[SPOILERS] THE Return of the King Thread

[Napftor]

What's a Soth?

That would be a reference to the death knight Lord Soth of Dragonlance fame.

 

[Zamdrist]

And something else I remember: Where the hell did those eagles come from at the end? I do recall one saving Gandalf from the top of that tower. But they have not been seen since! Did 'ol white robes have them on speed dial?! I;m sure this is explained in the books as well, but there was zilch in the movie (could have taken time from the end sequences to explain this in the middle ).

I recall Gandalf releasing a moth from his robe, I guess that was the 'messenger' to the Eagles to come help. I thought it was kind of lamely done, the Eagles then just appeared, almost immediately after the release of the moth.

Again, if I recall, the Eagles appearance was as much a surprise to Gandalf as to everyone else in the book's story.

Forgive me if this has been covered, I didn't see it discussed...I never did actually see Sam take the ring from Frodo when Frodo was wrapped up in the spider web. Did I just miss it?

 

[theburningman]

No, I did not have an emotional reaction. I wept during the first movie but there was so much more time with the characters together as a fellowship then. RotK was...just so back and forth. And I also remember wondering why Sam could not just throw in the Ring on his own. So what if it was "Frodo's task?" The fate of the world was riding on them. Sam would not have minded if Frodo took the credit should that circumstance have occured.

Check out this thread for an interesting and related discussion.

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=72602

Bear in mind that the arguments presented make more sense in the context of the book (but I think they also make sense in the movie's context as well).

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I recall Gandalf releasing a moth from his robe, I guess that was the 'messenger' to the Eagles to come help. I thought it was kind of lamely done, the Eagles then just appeared, almost immediately after the release of the moth.

You got it a little off. Gandalf didn't pull the moth out...it flew down in front of his face, and surprised him. Basically, its saying "Guess who's here!" and then pan up to the Eagles.

Forgive me if this has been covered, I didn't see it discussed...I never did actually see Sam take the ring from Frodo when Frodo was wrapped up in the spider web. Did I just miss it?

Nope, they didn't show it. Cinematically, they couldn't...it held lots of suspense when you think the Ring is in the hands of the Orcs. Sam DID get it though...it was just not shown.

 

[johnsemlak]

Ooops, wrong thread Moving on...

 

[Zamdrist]

You got it a little off. Gandalf didn't pull the moth out...it flew down in front of his face, and surprised him. Basically, its saying "Guess who's here!" and then pan up to the Eagles.

Nope, they didn't show it. Cinematically, they couldn't...it held lots of suspense when you think the Ring is in the hands of the Orcs. Sam DID get it though...it was just not shown.

Ah well that makes more sense. Ironic I was confused because I knew the story, lol.

 

[Hypersmurf]

You got it a little off. Gandalf didn't pull the moth out...it flew down in front of his face, and surprised him. Basically, its saying "Guess who's here!" and then pan up to the Eagles.

It was quite a cool moment, too.

Gndalf saw the moth, and in the audience we thought "Yeeeeeah...", 'cos we knew the Fell Beasts were about to get their asses kicked...

-Hyp.

 

[Chain Lightning]

Just saw RotK again last night. Parents hadn't seen it yet....so I took them to go see it.

The movie still is awesome. But we all know what is awesome about LotR:RotK. Its pretty obvious. However, as we're talking about some of its weaker moments, a thought came to me that made me a tad more disappointed at a certain scene.

The scene I'm talking about is the Eowyn vs. The Witch King scene. Its been mentioned how this scene should've been more epic and majestic. That PJ's theatrical version is kind of a let down. I thought so too at first and second viewing. But it never really got on my nerves or anything. It just became one of those ugly spots in the LotR trilogy. Each movie has them.

[in my opinion, the ugly spots that hurt the quality of the films were: Weathertop, Frodo holding the ring in front of Fell Beast riding Ringwraith at Osgiliath, Witch King attempting to 'break' Gandalf (absent), and Eowyn vs. the Witch King. - - - wow, I just noticed they all have to do with a Ringwraith in one form or another - - -]

Okay, back on track....I digress. The thought that popped into my head that made the scene more disappointing is this: A few moments later we see Legolas spectacularly take down an Oliphant. I love this scene. I don't find it out of place or anything. And it was done in a cool way. What upsets me now that I think of it.....is that PJ and his crew spent more filming effort making Legolas vs. Common Oliphant look cool rather than equal or more effort making sure the Eowyn vs. the Witch King (TWO VERY IMPORTANT CHARACTERS) scene looks as majestic and cool as it needs to be.

Okay, that's off my chest now. However, don't think because I rant about this one scene that I'm not a total fanboy of this trilogy. I am....I love these films, I love what they've down and offered for the cinematic fantasy genre. Its just that sometimes I wish I had the power to go back in time and tell PJ to not mess up a few scenes. Like Weathertop for instance.

According to PJ, all Eowyn needed to defeat the Witch King on his Fell Beast is one common Torch and one common arrow.

Alright...enough complaining from me....continue on my friends.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

It was quite a cool moment, too.

Gndalf saw the moth, and in the audience we thought "Yeeeeeah...", 'cos we knew the Fell Beasts were about to get their asses kicked...

-Hyp.

It was actually one of my favorite moments because you can't pull that off in books at all. What made it so great, was that the second we saw the moth, the guy next to me just whispered to himself one thing that made me grin.

"...Gwaihir..."

 

[Vocenoctum]

As for Denethor, in the book it makes much more sense and is an important part of the plot. PJ left out the reason Denethor went mad, though, so I can see why people who hadn't read the books would be confused.

It's amusing, while looking through, but the scene when Gandalf arrives in the throne room is the text from when Denothor is already nutsy later on in teh book. They mention the Eye of Minas Tirith, but they don't explain in the movie that it's a Palantir, or why that's bad. (Saruman's Fall didn't seem to have anything to do with palantir-ing. Though they discuss it in Fellowship.)

I still think there was enough in the movie to justify Denethor being unhinged, but also acknowledge that without seeing EE TT, you probably wouldn't care.

But, Denethor HAD to go crazy. If he hadn't sent Faramir out to ride against Osgiliath, they may not have had enough heads to fill teh catapults for the siege of Minas Tirith.
And that would have been a shame!