Post by Marieke on Dec 17, 2003 10:12:32 GMT
I have seen ROTK last night, and it was nothing but great, absolutely wonderfull. It's the best movie I have ever seen. It was allmost perfect, exept for one thing: it wasn't long enough.
I think that of all the movies, this one stays closest to the book. There were some things left out, because of the time, but it worked very well without them. PJ didn't add much things to the original story. But one addition should be mentioned: Gollum corrupts Frodo. Gollum hides some lembas, and then he says that Sam ate the lembas. He also tells Frodo that Sam wants the Ring, so Frodo sends Sam home.
The only new main character in the movie is Denethor. So no Imrahil, no Beregond, no Bergil, no Ghan-buri-ghan and no Halbarad, but actually it wasn't that bad. The movie worked without them, and they wouldn't have fit in. And it gives the main characters more screentime.
I expected to see Arwen a lot, but she wasn't there as much as I thought. She has a long scene in the beginning of the movie, and she comes to Aragorn at the end of course, but she didn't overrule.
The best part of the movie has got to be the Siege of Gondor and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. You wouldn't want to be in Gondor! There were a LOT of Orcs, and the Nazgul of course, and Mumakil, and trolls. They also showed Grond, a nice detail I didn't expect. You actually see Gandalf fight against the Orcs in Minas Tirith. It is a marvoulous moment when the Rohirrim finally arive, it makes your heart beat faster. But the arival of Aragorn and the dead men is even better.
I think that they handled the Paths of the Dead very well. I didn't completely get that part in the book, but it worked on the big screen. The first time you see the Dead is scary.
You see most of the movie through a Hobbit perspective. Obviously Frodo and Sam's journey to Mount Doom, but also Merry and Pippin as warriors. Like in the book, Merry and Pippin are separated, which makes them very sad. Merry is travelling with the Rohirrim, and rides with Eowyn (she is easy to recognise and doesn't even use the name Dernhelm). Pippin is in Minas Tirith with Gandalf, and offers his service to Denethor. They find each other again on the Pelennor Fields.
Lord Denethor is a real jerk. He is the character I hate most. There is a very touching scene where he tells Faramir that he wished that Faramir had died instead of Boromir. I felt so bad for poor Faramir. And when Faramir returns, hurt by arrows, Denethor is only complaning that he hasn't got more heirs. I really wanted to hit him then (and I was pleased to see that Gandalf did that for me
).
The ending was sad. Frodo and Sam were on the ruined Mount Doom, waiting for their death (I was almost screaming: "Where the **** are these eagles when you need them!"), and it took a very long time untill the eagles finally showed up. I thought that it was the end of the movie, but fortunately, there were some more minutes, including the Grey Havens. A very sad moment, but a good ending.
So, this movie was absolutely worth to see it.
I think that of all the movies, this one stays closest to the book. There were some things left out, because of the time, but it worked very well without them. PJ didn't add much things to the original story. But one addition should be mentioned: Gollum corrupts Frodo. Gollum hides some lembas, and then he says that Sam ate the lembas. He also tells Frodo that Sam wants the Ring, so Frodo sends Sam home.
The only new main character in the movie is Denethor. So no Imrahil, no Beregond, no Bergil, no Ghan-buri-ghan and no Halbarad, but actually it wasn't that bad. The movie worked without them, and they wouldn't have fit in. And it gives the main characters more screentime.
I expected to see Arwen a lot, but she wasn't there as much as I thought. She has a long scene in the beginning of the movie, and she comes to Aragorn at the end of course, but she didn't overrule.
The best part of the movie has got to be the Siege of Gondor and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. You wouldn't want to be in Gondor! There were a LOT of Orcs, and the Nazgul of course, and Mumakil, and trolls. They also showed Grond, a nice detail I didn't expect. You actually see Gandalf fight against the Orcs in Minas Tirith. It is a marvoulous moment when the Rohirrim finally arive, it makes your heart beat faster. But the arival of Aragorn and the dead men is even better.
I think that they handled the Paths of the Dead very well. I didn't completely get that part in the book, but it worked on the big screen. The first time you see the Dead is scary.
You see most of the movie through a Hobbit perspective. Obviously Frodo and Sam's journey to Mount Doom, but also Merry and Pippin as warriors. Like in the book, Merry and Pippin are separated, which makes them very sad. Merry is travelling with the Rohirrim, and rides with Eowyn (she is easy to recognise and doesn't even use the name Dernhelm). Pippin is in Minas Tirith with Gandalf, and offers his service to Denethor. They find each other again on the Pelennor Fields.
Lord Denethor is a real jerk. He is the character I hate most. There is a very touching scene where he tells Faramir that he wished that Faramir had died instead of Boromir. I felt so bad for poor Faramir. And when Faramir returns, hurt by arrows, Denethor is only complaning that he hasn't got more heirs. I really wanted to hit him then (and I was pleased to see that Gandalf did that for me
). The ending was sad. Frodo and Sam were on the ruined Mount Doom, waiting for their death (I was almost screaming: "Where the **** are these eagles when you need them!"), and it took a very long time untill the eagles finally showed up. I thought that it was the end of the movie, but fortunately, there were some more minutes, including the Grey Havens. A very sad moment, but a good ending.
So, this movie was absolutely worth to see it.
There are way too few scenes with Eowyn and Faramir, and they are 2 of my favourite characters. I think it is a bit strange, one moment they are both hurt, even almost dead, and the next time you see them, they are totally fine and Eowyn got over Aragorn. But well, there's less reason to be jealous with Eowyn. 
