[SPOILERS] THE Return of the King Thread

[Mathew_Freeman]

Something that I'm surprised that no one else has mentioned is the sequence with the lighting of the beacons...incredible stunning shots as one beacon after another is lit, the torches shining as the hope of Men crosses the mountains and comes to Rohan. Amazing stuff.

But the charge of the Riders remains the greatest moment. Utterly heartbreaking.

 

[barsoomcore]

I was so certain that not including the Scouring would ruin the whole trilogy. I complained loud and long to anyone who would listen (which list grew shorter over time -- go figure) that by leaving out the Scouring PJ had missed the WHOLE POINT of the story.

I was wrong. I admit it. The end of the movie works just fine -- that scene in the bar, the four of them look around, see hobbits getting excited over giant pumpkins, and clink their glasses in silent salute told so much. It was a classic case of something a movie is better at than a book. You couldn't write those performances, the emotion carried in their faces. You need a sequence to show the emotional transitions, you need story to illustrate what's happened to these characters. In a movie, we can see it. We don't need a sequence of events to illustrate it for us -- it's right there on the faces of Billy Boyd (standout performance of the film, he was), Dom Monahan, Sean Astin and Elijah Wood.

He showed me what I thought would take the Scouring to illustrate, and he did it in one shot.

 

[Berandor]

Something that I'm surprised that no one else has mentioned is the sequence with the lighting of the beacons...incredible stunning shots as one beacon after another is lit, the torches shining as the hope of Men crosses the mountains and comes to Rohan. Amazing stuff.

But the charge of the Riders remains the greatest moment. Utterly heartbreaking.

Furthermore, this has got to be the worst job in all of Gondor; sitting your whole life on some snowcovered mountaintop watching for a fire that hasn't burned in centuries...

 

[Hypersmurf]

Furthermore, this has got to be the worst job in all of Gondor; sitting your whole life on some snowcovered mountaintop watching for a fire that hasn't burned in centuries...

Heh. Exactly my thought while watching the film - I leaned across to my friend and said "Man, that job's gotta suck..."

-Hyp.

 

[KenM]

He showed me what I thought would take the Scouring to illustrate, and he did it in one shot.

Yes I agree, and the movie would have sucked IMO if they show the hobbits going through all they did, get back to the Shire, and show it all burned and changed.

 

[barsoomcore]

Well, I'm not convinced you couldn't do the Scouring -- it's still my favourite part of the books and I'd love to have it in the movie. But PJ managed to capture the key realisation of the Scouring in that one scene.

There's still stuff like Frodo's insistence on non-violence, the surprise of the Men when the hobbits turn on them, the ability of Sam, Merry and Pippin to lead, and Frodo's final confrontation with Saruman, that I would love to see and I think might well have improved the film.

But not having them didn't ruin the film.

 

[myrdden]

2) Elrond telling Aragorn that Arwen's life is somehow linked to the Ring. Hmm, I think saving Gondor and the entire world was probably enough motivation for Aragorn to kick some ass. Adding that in seemed like cheap melodrama.

I had intrepreted that scene as Elrond saying to Aragorn (albeit in rather dramatic prose) that Arwen had chosen a mortal life with Aragorn and could not longer travel to the West. Her fate, now that she was mortal, was tied to the world just as every other mortal.

I have to see this movie again.

Myrdden

 

[Vocenoctum]

And I think the haughty glances they receive upon returning were more for their reputations before they left rather than for anything they had done upon returning. I think hobbits in the Shire were treating them the same way they did when the four left, but the four had grown during their adventure and were nothing like they were when the left.

I think there's a bit of that, but also of the "adventurer" stigma. People thought Bilbo was odd for going on his little trip, and the same applies to the hobbits that skipped out for 3-4 months.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Something that I'm surprised that no one else has mentioned is the sequence with the lighting of the beacons...incredible stunning shots as one beacon after another is lit, the torches shining as the hope of Men crosses the mountains and comes to Rohan. Amazing stuff.

I said it back on page 3 or 4 or something!

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I said it back on page 3 or 4 or something!

My humblest apologies. I did read through the thread, but I must have missed that. Still a great sequence though...even if it is the Worst Job Evar.