"Return of the King" - some thoughts
Dec. 20th, 2003 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodI watched "Return of the King" on Thursday night and was very much overwhelmed afterwards.
Beware - spoilers hide behind the link:
The movie is wonderful, but it could have been a lot better if Peter Jackson hadn't decided to leave out so many scenes! (And these scenes have been filmed! I read that today on www.spiegel.de!)
Now, cutting a movie is necessary, but the movie still has to make sense. And in "Return of the King" there are moments, when this wasn't the case any longer due to the cuts. I read the books, the two people I watched the movie with hadn't read the books. And they were asking me questions afterwards that would have been explained by these cut scenes...
So first of all I will rave about the scenes I missed:
- Saruman and Wormtongue didn't appear at all. I know that Peter Jackson wouldn't have shown us the destruction of the Shire, but still: There should have been at least one scene with these two. Especially, as a scene with them probably would have explained why the valuable "PalantÃr" was lying in the water.
- Some scenes between Theoden and Merry. In the book, they get along splendidly. (I realize that's not necessary for the movie at all, but wouldn't it have been ever so nice? :-))
- Denethor: He's portrayed by a great actor, IMO. But I would have liked to be given on scene in which the cause for Denethor's descent into madness is explained.
In the book, this in part the fault of the "PalanthÃr" he uses...
- What happens to the Mithril shirt? We see that the orcs kill each other over it, but then? What happens then?
In the book, one of the orcs escapes with the Mithril shirt and brings it to Sauron. Before the final battle, one of Sauron's leaders shows Aragorn's army the Mithril shirt. Of course, everybody then believes that Frodo and Sam must have been captured. Wouldn't it have been powerful to see that they are fighting against all the odds, that they are fighting if there's no hope left? (Not that they have much choice. :-))
- The journey of Frodo and Sam to the Mount Doom:
At one moment, they are dressed in orc armour; in the next scene, the armour is gone. This felt very rushed and my friends did comment on it...
Having read the books, I know that there's quite a bit going on between dressing up in orc armour and deciding to not wear it any longer. In fact, wearing the orc armour saves their life at one point. I would have loved to see this scene.
Another problem is that we never seem to get a feel of the distance Frodo and Sam have to walk to arrive at Mount Doom. It feels more like "let's take a morning walk to Mount Doom".
- The healing of Faramir, Eowyn and Merry. A scene dealing with this would have shown Aragorn's power as the king of Gondor. It also would have shown that you can't fight the Witch King of Angmar without consequences.
- A scene explaining when Faramir and Eowyn get close to one another. Yes, there's the look between them in the end, but these two characters have been developped so carefully and with so much love in the movie - and all they get is a look in the end?
Couldn't they have been given a little scene of about 2-3 minutes length?
- The White Tree: Is it shown that the White Tree is blossoming again? There are white blossoms raining down on Aragorn at the end of his coronation, so maybe I missed that these blossoms are coming from the tree.
I think that these scenes would have taken up another 25-30 minutes. Personally, I would have been much more pleased if they had cut the good-bye scenes and the battle scenes a bit instead.
I know there will be an extended DVD, but I also want to be able to watch the extended version on the big screen one day soon.
Time to end the whining and state why I did love the movie even so I sadly missed some scenes:
- Merry and Pippin being parted from one another, when Pippin rides with Gandalf to Minas Tirith. This scene made me cry - and it wasn't only me that cried. :-))
- Gandalf riding into Minas Tirith. I loved the design of the city! Perfect, perfect, perfect!!
- Faramir and his father. And how Faramir rides out into a hopeless fight to please his father.
- Pippin singing in Denethor's hall.
- Lighting the signal fires. Beautiful!
At the same time this scene made me laugh quietly inside. Imagine yourself having a job where you sit on a mountain top and gaze towards the next mountain top for years and years. And only when someone starts up the next fire, you actually get to do something. The job description probably says: Some hermit-talents required.
- The first attack of the Rohirim.
- Eowyn defeating the Witch King of Angmar. I cheered!
(The rest of the audience cheered when Legolas defeated that Oliphant. Yes, it was nicely done, but can't they see that Eowyn fighting against a powerful spirit and winning the fight, *because* she is a woman, is much more meaningful?! Hmmm.)
- Sam fighting the spider. Sam fighting.
- Frodo: When he's no longer able to remember the Shire.
- Pippin1!!! :-) Honestly, Billy Boyd is fantastic in this movie. And Pippin really gets to grow as a character. (I love stories about character growth.) So, Pippin!!!!!
- Eowyn1!!! I mentioned her already, but she has so much courage. She is wonderful!
- Frodo kissing Sam on the forehead at the end of the movie.
Strange realizations concerning all three movies:
In the book, I *loved* the scenes between Frodo, Sam and Gollum best. In the movie, I don't. They aren't bad, but IMO, these scenes lack subtelty here.
E.g. Gollum is much more torn in the book. Here, Sam actually thinks bad of Gollum at times when Gollum doesn't deserve it.
On the other hand, scenes I never much enjoyed in the book (e.g. all the battle scenes starting at Helm Klamm), have now come to life for me.
In the book, I hated Boromir. I come to understand him in the movie; he even was one of my favorite characters here.
My imaginations when reading the book will forever be influenced by the way the characters and the settings looked. And I don't mind at all. :-)))
I will see the movie again on 28/12 and am looking forward to it greatly!
