The Official Return of the King Discussion Thread
 

yeah Christopher Lee's parts have been cut for the theatrical version, but they'll be added back in to the extended version. Actually, they've cut a few different parts from the movie that I think they shouldn't have but apparently all are being added to the extended version so I guess it's ok.

Anyways, 4 days. I can hardly wait :mad:

This movie is going to so totally rule, I don' think I have awaited a movie this much since Phantom Menace. WHOO!

2 of my friends have a midnight ticket, I don't know if I want to see it THAT bad though. I'll probably just see it opening day, doubt I will go at midnight.

Just booked to see it Wednesday morning :cool:

For some reason the 1.30 afternoon showing was the only one sold out :wtf:

Still, :cool:

I haven't read the book in ages but Shellob should be awesome. And of course the finale with the ring (not saying anything else cause spoilers)

-edit- oh yeah and judging by the other two the music should rock. Howard Shore = :y:

************CONTAINS SPOILERS SO DONT READ IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW***********

I think its two things, the first i think is that if the power of all the magic rings has gone, then the Elves power and immortality will no longer be with them, because the Elves are immortal they have been around for many many years etc etc and there has always been magic rings which i think gives there race there magic power and immortality, so when the 'one ring' is destroyed all the other magic rings powers will go thus making the elves have no power, SO!! the only way the Elves can stay immortal is by leaving middle earth and going to the Grey Havens, which is across the sea, so there immortality and power will only sustain if they leave middle earth.

OR its that Elvish wemon cant give there love to a mortal man or get married to a mortal man, or its if they have a baby together that might do it or something.
Hope that kinda explains it, its a bit tricky and havn't read the Sil Marilion [which is the story surrounding LOTR and what happens to the characters etc etc before the LOTR books in a good while]

:y:

The Silmarillion is what happens before LotR, and the Hobbit come to that. There are instances in there of elves and mortals forming couples and no mention of the elves losing their immortality being made...I haven't read the LotR books in a while but I'm not sure if it isn't something they introduced to the films to give the romance angle a bit more emphasis, since Arwen isn't in the books half as much as she is in the films.

Yep, that happens in the Silmarillion,which is a pretty amazing read. Also, there's a bit about it in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings. But one thing, Elrond's sons didn't actually go with him into the West. They apparently stayed on Middle Earth a bit longer but were still accounted among the Elves and were allowed to leave when they were ready.

Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King
 

<center><font color=white face="Comic Sans MS">I bought a ticket to this at 12:01am, going with a few of my friends. Problem is, I haven't seen the first two, so I rented them and I'm about to go spend 6 hours watching this stuff.

I'll probably end up being obsessed with LotR after this, I'm nerdy like that. But it'll have to co-exist with my current wave of X-Men nostalgia and whatnot. :p Anyway, I read the books back in the day but I hardly remember any of it.

Anyway, who be seeing it? Post your thoughts after seeing it. </font>

As soon as I can see it, I will.

I'm gonna go see it, but probably after Christmas.

ha;sdj;asdjas can't wait. 11 hours to go :heart:

I'm seeing it at 12:01 and we're doing the marathon today too. Joel, watch the extended versions of the first two :y:

I've got my tickets. Eleven more hours...

lkjdfslkjflaskd

im looking so forward to this.

TOMORROW MANGS

<font color=969696>I'm seeing it Saturday.</font>

just found out my buddy who manages a few Hoyts is givin' us a private screenin' tonight @ 12. Good stuff :y: Don't have to fight crowds and what not.

Woooo, going to the 12:01 screening tonight. A little less than 5 hours to go!

nerds.


















J/k im gonna go see it tomorrow.

I'm seeing it Friday. I can wait a few more days.

It ruled(s)

Nuff said

Yea it was pretty good. If anybody has any questions or anything feel free to ask.

It was amazing. I have faith that the stuff they cut out will be in the extended version though. :mad:

I had tickets for the Midnight showing, paid in advance, then got a call from a relative saying they were stuck at work and needed a ride. Missed it, and all my friends have seen it.... Man am I bummed! :(

How many times did that film end!? Great film. Fellowship is still the best.

