Support NeoGAF

[Zeouterlimits]

Fellowship = Perfect

Easily in my top 3 favorite movies ever, and I cry watching it every single time without fail

Return of the King is the only one of the movies that Benefits from the Extended Edition imo:

Fellowship Extended = no better, no worse, still just as excellent

Two Towers Extended = Drags way too much

Return of the King Extended = A much fuller, and satisfying movie. Theaterical felt like it was missing something.

QFT
Pretty much the reason that the Fellowship is the only one I don't own the extended edition of.
God I've watched these movies so so many times.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Unfortunately loving the books so much made it very hard for me to appreciate the movies. They were good movies but as representations of the book they failed in my eyes.

while i wouldn't call the movies a failed adaptation i agree. certain things should have been done differently to hew with the book's narrative. it's been too long since i've read the books to go into detail but there were key parts the movies did "wrong" especially in RotK.

 

[Solo]

I think the casting was far from "flawless". Yes, some parts were perfectly cast - Viggo/Aragorn, Lee/Saruman, McKellen/Gandalf, Holm/Bilbo, Hill/Theoden, so you could say that they knocked most of the biggies out of the park. But I thought the main hobbits (Wood/Frodo, Astin/Sam) were both pretty poorly cast (hell, all the hobbits for that matter), as were Weaving/Elrond, Tyler/Arwen, and as much as I love John Noble's work in Fringe, he was a terrible Denethor.

 

[Scrow]

Great trilogy, although Sauron's depiction left me slightly disappointed.

Slightly off topic, but I'd love to see the Silmarillion adapted for the big screen. Not going to happen though as the Silmarillion is the property of the Tolkein Estate, and I don't see them handing out the licence any time soon.

it would never work as a movie. unless they picked a very specific part of the silmarillion and only adapted that to a movie.

i think a mini-series by HBO would be better suited.

 

[agrajag]

Hugo Weaving sucked as Elrond. Why did he have to enunciate every phrase just like Agent Smith would? I couldn't take him seriously every time he spoke.

Kate Blanchett also was a horrible Galadriel. Her look was close enough, but she was overacting and being creepy all the time. And also, her fucking meltdown. That was cringe worthy and easily the wors scene in all of FOTR. But I guess that's not her fault.

The guy who played Denethor was HORRIBLE. While the character in the book was a dignified and stern leader who has lost his mind to despair, the character in the movie had no dignity whatsoever. He was a buffoon.

Eowyn was alright, but I would've liked to see a more athletic, asserive woman play her. The timid Miranda Otto really doesn't do it for me.

Those three are really the only casting decisions I have a problem with that I can think off the top of my head. The rest are pretty flawless.

quoted for next page


The parts of TTT and ROTK that blew biggest chunks is the writers trying to add their own touch to the movies. What the fuck was that completely pointless bullshit with Aragorn falling off a cliff and then the horse saving them? They could've included more cook stuff that, you know, actually happened in the book but no. They had to cut that out in favor of scenes like that.


edit: Tyler was a perfect Arwen. Looks-wise, anyway.

 

[Fritz]

You're definitely in the minority on that one. The casting is generally considered to be pretty much flawless.

I know, and I really dont wanna spoil LOTR for anyone, dont think I could anyway.

I completely agree with agrajag though. Tyler was good casting, as was Mortensen. The Hobbits all were terribly casted. Hobbits aint no pretty boys. Lee and McKellen were too obvious. Overall I would have preferred much bolder choices.

 

[pringles]

I'll give you guys that Denethor, Elrond and Galadriel maybe weren't the most perfect casting choices (though I liked them), but the Hobbits could not have been casted any better.

I know the Hobbits in the books are like 50 years old, but that goes into what I mentioned earlier about changes they made in the movies that were for the better.

 

[capslock]

How about just "movies"? The best part was over in the first ten minutes of the first movie. Not really the movies' fault though.


Oh and then there's this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqVD0swvWU

I didn't even have to click on that video to know that it was Gandalf flying on the eagle to destroy the ring.

 

[Fafalada]

Her look was close enough, but she was overacting and being creepy all the time.

I'll give you overacting on some parts, but creepiness was spot on - it's exactly how I pictured Galadriel - she always struck me as creepy in the books as well.

i think a mini-series by HBO would be better suited.

