AmyStrange.org and the UNeXpLaiNed ©Copyrighted by Dave Ayotte & Caty Bergman
OUR BLOG: 2012 JUN
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2012-06-17 [SUN] 07:52 AM
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
[Fellowship of the Ring (2001)]
[The Two Towers (2002)]
[The Return of the King (2003)]
As we mentioned at the end of our
MARCH BLG entry:
http://www.amystrange.org/BLG-2012-03.html#17-1212
J.R.R. Tolkien (the original source for this trilogy) wrote a prequel to it called "The Hobbit" that, in Dave's opinion (not mine, I don't care one way or the other), should have been included as part of the trilogy which would then ultimately make it a four book trilogy. But, as the "official" story goes:
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
"The Hobbit
"Tolkien never expected his stories to become popular, but by sheer accident a book called The Hobbit, which he had written some years before for his own children, came in 1936 to the attention of Susan Dagnall, an employee of the London publishing firm George Allen & Unwin, who persuaded Tolkien to submit it for publication. However, the book attracted adult readers as well as children, and it became popular enough for the publishers to ask Tolkien to produce a sequel.
"The request for a sequel prompted Tolkien to begin what would become his most famous work: the epic novel The Lord of the Rings (originally published in three volumes 1954-1955). Tolkien spent more than ten years writing the primary narrative and appendices for The Lord of the Rings, during which time he received the constant support of the Inklings, in particular his closest friend Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia. Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set against the background of The Silmarillion, but in a time long after it... "
Anyway that aside, we finally got the first movie of the trilogy (LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring) from Netflix; so this weekend we're going to watch them in a row and blog our thoughts and post our notes as we watch them. Hope you enjoy this extra-special LOTR movie-trilogy blog.
2012-06-17 [SUN] 03:48 PM
CAST:
Elijah Wood
Sean Astin
Ian Holm
Ian McKellen
Christopher Lee
Orlando Bloom
Billy Boyd
Liv Tyler
Cate Blanchett
Sean Bean
Brad Dourif
Bernard Hill
Viggo Mortensen
Miranda Otto
John Rhys-Davies
Bruce Spence
Karl Urban
Hugo Weaving
David Wenham
DIRECTOR:
Peter Jackson
I've never read the books, nor seen any of these movies and neither has Dave, but he has read all four of the books, although he doesn't remember any of the details at least not until we see the movie anyway.
I have read the beginning of the Hobbit and it is funny, but these three movies take place after the first book (or maybe it's before, we don't know for sure), but not haven't read "The Hobbit" shouldn't detract from this trilogy, but I do recommend getting "The Hobbit" and at least reading the first two chapters.
Before we get to watching the movies, here is a select quote from Wikipedia about the author, and his novels:
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings
" ...The work was initially intended by Tolkien to be one volume of a two-volume set, with the other being The Silmarillion, but this idea was dismissed by his publisher. It was decided for economic reasons to publish The Lord of the Rings as three volumes over the course of a year from 21 July 1954 to October 1955, thus creating the now familiar Lord of the Rings trilogy. The three volumes were entitled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Structurally, the novel is divided internally into six books, two per volume, with several appendices of background material included at the end of the third volume. The Lord of the Rings has since been reprinted numerous times and translated into many languages... "
And about the trilogy of films:
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_film_trilogy
" ...The films were directed by Peter Jackson and distributed by New Line Cinema. Considered to be one of the biggest and most ambitious movie projects ever undertaken, with an overall budget of $285 million, the entire project took eight years, with the filming for all three films done simultaneously and entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand. Each film in the trilogy also had Special Extended Editions, released on DVD a year after the theatrical releases. While the films follow the book's general storyline, they do omit some of the plot elements from the novel and include some additions to and other deviations from the source material.
"Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the three films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) as he and a Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, and thus ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron. The Fellowship becomes divided and Frodo continues the quest together with his loyal companion Sam (Sean Astin) and the treacherous Gollum (Andy Serkis). Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, and the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) unite and rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, who are ultimately victorious in the War of the Ring... "
We are watching the above mentioned "Special Extended Edition" for the first movie, but are watching the regular theatrical releases of the final two.
Also, here is one quote about the making of "The Hobbit", soon to be released (according to Wikipedia, and as of this writing):
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_film_trilogy
" ...A two-part prequel based on Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit is currently in production, slated for release in 2012 and 2013.... "
We had to go do laundry first, just got back, and are READY to Rock and Roll:
(NOTES) 2012-06-17 [SUN] 03:51 PM
==================================================
(2001) "LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring"
A Wingnut Films Productions.
"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth.
I smell it in the air
[...]
"It began with the forging of the great Rings. Three were given to the
elves. Imortal, wisest, and fairest of all beings. Seven to the
dwarf-lords: Great miners and craftsmen of the moutain halls. And
nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of men; who, above all
else, desire power. For within these rings was bound the strength
and will to govern each race.
"But they were all of them deceived. For another ring was made. In the
land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron
forged in secret a Master Ring to control all others. And into this
ring he poured all his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate
all life.
"One Ring to rule them all. One by one, the Free Lands of Middle-earth
fell to the power of the ring. But there were some who resisted... "
AND THIS IS HOW THE FIRST MOVIE BEGINS
A great war of resistence, a last alliance of men and Elves, began.
When victory was near, Sauron (and the power of the ring) arrived.
When all was almost lost, "Isildur, son of the king, took up his
father's sword. Sauron, the enemy of the Free Peoples of
Middle-earth, was defeated... "
But since the hearts of men were easily corrupted, the ring was not
destroyed but lost.
"History became legend.
Legend became myth... "
The ring, lost and forgotten, was found by Gollum and taken to the
Misty Mountains.
Bilbo Baggins (a Hobbit and an unlikely intention of the ring) then
finds the ring. Bilbo originally appeared in the original tale,
"The Hobbit".
He sits down to write "A Hobbits Tale". Beginning with:
"The 22nd day of September, in the year 1440 (by Shire
reckoning)... "
Gandalf (to Frodo Baggins, "You're late.") as he arrives for Bilbo's
birthday party: "A wizard is never late Frodo Baggins, nor is he
early. He arrives precisely when he means to."
Bilbo: "Old Toby. The finest weed in the Southfarthing."
Weed? Is this a tobacco like plant, or something else... Hehehe.
The fireworks at Bilbo's BD Party are pretty awesome.
Magical to say the least.
One scene with two teen Hobbits trying to light a firework inside a
tent is hilarious, as the tent goes up into the air with it.
Bilbo (the best double talk we've ever heard): "Today is my 111th
birthday! But alas, eleventy-one years is far to short a time to
live among such excellent and admirable Hobbits. I don't know half
of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of
you half as well as you deserve.
[...]
"I regret this is the end. I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond
farewell."
He then disappears. One of the qualities of the ring he found.
Reappearing in his home with Gandalf soon to follow, Bilbo tells him
the ring is in an envelope, but it's not. It's in his pocket, and
he doesn't want to let go of his "precious". A good scene follows
where the evil hold the ring has over it's possesor is displayed
quite well.
Even Gandalf seems enchanted (while smoking "Old Toby" it seems to us)
when he gets the ring back from Bilbo who drops it as he leaves.
Finally regaining his senses, he hands it to Bilbo, "Along with all
his possesions, the ring is yours now."
After we see Gandalf researching the ring in his library, he finds a
reference to it, "The year 3434 of the second age. Here follows the
account of Isildur, High King of Gondor and the finding of the Ring
of Power"; the scene then shifts to a great castle on a moutaintop,
and the cinematography (along with the soundtrack) begins to get a
darker tone to it.
Frodo is then told by Gandalf (after an insane-like state of anxiety)
of the rings power, and what he has to do with it.
