The Two Towers (Spoilers for our mates down under!)

[duchess of malfi]

PLEASE DISCUSS THE MOVIE HERE, IF YOU HAVE SEEN IT! LET'S NOT SPOIL IT FOR THOSE NOT AS FORTUNATE, WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET! THANKS!!!!!!!!






IT WAS GREAT!!!!

Except for Faramir. He sucked!



From the opening sequence of Gandalf and the Balrog fighting as they fall into the endless caverns of Moria, to the Ents, to battle of Helm's Deep, I really liked it (except for Boromir Jr.)
I think I'll go see it again this weekend...

[Earthblood]

The Ents were the highlight for me. Treebeard was awesome!!!!
The Ents bringing down Isengard was great!!!!
The special effects were totally cool. Gollum stole the show for me. His internal struggle (between Smeagol & Gollum) is really well done. Gimli gives some good comic relief, too. Faramir was a liitle weak, I agree.

4 stars!!!! It is a great movie!!!!

[duchess of malfi]

I was surprised at how many funny moments there were. Gollum was pretty funny in places, as was Gimli, and even good old Sam got in a couple of good zingers. "I am his gardener."

[Worm of Despite]

Faramir is going to grow into his old self by the ROTK movie, and that is a bit obvious, I think. His change in character from TTT to ROTK will probably give more depth to his on-screen romance with Eowyn, I'll bet. Seems the screenwriters didn't like Faramir being a static character of integrity throughout LOTR. Bah, what's wrong with being static?!! I myself didn't like the change, but I didn't hate it either. There were several quotes of his straight from the book, and I liked that. Very good stuff!

Oh, and, "Po-ta-toes"

[duchess of malfi]

I hope Faramir grows into his old self! I like his old self!
And Eowyn was really cool! She deserves better than Boromir Jr.

[Worm of Despite]

hehehehe Poor Boromir... And Denethor was worse! How'd he ever get hitched?! Well, maybe at one time D had a little Faramir in him. The integrity had to come down from somewhere...

[duchess of malfi]

Perhaps Boromir took after Dad and Faramir after Mom?

[Fist and Faith]

I've loved both movies so far. My only real complaint can be seen in this:

"Then Eomer son of Eomund, Third Marshal of Riddermark, let Gimli the Dwarf Gloin's son warn you against foolish words. You speak evil of that which is fair beyond the reach of your thought, and only little wit can excuse you."

Not to be found in the movie. And yet it's the reason Eomer threatened Gimli, and Legolas said, "He stands not alone." One of my very favorite aspects of LOTR is the incredible friendship that develops between Gimli and Legolas, and the way Gimli comes to love the elves in general. <I>Completely missing from the movies!</I> I know that some of that is touched upon in the Special Edition DVD of the Fellowship, and we may see more in the Towers DVD. Which is great for me. But I'm sad that the casual movie-goer will never know about it. Alas!

[Damelon]

Loved the movie. I can see why Jackson did some of the things he did.

True Faramir came off like a jerk. I think the idea that Jackson wanted to show was that when Frodo was about up the ring, only to be saved by Sam, in Osgiliath; Faramir then realized that he could not use the ring to save Gondor, and that with Sam along he could let Frodo go. This proved that he was more noble than Boromir. (my take) Also, they couldn't do the scene of passing Minas Morgul, which would have played just like the scene at the Gate. In Osgiliath, Frodo could get into danger, without the risk that he would get caught. Also, Shelob is saved for Return of the King which gives Frodo, Sam and Gollum more action there.

The character that irritated me was Theoden. I thought Gandalf cured him. Almost every statement was gloom and doom.

Visually the movie was great save for the depiction of Rohan in the chase of the Uruk-Hai. Rohan to my mind is a sea of grass, rather like the Great Plains. Here it was only slightly less mountainous than the mountains.

Fist and Faith - Good point I hadn't thought about that.

[Hearthcoal]

The Movie this past Friday. Don't quite know what to say.

It certainly didn't feel three hours long. Of necessity it ends at a different spot than the book. That has left me feeling a bit off somehow.

I also felt much sadder at the end of this movie than I did at the end of FOTR, due in large part to how the ring is affecting Frodo. It's bad enough to read about it in the book, but then to see it happening on screen...

Galadriel foresees that the Quest will claim Frodo's life. And it does.

There are decisions that once made change your life forever.

- Hearthcoal

[[Syl]]

I saw it last night. Gotta say, I loved it. Really, all the characters could just walk around and talk about current events and I would still have loved it. It's the detail that amazes me. It's Middle Earth and it looks real. The knotwork on the columns, the etching and leatherwork on the armor, seeing Edoras against the backdrop of the mountains (just like seeing Bag End in the first one. I hope the sets never get deconstructed). I could go on forever. It just doesn't have that contrived feeling that fantasy movies typically have. Viggo Mortensen (great cameo as Lucifer in The Prophecy) not only looks like he knows how to hold a sword, but he looks like he doesn't even have to think about it. One of the few times that sitting in a chair for 3 hours didn't seem long enough.

