HOLY CRAP, what a movie
Dec. 20th, 2003 10:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperI just got back from seeing Return of the King with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
solarbird. Everybody I have been seeing post about it, on Livejournal and on message boards, has been saying this movie is magnificent; they are right. I started crying about midway through the movie, and kept it up off and on pretty much until the credits rolled.
Right now my head is so very full that I'm not sure I've really truly absorbed everything I just saw yet. But let me hit the high points of the experience for me...
1. Tolkiengeeking with Dara all the way there, and much on the way back as well. :)
2. Seeing Gollum's origin story played out on camera as the opening salvo. Wasn't expecting that--but once it sank in what I was seeing, very well done indeed.
3. The looks on everyone's faces when they got to Isengard and found it had been taken down by a pack of extremely pissed-off Ents. Muahaha. ;)
4. The scene with Pippin wanting a look at the palantir. Nice going alerting the Enemy there, Pip! I don't think I remember this bit from the books, but like just about every change to the plotline that Jackson made, I certainly didn't mind it. And I jumped when Aragorn grabbed the flaming palantir out of Pippin's hands and got a brief smackdown because of it. Ow ow ow ow.
4a. Pippin finally being hit with the Maturity Stick as a result of this entire experience.
5. First shots of Minas Tirith. WOW. I mean, WOW.
6.janne posted about being moved by the lighting of the signal fires. Got me too!
7. The mustering of the Rohirrim to war. Theoden might have had some brief snarky attitude, but at least he came through when it counted!
8. I liked Arwen's vision of old Aragorn and their son--Eldarion! Which I know from having in fact skimmed around through my Tolkien reference text just prior to the movie. (Even though I am vaguely miffed that Tolkien only saw fit to cough up a name for the son, and all the rest of Arwen and Aragorn's children are merely described as 'a number of daughters'. Feh.)
9. Andúril! Andúril! Even if movie Aragorn gets his hands on the Sword That Was Reforged rather later in the plotline than he does in the books. :)
10. Eowyn getting all teary-eyed when Aragorn tells her he can't give her what she seeks. Sniffle. And the look of regretful sorrow on Aragorn's face, too.
11. "Have you learned nothing of the stubborness of dwarves?" Hehehehehe.
12. Denethor was suitably unsettling with the way he kept gnawing away at his food. And, I might add, a total asshole in telling Faramir to his face that "why yes, I wish YOU would have died instead of your brother."
13. Pippin has a surprisingly good singing voice! I wonder if Billy Boyd did that singing himself. And, I might add, that entire sequence was one of those bits that was almost painfully beautiful, with Pippin's singing on top of Faramir's doomed charge into Osgiliath, interspersed with Denethor being clearly more and more insane.
14. HOLY CRAP what an enormous army of orcs headed towards Minas Tirith. And we thought the force that besiged Helm's Deep was huge.
15. And the CATAPULTS flicking fuck-all enormous rocks into the city! YIP! And Gandalf rallying the men of Gondor and getting them to start flinging PARTS OF THEIR OWN ARCHITECTURE back at them.
16. The Army of Rohan showing up and the orcs all turning around and going "HOLY SHIT!"
17. THEN the Easterlings showing up with the HUGE OLIPHAUNTS! I gasped out loud at the sight of them. And there were what, TWENTY of those monsters?! And the looks on the faces of the Rohirrim when THEY got to go "HOLY SHIT". And Theoden looking shaken but managing to rally everybody and get them charging into battle with the creatures. Even if it did kind of remind me, looking back on it, of the Battle of Hoth in Empire Strikes Back and the Rebels in their snowspeeders having to deal with the Imperial Walkers. ;)
18. Then ARAGORN showing up. And stepping off that corsair ship with this "The King has Arrived and he is about to kick orcish ass" aura just rolling right off his frame. Legolas and Gimli flanking him. And the orcs all going "Wait, this isn't right.." but not really going "HOLY SHIT" until the Army of the Dead materializes behind them. ;D
19. Legolas! Legolas in battle! "50!" *PWANG!* "60!" *PWANG!*"
19a. Legolas climbing with lethal grace and beauty right up the side of that oliphaunt and taking out everybody on it and THEN taking the beast out himself. DAMN he's good!