FRODO: "There are markings. It's some form of Elvish. I can't
read it."
GANDALF: "There are few who can. The language is that of Mordor,
which I will not utter here."
F: "Mordor!"
G: "In the common tongue, it says:
'One Ring to rule them all.
One Ring to find them.
One Ring to bring them all.
And in the darkness bind them.'
[...]
"The Ring has awoken. Its heard its master's call."
F: "But he was destroyed. Sauron was destroyed."
G: "No, Frodo. The spirit of Sauron endured. His life force is
bound to the Ring, and the Ring survived. Sauron has returned. His
Orcs have multiplied. His fortress [the castle on the mountaintop
we mentioned earlier] at Barad-dûr is rebuilt in the land of
Mordor. Sauron needs only this Ring to cover all the lands in a
second darkness. He is seeking it. Seeking it. All his thought is
bent on it. For the Ring yearns above all else to return to the
hand of its master. They are one, the Ring and the Dark Lord.
Frodo, he must never find it.
F: "All right. We put it away. We keep it hidden. We never speak
of it again. No one know's it's here, do they? Do they Gandalf?"
G: "There is one other who knew that Bilbo had the Ring. I
looked everywhere for the creature Gollum. But the enemy found him
first. I don't know how long they tortured him. But amidst the
endless screams and inane babble, they discerned two words:
'Shire!
Baggins!'"
F: "Shire. Baggins. But that would lead them here!"
[...]
"What must I do?"
G: "You must leave. And leave quickly."
F: "Where? Where do I go?"
G: "Get out of the Shire. Make for the village of Bree."
[...]
"I'll be waiting for you at the Inn of the Prancing Pony."
THIS (41m29s) is where the movie really starts to take off.
"Prancing Pony", Dave really loves that name. He's pretending to prance
around right now as I write this. What a maroon (old Bugs Bunny
insult). Ha ha.
Samwise Gamgee, caught evesdropping by Gandalf (a very funny scene), gets
roped into joining the high adventure. This is the stuff for which
video games were originally designed.
In the next scene we see Gandalf consulting with and finally fighting
his mentor Saruman, because he chose to follow the wisest path.
Joining Sauron. Gandalf is overpowered and it looks like the old
wizard is a goner for sure.
We next join Frodo and Samwise as they begin their journey in what
looks like a cornfield, not knowing what is happening to Gandalf.
Merry and Pippin join the party when they bump into Frodo and Sam
while they are crossing the cornfield. Pippin explains why he thinks
they are being chased by the owner of the field, saying that, "He's
clearly overeacting," about a few stolen carrots, cabbage, and
potatoes.
But, it's not the owner of the field that is chasing them (or so it
seems to us anyway) as a fine chase scene follows. Short but sweet.
They get away and end up at the "Prancing Pony", inquire about
Gandalf, but no one has seen him for six months.
This made me feel sad, but Dave comforted me by saying, "This part
reminds me of 'Star Wars'. You'll see what I mean." This is a reference to
I remember what happened in that movie so I felt a little better
although not by much.
Anyway, some fight scenes, and Frodo gets stabbed in one when the "Dark
Spirits" try to take the Ring away from him, although we haven't
figured out why Frodoo isn't affected by the Ring, and figured it was
because he was on the way to meet Sauron which was the Rings intent
to begin with.
We then see Gandalf releasing a moth (who still looks like he's on
death's door), and this is where we will end our virtual play
by play of the rest of the movie, which would be considered spoilers
by more people than we care to admit, but thus far, should give you
a good idea of what this movie (and generally the LOTR trilogy
novels) are all about.
==================================================
The LOTR trilogy is considered not only the first high adventure of its kind, but also the inspiration for a 1970's phenomenon called "Dungeons and Dragons", and ultimately (more or less) has been the basic (unwritten) rule book for high adventure games and novels, even to this day.
