The Lord of the Rings

[urnofosiris]

November the 18th is so far away, dammit, why can't it be earlier? Of course it is smart to put at least 2 months between the regular DVD and the extended version, it worked last time. I bought them both.

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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot

[Pipsqueak]

I'm not supposed to be here (am taking a brief hiatus from all online boards, including this one, until I get some projects done). Plus, I don't know all that much about LOTR. But since it's Easter and all, I just had to share this cute link:



The Lord of the Peeps: The Fellowship of the Peep

"You're right. [Spike's] evil. ... But you should see him naked. I mean, really!"
~ The Mutant Enemy manifesto, explained by the Buffybot
|-- Pipsqueak's Music Videos --|

[elessar007]

****The thread topic includes the books but some of my comments reveal things yet undisclosed if your only familiar with the movies. Therfore some comments may be considered movie spoilers. Please keep this in mind if you decide to read further.***



I have been a long-time fan of not just LoTR but all of Tolkien's works including the Unfinished Tales, Book of Lost Tales I & II, Hobbit, and The Smith of Wooton Major. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two movies and thought Jackson did a wonderful job. Of course he had to edit the movies due to time constraints but I feel slightly resentful of the changes andor additions made to the story. Arwen for example, is a minor character who essentially has no direct bearing on the Fellowship. The love between her and Aragorn is the only significant plot point. But on the big screen Arwen is transformed into a heroine when the Nazgul catch up with the hobbits at the Ford of Bruinen. I take issue with deliberate rewriting when the motive seems to be marketing rather than an issue of clarity or time. I felt Jackson grafted Arwen into the story in an attempt to artificially add a strong female character. No one has to point out that the novel is lacking in strong female characters; Eowyn and Galadriel are the only ones with significant storylines. But I disagree with Jackson's decision to eliminate of Glorfindel's character. He deletes one of the mightiest Elf-lords left in Middle-Earth. If showing parity between the sexes was his motive then adding emphasis and screen time to Eowyn and Galadriel would have achieved that result.

***SPOILER WARNING***



Better yet, Jackson could have made mentioned how Glorfindel foretold that the doom of the Witch-king of Angmar would not be dealt 'by the hand of man.' This is not a point made apparent in LoTR but then again the movie is not strictly a text-to-screen rendition. Instead of rewriting, elements from other works could have been used to achieve the same effect. By the sword of Eowyn, the Lord of the Ringwraiths, chief servant of Sauron was vanquished. This feat should be given due rather than inventing new storylines.



What was the point of changing the story and having Faramir take Sam and Frodo to Osgiliath? That was a disservice to Faramir's character and made no sense to me.



I understand editorial 'trimming' is necessary but I feel the invention and insertion of new material is wrong. Even if the changes don't affect the overall spirit of the original they are still elements not written by the credited author. To take a work and then add to it...that is what I call fanfiction. Despite my displeasure at these changes I still loved the films as a whole and can't wait for the third.





darkmagicwillow said

Quote:

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I would've liked seeing Arwen or Aragorn acknowledging that Galadriel is Arwen's grandmother; I like the characters and it would've been a nice emphasis of elven immortality.

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****Spoiler warning****

I'm all for emphasizing elven immortality but let's remember that Arwen is a half-elf who chooses to become mortal rather than depart from the Havens and sail back to Valinor. Galadriel's role in Middle-earth would make an excellent vehicle for emphasizing elven immortality. It would also be show a strong female character without resorting to distortion and fabrication.

