Oh my! sooooooo goooood *drool* never read the books and only saw the cartoon when I was very little so I knew not what to expect but my this was absolutely breath-taking, even before the film started I was close to tears and I have no idea why it was all so over-whelming (ELC's eyes were a-glisten ALL the way through) the humour between Legolas and Glimi while battling worked really well and Gollum/Smeagol although at first I really didnt like him and he freaked me out a little I almost adored him by the end. The arguement with himself had me laughing loud, the wars had me gasping and wincing but it was the return of Gandalf that got me (I'm a big fan of Ian McKellan and now a fan of Gandalf) when he died in the first film I was really upset so tears or happiness this time around.
I dont really wanna say much more in case I do throw in a spoiler and not realise it but I am soooooooo going to see it again and I hate them for making us(well, me really ) wait another year (though smart) to find out what's to happen. (and i wont read the books i tried long a go to long winded for my attention span )

Two Thumbs Fresh (and a big toe to boot)

Yeah, I loved the bit with Gollum arguing with himself too! I'd definitely recommend not reading the books before you see the last film. I read them two years ago, and I must say it kinda spoiled the battle scenes slightly in that I was sitting there thinking, "Well, I know he's not going to get killed ..." etc. But definitely read them after you've seen the last film, 'cos they're excellent and worth persevering with. I got halfway through part 1 and felt like giving up, but I carried on and got totally involved and did not want the story to end! I even read the end sections about the history of Middle Earth, I was that engrossed!

After seeing Fellowship I gave the books another go after I found them *really* heavy going before, and being able to visualise everything, in particular the scenery more than the characters, helped me a lot. I went through Two Towers and Return of the King in 3 days

*This might contain what some people would perceive to be mild spoilers so read with caution*

ANYWAY, yeah Two Towers the film, absolutely great. I read some film hack who said if you weren't a Tolkein fan you could skip this film and go straight from Fellowship to next year's film with no trouble and without missing anything I'll leave comment on that to others...

Seriously though I'm considering undergoing a sex change in order to facilitate having Peter Jackson's children, if only by IVF. Pretty much everything in the film was as I'd seen it in my head when reading the books;

-Eowyn (Mmmm )
-Theoden & Wormtongue (oh so icky yet oh so good)
-The Ents (I don't give a stuff if it was John Rhys Davies pulling double duty to do Treebeard's voice it didn't make a blind bit of difference, they distorted his voice anyway so it wasn't *that* obvious)
-Shadowfax and the Rohirrim in general
-Faramir (who I sorta expected to get more screen time but oh well)
-The battle of Helms' Deep (esp. the army of Isengard and some ~swank~ armour on the half of the good guys )
-And special mention to Gollum - the way Jackson put across his internal conflict was a bit confusing at first but worked very well as a whole; there is one thing I wonder about though, whether or not they plan to explore his past in the final film - it seems a bit odd for Frodo to know of it and then not go into a bit more detail on it *shrug*

Not to mention as in the first film the absolutely incredible scenery (*makes resolution to go to New Zealand one day* ) and the computer effects, esp the views from Sauron all the way across Middle Earth to Isengard *drool*

There's the odd other bit I really liked but for fear of giving things away I'll stay quiet. What I will say though is that the film moved a little slower than I expected, it felt like more than the 3 hours. Personally I think that's a good thing, I could probably sit through all 3 films continuously but it's not quite the same as Fellowship. The Gimli comic relief was maybe a bit too much in places but it did help break things up so I don't mind that..and I'm glad they kept him and Legolas' competitive nature in there.

Only thing I'm slightly disappointed about...and this is cause I've read the book mind...is the ending; I felt the book had by far the better ending, a natural cliffhanger that would've REALLY wound people up at having to wait a year ( @ EW ) - as it is it wouldn't surprise me to hear the odd people here and there complaining about how it ends on something of a nothing note again. But to heck with them

ELC bitched about the ending saying an important part was missing but like the Aragon flashbacks they may have added it into the third film or that may be how it starts, WHO KNOWS? I knew this film was gonna end on a no-end like the last so I didnt let myself get disappointed with it just finishing. I didnt get worked up this year like last year at really having to wait another 12 months this year went so scarily quick so I know I aint got too long to wait.

Warning: A few parts of the post might be considered minor spoilers by some

I have never read The Lord Of The Rings (some issues with Tolkien's turgid prose, but mostly just lack of time), so am the perfect candidate to judge whether the films are a sucess or not.

If this doesn't qualify as a sucess, the Oxford English Dictionary need to tinker with the definition stat.

Right from the truly jaw-dropping fight with the Balrock that kicked off the movie, the film roarded along at breakneck speed, but never lost cohesion or let the plot become muddled. The characterisation was as strong as in The Fellowship Of The Ring (ie, very), making you actually *care* about the characters, ensuring the film never got close to being a souless GCI fest.

