Still not King
Dec. 18th, 2002 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chrisvenusWarning. The following text is likely to contain many many spoilers for the two towers. Even if you have read the book you will get spoilers because almost certainly the filmography is done slightly different at least. Well, you know the score now. I am going to be talking about the film and not bothering to hold back to avoid spoilers.
No, really. A lot of spoilers. :)
Well, firstly just to say it ruled. :) I decided yesterday to see if I could get tickets for one of the daytime sittings and wandered into town and got one for the 3:45. A bit of shopping later and I snuck to the cinema early, only to find 100 people had already snuck there early before me. :)
On the other hand because I am billy no mates and was on my own I still got one of the better seats in the house by filling a gap right in the middle of the cinema. :)
The film was great. I got a little bored at the beginning as it went "Here is sam and frodo walking along. HEre is pippin and merry being carried along. Here are Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (sp?) walking along. Oooh, look. Sam and frodo are still walking..." It might not hae been that bad but the beginning did seem to get taken up with a lot of pretty scenery shots. On hte other hand it did have a cool gandalf bit at the beginning. That was most pretty, especially when they fell into the huge cavern and you just saw the long range shot of the fireyness falling downfrom a hole in the roof of this cavern. Mmmm... nice. :)
The film did pick up a bit after that and quickly got exciting. Even though I have read the books I still couldn't remember half of what was going on. It was great. It was as if I had never seen lord of the rings before. :) It was just things like when the elves turned up in Helm's Deep and I went "oooh... bouncey bouncey" cos I totally thought they were leaving. :) On the other hand I was all "Oooh... bouncy bouncy" when Gandalf turned up to resuce the people of Helm's deep and I totally new that was coming. Even before the irritating gandalf voice over to remind those with poor memories that he said he'd be turning up.
The two big fights were fantastic. Helm's deep was a classic huge battle against overwhelming odds. The shots of all the children getting swords and armour just sent a chill through me as I realised that some of those they were arming would be no more sword trained than me and would likely fall as quickly as I if they ever actually faced the fight.
The great scaling contraptions were fantastic. The first ladders with people on the top ready to mount the battlements and their bigger brothers, full scaffolds nearly that were chock full of the urruk-thingummys. It was great. I also liked the big boomy bit whenthey blew the wall up and probably killed more of their own than of the defenders. On the other hand the point was to breach the wall, not kill the bad guys. The wall was fairly inevitably going to fall all over people when in smaller chunks.
On the other side there was the battle at isengard. I think in a way I preferred this since it was a much more decisive victory by the ents. The cunningness of pippin or merry, whichever it was, was to be commended in getting the ents to fight. Well, that is assuming he wanted to go via isengard to make sure treebeard saw the devastation saruman had wrought. The fact that wasn't made explicitly clear f0or the american audience does make me wonder though... :)
The ents were so much more of a "we're pissed and going to wipe out everything in our way" that it was great. The stomped over everybody, treading on people, drop kicking them and bowling boulders at them. The ords had no clue what to do at first, thinking to drag one down with a rope and then realising how long it took to chop up an ent as hismates kicked the crap out of them.
I worried when they started setting fire to them but then they broke the damn and it was all over. The ents took route and isengard was flooded. Of particular note in that scene is the burning ent bending down to put his head out in the oncoming flood waters. Particularly fine. :)
Gollum was also good. His multiple personalities were very well betrayed and the idea of the suffering he has been through was well made. I don't remember him being quite as sympathisable in the books as he was in the film. I was feeling sorry for him and hoping people would be nice to him which I don't recall in the books. I'm wondering if that is because he will ultimately make a difference for good so they wanted to make him a bit good now. *shrug* I dare say somebody will let me know when they have seen the film and read this. :)
Apart from gollum the frodo and sam stuff is a little dull. It is an interesting development and one of the key things in the film (lord of the rings has to focus on the ring a fair bit really). I just got the feeling they were doing nothing but walking along when I saw them. It brightened up when the saw the oliphant and got captured byt the men of gondor but that again was a little dull. I think the trouble is that a lot of what is going on with frodo and sam is very subtle and works better in print. Either that or frodo annoys me. Clearly I am not a pervy hobit fancier.
On that subject I do seem to have become a pervy elf fancier. Legolas is great and Wasshername is an absolute babe. I'm still the prettiest though.
Oh, and on the offchance that anybody speaks elven I would be interested to know what the quotation in the end credits said. Also the two "Cute kids" who ran away witht he warning at the beginning are blah and blah jackson and I was wondering if they were peter jacksons kids or something.
