Quaking with anticipation of LotR's II

[Danbry39]

I have to wait until next Monday to see it, but it is the number 1 movie I want to see on the BIG screen. Someone else must be looking forward to seeing this epic battle between good :W and evil :F and what lurks ahead for our noble heroes.

;-x :a>'> :hb :2guns: :bash:




Keith

[P-Dub]

I'm catching the first showing at midnight. So T minus 4 hours. Off to meet my friend in line.




Paul

There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

[Burke Strickland]

Saw it at the first midnight showing (which was sold out in the two largest theaters in one of Houston's largest complexes) -- well worth the 2 hour wait to get in. Watching the waiting crowd was a show in itself. Even the ones who WEREN'T in costume. :>)

The movie was all I had hoped for and more. It has sweeping specatacle and incredibly beautiful photography, but in the true spirit of the book, also has elements of serious drama and comic relief. I really cared about the characters, again well portrayed by a superlative cast, and found their dilemnas and resolutions quite engaging. I just wish I didn't have to wait a full year to see the third movie, but in the meantime I expect I'll enjoy "The Two Towers" several more times. :>)

Burke

[David Meek]

Burke, you went last night?!?!?!?! Too cool. Glad to hear it met/exceeded your expectations, 'cause knowing that your tastes are similar to mine, that's a GOOD sign. :drool:




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[Danbry39]

Oh yeah, Burke's got me shaking harder now.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!




Keith

[P-Dub]

What can I say? Peter Jackson has done a wonderful job. Let me preface this review by the fact that I have not read the books, but I will now.

I was a bit concerned going into the movie as I had read some other reviews that this was not as good as the first movie. I don't know about that. Both movies are excellent and I think this just builds on the first. I felt the ending is a bit more neatly tied up that the first.

Where do I start? Frodo and Sam are one their quest to get to Modor, but did anyone bring a map? That's okay because we get introduced to Golum very soon. Now this is a great character, I actually felt sorry for him. Of the rest of the fellowship, I think Gimli was coming off more of a comedy relief than I expected. Everybody else remained true to their initial development in the first film. A big surprise for me was hearing the orcs talk.

The rest of the movie was totally engaging and breathtaking. Nobody should be concerned about the running time, in fact I think I could have easily watched another hour!




Paul

There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

[Patrick Sun]

1st hour - above average, mainly played for chuckles.
2nd hour - okay, either too slow or too long depends on your POV.
3rd hour - off the hook and totally insane!

The intercutting among the groups in the 3rd act just spoils a lot of the momentum of the film, and the editing could have been better.

The special effects and the production values are first rate, and must be considered the top contender in the Oscar race for, again, most of the technical areas. Gollem was integrated very seamlessly through the film for the most part. The Ents were realized, but I found their personality to truly slow the pace of the film to a standstill (I guess that's point, but it doesn't quite contribute to the momentum of the film as a cinematic experience). Pippen and Merry's hanging with the Ents was the weakest part of the film for me.

The film comes up short in the characterization and scope because it slips into exposition at awkward moments (the sin of "show, don't tell").

Gimli steals the movie from...I'm not quite sure from who, but I'll get back to you on that. Nonetheless, he gets most of the laughs, with some additional ones from Gollem and Sam. Legolas does a couple of manuevers that will elicit applause from the crowd, you'll know it when you see it.

The acting was above average. I think Elijah Woods does a good job showing the effects of the ring's emerging and powerful hold on him. I didn't find a lot of heightened dramatic moments between characters, I thought the crisis points were a bit too laid back in the face of insurmountable odds.

The battle scenes need to be seen on a big screen to be appreciated and enjoyed. The scope of the battles in the 3rd hour delivers a good finish to this 2nd installment of the trilogy.

The audience cheered in several spots in the film, and applauded at the end. A young guy sitting next to me snored at 4 different points in the film, mainly in the 2nd hour, I looked over, and his head was tilted back and he was totally snookered and in REM sleep. Strange, but true.

I give it a solid 3 stars, or a grade of B.




PatCave; HT Pix;Gear;DIY Projects;DVDs; LDs

[David Meek]

Aw man, I had my eyes on the 11:40 PM showing tonight, but friends coming in from Seattle asked us to wait until they could go with us. Waaaahhhhhhh.




David - HTGuide flunky
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[efarstad]

Friends from Seattle? If it's not me...then who?

E





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[David Meek]

E, it's my best friend Keith and his wife Kristi. Technically, they live in Everett, but hey, everyone knows where Seattle is.

When are you coming to Houston? Huh? Burke and I are waiting. . . .




David - HTGuide flunky
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[Burke Strickland]

When are you coming to Houston? Huh? Burke and I are waiting. . . .

Yeah, E, come on down! There's some cool HT-related stuff to check out here. And if you and the family get down here before August, The Two Towers will probably still be playing somewhere in town. (Fellowship of the Rings was still in a few local "dollar" ciinemas the week the DVD came out this past August, so if history repeats...)

