The Boromir flashback is a very important scene, and it's absolutely criminal that it did not make the theatrical cut. It really shows you how much pressure Boromir had on him, and how much Faramir wanted to prove himself. Without that context, the motivations of both characters suffer.
Well,all Boromirs cut scenes were cut for cynical reasons,in the two towers,a scene with Boromir became a good marketing ploy;Buy the extended and see him again.
@@martinbynion1589 Rubbish...you mean they just arbitrarily cut scenes willy nilly? Alot of Boromir in Fellowship ends up in the extended cause "Its less important we get to know him cause he is gonna die soon" when connecting emotionally to him would be important precisely cause he was gonna die soon. His scene in the two towers leave little room as to why it was cut,its a scene many wanted and the narrative survives without it. In interviews Jackson,Viggo and Elijah were plugging the scene,"you're only gonna get the scene if you buy the extended." These movies are expensive products,they need to make their money back and they will have reasons behind it all. So yes,from a cynical standpoint it makes sense to trim Boromirs parts.
When Wormtongue shed a tear during Saruman's speech to the Uruk-hai; it was him realizing he has just signed the death warrant of his people. He clearly thought that Rohan was going to be subjugated, at this moment he realized it was going to be a genocide.
I mean, that's _one_ interpretation. Another, more cynical interpretation is that Gríma was simply overwhelmed by awe at the sight. Or that he had always known what his betrayal would effect, but felt a sudden affinity for his people and regret for his actions. The fact that it's not clear which interpretation is "correct" is the very thing that makes that scene so fantastic. No reason to insist it's one way or the other when there's no canonical evidence (not even from Jackson) to substantiate such claims.
@@JGComments True, he was speaking with glee, about how vulnerable women and children would be, on their journey. But perhaps it was indeed a case of "wait a second, I thought you'd instate me as the ruler of Rohan." That army meant "no no no, you misunderstood me, I meant to exterminate every last person, there will be no person left alive for you to rule."
"These movies is so long but is to short". You don't even know how many people watching this trilogy repeat this sentence. Practically everyone😀 And you guessed right that the last part will make you cry even more. Have plenty of tissues ready because you will be crying almost the entire time in the last hour of the movie, but they will be tears of joy and sadness at the same time.
It’s funny, you are one of few female reactors who see the use for Eowyn to stay with the people in the caves. Lot of women want her to fight and be a badass, but they don’t see the point of view of men, who want her to be here for their people in the case if all of them dies. The people will need a strong leader who will be here for them and able to defend them. And she is a strong woman. It’s sad there are so much misunderstandings of woman’s utility in different part of History just because of some gender fights. Thanks for your reaction
The all important backstory to Boromir/Faramir/Denathor that you saw here, Kahla, is NOT in the theatrical release... THAT's an example of why so many fans insist upon the extended versions that you have been watching! 😉
Once again, I’ve got to say “you get it! You really get it.“ I really appreciate your sensitivity, insight and enthusiasm. Thanks, and can’t wait for your next review!
At 31:12 you say, "Ooh, I love those lines!" In the book, the lines occur elsewhere in the story, spoken by Eomer: "Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising/I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing/To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking./Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!" It's in the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse, like Tolkien's beloved Beowulf.
Poor Arwen has a great deal of sorrow ahead of her no matter what. If she leaves, she'll be kicking herself over what could have been with Aragorn for all eternity. If she stays, she can't join her father, or her two brothers (who didn't make it into the films), her maternal grandparents Galadriel and Celeborn, or her mother, who left for the Undying Lands long ago because she had suffered severe trauma and could find no peace in Middle-Earth anymore. (The Undying Lands are a place of peace and healing, kind of like a heaven you can go to without having to die first.)
"Forty-two? Oh, that's not bad for a pointy-eared elvish princeling. Hmph! I myself am sitting pretty on forty-THREE." "Forty-three." "He was already dead!" "He was twitching." "He was TWITCHING because he's got my axe EMBEDDED IN HIS NERVOUS SYSTEM!" Fun Fact: They couldn't recruit enough men in the six foot height area to play Uruk-hai, so men from five foot high were cast as well. They were affectionately nicknamed the Uruk-Low. I Survived Helm's Deep Fact: The battle at Helm's Deep was edited down from twenty hours of footage, shot over a four month period with the rain machine battering down on the cast. Not CGI Fact: On the wall of Helm's Deep during the battle, a one-eyed warrior turns to the camera, revealing his scarred empty socket. The performer who played him showed up as an extra, wearing an eye patch. Director Sir Peter Jackson politely asked to see what was under the patch, and then inquired if the gentleman would be interested in appearing in the movie sans eye patch. The gentleman was reluctant at first, and quite self-conscious, but afterward, said the experience had made him more comfortable with his condition.