19b. "That still only counts as one!" :D
20. EOWYN! Applause burst out all over the theater when she took out the Witch-King's steed.
20a. "Fool! No man can slay me!" "I AM NO MAN!"
21. The sequence with Gollum turning Frodo against Sam isn't in the books... and while that felt a little shakily done for me, and while I expect that's the part that probably pissed off a lot of the Tolkien fans who are bigger purists than I, Dara opines and I rather agree with her that it does a good job of helping portray how vulnerable Frodo is getting to the Ring by then. Because IMO, if Frodo had been truly himself he'd never have sent Sam away.
22. Shelob. ACK. ACK ACK ACK ACK. Yeah, that whole sequence was suitably ACKworthy. Especially Frodo getting stung by her and wrapped up. Brrrrr.
23. That entire garrison of orcs taking each other out over one argument started between two of them?! I don't think that played out that way in the books... but *giggle*. Lucky for Sam, nonetheless.
23a. Sam kicking orcish ass on the stairs! "That's for the Shire!" "That's for Frodo!" "That's for my old gaffer!"
24. Aragorn rousing the entire army of Gondor and taking them to the Black Gate to divert Sauron. And HOLY CRAP he was pretty with the way he had his hair braided up in back with the little beads and stuff in it. *SWOON* *thud*
24a. The speech he gives to the army just as the orcs are about to pour out of the Black Gate.
24b. The troll knocking Aragorn down in battle and being about to kick his ass, and Legolas closing in to assist him, just before the Ring is cast into the fire.
25. "I can't carry it for you, Mister Frodo, but I can carry you!" *SNIFFLE*
26. Frodo's POOR NECK! All bloody and chafed! It took me a bit to clue in that the chain of the Ring was doing that to him!
27. The looks on everybody's faces when the Ring fell into the fire and Mount Doom started to respond.
27a. Merry and Pippin realizing that a) Frodo has done it, but b) there's no earthly way he can possibly get off the mountain as it's going batshit up there.
27b. Hell, even SAURON looked astonished when the tower began to fall. Which was pretty incredible a special effect, I might add. The Eye actually looked vaguely disturbed as the tower began to collapse, and my brain flashed up with "HOLY SHIT! The tower is falling, I've got to hang on--DAMMIT! I HAVE NO HANDS!" :D
28. "Rosie Cotton dancing. She had ribbons in her hair. If I'd have ever married somebody, it'd have been her!" *SNIFFLE*
28a. However, damn youcassieclaire, for making me instantly think as soon as Sam uttered that line, "Guess I'm gonna hafta marry you instead, Master Frodo." ;)
29. Aragorn crowned King in Minas Tirith! :D
29a. Aragorn and Arwen smooching! :D :D I was the only one who applauded that, but hey, helpless romantic sucker here. What can I say. :D
30. The look on the face of the old grouchy hobbit farmer as Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin all ride by on their return to the Shire and blithely wave at him as if there isn't a single thing unusual about them riding by. Hee!
31. I realize that the entire sequence with the liberation of the Shire has been left out of this movie--though I honestly can't say I'm sorry that it's not there. I always felt that Saruman and Grima going off and trying to take over the Shire... diminished Saruman, somehow. Made him too petty. It felt unworthy of him. Plus, it preserves the whole sense of innocence of the Shire, and I like that.
32. Frodo and Bilbo leaving the Grey Havens for Valinor. *SNIFFLE!*
33. Sam going back to Rosie and their children--and little Elanor, his eldest! Which I also noted, having skimmed around through the reference text before the movie!
I'm sure there's much, much more that will be rolling around in my head about this movie for weeks to come. Another viewing is called for without question, if not two!
And like I said up at the top of this post... this movie is MAGNIFICENT. I saw a bit of a review that talked about this closing chapter elevating Peter Jackson's work unquestionably to the status of Classic. I am behind that opinion one hundred percent.
