Posted on 01/15/2003 7:57:17 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
Beyond this point there be spoilers!
Like spoilers? – Keep reading!
Don't want spoilers? – Click HERE and don't look back!
Don't say we didn't warn you! Spoilers are what this thread is all about. So bring your rumors (substantiated or not!), spoilers, spy reports, and bones of contention about them here as the snippets of RoTK news, photos and interviews come rolling in.
I wouldn't even recommend pinging people to this thread unless you know they want to see them. There are a lot of purists out there that hate to have anything given away before the movie comes out. I, however, am not one of those.
I will start a "RoTK spoilers ping list" separate from the other Tolkien ping lists… so let me know if you want to be on the spoiler alert list!" If we use this thread for that kind of stuff, we won't shock people who don't want to see it. (though I bet they look anyway!)
Report 'em if you got 'em!
One tip….. Don't embed images from TORN (TheOneRing.Net) on this thread. If possible, load the image to another server, or just post a link to the TORN page. TORN's servers are powered by fleas I think, and are horrendously slow, particularly when they have something that is particularly good!
It wasn't me! Honest!
FROM TORN:
Speculating on Endings
Tehanu @ 7:14 am EST
Lots of people are always catching up with news that might have been reported a long time ago and then forgotten about. Newcomers to the site are still reeling with shock as they learn that the Scouring of the Shire is out, that Saruman probably doesn't die there but at Orthanc, and that Sauron may assume visible form and confront Aragorn at the Black Gate. Here's some thoughts on all that from various readers:
Adanedhel writes: "Regarding your "ROTK Spoilers! Saruman, Grima & SAURON News!" here, and especially this: "...the Dark Lord who looked like he was in different armor than when we saw him in the prologue..."
"In my opinion, this is NOT Sauron himself but his servant, the Mouth of Sauron, because your spy says "in different armour" and few weeks ago you've reported that Peter Jackson is unhappy with the armour of the Mouth of Sauron because he thought it looks very much similiar to the armour of Sauron, so Sala Baker had returned to NZ for reshoots. I could be wrong, of course, but we must also consider this."
OJ puts it another way: "I should think that the reason that "Sauron" appears in "different armour" when he has it out with Aragorn is because he is NOT "Sauron". Rather, I should think that in the movie as in the book, "The Mouth of Sauron" is present at "The Black Gate" in the last battle of the movie."
Nicholas says: "I thought Peter Jackson said that he knew Sauron couldn't stay as just an eye (here he mentioned that Star Wars - Darth Vader quote) but that he couldn't take full physical form either. I wonder if maybe people are confusing Sauron with the Mouth of Sauron battling Aragorn? I would think it would be more dramatic for PJ to do what Tolkien does in the book - having Sauron (whether he be just an eye or in some other form) suddenly realize what's going on when Frodo puts on the ring in Mount Doom and do all he can do to try and stop Frodo, instead of Aragorn. Anyway, just a thought."
Diana scanned some othersources for what we think we know about changes to ROTK: "Amidst all this discussion of the death of Saruman--possibly opening the door for the cut of the Scouring of the Shire-- I stumbled across this old Q&A article (before Fellowship was released) on E!Online: More]"
Q: "The Return of the King has a very long denouement, with fully one third of the book coming after the destruction of the Ring. I worry that the filmmakers may have cut or severely shorted the Scouring of the Shire and the Grey Havens episodes. Any word on that?"
A: "LOTR conceptual artist Alan Lee showed me his sketches of the Grey Havens buildings and boats. Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Ian Holm (Bilbo) said they count their "farewell" scenes (when they say goodbye to their friends before going to the Grey Havens) as among their favorite to film. Sources tell me the Scouring of the Shire has made the cut, albeit with a few tweaks." [But we've since heard - from PJ, if I remember correctly - that the Scouring was OUT. Hence the confusion - T.]
Also this one:
Q: "Peter! We've got to have hope. Do you promise a happy ending to The Return of the King? Peter: It's happy/sad. The third film makes me cry. It's really emotional. It's very, very emotional."
Diana has another guess: "Furthermore, in regards to deleted scenes being put back in the Extended and Theatrical DVDs, has anybody mentioned the shot of Arwen in the TTT trailer? In the theaters we saw a shot of her walking off, cloaked, with other Elves. In the trailer, we see her apparently throwing off her cloak, rushing to Elrond, exclaiming "Tell me what you see!". Could they possibly put this shot back in the movie?"