Willow:In my world there are people in chains, and we can ride them like ponies.
Tara:You should ride with me some time. I guarantee safety and fun.
My wallpaper website:Insect Reflections

[urnofosiris]

I think the Elven immortality is made clear by the presence of Elrond in the beginning of the battle against Sauron. I don't think it is too great a miss that they don't make a bigger point of it. What I do miss is the sense of just how hard the journey of the Fellowship is and how long it takes. Some people have complained that the movie takes too long already, I am not saying the movie should have been longer, though I wouldn't mind, but I feel the changes that were made give the impression that the entire journey to Rivendell only took a few days. In actual fact 17 years pass after Bilbo leaves and Frodo sets out for Bree. The journey to Buckland takes days and months of careful planning. They would not have had to spend hours on that, it could have been made clear briefly but still showing the preparation and the pre-existing close friendship between Merry, Pippin and Frodo. Unlike with the elves I do think it is a missed point that they have not made clear how old Frodo is and how old Aragorn is, this to make the distinction between them and ordinary mortal men.



The one change that does positively please me is Arwen's bigger role. I don't miss Glorfindel, in the books it is stated that he is a mighty elflord of old, but that still does not mean much, he is only a periferal character in the books, despite her small role on the books Arwen is still more important than he, and I don't mind she was upgraded in the movie at the expense of Glorfindel. Even with a bigger part for Arwen the boys are hardly underrepresented.



When I said before that I think the casting is superb, I do have one minor complaint and that is the guy they cast as Elrond. I feel he is too old and doesn't look Elvish enough, but Liv Tyler makes up for it. She really is an Elf Lady. The rest of the cast is pretty well chosen I think, when it comes to looks anyway. I must say that the Hobbits with the exception of Sam annoy me far more in the movie than they did in the books. I don't like Frodo for a couple fo reasons, not in the book and not in the movie, but in the movie Merry and Pippin irritate me more often than not. All of this is just how it feels to me when I look at the movie and the books critically, in the end the movies are phenomenal and I honestly cannot wait for the DVDs. I really must get a surround system before they become available.

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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot

[darkmagicwillow]

After seeing Matrix Reloaded, I was reminded again why I didn't like the casting of the role of Elrond. When the third movies come out in November, I'll be looking for Elrond to virally replicate and take over ME.



The altering of the story from book to movie doesn't bother me much though, as that's a time-honored tradition in mythic tales, beginning with the early Greek tragedicians retelling the myths of their ancestors.



ETA: Thinking of altering the story, it looks like LotR is about to become a musical in London.

--

"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit." -- "Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost."

Edited by: darkmagicwillow at: 5/30/03 10:04:34 am

[Kalita]

While I'm looking very forward to the Extended edition of TT, the regular edition has one irresistible bonus: a TEN MINUTE preview of Return of the King.



I'm renting the regular edition, at least...

[Warduke]

Oh yeah Kalita, it'll be worth it just for that



Can't wait for this to come out

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Lil' Trevor : Always the life of the party.

[WebWarlock]

So I love LotR, the books, the movies, all of it.



Here is a question for you all.



I want to get all of them on DVD, which version is the best to get?

Should I get the extended FotR and TT or should I wait for the big honkin' box set that I am sure will be out after RotK?



Oh, and another $0.02 to add, I love the actress playing Éowyn. Wonderful. Kinda reminds me of Portia De Rossi.



ETA: Sorry, I didn't mean Arwen (although Liv Tyler is great, I love hearing her speak in elvish) above, but Éowyn (which is played by Miranda Otto).



Warlock

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Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"There has to be an invisible sun. It gives its heat to everyone.

There has to be an invisible sun. That gives us hope when the whole day's done." - The Police Invisible Sun

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 6/17/03 11:31 am

[urnofosiris]

Oh Liv Tyler is yummie, beautiful and smart, she really looks every bit the Elf Lady. You are probably right that there is going to be one huge boxset, so if you are patient and don't mind paying a ton of money all at once that may be the way to go. I am going to try to only buy the extended version of the TT this time. I really must have that one, the added scenes from the extended version of FotR really made it a better movie for me, I didn't know when I bought the two disc version that there would be an extended version coming out two months later. Clever marketing.

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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot

Edited by: DrG at: 6/17/03 11:22 am

[Munchkin]

Web Warlock: Definitely get the extended versions. Unless, of course, the boxed set after RoTK IS the extended versions of all three films in one shot, in which case I'd pick that instead. Besides, the separate ones can always be rented first, right?