I might be wrong, but isn't Gandalf supposed to kill the Witch King?

I agree.

Not sure about who was supposed to kill the Witch King thing, but in Fellowship didn't they say that those things couldn't be destroyed?

Thought it was great. One of the best, if not the best, trilogy I've seen. Wouldn't mind seeing that again.

I saw it Tuesday niiiiite @ 10pm, pretty ****ing awesome :heart:

It wasn't too long, I wanted more :(

Oh yeah, and I could easily watch all three in a row :o

Hate to be the odd man out here, but hey. THe first one was decent, the second was my favorite of the three. Regretfully, I thought Return of the King just dragged. I was more interested in the movie ending then the actual end itself. It ultimately bored me. I'm also going to have to see it again next week, so we'll see if the rewatch is any better.... I might bring a pillow to be on the safe side.

I agree. I actually saw it twice in a 24-hour period (two separate groups of friends wanted to see it), and both times I was checking my watch at about the 1-hour mark. The ending is entirely too long, as well.

It's still very good (and I love Peter Jackson's homages to his horror roots), but overall, I think this was my least favorite of the three.

1) Two Towers
2) Fellowship
3) Return

Nah, Eowyn and Merry kind of both kill him in the book. He says that a man can't kill him, although Gandalf's not really a man either but still. :p

I thought the Fellowship dragged, exactly like the book does. It doesn't get good until after the half way mark.

I really really enjoyed it. It was amazing as all 3 were. But I tell ya poor Sam gets no respect.

I loved it

Got to love the heel turn at the end

And then back to the face turn

I hope they sent Triumph to the premiere.

<center><font color=white face="Comic Sans MS">I don't know why I waited so long to watch those movies. LotR is one of the best ****ing trilogies I've seen. I gotta see Return Of The King again. :love: </font>

Hot damn did it rule, I saw it at 7 last night. While I bought my tickets early (two days), and got there like an hour early, the line to get in the theater itself strerched half way across the theater.

Yeah I saw it at 10.30 yesterday morning, when I came out there was a queue all through the cinema to the doors waiting to go into the next screening :o

-edit- Apparently it's done $8m from the midnight screenings on opening day alone :eek:

I haven't seen the first one yet, but I've seen the second one like 3 times.

I do wanna see the first one before I see the 3rd one, but I was able to get the idea of exactly what was going on anyway in the 2nd one.

I've heard so many good things about the ROTK, now I can't wait to see it.

It actually got a rather poor review in the SF Chronicle, but they also said that Speed 2 was one of the best movies of its year, and thusly, I don't really give their reviews a care.

***spoiler***(black text)

<font color=black>wtf, no Saruman. What were they smoking when they didnt conclude what happened to him.</font>

Big Kev, look for the extended version in November. It's gonna clear a lot of storylines up that the theatrical version couldn't, due to time constraints. :y:

:wtf:

Off the top of my head, when the Rohan are camped out and he and Eowyn talk about why he thinks Pippen shouldn't go into the battle.

Aso the line after the Minas Tirith battle when they're planning the assault on Mordor it's him who says something like "We cannot win by force of arms alone"

..and there were others (just can't remember the details)

Haha, that's where one of my favorite lines from the movie comes from. He says something along the lines of "I don't doubt the strength of his heart, it's the reach of his arms."

God movie. Better than Two Towers, although

SPOILER

the end with Frodo having to leave was kind of WTF

/SPOILER

still really good.

That part of the end is mostly a reflection by Tolkein on the effects of war on people. Since he served in WWI he saw a lot of people he served with in the aftermath not able to readjust to a 'normal' life. Frodo doesn't *have* to leave, he simply chooses to.

That might make sense, if Frodo had actually been involved in some of the big battles. He was in one battle in the first movie with that huge ass orc, other than that I can't recall any he was in. WHEREAS some of the other people staying behind were involved in a lot more than that.

Carrying the ring pretty much destroyed him though...

Yeah I saw it. It was very good. Just lost feeling in my as about halfway through.

Hot movie.