But a GCI fest it was, and Peter Jackson is going a long way towards redeeming that term. The Battle of Helm's Deep was intense, brutal and spectacular, epic in the way Lawrence Of Arabia's battles are epic. It's obvious in every frame how much care and attention has been poured into this labour of love.

Gollum - what can you say about Gollum? George Lucas must be grating his teeth knowing that people are likely going to forget Jar Jar ever existed (those that haven't already had hypnotheraphy to block it out - I'm looking at the prices), and lable Gollum the first fully-realised computer generated character. You instantly forget he's nothing but a collection of pixels, and his schizophrenic rants and mental degredation are shocking stuff. You start off freaked out, but end up empathising with what ammounts to a little green troll!

Caveats? It was obviously trauncated in a lot of places, but it never really detracted, and all the edited footage will be turning up in next year's extended DVD edition, so that's not a real issue. (The Fellowship Of The Ring DVD was a triumph here.) It just means it's going to be *even better* in future.

To blazes with the critics rabbiting about fanboys and escapism - I know good cinema when I see it, and this is cinema as fine as it gets.



(Edited by Byron 25/04/2006 22:03)

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by Byron
I have never read The Lord Of The Rings (some issues with Tolkien's turgid prose, but mostly just lack of time), so am the perfect candidate to judge whether the films are a sucess or not.

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As opposed to anyone else who has never read them?

Possible Spoilers For Those Not Seen It Yet

I was champing at the bit to see this movie, literary I was awake at 8am dying to go see it!

As EW already said yes my eyes were all teary for it, as I get caught up in it, I love when that happens to me. For me a movie is good when I cant finish my popcorn...I got a large and didn't even get halfway through!

Anyway onto the movie....I had been looking forward to the Ents scene as I loved those parts in the book, and have a soft spot for Pippin and Merry. Bless there large hobbits feet!

The Gimli/Legolas relationship was explored more this time which is good. Although to those who have not read the books they may not get their little game of who can kill the most orcs, "I got 19" And yes before its said, I did spend some time drooling over the pretty elf guy!

Smeagol/Gollum, so so sweet, those large eyes were so beautiful and captured so much of his character from the book. I really felt for the poor creature by the end.

As has been said I was moaning about the fact that the movie didn't end when the book did and important things were missed out (I know that Spikeo will agree with me on this one) and fair enough they may put it on the beginning of Return of The King, which will then take some time away from stuff that should be in there, but thats another matter.

I've missed out a lot of things as i'm trying to do too much at once so will probably return and post some more

Has anyone read those "Fellowship Diaries" that appeared on the net a while ago? Because of them I kept noticing how unwashed and unkept Aragorns hair is compared to Legolas's lovely flowing locks...sounds weird but if you've read the diaries then you'll know what i'm talking about!

(Edited by Evil Lawyer Chick 18/12/2002 22:59)

(Edited by Evil Lawyer Chick 18/12/2002 23:14)

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by Spikeo
(quotes)

As opposed to anyone else who has never read them?

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Non-Rings readers are all perfect candidates.

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by Spikeo
I felt the book had by far the better ending, a natural cliffhanger that would've REALLY wound people up at having to wait a year

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What was it? I found the books very heavy going and didn't even finish the first one so I don't know any different.

I won't bother adding my own 'review' here as words cannot begin to describe just how good I thought this film was. A lot of the audience in our screen applauded at the end, which I usually think is pointless for a movie, but it seemed appropriate for this. Ooh, I want to go again!

Be warned, this is very geeky. I love the books, and practically know chunks of them by heart. However, I'm not going to moan about the ending - how they divide the story up for the films is their business, and I can see why they've done it this way.

However:

To get the geek quibbles out of the way first:

Geek quibble #1
Wasn't Smaug the last dragon in Middle-Earth? So where did the dragons the Nazgul were riding come from??? It should have been giant birds.

Geek quibble #2
The whole point of the War of the Ring is that it was the end of the Third Age and the Elves were fading from Middle-Earth: so the host of Elven bowmen at Helm's Deep is a bit out of place. The few Elves who remained in Middle-Earth were busy enough defending their own realms from Sauron. I suppose the point was to show that all the peoples of Middle-Earth were involved in the fight, whereas the book gives you a much clearer notion that the main characters are only involved in a part of the war so there's no need for Elves and Dwarves to appear, they are fighting their own battles elsewhere.

Oh, and I don't recall Tolkien ever suggesting that the Elves invented the skateboard

But, geek quibbles notwithstanding, pretty good. I was impressed by the Ents and especially the Oliphants (how much work must have gone into that one moment?) The battle scenes were very impressive. And I'm not enough of a geek to quibble about some conflating of characters and events...after all, what does Erkenbrand do, apart from showing up with an army in the nick of time?

