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[The Mule]

Last time I watched the extended edition of the whole trilogy a few years ago in one big session. I was totally blazed out of my mind and invented this alternate history for the LotR universe where it was a post-apocalyptic future and all of the "magic" in the world were remnants of our advanced technology.

Wizards were scientists, elves were humans that had life-extending medical treatments, orcs were mutants from the war that ended civilisation etc.

It was amazing.

 

[Evo X]

I actually just watched the extended trilogy for the first time on blu ray this week.

Amazing how well it holds up. They seemed like entirely new movies to me since I was so young when the originals came out.

 

[Killer Queen]

Okay Scullibundo
You win
I repent for my sinful ways.

 

[Monocle]

The best trilogy in film history. An astonishing achievement on many levels.

 

[Biske]

Boromir and Faramir are much better in the books.

Fellowship is the best of the three films, I really didn't like the other two or the changes they made. They made absolutely needless changes to characterizations and motives.

Yup.

Fellowship all in all was about as rock solid as you can expect for a transition from book to movie.


The other 2 just get worse and worse, still pretty good, but Fellowship is the only one that is legit great. Specially stuff like making Faramir a douche, etc. Just why?

 

[Kacho]

All LotR movies are fantastic but Fellowship is in a league of its own. The meaningful and fun build up in the beginning is done so well. Always a joy to watch. Boromir is the GOAT.

 

[Herne]

The best in the trilogy and the best fantasy film ever made. It is the perfect fantasy film.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Yup.

Fellowship all in all was about as rock solid as you can expect for a transition from book to movie.


The other 2 just get worse and worse, still pretty good, but Fellowship is the only one that is legit great. Specially stuff like making Faramir a douche, etc. Just why?

Because having him overcome his brother's failings, despite all of his father's condemnations and criticisms, is a bit more interesting and gives his character something to do versus "Oh you've got the Ring of Power huh? That's cool."

 

[jambo]

Yup. Almost 15 years later and it's still the standard I hold all castle/fort sieges to. Fucking perfect; everything from the buildup to the battle and the aftermath, the helplessness of it all. Sooo good.

Also contains a top 5 scene from the series for me.

It's way different from the book, but I don't care, it's sooooooo fucking amazing.

 

[Megalosaro]

Greatest movie of all fucking time. I saw it like 5 times in theaters.

It came out at a time when I needed the escapism. Its themes of hope struck true to me and influenced me profoundly.

I haven't seen it in a while. I should change that.

 

[jbueno]

Haven't watched the Trilogy since their original theatrical screenings and their subsequent DVD releases, so its been more than 10 years for me. Plan to watch the extended BRDs over the holidays.

 

[Siyou]

is this also a good spot to post about Tolkien black metal as well?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD5LDua40i8

 

[Loxley]

Showing him face the same test of faith Boromir did, but succeed where Boromir failed, made for a much better character arc than someone who started and finish perfect. It also makes a lot more sense for the story.

One of my favorite little touches in the trilogy is when Faramir has Frodo and Sam in the cave in TTT, and confronts them after he realizes they have the one ring. As soon as he sees the ring, the exact same music that echoes in the background of this scene in Fellowship starts playing. Showing that Faramir is about to go through the same inner turmoil that his brother did.

It's one of those small details that is really only appreciated when you look at the films as a whole, instead of individually.

 

[weepingangelz]

Seems like yesterday I saw this in theaters. Such a great experience. Emotional, exciting, beautiful, heartfelt. The whole trilogy is just an amazing cinematic achievement on all levels.

Boromir's last stand is one of my favorite scenes in the trilogy - maybe one of my favorite movie scenes period. The choir and music in the background makes it all the more heartbreaking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTznAmA9jFk

I can't find the moment before that on youtube when he shows up to battle, but there isn't a single person on this planet who isn't completely swept away when this happens:

they took the little ones

;-(

 

[Biske]

Because having him overcome his brother's failings, despite all of his father's condemnations and criticisms, is a bit more interesting and gives his character something to do versus "Oh you've got the Ring of Power huh? That's cool."

I disagree.

It was nice to have a another human in the books who wasn't a pure asshole other than Aragorn, and I loved Faramir.

Boromir 2? Lame.

Then you get a lot of stuff like lunatic Legolas and his asinine looking antics, as the movies continued on they were filled with more questionable story/character changes and stupid visuals. Culminating in the eventual shit show of the hobbit movies. (Which also the first one was the best and then they are started to go to shit.)