I knew about the "I Survived Helm's Deep" thing but did not know it took them that long to film, but it makes sense considering it is THE best medieval-esque battle sequence ever put to film. I'm sorry, GoT fans, I'm a fan too, but it doesn't even come close.
That part about Aragorn’s age hints at a LOT of history the movies can’t go into. Aragorn is descended from the royal family of the great ancient kingdom of Numenor, founded 6500 years before by Elrond’s twin brother Elros. The twins were mixed human/elf race, and the gods gave them a choice of which fate to belong to. Elrond chose to be an immortal elf, but Elros chose to be a man - with the compensation that he’d be founding king of Numenor, and live to be over 500. His descendants, including Aragorn, were therefore long-lived but decreasingly so over time. Aragorn could expect to live to be 200 or so. Numenor was the Middle Earth Atlantis, and had been destroyed 3,000 years prior to current events, but descendants survived and founded Gondor in the South. In the North they founded another Kingdom, Arnor. It had eventually been destroyed, but its descendants survived, and are called the Dunedain (Eowyn uses that term). Those not in the know, like most men and hobbits, call them the Rangers - the term the Bree innkeeper used for Strider, “He’s one of them Rangers …”
And those Dunedain toiled in anonymity for decades, keeping Bree-land and the Shire safe from encroaching servants of Sauron. The dismissiveness of the hobbits and Barliman the innkeeper over the poorly-dressed, rough-seeming Strider belies his noble nature and humble demeanor, and his desire to serve others with selflessness, which is a deeply important trait to have in a leader.
At the end of the Akallabeth, the tale of Numenor, Tolkien revealed the land's ancient name in Quenya: Atalante. This makes the story the longest and most elaborate pun ever written.
@@Nashalbeth The stuff in the Appendices was all meant to be part of the story, but Tolkien couldn't find a way to fit it in. So no, it's not just a timeline. It's all integral.
I always UGLY CRY at Sam’s little speech at the end 😭😭💖💖💖 even after hooting and hollering with joy at Gandalf arriving at Helm’s Deep and Treebeard and the Ents wrecking shop
I love how its seems like Arwen kisses Aragon awake after he fell off the cliff, but its really just his horse giving him face rubs. And I think it's the same horse he let free in Rohan.
How would you like to have a 1200-pound horse lie down next to you? Viggo Mortensen spent a lengthy period of time bonding with "Brego" (actually named Uraeus), even sleeping in the stable with him. The early stages of the training, with a dummy instead of a man, were not pretty! It all finally worked out, as we see. In the end, after the filming, Viggo bought Uraeus from the production company.
Arwen, as one of the High Elves of the West, had the power to "watch over Aragorn in thought from afar". Couple that with being Galadriel's granddaughter, as well as a touch of angelic blood in her through her father, made her far more powerful than many other Elves.
At 21:45, not every reactor realizes that the leader of this Elven army is Haldir, the leader of the Elf-band that stopped the Company when they entered Lothlorien in FOTR. Why he is bringing word from Elrond instead of Galadriel isn't clear. Incidentally, this army of Elves is not in the book--they had their own battle to fight on the borders of Lothlorien.
I think it was due to the fact that when they started filming they had Arwen lead the elves to Helm's Deep and had her fighting there. During filming, they changed their minds about that, deciding it didn't work the way they wanted and had to replace her with someone else, and aside from the leaders (Eldond, Galadriel, and Celeborn), Haldir is really the only elf the viewer has already seen before and gotten a name for.
Love the addition of elves to this battle, but HATE that it ended up the way it did for Haldir, my fave secondary character, who absolutely did NOT die in the books!
John Noble, who plays Denethor, says that he thinks the reason Denethor seems to hate Faramir is that he blames the boy for his mother's death in childbirth. (Sadly, this is not uncommon.) Yes, the "hero" of this tale is not one person, but the team of Frodo and Sam. Frodo could not have done this without Sam, but Sam would never have even considered going on this quest if not for Frodo. Frodo is doing this for the Shire, but Sam is doing it for Frodo. They're one unit together; the fate of the world is in both their hands.
It's also worth mentioning, Denethor had been using the Palantir Stone of Minas Tirith. And just like with Saruman, Sauron used it to influence Denethor, throw him into despair. He wasn't just an evil and crazy man.
Finduilas, Boromir and Faramir's mother died when Faramir was four years old so it wasn't reason. He just saw Faramir is weaker than his brilliant warrior son, Boromir. Boromir rejoiced in the fight. Faramir did not. Faramir told Pippin "I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." Next to Aragon, he is my favorite character and the movie did him no good service. They even changed the way he was injured. He was protecting the rear guard of his men and their wounded when he was struck by the arrows.
