OMG LOTR: The Return of the King is a ridiculous movie!

[Ika]

you can't save a bad film by saying "it was in the book". its a deus ex machina in the film plain and simple.

That may be true, but the three movies are based on a series of books that are, by some counts, over 2000 pages long all told. It's very difficult to cram it all into 8 hours or so.

 

[moshquerade]

Viggo Mortensen :sneaky:

 

[pmv]

How so?

The Ghost Army are humans that had one pledged their support to Isildur, but when he came under attack they fled and hid. With his dying breath, he cursed them to a life of undeath until the had fulfilled their promise to the King of Gondor.

Several millenia later, along comes wannabe king Aragorn. He is the heir to the throne of Gondor and therefore the only one who can release these undead from their curse. He makes a deal with them to fight with them against the Mordor army marching on Gondor and in exchange he will release them. And to answer the "why not just keep them around to fight the whole fight" - it would be a HUGE flaw in Aragorn's virtuous and honor-bound character if he reneged on his word.

So they're like a one-use special power-up that you earn from a side-quest? Activate them once and that's your lot.

 

[Numenorean]

you can't save a bad film by saying "it was in the book". its a deus ex machina in the film plain and simple.

LOTR:ROTK isn't a bad film.

If you haven't read the books, you don't deserve to watch the film.

 

[dainthomas]

it would be a HUGE flaw in Aragorn's virtuous and honor-bound character if he reneged on his word.

Which is why it pissed me off when PJ had Aragorn kill the Mouth of Sauron. Why build up this chivalrous and honorable character for three movies, then have have him do that (for no good reason even)? It was just completely out of character, and maybe the worst "modification" he made in his adaptation.

Also in the books, the ghost army wasn't nearly as critical as it was made to look in the movie. Between the Rohirrim and the knights of Dol Amroth, it could have been won anyway (although it wouldn't have been a certainty.)

And OP is an ignorant (cave) troll.

 

[Anubis]

Which is why it pissed me off when PJ had Aragorn kill the Mouth of Sauron. Why build up this chivalrous and honorable character for three movies, then have have him do that (for no good reason even)? It was just completely out of character, and maybe the worst "modification" he made in his adaptation.

yea that annoyed the shit out of me

 

[coolVariable]

which was the problem with all the lotr films, its just randomish fantasy stuff. the fanboys forgive, but truthfully its bad story telling.

You mean HORRIBLE storytelling?

 

[pmv]

What struck me about the movies was the stereotyped accents.

Hero speaks with middle-class RP as if he'd grown up in the Home Counties and attended a minor public school, his loyal forelock-tugging sidekick speaks Mummerset like a stout yeoman should (despite supposedly growing up in basically the same village in a Hobbit society that at least didn't _look_ as if it replicated the entire UK class system), and most of the low-ranking villains sound like cockneys (because urban plebs, unlike rural ones, are never to be trusted). Gandalf of course sounds like a headmaster at that minor public school.

 

[Anubis]

What struck me about the movies was the stereotyped accents.

Hero speaks with middle-class RP as if he'd grown up in the Home Counties and attended a minor public school, his loyal forelock-tugging sidekick speaks Mummerset like a stout yeoman should (despite supposedly growing up in basically the same village in a Hobbit society that at least didn't _look_ as if it replicated the entire UK class system), and most of the low-ranking villains sound like cockneys (because urban plebs, unlike rural ones, are never to be trusted). Gandalf of course sounds like a headmaster at that minor public school.

did you forget who the book was written by?

 

[Numenorean]

Which is why it pissed me off when PJ had Aragorn kill the Mouth of Sauron. Why build up this chivalrous and honorable character for three movies, then have have him do that (for no good reason even)? It was just completely out of character, and maybe the worst "modification" he made in his adaptation.

That was a little odd, but I didn't think it was that bad.

But they sure made that guy look awesome lol.

 

[I Saw OJ]

Should have had Tom Bombadil in the movies

 

[pmv]

did you forget who the book was written by?

Well, not having read the book, I was wondering to what extent the accents were implied in the book itself. I know some have criticised it on PC grounds because of racial issues (something I don't really have a view on), but I hadn't heard anyone pointing out the class angle, yet in the movie it was rather noticeable.

Frodo and Samwise for example appeared to come from very different classes, yet the Hobbit society didn't seem as if it had much room for such a class divide. Perhaps it does in the book?