I love all the movies, but I think its pretty clear the peak was Fellowship and the rest was on a downward slope, however steep that slope is can be argued, but never reaches the heights of Fellowship.

 

[The Chosen One]

The best trilogy in film history. An astonishing achievement on many levels.

This x1000

Sure there were flaws, but on the whole it's the best trilogy in film history by far. It also was a daring movie in its time because doing a large scale fantasy movie like that was extremely risky. Fantasy movies had pretty much died out in the 80s.

Harry Potter and LOTR basically re-ignited the fantasy genre. LOTR was a more ambitious and higher quality production. You can tell it was a labor of love and the people involved were not expecting it to become such a huge worldwide sensation.

Movies like Spiderman, Batman, Hulk, and etc are constantly getting rebooted. But I think it's going to be a looong time before someone attempts to reboot LOTR. I would guess that it will probably be at least another 15-20 years before it's attempted again.

EDIT: Forgot to add, the soundtrack was simply brilliant and just as iconic as the other aspects of the movie.

 

[Owzers]

I loved fellowship, but have soured on the other two and find them to be goofy like the matrix sequels. That ghost army swarm...

 

[Shaanyboi]

I disagree.

It was nice to have a another human in the books who wasn't a pure asshole other than Aragorn, and I loved Faramir.

Boromir 2? Lame.

Then you get a lot of stuff like lunatic Legolas and his asinine looking antics, as the movies continued on they were filled with more questionable story/character changes and stupid visuals. Culminating in the eventual shit show of the hobbit movies. (Which also the first one was the best and then they are started to go to shit.)


I love all the movies, but I think its pretty clear the peak was Fellowship and the rest was on a downward slope, however steep that slope is can be argued, but never reaches the heights of Fellowship.

Except you completely devalue the threat of the Ring when you just have people shrug it off.

 

[Kifimbo]

Possibly my favourite cinema experience of all time.

Same for me. I was blown away by the Shire, and I was on the edge of my seat for the rest of the movie.

Only bad things in the trilogy is the ghost army and some of the changes to Faramir.

 

[Megalosaro]

Except you completely devalue the threat of the Ring when you just have people shrug it off.

The BBC's interpretation of that scene is REALLY good. It shows Faramir struggling with the ring before building up the strength to throw it off.

 

[Biske]

Except you completely devalue the threat of the Ring when you just have people shrug it off.

No, you just raise the value of Faramir, dude was a rare dude and was cool. Instead "ooooooo almost just like is brother.... ah no he's okay!"

You already have folks like Frodo to prove that, hey the ring is that powerful and he came all that fucking way and is about to nope out of the mission. You don't need to shoe horn in other stuff to remind people how powerful the ring is.

 

[Shaanyboi]

No, you just raise the value of Faramir, dude was a rare dude and was cool. Instead "ooooooo almost just like is brother.... ah no he's okay!"

You already have folks like Frodo to prove that, hey the ring is that powerful and he came all that fucking way and is about to nope out of the mission. You don't need to shoe horn in other stuff to remind people how powerful the ring is.

So then what is the threat of Frodo/Sam's whole storyline in Two Towers, which is theoretically supposed to be the central storyline of this whole series? So other than finding Gollum and then bumping into Faramir, what happens to them?

There's nothing. The Shelob stuff was in the TT book, but the way these storylines were paced in relation to one-another doesn't make for much of a 1:1 adaptation.

 

[GDJustin]

GOD Fellowship is so good! It's the only truly great movie of the three (and by extension, of the six).

It's just a brilliant adventure/road movie, and all the Shire sections warm my heart. I love love love the first half of that movie... Everything up until when the Fellowship exits Moria ia just AAA+++ adventure.

Spoiler

It also has the greatest making-of content of all time - I've watched it + the commentaries at least as many times as the movie itself.

 

[Loxley]

Speaking of Boromir, one detail that completely eluded me up until about four or five years ago was that after Boromir dies, Aragorn straps on his bracers (with the White Tree of Gondor embossed on them) and wears them for the rest of the trilogy. The film calls no attention to it aside from this brief shot of him putting them on:

It's little things like this that just make me appreciate these films more and more as time goes on.