@@barbarakey554 Yes, do fansplain why an actor is wrong in his own interpretations of what a character means to them. Christ, you purists are so damn tiresome.
@@Serai3 I wasn't referring to the actor's interpretations of the the character but to the director/writer's interpretation of the character. The actor does what the director/producer/writer tells him to do. They took the character of Faramir and, for most of the movie, made him act 180 degrees different than what he was in the book. If you have not read the trilogy yet then go do so. Although I loved Boromir's last words to Aragorn, he didn't say them in the book but I felt it added to his character. His last words were "farewell, Aragorn". On the other hand, in the house of healing, when Aragorn brought Faramir back to health, when he awoke, he said that "who would sleep when the king has returned" Even weak and sick, he was ready to serve his king. So, again, I do not blame the character but the writers/producers who did almost everything they could to reduce his character. Most of my friends who have read the books, agree that Jackson, etc. did a great job but failed when they rewrote the character of Faramir and Denethor.
@6:43 Under heavy makeup and allergy-inducing prosthetics, John Rhys-Davies conveyed Gimli’s emotional state perfectly. His delivery of “He fell.” brings me to tears every time.
The scene with the stew is especially touching. More so when you realize that aragon has lived in the wilderness and has probably eaten things that would make a maggot puke.
I think it emphasizes that Eowyn, as basically a princess, isn't so skilled at cooking, while Aragorn, someone who has lived by his own wits for decades in the wilderness, can definitely stomach a lot of stuff, but after 87 years he's just not got the patience to put up with substandard stew!
So, basically, both Aragorn and Arwen are descendants of a line of half-men half-elf line of two brothers. The brothers got to choose if walking the path of elven inmortality or the path of human mortality. One of them chose to live as an Elf, that's Arwen's family and the other chose to live as a man and that's Aragorn's family. But even the men that came from this line have unnaturally long lifespans. This is also the readon why Arwen can choose to basically become mortal at will.
The info Wormtongue gives to Saruman is really just exposition for the audience. Saruman is a wizard. He's been around for a good long time, and he already knows all about Helm's Deep, plus he's got his bird spies, and other creatures working for him. There's nothing Wormtongue can tell him that he doesn't already know. The "Forbidden Pool" thing is not just some arbitrarily "sacred" pool such that anyone who swims in it is executed. There's a practical reason for it. The pool is fed by the waterfall that hides the entrance to a small cave complex that Faramir and his men use as a hidden base. They are what we'd call in modern times "guerilla fighters". Hidden in the no-man's-land between Gondor and Mordor, the monitor enemy movements, and hinder them when possible, like they did with the Haradrim (the guys with the oliphaunts). Anyone who enters the pool might discover their secret base of operations, and then their cover is blown. So they can't risk any enemy or stranger finding out about the caves. Helm's Deep is a very strong fortress, and like any fortress or castle, it's much easier to defend than to attack. A small force inside can defend itself against a much larger force on the outside - as long as their supplies hold out (especially food). Ents have a totally different way of thinking and looking at life than humans, or even elves. They live life very, very slowly - like trees. They are content to stand in one place for days or weeks or longer, just drinking in the rain and sunshine - like trees. They aren't used to the idea of going to war, being "active" and "dynamic". Getting all riled up is not something they generally do. It's very unnatural to them.
The actor who played Sam is Sean Astin and his mother was Patty Duke, and Academy Award winning actress. His father was John Astin who played Gomez in the original 1960's Addams Family. Sean also was the younger brother in the 1980's The Goonies. He was 14 when he played that part
@@ulfberht4431well... have to call you out... OF COURSE you want to speculate & accuse because that is EXACTLY what you do in your very next sentence... Which makes you not only a judgemental jerk but a stupid one as well...
the utter shock on Pippin's face at the moment when Merry told him "there wont be a Shire" is one of the best moments of acting in the movie - for Pippin, as well as for Merry (unless Bilbo and Frodo) the Shire was all of their world they knew, an absolute home :)
14:25 The reason the penalty for entering the forbidden pool is death is that the cave behind the waterfall (where Faramir and his men are keeping Frodo and Sam) is a secret Gondorian base in enemy territory to keep an eye on nearby Minas Morgul, the castle of Sauron's where the Witch King is based.
Minas Morgul, the former sister city of Minas Tirith, hundreds of years back when Minas Morgul was called Minas Ithil (Tower of the Moon), and Minas Tirith was called Minas Anor (Tower of the Sun).
Yes, anyone who enters the Forbidden Pool would be able to discover their secret hideout. Faramir explains this much more thoroughly to Frodo in the book. In fact, these chapters with Faramir and Frodo are definitely worth reading as they are one bit of the story that the movies didn’t do justice to. And I say that as an enormous fan of these movies.