Do you like Thai food? If you do, or have never tried it but would like to, we might know a place. :>) There are quite a few excellent, reasonably priced restaurants in Houston representing just about every cuisine known to humankind, but there is one Thai restaurant in town that, just about by itself, is worth making the trip.

Burke

[David Meek]

(in best Bart Simpson voice) Mmmmmm, Nit Noi.

[Danbry39]

Well, finally got to see LotR's II today. First off, I give it 4 out of 4 stars, but not as strongly as the first installment.

The special effects were possibly the best I've EVER seen. Gollem transcends Yoda from Star Wars, especially SW's II. The way they developed his personality and built a realistic personality that sparkled with uniqueness without any sense of being artificial was an achievement. The same goes for the Ents as far as giving them artistic expression, although I agree with Patrick that these scenes significantly slowed down the pacing of the film. Some of the other creatures were amazingly well drawn, from the dragon like flying creatures to the whatever they were that the bad guys were riding in the one battle scene. Of course, the battle scenes were spectacular.

Nonetheless, in my opinion, the film as a whole was not as focused as the first. It seemed more choppy the way it jumped from one scene to the next. Of course, this could all be part and parcel to my going in extremely drowsy from hardly having any sleep last night while finishing up Band of Brothers. But, to me, the first of the trilogy was more cohesive.

I remember leaving the first installment just oozing with excitement. I couldn't stop talking about it. I enjoyed this one immensely, but that sense of exhileration didn't linger like the first. On the other hand, the scene where Aragon has to talk to the young guy who is obviously too young for battle, touched me more than any scene in either of the two LotR's. I feel it is an experience not to be missed. And, I'm can't wait until the final course arrives next year at this same time. What saddens me is that it has to stop after number three.




Keith

[David Meek]

This was one of the most intense movies I have seen. I was sweating by the time the battle for Helms Deep was over. It ranks with Black Hawk Down, We Were Soldiers, Das Boot and the original Alien for sheer seat-of-the-pants tension. It takes up exactly at the end of Fellowship and continues on without any lead-in. If you haven't read the books or haven't seen the first film, you'll be playing catch up - good luck.

The storyline strays from the book in places, but that had already been mentioned by director Peter Jackson. The first and third movies hold more true to the written works according to him. Two Towers doesn't suffer in any way compared to the first film in terms of quality imagery and sound, even though it IS a very different film from the first. This is warfare of one kind or another throughout the film after the first 30-40 minutes - not a lot of character development happens although several new characters are introduced. The exceptions to the character developement lack are two: in the first, some time is spent going further into the relationship between Arwen and Aragorn, and in the second a good bit of time is spent delving into Gollum's (Smeagol) twisted psyche. Patrick makes a good point about Gimli being used for some comic relief - the entire audience roared at one point immediately before the penultimate battle sequence. Also, the series dealing with the Ents does move slower than the rest of the film, but that may be a directorial choice as in the book, the Ents do move very slowly at least until aroused.

Visually, this is another masterpiece. Again, there is no loss of quality compared to Fellowship. F/X was stunning. Period. Peter Jackson talked about it in a magazine (Time or Widescreen Review I think) article. In the big battle scenes, each elf, warrior, orc and haru-kai was modelled individually via a program called Massive, and was given independent movements like thrust, parry, advance, retreat, etc. Then they turned the battle animation loose (my words, not his). Talk about some grand battle sequences! Talk about some SERIOUS computing power!!!

Sonically, it's just as luscious as its predecessor. Deep bass, great sweeping soundstage, understandable dialog (which is quite a feat with the orcs, haru-kai and Gollum), continuous ambient sounds from the surround channels, you name it.

I know, I know, I'm saying the same thing over and over about how this film is fabulous or great or whatever, but that's just the way it goes. Folks, it just doesn't get any better than this in the fantasy movie genre. If you haven't read the books or seen the first film, hit the bookstore for the Cliff's Note version of Fellowship Of The Ring, read it and take yourself to see this movie. Awesome!

It's a :5::1: out of :5:, hehe.

P.S. I'm heading back to see it again tomorrow.
P.P.S. Saw it again today. Edited above post for content.




David - HTGuide flunky
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[Burke Strickland]

What saddens me is that it has to stop after number three.

Don't get out the hankies just yet. :>) I'm not so sure of it actually ending at three. When New Line Cinema totals up the receipts from the first three LOTR movies (in the BILLIONS of dollars) they'll be scouring the appendices and footnotes of LOTR for more story material (in fact, they already have -- that's where the love story scenes between Aragorn and Arwen in The Two Towers came from) -- and, if the rumors are true, there are parts of the book(s) story pages that were never even filmed for the original three movies... so someone in Hollywood is probably going back to New Zealand before this is all over. :>) Now whether they really should extend it beyond three movies is a totally different question.

