The Holonet Boards   » Beyond Star Wars   » LOTR: The Two Towers


Mara1Jade

posted 12-19-2002 12:10 AM    
Heh. In short, go see it. I'm probably the first around here to have seen it, so I won't divulge too much. All I'll say is the story moves very well--it feels NOTHING LIKE 3 hours--the battle scenes are impressive, and Gollum ROCKS!!! There's a good balance between humor and darkness, and it's just a very well rounded film.

My only complaint is that the tree-shepherds (whatever it is they are called) don't look all that realistic to me, but then, that kind of thing WOULD be difficult to make realistic. But other than that...

WOW...

[ 12-19-2002 12:16 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Mara1Jade ]


Padme of Hidden Lake

posted 12-19-2002 11:33 PM    
heehee - Mara - I was with ya - Definitely did the midnight showing out here on the east coast - Needless to say WAAAAAHHHHH!!!! It was unbelievaable!!! Going back tommorrow with my uncle....

Mara1Jade

posted 12-19-2002 11:37 PM    
Well, I waited til late afternoon to go see it, at least. Still, the place was packed.

LumbiaSith

posted 12-21-2002 03:21 AM    
Im going to be able to go over the weekend

Graysith

posted 12-23-2002 10:00 AM    
AWESOME movie. BUT: I won't say it was better than the first. It definitely was NOT worse. Heh. More sweeping, but I like the music in the first one better; then, that's when the themes were introduced and all.

This one is definitely more in the "true epic" category, and HAS to win some Oscars for choreography and such.

MUST SEE MORE THAN ONCE. You HAVE to... in order to see ALL of what's happening. There is soooo much.

The scene when Rowan gets unexpected aid... that just made me get all teary.

And that Lord of Horses... ooooh. Goose bump city!

Heh. Put it this way. I went to Toys R Us: they had in a bunch of new LOTR and SW 12" figures. They had in Mace Windu... and the Ringwraith.

I could only afford one.

I got the Ringwraith.

Heh.


Padme of Hidden Lake

posted 12-28-2002 08:06 PM    
Yeah - I hear ya GS - this one definitely deveated(sp???) A whole lot more from the books but it was still awesome... Just as good as the first but not better - I can't wait to put all three together....

BobPalpatine

posted 01-28-2003 11:22 AM    
I like the movie, but I don't like the fact that Peter Jackson is deleting parts from the book, or moving them to the next movie. I dunno, I guess I'm somewhat of a purist. I mean I still like the movie, but the books do much better as an epic than the movies.

Graysith

posted 01-28-2003 11:58 AM    
Bob: Isn't that the case in any movie made from a book? Especially books of this nature? Very difficult to put everything in; only that which is necessary to portray the book overall, kind of like a review, is usually enough.

Otherwise the costs could simply skyrocket. And remember, this was NOT made by Spielberg or Lucas or anyone with a "name," and for the most part had "newbies" in the lead roles -- at least as far as America goes, and we all know America is the true King of the Motion Picture. Anyway, it's quite probable that the producer tried to limit somewhat his expenses, not knowing how the movies would be received.

All three were made at once. That's a big gamble in itself.

Let's just say they were fantastically done, that those who have yet to read the books may thus be prompted to do so, and that those who have will realize the above and be forgiving.

(Personally, I've not read Tolkien. What parts are missing, as you suggest, and how badly does this affect the story?)


Anakin

posted 01-28-2003 01:42 PM    
There is an extended DVD edition, maybe what you think it lacked is in there. Truth is, when it comes to movies, people don't want to watch something that is more than, maybe, three hours. People just don't want to take 6 hours from their day to see a movie.

Graysith

posted 01-28-2003 04:58 PM    
Good point, Ani. I didn't think of that, but come to think of it, unless the movie is absolutely gripping, I do get fidgety after about 2 & 1/2 hours. Three hours... and it better be enthralling, not to mention visually gripping.

This is why 2001: A Space Odyssey (I think it was that movie) had an intermission when it was first shown in the theaters. (Or was it Lawrence of Arabia?) Well... some movie which was considered longer than normal at the time (now two hours is pretty much par for the course, I think); a bona fide intermission was put in to give people time to stretch and whatnot.