Agreed - Silmarillion scope is way too large for a movie. And while some stories from it could be made into standalone movies, a TV-series seems more suitable.

 

[bengraven]

The best films of the last 20 years.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Agreed, they are some of the most enjoyable films of the last...yeah, 20 years or so.

My only fear is that a lot of the special effects and CG will cause the films to age poorly over the years, for a lot of people.

But you're talking to somebody who still enjoys 'Jason and the Argonauts', so that person won't be me.

 

[Dabookerman]

quoted for next page

You're quoting your own post..

 

[capslock]

Interestingly enough The Two Towers is the highest rated by critics of all 3 movies on Rottentomatoes.

 

[agrajag]

I'll give you overacting on some parts, but creepiness was spot on - it's exactly how I pictured Galadriel - she always struck me as creepy in the books as well.

I completely disagree. She was made out to be creepy by men and dwarves who distrusted magic and didn't know anything about her. But she never acted creepily when they went to Lothlorien. She was warm if anything. In fact, they got the entire forest wrong. The movie made it a creepy ghost forest. In the books it was golden and bright.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA that single scene pretty much ruined the entire 3rd movie for me. Most retarded "Mary Sue" moment I can think of.

Fellowship was awesome. The other two concluded the trilogy.

pfah, Legolas had been a tool until that very moment. He fucking showed what an elf is capable of, and that was basically the best fighting scene in the whole movie. I know I'm in the minority

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Despite some of the hate here which is wrong all the way, this is the best movie trilogy ever. As if the buck stops here on this forum. What a bunch of divas. Awesome movies and best extras ever.

 

[Dabookerman]

pfah, Legolas had been a tool until that very moment. He fucking showed what an elf is capable of, and that was basically the best fighting scene in the whole movie. I know I'm in the minority

That scene was great, as was all the scenes in all 3 films in the trilogy.


>:3

 

[i_am_ben]

don't care for the books and didn't care for the movies.

 

[pringles]

I completely disagree. She was made out to be creepy by men and dwarves who distrusted magic and didn't know anything about her. But she never acted creepily when they went to Lothlorien. She was warm if anything. In fact, they got the entire forest wrong. The movie made it a creepy ghost forest. In the books it was golden and bright.

I think Jackson & Co have commented on those changes, and it's really not that hard to understand why they made Lothlorien and Galadriel more creepy and otherworldly.
Some things that work in a book doesn't necessarily work in a movie where you're trying to keep the audience's attention.

 

[Speevy]

Excellent films. You may not like certain aspects of them, but there's no doubt of the care that went into the films as a whole.

 

[mujun]

I love reading. I write fantasy. But for fuck's sake I could never get through the LOTR books. I tried my best and after years I read them, but it was HORRIBLE. The slow ass pacing, the unneeded details that just dragged the slow story even further. I know geeks will love the names thrown randomly like "Arghir son of King Leonidas who is a descendant of Dragona who was..." etc, but damn it gets to my nerves. Had to suffer through it :lol

What fantasy do you like then?

I love fantasy too but to be honest I think it's a stale genre. I read a fair bit still but it doesn't have anywhere to go and in the last 3 or 4 years I've grown to love science fiction far more.

Lord of the Rings is a classic in every respect if you aks me, part of that is the pacing. I am not a fan of the direction modern media has gone in (mainly movies, tv and books), everything is so boiled down to it's most "important" elements. I look forward to the time when we get back to stuff that isn't afraid to ramble on a bit more so as to provide a contrast to the action and "meat".

 

[DrForester]

Time to shamelessly plug "DM of the Rings" Where the entire trilogy is presented as a D&D campaign.

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612

 

[freethought]

There were some good performances in there but there was a lot of bad too. Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin and Elijah Wood were all absolutely terrible. Viggo Mortensen worked as Strider, but made a poor Aragorn if you know what I mean. I'd have loved to see Sean Bean in the role to be honest.

 

[DrForester]

There were some good performances in there but there was a lot of bad too. Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin and Elijah Wood were all absolutely terrible. Viggo Mortensen worked as Strider, but made a poor Aragorn if you know what I mean. I'd have loved to see Sean Bean in the role to be honest.

I think they all did good, but how in the world can Sean Astin's performance be seen as bad...

