Posted on 12/26/2002 4:45:30 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
Beyond this point there be spoilers!
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!
Demosthenes @ 5:18 pm EST
TORn staffer Arathorn typed up part of the Mail on Sunday magazine special for our reading enjoyment. Some very interesting RoTK information in this article ... and, of course, spoilers!
You ain't seen nothing yet
The final part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, promises to be the most thrilling, says Karyn Miller (Mail on Sunday reporter, I presume).
When The Return of the King, the final and most spectacular film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is finally released in December next year, it will have been eight years in the making. It promises to provide a fitting finale to the series.
There will only be a few new characters in the first film, including Denethor, the Steward of the Kingdom of Gondor and the father of Boromir, who is played by respected Australian actor John Noble.
"Denethor resents never being king, and Boromir inherited that bitterness," says Noble. "It's what led Boromir to try to steal the Ring in the first film"
When Gondor is besieged by enemy forces, Denethor, who has fallen under Sauron's influence, becomes desperate and deranged.
"It is my job to show the humanity of the man," says Noble. "He is literally driven mad by grief and fear."
Sauron's henchman, the Mouth of Sauron, also makes his first appearance, although his head is covered by a large helment and all that can be seen of his face is his nose and gaping, decomposing jaws.
We may also see more of Sauron himself. "You can't reduce him to being a big guy striding around in black armour, but he cannot be limited to a flaming eye, either," says Jackson.
"The Sauron in the books is sketchy at best, which makes it hard to turn to turn him (sic.) into a screen villain. But imagine not really seeing Darth Vader for all three Star Wars films. You just can't do it."
This is from an old interview we think, see our earlier report here.
Despite such qualms, Jackson has high hopes for The Return of the King.
"The battles will be the biggest you have ever seen," he says. He can make such a claim with confidence thanks to the help of his special effects company, Weta.
"We have poilted a piece of software that allows us to have 200,000 computer-generated extras fight each other," he says.
"You simply press a button, sit back and watch these enormous battles unfold before your eyes."
The incredible effects can be seen during the opening scenes of The Fellowship of the Ring, and again during the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers. However, it is in the concluding chapter of the trilogy that this ground-breaking software will be utilised to create the most incredible effects.
Jackson has already earmarked the film's final scene, which takes place amid the sweeping landscape of the Grey Havens, as his favourite.
"To me, it's a culmination of the entire story; it represents what it is to give and what it is to lose," he says. "That scene is probably the most powerful part of the entire film."
Me too. I absolutely loved FoTR in the theater, but the extended version is a whole 'nother level! I can't imagine watching the theatrical now!
I needed two times for TTT to see enough. Been three times so far, and I liked the third time the best.
You have been added to the spoiler list nfp!
In the Charlie Rose interview, Wood said that each time he's seen parts of RoTK, he has cried. I guess a big box of tissues is going to be required for the theater trip next year!
One question remains -- I've read on FR, but can't recall, the specific word that describes riding a horse as Gandalf rode Shadowfax, without the usual accoutrements (reins, saddle?, etc.). Can you remind me what the word is for this awesome skill?
Sauron's henchman, the Mouth of Sauron, also makes his first appearance, although his head is covered by a large helment and all that can be seen of his face is his nose and gaping, decomposing jaws.
Eh? This can't be right. They went to the trouble of casting Bruce Spence, the gaunt fellow who flew the autogyro in the second Mad Max movie, and the airplane in the third Mad Max movie.
Why would they go to the trouble of casting someone who is so delightfully weird looking if we never get to see his face?
LOL! - I do not know! I am having a hard time picturing this one either way. Do you want to see Sauron's face? I am not sure I do!
LOL! - I do not know! I am having a hard time picturing this one either way. Do you want to see Sauron's face? I am not sure I do!
I do not want to see Sauron's face, unless it is a flashback to what he looked like in the 2nd Age, when he was helping Celebrimbor make the Rings of Power.
As to The Mouth of Sauron, the book says that they saw his face....basically, a very withered, gaunt old Black Numenorian who has lived way, way beyond his natural lifespan, due to various unwholesome magics and such. Bruce Spence's face is already naturally gaunt and craggy; just add the right makeup and maybe a few prothestics, and you're golden. No need to hide that mug behind a helmet!
Here's a few pics for those of you who do not know what Bruce Spence looks like. More here: http://www.theonering.net/movie/cast/spence.html - he's as gaunt and weird looking as you would expect of The Mouth of Sauron, plus he's 6' 7", according to the bio.
True enough. His Gandalf is great. Beyond great.
I noticed some people on the other thread belittling Iam McKellan's Gandalf, and speaking as though anyone could have done this. Ridiculous. Yes, any hack actor could have played a stereotypical wizard, but to capture the essence of Gandalf's character from the books and to translate it to screen is a work of genius. Few actors could do it.
McKellan has an ability which few actors have: the ability to totally transform his face, posture, body language, and voice, such that he is almost unrecognizable in person from his various roles.
On the extended DVD, they mention an incident where they need to scan Ian McKellan's face with a laser for CGI purposes. They told Ian to let his face assume a neutral pose; he asked them whether they wanted his face as it would look if he, Ian McKellan, were assuming a neutral pose, of if they wanted his face as it would look for Gandalf when Gandalf was assuming a neutral pose. He demonstrated both faces, and they were completely different! Even without the makeup and prothestics, the two faces were hardly recognizeable as belonging to the same person. Very few actors have that kind of control.
That is true about him. I ended up becoming most amazed from his Saturday Night Live appearance, of all places. SNL is not the place you usually see great acting in those skits, but he had one skit which had him sitting before the camera, reading a sortof a "play of one" where he would quickly switch back and forth between several characters where he was playing all of them. The different character switches were designated with a change in hats, but he didn't need the hats to announce the switch. When I watched that skit, I said... Man, this guy really is good.
Hate to sound negative, but I hope the scene doesn't have another Sam Monlogue in it. That's something I did not think worked in TTT.
In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that I think they made Sam too smart in the films. (I went again last night).
However, I am amazed each time with Gollum in TTT. that is Oscar material for sure.
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