You're one of my absolute favorite reactors. I was hooked when, during your reaction to the first Alien movie, you said "This is a level of nope I've never encountered before ".😅
You're right about the lines all meaning something, particularly Faramir's warning to Gollum. In Middle Earth, curses and oaths have real, binding power. Gollum swore on the Ring (the Precious) to serve Frodo. Faramir laid a simple, but very real curse upon him, that death should find him quickly if he leads Frodo and Sam to harm. Both Smeagol's oath and Faramir's curse have power to punish Smeagol if he breaks his word.
At 8:05, the movie doesn't make it clear, but the book explicitly says that Saruman fell into evil when he looked in the Palantir and was caught by Sauron: Gandalf says, "Alas for Saruman! It was his downfall, as I now perceive. Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves...Easy it is now to guess how quickly the roving eye of Saruman was trapped and held, and how ever since he has been persuaded from afar, and daunted when persuasion would not serve. The biter bit, the hawk under the eagle's foot, the spider in a steel web!"
Same thing happened to Denethor, Sadly, one of the few things I dislike about the movies, this was not shown in the movies, creating a true (but inaccurate) Baddie to heighten the drama. Still, I'd much rather have 99% of a legendary adventure than 100% of a literal and tedious borefest. 🙂
So well explained. I always love when people add direct quotes from the books. Denathor is similarly corrupted by Sauron though the use of a Palantir. However, rather than wanting to join with Sauron like Saruman does, he falls into utter despair. If I have one major complaint about the trilogy it is the treatment of Faramir and Denathor. Denathor is not a likeable man in the books. But you get a much better understanding of why he behaves the way he does. In the movies it just seems like he is the worst father ever and a terrible leader on top of it. And there is so much more to understanding his story as well as Faramir’s.
One of the best reactions I have seen to this trilogy. So much kudos to you for letting us share your journey. Be prepared for #3. It's an emotional rollercoaster.
At 8:30, Arwen's words, "May the grace of the Valar protect you," are the only reference in the movies to the Valar, the Guardians of the World. LOTR doesn't go very far into the "gods" of Middle-earth, but if you read The Silmarillion, Tolkien's "Bible" of Middle-earth, you'll find much of the story of the First Age of the world revolves around the dealings of the Valar with the Elves and Men. In general, when the Valar have tried to influence the actions of the inhabitants of Middle-earth, the results have not been good.
In the Third movie, there is a point where Gandalf says “May they be blessed.” In the book, the line continued “May they be blessed, as long as the Thrones of the Valar shall endure.”
Yeah... The War of Wrath, one of the few times they did get involved, did kind of nuke an entire continent and sink it into the sea. Probably best they try to not have something like that happen again.
At 4:00, the creatures the Orcs are riding are Wargs. PJ&Co. have turned them into sort of a cross between a hyena and a grizzly bear, but in Tolkien's books The Hobbit and LOTR the Wargs are large intelligent werewolves. This entire scene isn't in the book, but there is an episode in FOTR, just after the Company have failed to cross the Pass of Caradhras (called the Redhorn Gate in the book), when they are attacked at night by a pack of Wargs; Gandalf finally drives them off by setting a hilltop on fire. In the morning, when the fire has died down, the bodies of the Wargs have disappeared, and all of Legolas's arrows are lying undisturbed on the ground. In the book, it is this Warg attack that convinces the Company to go through the Mines of MOria.
Werewolves? Not quite. Intelligent creatures of evil in the form of large, sinister wolves? More likely. Carcharoth may have possibly been a fallen maia, but his descendants in the 3rd Age were never said to be shape-shifters. Beorn would have been able to tell.
@@rikk319 I was gonna say that too - they aren't werewolves (they don't turn back into people), they are just huge, relatively intelligent evil wolves.
@@tbessie because they learned about Aragon in school. It is a historic kingdom of Spain. If you had a character whose name was Chicargo, pronounced identically in your country to how Chicago is pronounced in your country, might you not occasionally make a repetitive mistake of calling them Chicago instead of Chicargo? Related fun fact: remember how back in the nineties, Burma changed its national spelling to Myanmar, and everyone hustled to learn the new pronunciation, whether My-an-mar or Mee-an-mar? Yeah, it turns out to be neither of those. I asked a Burmese customer how he pronounced “Myanmar.” His answer? “BA-MA.” Somewhat perplexed, I then asked him how he pronounced “Burma.” His response? “BA-MA.” “So they’re the same?” I asked. “Yes,” he replied. “Just the spelling is different.” So don’t be too harsh on the admirers of “King Aragon.” They may not be able to hear the difference in pronunciation, and they certainly have an excuse for mistaking the spelling.
