Posted on 12/17/2002 7:32:02 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)
Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.
I imagine that will be the biggest complaint from all of us.
So when are you going to see it again?
339 1/2 HOURS TO GO!!!!!!!!
I was miscalculating yesterday, too much excitement in the air.
First the line party. I met 2jedismom (and her husband) in person. What a great and wonderful lady. I even twisted her arm to get her to play the pennywhistle. She is quite good, especially since she was having to play to keep her husband from hearing her. :-)
2J won second place in the trivia contest, and we BOTH won one of the top prizes in the random drawing. I won the "Pippin" Bust, and 2J won the "Merry" Bust. I had the opportunity to play Steve (2J's husband) at a game of chess (2J's LOTR chessboard no less). With the exception of a cinema crew that was poorly handling the agreed upon line passes, the event went great. I already can't wait until next year.
The film itself. At 2 Hours 59 Minutes (and 9 seconds) the film, like Gimli on the wall at Helm's Deep, is just too short. I can only imagine (at least until the extended DVD comes out) just how much more Jackson could have done with the material.
After having read several other reviews over the last week or so that commented on the CG work, I was a bit concerned that it might not look quite right. I think back to the first film and see a few scenes that could have used a bit better polish (Legolas climbing on and jumping off of the cave troll for instance) to achieve the realism it could have. In The Two Towers, I saw no such scenes. When I see it a few more times, or when the DVD comes out I might be more apt to notice CG flaws, but based on my first viewing WETA did an exceptional job of making the fantastic seem real. The Wargs, the Ents, the endless hordes of armies, the Nazgul, the Oliphants, Gollum, the HUGE trolls, the digital scenery, and everything else they did puts the other special effects houses to shame. Even without the Gollum character, I believe this movie would win the visual effects Oscar. I can only imagine how well ROTK is going to look after WETA has worked it's magic over this coming year.
Smeagol/Gollum was very impressive and I don't mean just visually. I don't think there is any doubt whatsoever that based solely on the CG of Gollum alone, TTT would win a best visual effects Oscar. Additionally, I can definitely see why there is a buzz about Serkis getting an Oscar nod for his work. Whenever I read the books I always wish that Smeagol could be fully redeemed at the end. I now feel even more so after seeing Jackson's vision of Gollum.
Both Frodo and Sam had great scenes. The ring's affect on Frodo was shown well, and Sam's character was given a lot more depth. The Frodo/Sam/Gollum storyline was quite strong. While Gollum's performance "steals" the scenes, both Frodo and Sam's performances were top notch.
Merry and Pippin's adventure in this movie also gave them a chance to deliver a more serious presentation for their characters. Once Pippin finally "realizes" just what is at stake, he knows that no amount of discussion will convince the Ents. Just like he had to be made to realize what the war means, he too knew that the Ents must be shown the devastation to come and created the opportunity for that to happen. A great way to show how far his character is progressing.
Gimli's performance, while used for much more comic release was still well done. For a dwarf out of his element his awkwardness in situations is believable and understandable. Without the insight of how "foreign" the open world is to him, his character could have been flat. With the humor and banter, Gimli's character is more fleshed out and vibrant.
Gandalf's reduced screen time was not as noticeable as I thought it would be. There was just simply too much stuff going on with so many characters that screen time was a premium and every character made great use of their limited roles. The New Gandalf was no exception. The exorcism scene showing Saruman being struck so forcefully from Theoden that he is knocked to the floor in Isengard was beautifully done and illustrated just how strong Gandalf has become. As to the opening, the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog was great. You could tell that the Balrog was really quite steamed when they finally landed. :-) I'll leave it at that.
Aragorn's destiny is starting to really shine through as well. His time with Theoden has shown him bravery, leadership, and resilience in the fate of overwhelming odds. At the same time, he has also seen that Theoden's reluctance to deal with the matter at hand can have dire results. Being in the presence of flawed greatness has given him insight into who he himself is and what he must do.
Legolas also showed a flawed greatness himself when dealing with Aragorn at Helm's Deep. In recognizing his earlier defeatism, Legolas finds new appreciation in the courageous leadership Aragorn has begun to display and develops a bit of humility that is not common for an Elf to possess.
All of the newly introduced characters all carried their respective scenes well. I appreciated each and was quite happy with their performances. Eowyn was perfect. Theoden's transformation was handled well and driven home by a spectacular performance. Faramir's differences from the book were acceptable and helped to drive home the point of the reach of the One Ring. Grima's short but well done scenes were almost exactly how I pictured him from the books.
It is hard to say that TTT is better than FOTR because of both their different styles and the fact that they are a continuation of the same story. In essence, they are two parts of the same movie. Both are great and both have a part to play. Just as I could have seen FOTR win Best Picture, I can see TTT also winning that award. But I kind of wonder if maybe those that give out the award will think that yes, they are worthy, but the movie isn't over yet. That there is still 3 hours of the movie to go and that LOTR may not receive the recognition it deserves until then. Hmmm. We shall see I suppose.
Sometime this weekend, I think. The violin sister wants to see it.
Looking forward to it! And I need some more elf-bash material. :)
Note to Corin Jr.: We will not sit down front.
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