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[ThatCrazyGuy]

Greatest movies!

Fellowship is my favorite though. I cannot explain the anticipation leading up to it and seeing the shire and everything on the screen for the first time and the awe of everything. I felt like a little kid watching it.

My order is FOTR, ROTK, TTT.

 

[eXistor]

Not quite greatest movies, but great fucking movies indeed. Fellowship is far and away the best of the three and felt to most real, the others feel a bit plastic and fakish if that makes sense. I loved the sense of travel and adventure in the first movies. I'm never a big fan of huge battles, I'll take talky character-scenes over action scenes any day.

 

[EatChildren]

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.

Ah yes. Decided to look it up, and if all goes to plan the theatrical Blu-Ray release of the trilogy will be sometime later this year, while the Extended Edition trilogy will release alongside The Hobbit in 2011 .

 

[Dabookerman]

Ah yes. Decided to look it up, and if all goes to plan the theatrical Blu-Ray release of the trilogy will be sometime later this year, while the Extended Edition trilogy will release alongside The Hobbit in 2011 .

It better be worth it. I expect it to be the greatest box set ever.

 

[Salazar]

The video the crew apparently made of Sam and Frodo's 'together' moments, set to 'I Got You Babe' would be an awesome extra.

 

[EatChildren]

It better be worth it. I expect it to be the greatest box set ever.

2011. Such a long wait. It better be absolutely definitive, and not do a Star Wars with continuous re-releases with minor additional content. I want an LOTR EE Blu-Ray set that has the works.

 

[Solo]

I sure as shit hope PJ taps his inner George Lucas and upgrades the effects in these. Its amazing how fast/poorly some of the CG has aged in these.

 

[∀ Narayan]

These movies are okay. They aren't great, or anything.

 

[Dabookerman]

I sure as shit hope PJ taps his inner George Lucas and upgrades the effects in these. Its amazing how fast/poorly some of the CG has aged in these.

Truth, some of the FOTR, eg. Legolas Troll scene, also, Gollum isn't the Andy Serkis Gollum.

I can totally see them doing it, it's not like the old Star Wars where it was "preserving the charm" of the 70s effects.

 

[UraMallas]

How can you hate on a movie (TTT) when it opens like this?

 

[Solo]

Truth, some of the FOTR, eg. Legolas Troll scene, also, Gollum isn't the Andy Serkis Gollum.

I can totally see them doing it, it's not like the old Star Wars where it was "preserving the charm" of the 70s effects.

Treebeard and the Ents looked like shit even in 2002 when TTT released. Of all things, those are the effects in greatest need up fixing.

 

[Dabookerman]

Treebeard and the Ents looked like shit even in 2002 when TTT released. Of all things, those are the effects in greatest need up fixing.

Hmm. I thought they looked fine really. Maybe the compositing is a bit obvious, that's the only thing I could think of. I liked the way they animated Treebeard's face though.

But I agree, they should totally clean up some of the cg where they can.

 

[UraMallas]

I would be down for some editing and touch ups. I was just thinking about the scene at the end of RotK EE, where Aragorn lops off The Mouth of Sauron's head but when he runs back, MoS' body and horse aren't lying there. I'm aware that it doesn't happen like that in the book but I'm more talking about the fact that it was edited out of the shot for the theatrical cut and never put back in for the extended edition. That should be easy enough, right?

 

[Annoying Old Party Man]

As some have said, the hype beyond this movie was mythic.

It was the first time i booked tickets from before a movie's release, and my most anticipated films of all time. I remember I wasn't that much of a fantasy geek, but I dipped into the books a year before the movies, and was blown away.

I have a clear memory from the scene where Gandalf falls into the abyss, at FOTR. The intensity of the scene is unbelievable, and then Gandalf fell (fly you fools!), I think i just stopped breathing for a second. It was such a surreal experience, I turned around with misty eyes and saw a bunch of family men sobbing and I thought of myself how incredibly escapist this lore is. I also remember the premiere of the Return of the King. You could feel that cinematic history is written.

You have to remember that LotR is responsible for the rebirth of the fantasy genre in modern Hollywood. While Harry Potter was good as well, the fellowship was a huge breakthrough that brought new confidence (and expectations) on fantasy movies and adaptations. We've never looked back since 2001, though I must admit few films of it's genre have even approached the level of ambition that the trilogy enjoyed.


Anyone remember this trailer? I get chills and misty eyed from this, every time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pki6jbSbXIY

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

the scene in which Gandalf grabs his sword mid-air and starts slapping Balrog's ass while falling for miles had me excited. That's my fav scene in the movies

 

[EatChildren]

the scene in which Gandalf grabs his sword mid-air and starts slapping Balrog's ass while falling for miles had me excited. That's my fav scene in the movies

That opening is one of my favourite movie openings of all time. It's incredably epic to see the other end of what happened, especially contrasting how emotion the scene originally was.