First there's the quest, next are the characters and their powers and what they can get away with and can't, and finally there's the magic. Gandalf the Wizard is almost a universally reveried character in the world of high adventure.
UPDATE: Fodor (over the angry and almost violent bickering voices of opposing forces) proclaims he will depose of the Ring. His friends (Pippens, Sam, and Merry) vow to join him.
This is where DISC NUMBER ONE (of two) ended.
Back to games, like we said above, there is the quest (the objective).
And second, the characters (besides knowing what they can and can't do) must be almost equal to those they oppose. This is important, because it sets the stage for believing that either side can win. Who would play a game you can't win?
Dave (in his own inimatable arrogance) tells me, "A game you can't win is better than any game that's easy to win."
"Whatever," was my reply.
But I've played games and as much as I hate to admit, he's "sometimes" right.
UPDATE: The fight with the octopus-like thing is very well done (meaning either CGI and/or special effects, etc.); it was all good). So was the fight at the bridge, the highlight being Gandalf proclaiming with his staff hitting the ground like thunder, "You shall not PASS!" As Dave said, "Good STUFF!!!"
I couldn't help but add, "WHOA! AWESOME!!" But started crying, and so did Dave.
Watch the movie and see why.
The fight at the end with the (obvious bad guy) demon was well choreograph. Aragon, one of the good guys, is definitely one of my favorites in this movie. He promises to his dying friend that he will not give up on "Our People".
A dying debate about the difference between "your people" and "our people" made Dave sad. I brushed away a tear myself.
A good movie because you can't help but care about the characters and what happens to them.
2012-06-17 [SUN] 11:08 PM
CAST:
Elijah Wood
Viggo Mortensen
Ian McKellen
Sean Astin
Andy Serkis
Orlando Bloom
John Rhys-Davies
Dominic Monaghan
Billy Boyd
Christopher Lee
Liv Tyler
Cate Blanchett
Bernard Hill
Brad Dourif
Miranda Otto
David Wenham
Karl Urban
Hugo Weaving
DIRECTOR:
Peter Jackson
We started watching the first part of the trilogy at around four, but now it is past eleven at night. This is obviously going to be an all night affair.
This episode begins with a recap of Gandalf's death.
It's almost confusing unless you've seen the first of the three-movie trilogy.
(NOTES) 2012-06-18 [MON] 05:01 PM ================================================== (2002) "LOTR: The Two Towers" Mr. Frodo? Samwise called Frodo Baggins that. Just weird. They capture a weird creature who swears to protect those who hold the "precious" (the Ring of power). They don't believe him, of course. Would you? Surprisingly to us, this weird little creature is the infamous Gollum. As told in the first movie, he was the one who had the ring before Bilbo Baggins found it. The "Two Towers" refers to Sauron and Saruman. The first movie was weird, but this one took it one step further. For example, there is a scene where Pippin and Merry are almost attacked and eaten by some of their captors, because all they have left to eat is moldy bread, and don't those Hobbits look tasty. One of their other captors says no and beheads one of the creatures who eyed Pippin and Merry tastily, and then everyone jumps on him, and (reminiscent of "Night of the Living Dead") devours him with bloody intestines flying everywhere. One of the themes running through this movie (I just picked up on this, but it hasn't hit Dave yet), and that is how many scenes where someone is thought to be killed, but shows up again a few scenes later. That is all I'm going to write about that. Hint. Hint. Wink. Wink. Nod. Nod. Ha ha. He just picked up on it too. We also learn that Gollum's real name is Sméagol. About halfway through the movie, a force of over 10,000 men begin marching on Rohan and then Gondor (the last free land of Men) to unite them all under one evil Ring of Power. The rest of the movie we hear references to this force as it draws closer and closer while Middle Earth prepares for these two final and decisive battles for control of all Earth. And finally, the first battle begins and ends with a victory for Frodo, Gandalf and their friends and allies, but as Gandalf says shortly after (paraphrasing), this may be the end of the battle for Helms Deep, but it's only the beginning of the battle for Middle Earth. At the very end of the movie, we see Frodo and Samwise meet up with Gollum (Sméagol) who is ready to show them the way to where they have to go, but just before he does this, we see him talking to himself in that split-personality way that we've seen on and off almost since Frodo and Samwise met up with him and decided to use him as a guide. The "evil" Gollum is vowing to kill Frodo and take the ring from him. The "good" Gollum steps out from behind the tree and waving them down, and then the three of them leave together and THAT is how the movie ends. ==================================================
2012-06-19 [TUE] 05:41 PM
CAST:
Elijah Wood
Viggo Mortensen
Ian McKellen
Sean Astin
Dominic Monaghan
Billy Boyd
John Rhys-Davies
Orlando Bloom
Ian Holm
Christopher Lee
Liv Tyler
Cate Blanchett
Brad Dourif
David Wenham
DIRECTOR:
Peter Jackson
The movie begins with a young Sméagol and his young friend, Déagol, fishing, finding the Ring, and fighting over it; with Sméagol killing Déagol over it.
