Question about the Witch King in LOTR

Umbran said:
I think that's taking it a little too far. There were a bunch of such knives in the barrow, and many barrows. And there's no reason to think the one the hobbits happened into was particularly special. You mean to say that those folks made an entire class of weapons just to kill one man?
Completely agree. The idea that an entire class of weapons, in this case a dagger no less, were designed to kill one person doesn't seem to fit the passage at all.
Umbran said:
Plus, IIRC, you've got the history a bit wrong. I think the barrows are filled with the Black Numenoreans - the men of Aragorn's race after they fell under Sauron's sway. That's why they are wights, they were evil sorcerers in life. The Witch King was the greatest of these. The knife bites not because it was made to work against him specifically, but more generally because it is a magical weapon.
Uh, now that's not right. Actually, the barrows were originally built by the ancestors of the Dunedain as they passed through Eriador on their way to Beleriand ("Of Dwarves and Men" in Peoples of Middle-earth) and were later used again by the men of Arnor and the splinter kingdoms (Cardolan in this case, IIRC.) The evil spirits sent out from Angmar to be the barrow-wights had nothing to do really with the bodies laid in the barrows to begin with (from the Appendices of Return of the King.)
 
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Michael Morris said:
I don't think the silver screen could hold it. What I want to see or make someday is a 12 2-hour episode mini-series on HBO or some other premium network. If you want a true adaptation of the book, then a mini-series is the only way.

PJ took the screen as far as it can go.

55 hours of film shot for this movie. We haven't seen it all by a long shot.
 

Celtavian said:
I was disappointed by RotK's Eowyn scene as well. It lost alot of its power because you didn't see what it cost to kill the Witchking. In the book, Eowyn was laid out and you weren't sure she was alive until Prince Imrahil proved it so. I really wanted to see Eomer ride up and look down to see his fallen king, then notice his fallen sister, and become enraged.

Merry should have been talking to King Theoden as he died weeping. The scene in the book is much more moving and powerful than the scene in the movie.

In the movie, you would have thought the worst wound suffered for killing the Witchking was a broken arm. Merry was in the last battle before the Black Gates, he should have been laid up suffering from the "black breath".

The Nazgul weren't well-developed in the film. It was hard to see their power. The flying steeds the Nazgul rode seemed stronger than the Nazgul themselves. Very disappointing IMO.

I tell ya, there's a monday morning quarter back for everything.
:p
 

Mystery Man said:
55 hours of film shot for this movie. We haven't seen it all by a long shot.
That much? Wow. I wonder if we'll be seeing an ultra-super-duper set that has all the footage, rough cuts and all. :)
 

frog said:
Here is another thought, Glorfindel's prophecy wasn't referring to the fact that no man COULD kill the Witch King, but rather that no man WOULD kill the Witch King. A moment of Elven foresight having shown him the true future of the Witch King he would be safe in saying that.

If the Witch King heard of it and took it to mean that none COULD harm him, well, that just sets him up for the fall.

Thats how I thought it too. Tolkien was very fond of different sagas and how they've changed during times. This could follow in a similar vein - a prophecy made a long ago that the Witch-King himself has decided to interpret more beneficially to himself, and people have began to use that meaning.

Prophecies are hardly ever exact, so it's only natural that this should happen.
 

frog said:
Here is another thought, Glorfindel's prophecy wasn't referring to the fact that no man COULD kill the Witch King, but rather that no man WOULD kill the Witch King. A moment of Elven foresight having shown him the true future of the Witch King he would be safe in saying that.

That would fit well with the traditional idea of how a Celtic gesa or Norse wyrd prophecy would work. Which makes sense, since those probably formed the basis for Tolkien's use of this sort of thing in his works.
 

Celtavian said:
I was disappointed by RotK's Eowyn scene as well. It lost alot of its power because you didn't see what it cost to kill the Witchking. In the book, Eowyn was laid out and you weren't sure she was alive until Prince Imrahil proved it so. I really wanted to see Eomer ride up and look down to see his fallen king, then notice his fallen sister, and become enraged.

I really think this scene is in the EE. If you watch one of the trailers that they are showing on tv, you see Eomer on his knees crying and screaming. I don't remember this scene actually being in the film. It could be him grieving over the "death" of Eowyn or Theoden.
 

Mystery Man said:
55 hours of film shot for this movie. We haven't seen it all by a long shot.

The average film has at least a 10:1 or 20:1 ratio of film shot to finished product. The vast majority of that 55 hours is multiple takes of the exactsame thing we saw on the screen.

The extended edition will have another hour or so, but to expect more than that is foolish.

If you really want something to blow out of proportion, consider the rumor that actors are supposed to report to NZ for another round of "pick-up" shots in a couple months.
 

Kestrel said:
I really think this scene is in the EE. If you watch one of the trailers that they are showing on tv, you see Eomer on his knees crying and screaming. I don't remember this scene actually being in the film. It could be him grieving over the "death" of Eowyn or Theoden.

Spoiler:
According to what I've read, this isn't Eomer finding the King. They filmed Gamling as he dies on the battlefield. Apparently, the shot with Eomer is when he discovers the body of his old friend and Uncle's servant.
 
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Kid Charlemagne said:
If you really want something to blow out of proportion, consider the rumor that actors are supposed to report to NZ for another round of "pick-up" shots in a couple months.

SCOURING!!!!11!1!!!1


:D
 

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