Lord of the Rings: The Return Of The King Movie Reaction | First Time Watching! | Part 1 

About 5 years ago Billy Boyd was at my local Comic-Con, in the Q&A my son asked him if he would sing Edge of night right then and there, and he did, perfectly.

7:15 "We all need a friend like Sam." I used to say this too, but now I've come to realize that we all should try to be more like Sam.

VKunia: “Somebody catch Saruman!!!” Giant Rusty Wheel-Spike: “No worries girl I got this”

Gandalf: "Run, Shadowfax. Show us the meaning of haste." Shadowfax: "Off to the library!"

"Gondor calls for aid!" "....and Rohan will answer". Seriously, I think it's gotten to the point where over 50% of the lines in these movies provoke instant tears from me.

aragorn is by far my biggest inspiration as a man. Strong but kind as well. fighting orcs in one scene, healing a friend and reciting poetry in the next scene. He's awesome...Well sam is also an inspiration but come on, we can't be as perfect as sam.

VKunia: Someone catch Saruman! Spike: I got him!

"'No more Slinker. No more Stinker.' I don't know what that means, but I love it." Idk if someone got this already, but in the books, Sam was very much aware of Gollum's separate personalities, and he named them Slinker (Smeagol) and Stinker (Gollum).

Legolas being regal - It’s never really explained clearly in LOTR but Legolas is a Prince, son of King Thranduil of the Elvish kingdom in Mirkwood Forest. We see the Mirkwood Elves in The Hobbit movies.

Deagol was Smeagol's cousin. While the Ring does corrupt anyone over a long enough period of time, Smeagol was snared instantly because he was not innocent to begin with. He was already corrupt in his heart; the Ring only exacerbated it. The Ring latches onto a person's selfish desires and promises to give them to you. It takes great willpower to not give in to that temptation. Smeagol never ignored his selfish desires before he saw the Ring, so it took no time at all to ensnare him. The reason hobbits like Bilbo and Frodo are able to resist it for so long is because Hobbits are pretty unselfish by nature. They have no great ambitions, so it takes far longer for the Ring to corrupt them; but the closer it draws to Mordor, the greater its power and influence are, even over someone as selfless as Frodo. Even Sam is tempted to claim it for the brief period of time he holds it. So the fact that he is able to not give in to temptation and willingly relinquish the Ring while inside Mordor is incredibly impressive, and speaks to the goodness of his heart. But in the heart of Mount Doom, there is not a person alive who would have had the will to destroy it. It could only happen by a twist of fate and an accident. To that end, Gollum's selfishness was actually important. His lust for the Ring was the only thing that could have destroyed it.

V: "He needs a horn to put on this horse." Me: "You mean like a uni-" V: "Beep beep" Me: "Oh..."

Theoden wanted Eowyn to stay behind because he needs her brother as an officer, and if they both die, Eowyn is the last survivor of the Royal family. He didn't want to risk the whole royal line at once, and Eomer is his right hand man and best officer.

"Telemarketers call me all the time; you don't have to answer!" BEST LINE EVER lmao As for the tunnel vision: 2 answers - 1) they mostly have helmets on which gives you serious tunnel vision. 2) The scene is probably much better lit than it would have been so we can see everyone easily.

The story of Denethor is actually very sad. He was a wise and just ruler, and thwarted many of Sauron's plans over his years by using a Palantir; the seeing stone that nearly wrecked Pippin. For decades, Denethor did battle with Sauron mentally through the seeing stone, and held him at bay. But the years took their toll, and what we see in this film is the result of a lifetime of having Sauron whisper insidious and venomous things into your mind unceasingly.

VKunia: "He needs a horn to put on this horse." I agree. Gandalf needs a unicorn!

Any time you say "This writing is superb," is because the line was drawn directly from Tolkien's work. He was a literal MASTER of the English Language.

Interesting story: when they were doing the stabbing of Saruman scene, Peter Jackson attempted to describe how he wanted it to sound. Christopher Lee, who was in British Special Forces during WWII, interrupted him and explained to everyone in great detail what happens when you stab someone.

In the book, Sam refers to Gollum’s two personalities as “Slinker” and “Stinker”. The film doesn’t make that clear (probably why that moment was cut for the theatrical cut).

VKunia: "I don't want this series to end" J.R.R. Tolkien: "Hold on to my Silmarils".

"Legolas is so regal and elegant!" It's barely mentioned like, once in this whole trilogy, but he is actually a prince. Lol.

on Denethor's despair: some was likely his personal failure as the embodiment of the failed bloodline of Numenor but a lot is a result of Sauron poisoning his mind through his Palantir, much as he poisoned Saruman's in Orthanc.