 

[TheExodu5]

Out of the thatrical releases? Only The Fellowship Of The Ring deserves such an honor.

However, The Two Towers, which is the worst of the theatrical releases, becomes probably the best of the Extended Editions, and is a fantastic movie.

Return of the King is not that great in either edition.

The overly long and at times, silly, action scenes stop these movies from becoming "the greateast movies".

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

That opening is one of my favourite movie openings of all time. It's incredably epic to see the other end of what happened, especially contrasting how emotion the scene originally was.

yes.

In the first movie you see Gandalf as sacrificing himself to buy some time, in the second you actually see his intent was "Go, I'll take care of this pansy". MUUUUCH more badass

 

[TheExodu5]

Personally I found the theatrical versions of both TT and ROTK to be the better versions. Four plus hours for extended ROTK was stretching it, and the stuff that it added didn't really have a big impact (stuff like the House of Healing was a bit extraneous).

I don't know how anyone can like TTT theatrical over the extended edition. It'a almost completely devoid of character interaction. It's a 2 hour long fight scene.

I wish they extended the character interaction by an hour and cut the fight scene down an extra half hour in TTT.

 

[negitoro7]

I have a clear memory from the scene where Gandalf falls into the abyss, at FOTR. The intensity of the scene is unbelievable, and then Gandalf fell (fly you fools!), I think i just stopped breathing for a second. It was such a surreal experience, I turned around with misty eyes and saw a bunch of family men sobbing and I thought of myself how incredibly escapist this lore is.

That was an incredible scene, along with the sadness immediately following this, when they were just outside the caves.

 

[Relix]

Any news if they are gonna release an EE Set in Bluray?

 

[Evlar]

One does not simply rock into Mordor.

 

[Solo]

Any news if they are gonna release an EE Set in Bluray?

Of course they are. Its a license to print money, since they know their fanbase is looney enough to buy every single release.

2009: theatrical BDs
2011: EE BDs in time for The Hobbit

Then you can count on another super-mega-epic release with all the EEs, the Hobbit movies, and another metric ton of extras 2-3 years after The Hobbit movies.

 

[fistfulofmetal]

Anyone that claims ROTK isn't fucking astonishing has some clearly mental issues.

 

[Solo]

ROTK isn't fucking astonishing.

 

[TheExodu5]

Anyone that claims ROTK isn't fucking astonishing has some clearly mental issues.

We've already established in prior threads on GAF that you have serious mental issues. Clearly you're off on this one.

 

[pringles]

I don't know how anyone can like TTT theatrical over the extended edition. It'a almost completely devoid of character interaction. It's a 2 hour long fight scene.

I wish they extended the character interaction by an hour and cut the fight scene down an extra half hour in TTT.

Yeah I think TTT is the movie that benefits by far the most from it's extended edition. It was actually my least favorite of the trilogy after I had only seen the theatrical versions, but became my favorite after I saw the extended.

 

[TheExodu5]

Yeah I think TTT is the movie that benefits by far the most from it's extended edition. It was actually my least favorite of the trilogy after I had only seen the theatrical versions, but became my favorite after I saw the extended.

Very much so.

At that, the Fellowship benefits the least from the Extended. It feels a little too long at times, and I feel the scenes don't tend to add that much.

ROTK is a mess in both editions. It tries to be far too epic, and the battle at Gondor was done quite poorly, imo.

 

[Dabookerman]

ROTK is a mess in both editions. It tries to be far too epic, and the battle at Gondor was done quite poorly, imo.

It tries to be epic?

Battle of Gondor.. poor?

Haha!

 

[TheExodu5]

It tries to be epic?

Battle of Gondor.. poor?

Haha!

- Legolas single handedly taking out elephants.
- "I am no man!".
- Dead ghoulies vanquished the armies of Mordor, not the Riders of Rohan.
- Lack of Saruman or the Shire.
- 5 different ending scenes (fade to black, black, black, white, black, the end).

 

[typhonsentra]

I've never understood why this series is held in such high regard but the Star Wars prequels are so hated. You can argue disappointment from unrealistic expectations or Jar Jar but it's not like he was even that prominent after the first movie, and is Lucas's directing really any worse than Jackson's? I liked certain aspects of the movie but I'd probably never give it another watch.