 

[fistfulofmetal]

LOTR: Extended Edition is the greatest collection of movies ever made.

 

[Fafalada]

But she never acted creepily when they went to Lothlorien. She was warm if anything.

It's been to long since I read it, but I remembered her as warm with a hint of creepy. Much more subtle then the movie no doubt, but still.
The mind-reading/testing, the melt-down when Frodo tests her back were not that warm. And even though her husband actually got to speak in the book, he felt like a puppet next to her, despite being a powerful elven lord.

I agree Lothlorien looked off in the movie but as others point out, there were reasons for those changes.

 

[agrajag]

I think Jackson & Co have commented on those changes, and it's really not that hard to understand why they made Lothlorien and Galadriel more creepy and otherworldly.
Some things that work in a book doesn't necessarily work in a movie where you're trying to keep the audience's attention.

Bullshit. They could've made Lothlorien magical and exciting instead of gloomy. It shat all over my childhood. It's just a copout. You can make things ethereal without making them creepy.

It's been to long since I read it, but I remembered her as warm with a hint of creepy. Much more subtle then the movie no doubt, but still.
The mind-reading/testing, the melt-down when Frodo tests her back were not that warm. And even though her husband actually got to speak in the book, he felt like a puppet next to her, despite being a powerful elven lord.

I agree Lothlorien looked off in the movie but as others point out, there were reasons for those changes.

In the books, he pretty much IS a puppet. He's not a blue-blooded prince, she is of much higher social stature and one of the most powerful elves in Middle Earth. He's just kind of average. Aragorn said that in Lothlorien there exists no evil, unless you bring it within yourself. But in the movie Galadriel and Lothlorien, I dare say, seemed at least a little evil.

It's a shame because they did a fantastic job with Rivendel, just like I imagined.

 

[Expendable.]

I loved them, but they definitely aren't the greatest movies. They are probably one of the most epic adventure tales ever to be told on screen though.

 

[EatChildren]

Not the greatest films, but easily some of the most enjoyable, especially for a fantasy buff.

The reality is that despite any flaws they might have, the extended edition trilogy is just a wonderful piece of work. The action is great, the story is great, and the characters are almost all wonderfully recreated by their actor.

Above all, it's one of the only fantasy films ever that manages to throw an utterly ridiculous budget behind all the effects. It's the one movie where you can sit and watch Orcs, Elves, monsters, demons, ghosts, forests, wizardry, and great towers all rendered beautifully.

It's also got an art direction and score that is really quite second to none.

I think that even with all their flaws, you can tell the entire crew, from Jackson and the actors, to the audio department and props department, really poured all their love into crafting the film. It's so detailed and epic to even the smallest degree. They didn't want to make a cheesy blockbuster, or a rushed version of the books. They wanted to make an absolutely epic adventure that delivers on every front it can.

And I think it did, as said, especially with the Extended Editions. Watching the wealth of documentary footage in the EE just makes me believe this just as much, and stands as my number 1 documented film to date.

Oh, and fuck book to film comparisons. As someone who loves Tolkien's I think the films were very, very faithful, and I accept all changes they made. I gave up trying to compare the two long ago, as I feel people who continuously do just get caught in a mindset of expecting a movie that could never be.

 

[harSon]

I've yet to see any of the extended editions and haven't seen The Fellowship since seeing it in theaters years ago, think I might give the series a swirl in the coming weeks. Will probably take me two weeks to finish them all :lol

 

[bengraven]

Ha! "You lot stay in character!"

I saw the LOTR/WoW.gif years ago, before playing WoW. Very nice retroactive moment there, now I finally get it 100%. :lol

 

[Suburban_Nooblet]

Very good films, my wife and I have a custom framed map of middle earth hanging in our hallway...

Spoiler

and a framed Empire Strike Back poster in our living room

 

[Dabookerman]

Very good films, my wife and I have a custom framed map of middle earth hanging in our hallway...

Me too !

*Hi 5s

 

[vatstep]

If I had to rate them, for me, it's FOTR > TTT > ROTK

That's not to say that I don't love ROTK... I just happen to like it a little bit less than Two Towers. Fellowship is a masterpiece, though. It's the only one of the three movies that I can watch at any time, from any point, whenever it's on (and it's on TNT/TBS a lot). It just has such a great feel to it — it's comforting to me, and it brings back good memories.

