Listening to the different Commentaries as I now do each time I reflect on these scenes, I heard one of the designers mention that they had an issue withe the 'secret' stairs. How do you keep them secret but show them on screen? so they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I've always thought the lack of sound for a fraction of a second before minas morgul explodes in anger was a great touch. Less is More as they say.....
I like the way Jackson joins our heroes back to the other world (minas tirith) as Minas Morgul erputs and both groups have their different view point on the output of the City. sam and frodo underneath / pippin and gandalf from their room 50 odd (?) miles away.
I wish Lawrence Mackore (sp.) would stop calling the fell beasts Nazgul!!! But he let out a clue to the Witch king's short delay on his steed. PJ told him that to act as if he 'knew' the Ring was nearby. Now we do get this impression in the book where Frodo is almost forced to hold up the Ring and hand it over to the Witch King (very much like movie Frodo does at the end of the Two Towers)
I love the look on Gollum's face after Sam has threatened him and started to climb up the wall - hatching his plans and looking pretty devious!!!
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Originally Posted by Alatar
Why doesn’t Gandalf just buffalo his way past the guard and light the thing? He could even just throw Pip up to the fire. Why not clunk Denethor in the head a bit early and have him dive, flaming, onto it - wouldn’t that be funny/ironic? Why doesn’t Denethor call for aid? Even if he doesn’t want to turn the whole place over to Aragorn; still, I doubt that even if Gondor survives the coming storm that the populace would be happy with a Steward leader who did nothing to defend them, and may be more inclined towards someone, such as Aragorn, who made an effort. Denethor, by not calling for aid is shooting himself in the foot. And, while I’m on the topic, I can deal with a mad Steward if that Steward lost all sense AFTER his second son dies (or is near enough), but before?
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Fair points, but, to me, Movie Denethor had already gone pretty mad before this, having visions of his dead Son, indeed (as book denethor) sending his surviving son on a Charge of the Light Brigade etc. I would say the Palantir has already taken over his mind somewhat. As for Gandalf running up and setting the flames on fire, he might have been stopped. sending up a little accomplace to do his dirty work was better for him. I'll comment on how I get over Denethor's face when he realises the beacons are lit when we get to this scene next time. It's taken me almost 3 years to work out a reason for it......!!!
I take it that the fog was thick enough for the gondorians to miss the torches of the orcs. It's only through the magic of movies that we can see through the fog ourselves......
This part of the scene, just before we see the orcs cross, where the screen pans down over the ruined walls and we see some men behind them - it looks SO BAD cgi wise. But noone on the commentaries comments on it. Is it my TV or do the walls really badly blend into the background, like some cheap 80's sci fi movie?