The extended version of Fellowship alone clarifies plot points and details that appear in the theatrical Two Towers without (seemingly) explanation (i.e. where Sam got the special rope used to bind Gollum, how Frodo knows that Gollum's real name was "Smeagol", and adding extra tension between Aragorn and Boromir over the latter's repeated argument that the Ring should go to Gondor). It also flows better narrative-wise, which only adds to making it a richer viewing experience regardless of the extra length (which I hardly even notice).



I would imagine that when the extended version of Two Towers comes out in November, it'll also show exactly how Faramir knew that his brother Boromir was dead (which always bugged me in the theatrical cut) and why he's so unreasonably grouchy towards Sam & Frodo.



Also, I really like that dame who plays Eowyn (Miranda Otto). She's pretty.

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Dave C.

Edited by: Munchkin at: 6/17/03 11:29 am

[urnofosiris]

Hee, Webwarlock, I can second those sentiments as well. I hope they will do her justice in RoTK, seeing as she is the only female character who literally kicks ass in the book.

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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot

[WebWarlock]

Garfield,



Yeah I agree. When I first saw her I was already thinking forward to the scene in RotK. Now my wife has not read the books, so talking to her about this is hard. She loved the movies but I can only talk about things on the screen.



For each movie there was something I just *had* to see.

For Fellowship it was the Balrog.

For Towers it was the Ents.

And for King, Shelob.



So far I have not been disapointed, I doubt that King will disapoint me either.



Sure, I missed Tom Bombadil from Fellowship, but his part was so out of no where even in the book. I always wondered why Bilbo didn't encounter him in "The Hobbit".



And Glofordendel (sp?) and merging his parts into the larger Arwen role worked for me. But as mentioned above I love to hear Liv Tyler speak in elvish.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"There has to be an invisible sun. It gives its heat to everyone.

There has to be an invisible sun. That gives us hope when the whole day's done." - The Police Invisible Sun

[Warduke]

A little reminder for those who may have forgotten, The Two Towers DVD will be released next Tuesday



Here's what will be included in the DVD...

Quote:

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- Theatrical trailer(s), TV spot(s)

- Documentary "On the Set: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (Starz/Encore special)

- Documentary "Return to Middle-earth" (WB special)

- Eight featurettes originally created for lordoftherings.net: "Forces of Darkness," "Sounds of Middle-earth," "Edoras & Rohan Culture," "Creatures," "Gandalf the White," "Arms & Armor," "Helm's Deep," and "Gollum: Andy Serkis, Bay Raitt"

- Emiliana Torrini "Gollum Song" music video

- Short film by Sean Astin "The Long and Short of It"

- Exclusive 10-minute behind-the-scenes preview of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

- Preview of video game, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

- An inside look at the Special Extended DVD Edition of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"

- DVD ROM Features: Exclusive online content

- Widescreen anamorphic format

- Number of discs: 2

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Lil' Trevor : Always the life of the party.

[urnofosiris]

Oh dammit, I just know I am going to cave in and buy this, and then I will buy the extended version as well.

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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot

[xita]

elf love why can't it come out monday

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"The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last."

-Willie Wonka

[The Angry Lion]

has anyone seen the Rotk postetrs, liv looks great in hers!

My Country is the World. My Coutrymen Mankind-Thomas Paine

[urnofosiris]

Nope, haven't seen it yet. Is there more than one poster? Liv Tyler is one of those people who always looks great, so I believe you when you say she does.

When I was flying back from LA I saw several planes from New Zealand at the airport and they all had huge paintings of characters from LoTR on them. It said something like 'fly to Middle Earth'. It looked great.



Edited to add: is this the poster you meant?



Edited to add again: they do make a handsome couple, note the tender neck carress...

