Tag: Lord of the Rings

It becomes a good tradition to finish watching an awesome movie or TV series before a flight.
This time we finished Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The battle scenes still send shivers down the spine, even 20 years after.

Didn’t remember that Faromir survives the skirmish. Also, I didn’t remember Mouth of Sauron  at all. Looks like someone from Guillermo del Toro movies.

I liked elephant riders. They looked like someone who is enjoying doing their job well.

I tried not to dwell too much on why Legolas have that feat of climbing up a running elephant, while all the other elves are rather… unremarkable.

The amount of work that went into the orcs in this film is simply astonishing. They are all very distinct and different. Absolutely amazing.

I also liked that moment of astonishment on trolls face. This is literally just a second. Marvel at the amount of attention to details:

When the eagles flew in, I almost cried, for real. It was so moving.

Not sure if that was the intention even 20 years ago, but Merry and Pippin sure look like a gay couple in some of the scenes:

And Frodo evacuation scene looks like helicopter airlift:

When the four hobbits are sitting back in the Green Dragon pub, they look like four war veterans with PTSD.

And when Frodo later in his home, he looks like someone with depression and deeply suicidal.

All those notes aside, this was a fantastic experience. I’m glad we started it.

 

Finished watching Lord of the Rings: Two Towers.
There are a few weird elements to it, but I think this comes mostly from the original book. We know that Gandalf falls down with Balrog. But then he tells a story how he fought with it on the mountain peak, and after that was reborn. And he has a new staff. This doesn’t make any sense.

Also, Merry and Pippin drink some water, and then Pippin grows taller. And they are almost killed by a tree? What?

Gollum still looks absolutely fantastic. Which cannot be said about Jar Jar Binks from the same time.

Two of the most impressive roles are Eowyn and Theoden. Great range of emotion, fantastic acting.

Arwen is much more boring and flat, in comparison.

Orc talking like and old British man unhappy with his tea or the weather is a bit strange:

Frodo in this movie becomes Jesus with some anger management issues. Again, I think this is more the problem of the original book than the movie.

Fight with wargs looks great. Helm’s Deep is even better. I don’t remember when was the last time I was so moved by a movie battle.

Even the orc olympian didn’t stop me from enjoying it:

There are some weird parts: Legolas surfing down the stairs on a shield, Aragorn throwing Gimli across the bridge, but overall it’s fantastic. Also, I didn’t remember how important was the role of the ents in this battle. Ents are like the UN. It takes them a lot of time to decide anything.

Another trilogy I have never thoughtfully watched is Lord of the Rings.

And unlike Star Wars, it held the test of time extraordinary well. Even the fights still look pretty solid. Especially the fight with the troll.
Since it’s 12 hours long in total, we’re watching it like a series, one hour at a time. And this works pretty well.
One detail I didn’t remember is that in the first movie Gollum isn’t actually shown. We see his hands and eyes a couple of times, and characters talk about him a lot, but we never see him directly.

Rivendale always confused me. It looks like a nursing home for elves, or an elven hotel.
The sheer aesthetics of some scenes is amazing.