 

[Xe4]

No, you just raise the value of Faramir, dude was a rare dude and was cool. Instead "ooooooo almost just like is brother.... ah no he's okay!"

You already have folks like Frodo to prove that, hey the ring is that powerful and he came all that fucking way and is about to nope out of the mission. You don't need to shoe horn in other stuff to remind people how powerful the ring is.

But you even had people like Aragon start to be seduced by the ring a little bit. That's why Frodo left, because "One by one, [the ring] will destroy them all". Faramir is no exception. Shit even Gandalf who is a Maiar and on the same power plane as Sauron, didn't want to be anywhere near the ring due to its corruptive power. Aragorn would've lasted longer, but everyone falls victim. He would've failed just like Isildur.

I see no problem with people having to struggle with not being seduced by the ring. People like Frodo and Bilbo are the exception of not immediately being controlled, even more so than other Hobbits.

 

[bremon]

Two Towers is my favorite (which seems the least liked of the three) but seeing Fellowship in theatre shortly after reading the trilogy was one of the greatest film going experiences of my life, and it still holds up.

 

[Gabriel_Logan]

yeah its the greatest Fantasy movie of all time. Its sequel Two Towers has the Greatest Opening of any movie.

 

[Celcius]

Amazing trilogy, I need to get around to getting the extended editions on BD but at this point I'm going to hold out for 4K.

 

[Megalosaro]

Just a reminder. This glorious mother fucker:

Made it into the movies. Last High King of the Noldoli

 

[Altazor]

Just a reminder. This glorious mother fucker:

Made it into the movies. Last High King of the Noldoli

one of the greatest things about Tolkien's work is that there is SO MUCH COOL SHIT that never made it into the movies. What we know about the history of Middle Earth is fucking great (despite the "kinda" dry prose in which it's written).

 

[Bold One]

Just a reminder. This glorious mother fucker:

Made it into the movies. Last High King of the Noldoli

Please expand

 

[Biske]

But you even had people like Aragon start to be seduced by the ring a little bit. That's why Frodo left, because "One by one, [the ring] will destroy them all". Faramir is no exception. Shit even Gandalf who is a Maiar and on the same power plane as Sauron, didn't want to be anywhere near the ring due to its corruptive power. Aragorn would've lasted longer, but everyone falls victim. He would've failed just like Isildur.

I see no problem with people having to struggle with not being seduced by the ring. People like Frodo and Bilbo are the exception of not immediately being controlled, even more so than other Hobbits.

But thats the point of Faramir, he was wise enough to not want any part of that shit. Not that he would be immune to it, he just wasn't playing and about to let it start. Was cool to have another human dude who "got it" specially surrounded by all the other corrupt humans and Haradrim etc.

So then what is the threat of Frodo/Sam's whole storyline in Two Towers, which is theoretically supposed to be the central storyline of this whole series? So other than finding Gollum and then bumping into Faramir, what happens to them?

There's nothing. The Shelob stuff was in the TT book, but the way these storylines were paced in relation to one-another doesn't make for much of a 1:1 adaptation.

They could have found a different way of fixing that problem than just making Faramir a Boromir 2 type samey asshole.



But really... after all that, the most unforgivable stuff even aside from janky character changes and silly scenes... we didnt get the Scouring of the Shire. I don't care about timing, or rapping up the movie, or climax.

We missed out on the Hobbit boys are back in town, they have learned some shit and are gonna fuck shit up and win back their homeland.



Fellowship was just done so well as a whole, that you had hopes for all the rest, but I was let down.

 

[TheGameshark]

Saw this movie at the age of six with my dad. First movie I ever saw where I felt like "wow that was fucking awesome".

 

[Loxley]

Please expand

It's Gil-galad, basically the King of the Elves. He was also killed the battle against Sauron that's shown in the intro of Fellowship.

Gil-galad, originally known as Ereinion, was a Ñoldorin Elf, son of Fingon, and last High King of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth who bore many titles, including High King of the Elves of the West, King of the Eldar, King of Lindon, Lord of the High Elves, and the Lord of Eriador.

Gil-galad held the highest authority among the Elves he ruled and was respected by both the Ñoldor and the Sindar. He was considered the High King of the Elves in Middle Earth. He formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Elendil, and he led the Elves, who were undivided, to war against Sauron during this time. His death marked the end of the Ñoldor Kingdoms in Middle-earth, though many Ñoldor still dwelt in Imladris throughout the Third Age.