(NOTES) 2012-06-19 [TUE] 06:25 PM ================================================== (2003) "LOTR: The Return of the King" For some reason, Dave tells me, he has always thought of Gandalf as a fearsome and quite stoic personality that neither laughed or even smiled. These movies gave Dave a different perspective on the Wizard then he had before. Yes, Gandalf can be serious when he needs to be, but he also knows when and how to relax and enjoy himself. I remember the name Gandalf, but mostly from a "Friends" episode where Ross and Chandler are to meet up with this "Gandalf" character who (I think) they call a "Party Wizard", so I'm not exactly sure where he got "fearsome and stoic" from? I guess I just have to read the books. Anyway, catching up. Samwise catches Sméagol plotting to kill them for the Ring, but that sneaky little shit somehow convinces Frodo that he's not and Samwise is the real evil one. The Stewart of Gondor (a kind of substitute for the King, but not really the King) doesn't want the real King to return. The real King is Aragon (long story), who just before the final battle for Gondor takes off for reinforcements, an army of the dead, and arrives back just in time to save his Kingdom. Frodo finally wakes up to what Sméagol is really doing, almost gets eaten by a GIANT spider (thank you Sméagol), fights with Sméagol, then flips him off a cliff. You can hear him scream all the way down, so I don't think he's coming back from the dead like a lot of other people in this movie. An aside about the Stewart of Gondor, me and Dave thought we recognized him, but finally we did. I was the first by a fraction of a second. He (John Noble) now plays the Mad professor (Walter Bishop) on "Fringe". ==================================================
All in all considering that all three movies together were around nine hours total, I liked it. I don't like war movies so much, they bore me, but this one had a lot of interesting characters and was funny and serious, and although the plot was kind of complicated not really as difficult to follow as I thought it would be. The ending was a hell of a nailbiter, but definitely well done. I was wrong about one thing though, Sméagol did return from the dead, sleazy little shit. Ha ha.
Dave agrees with me on most of my review, except maybe about war being boring, but that's his problem. He does admit though that he doesn't remember how this movie compares to the books. He doesn't remember most of what he read, except for the beginning of "The Hobbit", which really isn't in this movie, except maybe for Bilbo's birthday party at the beginning of the first movie. He says kind of did remind him a little of the beginning of "The Hobbit". This, I agree. It reminded me too of the beginning of the book.
Anyway, as a second to final word, Dave's favorite part was towards the end of the second movie when the tree lords (Etans) arrive to help vanquish the enemy. The tree person in charge screams, "Release the RIVER", and helps rip open the dam, water exploding out and swept away everyone (and everything) in its path, but somehow the river mostly only sweeps away the enemy, but why quibble. I liked that part too.
But, my personal favorite part, of all three movies, was towards the very end of the third movie when the soldier that no man can kill is killed... by a woman. Doesn't get any better than that.
Until next time...
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