LoTR: The Two Towers - Page 5

Gatekeeper · December 21, 2002, 03:08

The movie theater was packed when I viewed TTT tonight. Overall, I thought the movie was pretty good (mind you, this is from a person who's only had limited prior exposure to Tolkien's works), but I didn't think the Battle at Helm's Deep was greatly impressive, in terms of FX. No better than the opening scenes in Gladiator, IMHO. I still get shivers from Gladiator's opening scenes ... imagine having to face that sort of onslaught in ancient times.

The Ents seemed to have a fairly easy time of taking out Saruman's fortress, Isengard.

Gatekeeper

Combat Ingrid · December 21, 2002, 06:07

One of the coolest details in the movie is when the troops are gathering at Isengard.
When Grima sees this massive army, a tear falls down his cheek

About the ents, I guess Saruman didn't expect anyone to attack Isengard. After all, the only possible threats (in his mind), Gondor and Rohan, would be quite busy fighting his armies.

FrustratedPoet · December 21, 2002, 06:17

Yeah, it's supposed to be easy for the Ents to destroy Isengard because Saruman didn't consider them a threat and moved his whole army out to fight the Rohirrim.

The Ents having a huge fight with the uruk-hai would have been cooler, though.

aahz_capone · December 21, 2002, 07:20

I just saw the movie, and these were my reactions:

and then later...

Robert Plomp · December 21, 2002, 07:36

I need to see it again

Bereta_Eder · December 21, 2002, 07:37

There was a trailer of Matrix Reload too.

aahz_capone · December 21, 2002, 12:05

I AM gonna see it again!

Damnit, I was so dumbstruck by some of the scenes that scenes right after didn't get as much attention as I wanted to give it. I'm gonna see it on the 2nd day of xmas.

Matrix Reload... cool... hmmm... can't concentrate on Matrix... must kill Balrog....

When they said in Fellowship thatr the dwarves dug too deep and awoke something I thought, yeah ok, fine. But in Towers you see Gandalf fall for about 2 minutes, at 9.8 m/s he fell at least a few kilometers down, now thats deep!

Jon Miller · December 21, 2002, 13:49

great movie

saw it last night

Jon Miller

November Adam · December 21, 2002, 14:08

how did the Balrog and Gandalf fight from a lake in the depths of the earth and end up on a mountain peak?

great movie though, can't say if its better than Fellowship though, cause it actually doesn't feel like another movie, more like the continuation of a play after an intermission. Unlike other movie trilogies where time passes by unseen between movies.

Jon Miller · December 21, 2002, 14:10

you would need to read the book

basically there is a great stair that goes from the deeps to the peak

they fight all along it

Jon Miller

November Adam · December 21, 2002, 14:13

Must have missed that in the book.

FrustratedPoet · December 21, 2002, 14:27

Jon's right. It's called the Endless Stair, despite the fact that it does, in fact, end .... it's just stupidly long.

Jon Miller · December 21, 2002, 14:48

I did not realise how much of a tolkien nerd I was until last night

Jon Miller

Gatekeeper · December 21, 2002, 15:18

The crowd was tittering big time when Gollum/Smeagol was talking to "himself."

Saint Marcus · December 21, 2002, 17:48

the only thing that sucked about the movie is that it didn't explain enough. the movie seemed to rush through certain parts. I read the books so it wasn't a problem for me, but others who haven't read the books had tonnes of questions.

Imran Siddiqui · December 21, 2002, 17:51

Mark, the movie is pretty long as it is

.

Hobbes · December 21, 2002, 17:52

I saw it on Tuesday. I work at a movie theatre, so I got to see it early! Woo! I loved it, except it needed to be an hour longer. I know that sounds like crazy talk, but there was too much stimulus thrown at me at once.

Saint Marcus · December 21, 2002, 17:54

Quote:

Mark, the movie is pretty long as it is

only because they stretched the battle at helm's deep. the movie rushed through the other parts.

Imran Siddiqui · December 21, 2002, 18:31

They can't cater to LOTR geeks, Mark

. There has to be something for the rest of the people, and people like big, nasty-ass battles. It's a fact

.

Big Fish · December 21, 2002, 19:20

Some one I worked with saw it at 11:59 at night, opening night and he saw it every day for the next 5 days

Big Fish · December 21, 2002, 19:23

abut the lenght, I thought it should have been split into 2 movies per book.

