LotR1-FotR-Seq01

[Lathriel]

Funny , during this discussion I also begin to remember the first time that I saw the fellowship. I don't remember exactly how I felt during the prologue that first time but I do remember immediatly falling in love with Hobbiton.
This opening sequence never bores me, I watched it many times but I never have the instinct to go to the next seuence of the movie.

[AragornII]

I think PJ did a great job on the Prologue. There is one thing I would change though. I don't know if this should go here but since it relates to the Prologue, I'll say it. I think that PJ should have used the opening sequence of ROTK(loved that sequence btw ) in FOTR as well as the current sequence. I realize though that it would go way over the time limit for the Prologue, but think about it. The FOTR Prologue gives a history of ME and the Ring, but if the ROTK sequence was in there, it would sort of bridge the gap between the Last Alliance and Gollum and Bilbo. You would have seen why Gollum is evil and how he got the Ring. I mean c'mon. The FOTR Prologue has the Ring getting picked up from the River and then in the hands of this creature. The ROTK sequence would tell how he became like that and why he is so mad when the Ring is stolen by Bilbo. I remeber thinking when I saw ROTK, "Why do they have this at the beginning of ROTK? This belongs way earlier."

Just my thoughts.

[Celebuial]

I totally agree with mormegil: Every time I see the prologue I'm right back in the Cinema watching the film for the first time. I don't think there will ever be a movie related experience in my life more perfect than that one. I was completely blown away. I'd never seen anything like it before all the visuals were stunningly beautiful and I was lost in P-J's Middle-Earth. I guess the experience for me was a kin to those lucky people who saw Star Wars in the cinema...There really hadn't been anything remotely similar before. Indeed it was this experience that got my interested in LotR and Tolkien. After seeing the film once and not really taking any of it in because I was so stunned I went straight to the nearest book shop and brought FotR. I had read all of the books within a week and had started the second reading. If it hadn't of been for the stunning way the prologue affected me I wouldn't be posting this message today.

I can't imagine a better way to have started off the films, or indeed of introducing anyone to Tolkien. It starts off simple and enchanting with Cate's perfectly Elven sounding voice and the whispers of Elvish, giving birth to questions in your mind that entice you to watch on(if you're new to the whole thing and have no-idea what's going on). And well it's just great... all the effects look quite realistic and you really get a sense of all the different peoples of Middle-Earth and what they stand for...

* I shall continue this post at a later date...must sleep....eyes getting very heavy...ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

[radagastly]

mormegil

I thought I was in heaven and I was instantly amazed at the high level of quality given to the costumes and the subtle detail put into them.

I knew I was about to see something special when I saw the intricate tracing of gold on the finger of Sauron's gauntlet, seen in a close-up of the ring. incredible detail.

Every time I watch the prologue in my mind's eye I'm back at the theater where I first saw the movie.

It's funny, but the first time I saw this in the theatre, I completely missed the prologue. A friend got lost on the way back from the bathroom, and by the time we got our seats, the movie was already in the Shire. I had to wait until I saw it on my own later before I saw the beginning. Good thing I already knew the book.

Alatar

Can you imagine Sauron asking, "And by the way, when you found the Ring, you didn't see any extra fingers lying around, did you?"

I'm glad it was the index finger and not the next one down. Imagine all the jokes then.

[Gurthang]

Haven't had time to read all that's been said, so I hope this isn't repeating.

First off, the narration by Cate is brilliant. When I sit down to watch the movie, I get chills even before the words begin. The fact that it starts off in elvish really adds a lot I think. Basically highlighting that this is a completely different world than what we are used to. It almost comes across as a translation then(which it actually is... book-->movie), and sets it apart. But just in general the voiceover was very pleasing. Especially '...history became legend, legend became myth...' says so much more than just that the Ring was forgotten.

The Last Alliance was pretty good, too. I enjoyed the rows of archers firing one after another, as well as the first row of elves with glaives(I think that's what they are). The fighting was good, too. Not very extensive, but well shot.

The only thing I really didn't like about this sequence is the way Sauron was defeated. First, he simply hurls Elendil against a wall like a rag doll. Not a lot wrong there(from movie standpoint). Then Isildur runs to his father, completely disregarding the battle, and removes his helmet. Upon noticing Sauron's approach, he reaches for his father's sword, which is crushed by the Dark Lord. Nothing wrong so far.

But this next part is what irks me. Sauron, for some unknown reason, reaches down, with his Ring hand, towards Isildur, who is holding the equivalent of a knife. Completely stupid. Not only is it off from the book, it doesn't make any sense. Seriously, show Isildur get a rush of adrenaline and knock Sauron down. Make Sauron swing and miss, get off balance, and Isildur makes a well timed shot. Make Sauron trip on a rock or something, I don't care, just don't make it like 'Oh, here, cut off my Ring."!

