Bits and pieces

[Evisse the Blue]

When seeing ROTK again I noticed a few things I hadn't noticed before.
One of them is in the in Edoras when Theoden and his companions drink to the 'victorious dead'. Everybody raises their cups and shouts "Hail!" then drinks. Aragorn pauses a little though before drinking from his cup, as though troubled by some memory. What do you suppose he was thinking about? And why put that in?
Also, can anyone add some 'bits and pieces' from ROTK that are unnoticeable at first, but that are cool to watch for once you've spotted them, or that had been bugging you as to what they might mean?

[Essex]

It could be he was thinking aout Haldir, or that he realised that (for him at least) the war was not over and that there would be many more deaths. We'll have to wait until Jackson explains in the commentary on the EE I suppose.

Other bits I've noticed:

How much gollum looks like Andy Serkis just before they go into Shelob's tunnel. It is stunning.

How Jackson has taken the pictures Alan Lee for the centenary edition of the LOTR book, and used in the movie. The steps leading up to Cirith Ungol where Frodo's attacked by Shelob is one. (Helm's Deep wall being another).

[Evisse the Blue]

The pictures thing reminded me of another one: in Rivendell, when Arwen goes to look at the shards of Narsil, you can see some pictures on the walls: are they pictures anyone recognizes? Because they look quite familiar to me. Maybe also by Alan Lee?

[Gorwingel]

Well I don't think we'll ever really know who Aragorn is thinking about. But everytime I see the scene where Aragorn raises his cup, I personally always think of Haldir, especially because he should have never died in the first place.

Well, yes, the pictures in Rivendell should look familiar because they are by Alan Lee. He actually just won an Oscar for Best Art Direction because of his involvement with the films. And they were also featured in Fellowship :cool:

[Althern]

My favourite item that may just fall within the 'bits and pieces' category is Theoden at the battle of Pelannor. He has just driven off the orcs (with his men, of course), and hears the horns of the Easterlings; he turns and gives this wonderful 'oh what now?' expression, and then later, when the Witch-king turns up, he gives another, even more exasperated 'what do I have to do to win this damn battle' expression. Simply wonderful.

[The Perky Ent]

I'd say Aragorn paused...well...just because he wanted to recollect on some fact! Anyway, i'm sure PJ had a good reason

Funny Moment: During the crowning of Elessar, right after Gandalf puts the crown on Aragorn's head and there is a wide shot, you can see that Gandalf is wearing tennis shoes!

[Evisse the Blue]

Althern - that's a cool bit. Reminds me of the scene in TTT when it started raining and Theoden looked up as in 'Oh great - just what we needed now!'

About that Aragorn scene - thinking about it, I get the impression he was reminded of Boromir. And it ties up with the fact that he thinks he'll be meeting Denethor soon, and will have to give him news of his son's death. That alone would explain his troubled look very well...

I got another thing that's not necessarily cool but has been bugging me alright: In Edoras, when Aragorn asks Gandalf: 'No news of Frodo?' and Gandalf responds 'Not a word' - exactly what sort of news were they expecting, and through whom? Telepathic maybe - or a call perhaps??:rolleyes: ;)

[Beanamir of Gondor]

Yes. Woot-Woot for Boromir the Disco King.

Um... anyway, did anyone see the car by the lake near Minas Tirith? I was told it was there but three times I did not see it.

Oh yes, and how adorable was Deagol?

Does Andy Serkis look like Jack Black to anyone else or is it just because of the Council of Elrond thing?

[Iris Alantiel]

I always attributed Aragorn's pause to the fact that Theoden speaks of the "victorious" dead. At this point, Sauron still reigns and Aragorn does not know what has become of Frodo. Since there is still considerable potential for Sauron to win the war, then, I always imagined Aragorn was reflecting on whether the dead could really be called "victorious" yet and what responsibility he had for making sure they really were victorious (which would not be the case if they died fighting for Rohan only to have Sauron defeat the race of Men at Pelennor). I rather imagine him making a silent vow renewing his commitment to the war, something to the effect that he would honour those who died at Helm's Deep (perhaps especially Haldir and anyone else he might have known who died) by making sure Sauron was defeated and their deaths were not in vain.

[Kath]

There was just one thing I really noticed and thats whenever the Rohirrim go into battle - as in actually fighting and sticking swords into things - there is no music at all, just the sounds of the battle.

[Garulf]

This is pretty obvious, but the leader of the orcs in the Battle of the Pellenor Fields (Gothmog?) has a startling resemblance to Sloth from The Goonies. When I was watching it for the first time I actually yelled out "HEEEY YOOOU GUUUYS!" :p Now that I think about it Sean Astin was the main character of The Goonies! Maybe he got the creature creator to do him a favor and get his misfigured friend a cameo :)

[Meela]

I know my thought is a little less philisophical, but I automatically assumed that Aragorn paused before drinking because he wasn't one of the Rohirrim, yet he was in their hall in their country and embracing their customs, so to speak. It wasn't his fellow countrymen who were dead.
It seems rather stupid now, but I thought that every time I watched it.

[Erinti]

Something that's been bothering me....where did Elrond go after he delivered anduril to Aragorn? He turns up again in Minas Tirith, but where was he before that? Did i miss something?

[Mad Baggins]

Maybe he went back to Rivendell... :p