 

[TheExodu5]

I've never understood why this series is held in such high regard but the Star Wars prequels are so hated. You can argue disappointment from unrealistic expectations or Jar Jar but it's not like he was even that prominent after the first movie, and is Lucas's directing really any worse than Jackson's? I liked certain aspects of the movie but I'd probably never give it another watch.

The acting and writing is much, much worse in the Star Wars prequels. The acting is so bad that it causes me to cringe any time certain characters are on screen (either of the two Anakin, or Padme). How can you even compare both trilogies?\

"Anakin! You're breaking my heart!" :lol

The only poor actor or poorly written character in LOTR is Orlando Bloom, and even then, he's not that bad. The acting is quite good in LOTR overall.

 

[typhonsentra]

I don't know about that, I actually view both movies in a similar light, as far as acting goes. Both movies are headed by poor actors surrounded by a supporting cast that ranges from passable to above average. Elijah Wood, from his first exchange with Gandalf in Fellowship. ("Yooou're late!") he had me cringing more often than not. I'll concede Hayden was probably worse, but not by much.

 

[JimtotheHum]

One of my favorite movie scenes of all time is in The Two Towers- the first time you meet Gollom and they are wrestling around which culminates in his blood curdling scream... Still gives me chills... I let out an audible "holy shit" after that scene

still one of my favorite characters of all time

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

It tries to be epic?

Battle of Gondor.. poor?

Haha!

in my opinion, what ruined ROTK was the frantic editing and the fact they wanted to insert too much stuff in what could have been two movies. The battle didn't feel epic at all to me, the Helm's Deep was done much better, because they took their time and actually showed some fighting. The Pelennor Fields was way too rushed, the battle at Gondor was over in no time, and Saruman's defeat was horribly done.
Movie had the budget and CGI to feel epic, but it was rushed and horrendously edited, thats why I consider ROTK the worst of the three. All imo.

 

[AlexMogil]

The Pelennor Fields was way too rushed

Agreed - I felt like the needle was ripped off the record there.

 

[pringles]

The only poor actor or poorly written character in LOTR is Orlando Bloom, and even then, he's not that bad. The acting is quite good in LOTR overall.

Orlando's poor acting fit pretty well in the role. He's an elf, he's not supposed to show a wide range of emotions, he should just look elven and graceful and say things like "there's a foul wind in the air". Which he pulled off great.

- Legolas single handedly taking out elephants.
- "I am no man!".
- Dead ghoulies vanquished the armies of Mordor, not the Riders of Rohan.
- Lack of Saruman or the Shire.
- 5 different ending scenes (fade to black, black, black, white, black, the end).

Sort of agree with first 3 (though the souce material is to blame for "I am no man" and the ghoul army is it not?)
Saruman however is there in the extended. Had they included the Shire the movie would have had to be an hour longer and have a couple of "extra endings".
Which leads me to the fact that I think the complaints about the multiple endings are kinda dumb. I guess they could have edited it in a different way so the audience didn't believe the credits were about to roll, but every time it faded to black all I was thinking was "please don't end it like that, please don't end it like that". All the endings are absolutely necessary. Imo they should even have included more, like what happened to Legolas and Gimli for example.

 

[Scrow]

- Legolas single handedly taking out elephants.

i think he only took out one single handedly and it was fucking AWESOME. one of my favourite sequences in the entire trilogy.

- "I am no man!".

yeah? what about it? it was a scene from the book and played out almost exactly like that. i thought it was a pretty cool moment.

- Dead ghoulies vanquished the armies of Mordor, not the Riders of Rohan.
- Lack of Saruman or the Shire.

eh, i'm not going to bother defending those points.

- 5 different ending scenes (fade to black, black, black, white, black, the end).

yeah, so it had a few shots where the credits could have started rolling... so what? this was a story spanning 3 long movies, there were a lot of loose ends to tie up. honestly i feel there was only 1 extraneous "ending" and that was after the fade to white as the ship sailed into the sun and then you see Sam meeting his family back in Hobbiton. That final scene with Sam probably wasn't necessary, but at least that's only one "ending" that didn't need to be there.

the people acting like ALL the "endings" were unnecessary are being silly... they would've had it end on the fade to black with sam and frodo stranded on a rock surrounded by flowing lava after destroying the ring.

 

[Dabookerman]

- Legolas single handedly taking out elephants.
- "I am no man!".
- Dead ghoulies vanquished the armies of Mordor, not the Riders of Rohan.
- Lack of Saruman or the Shire.
- 5 different ending scenes (fade to black, black, black, white, black, the end).

The first three you mention are pure movie moments. Can't see nothing wrong with them.

If you're referring to the Scourging of the Shire, how hard is it to understand how anti climactic it would be to have them at the end. It makes no sense what soever from the movies point of view.