It's a shame we only saw a few frames of him in the final film, since he and his spear Aeglos were fucking badass.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Amazing movie. One of the best ever. Same goes for the whole trilogy.

 

[Dunedain_Ranger]

It has my sword

 

[BravesCountry]

The worst thing about these movies is how much they exposed your typical fantasy film as basically unwatchable. I was always comparing whether I wanted to or not.

 

[Salmonax]

It's hard to overdo the superlatives when I comes to Fellowship. Jackson and crew nailed so much of the tone-setting first chapter in an impossibly huge epic, making it feel personal and warm yet dramatic and foreboding in all the right ways. It's gorgeous, well-acted, and well-paced. Effects are used sparingly and effectively. It's just marvelous.

 

[boiled goose]

Might be my favorite. Lots of emotional twists and epic moments.

Love that it holds up so well. Lots of great use of practical effects.

Love the ferocity of the final battle.

 

[-Plasma Reus-]

Best movie ever.

 

[mhayes86]

My favorite book series, and movies that really helped inspire me during my teens. LotR (and The Hobbit) are big parts of my life.

 

[Sadist]

Amazing movie, brilliant cast, outstanding effects, brilliant scenery

Also, fool of a Took! Ian McKellen is such an amazing actor.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Just a reminder. This glorious mother fucker:

Made it into the movies. Last High King of the Noldoli

There's a lot that got scrapped or retooled that we never actually saw in the finished films.

- Deleted action scene in Fellowship of the Ring where a bunch of pissed off Moria orcs follow the Fellowship into the woods outside Lothlorien, only to get mowed down by Haldir's crew.

- In Two Towers, when Sam tells Faramir to back off in the cave, Faramir sees the Ring turning Frodo into a Gollum-like creature himself.

- In Two Towers, Arwen joined Aragorn at Helm's Deep. This storyline was completely scrapped. She also had a face-to-face scene with Galadriel in Lothlorien.

- In Return of the King, Aragorn originally was tempted at the Black Gate, not by the Eye of Sauron, but by an illusion of Mairon. Once Aragorn broke free, Sauron revealed himself.

-Aragorn then fights Sauron at the Black Gate, but this was replaced with the giant CG troll as to make the final battle more of a sacrifice in service of Frodo rather than something personal.

 

[Altazor]

A couple of (small?) details that weren't really mentioned or developed in the movies but were in the books:

• Galadriel and Celeborn not only are thousands of years old, they're literally two of the oldest living elves in Middle Earth during the War of the Ring and the start of the Fourth Age. The only known elf older than them in M-E is Círdan, the elf in charge of the Grey Havens - he was so old that he had a beard (something absolutely uncommon for elves).
• Aragorn and Arwen are actually very distantly related. Aragorn is descended (through many many generations) from Elros, also known as Tar--Minyatur, the First King of Númenor - and he was Elrond's brother. As they were both half-elven, they could decide which race they belonged to (and, thus, the fate to which they were bound): Elrond chose to be counted among the elves, while Elros chose to be counted among men.
• Aragorn served under Théoden's father and Boromir/Faramir's grandfather for a short while under the alias Thorongil. Yeah, Aragorn's pretty damn old during the movies, looks can be deceiving

 

[Helmholtz]

Fellowship is my favorite movie of all time. I've watched it more than any other movie and love every scene and everything about it. I like it more than TTT and RotK, but those are also great.

 

[Frustrated_me]

Legendary tier.

 

[Skux]

This was an absolute blast at the cinema. The fights, the special effects, the piercing Nazgul screams. It was a new cinematic level.

 

[KeyBladerXIII]

- In Return of the King, Aragorn originally was tempted at the Black Gate, not by the Eye of Sauron, but by an illusion of Mairon. Once Aragorn broke free, Sauron revealed himself.

-Aragorn then fights Sauron at the Black Gate, but this was replaced with the giant CG troll as to make the final battle more of a sacrifice in service of Frodo rather than something personal.

I'd rather have had Sauron show up, especially after Aragon spoke to him through the Palantir. I mean, an armored CG troll is threatening and all, but watching it jog away at the end of the battle was lame.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

Fellowship was the only LOTR film that I actually liked.

I've watched the sequels multiple times at this point, and I still have a hard time remembering anything that happens in those movies.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

Why didn't the eagles just fly Frodo into Mordor?