Update: Demosthenes here. Regarding the demise of Saruman, people keep submitting the picture below - which is from Brian Sibley's The Making of the Movie Trilogy. Sure does look like one angry Wormtongue, there. Yep, that's a knife in his hand and that does indeed appear to be the floor patterning of Orthanc.
I sure hope that, in RoTK, Howard Shore includes the music he wrote for the scene of the Elves going through the woods for the Extended version of FoTR. It would be such lovely, sad music for the Elves leaving from the Grey Havens. I want that music on a soundtrack!! I was hoping that it would be the bonus track on the TTT soundtrack, but it wasn't.
I don't know. I think you are putting way too much on the importance of the Scouring, IMHO. So far the first two films have shown pretty well what happens if you don't do something about evil, re: Theoden.
Also in TTT there was a sequence with Merry & Pippen at the Entmoot where Pippen said something along the lines of, "let's just go home Merry, we have the Shire." And Merry said that if they didn't do something then there wouldn't be a Shire left. I think that moment shows that the Hobbits knew what the stakes were.
Well, those are my thoughts anyway. Hope you had a good weekend.
You may be right, I just know how important it seemed to me when reading the book. And you are right the message is given a couple of times, I guess it is the culmination of the story as far as Merry, Pippin and especially Sam are concerned and it seems it will be difficult to tie up those ends without the scouring. But I'm going to enjoy it I'm sure!
ALSO LOOK HERE (I have to crack up at the first bullet point)
Lord of the Rings: E3 2003: Return of the King First Look
E3 2003: Return of the King First Look
May 14, 2003 - At E3 this week, EA is showing off the upcoming videogame of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. You can hit any of our game sites for the full details on the games, but the demo playing at the E3 booth features an intro comprised of all new footage from the third and final film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.We were unfortunately not allowed to film the footage, but what was shown is now burned onto our retinas. Here's a bit of the more memorable moments from the footage:
- Eowyn standing and looking rather sad.
- Frodo and Sam climbing a mountain.
- A shot of soldiers on horseback marching through a camp in a green grassy clearing.
- Lots of shots of Gandalf in Minas Tirith.
- Archers in a city courtyard (most likely Minas Tirith) taking aim and firing.
- An awesome shot of Gandalf on Shadowfax leading troops through the city streets.
- New shots of Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas in battle.
- Eomer on horseback leading a charge into battle.
- Gondorian soldiers in full armor on horseback charging into battle right into a line of orcs.
The final shot of the intro is of Gandalf on the walls of Minas Tirith walls looking out onto the battlefield. When the camera switches to his perspective, the footage changes to an in-game cinematic of thousands of orcs charging the city with Fell Beasts flying in the air. If the actual film footage is as big as that game cinematic, we're in for a stunning treat this December.
Sauron in ROTK?
5/15/03, 12:06 am EST - Tehanu
Alex sent in more thoughts on whether Sauron might appear in person in ROTK. [More] Tiny Spoilers
So is the final scene the Grey Havens? What I'd find disappointing is if they neglect Sam's final cozy moment with Rosie..."Well, I'm back."
| Sam, returning to the Shire after going to the Grey Havens: |
||
 |
<- Sam Gamgee ...with Elanor -> |
 |
You've probably talked about this, because I tend to avoid this thread -- I don't really want too many spoilers.
But you can't too easily avoid the recurring and now just about confirmed rumors that Sauron appears in the ending -- and that Aragorn has a swordfight with him?
Now, when I've seen that last, I've averted my eyes, because I SO don't want it to be true!!
Can Jackson go THAT wrong? Maybe he can. For instance, the longer I've thought about it, and now re-reading that part of LOTR (just last night, in fact), I feel Jackson made a rare but really nasty misstep in his handling of Faramir, and that whole episode. That tells me that he can make really significant miscalls, though he usually doesn't.
It's one of the striking facets, and a literary study in itself, that Sauron is The Big Bad of the entire trilogy but he never personally appears! It's a study in Stephen King's Big Bug theory, that the bug you don't see is always scarier than the one you do. It allows the imagination to manufacture what IT finds scary, which is always worse than what a frontal description will do.
Now, I had a similar worry when I read, years ago now, that Jackson was going to show Sauron in the opening scenes. "Big mistake," I thought. But that was carried off in a masterful display of seen/unseen, and it worked.
But this would be SO wrong. Sauron, having a SWORD-fight with Aragorn? I just want someone either to tell me it isn't true, or to shake Jackson by the shoulders and say, "It's all so good, we'll forgive you for Faramir -- but for the love of all that's decent, don't do this!!!"
Thoughts?
Dan
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.