And again.. 5 different endings? All the endings in the books were included. Again, it's silly complaints.

Plus, the Riders of Rohan do not win the battle. It's the armies of South Gonder, with two other characters, the two sons of Elrond, who are never mentioned at all, since there's a shit load of characters as it is. The dead army do come into play in the books, they take over the corsair ships. Why not have them fight in the fields of Pelennor as well?

 

[Dabookerman]

That final scene with Sam probably wasn't necessary, but at least that's only one "ending" that didn't need to be there.

That scene was a complete nod to the book, as that was the very last bit, with the very last line being "Well, I'm back."

 

[Mashing]

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.

I agree, the Lothlorien stuff could have been handled better. Celeborn was depicted HORRIBLY in the movie.

LOTRO nailed Lothlorien though. It's perfectly handled in that game.

 

[andycapps]

Greatest movies? No, but great movies, yes. I think they did a phenomenable job of adapting the books to movies. There were a few things in each movie I didn't care for, but I understand you can't make everyone happy and they had to change certain things in the transition to movies.

 

[eXistor]

I fucking hate that they'll be releasing the Theatrical editions first on BR. I really don't want to watch those anymore. I've been holding off watching the movies again so I can watch it on BR, but now I'll have to wait until 2011? Fuck that noise.

 

[TheExodu5]

LOTRO nailed Lothlorien though. It's perfectly handled in that game.

LOTRO is a friggin' masterpiece when it comes to the environments (and music).

 

[Assemble!]

It's all one big movie, and it's one of the greatest ever.

If watched as a long movie (which takes a waking day), it is one, complete, fantastic movie. One act isn't really strongest, but I enjoy the second act the best.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

The Fellowship of the Ring is a great movie, and one of my favorites. From there it's all downhill.

I'm waiting for the Extended Editions before I buy them on blu-ray. If theatrical Fellowship was being released by itself I would certainly get that though.

 

[Monocle]

The LOTR trilogy is the most affecting set of films I've seen. I love every aspect of them. The plot is among the best you'll find in all of fiction, a tapestry of timeless human themes, each thread representing the life and experiences of a truly authentic character. The world is beautiful. Even the most unsavory places have a secret murky allure. And all of it, the story and setting and all they contain, is infused with and enriched by a truly robust and inventive lore. Peter Jackson gave Tolkien's vision extraordinary life. The actors inhabit their characters so fully as to become them. I cannot imagine any of the main or supporting roles filled by a different person. The set design is a marvel. Richard Taylor's design genius is on full display. It's as though WETA plucked objects straight from the ethers of imagination, fully resolved in flawless physical form. And of course the soundtrack, which is so sensitively, so expertly molded to the films that to remove it would be to strip away every scrap of emotional resonance, leaving a shadowless husk that retains none but the most vague hint of the series' cinematic power. Howard Shore is a man of exceptional musical talent, his contributions every bit as vital to LOTR as John Williams' are to Star Wars--perhaps more so.

The special features for all the extended editions offer essential insight into how special the production of these films was. Watching them I felt the greatest affection for the people whose daily efforts made possible the apparently impossible task of doing cinematic justice to Tolkien's work. I was also fascinated by the specifics of how they built the world of Middle Earth. For anyone who has even a passing curiosity about filmmaking, or the slightest interest in the LOTR films themselves, these features are a must see. Truly the best documentation of a film production I've ever had the pleasure of seeing, by a good mile.

Discussing a medium as rich and diverse as film, it doesn't make sense to nominate a single one (or trilogy, in this case) as the best without engaging in a long analytical process. What does "the best" mean, anyway? Displaying outstanding technical achievement? Rich in sophisticated narrative motifs? Personal favorite? Suffice it to say the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a masterpiece. I'm content to leave it at that.

 

[JB1981]

Your prose irks me a bit but I agree with everything you have said.

 

[Timbuktu]

Of course they are. Its a license to print money, since they know their fanbase is looney enough to buy every single release.

2009: theatrical BDs
2011: EE BDs in time for The Hobbit

Then you can count on another super-mega-epic release with all the EEs, the Hobbit movies, and another metric ton of extras 2-3 years after The Hobbit movies.

I do wonder how much The Hobbit movies would make the trilogy look a bit dated. I would expect Weta to progress after Avatar and all that, who know maybe they might even be in 3d

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

I've seen the LotR movies so many times, our relationship is like a married couple.

One minute I can't stand it, next I can't get enough of it. Whenever someone pokes fun at it, I get slightly annoyed, but when I stop to think about it, I probably have made the same joke more than once. All in all, I've come to accept and appreciate it for what it is. Warts and all.

God, I need to get out more.