LOTR: Return of the King review thread!!

[cchen]

I just got back. From watching it in Harlem. And walking back to my dorm from Harlem.

Anyway, to the movie. After the battle at Minas Tirith, I thought it went downhill after that. The end of the movie took forever... and getting the ring into the lava was so anti-climactic. Well anyway, the entire trilogy together probably (to me) is the best movie ever made.

 

[Blayze]

Going Sat with some friends, should be a good time.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: cchen
I just got back. From watching it in Harlem. And walking back to my dorm from Harlem.

Anyway, to the movie. After the battle at Minas Tirith, I thought it went downhill after that. The end of the movie took forever... and getting the ring into the lava was so anti-climactic. Well anyway, the entire trilogy together probably (to me) is the best movie ever made.

Honestly though...who gives a sh!t after the ring is destroyed. Everything after that definitely didn't "ruin" the movie, nor even tarnish it. YOU try to end a trilogy like this without pissing at least someone off.

 

[cchen]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: cchen
I just got back. From watching it in Harlem. And walking back to my dorm from Harlem.

Anyway, to the movie. After the battle at Minas Tirith, I thought it went downhill after that. The end of the movie took forever... and getting the ring into the lava was so anti-climactic. Well anyway, the entire trilogy together probably (to me) is the best movie ever made.

Honestly though...who gives a sh!t after the ring is destroyed. Everything after that definitely didn't "ruin" the movie, nor even tarnish it. YOU try to end a trilogy like this without pissing at least someone off.

It didn't piss me off... it was just very very boring.

 

[MeanMeosh]

wow... just got back from the movie. it was excellently excellent.

psst: was it just me or was this movie nothing but an open forum for hobbit homoeroticism? not that there's anything wrong with that...

 

[Gunnar]

I saw it EARLY this morning, and I must say its a durn good movie.

But like the first two, it drags quite a bit. The first 30-40 mins seem like all too much filler....

Hopefully, the extended edition does a better job of bringing it together. Too bad we have to wait a farking year for it though...

I personally thing the acting is superb, except for Liv Tyler and Elijah Wood. I never thought they quite looked like they were expressing the right emotions.

 

[cchen]

Originally posted by: MeanMeosh
wow... just got back from the movie. it was excellently excellent.

psst: was it just me or was this movie nothing but an open forum for hobbit homoeroticism? not that there's anything wrong with that...

LOL.... I could definitely sense some sexual tension amongst the Hobbits

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Gunnar
I saw it EARLY this morning, and I must say its a durn good movie.

But like the first two, it drags quite a bit. The first 30-40 mins seem like all too much filler....

Hopefully, the extended edition does a better job of bringing it together. Too bad we have to wait a farking year for it though...

I personally thing the acting is superb, except for Liv Tyler and Elijah Wood. I never thought they quite looked like they were expressing the right emotions.

really?? I thought overall Peter Jackson did an EXCELLENT job of capturing the pace of the books.

again, my only real complaint is the ending. the whole shire scene should be redone and they HAVE to put the shire battles scenes in, the part where Merriam, Pippen and Sam all become major leaders of the hobbits.

actually, i have two complaints but the second one is regarding all three movies where as the first one really is only regarding ROTK. I HATED elijah wood as frodo. he got worse and worse as the series progressed, i felt the other three hobbits were EXCELLENT and well chosen.

 

[Ns1]

i'm seeing it again later =D

 

[RalphWiggum]

I just saw it. I have no problem at all with the ending. There is no way the Scouring could have fit in, at all. People already complain that there were too many endings, and if an entirely new plot with an old villain was introduced at that point, I think the audience would have just given up. It would have been more than an anti-climax.

I'm disappointed that its pretty much all over except for the EE. I'm also disappointed in that certain characters and events that I wanted to see didn't make it. But what did make it was fantastic. So, I guess my major complaint is that it wasn't long enough .

Can't wait for the EE now, and then it'll truely be over... maybe.

 

[Yossarian]

sweet fancy Moses, that was the greatest movie I have ever seen!!! some parts could have been better... Gandalf knocking Denethor out and taking charge was pretty weak... but overall it was fvcking awesome.

 

[exp]

I was impressed by ROTK, but also a bit disappointed. As amazing as many of the scenes were, I can't help but feel that the film as a whole could have been so much better. Still, I assume that--as with FOTR and TTT--ROTK will be a better experience the second time around, and that the extended edition DVD will further alleviate many of my complaints.

Here is a review of ROTK that touches on some of the key problems I have with the film. Hopefully fanboys won't be too threatened by the dissenting opinion -- I think the writer makes some very good points (though my overall opinion of ROTK is nowhere near a "C" grade...probably more like B+/A-).

About the endings: I actually liked them a lot...yes, all six of them. Sure, it was a jarring experienced in the cinema, but IMO that's mostly due to the surprise factor, and our struggle to resist the conditioned desire to stand and leave the theater immediately after any fade to black. Ten years from now, as we're watching the 10+ hour LOTR trilogy on DVD for the gajillionth time, I doubt many of us will still be bitching about a 20-minute denouement.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: exp
I was impressed by ROTK, but also a bit disappointed. As amazing as many of the scenes were, I can't help but feel that the film as a whole could have been so much better. Still, I assume that--as with FOTR and TTT--ROTK will be a better experience the second time around, and that the extended edition DVD will further alleviate many of my complaints.

Here is a review of ROTK that touches on some of the key problems I have with the film. Hopefully fanboys won't be too threatened by the dissenting opinion -- I think the writer makes some very good points (though my overall opinion of ROTK is nowhere near a "C" grade...probably more like B+/A-).

