ROTK - Great end to the trilogy (spoilers)

[prophetsteve]

I just saw RotK today and... wow.

Concidering I never finished the RotK novel, I knew little about the end of the trilogy except what I could gleen from various materials.

I have to say that this is how a trilogy should end... it was a powerful movie and even the long ending(s) didn't sap the strength of it until the credits rolled.

What scares me is what the extended DVD will be like. An hour more footage??? There is a lot crammed into this movie already. Methinks that the movie will need 3 DVDs to play, if the they decide to restore most of the lost footage.

Officially this trilogy eclipses Star Wars (the original films) as my favorite triology of all time. 3 movies. 3 good movies.

Most trilogies tend to run out of steam. Return of the Jedi, while still good, paled in comparison to ESB or ANH. Matrix Revolutions was a terrible end to a series, IMHO. Return of the King is the perfect cap to one the most epic and satisfying movie series I have ever watched.

Now I just hope that Peter Jackson will do the Hobbit since 1) its probably the last Tolkien novel we'll ever see in film and 2) now I sincerely believe Jackson is the only guy to do the film Justice.

Sadly I now have few movies to look forward to after this.

[Evan van Eyk]

Wow, I just returned home from cinema and this movie is simply great. It is a wonderful adaption like the first one and spare the parts which might have been too confusing for an audiance not knowing the novel.
There are only two things which I do not like and they are mere details.

1) Theoden's question why they should help Gondor as they failed to help them ( that is actually Jackson's fault as in the book the Battle for Gondor had already begun when Saruman attacks, Osgiliath already partly taken and Cair Andros is in enemy hands )? This question made him look a bit cowardice and untrue to his word.

2) Why does Gimli hand over the crown to Gandalf? In the book Aragorn especially asks Frodo to do so, to honour him.


But aside from these two details there are a lot more positive things:


1) Battle on Pelennor Fields. Simply Brilliant. The footage filmed from the sky was great and these masses of combatants was amazing. And Rohans arrival was exactly as it was meant to be!

2) Aragorn really looked kingly in the blue armor and Anduril was great, I really intend to buy it as soon as it is available here.

3) I had not expected it but the arrival of the Great Eagles was really nice.

4) The dramatic voyage of Frodo and Sam was fantastic. You really felt with them and Sam heroism was potrayed amazingly. Fantastic!


It is a wonderful end to this epical story and really does justice to Tolkien's work. I really look forward to the extended edition!

[prophetsteve]

This question made him look a bit cowardice and untrue to his word.

I took it as part of the theme of the movies - that humanity was devided (Rohan, Gondor, Kingdoms of the North) and that there was much distrust between the kingdoms. That distrust was preventing humanity from uniting and stopping the Shadow. It makes it more powerful when Aragorn unites them all under the United Kingdom.

2) Why does Gimli hand over the crown to Gandalf? In the book Aragorn especially asks Frodo to do so, to honour him.

I suspect a stylistic decision. The Hobbits (Frodo included) were honoured a few moments later, in a powerful moment. I think they wanted to give everyone a chance to shine and since I believe Dwarves made the Gondorian crown, Gimli was the obvious choice to handle it first.

[Sarge]

I finally saw it.

Wow.

So how come nobody here has mentioned Eowyn and Angmar? That was one of the most powerful moments in the novel and it was translated faithfully and movingly to the screen. "I am no man!", indeed. In fact, the whole arrival of the Rohirrim had me shaking in my seat. "A sword day! A red day! Death!"

"The eagles are coming!" They looked much more realistic than I expected, even after FotR. The SFX guys obviously did some research on how birds of prey fight; eagle vs fell beast battle looked a lot like wildlife documentaries I've seen. And did everybody notice that one hotshot eagle that barrel-rolled as it dove to attack the Nazgul?

I would have liked Shelob's lair to look darker. As it was, Frodo apparently didn't need the phial of Galadriel to see what was going on.

Sam got his mighty warrior scene in Minas Morgul! For some reason, I was expecting that to get cut. Loved it when Sting's point came out of Shagrat's chest.

Did anybody else think Legolas vs oliphaunt was over the top? Sure, he's a great archer and all, but I didn't buy him going through all that, not getting a scratch on him, and landing gracefully on his feet. OTOH, I loved Gimli's comment: "That still only counts as one."

Things that I hope make it to the extended DVD: Prince Imrahil and the Knights of Dol Amroth, Eowyn and Faramir at least saying hello to each other, something to make Denethor seem less creepy the first time he appears, an appearance or at least an explanation for the disappearance of the elves from Helm's Deep (they couldn't all have died), Saruman and Grima, and film adaptations of all of the appendices to the book (that last one may be a long shot).