Awesome trilogy ❤ my only complaint is Legolas' eye color changing from blue (contacts) to brown (natural color) throughout the movies. They forgot his contacts in a lot of scenes. Great reaction ❤
8:33 the Valar are the gods of Middle Earth. The Elves (and Aragorn) were very aware of them. They live in Valinor, the western land across the sea that the Elves are going to
Sam's relationship with Frodo is based very much, once again, on Tolkien's experiences in WWI. It's based on the idea from that time of an officer-batman relationship. A batman was a soldier who was assigned to a commissioned officer, and the two often formed a strong bond based on their experiences together, with the batman being extremely devoted to his commander. It's kind of a difficult concept for a lot of people in this day and age to really grasp, both because the military has changed so much, and because the class system isn't what it once was. In this case, Sam is from a lower (servant's) class to Frodo. The Shire's class system is a very idealized vision of it that Tolkien had, with everyone knowing their position in society and appreciating the contributions of the other positions. As a result, Sam is utterly devoted to Frodo, and Frodo has complete appreciation for all Sam does for him. The closest thing a person today might be able to compare it to and really understand it is the relationship between Alfred and Bruce Wayne in (amusingly enough) Batman.
I’m really enjoying your reactions to LOTR. You pay attention to detail, you remember events and actions, you comment on the beautiful cinematography, the poetic language. So many reactors just “ooh” and “aah” over the fight scenes. You’re one of the best reactors I’ve ever watched. I’ll be sure to check out your other videos!
I've seen this movie 13,587x and parts still get me every single time. My absolute favorite movie with my favorite ending. RotK has some of my all time favorite movie moments as well so looking forward to another top tier reaction from you on that one. ✌️
I enjoyed this reaction more than I'd expected I would (because I've already seen so many). I'm especially delighted to see Boromir get some love. You totally got him in Fellowship, but many don't, and when they see his scenes in the extended Two Towers cut, they just shrug. I'm not entirely sure how much more obvious Jackson & company should have made things, but oh well. You got it.
Aragorn it´s a Dunedáin, a kind of "royal" race among the men, blessed with long life (they have part of elves in their blood). That´s why he has 87 years old here, and looks young.
Not every Dúnedain has elven in their blood, and they were blessed with long life because they are the descendants of the Edain who fought against Morgoth alongside Elves in the first age. Many in Gondor and all from the remnants of Arnor have Dúnedain blood, not just Aragorn, which is something the movies do an absolutely horrendous job of portraying in lieu of making Aragorn more special (which is unnecessary since his deeds speak for themselves) in the films and build this royal bloodline narrative. Even though in the books the nobility of Denethor’s bloodline is directly compared to Aragorn as a parallel, and it is possible the house of Stewards intermarried with the royal family of Gondor in the past. It is true that the royal bloodline of Numenor was special, and Elendil was from a branch of the royal family. They are descendants of Elros, Beren, Luthien, Thingol and Melian, who are all notable characters from the first age and in the Silmarillion. So they essentially have some kind of divine and elven blood and not just Dúnedain. But the line is not special because the Dúnedain are some kind of special almost extinct superhuman race. The knights of Dol Amroth and rangers of Ithilien in Gondor are said to all bear Dúnedain features, and presumably most of the nobility in Gondor would be Dúnedain. Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth and Faramir live to be over 100, Aragorn is special in that he lives to be around 200. Another fun fact is that even Theoden and his niece and nephew have Dúnedain blood because Theoden’s mother was from a lesser branch of the House of Dol Amroth. Faramir and Boromir’s mother was from the main branch of the same house. This house is special in that it’s founder Imrazôr was married to an elf, so they also have elven blood.
Fun Fact: Lore wise....the path above Minus Morgal actually WAS the only other way into Mordor. Any other path that may have existed was not known to ANYONE, like not even Sauron knew of any other route. I guess they could've tried to travel around the mountains that protect Mordor.......but it would teken them years to do that.
Grima couldn't tell Saruman much he didn't already know. Saruman had set himself up in Isengard 2,000 years before this story began. The Horse Lords had only been given what was later called Rohan 500 years earlier after the area had been depopulated by war and disease. This was similar to how The North Kingdom of Arnor gave the farmlands of The Shire to The Hobbits 400 years before it's fall. At the time, the end of the 3rd Age, the Hobbits had been living there for 1500 years.
Yup. Even if you go purely by movie canon, it makes no sense that Gríma would show up and give Saruman information about the culvert _even as Saruman is making the bomb_ and his army is marching out. It only works if you assume Gríma's voiceover is information conveyed to Saruman long ago. I think it's one of the plot arcs that suffers the most for the movies' condensed timeline and modern sentiments.