McKellum is the man.

so where did gandalf and frodo go in the end exactly?

Without goin into too much detail on the complete backstory, to the west is where the Elves originally came from and is where the Gods of the world live. Basically it's Paradise, pretty much, more or less what Gandalf describes inside Minas Tirith in the scene with Merry.

I felt sorry for Sam when Gollum framed him with the bread, and Frodo said he didn't need him anymore, and Sam was crying as Frodo walked off. Poor old Sam :( Sam deserved more recognition than Frodo. He protected Frodo, carried him up the mountain .etc. Frodo did nothing in return :mad: Very good movie though, I'll probably watch it again soon. :y:

True.

One rumour was that Christopher Lee kicked up some kind of stink and made out that the film would be nothing without him, so they cut his scene. More likely it was just to do with time. It was pretty stupid the way they found the Palantir in the water, but I've got faith in the extended DVD.

Yeah it was really good but the end after the ring was destroyed dragged majorly, really good movie, although this was the worst of the three as far as acting goes (with the exception of Sam and Gandolf). Frodo was very unatural with many of his lines and it was just weak. But oh well, still a great great movie. Oh and one more thing, did we need all that fighting? We got and hour in the last one did we really need another?

I thought it was really good, there was a few things I didn't get though. Like what that thing they found in the water was.

And yeah, the acting when Frodo woke up and was laughing and greeting everybody was a little weird.

Do you mean at the beginning where Smeagol's friend finds the ring?

Oh yeah, the palentir (sp)...it's from the first movie, it's the crystal ball type thing Saruman uses to communicate with Sauron. I think that should be explained a bit more in the extended edition... :o

Amazing film. a few random notes
- :y: at the part of the beginning with Smeagol and Deagol fishing.
- :rofl: at Legolas destroying the giant elephant thing and everyone on it and Gimli saying, "that still only counts as one"
-Lord of the Nazgul=King Bad Ass
- :nono: at Frodo's treatment of Sam. Jerk.
-Battle of Pellenor Fields- :eek:
-Army of the Dead-Cool special effect. Eagles and Fell Beasts-cooler special effect. Shelob-coolest special effect.
-best performances-Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis
-Best tear jerking moment-Aragorn: [to hobbits as they bow to him] My friends... you bow to no one. [Everyone bows to the hobbits]

Too bad there weren't more books. I could see a hundred more of these films.

I can understand them bowing to Frodo and Sam, but why Merry and Pippin? :wtf:

You just can't say, MERRY PIPPIN GO AWAY. thats why

Aragorn could have said, "Hey, look! Longbottom leaf!" Then, when Merry and Pippin turned and said "Where? Where?" everybody bows real quick to Frodo and Sam, then stands back up. When Merry and Pippin turn back around, Aragorn shrugs and says "Oh. Sorry. My mistake."

AWESOME movie.

Words cannot describe it.(Well, they can :shifty: )

I dont think the ending dragged. It was done very well. I wouldnt want some shoddy ending where you dont know what happens with the characters. Very nice.

This one is the best. Frodo cant act? LOL

He didnt need lines to act. He did it all in his struggle to get the ring across. Man, tear jerking movie.

<font color=969696>All three movies were awesome.</font> :y:

Oh my god. After reading this topic, I'm completely dumbfounded.

How many of you actually read the book?! I saw maybe one....maybe.

