I watched it twice while I was in the States. Comments within. Bryon Daly wrote:
> I just got back from seeing Return of the King (played hookey from work!), > and seeing no one's commented on it yet, I thought I'd post some of my > thoughts. I'll try to keep spoilers segregated to a separate section at the > bottom for those who are concerned about that. > > Capsule summary: Awesome. I'm still digesting it, but I'm thinking this was > the best of the three. The three LOTR-heads I saw it with felt that even > more strongly than I did. There were again some deviations from the book, > but they weren't as jarring as those in TTT, and for sure two of the biggest > missing pieces were filmed and are certain to be included on the extended > edition. > Awesome is a good word, but may not be sufficient. Tolkien lovers can forget the minor deviations from the book, this final chapter is something to behold. > Random thoughts: > -While the beginning of the movie has a slower pace, once it gets going, it > just rips along. It didn't feel like a 3 hour and 20 minute movie at all. > Concur! This is a short movie. > - I heard a rumor that the version of ROTK originally submitted to the MPAA > was 4:40 long. That suggests a *lot* of stuff was filmed, but cut for time. > Hopefully it will all show up in the extended edition. > I truly hope for the entire thing to come out in the extended edition, and SOON. > - The special effects were extremely impressive, and better-looking that > FOTR and TTT. Some of the Minas Tirith shots that *had* to be models or > matte shots looked totally real. The Battle of the Pelennor was very > impressive. > The battle scenes in TTT were very good, but almost pale in comparison with those in this movie. Shelob is real! > - If you enjoyed Legolas' acrobatics in the last two films, he has a very > cool scene in this one, less silly than the > sliding-down-the-stairs-on-a-shield one at Helm's Deep. Overall, though, > there seems to be less screen time for Legolas, and for Gimli as well. > > - Fortunately, while Gimli has some funny lines, he doesn't come across as > slapstick as he did in TTT. And, blessedly, no dwarf-tossing references > this time. > Gimli has one tremendous line that brings an eruption of laughter during a very tense battle scene. > - Bring a hanky with you. There are some very emotional scenes. > Grown men can and do shed a tear. My wife and my mother (who didn't see the first two movies) were both moved to tears as well. > - I just got a chill recalling the beacon-lighting scene. The > cinematography is simply amazing. > I simply must visit New Zealand. > ------------------------------- > > Possible spoliers below: > > - The Saruman scene was cut, but was filmed and PJ has stated it woul be on > the EE. In the movie, Pippin still does find the palantir, gets into > trouble with it, and has to leave with Gandalf, so the major course of > events remains the same. > > - The House of Healing scene(s) was cut, but was filmed and PJ has stated it > also would be on the EE. > > - The Scouring of the Shire was cut, and was not filmed. The Shire is in > fine shape when they arrive. Despite that, the ending does not feel > truncated. The movie continues for about 20 minutes past the destruction of > the ring, with Aragorn's coronation, and the some Shire scenes, including > Frodo and Gandalf's departure at the Grey Havens 4 years later. Even though > I miss the scouring, it's a satisfying ending. > I was originally upset when I heard the Scouring was not only not in the movie, but not even filmed. That part of the books is one of my very favorites. However, they did the ending (endings) well. The loose threads are tidied up nicely. You leave feeling you watched the end of the Third Age. > - The Paths of the Dead are still in it, but changed a fair bit. The > changes are somewhat for the worse, but not in a way that significantly > changes the eventual outcome. > > - Some of Sam's adventure rescuing Frodo is cut out. From the way it is > edited, I'm guessing a lot of it was filmed but cut for time. Sam's role as > Frodo's protector is highlighted, and very touching at times. I was very > gratified to see it wasn't minimized at all. > One thing I got out of this, even more than in the book, was the moral strength of Sam. He really does save the day. > - Gandalf's stand-off with the Witch-King at the gate of Minas Tirith is > (inexplicably) cut out. My friend says he actually saw the scene in one of > the previews, so it was filmed and will most likely show up in the EE. > > - The pukel-men are cut out. I have no idea if any of that was filmed. > > - If you are worried (as I was, as it's a favorite scene of mine) about > Eowyn and Merry's confrontation with the Witch-King, don't be. It follows > the book closely. > > - We get to see the whole Smeagol/Deagol ring-finding scene, with Andy > Serkis (who does Gollum's voice) playing the pre-gollum Smeagol. Very cool. > > - The oliphants look awesome > > - The terrorizing effect of the Nazgul's cries is finally shown in ROTK. > One gripe I had about FOTR and TTT was that in those films, it was creepy, > but people more or less shrugged it off, whereas here it has a profound > effect. > > - Possibly my biggest gripe is that in the Battle at the Black Gate, the > forces Aragorn brings are rather skimpy, to say the least. In the book, it > was a much larger, more credible, army. > > - Another nagging gripe is that while characters discuss the growing > darkness, it never really gets that dark, and the darkness (or lack thereof) > doesn't really have much effect upon the orcs. > One last thing: Gollum may be even better in this movie. The scene with his two sides arguing, one as a reflection in a pool is wonderful. George A _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