This is definitely the series that I geeked out most for in the past decade — saw all of them at midnight, read theonering.net religiously for news, etc. A tiny part of me died once the ROTK EE finally came out, because all that anticipation and excitement had finally come to an end. I'm really excited about The Hobbit, but I don't think it'll quite be the same.

Regarding the EEs... I like them, but I'd say that close to half of the added stuff (across the whole trilogy) didn't do much for me. I was glad to see some of it added in as fan service and such, but at times its addition to the film just felt clunky. I'm tempted to watch my EE copies, since I haven't in so long, but I'm equally tempted to wait for the theatrical editions to come out Blu-ray and watch those to get my fix.

 

[Fritz]

Not the greatest films, but easily some of the most enjoyable, especially for a fantasy buff.

The reality is that despite any flaws they might have, the extended edition trilogy is just a wonderful piece of work. The action is great, the story is great, and the characters are almost all wonderfully recreated by their actor.

Above all, it's one of the only fantasy films ever that manages to throw an utterly ridiculous budget behind all the effects. It's the one movie where you can sit and watch Orcs, Elves, monsters, demons, ghosts, forests, wizardry, and great towers all rendered beautifully.

It's also got an art direction and score that is really quite second to none.

I think that even with all their flaws, you can tell the entire crew, from Jackson and the actors, to the audio department and props department, really poured all their love into crafting the film. It's so detailed and epic to even the smallest degree. They didn't want to make a cheesy blockbuster, or a rushed version of the books. They wanted to make an absolutely epic adventure that delivers on every front it can.

And I think it did, as said, especially with the Extended Editions. Watching the wealth of documentary footage in the EE just makes me believe this just as much, and stands as my number 1 documented film to date.

Oh, and fuck book to film comparisons. As someone who loves Tolkien's I think the films were very, very faithful, and I accept all changes they made. I gave up trying to compare the two long ago, as I feel people who continuously do just get caught in a mindset of expecting a movie that could never be.

This is all true. Its probably just me being a snob, but the thing is, the result is utterly tasteless.

 

[jax (old)]

I thought the hobbits were perfectly cast. Except for merry (I think)

elljah wood = perfect
samwise = perfect
dominic monague = perfect
the last one... not so good


that said, elijah and sean astin were magic together and astin's performance as samwise was so gut wrenching in movie 3 ... the despair was palpable. Imo, the best performance of the trilogy.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

They could've made Lothlorien magical and exciting instead of gloomy. It shat all over my childhood. It's just a copout. You can make things ethereal without making them creepy.

Lothlorien and Rivendell were NAILED in my opinion, and I'm one of the biggest Tolkien geeks going.
What's this shat on your childhood? The books are all stilll there y'know...

For me there were so many things they got right that I feel churlish to complian overmuch about any of the minor missteps that were made in the adaptation (remember it is a movie - a lot of peoples criticism of the trilogy as movies is that they are TOO slavish to the text)

The amount of imagery that I never thought I'd see on film was something I'm very thankful for.

Ride of the Rohirrim and Theodens war-speech
The Shire
The Balrog
Arwen next to Aragorns tomb vision.
The Breaking of the Fellowship
Helms Deep
Shelob
GOLLUM - Andy Serkis deserved every accolade he got.
Howard Shore's utterly amazing score.

Too many to mention.

Also one thing I give the writers great credit for was making huge efforts to get some of the great dialogue's and prose in the book onto the screen, even if it meant changing things a bit - e.g. the Gandalf / Pippin scene above with the 'white shores and beyond' is a description of what Frodo sees on the ship from the Grey Havens when it reaches Aman.

Many other great examples of this kind of thing.

 

[BorkBork]

In hindsight, TTT was a bit hit and miss. The abrupt back and forths, the strange characterization of Faramir, Aragorn's fake death, the elves assisting in Helm's Deep. It really didn't help that the Two Towers was a difficult book for adaptation. But it was overall still a good movie with a lot of great moments and it nails a lot of the important scenes perfectly: Gandalf and the return of the Rohirrim, everything Gollum was in, Arwen's choice in the future, the fall of Isengard, Theodon losing his son. The Helm's Deep battle was probably the coolest action sequence at the time.