1)The beginning with Smeagol and his brother was great.
2)The acting lacked majorly. Frodo over-dramatized the ring's effect on him. He just...lacked overall.
3)The lack of Sarumon. They never did explain what happened to him.
4)Aragorn. The man is the king of Gondor, yes. Seriously, think about it though. If some random jackass came up to you and said "I am your king, bow", would you? No. They left out the whole Kingsfoil part. In the book, when Faramir is injured, after they take him out of the place where they're going to burn him, Aragorn comes in to save him. He asks for Kingsfoil, and a random person around him says "That's a weed. Only the King can use it to heal somebody", they get the kingsfoil, he uses it, and saves Faramir.
5)Faramir and Eowyn's romance: At the end, it just shows them together. It doesn't show them getting married, nor the romance between them. That is a huge plot point. Faramir of Gondor and Eowyn of Rohan getting married ties the two nations together.
6)The Gray Havens: They only showed the last boat going, which is like the book described. First off, Ciridan the Shipwright didn't have a beard. He is the only Elf in Tolkien's books that has a beard, and they didn't show him with one. Frodo also failed to mention that he left Bag End to Sam and Rosie.
7)Bag End: At the end of the movie, once the Elven leaders, Gandalf, Frodo and Bilbo leave for the Havens, Sam and Rosie are supposed to be living in Bag End. Sam/Rosie lived in Bag End with Frodo for the years after the War, but it wasn't Bag End that Sam/Rosie lived in at the end.
8)Aragorn: ---edit--I stand corrected --end edit--
9)Arwen and Elrond: They never mentioned in the movie that Elrond, Arwen, and Elthend (did I spell that right?!) were all half-Elven. They have to make a choice whether to live the mortal life, or an immortal Elven life. Elrond picked an Elven life, so his children (Arwen and Elthend) had to make a choice. Arwen chose mortal life, and Elthend chose Elven and left to the Havens as well.
10)Legolas: Peter Jackson did a great job covering a hole in Tolkein's writings. Legolas Greenleaf is the only Elf in the books to have a last name. All other Elves have a special thing to go around thier names, but they are all Royalty. True, but so is Legoals. Galadriel and Celeborn are the Lady and Lord of the Wood. Master Elrond is the lord of Rivendell, with Arwen being the Lady of Rivendell. Legolas Greenleaf is the Prince of the Elven Relm near Mirkwood, Yet he is the only Elf to have a last name.

Overall: This was a great trilogy. Peter Jackson has balls, and it was either a hit-or-miss situation, and he definitly hit. I'm looking forward to the extended version DVD of the movie, to see if these scenes were actually filmed or if they were just cut. After 3 years of rigorous filming, interpreting, and battlescene after battlescene, Jackson made a set of books into a Glorious thing. Now, he just needs to do the same to "The Hobbit" and possibly the Samarillion. 8/10

I really liked the movie, as I've said before, but I have to admit that this was the only movie out of the 3 that I really noticed how long I'd been sitting in the theatre. I was very aware of how long it was taking the whole time. That's not really a complaint though, the movie was still amazing.

Actually that is covered in the extended edition of The Two Towers. Eowyn mentions that her father thinks Aragon fought alongside her grandfather or something along those lines. He tells her that it is true, he's some breed that is blessed with long life and that he is like 87 years old.

Ahh...don't have that extended version. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

OK, seriously, you're stupid. First off, for you to say that you know for fact that Peter Jackson made an outrageously long ending because after 10 hours (which is wrong, btw) of LoTR, he wanted a refreshing ending? Bullshit.

For you to say that all 3 movies is only 10 hours is way off. With the Directors Cut of each film (what they actually filmed), there is about 12 to 13 hours of movie. I went to a showing of all 3 films right after eachother, and with intermission between them it lasted 14 and a half hours.

Then, for you to say that I'm bitching about cut scenes, you're half right. If it wasn't a scene that was really important (hence I had nothing to complain about in FoTR and TTT), it wouldn't be important. If you read the books, it was easier for you to understand these things. My brother has never once read the books, but watched all 3 movies. There were things he still didn't understand about it at the end, such as how people just decided to bow to Aragorn, what was with Eowyn and Faramir, etc. And no, if you've ever been to a movie that was made after a book, they don't cut important plotlines out. Thats stupid. I love the movies also, but I'm also going to critisize it if they cut out important plot moments, which they did.

Now please, do us all a favor and go back to where you came from and never, ever come back.

Just for the hell of it, lets call you out on some of your other comments.

Not really. Yes, he was given more air time in this movie, simply because it was he whom Sauron thought had the ring.

Although this was a damn good trilogy, get out more. If this is the absolute best you've seen, you need to watch more movies. Best of its' kind, yes. Best ever, I wouldn't say so. Also, for you to say that you had any interest in Star Wars once episode 1 was released makes you a fool. George Lucas should've stopped at Return of the Jedi.