WOW.
solarbird. Everybody I have been seeing post about it, on Livejournal and on message boards, has been saying this movie is magnificent; they are right. I started crying about midway through the movie, and kept it up off and on pretty much until the credits rolled.Right now my head is so very full that I'm not sure I've really truly absorbed everything I just saw yet. But let me hit the high points of the experience for me...
1. Tolkiengeeking with Dara all the way there, and much on the way back as well. :)
2. Seeing Gollum's origin story played out on camera as the opening salvo. Wasn't expecting that--but once it sank in what I was seeing, very well done indeed.
3. The looks on everyone's faces when they got to Isengard and found it had been taken down by a pack of extremely pissed-off Ents. Muahaha. ;)
4. The scene with Pippin wanting a look at the palantir. Nice going alerting the Enemy there, Pip! I don't think I remember this bit from the books, but like just about every change to the plotline that Jackson made, I certainly didn't mind it. And I jumped when Aragorn grabbed the flaming palantir out of Pippin's hands and got a brief smackdown because of it. Ow ow ow ow.
4a. Pippin finally being hit with the Maturity Stick as a result of this entire experience.
5. First shots of Minas Tirith. WOW. I mean, WOW.
6.
janne posted about being moved by the lighting of the signal fires. Got me too! 7. The mustering of the Rohirrim to war. Theoden might have had some brief snarky attitude, but at least he came through when it counted!
8. I liked Arwen's vision of old Aragorn and their son--Eldarion! Which I know from having in fact skimmed around through my Tolkien reference text just prior to the movie. (Even though I am vaguely miffed that Tolkien only saw fit to cough up a name for the son, and all the rest of Arwen and Aragorn's children are merely described as 'a number of daughters'. Feh.)
9. Andúril! Andúril! Even if movie Aragorn gets his hands on the Sword That Was Reforged rather later in the plotline than he does in the books. :)
10. Eowyn getting all teary-eyed when Aragorn tells her he can't give her what she seeks. Sniffle. And the look of regretful sorrow on Aragorn's face, too.
11. "Have you learned nothing of the stubborness of dwarves?" Hehehehehe.
12. Denethor was suitably unsettling with the way he kept gnawing away at his food. And, I might add, a total asshole in telling Faramir to his face that "why yes, I wish YOU would have died instead of your brother."
13. Pippin has a surprisingly good singing voice! I wonder if Billy Boyd did that singing himself. And, I might add, that entire sequence was one of those bits that was almost painfully beautiful, with Pippin's singing on top of Faramir's doomed charge into Osgiliath, interspersed with Denethor being clearly more and more insane.
14. HOLY CRAP what an enormous army of orcs headed towards Minas Tirith. And we thought the force that besiged Helm's Deep was huge.
15. And the CATAPULTS flicking fuck-all enormous rocks into the city! YIP! And Gandalf rallying the men of Gondor and getting them to start flinging PARTS OF THEIR OWN ARCHITECTURE back at them.
16. The Army of Rohan showing up and the orcs all turning around and going "HOLY SHIT!"
17. THEN the Easterlings showing up with the HUGE OLIPHAUNTS! I gasped out loud at the sight of them. And there were what, TWENTY of those monsters?! And the looks on the faces of the Rohirrim when THEY got to go "HOLY SHIT". And Theoden looking shaken but managing to rally everybody and get them charging into battle with the creatures. Even if it did kind of remind me, looking back on it, of the Battle of Hoth in Empire Strikes Back and the Rebels in their snowspeeders having to deal with the Imperial Walkers. ;)
18. Then ARAGORN showing up. And stepping off that corsair ship with this "The King has Arrived and he is about to kick orcish ass" aura just rolling right off his frame. Legolas and Gimli flanking him. And the orcs all going "Wait, this isn't right.." but not really going "HOLY SHIT" until the Army of the Dead materializes behind them. ;D
19. Legolas! Legolas in battle! "50!" *PWANG!* "60!" *PWANG!*"
19a. Legolas climbing with lethal grace and beauty right up the side of that oliphaunt and taking out everybody on it and THEN taking the beast out himself. DAMN he's good!