Fun fact, Christopher Lee (Saruman) actually corrected Jackson (Director) as to the sound he should make when he got stabbed in the back because Lee, having been in the British Commandos in WW2, and having hunted Nazis, actually knew what it sounds like to stab someone in the back.

"...one does not simply grieve for Boromir at this hour 👌🏼" Giiiirl you crack me up! 🤣🤣💜

Gandalf's calling his hope for Frodo a fool's hope was to comfort Pippin for all the times he called him a "fool of a Took". Gandalf's admitting even the wise can make foolish choices, but sometimes that's the only choice one can make.

When the beacons are being lit is one of my favorite parts, the scenery, the music is sooooo amazingly done.

12:42 loved that sound effect. Props for the effort to put that in there :D

"Why does he hates poor Sméagol? What has he done to him?" Literally the first time they met Sméagol bit him.

When Aragorn has the sword reforged in Rivendell, renaming it Andúril, it becomes a symbol of Aragorn’s greatness and a sign that Aragorn is officially setting out to claim his birthright in the House of Isildur. Symbolically, the sword mirrors Aragorn himself. When we first meet Aragorn, he appears to be merely a haggard, weatherworn Ranger, then later he is revealed to be the heir of an ancient and glorious lineage just as the sword, initially just a collection of shattered metal fragments, is transformed into a weapon of great beauty and power. Aragorn is a true example of what a king and man should be, benevolent and humble.

"And Rohan will answer" chills always (OUT OF THE MANY MOMENTS THAT GIVE ME CHILLS IN THIS SERIES)

Sam is the only character in the fellowship that isn't from a position of wealth or privilege which fits his whole based on the normal English soldier thing 100%

Smeagol was a Stoorish Hobbit, a progenitor of the Hobbits we see by the end of the third age which have more or less been interbred out of existence. The Baggins family is a mix of Stoorish and Harfoot hobbits.

Smeagol turning on Deagol immediately after discovering the ring really highlights the bonds of fellowship and love between Frodo and Sam, and the strength it took for Frodo to carry it for so long.

Peter Jackson heard Billy Boyd singing off the set one day and was so impressed that wanted him to sing in the movie. I always thought that was so cool.

"The loyalty that they possess for one another is...admirable." Galadriel in Fellowship: "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail. Yet hope remains while all the company is true."

Subtle point easily missed - despite how Jackson portrays Denethor, Denethor still occupies a subordinate chair at the foot of the throne, in keeping with tradition that he’s merely the king’s steward. This despite the fact that the last King of Gondor had been killed or captured by the Nazgul 1000 years in the past. Stewards have kept up that tradition over all those centuries.

Pretty amazing that the scene where Frodo sends Sam back home on the stairs was the very first scene they filmed together in the trilogy. Imagine having to start with the scene where the bond of a life long friendship was being torn apart. Shows just how professional these actors are.

The Muster of Rohan adds up to roughly 9,000-12,000 warriors. This is almost their entire male population who is old enough to fight, basically anyone from 18-50.

3:22 You: "Saruman! Somebody catch him!" Spiked wheel: "I got this!"

"Who eats like th..." - it's me. I do. Cherry tomatoes with roasted chicken are sooo goood tho! I actually made a huge plate of it once when showing RotK to my girlfriend) (she was mad at me after tbh)))

V: *gets legitimately emotional and teary-eyed at Mist and Shadow, and the indicated horror of what follows, finally speaks up in a tearful voice* Okay who eats like that though? 😭 That in a nutshell is why I love this woman. 🤣🤣

I don’t want a friend like Sam…I want to be the friend that is Sam! Love how honest you are with your emotions when you react. Keep being real! ❤️

You know, i'never see someone reacting and feeling so pleased, invested and amuzed by landscapes and sets of this movie. I love how emotional you get seeing how beautiful minas titrith looks, power of an amazing soundtrack and art of visuals.

A detail that I love that I think is often forgotten, is when Gollum is mocking Smeagol in Two Towers, and calls him a murderer. That is the insult that makes Smeagol cry. And the comment I think is specifically referring to Deagol.

“Telemarketers call me all the time, you don’t have to answer.” That cracked me up

"LotR is one of those films that I don't want to end" Well, you're in luck, this movie has about 10 endings and takes up nearly 45 minutes of the movie. Also, that little cut at the end of you're video had me laughing out loud. Briljant! I love it when people make jokes at their own expense.

