Fav/Best of LOTR?

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

What'dyatink?

[Rigel]

I gotta say, they all have strengths & weaknesses, but Boromir was (by far) the best acted (and written!) character in the movies. Go Boromir!

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Yeah, it's cliche, but when he comes a runnin to save Merry and Pip...damn, I get chills evry tyme!!!

[lorin]

have you seen the extended versions? They really bring out Borimir's character much more.

[matrixman]

Fellowship has long been my favorite. But, having just recently watched the extended edition of Return of the King, I have to say that's a mighty impressive movie, too.

Yes, Boromir's moving death scene is one reason (out of many) why I love Fellowship the most.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

I can't watch the regular ones anymore, the extended versions just make the films so much more!

[Infelice]

I loved the 3 but Fellowship is my favourite because it was the first time I beheld all the beloved characters, The Shire and some of my favourite parts of Middle Earth with my own eyes and not just my mind's eye.
Even though the characters portrayed were essentially an interpretation of the actors and directing staff, they were pretty close to my imaginings and the thrill of seeing them "come to life" makes LOTR 1 especially endearing.

I saw it at the cinema something like 15 times...(thank god for half price cinema club tickets) ... I couldnt tear myself away from being transported each time I watched it.
When I bought the dvds (both the cinematic and the extended versions), I became semi-reclusive watching them repeatedly, initially without commentary and subsequent viewings with the various commentaries ... I was somewhat consumed.

[matrixman]

I went to Fellowship numerous times as well. It was the movie that finally convinced me that I needed surround sound.

Last night, I began watching the bonus material for TTT and will continue tonight. Then I'll watch the movie again with the audio commentaries. After that, it's ROTK's turn.

[Infelice]

I went to Fellowship numerous times as well. It was the movie that finally convinced me that I needed surround sound.

It convinced me also, but it didnt give me insight on how I could afford it

Last night, I began watching the bonus material for TTT and will continue tonight. Then I'll watch the movie again with the audio commentaries. After that, it's ROTK's turn.

Sounds like an excellent couple of nights viewing.

[matrixman]

Indeed! I already watched 3 hours worth of bonus material last night, and I was still on disc 3! I had to stop cuz it was 1:00 AM and I was starting to nod off. But I love that stuff - regardless of my opinions about the films themselves.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Just went back and started watching all those extra...man is it great...

I can't believe Fellowship is most peeps fav...it's mine...but thought RotK would be highest...

[dlbpharmd]

TTT, because of Gollum and the great battle scene at the end.

[wayfriend]

I can't believe Fellowship is most peeps fav...it's mine...but thought RotK would be highest...

What I always say is ... FOTR got it right, TT went overboard, and ROTK had to clean up. So, yes, I find FOTR best.

If you watch them all in a row, which I have done, the difference is very clear. FOTR has a really good storyline with the Frodo/Aragorn/Boromir triangle that pays off. Plus a really cool balrog.

[dlbpharmd]

I've never read the books, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say TT went overboard.....

[rdhopeca]

Yeah the ROTK had to clean up comment is confusing as well.

[wayfriend]

I've never read the books, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say TT went overboard.....

TT the movie was greatly extended from TT the book. (TT the book was actually the thinnest of the three.)

So extended, in fact, that they pushed a lot of TT the book material out of TT the movie, and into ROTK the movie.

Leaving ROTK the movie too cramped for time. Everything got really squeezed, and injustices were done.

TT the book ends:

• Sam and Frodo up to where Sam has defeated Shelob and maybe-dead Frodo is dragged off by Orcs
• Everyone else has visited Saruman in lake Isengard, and are on their way back to Rohan
• Pippin, having gotten a dose of Sauron in the Palantir, is en-route to Minas Tirith with Gandalf on ShadowFax.

TT the movie got stretched out by the battle of Helms Deep. It was a single chapter in TT the book. It's half the movie in TT the movie. And then there's the whole warg battle, Aragorn supposed dead bit, which never even happened in the book.

Yeah the ROTK had to clean up comment is confusing as well.

Basically, I mean that they cut a lot of ROTK out, and squeezed the rest down, in order to fit in all the stuff that was supposed to be in TT. (See above.)

Things that got short shrift in ROTK:

• Sam and Frodo crossing Mordor - remember Boromir saying how impossible that would be, poisonous fumes, etc? Well, ROTK the movie glosses over this part of the journey for the most part.
• The battle of Minas Tirith was ended rather abruptly when Aragorn arrived. In the book he didn't have the Dead with him.
• We missed out on all the Gondor armies coming to Minas Tirith to help defend the city.
• We missed out on all the Battle aftermath, Aragorn healing everyone, and interacting with what is left of the rulers of the city, not wanting them to yet know that he wants to be King. In the movie, no one from Minas Tirith seems left after the battle, and things are left for Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas to run.
• Saruman is disposed of a whole book/movie too soon - he's not supposed to die until the Hobbits get back to the Shire and find him there, having taken over the Shire, and the Hobbit folk use their new skills as warriors to CLEAN UP.
• etc.

[Zarathustra]

I went to Fellowship numerous times as well. It was the movie that finally convinced me that I needed surround sound.

Yeah, this was the movie that got me on the DVD bandwagon, and surround sound.

I voted Fellowship, too. The structure, the story, the shire, the Last Alliance, Boromir, Balrog, Rivendell, Lothlorien . . . fantastic.

[matrixman]

Well, it was really The Matrix that put me on the DVD bandwagon, but I had no surround sound then. Fellowship was the first movie I saw at the theatre that seemed to take full advantage of modern surround sound, at least to my ears. Or maybe it just seemed that way because I was seeing Fellowship in the newest theatre in my city at the time, with the beefiest sound system to boot. Fellowship enveloped me as no previous movie ever had. I was completely sold on surround sound then.

It's funny how I ended up sounding like a Tolkien purist in the Two Towers thread, taking Peter Jackson to task for his changes. But I like to think I was just defending a book that I thought was brilliant against a movie adaptation that tried too hard to fix what wasn't broken.

Upon listening to TTT's audio commentary by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, I have to say their arguments for the changes they made to the book irritated me more than they persuaded me.

All of them talked about how they needed to inject tension and conflict into the story, because apparently they felt the book was very weak in those areas. Oh really? Is that why I tore through the book in a matter of days? Yes, it was such a boring story that I just couldn't put it down. I got the impression that they thought Tolkien stumbled with TTT, and that they had to rescue the story from his hands.

But yes, I agree that Jackson got everything right in Fellowship. An awesome movie from start to finish.

This weekend I might start watching the bonus material on ROTK.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

But yes, I agree that Jackson got everything right in Fellowship. An awesome movie from start to finish.

This weekend I might start watching the bonus material on ROTK.

Does the Watch have group...er, watchings?

[matrixman]

But yes, I agree that Jackson got everything right in Fellowship. An awesome movie from start to finish.

This weekend I might start watching the bonus material on ROTK.

Does the Watch have group...er, watchings?

Nah...but a few years ago, some of us did toss around the idea of "group watching" or dissecting the Matrix films as we watched them, each DVD "chapter" being considered like a book chapter. It was a neat idea, but it went nowhere.

If you and other LOTR fans wish to try something like that with Jackson's trilogy, you'd be more than welcome to.