19b. "That still only counts as one!" :D
20. EOWYN! Applause burst out all over the theater when she took out the Witch-King's steed.
20a. "Fool! No man can slay me!" "I AM NO MAN!"
21. The sequence with Gollum turning Frodo against Sam isn't in the books... and while that felt a little shakily done for me, and while I expect that's the part that probably pissed off a lot of the Tolkien fans who are bigger purists than I, Dara opines and I rather agree with her that it does a good job of helping portray how vulnerable Frodo is getting to the Ring by then. Because IMO, if Frodo had been truly himself he'd never have sent Sam away.
22. Shelob. ACK. ACK ACK ACK ACK. Yeah, that whole sequence was suitably ACKworthy. Especially Frodo getting stung by her and wrapped up. Brrrrr.
23. That entire garrison of orcs taking each other out over one argument started between two of them?! I don't think that played out that way in the books... but *giggle*. Lucky for Sam, nonetheless.
23a. Sam kicking orcish ass on the stairs! "That's for the Shire!" "That's for Frodo!" "That's for my old gaffer!"
24. Aragorn rousing the entire army of Gondor and taking them to the Black Gate to divert Sauron. And HOLY CRAP he was pretty with the way he had his hair braided up in back with the little beads and stuff in it. *SWOON* *thud*
24a. The speech he gives to the army just as the orcs are about to pour out of the Black Gate.
24b. The troll knocking Aragorn down in battle and being about to kick his ass, and Legolas closing in to assist him, just before the Ring is cast into the fire.
25. "I can't carry it for you, Mister Frodo, but I can carry you!" *SNIFFLE*
26. Frodo's POOR NECK! All bloody and chafed! It took me a bit to clue in that the chain of the Ring was doing that to him!
27. The looks on everybody's faces when the Ring fell into the fire and Mount Doom started to respond.
27a. Merry and Pippin realizing that a) Frodo has done it, but b) there's no earthly way he can possibly get off the mountain as it's going batshit up there.
27b. Hell, even SAURON looked astonished when the tower began to fall. Which was pretty incredible a special effect, I might add. The Eye actually looked vaguely disturbed as the tower began to collapse, and my brain flashed up with "HOLY SHIT! The tower is falling, I've got to hang on--DAMMIT! I HAVE NO HANDS!" :D
28. "Rosie Cotton dancing. She had ribbons in her hair. If I'd have ever married somebody, it'd have been her!" *SNIFFLE*
28a. However, damn you
cassieclaire, for making me instantly think as soon as Sam uttered that line, "Guess I'm gonna hafta marry you instead, Master Frodo." ;)29. Aragorn crowned King in Minas Tirith! :D
29a. Aragorn and Arwen smooching! :D :D I was the only one who applauded that, but hey, helpless romantic sucker here. What can I say. :D
30. The look on the face of the old grouchy hobbit farmer as Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin all ride by on their return to the Shire and blithely wave at him as if there isn't a single thing unusual about them riding by. Hee!
31. I realize that the entire sequence with the liberation of the Shire has been left out of this movie--though I honestly can't say I'm sorry that it's not there. I always felt that Saruman and Grima going off and trying to take over the Shire... diminished Saruman, somehow. Made him too petty. It felt unworthy of him. Plus, it preserves the whole sense of innocence of the Shire, and I like that.
32. Frodo and Bilbo leaving the Grey Havens for Valinor. *SNIFFLE!*
33. Sam going back to Rosie and their children--and little Elanor, his eldest! Which I also noted, having skimmed around through the reference text before the movie!
I'm sure there's much, much more that will be rolling around in my head about this movie for weeks to come. Another viewing is called for without question, if not two!
And like I said up at the top of this post... this movie is MAGNIFICENT. I saw a bit of a review that talked about this closing chapter elevating Peter Jackson's work unquestionably to the status of Classic. I am behind that opinion one hundred percent.
WOW.
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Date: 2003-12-21 11:08 am (UTC)