16:30 One of my only complaints in regards to the movies is Denethor sort of gets painted as a villain, when the truth of it is he was just as principled of a man as either of his son's. But he has spent his life using his kingdom as the last real bulwark against Mordor like his own forefathers before him. Worst still, he has tried to use a Palantir to attain intel on Sauron. In the end he was a better soul than Saruman, for instead of being corrupted into betraying the free folk of Middle-Earth he instead fell into despair.
He had more pride and willpower, more strength, this is how he resisted Sauron, but this source of strength, his love and pride in his nation, his people, the legacy of his ancestors, etc, is what eventually broke him. It is ironic and tragic in the vein of Classical Greece. It is also said that as the Palantir are the birthright of the Dúnedain he had more capability to use it than others.
Wonderful reactions! Always a pleasure to watch someone become so invested, and catch the meanings, as evidenced by how often you predict the next line. Impatiently awaiting the rest, here
King Théoden said Gondor didn't come. The didn't come because they coudn't. They were also under attack by three large fleets who came sailing from Umbar and Harad. When Rohan was attacked by the Dunland people, some of the fleet joined them.
Always gets me in my feels when people talk about there's always Hope and such. When Aragon's Elfin name means Hope. It's like with Aragon there Hope is always there.😊
Estel. It was the name Aragorn was called after his mother left him in Rivendell to be raised by Elrond. His father had died fighting orcs, and her heart was broken; she returned to the Dunedain people and died within the year I believe. Elrond continued calling him Estel until his 18th birthday, when he revealed to the young man his heritage and destiny. Book Elrond loved Aragorn like a son, but was also stern enough to insist Aragorn doggedly pursue his noble destiny, if he was going to be worthy of Arwen's hand in marriage.
Wonderful, Kahla! You're doing a great job with these movies! I'm glad to see you had your tissue handy. I think you may need them for ROTK. So, one of the beautiful pieces of music in these film's is Gollum's Song that plays over the credits for this movie. If you listen to the lyrics you'll hear that it is Gollum lamenting that he was so alone throughout his many years struggling with the ring. It is heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing this one with us. 🙂 I'm really looking forward to the last one.
This was clearly your first time watching and what impressed me most is your ability to follow the names lol But you also caught on to the way the ring was trying to escape Frodo, you understood the Gollum/Smeagol dynamic, the Denethor dynamic, the Legolas/Gimli dynamic, the Eowyn/Aragorn dynamic. And of course the Boromir and Sam appreciation. I would follow you into battle, m'lady.
One thing the movie never tells you is that part of why Elrond seems to be against his daughter and Aragorn's relationship is because his own parents were an elf and a human and he saw firsthand the pain that could cause. The children of a human or an elf can make the choice of whether to be mortal or immortal and that's why Arwen can choose a mortal life with Aragorn, and Aragorn himself is actually directly descended from Elrond's brother Elros, who chose a mortal life unlike his brother and grew old and died thousands of years before. So Elrond does love Aragorn almost like his own kid because he not only was raised in Rivendell, but he's his brother's great-grandson times 10. Also, Galadriel is actually Elrond's mother in law and Arwen's grandmother. Imagine that family dinner.
Fun Fact: Aragorn is a descendant of Beren and Luthien, the latter being an Elf. Through her, he's also a descendant of Melian, her mother, a Maia, so for all intents and purposes, an angel. Gandalf, Saruman, and Sauron are also Maiar. They were created by the god of Tolkien's universe, Eru Ilúvatar, before the creation of the world, as offspring of his mind. Gandalf and Sauron, together with three other Maiar, were sent to Middle Earth in the form of old men to help guide the Children of Ilúvatar (Elfs and Men) in their fight against Sauron. That was roughly 2,000 years before the Fellowship of the Ring.
When Elrond says "there is nothing for you here only death" to Arwen we can see this particular tapestry on the background - with Two Trees (previous source of light before the creation of the Sun and the Moon) of Valinor (where Elrond wants to be with all of his family - wife Celebrian, twin sons Elladan and Elrohir and Arwen), and the ship of Earendil sails between these trees (on the tapestry). Earendil was Elrond's father (and ancestor of Aragorn) who after many adventures made it to Valinor (Immortal Lands made for Valars and for elves) and was back with mighty Valinorean hosts of Valars, Maiars and elves (and with himself on a flying ship flanked by an army of eagles) for he begged the Valars (gods/archangels) for help, for mercy (the elves were not in favour of the Valars at this time) for both elves and men in the last stand against Morgoth (Sauron's and balrogs boss), at the end of 1th age of the Sun. LOTR action takes place at the end of 3d age of the Sun. For this deed Earendil the Mariner was both punished by not being able to return to Middle-Earth ever again and awarded for he becomes the star (on his flying ship) of Hope on the sky bearing one of the 3 holy Silmarils (on his brow) and can be seen as the morning star and the evening star. Arwen was nicknamed Evenstar. So when Elrond tells about hopeless choice ("only death") he has this symbol of the greatest sign of hope (for elves and men) Earendil star (his father) at the background :) this movie is unique :)
To answer your question about saruman's change. Their is a chapter in the unfinished tales called the quest of erebor. where we're told of Saruman's dislike and jealousy of gandalf ( bearing a ring of power, being initially head of their counsel and smoking pipe weed).