Ok, so I went to see the late show at 10:45 pm to avoid all the kids and stuff, right? I get there half an hour early (firsties), pick the seat in the sweet spot. Five minutes before the show starts (according to my watch) an usher comes in to announce to us that it has been moved to a different screen because the room wasn't warm enough. The other theatre is smaller, and because the guy didn't bother telling the people already in the theatre first, the best seats were already taken. The volume level is low, and the rear speakers aren't even on. To top it all off, two guys walk in 15 minutes into the movie, sit right behind me, and proceed to talk at a conversational level in spanish.

Despite that, I still walked out of the theatre with a smile on my face... partly because I'm going to see it again with the wife when we go down to see her family in a couple of days.

[duchess of malfi]

It's even better the second time!
I didn't mind that King Theoden was a bit gloomy, even after being "cured". It added depth to his character to me. He's definately a very caring leader, and it obviously affects him deeply when he learns that his people have been brought to the brink of destruction and his son has died while he was under Saruman's control. The scene in Helm's Deep when he is being dressed for battle and starts reciting "Where is the horse and where is the rider" brought shivers up and down my back. And when Gandalf and Eomer come charging down the mountain leading the Riders to the rescue brought me to my feet cheering.
Not to mention the ents giving Saruman his.

[Damelon]

I have to wait until next week to see it a second time.

Theoden is just too passive for me in the film. In the book he charges forward from Edoras to face Saruman, not withdraw from him. He is, after his meeting with Gandalf, a man of action, in search of redemption for the time he spent under the spell. His dying words to Merry sum him up best:

"I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall not now be ashamed."


Theoden is one of my favorite characters in LOTR, and his death always brings tears to my eyes when I read it. For he redeemed himself in the end.

The battle in Helm's Deep was riveting. What brought a chill down my spine, though not in the book, was the arrival of the Elven company from Rivendell, and their Captain's announcing that they had come to honor the ancient alliance of Elves and Men. Wow! That should have been in the book! His death, and the shot afterwards of the fallen Elvish warriors, was to me the saddest part of the movie. More for knowing the background that the Elves could have gone to Valinor and not risk themselves in Middle-Earth, yet they did just that.

Saruman's face as he watched his precious machines get washed away was priceless.

[Landwaster]

Here's what I posted on a footy board :

Maybe Jacko wanted a feel of victory at end of TTT, hence finishing it with end of Helms Deep battle.

A point was made about the Rohan v Isengard battle seeming to have little bearing on the story of taking the ring to Mordor. But what they hey, what would we have done without an introduction to the Rohirrim, and the Wargs, and of course Miranda, who seems intent on 'easing somebody's loneliness', the hussy.

The Helms Deep battle was far too short, and ended far too abruptly. Where were the trees waiting for the orcs, like in Bakshi's version? Was it that way in the book? That was grouse. Why not here.

The Ents were cheesy, but there was not going to be a be a way to do them uncheesy, and full marks to Jacko for stripping away as much cheesiness as he could!

ADORED the wargs. Flamin' LOVED 'em. Get 'em up 'ere.

Flashbacks of Aragorn's felt unneeded, made me growl.

The way Legolas mounted that horse from in front facing away was mesmerising.

The arrival of the elves at Helms Deep to lend assistance was the most emotional point of the movie for me, yep, only the least likely movies ever seem to make me emotional!

I enjoyed the depiction of the spirits of the dead marshes. That was pretty grouse. Spirits in the water reminded me of Jacko of old, or was actually even a bit Raimi-esque!!!

Was disappointed that the Rohirrim didn't surround the small band of orcs in a circle and pick them off slowly, as in the book (IIRC).

Anyone else find it a bit silly to see, during, a 20 minute destruction of Isengard by the ents, Saruman standing on his balcony, shaking around a bit, seemingly thinking 'cor blimey this can't be'. HOW LONG UMPIRE?

I agree with that Gimli was made to look like a bit of an idiot. Was also annoyed about the chopping back and forth between Isengard/Fangorn, Dagorland/Nth Ithilien and Helms Deep. Reckon they should have been almost completely separated.

Did the book play on the kids being signed up at Helms Deep card as much as PJ did? I'm spittin' that he's gone partway, but not all. Why play that, when there is to be no scene of some young tacker moving from terrified to confident from some word or two of Aragorn's, and two seconds later bein impaled by on of the earliest arrows of the fracas. Seemed a little like a cop-out.

Grima was too bad--looking, would have preferred him to have sucked in those of the audience who hadn't read the book, but there was no denying that he was a baddie when we first saw him. The rest of the Eored were the other way around, had no idea whether they were gonna be a help or hindrance, which was beaut.