Sorry. That part is just a little annoying to me.

Apart from that, the whole sequence was excellant.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by AragronII

There is one thing I would change though. I don't know if this should go here but since it relates to the Prologue, I'll say it. I think that PJ should have used the opening sequence of ROTK(loved that sequence btw) in FOTR as well as the current sequence.

I would disagree with you there. I think that the Smeagol/Deagol sequence and Smeagol's transformation works much better once we have got to know Gollum as a character. The full horror of seeing him as he once was works well when we already have the combination of sympathy and revulsion for him that his role in TTT brings.

Originally, I believe that it was intended to be included in the Dead Marshes scene, when Frodo calls Gollum by his original name and the camera pans in on Gollum's expression. But it works well as an opener to RotK, setting up the revelation of the Ring's full effect on Frodo and the link that is made between Gollum's experience and Frodo's possible future.

But I am getting way ahead of us here ...

[Mister Underhill]

mormegil and a few others who followed up his comments -- thanks for making that point about the first experience. It's easy to lose sight of that. I went to a midnight screening too, and it was like you say -- die-hard Tolkien fans. Some were aging hippies, some were just young kids, and collectively they had the look of a crowd you'd expect to see at a comic-con or skulking around the sci-fi/fantasy section of your local bookstore. It was a Tolkien crowd, a book crowd, that had camped out for that first showing, and they were all amped for the film, myself included.

And though I can analyze the prologue sequence rather dispassionately now, I have to agree that Jackson delivered in those first few minutes, when the rest of the trilogy was all just a wide-open possibility.

radagastly, great point about that close-up shot of the Ring and the finger of Sauron's gauntlet. I don't think I consciously recognized it, but that shot for sure signals that the viewer is in for a very lovingly crafted Middle-earth, and even in the few cases where I disagree with design choices, I can't argue with the passion and craftsmanship with which they're executed.

[Glirdan]

I was just kind of scanning through the thread so forgive me if I repeat something.

1) Loved the narraration from Cate. I much perfered her saying it at the beginning of the series then Treebeard saying it in the middle of it. Her voice added a really cool effect. It made the scene even more dark and eiriesome. Loved the elven voices in the background. Also added an eriesome effect to the scene. Galadriel speaking in elven at the beginning automatically makes you think about how different our world and Tolkien's world is. Her saying "History became legend, legend..." so on so forth, really made a difference and makes you think "Wow! That much time has passed already?"

2)The Last Alliance parts overall were really good. A few things did bug me though. - First, where in Eru's name did Sauron come from? Did he come out of a hole in the ground? Did he come out from behind a boulder? Did he just magically appear there? Where did he come from!?!?
- Two, the fact that everyone was really surprised that Sauron showed up annoyed me to death. I mean come on. You're standing in HIS realm fighting HIS army. Why wouldn't he show up?
- Three. I swear, when Sauron was exploding and it showed a group of Elves, I could have sworn that I saw Legolas there. I've been puzzling about this forever and I STILL can't draw any conclusions or theories on it.
- Four. Sauron breaking the sword. Why did he step on it? I thought there was something more to it. I thought there was a fabulous battle in which the sword was broken by the mace. And since when did he become six fingered? I thought Isildur cut off his FINGER not his FINGERS.
- Why on Middle-Earth was Sauron reaching for Isildur? Why not finish him off with the mace? I mean Isildur was laying there at the mercy of Sauron. Why wouldn't you just make it easier and attack him with the mace?
Other than that, the scene was fine. Fell in love when I saw the syncriniztion of the Elves when the Orcs started coming at him.

3) The Ambush was not quite how I liked it after reading The Unfinished Tales. Why did Isildu float and not sink? I mean he was wearing all that heavy armour. Why was he floating? He must have weighed at least two hundred to three hundred pounds with all that on. The smug look he had on and then him getting ambushed made me really happy. He deserved what he got.

4) The darkness spreading had a really good effect on showing how dark the times were at that point in time. Loved it.

5) The Ring bouncing off the rocks. That's what annoyed me. I've always been thinking that The Ring just fell off of Gollum's finger, just like it did to Isildur. I mean, it's like The Ring betrayed Gollum, isn't it?

6) Bilbo finding it. Another thing that annoyed me. In The Hobbit, he bumped his head on the ground and got knocked out. When he found The Ring in the movie, it didn't look like he was gropping(sp?) around in the dark, trying to get up. It looked like he saw it on the ground and picked it up and said "Why isn't this a nice pretty piece of jewlery. Maybe I'll sell it when I get back home."

And that's it. Other than those few little spots, loved the first scene. Again, I'm pretty sure a lot of this has probably been said, but I only scanned throught the posts. Don't have time to go back and read all of them thouroughly.