Looks like a draw so far - one vote for Fellowship, one for Towers, on for Return and two can't decide (like me)... All three have too many things I love and too many I don't to decide :/
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Two Towers. Return of Gandalf, introduced us to Rohan and the Ents and the battle at HD kicked ass. I even liked the license PJ took by having Elven archers there. Glad he did'nt use the scenes with Arwen in it though. That would have been TOO much of a departure. Still love the other two though
Fellowship for me. I loved the tone and subtle grit, the theme of innocent hobbits venturing out from their warm and friendly shire into the cold and dangerous world.
The return of the king hands down was the better movie, but in my honest opinion it's one of the greatest trilogies out there, not one of those movies are below 8/10
I always felt the Fellowship was the weakest of the 3. I actually remember falling asleep during it because I found the beginning so boring. I realize the parts in Hobbiton were meant to show you everything Frodo and the other hobbits were fighting for, but I just found it really dull. The movie does pick up once they leave Hobbiton. The movie also has scenes that actually make me cringe. The love scene between Aragorn and Arwen is basically the scene that does that for me.
Two Towers for me is my favorite film. You have the ents, you have helm's deep, you have Rohan and the introduction of Faramir. You have the introduction of Gollum as well.
Return of the King was also a good film and comes in a close second. I realize it had a battle larger then Helm's Deep, but for me Helm's Deep just seemed more intense and personal for some reason. The way the ending dragged on was a negative for me also. On top of that some other cringe worthy scenes. Specifically the scene where Eowyn fights the Witch King and defeats him. Yes I realize in the books there was more context, but we didn't get that in the film so it was just plain awful and made no sense. This is the person Gandalf seemed afraid of...and that is the guy who fought and killed the Balrog.
Also didn't like the ghost army thing and felt it was a lame deus ex machina. I feel it undermined all the sacrifices various characters made by bringing out this unstoppable army to save the day at the last minute. I realize this doesn't happen in the books. Also certain choices to me made no sense, like Sauron basically emptying out his entire army to go meet Aragorn at the black gate even though Gandalf says he will never take the bait and yet it takes all of 20 seconds for him to decide to take the bait without any real explanation as to why. Wanting Aragorn dead isn't a reason to send out your entire army, especially when there isn't a valid reason for Aragorn to deliver himself to your doorstep unless he has some kind of plan.
As for Aragorn, wouldn't it of made more sense for Aragorn to keep the invincible ghost army under his control? I know people are saying "he gave his word to free them" but he could of simply waited until the defeat of Sauron before doing so...the fate of the world was at stake. He could of sent them through the black gate to kill every orc. I would expect a guy who is supposed to be King-like material to do what is best for the people, even if it means breaking his own word by keeping the army under his control until he can get rid of Sauron's armies.
Now if you asked me which of the Tolkien movies contains the coolest action for me it is hands down the final film in The Hobbit trilogy.
__________________ Chicken Boo, what's the matter with you? You don't act like the other chickens do. You wear a disguise to look like human guys, but you're not a man you're a Chicken Boo.
The establishment of the world, the backstory, and the impetus for the quest is masterfully done. As is the slow build up to the Council of Elrond. Action is kept sparse but great all the way until Moria.
The cast of characters is small and contained (relatively).
The story largely follows one narrative the whole way through--the Fellowship's journey. We're not cutting away from Frodo and Sam to follow Merry and Pippin for a while, or leaving Aragorn, Gimli, and LEgolas to follow Gandalf and Pippin for a while. Not a whole lot of cutaways like to Eomer, Eowyn, Arwen, Gollum, Faramir etc. The plot stays tight and focused from the second half on, and even the first half doesn't deviate too much.
There's not a whole lot of CGI, and the parts that are are fairly short and well done.
The big battle at the climax isn't some massive siege or million+ orcs and soldiers going at it. There's two significant, emotionally heavy deaths (that are permanent at least in this film alone).
The pacing is perfect. Not knocking the other two, but Fellowship's pacing is absolutely spot-on.
And that fight scene. I don't usually gush over fight scenes, but Aragorn's fight with the chief Uruk... sploosh! We love the hero, we hate the bad guy who just killed our other hero who was fighting for redemption by protecting two lovable Hobbits. It was quick paced, it was clear, it was intense, and it was real! Loved it.
The Hobbit movies can go straight to the bargain bin. I agree with Viggo Mortensen when he said: "It was grandiose, and all that, but whatever was subtle, in the first movie, gradually got lost in the second and third. Now with The Hobbit, one and two, it’s like that to the power of 10."
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
It might of been CGI but..it made Sauron actually a bad ass. He did bad ass shit like his fight with Gandalf and he's destroying a bunch of shit and then he's fighting Galadriel.
In the original trilogy we see him in armor swatting away some soldiers. Then we just see his flamed eyeball and hear his voice. The Hobbit movies showed us just WHY Sauron should be so damn feared. The original LOTR movies showed us why his armies should be feared, but not the man himself. They told us why we should fear him, but as my math teacher always said: show your work.
__________________ Chicken Boo, what's the matter with you? You don't act like the other chickens do. You wear a disguise to look like human guys, but you're not a man you're a Chicken Boo.
Sauron was never depicted in the books as some badass hulk of a super-soldier who knows how to f*ck things up, brah! Magic and the concept of "power" in that universe is subtle. Like the Ring is powerful, but not in the Superhero way of "it can't blow up the galaxy!"
The Hobbit films' preoccupation with fight scenes ignored that. There was nothing subtle about them. Sauron didn't need to be seen, he didn't need to be fighting the heroes physically and directly. That entire side-quest is only mentioned in the book, and it kept it mysterious and enigmatic. But because these are prequel films, the producers felt no nevermind about blowing that wad and just showing us more Sick Action, Bro! It's f*cking sweet!
It was kinda lame.
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
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May 6th, 2012 04:10 PM
