Smell this, I think it's expired...

[Legolas]

Fellowship is by far my favorite of the trilogy. It's more magical, I guess- it's not as typical as the other two movies (which were great and all, just not as great as FOTR). Fellowship is more... Middle-Earthian, somehow.

That's exactly how I feel. There was a little redemption with Minas Tirith in Return of the King, but The Fellowship of the Ring was still well above the others.

As with these newer Star Wars episodes, I wish they'd leave these serious, epic movies just as their storylines really are...serious. Humor has obviously got to be there, but I'd suggest that they use a tenth of the amount they attempted, and lose the cornier out-of-character jokes (i.e. Gimli). The only resemblance between book Gimli and movie Gimli was his appearance and heritage.

[Saurreg]

And to add on to the accolades already heaped on FoTR; none of the other two movies had a scene as powerful nor sniff-sniff as Boromir's death/redemption scene. That was one of the major highlights of the film for me. Sean Bean was brilliant as usual.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Saurreg

And to add on to the accolades already heaped on FoTR; none of the other two movies had a scene as powerful nor sniff-sniff as Boromir's death/redemption scene.

I would have to disagree, as far as RotK is concerned.

Powerful: The lighting of the beacons.

Sniff-sniff: The arrival of the Eagles (the Eagles always bring tears to my eyes for some reason).

Powerful and sniff-sniff: The charge of the Rohirrim and the whole Mount Doom sequences from Frodo's "Wheel of Fire" speech through to the end of all things.

Just my opinion, but I found RotK to be a very powerful and tear jerking film in a number of places.

[Saurreg]

Well, I kinda disagree with all that you have posted. So I guess it's ok by me also!

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Saureg

Well, I kinda disagree with all that you have posted. So I guess it's ok by me also!

Fair enough. But your comment does surprise me, not least because there were a number of moments in RotK which, it seems to me, pretty much accurately visualised the powerful moments that Tolkien himself wrote. The charge of the Rohirrim, for one.

[Garen LiLorian]

I think I'll add my voice to the general acclaimation of FotR. Although for me, sadly, the reason I liked it the best is because the changes didn't really change the story the way they did in the other two movies. I mean, yeah sure. I wondered why Aragorn could take out all those wraiths on weathertop and so forth, all the things that have been gone over and over. But the little changes happened and then the story got back on track. I suppose the exception to that is the cutting of the old forest and the barrow downs, but I was well aware of that ahead of time and it didn't bother me from a storytelling perspective either.

However, with the second two movies, many of the changes not only seemed extremely extraneous and not at all neccessary, but actually changed the story. (like the elves at Helm's Deep and all that Army of the Dead nonsense, just to name the two biggest offenders in my book) And it seemed like the more PJ changed, the more he had to change, too. The Faramir escapade leaps to mind to illustrate that, although the Army of the Dead is another example.

Also, there's the whole idea of nobility, which is my absolute biggest qualm with all the movies. No-one had the gravitas ascribed to them in the book, but the second two movies -and books- deal more with great and noble men, so perhaps it's just more visible there. Although I must say that Boromir, of all people, was probably the most noble character in the whole series of films.

I also totally agree with the point about the characters caricaturing themselves.

And I'm pretty sure honey doesn't go bad unless it's boiled. Isn't it famous for that? Didn't they find a stash of honey in a pharoah's tomb that was still good?

[Gurthang]

Garen just pushed another thought into my head. The characters themselves made a huge difference in the 2nd and 3rd movies.

We've already discussed how off-book Gimli and Legolas became after FotR. I'll not get into it again.

Yet Faramir and Denethor are even worse. They come in so different from the book, it's almost stunning. I guess I shouldn't mix book and movie, they will be different in the telling, but changing a persona completely is just more than I can take. I was ready for a very noble and honest Faramir, and was sorely shocked. Denethor not as much. At least Legolas and Gimli put the right foot forward in the Fellowship. It was almost like Faramir and his father jumped in with two left feet each!

Those character changes may have had some impact on my ratings for TTT and RotK.


Doesn't honey turn into sugar as it gets old? And doesn't heating it up(boiling) turned it back to honey?

[Saurreg]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Fair enough. But your comment does surprise me, not least because there were a number of moments in RotK which, it seems to me, pretty much accurately visualised the powerful moments that Tolkien himself wrote. The charge of the Rohirrim, for one.

Different tastes, my good man. Different tastes.

[davem]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Fair enough. But your comment does surprise me, not least because there were a number of moments in RotK which, it seems to me, pretty much accurately visualised the powerful moments that Tolkien himself wrote. The charge of the Rohirrim, for one.

Actually I found this to be a major change from the book. In the book the Rohirrim sound their horns & charge, taking advantage of the surprise & shock of their sudden appearance, & charge straight into the enemy's flank, throwing them into confusion & so gaining the upper hand. In the movie they hang around giving the orcs time to prepare & set up a pretty effective defence. What would have happened in that case would have been that the Rohirrim charged onto their pikes, the front rank of riders would have been skewered, the horses & riders would have been thrown into chaos, the following riders would have tried to halt to avoid the confusion & the ones behind them would have crashed into them. Result: the Rohirrim would have been destroyed on the field & the enemy would have won. Similar to what happened to Boudicca's army.

Its all very cinematic, but ridiculous from a tactical viewpoint - just like their charge down a 45 degree scree slope onto pikes at the end of TT.

[Saurreg]

The charge of the Rohirrim was IMO centered on old King Theoden. When the Rohirrim arrived, Rohan was stunned by the spectacle before him and it seemed to those closest to him that the king strunk in both body and spirit and was reverting back to the old Worm-tongue controlled dotard before Gandalf's healing.

But as if through divine intervention, a breeze blew and set Rohan's standard fluttering and the supernatural overcast sky suddenly broke and a ray of light shone through. Theoden surprised all when he suddenly grabbed a horn and blew so hard that it shattered. And then he charged, calling out to this riders but seemingly unperturbed should they not follow - the only thing that mattered was Rohan himself, and he was attacking. And onwards the rohirrim charge but Theoden was always before the swiftest rider

Now that was powerful and had it been filmed well could most probably be sniff-sniff also.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by davem

Actually I found this to be a major change from the book. In the book the Rohirrim sound their horns & charge, taking advantage of the surprise & shock of their sudden appearance, & charge straight into the enemy's flank, throwing them into confusion & so gaining the upper hand.

Its all very cinematic, but ridiculous from a tactical viewpoint - just like their charge down a 45 degree scree slope onto pikes at the end of TT.

Was too annoyed with the change - the horns should have blown and the charge started. Not sure how that all works cinematically, but at least it would make some sense - what a moment! I was talking about sense and PJ...forget that I even brought it up.

What is even more annoying is that I remember some pundit or reviewer talk about PJ's understanding of 'battle' and how he strived to make it (tactically?) real.