have to say I liked TTT better on DVD, so I will probably like ROTK better that way too. Too much story for general audiences, I think.

Each part - FOTR, TTT, ROTK could have run 4-5 hours and followed the books better, IMO, but how many non book fans would agree with that?

Glad you enjoyed it

[Aragorn4president]

24. books are always better, but the movies still kick @ss

[La_Serpiente]

4. Thank you

I can't wait to see it.

[xchrom]

5. exciting news

can't wait to see it.
especially those pretty boy elves. yummy.
i've enjoyed the first two a great - and i think the treatment from book to movie has been fine.

[frustrated_lefty]

6. I have lost track

of the women in my life that fantasize about being sandwiched between Legolan and Aragorn. I just hope the movie kicks butt. ;)

[La_Serpiente]

7. eh?

[frustrated_lefty]

8. Yes, I know

it corrupts the purity of the film. My wife wants to be nailed by Legolas, she has said as much, and I have spoken with at least 3 women who have said they would love a 3-way with Legolas and Aragorn.

[Habibi]

10. Make that an even 4.

[supernova]

15. Make that an even 5

Aragorn/supernova/Legolas :9

[NashVegas]

18. Why Not 6?

I bought tickets on Fandango for opening day (17th) already.

I read the book like once every two years or so, but at this point I'm trying to stay movie-visual spoiler free. Not easy with all these tempting TV specials, I tell ya.

Thank goodness for TiVo.

[VelmaD]

20. Count me in for 7

And you can add Faramir, Boromir, Eomer, Pippin...oh hell, every man in the movie except Wormtongue. ;-)

[nykiera]

21. Number Eight here

Drools...

[Aragorn4president]

23. Oh yeah number nine

as the name would suggest though, I am partial to Aragorn myself. However, from the trailers I'm not liking the whole straight haired pony tail look as much as the rough ranger one.

11 Days!!!!:bounce:

[SideshowScott]

11. Well I for one would not mind a Eowyn, Arwen sandwich action..

I think Miranda Otto and Liv Tyler are smokin...Aragorn in a lucky Bastich to have those two chase him..
Thank god we have not seen any Gollum fetishs pop up..Ewwwwww!

[VelmaD]

22. Uhh...if you haven't seen it...

it's only because you haven't been looking.

There are fan sites for every possible pairing of characters from those movies. Don't believe me? Try:
http://www.libraryofmoria.com

[INTELBYTES]

28. I'll take Aragorn thank you!

If all the elvin chicks look like her, I'm moving to Rivendale!
:bounce:

[Dudley_DUright]

9. Reading the ROTK

makes me cry every time, so I would be disappointed if the movie did not do so. :cry:

[joeybee12]

12. I'm still waiting for Frodo and Sam to declare their physical love for one

another.

Do they finally do that????????????????

[ibegurpard]

13. LOL!

There definitely seemed to be a few homoerotic undertones for me as well.

[joeybee12]

14. Especially those big burly MEN throwing and carrying those little

hobbits around!

Was Tolkein married, do you know?

[Enraged_Ape]

16. Tolkien was married with children

He married his "high school sweetheart" and they had several sons and a daughter.

Here's a nice little timeline of his life:

http://www.lord-of-the-rings.org/tolkien/chronology.html

I can't wait to see this movie. I really...can't...wait.

[joeybee12]

17. Yeah, it's starting to get to me--I can't wait either

I should watch the first two again this weekend, and that will REALLY put me in the mood!

[chookie]

30. Landover Baptist Church demanded scenes be deleted

Obviously Peter Jackson gave in to their pressure.

Their full review of TT ca be found here:
http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1202/twotowers.html

[Terwilliger]

32. fanfic already?

:eyes: ;-)

[Mass_Liberal]

19. I DONT WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT

I CANT WAIT TO SEE IT FOR MYSELF.


p.s you are the luckiest person this earth has ever seen

p.p.s you and the other people at the charity showing

[chookie]

25. I am so JEALOUS

I am glowing green with envy -- but so happy for you!

I have a feeling it is going to be a stunning achievement. Although I find it hard to imagine something better than Fellowship...but I'll be glad when I see it.

I found it incomprehensible that it did not win Best Picture, etc, for Fellowship -- although it quite deservedly got it for Best Musical Score and other honors. I may riot next April if Return of the King does not win then!!

There were some pretty impressive acting performances in those films, but after watching the first two more times than I care to admit, the ones I find really outstanding are those by Sean Bean -- who brought great gravity and humanity to Boromir, and Andy Serkin, the actor behind Gollum.

I'm looking forward to seeing Return even more after your discreetly informative little post.

Thanks for the "hankie" warning. I'll go to the theatre prepared this time. *Every* time I watch Fellowship, I dissolve into a blubbering heap in the scene after the Fellowship escape following Gandalf's fall to the Balrog. Actually -- I had not been prepared in the least for how emotionally powerful Fellowship was. I found myself crying time and time again. It was a powerful catharsis after the horror of Sept 11 and Dec 2000.

[Mass_Liberal]

26. Sean Bean

was so incredibly awesome, that that performance put him in my top 10 actors list. I almost cried when boromir died.

[chookie]

27. He is awesome

His performance as Boromir made my heart stop. I've admired his work for many years, but he is maturing into a great actor.

I loved Two Towers, but not with the fervor that I felt for Fellowship. I gave a lot of thought as to why. I figured it out during a re-watch of Fellowship -- it was because Sean Bean was not in it. He had leant such a powerful presence to Fellowship that his absence in TT caused it to seem pale by comparison

You probably know this already -- but JUST IN CASE you don't, I will tell you. Boromir returns in a flashback in The Two Towers, in the DVD. I put off buying it until someone at DU told me this -- and when I knew, I went out and got it within the hour. He's on the screen for under ten minutes -- but what a ten minutes he gives us.