About the endings: I actually liked them a lot...yes, all six of them. Sure, it was a jarring experienced in the cinema, but IMO that's mostly due to the surprise factor, and our struggle to resist the conditioned desire to stand and leave the theater immediately after any fade to black. Ten years from now, as we're watching the 10+ hour LOTR trilogy on DVD for the gajillionth time, I doubt many of us will still be bitching about a 20-minute denouement.

The acting in the film was all top notch with a couple of exceptions, one being Elijah Wood's annoying presence, whenever he was on camera he looked "constipated." If he held out the ring one more time, I would have shot someone - hey, maybe the ring is evil.

"ROTK" really belongs to four people. Sean Astin's Sam was truly powerful, out of all the characters in this trilogy he was the one I cared most about. His quiet, never wavering loyalty to Frodo was truly touching. There's a great line in the film where Sam says "I may not be able to carry your burden - but I can carry you." Astin truly deserves an Oscar Nomination for his performance, his presence made watching "ROTK" a memorable experience.

from the review. this is what i agree with the most. not sure of most of the other criticism, but Astin did a SPECTACULAR job and Sam and Elijah Wood was Horrible as Frodo.

 

[iwearnosox]

Um, if you command an army of the dead why not keep them around for another day to kill all the evil that remained?

 

[nmcglennon]

I just got out of the 8:30 show here. It was very good, but a little drawn out though... just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[Legendary]

I really want the extended edition DVD so I can see all of those little parts of the book I miss.

 

[Glitchny]

greatest movie ever

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: iwearnosox
Um, if you command an army of the dead why not keep them around for another day to kill all the evil that remained?

A lot of the criticisms brought up in this thread are the result of Jackson trying to stay as close to the book as possible. The "multiple endings" are there because four different stories are going on at the same time in the book. A lot of the books are about the hobbits role in the war. The FOTR starts with the hobbits and the ROTK ends with the hobbits.

The ROTK has Aragon releasing the dead before the last battle.

I am not sure what to say about the hobbit homoeroticism observation....

 

[LAUST]

Originally posted by: Legendary
I really want the extended edition DVD so I can see all of those little parts of the book I miss.

Like Tree Beard singing?

 

[Wuffsunie]

Just saw it myself. WONDERFUL movie, no question about it! I can't wait for the director's cut, though am dreading the fact it'll likely be just over 4 hours in length!

The battles were simply astonishing. The scale of the armies and the destruction was great. Alas there were some shots where you could see that they were only working with limited numbers of people. There could have been a little CGI there to shore that up. What I really appreciated about the battles is that unlike a LOT of directors now, Jackson let the cameras sit on a paticular fight for more than 5 seconds, so you could see some real action and fighting happen, not just random moments of clashing bodies like all too many movies now. And the bodies! My, gawd, the bodies fly!! While the ending did seem overly long, I must admit that it was what was needed in order to really close out things. Though I wanted to see a bit more of what happened to Aragorn and his eventual rule. Still, the rest was excellent. Truly excellent!

As of 3 am thurs, rotten is up to 98%, 9.2 average, 3 rotten out of 140 reviews. And from reading those three, it just looks like people trying to get attention for being different and pretentious. After seeing the movie, they come off sounding like total pricks. Truly, this was an epic movie and a piece of film history. This will likely be as reveared at the end of the 21st century as, say, Citizen Kane was at the end of the last one.

Oh, and is the best line not Gimli to Legolas after Legolas kills the oliphant & crew with "That still only counts as one!"?

-- Jack

Two Towers should serve as a postcard to George Lucas, one that reads 'Making great movies, wish you were here!'.
-- Larry Carroll, COUNTINGDOWN.COM

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: iwearnosox
Um, if you command an army of the dead why not keep them around for another day to kill all the evil that remained?

because they would've revolted and killed them all, or ran away.


and let me say rotk was better the 2nd time around. probably because the ending didn't see as long cuz i wasn't fooled by the 2 fade to black's or the fade to white (yeah i counted), in addition to the fade to map and final "the end" screen.

gonna go for a 3rd if i go see it with friends @imax =D

 

[xSauronx]

saw RotK last night, great movie. even with what had to be cut out of the books it was great. im not a critic, and for me to try to write something would sound like a 9 year old had written it and wouldnt do it justice.

ill just say the theatre was packed and everyone in there enjoyed it, fantastic movie and ill be seeing it again over the weekend.

 

[iwearnosox]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: iwearnosox
Um, if you command an army of the dead why not keep them around for another day to kill all the evil that remained?

because they would've revolted and killed them all, or ran away.


and let me say rotk was better the 2nd time around. probably because the ending didn't see as long cuz i wasn't fooled by the 2 fade to black's or the fade to white (yeah i counted), in addition to the fade to map and final "the end" screen.

gonna go for a 3rd if i go see it with friends @imax =D

I call bullsh*t, what's another day when you've spent ostensibly hundreds in damnation? They'd of done it.

 

[LAUST]

All in all it was a good movie.. I just noticed some of those parts were like I said unanswered or cheesemo was all

 

[tennisflip]

How come Gandalf didn't summon up those eagle thingies to give the hobbits a ride to Mount Doom in the first place. Seems like they could have just flown low to the grown and been at that final destination in a day. And during many scenes how come it was both dark and bright outside at the same time. Like they're fighting in the dark in the city then the cavalry shows up and suddenly it's bright out.

Somehow, the CGI wasn't as flawless as before. I could always tell when they were using a bluescreen. And I just felt the big battle should've been bigger... it just didn't feel as grand as it seemed. Also, when they're in Mt. Doom, shouldn't they all be sweating llike mofos.