Pity the poor series that go beyond three. Most should stop before that, even. Actually they'll be breaking a trilogy jinx if the third LOTR is as good as or better than the first two. For instance, does anyone take Jaws 3 seriously? And I think the Alien series should have stopped at two, and The Godfather III, while not being a terrible movie, wasn't in the same league as the first two. Ditto "Return of the Jedi". (The less said about Ep I, the better. And although I enjoyed Ep II more than Ep I, even it isn't in a league with the original Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back.) And while Porky's I and II were strong statements for social equality and good taste, :>) the third in that series was just silly.

OTOH. the third Indie Jones movie was far better than the second, and a lot of folks felt the third in the Back To The Future franchise was stronger than the second. So it can happen that the third is a rousing and worthy finish to a trilogy. For the record, I'm betting LOTR: Return of the King will be the best of the three.

Burke

PS -- Of course we have the James Bond flicks that break all the rules about sequels and defy even keeping an accurate count of how many. :>) And let's not even get into Star Trek, Halloween, etcetera...

[David Meek]

Did anyone catch the "making of" bit on the scene where Gollum is chasing the fish in the rapids? Andy Serkis had to do the shot 4 times. Not a big deal right? Well, they had to UNTHAW the river where the scene was filmed. Turns out it was winter in New Zealand at the time and when the crew got to the site, it had snowed! They had 5 hours to melt all the snow and get rid of all the ice, and they did it using blowers, heaters, big fans and high-pressure hoses. Yeah, the guy ought to get an Oscar just for surviving the shoot.
8O

Then, there was the scene where Aragorn was floating in the river - Viggo Mortensen almost drowned in filming it. He got caught in an undertow in the rocks and nearly didn't get out.
8O 8O




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[George Bellefontaine]

Regarding whether or not there will be a LOTR IV, the director may go the Lucas route and go back and film THE HOBBIT, which was the first book, followed by the Lord Of The Rings Triology.

Maybe ? Maybe not.




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[Brandon B]

A friend at New Line says this (Hobbit) has been heavily discussed. New Line is supposedly keen to do it. Whether Jackson & Co are I don't know.

BB

[David Meek]

I can see Mr. Jackson and company wanting to move on to other things, but I really hope that if the Hobbit is made they are the ones that do it. Continuity of production levels, style, cast and everything would eventually make this THE definitive DVD collection IMHO.
:-y




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[George Bellefontaine]

I couldn't agree more, Tex.




My Homepage!

[Burke Strickland]

Whether or not they get around to doing more LOTR-related movies than the trilogy, The Two Towers is definately worth seeing again. I'm glad I went again last night.

I enjoyed it even more the second time than I did opening night, even though the crowd was not as attentive (cell phones going off right and left, kids below the age of 13 loudly asking a lot of questions about what was going on, a lot of drink slurping and ice crunching, crying babies, etcetera).

But the sound system was far better (real surround effects and substantial bass), and the screen was uniform all the way across (no "patches" in the middle) and the projectionist kept in in focus all the way through without letting the reel change marks stay on screen for a long time.

Having already seen the "changes" made from the book and therefore not being blindsided/disappointed by them this time, I could sit back and enjoy the story as a film drama -- a heck of a good one. I was even less aware of the three hours passing this time than before (although never looked at watch the first time either) :>) -- the story moves right a long and I still feel the interleaving between story threads was very effective, not confusing to me at all. There are some really touching scenes as well as the kick-ass action in the battle sequences.

I wish Ian McKellen had gotten the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Fellowship of the Ring, because, as effective as he still was the second time around, there are a couple of other performances in The Two Towers that stole the show from him in the acting department. As just about everyone knows by now, one of those was the character that basically shows CGI doesn't have to suck. :>)

When the Two Towers DVD finally comes out, I know for sure it will be a "must buy". I also know for sure which film I'll be standing in line for December 2003. :>)

Burke

[Andrew Pratt]

We went to see it for the first time yesterday afternoon and it was about what I expected...which was excellent I agree wholeheartedly with what's been said above. Gollum was amazing 8O The fight scenes were similar to the first movie in that they're sometimes a little dark and jittery but its a style choice. I did find the story jumped a little more then the first one did but it wasn't too bad to follow. All in all I can't wait to watch it at home

[Brandon B]

I wish Ian McKellen had gotten the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Fellowship of the Ring, because, as effective as he still was the second time around, there are a couple of other performances in The Two Towers that stole the show from him in the acting department. . . .
Burke

I find this very disappointing as well. Even Ian M acknowledged in an interview that he preferred playing Gandlag the G to Gandalf the W, as he was a more complex and human character. Really a bummer, as I feel like maybe a lot of academy members passed over LOTR last year thinking they'd vote for it later since 2 more movies were coming.

BB