*TTT - At the Black Gate*

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Tell us what you think of the scenes at the Black Gate.

[doug*platypus]

<B>Loved!</B> the gate, the towers, the Orcs and the Trolls.<P>Disliked the Easterlings' space-age armour, but I'll talk about that somewhere else.<P>Didn't agree with the patchy explanations I've heard for why the Easterlings were coming from the wrong direction.<P>Was impressed by the magic cloak bit. Nice to see their properties being alluded to, and it was <B>very</B> well done.<P><B>HATED!</B> clumsy old Sam falling off the rocks.

[Nari]

i thought the black gate scene was very well done, and i enjoyed it except for my friend sitting next to me kept humming the wizard of oz chant...

[Arien]

it was good.....good but that was it, the Easterlings was kind of space age but.....well their Easterlings and not from Arnor, Gondor or Rohan so I suppose their armour was kind of ethnic...(I know some one is going to have a go at me for saying that)<BR>But its true....

[Maikadilwen]

I really liked the black gate. AND the Easterling armour. <BR>But as usually Sam was irritating. Sorry all you Sam-lovers out there.

[Krumtakh the Obtuse]

I thought the Black Gate was great. Big and evil. For some reason though, there were a couple of orcs standing there and they looked like they were having a nice chat, and I just thought it was kind of funny. But thats just me...<P>I liked the easterlings too, and I thought their armor was kind of nifty. They funny wing-things at the top of their helmets was kind of odd though. <P>Sam bugged me a little though. I didn't really like Sam in the books either. Nothing personal, I didn't like Frodo either (books or movie).

[Liriodendron]

The black gate was over done for me. But then all the "evil" stuff in these movies is! I thought the Easterling look was rather Byzantine Empire inspired, or oriental, and pretty cool. Space-age did not occur to me. The scene was way too loud though, I had to press my ears shut. I like the trolls in chains, just like the cave troll in Moria. Some "pet"!<p>[ January 03, 2003: Message edited by: Liriodendron ]

[Gorwingel]

I thought the black gate was very cool, different than what I thought it was going to look like (It was a little larger than I thought it would be), but still great. It just reminds me how close we are to Sam and Frodo being right in the middle of Mordor

[Liriodendron]

What do you mean Gorwingal? (I'm in my "dense" mode )

[doug*platypus]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> For some reason though, there were a couple of orcs standing there and they looked like they were having a nice chat, and I just thought it was kind of funny. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Good call, I forgot about those guys! They really stood out though. Probably in Orcish nature to stand around and chat, perhaps that one shot was the only thing we'll see of Shagrat and Gorbag, LOL!! Some "unsleeping vigilance" though, Boromir didn't mention <I>that</I> in his spiel at Rivendell. <P>Movie inconsistency #234234, all the Orcs were standing upright like men. I've seen footage of the filmmakers going to great lengths to tell Orc actors/extras/stunties moving around hunched over and disfigured from their lives underground, a la the tree felling scenes at Isengard, and also had this seemingly important feature explained when I was an Orc extra for ROTK. Are the Black Gate Orcs a different breed, super-engineered for optimum posture and comfort? Perhaps, but I would guess <B>no</B>.

[Tiger]

The black gate was great.. But one thing: The people from Harad (please do not pick on incorrect spelling if there is some) didn't Tolkien write something about their skin being dark. I might remeber worng or just have dreamed that he did, therefor I ask you gys. Did Tolkien write about the Haradmen being dark?

[Arien]

Yeah Tolkien talked about the Haradrim.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>...much is told of the brown skinned men of the south named the Haradrim and how they came fourth fiercily in war. Some Haradrim appeared on horseback and otheron foot, and those who were named Corsairs came in dread fleets of their black ships called Dromunds. But most famous were those Haradrim who rode in war towers on the broad backs of the great Murakil. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>So I guess this is what you were talking about..

[Nurumaiel]

The Black Gate was VERY cool. I didn't imagine it looking that big, but, ah well.<P>Did anyone notice that the Easterlings looked a LOT like the bounty hunter from Star Wars II. Maybe it's just me and my brothers.<P>I also noticed the orcs chatting together. That was rather amusing, seeing as they're <I>orcs</I>.<P>I don't blame Sam for falling off the cliff! Was it his fault the cliff edge crumbled away beneath him? I don't really think so.<P>I was getting very tense as the Easterlings drew near Frodo and Sam, even when they were under the cloak! All I could do was imagine all the terrible things that would happen to them.<P>I thought it was interesting how they used the trolls to open the gate. Did the do that in the book...? Either way, it was cool.<P>~Nurumaiel

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Plus, those huge Trolls who were pulling the gate were awesome.<P>I think the filmmakers chickened out of making the Haradrim dark skinned, fearing a politically correct backlash. I guess it does avoid the controversy it was bound to get.<P>Did someone here say "Sam bugged me" or something like that.<P>I just cannot comprehend this......

[pherostien]

The Black gate was awsome! I would guess that the Easterlings looked a bit like they had Oriental ethnicity. The far east, Easterlings...nevermind.Did any one else think that one of the two who left the line to see what was going on on the hill was a lady? <BR> I cant wait to see armies in front of the gate in RotK. Did the trolls look a bit larger than the one in Moria?

[Alex Chamois]

Bigger than I imagined it, too, but still close enough that I really liked it. Yeah, the elven cloak camoflage part was way cool. Yeah, the trolls were cool. Frodo wanting to run down to the gate? A bit retarded, even for Frodo <P>And I can't let this pass without comment:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>...when I was an Orc extra for ROTK.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>That is so cool

[doug*platypus]

...thanks, Alex but don't encourage me I'll go on for days!<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I don't blame Sam for falling off the cliff! Was it his fault the cliff edge crumbled away beneath him? I don't really think so. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Nah, I didn't think it was Sam's fault either. Definitely PJs fault. I can understand how they wanted to make the danger more palpable than in the book, and they did this really well. I just can't help but feel slighted that the way they chose to do it was by making Sam look clumsy and careless. Alas, poor, Sam. I knew him, Horatio, and he wasn't as bumbling as that! Too Pippin.<P>Good call on the Easterlings being from the far east. That would help to explain their crazy armour styles. Tolkien always portrayed them as wild men, maybe like the Dunlendings, but Far East is a fair interpretation I guess. Yeah, one really did look female. Great call, a lot like Zam Wessell the changeling bounty hunter from AOTC. Weird.

[Alex Chamois]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>...thanks, Alex but don't encourage me I'll go on for days!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Be my guest. alexc@north.org<P>

[zacattack]

The Black Gate was very,very cool and so were those Trolls<P>The Easterlings and their armour was definately a major highlight for me in TTT,but one of them was,I could swear,was a female and a female in an evil army doesn't exactly sound normal.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> ...thanks, Alex but don't encourage me I'll go on for days! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>That would be soooo cool to be an Orc extra,I mean wearing chain mail and having a sword,it would truly be a dream of mine to be able to own a sword,sheild,bow and armour like that.I can't beleive how lucky you are doug.<P>I would love to see the two armies in Front of the Black Gate,that will be awesome.<P>There was,as always,negatives of the film mainly that Frodo and Sam never entered Mordor and that we never got to see Shelob,plus alot of stuff that happened in the book never happened in the movie.<P>Gandalf going to Isengard<BR>Pippin retrieving the Palantir<BR>Gandalf and Pippin setting out to Minas Tirith