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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot

Edited by: DrG at: 8/24/03 4:09 am

[Warduke]

I got the DVD yesterday and now that I've watched all the extras I can comment on it.



It was amazing



Now I can't wait for the extended version and of course, on December 18th, The Return Of The King.



The ten minute preview for ROTK had some very interesting stuff. If you thought that the battle of Helm's Deep with 10,000 orcs was impressive (and rightly so) wait till you see the battle of the Pelennor Fields which will have 200,000 orcs

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Lil' Trevor : Always the life of the party.

[urnofosiris]

It will come out tomorrow so I will get it then and watch it this weekend. I can't wait for it. When will the extended version come out? And yes I am impatient and too lazy to look it up, heh.

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She's so anally retentive she wouldn't sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture.

--Patsy Stone

[sam7777]

I have the extended version of Two Towers on order with DVDplanet.com. Release Date: (11/18/2003). I watched the extened verion of Fellowship before Two towers and that was cool. calt wait for the extended version of Two Towers and of course, Return of the King. With all my dissappointents with genre TV, LOTR is the one event to look forward to each year. Jackson repects and loves the materia and tha character and it shows. He shows what a really creative genius can do with even adapted material to make something extraorinary. I can't wait to see Peter Jackson's next project. I'd love to see him do something for TV ala Cameron's "Dark Angel".

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I see dead lesbian cliches

[Cicca]

Dr. G found the poster I love!



Those two men are positively yummy. And yes, that's definitely a neck caress. I love these movies and I can't help smiling for all the gay men out there. They get such goodies!



Ah well, I guess there's always Thelma and Louise or Xena...





200000 orcs!!!!!!! WOWIE!





I Peter Jackson!

“Spirit of Sappho, ... I summon you. Come fill me with your big, dykey power!” ~ Final Exam by Tommo

Edited by: Cicca  at: 8/27/03 10:42 pm

[urnofosiris]

Well I watched it yesterday and I watched the previews to the extended version today. The effect and imagery is awesome and unrivalled. I can never get enough of it, the characters are so well cast and portrayed (except Elrond, don't like him, bleh) that there is no reason to complain, bummer, because I am so good at it.



Fortunately I could come up with some criticism, heh, I realized how much screentime the battle at Helm's deep sucked up, it just went on and on, and I think it's fine, but when I saw the preview of the extended version I saw some of the scenes I had been missing, I was like, well fuck, they could have been fitted into the cinematic version. Like when the trees from Fangorn forest start to move toward Helms Deep to take revenge on the Orcs. I was expecting it in the TT. When the Orcs flee they have to run into the newly arrived forest, never to be seen again. It looked liked just a little scene, but an important one because now I expect to see the forest at the start of RotK. If you have not read the book it will be another 'wtf moment'. Suddenly Merry and Pippin will have grown a head taller than Frodo and Sam, a little brief why would have been good.



Honestly I only go to the cinema so I can see the awesome effects on the big screen, I bought this version of the DVD because I could not wait to see them again, but the extended version is the real movie, the must see movie. I was surprised at how much better FotR seemed in the extended version and I am sure the same will be true for TT, which leads me to wonder whether the stuff they cut, was the right stuff to cut. A little less battle time here and there or a few moments less moving through dirt and scenic shots might have left room for seemingly more important scenes like Galadriel giving the fellowship her gifts, a little hobbit history so you get to know them a little better and care a little more from the get go. Hmmph, not that I know better than all the talented people who worked on this for years, but I am a viewer and I read the books and some things don't feel right to me. As it is, there will be the extended version, a 5 disc version no less, with a gollum statue, now who can say no to that.

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She's so anally retentive she wouldn't sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture.

--Patsy Stone

[Cicca]

A Gollum statue!



I didn't convince my bank account that Argonath bookends were a good idea, so I doubt that Gollum will pull it off either.



I've only read the books once so I remember very little of what happens in RotK. And at this point I figure I'm better off if I just focus on what the editors decide to give us. And hope that it all fits together.