 

[Numenorean]

Should have had Tom Bombadil in the movies

I think that of all the omissions, leaving that part out isn't as big of an issue. Bombadil as well as the trek through the old forest and the barrow downs and such would have added a lot of stuff to the movie that really would seem out of place to a viewer I think. It would have just seemed like fluff and the movies were already quite long.

 

[MrPickins]

Frodo and Samwise for example appeared to come from very different classes, yet the Hobbit society didn't seem as if it had much room for such a class divide. Perhaps it does in the book?

They did come from different classes. Frodo was heir to the largest fortune in the Shire, and Sam was his gardener.

 

[Numenorean]

Well, not having read the book, I was wondering to what extent the accents were implied in the book itself. I know some have criticised it on PC grounds because of racial issues (something I don't really have a view on), but I hadn't heard anyone pointing out the class angle, yet in the movie it was rather noticeable.

Frodo and Samwise for example appeared to come from very different classes, yet the Hobbit society didn't seem as if it had much room for such a class divide. Perhaps it does in the book?

The only "classes" really are more like they are here - upper, middle, lower, with regards to wealth.

It's not like there is a caste system or anything like that.

 

[pmv]

They did come from different classes. Frodo was heir to the largest fortune in the Shire, and Sam was his gardener.

OK, I'm big enough to concede that that's a good answer! I probably missed that in the movie, assuming it was mentioned. So its probably fair to say that Tolkien projected quite a lot of his own society and era into that world then.

 

[ShawnD1]

What struck me about the movies was the stereotyped accents.

Hero speaks with middle-class RP as if he'd grown up in the Home Counties and attended a minor public school, his loyal forelock-tugging sidekick speaks Mummerset like a stout yeoman should (despite supposedly growing up in basically the same village in a Hobbit society that at least didn't _look_ as if it replicated the entire UK class system), and most of the low-ranking villains sound like cockneys (because urban plebs, unlike rural ones, are never to be trusted). Gandalf of course sounds like a headmaster at that minor public school.

Grrr this. New rule: no fake accents. If you're Scottish, sound Scottish. If you are American, you should sound American.

Another movie I can think of which had the same problem of drawing attention to accents was the movie Enemy At The Gates. It's a movie about a bunch of Russians who sound British. What the fuck. Seriously. I liked that movie, but this is a major flaw that prevents the viewer from really being sucked into the movie. This is the same level of terrible as having aliens in an Indiana Jones movie.

 

[BoomerD]

I liked all three movies, but since I've read the books several times over the past 5 decades, I agree that much was left out that SHOULD have been in the movies...if only for clarity.

HOWEVER, we'd have been looking at 3 movies of 6 or more hours each to have done the books justice...

I'd LOVE to see "The Hobbit" done in the style of LOTR. The cartoon version of 30+ years ago sucked...

 

[dainthomas]

They did come from different classes. Frodo was heir to the largest fortune in the Shire, and Sam was his gardener.

Frodo, Merry, and Pippin were definitely from the "upper crust" of hobbit society (the Tooks and Brandybucks were both quite wealthy). Hence Merry"s comment that Pippin had "never done an honest day's work".

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I just watched it, how did it even win the Oscar for best movie? I mean there is no logic behind the movie at all. Are humans retarded or something? If the ghost army is so powerful like it was shown in the movie that it wiped out the Orcs in seconds, why won't the humans let the ghost army fight the whole war and avoid losing any life?

People think hte Harry Potter movies are good. They arn't. Typcially people have read the books prior to watching the movie. I and my wife walked out of the first Harry Potter movie. It was that bad. I borowed the first LOTR movie on DVD and got about 90% of hte way through it and stopped. It's just a bunch of special effects covering up what is crap.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Thanks for reminding me how awesome this trilogy was, I'll have to watch it again soon.

 

[BoberFett]

I'd LOVE to see "The Hobbit" done in the style of LOTR. The cartoon version of 30+ years ago sucked...

Heretic!

*warbling*The greaaaaaaaaaaaatest adventuuuuuuuuure is whaaaaaaaaat liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiies aheeeeeeeead

 

[JulesMaximus]

I loved all three movies. Must watch them again sometime soon...maybe with my son when he gets a little older. We could sit down on a cold rainy winter day and geek out on it all day long.

 

[foghorn67]

Viggo Mortensen :sneaky:

Why couldn't the ghost army fix his Toyota? :hmm:

 

[zinfamous]

The Oscar was basically awarded to the whole trilogy. That's why all of the Oscar's showed up for the final one.

production on that trilogy was fucking ridiculous. If for nothing else, it probably deserves the Oscar simply for that.