[Landwaster]

Are you knocking Faramir the character or Wenham the actor?

[Zahir]

Methinks I just might be the only person in creation who didn't mind the change in Faramir, in fact liked it.

Look at it this way--Faramir in the book (like most characters in the book, btw) never changes. He just stays the same. That is dull. In a dramatic medium that brands a character as not even secondary, but a stereotype. By giving him somewhere to go, he becomes some one most of the audience can give a damn about.

There's also that his arc is clearly incomplete at film's end--more than incomplete, his arc's direction hasn't even chosen a direction yet. Interestingly, there's only one other character you can say this of in the film--Eowyn!

Which makes it perfect, because dramatically they are on a collision course!

But I should also point out that Faramir, while abrupt and even a little immature, also came across as a loyal and good man. He didn't try to take the Ring for himself. He didn't mistreat Frodo or Sam. And in the end, he made the (very) difficult decision to let them go.

[Skyweir]

I saw the film for the 2nd time tonight and loved it .. like Hearthcoal I felt .. a bit off .. after the first time I saw it ..

the incongruencies with the story really disappointed me .. but now after seeing it again .. I am way more at ease with the slight diversions Jackson took ..

The battle at Helms Deep could not have been overlooked as it is primary to the story imho .. it was magnificent ..

like Landwaster .. the way Legolas mounted the horse he shared with Gimli was brilliant!!

Just loved it all so much more ..

even the strange trip to Osgiliath <which when I first saw it .. thought Farrimir was taking Frodo and Sam to Gondor and I was ropable >

made more sense to me .. as it placed Farrimir in Osgiliath where he is meant to be for later in the story ..

so what the hey?? indeed

I loved it!!

Farrimir was ok .. but I totally agree who criticised Theoden as being too passive!! I dealt better with him this time round .. but still he was way too passive .. inert .. even after Saruman's possession/spell had been cast out of him ..

he actually irritated me .. and in the Book I never felt that toward the King of Rohan.

all in all .. Jackson did a superb job!!

[duchess of malfi]

Skyweir, I agree that the changes made in the transition from book to movie were not as jarring on the second viewing. I was able to much more appreciate the movie as its own seperate entity and work of art.

[Foamfollower1013]

Here's what I posted at Hatrack (and the Hangar):

I didn't think TTT was better than FOTR, as a lot of people are saying. I didn't like what they did to Faramir, I didn't like it that the Ents had to be convinced to go fight, the Gimli-as-comic-relief bit was irritating, and the Wargs looked like freaking ROUSes. Gollum and the Ents were a little...off...particularly the Ents. Their legs were disproportionately long, which looked slightly odd. And I'm not sure what the point was of having Aragorn fall off that cliff...

That said, I enjoyed the movie. I loved the opening recap of Gandalf fighting the Balrog - that was the best scene in FOTR, IMO, so it was a great way to start. I liked seeing Sam's character develop - he's really transforming into the Sam I know and love. The changes in Merry and Pippen's characters were great, too.

Gandalf the White was wonderful. The scene where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli meet him in the woods was very well done. And I love his new staff - very Rivendell-esque.

The romantic subplot was rather extraneous, but I didn't mind it that much. I thought Eowyn was good, and so was Theoden. Eomer seemed a little off to me, though.

Gollum may have been a little off physically, but his voice was great. I especially liked the ending, setting up for Shelob...

The Ents destroying Isengard was awesome. And I loved the scene where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli find the pyre where the Riders burned the Orcs. Aragorn kicking the helmet and screaming in frustration was absolutely heart-wrenching - I think that was one part where the movie actually improved on the book.

The Elves showing up at the battle of Helm's Deep wasn't in the book, but I thought it was a nice touch to have Elves and Men fight together again.

The skateboarding bit was a little strange, but I loved the way Legolas got onto his horse - great Legolas moment.

I'm glad Legolas and Gimli's Orc-killing competition made it into the movie. And Frodo and Sam's conversation about a book being made about them someday - that's one of my favorite scenes in the book. And the rabbit stew, with Sam and Gollum discussing fish and chips. The crossroads scene didn't make it into this movie, but there's always room for it in the next one.

And I loved the Rohan theme. I can't wait to get the soundtrack.

(My dad is in the kitchen humming a theme from the first soundtrack. Hehe. )

~Foamy~

[Cameraman Jenn]

I've been watching the extended dvd's and I must say that even though I love these movies ferociously there are some very sloppy editing moments throughout them. They are seriously not filming or directing mistakes but clearly editing. One example I noticed last night was when Grimmer is holding Eowyn's face and she knocks his arm away then suddenly they are about five feet apart without either one stepping back. Lots of little moments like that. It also bothers me that Legolas's eyes are not consistently blue. If they weren't going to make sure it was consistent then they should have left them Orlando Bloom's natural brown.