Return of the King - Opening night LIVE THREAD

Lord of the Rings - Yahoo Movies ^ | 12/17/03 | self

[ppaul]

OPENING NITE: Just returned from a midnite showing of The Return of the King. Awesome. If you were wondering whether it would stack up to I & II - you won't be disappointed. One part that all red-blooded FReepers will enjoy: The good guys are referred to as "men of the West." And, eagles save the day. I won't say more and spoil it for you. Given Saddam's capture, this movie comes out at a most opportune time. Well worth seeing twice - at least.
**** 4 STARS

[BibChr]

Ecurbh's review thread? Uh, duh... not sure which that is.

I guess my pref (not being sure which ecurbh thread you mean) would be a fresh one with a title something like: SPOILER-FILLED FReeper Reviews of ROTK.

Dan

[rosyposy]

oooohhhh...
this is the awesomest movie in the universe
awesome awesome awesome
"Certain death, small chance of success...what are we waiting for?"
whoo-hooo!
awesome

[HarleyD]

The theaters are all sold out for this weekend but got my tickets. Can't wait. Watching the other movies and reading the books are taking all my time. :O)

[HairOfTheDog]

OK Dan...

FReeper Reviews of Return of the King (Spoiler FILLED)

[reflecting]

Went to the 12:01 AM showing - it was well worth the wait and the sleepless night - went with two of my college age children and a few of their friends - packed house - too much talking and silly comments - the battle scenes are shattering....the mustering of the riders of Rohan....loved the paths of the dead scenes......thought the ending was a bit choppy and had a little bit of Star Wars meets Never Ending Story feel.... great Aagorn-Arwen kiss.....but the lady that played Eeowyn (sp) in my humble opinion deserves the top prize for best acting.....both in ROTK and TT....

[StoneColdGOP]

Damn it... I need to see this SOON!

[sockmonkey]

Went to The Trilogy in San Antonio. It was awesome. Many emotional highs, and lows. Sean Astin was fantastic, and definitely deserves an Oscar for his performance.
Got out at 1:20 am, and was ready to go see ROTK again. Loved the free tokens every movie goer got from Weta..has a cel from each of the films, set in a pewter keepsake thing.
Even though ROTK lasted over 3 hrs, nobody wanted it to end. Now I can't wait for the EE-DVD of ROTK-hope it will 5 hours!
BTW, I loved that part about the "Men of the West."

[airedale]

Actually he wasn't a hobbit either he was one of the River Folk who are distantly related to bobbits.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Oh my gosh, not sure you want to go there. I did that last week and was thoroughly scolded.

[DoctorMichael]

"....time...."

I went to the 2:45 afternoon show.......sat through 15 minutes of Previews (Yuk! Start the DAMN movie!).....3:00 start......Credits finally ended at ~6:20.

[NewRomeTacitus]

"...he was a HOBBIT."

If I recall the Riverfolk were somewhere between human and hobbit on the Tolkein evolutionary scale. The background work the man did, while almost unreadable for its complexity, portrayed the dwarves as an evil race. Gimli keeping up with a party led by an elf stretches my suspension of disbelief far more than a humanoid Andy Sirkis/Smeagal mutating into Gollum.

Some reports have claimed that the special effects for the scene of Gollum's actions on Mount Doom were lacking to the point of distraction. Does anyone agree with that? I can't believe Peter Jackson would stint on the finale just when the money was rolling in from the previous efforts.

[Samwise]

We didn't get home until 2:30 a.m. so we were at the theatre for 15 hours!!!!! It was SO worth it!

I salute your stamina!

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Hey, Hey! We're going to the opening show at the Galaxy in Tacoma on Saturday (wife is getting tickets tomorrow). Y'all wanna come to Tacoma and see it at a REAL theatre?!

[HairOfTheDog]

Sure Scott! We can come see it with you on Saturday!

Galaxy.... tickets available on-line? Lets look-talk tomorrow about times and such.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

They may be available on-line...we'll have to look...first show on Saturday will be around 11:30. I'll check the paper tomorrow AM and post somethin' on the HH Thread.

[Vast Buffalo Wing Conspiracy]

These "river folk" were hobbits. They are related to the Stoors who moved up north into the Shire. Ergo, Smeagol and Deagol were hobbits.

[Vast Buffalo Wing Conspiracy]

Sorry, there is no "evolutionary scale" between men and hobbits in Tolkien's Middle Earth. There are men, and there are hobbits. No intermediaries. Smeagol and Deagol were part of a hobbit community related to the Stoors who migrated to the Shire. Their community didn't migrate north to the Shire, and either died out or moved on.

You might compare, say, a 21st cenury American to a 16th century Englishman: they are seperated by 500 years, and one migrated from England whilst the other stayed put, but both are human and share a lot of cultural traits. Thus it is the same for Frodo vis a vis Smeagol: both are hobbits, albeit seperated by time and geography.

[LinnieBeth]

Gollum's actions on Mount Doom were lackingThis scene like the one when Pippin looks in the Palantir was a little over-the-top, but I suppose they needed to visualize again.

Did it bother anyone that
1.) Sam didn't go through the tunnel with Frodo?
2.)no House of Healing?
3.)no Mouth of Sauron? One of the most excrusiating moments in my mind.

[Notforprophet]

Hiya HotD -

Saw it yesterday at the 3:00 showing... all I can say is WOWOWOWOWOWOW!

The only things I found disappointing were the aforementioned problems with effects in a couple of spots. When Gollum is on top of an invisible Frodo clawing to get the Ring, you can tell it's an CGI effect. Also at the end when the elves and Bilbo are boarding the ship to sail into the West, you can tell that the hobbits are CGI drawn in.

Overall though, likely the best of the 3 in my opinion, and certainly the best film I have seen in years.

NFP

[My back yard]

Am looking forward to seeing it though not right away. A crowded theater is always bad news for watching a film. Crying babies, someone with TB in the seat behind you and wiseasses screaming at the screen. Think I'll catch the matinee showing...next Wed morning. Should be sparser :>

You know, that is one of the reasons I go to see the opening showing. The place is full of fanatics like me who turn off cell phones and sit quietly through the movie with bated breath, absorbing every moment. No one even gets up to take a bathroom break. Been my experience anyway.