Maybe it was the Ten Commandments... Ben Hur... come to think of it, I think it was Ben Hur, as that's a two-video set. (So is the Ten Commandments, heh).

Yeah, Ben Hur had an intermission. Whatever, the point is that what Ani said is very correct: people can't sit much more than a couple hours and keep their attention really riveted on a subject. In a classoom/learning situation it's 45 minutes before the brain goes into snooze mode!


Anakin

posted 01-28-2003 06:12 PM    
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang had an intermission.

Graysith

posted 01-29-2003 12:17 AM    
I don't remember much about that movie. I vaguely recall seeing it in the theater; drive-in, I think. But I don't remember an intermission.

I know the movie I saw with an intermission had "soaring, crescendoing" music... unlike CCBB... I really think it was Ben Hur.


Padme of Hidden Lake

posted 01-29-2003 06:09 PM    
There was alot cut but most didn't really change the storyline at all - some did - like the Elves don't go to helms deep the Ents do - but that was done because at the time of filming they didn't think they could get Fangorn forest to look believable and prefered the little change over a very obvious and "poorly" done SFX which they didn't think they could avoid if they tried to put in the trees.... And as for moving the bit they did that to equalize the length of the movies since JRR died before finishing ROTK and Christopher added a last section (Scouring of the Shire) to equalize the lengths) JRR had only written the battles and the passing over the seas parts before he was taken....

BobPalpatine

posted 01-30-2003 12:05 PM    
I think one of the main reasons that Two Towers threw me off is because of the way Peter Jackson portrays some of Tolkien's characters. Like Faromir for instance. They made him look like a complete jackass in the movie, but in the book he is a very noble character, and I don't even think the movie did justice on the Ents.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie. I just thought it could've been better. I mean I understand moving somethings around, because it is more practical for the movie, but changing characters out right is a lil below the standards I had hoped for. I just really hope that the extended edition will be better.

Laurre, beleive it or not this movie has the backing of New Line and they were willing to spend just about any amount of money Peter Jackson needed to make these movies into the epics that they are and should be. Money was no problem in producing these movies. I just don't beleive that some of the changes needed to be made.

Of course I can understand the cutting out of Tom Bombadil and the barrow-downs in FOTR, but TTT was a lot different from the book IMHO. I'm just gonna wait and buy the extended edition when it comes out to see if they should've left some of the stuff in. Personally I still would've gone to see it even it was the orignal 6 hours Peter Jackson had filmed, maybe it would've been more parallel to the books. I can't beleive that they have about 6 hours of footage that they could've used. That is amazing, thats alot of film on the cutting room floor.

On a side note: If you haven't seen the extended edition of FOTR, go out and buy it now. I got it for my dad for Christmas. My whole family liked it, and it includes a few extra scenes that I'm glad they put in.

And also, if you haven't read any of Tolkein, do so now before the third movie comes out so you can bitch and moan with me.


Graysith

posted 01-30-2003 01:50 PM    
OK! OK!!

Breaks down and hauls her complete collector's edition of LOTR that she got for Christmas way long ago out of cold storage where it's been languishing....

I should be finished reading before the next movie is out, but beware! I am more of a sci-fi fan, not a fantasy one. The closest thing to fantasy that I liked were the L. Frank Baum "Oz" books (and those of this ilk by other authors) and the Madelaine d'Engle books and the "Lion, Witch, Wardrobe" series.

But all that was when I was growing up, and hadn't found science fiction yet....


Loban

posted 02-07-2003 06:18 PM    
Ok, here I go...

Ben Hur, yes... it did have an intermission...

That reminds me of another 3 hour movie that had an intermission... I went to Titantic, and half way through the picture froze...

It was, how do you say, a boo-boo...

Wait a tick, did I just say I saw Titantic and 'boo-boo' in the same post??

Oh dear, the only cure is a movie filled with killing.... or perhaps a video game...

Moving straight into my point, The Two Towers video game is the best action/fighting game ever... if you own a gaming system, this is a must buy...

Oh, and by the way, the dvd extended version of LOTH: TFOTR was quite good... but the only 'big' thing left out was when the fellowship recieved their gifts from Galadriel...

Also, the LOTR: TFOTR soundtrack is awesome...