Also anyone heard any word about posibly making The Hobbit

Imran Siddiqui · December 21, 2002, 19:28

A Sixology doesn't nearly have the box-office power of a Trilogy. Most people would have written off 5 and 6 by the time it actually got to the movies.

Big Fish · December 21, 2002, 19:33

Quote:

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
A Sixology doesn't nearly have the box-office power of a Trilogy. Most people would have written off 5 and 6 by the time it actually got to the movies.

so release 2 at a time.

Saint Marcus · December 21, 2002, 19:36

Imran: I said I read the books so it wasn't a big problem for me. I was speaking for my non-Tolkinite friends, who haven't read the books. They didn't understand some parts of the movie, simply because the story rushed through them.

examples? (I'm doing this out of the top of my head, I may be mistaken in some cases).

the elvish rope around gollum's neck. it was mentioned in the Extended version of the Fellowship, but not in the regular version. So people wondered where the hell Sam got elvish rope from.

ditto with Frodo knowing Smeagol's name. Gandalf mentioned this in the EE of the Fellowship, but not in the regular version I believe. So people wondered how on earth Frodo knew Smeagol's name.

Also not explained is Sam's hostility towards Gollum.

How Elves got to Helm's deep from Rivendell. Why Haldir said the elvish company came from Rivendell (when he himself was from Lothlorien). And how come Saruman didn't notice the elvish company when they went through the gap of Rohan from Rivendell. Though people who read the books are even more baffeled about this one.

Flying Wraiths. Isn't explained.

Ents. Hardly explained (Merry's explanation didn't cut it).

Wild men. Shown and mentioned briefly. Hardly explained.

Battle for Osgiliat (sp), shown way to briefly. Also, the relationship between Gondor and Rohan isn't clearly explained.

A lot more things. Plus, there were a number of errors in the movie in regards to what's in the books (for one, aren't the Southerns supposed to be black?).

The general public loved the battle scenes, but felt a bit kept in the dark about various things in the movie. The fans also loved the battle scenes, but felt a bit unsatisfied because of the many omitions in and changes to the story.

Personally...I liked the first movie better than the second. Though the Extended Edition of the Two Towers may change all that.

Imran Siddiqui · December 21, 2002, 23:04

Quote:

I was speaking for my non-Tolkinite friends

I understand that... but no one (but geeks) are going to go see a 4 hour movie that explains everything. There will be some holes.

DanS · December 22, 2002, 03:54

Just saw the movie this evening. Definitely better than the first. No too-short cuts, etc. and the CGI wasn't cheesy like in parts of the first.

The story was necessarily a little more jumbled. Like others, I don't know what the elves were doing at Helm's Deep, but that's a small sin I guess. Faramir's change didn't make sense to me either.

I thought the Arwen stuff was actually done pretty well and adds to the story.

I really loved the ruins of the old city. Amazingly done. We will be seeing more of that in the third movie. Looking forward to it.

Dis · December 22, 2002, 03:59

I will have to see this the week after christmas. Maybe I'll see it on the 26th though.

I kind of wish the movies were rated R and had more gore though

. I'm a sicko I know. But the first movie had a beheading which I thought was shocking for a pg-13 movie. But a beheading with no blood seems kind of cheesy. Hmmm

Harry Seldon · December 22, 2002, 04:54

I neglected to read the books, even though I'm an avid fantasy reader. I can't help but think, after conferring with friends who have read the series, that I am better off when watching the movies because of it. Therefore, I will say that this series has been the best set of movies I have ever seen. I feel this is saying alot, considering it had to go against the Omen and Evil Dead series.

Saint Marcus · December 22, 2002, 08:16

Evil Dead?

those were hilarious.

Combat Ingrid · December 22, 2002, 08:36

Quote:

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
How Elves got to Helm's deep from Rivendell. Why Haldir said the elvish company came from Rivendell (when he himself was from Lothlorien). And how come Saruman didn't notice the elvish company when they went through the gap of Rohan from Rivendell. Though people who read the books are even more baffeled about this one.

I think Haldir said they came "with word from Rivendell" or something like that. In my mind, they was sent by Rivendell, but left from Lorien straight south to Helm's Deep. Makes much more sense that way