But I do have one major reservation, and that is about the way that the supporting characters are made to seem less heroic in order to enhance the heroism of the Companions. Theoden is still hesitant about open war even after Gandalf has worked his mojo - in the film, the march to Helm's Deep is a retreat, not a reinforcement of the first line of defence. Treebeard needs Merry to show him Sauruman's desolation before he will persuade the Ents to become roused and attack Isengard. And as for what they've done with Faramir...

It seems to me that the approach to characterisation of the supporting cast of Men of Gondor and Rohan, and Ents, who are introduced in this part of the trilogy, is that they are of secondary importance and valour. The Eight remaining of the Nine who set forth from Rivendell have been painted in the role of heroes of the story, who have to lead and encourage those that they meet to join them in the war against the forces of evil represented by Sauron and Saruman. However, I have always felt that a major theme of the book is the way that the need to fight evil brings out the hero in the most dull and ordinary of people (or hobbits)...I think that the character of Faramir is especially diminished. He is the second Man of Gondor we encounter, and the brother of Boromir who was tempted to his destruction by the power of the Ring, and the point is that he is not tempted, 'I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway'. The changes tar all of the Men of Gondor with Boromir's weakness so that the Companions seem to be the natural leaders, whereas in the book they are happy to accept their place among many fighting for the common good.

I know this is geeky in the extreme. Basically, I loved the film, and I'm also pleased that it appeals to non-Tolkein readers, but I don't like the fact that anyone who hasn't read the books will have an impression of certain characters that is not the one that Tolkein intended.

Gollum.

Keen.

I was watching some of the commentaries on the Farscape boxed set recently, and there was something they said about the puppets that made me realise why Gollum worked. They touched him. Frodo and Sam had to grab hold and wrestle with him. The Gondorians manhandled him. He had a rope tied to him and was dragged along on it.

Jar-Jar Binks has actual contact with a non-CGI character about once in the whole movie, and it makes him seem apart. With Gollum, they seize hold of him, and drag him kicking and screaming into the film.

Likewise, the fact that Treebeard was almost always in cotact with Merry and Pippin, and the sheer physical involvement of the fights with various CGI beasties (cave troll, Balrog, Wargs) really brought them to life.

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by White Hart

Geek quibble #1
Wasn't Smaug the last dragon in Middle-Earth? So where did the dragons the Nazgul were riding come from??? It should have been giant birds.

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Without knowing the book that well are you sure those were dragons? They looked like something else entirely (to me anyway)...not exactly giant birds true but I'm sure that it's addressed in the book somewhere

No, I'm not certain, but they looked awfully dragon-like to me...I suppose it all depends on your personal image of a dragon. The Prophet says he thinks they were giant bat-things from hell, which would be fine. And certainly they didn't breathe fire, so they weren't necessarily dragons...

/me thinks she needs to see the film again.

I liked LOTR1 but I found this so boring. I'm sorry, I know everyone else loved it, so I'm not going to go into detail on this bad review of it.
I enjoyed parts of it, but it was just so long and tiring.

Like the book I prefered this to fellowship of the ring as you already nkow most of the characters and the plot so ti could start off straight away. Basically this is bloody fantastic and I really wanna see ti aagin. However I agree the ending may very well have been better with the cliff hanger like in the book but I still think it ended well. Only other thing it was a long time ago now i read the books and I don't wanan spilo it but Faramir in the film i'm sure a lot of stuff that happened with him in the film didn't in the book, but maybe i'm wrong

Saw it this afternoon with hubby... (3.10pm showing and it was sold out after being out for three or so weeks! ).

Adored it, was captivated and thrilled by it. Can't wait til the final instalment.

Well I watched it on Friday night and while it was good I didn't think it was as good as The Fellowship. I don't even know why really...it just felt like a lot of small stories bolted together (The hunt for the hobbits, Frodo & Sam find Gollum, Merry and Pippin meet the ents, helms deep, Frodo and sam captured etc) unlike the fellowship which is one long story.

Maybe I'll like it better when I watch it again but at the moment I just thought it was good but not as good as Fellowship.

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by White Hart
Be warned, this is very geeky. I love the books, and practically know chunks of them by heart. However, I'm not going to moan about the ending - how they divide the story up for the films is their business, and I can see why they've done it this way.

Geek quibble #1
Wasn't Smaug the last dragon in Middle-Earth? So where did the dragons the Nazgul were riding come from??? It should have been giant birds.

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Me too, I've been reading up and collecting all of the essay books and notes that christopher tolkien edited and released as 12 volumes... it really helps to understand how one man created an entire universe by himself.
Anyhow I imagined the steeds of the nazgul to look pretty much how they did on the screen. LOTR describes them of creatures akin to birds from an age long past and had scales not feathers on their bodies. it also says that their wings were of creaking skin and bone. This to me sounds how a bird of ancient times would look. Just look at the early flying dinosaurs for an image on Tolkien's inspiration for the creatures. I think that peter jackson (god bless him) got the creatures pretty much perfect all things considered.

Wow that turned out to be pretty long...