6:20 Rohan's population is fairly spread out, essentially smaller chiefs and lords managing their own lands with Theoden being the highest authority. There'd been a lot of fighting with orcs already while Theoden was under Saruman's spell, with Gandalf going off to find the vast majority of his countries soldiers which had been fighting in the west closer to Orthanc at the Ford of Isen. This is one big departure from the books, as Eomer was in fact at Helm's Deep and the lord that Gandalf arrived with was named Erkenbrand. They also were mostly not on horseback, losing much of them in a previous battle.
To answer your question, yes the old dude on the wall lost his grip on his bow and fired that first shot by accident. A proper longbow like that actually requires a lot of arm and back strength to be able to hold back like that. (In truth you would never pull back and hold like that for such a long time, it would be exhausting, but ya know, drama and such.)
Yea, for a full longbow, I believe it was like 180-200 pounds needed to draw it all the way back. You couldn't fire more than a dozen or so times with it before your back and arms would be hurting really bad. The arrows with a bodkin point pierced armor though so that made them extremely deadly for the few rounds they could fire.
jackson took terrific liberties with the subject matter and narrative in this movie. you should read the book to get a better idea of how things actually played out.
The trees at the end of helms deep were different from ents. The forest the orcs ran into was not there when they marched in. It would have killed the good guys too if they'd pursued.
They were Huorns (wild trees). Without the Ents around to manage them, they tended to get up to all sorts of mischief. The Ents pointed them at the orcs and slipped the leash off them.
8:10 - "Obviously, Saruman wasn't always like this. So what changed?" Remember the Palantir? The spherical "seeing stones" that Gandalf warned were too dangerous to use because they weren't all accounted for? Well, Saruman - and Denethor, too - used 'em. Wrestling with the Dark Lord's will via the Palantir is a losing proposition, as evidenced by Saruman's ill-founded belief that he could join forces with Sauron on anything like an even footing...and Denethor's having been driven mad. The character of Denethor, in particular, got short-shrifted in the films - made to look like a terrible person from the outset with no nobility in him at all (which is a little funny as he is portrayed by actor John Noble).
In my opinion, Sam is the greatest hero in literary/cinematic history. If you look at heroes and what advantages they had compared to the challenges they faced with, Sam can't be held lesser than anyone.
@Kahla Fun Fact: The Uruk-Hai Army stamping their spears and beating their chests and stuff prior to the fight kicking off actually wasn't initially in the script. They were just supposed to stand there. But, the Battle of Helms Deeps being nothing but Night Shoots coupled with the sheer amount of time between takes meant that the Stunt Team got bored and tired. So one night, to try to stay awake and because they got bored, the Stunt Team playing the Uruk-Hai began to stamp their spear and beat their chests as the attempted to perform a Haka to mess with their Stunt Team brethren who were playing Elves and Men. So imagine you have Elves and Men up on the ramparts of Helm's Deep, bows up, arrows cocked and the Uruk-Hai Army in front of you randomly and suddenly breaks into a Haka, basically issuing you a war challenge. Peter loved it so much, he wrote it into the script on the spot. He got the Stunt Choreographer to better coordinate the Haka so it would look and sound uniform on camera and every take thereafter began with the modified Uruk-Hai Haka. So yeah... the Maori (indigenous people of New Zealand) got a version of their Traditional War Challenge added to and immortalized in The Lord of The Rings because they got bored and tired and needed something to keep themselves from falling asleep.
When people ask me *_what's the biggest difference between the theatricals and the extendeds?_* to me it all boils down to that extra Boromir backstory, it's just heartbreaking and explains so much.
The men marching into Mordor were Easterlings from Rhun, in the far North East. The men with the Elephants or “Olephants” were men from Harad, the far South East. Both ancient enemies of the Free people.
“Free” people my ass. It was under the dominion of the King’s Men and Sauron that the Haradrim were colonised and conquered by the Numenoreans, this is where their initial hatred of the Dúnedain and Edain came from. The “Free” people in their own period of subjugation sowed the seeds for the Haradrim to oppose Gondor and follow Sauron.
The scene where Elrond convinces Arwen to go across the sea to Valinor, at 9:27, has a lot of lore in the background tapestry. It depicts the Trees of Valinor, the three Silmarils and Earandil's ship. Not a single line mentions the tapestry, yet the set designers put it there for those who would know it's meaning.