The ring brings out the worst in each individual that it comes in contact with. The more power they possess, the more they lusted for power, the stronger the pull toward the darkness. That's why Frodo could carry the ring. The least powerful beings in the world had to take it. Frodo sought no power, therefore he had no will to own the ring himself. It's also why Galadriel was so relieved when she did not take the ring when Frodo offered it to her. It's why Gandalf couldn't take the ring into Mordor and why the Eagles couldn't just fly it to Mount Doom. The all realized they were too powerful and would be too tempted by the ring.

“That’s all he really wanted.” When Faramir talked with Frodo he said, “I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as of old, full of light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves. War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but 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: the city of the Men of Númenor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom. Not feared, save as men may fear the dignity of a man, old and wise.” (LotR, The Window on the West)

Back then you mowed lawns with a sickle. It took a long time, which is why usually only the wealthier people did it, since they could hire professional gardeners to do it (as well as take care of the garden). Sam and his Dad (his "gaffer) were Bilbo's Gardeners, and Same remained as Frodo's gardener.

Hope you'll watch The Hobbit too! It's not as good but Martin Freeman and Ian McKellan's performances make it worth it and it's another fun story in the lotr world

So denethir the steward of gondor is misrepresented in the films. In the books he has a seeing stone, and sauron uses it to show denethir, gondor and himself and faramir failing over and over and falling to the darkness. He corrupts denethir through it. So he was a douchebag, but there is a reason he was that isnt shown.

VKUNIA: "Frodo, don't look up. You don't want to see ..." GOLLUM: "...my precioussss."

Finally a reactor who's crying as much as i do during RotK. Great reaction. I'm totally hyped for the second part.

"Telemarketers call me all the time, you don't have to answer!" - I couldn't stop myself bursting out laughing at this one.

The one thing I appreciate LOTR is that it encouraged an age of cinema that further experimented with fantasy. Movies and shows like Narnia, GOT, and Clash of the Titans would unlikely be portrayed in cinema if it weren't for LOTR.

19:32 Éowyn is one of the few characters in this trilogy that gets the truly Good Ending, some of the others being Sam and Faramir. No big responsibilities, no major events of earth-shattering importance to deal with, just a happy and quiet life that so many others (including Tolkien's friends in WWI) never got to have.

Sam calls good Gollum "Slinker" and bad Gollum "Stinker." He called him that to Frodo before they were captured by Faramir.

When I first watched LOTR, I didn’t have any attachments to Merry or Pippin but by the end of it I loved them! The character growth is just perfect and I would take a bullet for Pippin in a second

It truly touches my heart that you love every details about these movies

Frodo : They call me... VKunia : Ok, telemarketers call me all the time, you don't have to answer ! Girl, you just made my day... And I empathizes so much. They really are the plague of this century.

“Telemarketers call me all the time, you don’t have to answer!” BEST REACTION EVER!!!

"how did they mow lawns back then" scythes. It was really labor intensive and that's why only rich people that could afford servants/slaves had lawns

@12:43 - that’s better than a Wilhelm Scream. Thank you to whoever edited that in.

Sam refers to the two personalities as Slinker (Smeagol) and Stinker (Gollum) because Smeagol's the sneaky one, but Gollum's the real rotten one.

* Saruman falls off the top of Orthanc (the tower of Isengard) * VKunia: “Somebody catch him!” LMAO how?

There's one aspect in the novel that I would have enjoyed seeing on screen. When Merry & Pippin drink the water from Treebeard's lair, they grow slightly right???? Well it turns out (in the novel) that they drank enough for it to have a VERY noticable effect; so that when the four Hobbit reunite they are as tall as dwarves. They end up being a full 16 - 20 inches taller than any Hobbit.

"How did they mow their lawns back then?" + "Is that orc carrying a sickle?" Almost answered your own question 😂

By this point you've gotten to know every character so well like they're almost your friends you can't help but become entangled in this beautiful journey they've taken each taking a different path to achieve the same goal.

Smeagol was a member of the River Folk, whom are a slightly different type of Hobbit than the rest you've seen so far in the movies.

"Edge of night" is such a simple but such an amazing melody, loving the reactions, I'm not patient enough for part 2 lol

There's a HUGELY important detail about how Sméagol came by the Ring: Sméagol murdered his cousin for it, taking the Ring in blood and violence. But when Bilbo claimed the Ring from him during the events of the Hobbit, he had the opportunity to strike down Gollum, but chose to spare him instead. Thus when he took the Ring, it was out of pity and mercy. This is a significant part of WHY he was able to give it up at the beginning of Lord of the Rings; the Ring wasn't able to get as complete a hold over him because of his restraint. Slinker and Stinker is an artifact from the book, in which Sam refers to Gollum's two personalities this way throughout Two Towers and Return of the King. The sad thing is Gollum ALMOST repented in the books; there was a moment on the approach to Cirith Ungol where he very nearly reneged on his plan to betray them. Ironically, it was Sam's suspicion and protectiveness of Frodo that sealed his betrayal. Gothmog, the deformed Orc who leads the armies as the Witch-King's lieutenant, was modeled on Harvey Weinstein as a "@#$% You" over Weinstein's interference and attempt to kill the Trilogy after Miramax decided to pull the plug on the project.