 

[Freshmaker]

Kate Blanchett also was a horrible Galadriel. Her look was close enough, but she was overacting and being creepy all the time. And also, her fucking meltdown. That was cringe worthy and easily the wors scene in all of FOTR. But I guess that's not her fault.

Once she went all Large Marge on Frodo, the scene was ruined.

The guy who played Denethor was HORRIBLE. While the character in the book was a dignified and stern leader who has lost his mind to despair, the character in the movie had no dignity whatsoever. He was a buffoon.

That seemed to be more Jackson and the screenwriter's fault. That whole stupid scene where he eats grapes etc. No actor could make that not suck. They didn't understand or care about Denethor's character and it showed.

 

[Always-honest]

great movies, great art direction. last one lasted about an hour too long....

not the greatest, but amongst the better movies for sure.

 

[Dabookerman]

last one lasted about an hour too long....

*Roles eyes

 

[Ryck]

I don't understand all the hate Two Towers gets.. I enjoyed it personally. I was recently shocked to find out Stuart Townsend was originally casted as Aragorn. I wonder how that would have worked out.

 

[Dabookerman]

I don't understand all the hate Two Towers gets.. I enjoyed it personally. I was recently shocked to find out Stuart Townsend was originally casted as Aragorn. I wonder how that would have worked out.

The most common complaints I hear about TTT are the Ents. Especially how they are "boring".

They are fucking shephards of the forest, or "Talking Trees" to you half wits, do you expect them to dance every 5 mins?

I thought Two Towers was excellent, and the ending was superb.
One of my favourite moments in film ever when Gandalf and the Rohirrim arrive at Helms Deep.

 

[BorkBork]

I don't understand all the hate Two Towers gets.. I enjoyed it personally. I was recently shocked to find out Stuart Townsend was originally casted as Aragorn. I wonder how that would have worked out.

Not well. Not well at all. :lol

With regards to ROTK, it was just so epic and had so much payoff. I had no issues with the multiple endings whatsoever since it was all from the books and basically had to wrap up 10 plus hours of story. If anything, I wanted them to completely follow through with Sam going off since he was a Ringbearer too.

 

[Dabookerman]

Not well. Not well at all. :lol

With regards to ROTK, it was just so epic and had so much payoff. I had no issues with the multiple endings whatsoever since it was all from the books and basically had to wrap up 10 plus hours of story. If anything, I wanted them to completely follow through with Sam going off since he was a Ringbearer too.

Hopefully the Super Blu Ray set will have all the unused footage that was not included as part of the endings. They showed Gimli picking up jewels, and Legolas in a forest etc.

 

[EatChildren]

Hopefully the Super Blu Ray set will have all the unused footage that was not included as part of the endings. They showed Gimli picking up jewels, and Legolas in a forest etc.

Isn't the only Blu Ray set announced just a pack containing the three theatrical releases? I really want a full EE Blu Ray release, and it's going to pain me to hold off while a theatrical release is out there.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

One of my favourite moments in film ever when Gandalf and the Rohirrim arrive at Helms Deep.

I remember being so hyped before watching TTT as the review on AICN had described that scene as a 'Moving Frazetta'

Indeed.

 

[Dabookerman]

Isn't the only Blu Ray set announced just a pack containing the three theatrical releases? I really want a full EE Blu Ray release, and it's going to pain me to hold off while a theatrical release is out there.

That certainly isn't the one PJ is referring to. He mentioned that there will be a very complete boxset with all the extended releases, loads of behind the scenes stuff, deleted footage, bloopers etc etc.
He probably would have released it on DVD if it hadn't been for Blu Ray.

I remember being so hyped before watching TTT as the review on AICN had described that scene as a 'Moving Frazetta'

Indeed.

Hah, that's a good way to describe it. The colours and shots used, with the music, was just.. christ almighty. Fellowship got me really interested in the movies. Two Towers got me interested in the entire tolkien universe. So awesome.

 

[theJwac]

Fellowship is the only one that's truly great. I mean the others are good and all, but just aren't nearly as good as the first.

This is how I feel.

 

[vatstep]

One of my favourite moments in film ever when Gandalf and the Rohirrim arrive at Helms Deep.

Probably my favorite moment in the trilogy. I literally just got chills thinking about it.