The scene when the Ents break the dam and flush Isengard always reminds me of an old documentary I LOVED as kid called "The Tides of Kirawira". It's here on youtube and I recommend it to everyone.
your grasp of the depth of these movies, indeed of the story itself, is very impressive.... you really do "get" the whole tale, and that is making your reactions so very watchable..... I tip my hat to you,, I've really enjoyed these reactions........ I can't wait to see how you get on with movie no3...........!!
I really have to say that it is wonderful to follow you on this journey. You see everything, understand everything and feel everything... It is a real joy. 😀👌🙏❣
"These words are getting to me," you said. Now imagine three amazing books, packed with words that have been getting to me for decades, and do, again and again. You're getting a mere snippet of them, in these films. Please try and read the books. You will be so filled with joy! Or! If you like, listen to the audiobooks. A new set has come out, fairly recently. Read by the wonderful Andy Serkis, who plays Sméagol/Gollem in the films, and is superb at the characters voices! ♥
Peter Jackson, did Faramir very dirty in the Two Towers. Faramir only helped Frodo and believed in the prophecy of a halfling being directly involved in saving Middle Earth.
Fun fact concerning ages of characters: Everyone's already explained Aragorn's age. Arwen is, I think, around 3000 years old here. You know Bilbo is celebrating his 111th birthday in the beginning of the trilogy, but that is also Frodo's birthday. His 33rd. When Gandalf returns and sends Frodo and Sam on the quest, Frodo is now 50, putting Bilbo at 128 when they meet again at the House of Elrond. Gandalf and Saruman are old enough that time doesn't even really enter into it. They are essentially angels that pre-date the awakening of the Children of Illuvatar ("God" in Middle-Earth), who are the Elves and Men. So when Gandalf is "sent back," it is Illuvatar who is doing the sending.
A silly little note: when botonir says “the ring will go to Gondor,” the O’s in Two Towers go around his eyes. Is amusing to see. Funny little glasses!
Sams speech has always been a source of comfort for me in my life. Never fails to bring a tear to my eye 🥲 Excited to see the next part of your journey through middle earth.
I'd read the books back when I was in my early teens roughly, a few times even. So I knew the story already when these movies came out, and it was long enough ago that I read the books that I didn't react to most of the changes made to the story in the movies either, generally most of it felt very natural, and good. And yet, when I sat in the movie theater and this movie ended, with Gollum guiding the little hobbits, and the camera then sweeping up over the forest, and up and up and up the mountains to peek into the nightmare landscape of Mordor, with that eerie, ominous soundtrack accompanying the visuals, I knew I had another whole YEAR to wait for the conclusion in the third movie... And also in a years' time the extended version of the second movie would be released, and in ANOTHER years' time from that the extended version of the third movie would be released. So I was really not even halfway through the full story it felt like. And you get to watch it all at once. Without any waiting at all! Almost makes me jealous. :) Really been enjoying your thoughtful and emotional commentary, please keep watching movies and publishing on youtube. It's such good fun. :) Take care, etc.
The 'forbidden pool" is forbidden because it's right outside their hideout, and it's a death sentence because they can't afford anyone accidentally discovering where their base of operations is.
This is how I've always felt about Gollum. Gollum (or Smeagol) is the ultimate definition of an addict. The Ring is his version of heroin or coccaine. You can try to help them recover, you can try to remove their addiction, but an addict will quit when they decide to quit and not a moment sooner. I've always felt that even if Faramir hadn't ambushed him, he still would have tried to take the Ring at some point. Remember that Gandalf said that Gollum would never be rid of his need for the Ring. Frodo and Sam represent the two viewpoints that society tends to have towards people battling addiction. Frodo acted towards him like the kind of person who tries to help an addict overcome their addiction while Sam was more like those who feel it's just a matter of time before they fall back into their addiction again.
I'm really enjoying following you through this amazing journey. I love your ability to quickly analyze what's happening and your top notch commentary. Subscribed.
Sam is even better in the books if you ever get the chance to read them. The books are quite a different experience from the films. You really get the feel of the world they are in, and when I first started reading it, it made me wanna go walk the countryside barefoot, and go see vast natural landscapes. Highly recommend the books, as in something everyone on Earth should have on their lifelong bucket list.
I love the imagery when Gandalf and Shadowfax lead the charge with the Rohirrim as Shadowfax is the lord of all horses. That was perfectly captured in that scene. ☺️
Viggo Mortensen who plays Aragorn got so attached to Uraeus (the horse that played Brego) that he bought him and another horse that he'd been riding during the filming. He also bought a third horse as a gift for one of the stunt women in the film.