Boromir was a great role for Sean Bean. He has often played bad guys, but be really fleshed out Boromir, who was heroic, but was flawed by his inability to comprehend the big picture -- I hope another director as clever as Peter Jackson finds another role for Sean to shine in soon!

[Cheswick2.0]

34. gotta go buy that DVD

I love Sean Bean. He was great and made Boromir even more interesting than in the book.

[Lorien]

39. I kind of wish Bean had been chosen to play

Aragorn. he was wonderful as Boromir, but I think the role of Aragorn needed someone with a bit more depth and weight-IMHO Bean would have been perfect (restyled with the dark locks, of course). Viggo is just a little too whispery, too weepy, not a powerful enough personality for the role, IMHO anyway. I thought he did an alright job (Viggo in interviews comes off as far less charismatic than his character, so it is a good job of acting for him) but I wish the casting had been a bit different. Would have loved to see Bowie as Elrond, too (he really wanted the role). Weaving was ponderous and not exactly "fair" as elves are supposed to be.

Glad to hear that Bean is in the extended TTT. Maybe I'll check it out. :-)

[kodi]

36. yeap, as did i, and agree that sean astin deserves an oscar

the slow motion scene of Boromir's death was about the most heroic death scene in film i ever saw. i did cry watching it when i saw FOTR on an Imax screen.

i'm gonna' jones on FOTR and TT for a few days before the release of ROTK so it all seems fresh.

i expect starting in 2004, somewhere in college towns and art houses across america that all three will be played consecutively on a saturday night.

watched extended versions of FOTR and TT back to on thanksgiving.

awesome.

and this is funny,... about 3am on friday, after watching both films all day, my dogs were barking and raising hell outside and an adandoned puppy was at my gate out here in the country.. the puppy is now named.........frodo.

[chookie]

29. "'The Return of the King' is NOT about Jesus Christ!"

A warning to True Christians from Landover Baptist Churchc

"By 7 p.m., approximately 2,200 of Landover Baptist’s most privileged church members were seated and anxiously awaiting what they thought would be a Technicolor showcase for their favorite superhero, Jesus.   Three hours into the movie, after patiently waiting for a 300-foot Jesus to descend from the clouds and begin dismembering and Kung-Fu kicking the living hell out of unsaved people, the shocking truth that the devout audience had been hoodwinked into watching pagan, Christ-hating propaganda was finally revealed.  By 11:30 p.m., all that remained of the enormous Christian theater complex were a few blackened porcelain commodes, many still overflowing with the bilious pop-corn vomit of disgusted patrons, and a charred velvet usher’s jacket, which still contained most of a right arm clutching a handful of half-torn tickets.
-snip-
" George Bush should make it illegal to use the words, ‘King,’ and ‘Return,’ in the same sentence, unless someone is referring to Jesus Christ."
-snip-
Without vegetables to hurl at the screen, church members instinctively reached for their guns, firing volley after volley until the screen was in shreds.  Then two elder deacons, whose rifles were equipped with modern flamethrowers, torched the wall separating the theater from the lobby, instantly igniting a forty-gallon drum of tropical oil next to the popcorn machine, creating a fireball that enveloped the concession area.  Fortunately, all members of the audience were safely evacuated, with only minor injuries reported, before the complex was razed, and fatalities were limited to 24 blue-collar theater employees.



http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1203/rotk.html

[villager]

31. holy cow, you too!?

Saw it in L.A. And ergo my thread's a dupe! Didn't even see yours when I posted!

Yeah -- I was sitting there thinking: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (McKellan) Best Supporting Actor in Astin...

What a pleasure to have the trilogy end on such a strong, strong note!

[Cheswick2.0]

33. RUD-Y RUD-Y RUD-Y

I think Sean Astin is a terrific actor and I am glad to hear he is that good in ROTK. But then I am a big fan of his mother.

[ScreamingMeemie]

35. Kick

eom

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

37. So how different was it from the book?

The first two movies stayed fairly true to the books, but this one sounds like it's going off on a huge-ass tangent.

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS. If you haven't read the book yet, you probably won't want to read this post any further. We're talking major plot revelations here. Proceed at your own risk. You've been warned.




I found out a year ago that they decided not to include the final Shire sequence. Apparently, Jackson just couldn't figure out how to do it right. He couldn't do an offbeat ghost story right either, but I don't recall that stopping him.

Now, Jackson has apparently, at the last minute, removed all of Christopher Lee's scenes entirely. So, how does he plan for Merry to find the Palantir? Will it involve some plot contrivance that requires the audience to bring a block and tackle to suspend their disbelief, or did he decide to just cut that whole subplot out, too?

What else did he mess with? How does Eowyn's plot end - does she still hook up with Faramir, or did Jackson decide to trim a few extraneous paragraphs and turn her into a spinster? Speaking of Eowyn, do she and Pippin still get the glory in the fight with the Witch-King, or did the PTBs decide the Two Hunks Plus Comic Relief needed more screen time?

And I don't even want to think about what Jackson could have done to Frodo and Sam's plot. I'm half expecting a ten-minute fight scene between Frodo and Sauron, because "that's what the audience expects".

I'm still going to see the movie (not ASAP; I'm waiting until after finals), but I don't have very high hopes. I'm not saying Jackson's version will be bad, but the evidence suggests it'll be a huge departure from the book.

[Lorien]

38. Does PJ take as many liberties with ROTK

as he did with Two Towers?

I grew up with those books (first read them in '76) and really liked Fellowship, but rather disliked Two Towers. Too much contrived bullshit for the sole purpose of showing more monsters. And the art direction felt emotionally flat to me in the second film, while the first was more well rounded and varied. How does ROTK compare with the first two and the books?