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Posted on 11/29/2003 6:31:10 PM PST by anka
I live in LA and work in the movie business, so I was able to go to the first Academy Awards screening of ROTK yesterday. Thanksgiving day, and they still filled a big theater - I think that says something about the enthusiasm of LOTR's many fans in the film industry!
What struck me most was how much ROTK really is the third act of one huge epic. All climax and payoff. I couldn't even begin to count the number of thrilling action sequences. And yet, even more than with the other movies, the emotional focus is tight on the characters.
The LOTR movies actually have less in common with fantasy like STAR WARS, and more in common with classic epics like LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and SPARTACUS. So in a fairly traditional sense, ROTK is an old fashioned War Movie. We get the incredible battles, but also the fear in anonymous soldiers' eyes, and our heroes desperately overcoming that fear to do what has to be done - which is of course what MAKES them heroes. Happily, ROTK doesn't glorify war, but rather the impulse for sacrifice, putting yourself on the line for a greater good.
But what all LOTR fans will be saying as they leave the theater is "I cried!" Don't bring a date if you don't want them to see you cry. Do bring Kleenex, whatever. If you love these characters, you're going to cry. Like nine times. Sad crying. Happy crying. Happy-sad crying. You get the picture.
Legolas does a stunt you will never forget, battling an Oliphaunt (Mumak, whatever). Sam is the bravest character in any movie, ever. Just the sequence of Pippin singing for Denethor while Faramir rides off on a suicide mission should net Peter Jackson a Best Director nomination. Eowyn ROCKS as action heroine. And you really DON'T want to know what comes through that gate when Minas Tirith is breached.
That being said, I bet this will be the LOTR pic that improves most on DVD. Obviously the Saruman sequence will be missed by fans. But some of the other character stories definitely seem truncated too.
Aragorn has great stuff to do, but we miss a couple of beats in his transformation. No Houses of Healing - in the book, a nice moment where he "proves" his Kingship in a non-warlike way, and where we see how much the people WANT a King. Same with Denethor - we never really get the sense that he is a good and noble man who has fallen low. He seems spiteful, rather than tragic. His sons are so noble, I found that incongruous. And Arwen is barely present, seeming more like she did in the book - a gift-wrapped prize for the King. Finally, though we spend lots of time with Frodo and Sam, even their trip through Mordor is somewhat ellipsed at the end. Jackson et al seemed mainly concerned with making it clear how the Minas Tirith battles are connected with Frodo's story. This was probably a wise choice, especially for the larger audience who may never have read the books.
But the bottom line is, this is a massive epic which even three LONG movies can barely contain, and Peter Jackson & Company did a great job of bringing it to an incredibly exciting climax and a VERY fulfilling ending. The last few scenes of the movie are particularly well crafted. There's a very subtle, understated scene after the Hobbits return to the Shire, with almost no dialogue. Everything is told by the looks on their faces. These are good actors! And then there's the Grey Havens. (See KLEENEX, above)
YEAH!!!
Ring Ping!! |
Anyone wishing to be added to or removed from the Ring-Ping list, please don't hesitate to let me know.
Snif.
It is only 17 days 4 hours and 53 minutes till it comes! 
~Wonders where to find optimistic friends to talk to~
You (lucky) BASTARD! :)
Thanks for the report. I'm counting the days.
I think you may need a box for each of you! I'm gonna have to take some Ibuprofen before I go cause crying always gives me a headache; maybe taking it before the movie will head it off!
The review called it a War Movie with most of the action focused on Aragorn and battle sequences. I imagine it will be a good movie regardless, but I thought the last one was too much of a war movie as it was. I've seen plenty of war movies and LOTR, to me, is not really a war story.
With the opportunity for battle at Osgiliath, the fields of the Pelennor, and the Black Gate, I can imagine that much of the genuine drama and heart of the story will be relegated to the extended DVD next fall.
We shall see!
My teenage daughter couldn't get any more of a crush on this guy....maybe.
This sounds true to the book and to Tolkien, who was a WWI veteran who was in the Battle for the Somme...and only survived because he was invalided out with "trench fever"...most of his friends died...
As for Arwen, the book character is based on Tolkien's romance with his wife, who was "above" him...i.e. older and wiser but who loved him anyway...
There was family opposition on both sides to their marriage, and she remained at home when he went to war, but was important as an emotional pole or "star" on which he could remain sane i.e. with a post war goal...although, I might add, he saw her as Luthien, not Arwen...(Luthien rescues Beren, and nurses him back to health in the tale)
Can't wait...
Woohoo! We get to see ol' sticky-beak Elrond leave!
They all seemed to take this movie very much to heart....
..and physically, quite a few of the cast members were injured ....and carried on.
Legolas cracked a rib, falling off a horse...
...Aragorn broke a huge piece of his front tooth when someone clunked him with a sword...(he wanted to continue with that day's footage, and they made him go to a dentist)..
...he also broke a toe...
..and Sam stepped on a large shard of glass when he was running after Frodo in the boat...
..they had to airlift him to hospital for lots of stiches.
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