Anyway, that is it for now. I will probably say more later when other people have seen it and there are people to talk to.
Oh, and I am going to see it again. So don't not ask me just because you think you've already seen it. :)
No, really. A lot of spoilers. :)
Well, firstly just to say it ruled. :) I decided yesterday to see if I could get tickets for one of the daytime sittings and wandered into town and got one for the 3:45. A bit of shopping later and I snuck to the cinema early, only to find 100 people had already snuck there early before me. :)
On the other hand because I am billy no mates and was on my own I still got one of the better seats in the house by filling a gap right in the middle of the cinema. :)
The film was great. I got a little bored at the beginning as it went "Here is sam and frodo walking along. HEre is pippin and merry being carried along. Here are Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (sp?) walking along. Oooh, look. Sam and frodo are still walking..." It might not hae been that bad but the beginning did seem to get taken up with a lot of pretty scenery shots. On hte other hand it did have a cool gandalf bit at the beginning. That was most pretty, especially when they fell into the huge cavern and you just saw the long range shot of the fireyness falling downfrom a hole in the roof of this cavern. Mmmm... nice. :)
The film did pick up a bit after that and quickly got exciting. Even though I have read the books I still couldn't remember half of what was going on. It was great. It was as if I had never seen lord of the rings before. :) It was just things like when the elves turned up in Helm's Deep and I went "oooh... bouncey bouncey" cos I totally thought they were leaving. :) On the other hand I was all "Oooh... bouncy bouncy" when Gandalf turned up to resuce the people of Helm's deep and I totally new that was coming. Even before the irritating gandalf voice over to remind those with poor memories that he said he'd be turning up.
The two big fights were fantastic. Helm's deep was a classic huge battle against overwhelming odds. The shots of all the children getting swords and armour just sent a chill through me as I realised that some of those they were arming would be no more sword trained than me and would likely fall as quickly as I if they ever actually faced the fight.
The great scaling contraptions were fantastic. The first ladders with people on the top ready to mount the battlements and their bigger brothers, full scaffolds nearly that were chock full of the urruk-thingummys. It was great. I also liked the big boomy bit whenthey blew the wall up and probably killed more of their own than of the defenders. On the other hand the point was to breach the wall, not kill the bad guys. The wall was fairly inevitably going to fall all over people when in smaller chunks.
On the other side there was the battle at isengard. I think in a way I preferred this since it was a much more decisive victory by the ents. The cunningness of pippin or merry, whichever it was, was to be commended in getting the ents to fight. Well, that is assuming he wanted to go via isengard to make sure treebeard saw the devastation saruman had wrought. The fact that wasn't made explicitly clear f0or the american audience does make me wonder though... :)
The ents were so much more of a "we're pissed and going to wipe out everything in our way" that it was great. The stomped over everybody, treading on people, drop kicking them and bowling boulders at them. The ords had no clue what to do at first, thinking to drag one down with a rope and then realising how long it took to chop up an ent as hismates kicked the crap out of them.
I worried when they started setting fire to them but then they broke the damn and it was all over. The ents took route and isengard was flooded. Of particular note in that scene is the burning ent bending down to put his head out in the oncoming flood waters. Particularly fine. :)
Gollum was also good. His multiple personalities were very well betrayed and the idea of the suffering he has been through was well made. I don't remember him being quite as sympathisable in the books as he was in the film. I was feeling sorry for him and hoping people would be nice to him which I don't recall in the books. I'm wondering if that is because he will ultimately make a difference for good so they wanted to make him a bit good now. *shrug* I dare say somebody will let me know when they have seen the film and read this. :)
Apart from gollum the frodo and sam stuff is a little dull. It is an interesting development and one of the key things in the film (lord of the rings has to focus on the ring a fair bit really). I just got the feeling they were doing nothing but walking along when I saw them. It brightened up when the saw the oliphant and got captured byt the men of gondor but that again was a little dull. I think the trouble is that a lot of what is going on with frodo and sam is very subtle and works better in print. Either that or frodo annoys me. Clearly I am not a pervy hobit fancier.
On that subject I do seem to have become a pervy elf fancier. Legolas is great and Wasshername is an absolute babe. I'm still the prettiest though.
Oh, and on the offchance that anybody speaks elven I would be interested to know what the quotation in the end credits said. Also the two "Cute kids" who ran away witht he warning at the beginning are blah and blah jackson and I was wondering if they were peter jacksons kids or something.
Anyway, that is it for now. I will probably say more later when other people have seen it and there are people to talk to.
Oh, and I am going to see it again. So don't not ask me just because you think you've already seen it. :)