Beware - spoilers hide behind the link:
The movie is wonderful, but it could have been a lot better if Peter Jackson hadn't decided to leave out so many scenes! (And these scenes have been filmed! I read that today on www.spiegel.de!)
Now, cutting a movie is necessary, but the movie still has to make sense. And in "Return of the King" there are moments, when this wasn't the case any longer due to the cuts. I read the books, the two people I watched the movie with hadn't read the books. And they were asking me questions afterwards that would have been explained by these cut scenes...
So first of all I will rave about the scenes I missed:
- Saruman and Wormtongue didn't appear at all. I know that Peter Jackson wouldn't have shown us the destruction of the Shire, but still: There should have been at least one scene with these two. Especially, as a scene with them probably would have explained why the valuable "PalantÃr" was lying in the water.
- Some scenes between Theoden and Merry. In the book, they get along splendidly. (I realize that's not necessary for the movie at all, but wouldn't it have been ever so nice? :-))
- Denethor: He's portrayed by a great actor, IMO. But I would have liked to be given on scene in which the cause for Denethor's descent into madness is explained.
In the book, this in part the fault of the "PalanthÃr" he uses...
- What happens to the Mithril shirt? We see that the orcs kill each other over it, but then? What happens then?
In the book, one of the orcs escapes with the Mithril shirt and brings it to Sauron. Before the final battle, one of Sauron's leaders shows Aragorn's army the Mithril shirt. Of course, everybody then believes that Frodo and Sam must have been captured. Wouldn't it have been powerful to see that they are fighting against all the odds, that they are fighting if there's no hope left? (Not that they have much choice. :-))
- The journey of Frodo and Sam to the Mount Doom:
At one moment, they are dressed in orc armour; in the next scene, the armour is gone. This felt very rushed and my friends did comment on it...
Having read the books, I know that there's quite a bit going on between dressing up in orc armour and deciding to not wear it any longer. In fact, wearing the orc armour saves their life at one point. I would have loved to see this scene.
Another problem is that we never seem to get a feel of the distance Frodo and Sam have to walk to arrive at Mount Doom. It feels more like "let's take a morning walk to Mount Doom".
- The healing of Faramir, Eowyn and Merry. A scene dealing with this would have shown Aragorn's power as the king of Gondor. It also would have shown that you can't fight the Witch King of Angmar without consequences.
- A scene explaining when Faramir and Eowyn get close to one another. Yes, there's the look between them in the end, but these two characters have been developped so carefully and with so much love in the movie - and all they get is a look in the end?
Couldn't they have been given a little scene of about 2-3 minutes length?
- The White Tree: Is it shown that the White Tree is blossoming again? There are white blossoms raining down on Aragorn at the end of his coronation, so maybe I missed that these blossoms are coming from the tree.
I think that these scenes would have taken up another 25-30 minutes. Personally, I would have been much more pleased if they had cut the good-bye scenes and the battle scenes a bit instead.
I know there will be an extended DVD, but I also want to be able to watch the extended version on the big screen one day soon.
Time to end the whining and state why I did love the movie even so I sadly missed some scenes:
- Merry and Pippin being parted from one another, when Pippin rides with Gandalf to Minas Tirith. This scene made me cry - and it wasn't only me that cried. :-))
- Gandalf riding into Minas Tirith. I loved the design of the city! Perfect, perfect, perfect!!
- Faramir and his father. And how Faramir rides out into a hopeless fight to please his father.
- Pippin singing in Denethor's hall.
- Lighting the signal fires. Beautiful!
At the same time this scene made me laugh quietly inside. Imagine yourself having a job where you sit on a mountain top and gaze towards the next mountain top for years and years. And only when someone starts up the next fire, you actually get to do something. The job description probably says: Some hermit-talents required.
- The first attack of the Rohirim.
- Eowyn defeating the Witch King of Angmar. I cheered!
(The rest of the audience cheered when Legolas defeated that Oliphant. Yes, it was nicely done, but can't they see that Eowyn fighting against a powerful spirit and winning the fight, *because* she is a woman, is much more meaningful?! Hmmm.)
- Sam fighting the spider. Sam fighting.
- Frodo: When he's no longer able to remember the Shire.
- Pippin1!!! :-) Honestly, Billy Boyd is fantastic in this movie. And Pippin really gets to grow as a character. (I love stories about character growth.) So, Pippin!!!!!
- Eowyn1!!! I mentioned her already, but she has so much courage. She is wonderful!
- Frodo kissing Sam on the forehead at the end of the movie.
Strange realizations concerning all three movies:
In the book, I *loved* the scenes between Frodo, Sam and Gollum best. In the movie, I don't. They aren't bad, but IMO, these scenes lack subtelty here.
E.g. Gollum is much more torn in the book. Here, Sam actually thinks bad of Gollum at times when Gollum doesn't deserve it.
On the other hand, scenes I never much enjoyed in the book (e.g. all the battle scenes starting at Helm Klamm), have now come to life for me.
In the book, I hated Boromir. I come to understand him in the movie; he even was one of my favorite characters here.
My imaginations when reading the book will forever be influenced by the way the characters and the settings looked. And I don't mind at all. :-)))
I will see the movie again on 28/12 and am looking forward to it greatly!
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Date: 2003-12-20 12:46 pm (UTC)I cried too! Billy Boyd was just so wonderful in this film. He developed Pippin beautifully.
- Lighting the signal fires. Beautiful!
Oh... *melts* That may have been my very favourite scenes. And I had exactly the same thoughts as you. :D