Thank you, captain obvious. If Viggo Mortenson was never an actor, he probably wouldn't have played Aragorn either.

Ok, if the only reference of his past is from The Goonies, you really, really need to see more great american classics. What about Rudy? Rudy was one of his best performances ever, other than LoTR. And no, it won't open doors for him any time soon. Lets see, Orlando Bloom has already released...one movie? He has another comming soon (TROY!). Viggo is starring in a movie to be released March 2004. Liv Tyler has been in a few minor roles. If it were to truely open doors, he would have already started at least filming another movie.

ass hat

lol

Really? I mean really? Of course they cut scenes. In any movie they are going to cut scenes. But not ones that are huge in the plotline. It's stupid to cut something that is huge in the plot.

Wait, of course you'd think its cool to cut a huge plot event:
I mean, you think Sean Astin is a good actor.

True. But, if you didn't read the books (and I don't know if you did or not), would you have known that Eowyn and Faramir got married? Thats one of the bigger ones, simply because that united the race of men.

I dunno. I just think if I didn't read the book, I would've wondered what the hell happened between Eowyn/Faramir, and why people just decided to trust Aragorn when he said he was King. Not everybody knew it, so I would've been skeptical.

Other than that, they are things that nobody would notice nor care about if they didn't read the books. Hence, I gave it an 8/10.

You really, really need a new opinion. Hell, even Kate Blanchet was better than him, and I absolutely hate her as Galadriel

But how many Gondorians knew of the battle at Helms Deep? Not to mention, most Rangers are damn good with a sword.

Yeah Astin was my fav actor in the movie too and was also great in Rudy. Anyway, I saw the movie last night and all I can say is Holy Sh**. RotK is definately hands down my favorite movie of the trilogy and the best movie I' have ever seen in the theater. Just an all around excellent movie which had it all: action, drama, suspense, comedy, and many heart-felt moments. My favorite moment in the movie was when Pippin stabs the Witch King from behind and then the King's daughter(I forget her name) finishes him off. I usually never tear up in a theater, but I was so close when everyone bowed down to the four hobbits. That was such a moment and the backround music behind it made it very very touching.

Most of you have complained about the ending being to long, but I enjoyed the ending as a great story like LOTR needed the proper sendoff showing us what happens to all the chracters in depth. But I felt sorry for anyone who had to go to the bathroom really bad and they thought it was going to end and it just kept going :lol: But all in all LOTR was easily the best movie series of all-time.

Just to clarify something, when I was talking about noticing how long the movie was, I was not talking about the ending. I was aware throughout the whole movie of how long things were taking. Based on interviews and such I'd seen before the movie I was under the impression that the encounter with Shelob was right at the beginning of the movie. I couldn't believe how long it took them to get up that damn staircase! Then after all that the trip across the rest of mordor was surprisingly quick. Anyway, since Dark_Kane mentioned people bitching about the long ending I just wanted to say that (if he was referring to me) I wasn't bitching about the ending (really I wasn't even bitching, just mentioning something I noticed).

I don't remember seeing that :wtf:

Sure that wasn't Eowyn?

Arwen doesn't fight at all anyhoo :-\

The only real criticism I can think of at the moment is more of a reflection on Two Towers than Return of the King. It's just that I think they built up Sam and Frodo's relationship too fast in the second movie, so by the time you get to the third it ceases to be touching and just becomes a bit annoying. I found myself thinking "Yeah, the ring's shit. You can't cope. We get that can we move things along a little now? No he's going to sit down and cry for a bit."
It's not that this was bad, it was just that we'd already seen it in the second film and so didn't really need to focus on it again.

lol, thebitch is hilarious. You just tore the whole movie apart basically, and then gave it 8/10.

And I've been told that the movies are just summaries of the books, the books are just too huge to cover every plotline, important or not.

I didn't really tear apart the movie, just a few things that I didn't like about it. There is still probably about 2hrs and 45 minutes of it that I liked, hence it deserved an 8.