Oh, plus lots more Aragorn and Legolas

“Spirit of Sappho, ... I summon you. Come fill me with your big, dykey power!” ~ Final Exam by Tommo

[sam7777]

Inquest had a picture of Aragoon in his Gondor armor with white tree and all and it was cool. I really can't wait to see Return of the King. A friend and I were hashing it out and we were wondering what they were going to do about Arragorn's sword since he wasn't carrying it around in Fellowship as he did in the book. I suspect Arwen will be involved in the remaking of the sword making for more screen time for Liv Tyler, never a bad thing to my mind.

_____________________

I see dead lesbian cliches

[JJtheCool]

I have heard that before the third movie is released they are going to re-release the first two, which I have yet to see due to budget troubles. I guarantee you that when they come out again I will not miss out on seeing them.



Was wondering if anyone saw the cartoon quasi-muscial version of this movie? Ralph Bashki's crew did "RotK" and "The Hobbit" in the 1970's for TV and I saw both. Kinda undercut my desire to read the books, even though I got a box set for a present of his big 4; each one had it's jacket colored differently. I regret giving that set up now.

JJtheCool

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*Sigh*

[Cicca]

I haven't seen that version of LotR. I'm one of those "wannabes" who only got into it because of Peter Jackson's movies. Tolkien fans must cringe at people like me.

Although I can claim having heard The Hobbit read by my favourite teacher of all time when I was 8. His Gollum voice is second only to Andy Serkis. And by a sliver!



And speaking of Return of the King (ok, I wasn't, but someone was!) that 10 minute preview is worth renting the DVD. Throw in Sean Astin's movie and it's nearly worth buying. It's a sweet little film

ooh, plus some of the bonus bits about the filming. Good stuff

Although, to my sadness, Legolas getting on the horse is not nearly so cool on tv as it was on the big screen. Alas. I'll have to buy a dvd projector and find a really big wall. heheheh

“Spirit of Sappho, ... I summon you. Come fill me with your big, dykey power!” ~ Final Exam by Tommo

Edited by: Cicca  at: 9/22/03 10:25 am

[vamp xander]

what scene is the smg spoof in anyways?

"There will be no touching of the pendant" Halfrek

[Warduke]

The SMG spoof is an easter egg trick on the extended version of the Fellowship of the Ring...



Go into the Scene Selection menu on disc one, and head to the final page where you'll find the real Council of Elrond scene. Highlight that scene and press "down" to find an image of the Ring. Press enter to view the entire clip from MTV complete with an introduction from Peter Jackson.



But there is bad news if you're in the UK...



The MTV spoof will not, however, appear on the set issued by EiV in the United Kingdom. This is because the spoof would have casued the disc to have a rating which is higher than the 'PG' given to the film and all the other elements on the DVDs. Since all DVDs are classified by the British Board of Film Classification overall with regard to the 'highest categorised element', EiV were not willing to put this on the disc, risk a higher classification and prejudice sales. This will not be the case with LOTR:FOTR R2 discs issued elsewhere in the region.

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Firebird: One Browser To Rule Them All.

Edited by: Warduke at: 9/22/03 9:16 am

[WebWarlock]

THe SMG/Jack Black spoof.



Let me just say this about it. I laughed liked idiot while watching that. Jack Black is funny as hell, but SMG just really cracked me up. After watching that I want to see her in more comedies. Her talents have been wasted for the last couple of years.



You can also find it online. It is called "Lord of the Piercing."

www.milkandcookies.com/links/4752/



You need QuickTime installed to watch it.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks: Available October 31st, 2003!

“Well-behaved women rarely make history.” - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich,
Professor Harvard University.

[urnofosiris]

An SMG spoof? I did not know anything about that. Damn, I hope it will be on my version. I am going to take a looksie right now. Anymore secrets I should know about?

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She's so anally retentive she wouldn't sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture.

--Patsy Stone