Denethor isn’t evil… he is just the victim of the mental strain of fighting Mordor and Sauron. It isn’t shown in the films but Denethor has a seeing stone as well. He is using it to spy on Mordor, and that means forcing it to obey his will, when Sauron is actively trying to invade his mind. It ends up destroying his mind. He was by all accounts a good and honorable leader for years prior to the events of the war of the ring. The whole story alludes to the mental struggles of war.

Half of the credit for the tear-jerking moments goes to Howard Shore and his masterful score. The music in these movies was absolutely flawless.

ok i needed to stop after watching 15:12 min of the video...This is fkn top quality humor there xD I laughed so many times watching this reaction xD Good Job! Going back to watch the remaining 5 min!

Aragorn: I'm going to the Dimholt alone. Legolas and Gimli: Of course you are. And we're coming with you.

CAN’T WAIT to watch you react to the rest of this incredible saga!

Great Video! So I remade The Revenge Of The Sith Trailer and was wondering if you could react to it? Thanks, have a great day!!

Are You Going To Watch The Prequel Trilogy, The Hobbit ?

This movie was the best picture winner of that year and director Peter Jackson won his best director award. "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you."

There is also the hobbit trilogy that you can watch

"Telemarketers call me all the time, you don't have to answer!" I died XD

"I'm probably reading too much into this..." No, no, girl, this is Tolkien's works; you *never* read too much into something.

Love how your editing is really bringing out your creative and humorous side. Cannot wait for the end!

The bonk sound on the poor gondorian solider at 12:42 killed me 💀👌🏼

The extended cut is the best version of this movie

Tearfully: "Who eats like that though?"

Smeagol and Deagol were "Hobbit-like" creatures who used to live near the Shire.

I saw your full reaction on Patreon, and I don't know how to explain to my wife that I'm going to marry you someday.

"prove her worth" she doesn't "prove her worth" by going into combat and risking the lineage of Rohan; she does it by staying behind and seeing to the needs of her people who are _not_ going into battle; who will have to rebuild and repair when it is over... and who will need a leader if the battle is lost, to see to their survival under the shadow of Sauron.

HAHAHAHAHA!!! 12:43 The Three Stooges DONK.

"Is he blind? They're literally right there!" In his defense, it's foggy as hell.

Hello vicky and how your day going and have you thought about starting your own podcast and starting your own vlog channel on youtube and starting your own tiktok account and starting your own onlyfans account in the future

Wore EXTRA cry paint for this one.

I think I may have pulled something from how hard I laughed at that bonk sound effect, I was very much not expecting that

"Maybe I'm reading into it" No, you're not. It is that deep and impactful.

VKunia - Could I recommend a movie called Sorcerer from 1977? I know it is a bit outside your wheelhouse. But it is an awesome film that is underappreciated. Underappreciated is probably the wrong word. Under viewed, most people who see it love it.

I have a similar scar on my upper lip. I know it's not relevant to anything; I think I'm just trying to connect awkwardly because most of your first-time reactions to the story is so similar to my own reactions and thoughts when I first watched the LoTR trilogy. ^_^

In the books "Slinker" was the nickname that Sam gave to Smeagol and "Stinker" to Golum to distinguish between the two personalities. He picked up much faster than Frodo that there were two different entities they were dealing with, and made a distinction between them; often wondering which one he was talking to. He did start to come around to Golum though, right up until the last betrayal (in the books, Golum didn't separate the two and led them both into Shelob's lair. Sam and Frodo both thought Smeagol was on their side right up until he disappeared on them in the cave)

You look like you're doing well, friend. Thank you for going on this journey for those of us who've already been many times.

smeagol was pretty much a hobbit, yeah - its barely mentioned in the films but the books and extended writing of tolkien have incredibly thorough genealogies for the characters, for instance elrond, arwen and aragorn can be traced back at least 3thousand years to a single family, spoilers - Arwen and Aragorn are cousins - but hey, thats what monarchies are all about, right? incest is best!

If you want more of middle- earth, you could watch and react to the hobbit film trilogy. It’s not as great as lotr, but in my opinion still very good. Liked your reactions:))