I absolutely. Agree with you..about how its fantastical..( no pun intended)..in how this extremely simple scene by any movie standards has become a scene rising above its abilities..no other movie has accomplished that so significantly..i absolutely like how galdalf reads thr 2nd age of king isildor..in the year 3434..any other movie would come across as ridiculous year/s.. But not this
Yeh i don't think the movie made it a 17 year gap maybe a week or a few but it just doesn't give off 17 yrs including Frodos reaction to seeing Gandalf again
@@tubenachos there has been no specific time for how long gandalf left the shire in the movies but its not as long as 17 years, as for Bilbo he aged because he no longer holds the ring
Little known fact to those who haven't read the books - this sequence actually spans 17 years in the story. After the party and Bilbo leaving the ring to Frodo, Gandalf goes on a research quest, interrogates the archives at Gondor and confirms that Bilbo's ring is the One Ring 17 years later.
@@petergriffinson1907 Don't forget, like with Bilbo, the ring greatly slows aging. It makes sense that keeping it around in his home all that time would have an effect.
always loved how they incorporated minas morgul, osgiliath and minas tirith in this scene without explaining anything. someone who is unfamililar with the books wouldnt pay (too much) attention to these places while the experienced tolkien reader gets a first glimpse of things to come. you can also see that gandalf is still on good terms with denethor at this point in time (granted access to records that are thousands of years old). great!
Gandalf wasn't on friendly terms with Denethor, but good enough that he was granted access to the ancient archives. Another thing I love about this (and I love every single detail) is how close-up they could afford to bring the cameras to their "bigatures" (miniature structures that weren't all that mini) because the details on them had turned out so well. Weta Workshops in New Zealand did an utterly phenomenal job on everything they made for this movie trilogy, from buildings to armor and weapons, fake trees, creatures, everything!
I saw the movies before the books and the first time I saw this movie I didn't realize there was a long period of time between Gandalf leaving to research the ring and returning to the shire because it was night when he left and returned lol
@@lylemoore3827 That is true, it was night both times. :D The movies had to tighten up the passage of time a lot, just for practicality. In the book Gandalf spent about 17 years researching the One Ring before returning to the Shire to start Frodo on his quest, and it took Frodo a few months to leave the Shire with Sam, but in the movie Gandalf was gone maybe 1 year and Frodo and Sam left in a rush.
I love how innocently Frodo picks up the ring when he enters, its such good symbolism for the purity of Hobbits as a race and their resistance to an evil which even the likes of Gandalf could not touch
SmoothSoulLover Gandalf tricked fredo to pickup the ring. And he even ask frodo to put it in the envelope and give it back to him. Great scam of all time.
@@213byron well. Atleast tell frodo what the ring is all about. He wasnt even ready. When suddenly they were going for an adventure to hells doom. With a finger as a payment.
That's the result of hiring a badass director, and giving him all the time needed for proper pre-production. Look at the mess the Hobbit was, there was almost no pre-prod, and the whole movie was rushed to make a quick buck. They relied on cgi and visuals to transport the movie, while in LOTR they rely on strong storytelling and characters then add cgi as a supplement, good storytelling always trumps good visuals/cgi. Unfortunately, directors nowadays are mostly under a tight deadline/budget, there are exceptions, mostly it is the corporate mindset that ruins great works of art.
@@El-Dorado930the mere presence of the ring meant he definitely had a choice in his mind, due to the great temptation that the ring causes. Making it a very powerful act nonetheless
Listening to Isildur's writing about the Ring make me just love Aragorn more for overcoming his family's destructive "destiny" and becoming a better man for it.
The first part of Fellowship is amazing. Film wise, it might be slow paced but Jackson new it was important for the audience to have the time to immerse themselves in that realm. I remember watching the Appendices and Jackson giving a speech to his team. That from now on, they are not going to work on a fantasy film but an adaptation of things that REALLY happened. And it showed. Everything looked so realistic. I really feel I'm watching an adaptation of a historical event. That there are still ruins of Minas Tirith, broken down and weathered remains of the Argonath....
You can try it at home. Some summer nights I read historical accounts in my parents’ garden. Crickets, frogs, a fire crackling. Looking up at the stars I can be transported to worlds far away.
For people who were around when these movies came out and got swept up in the magic of these movies, there really is a massive comfort in watching them again. Just instantly takes me back to the early 2000s and better times. If there is one thing I will always praise these movies for it's sound design. Whether it be sounds of their footsteps as they move about or the crackling of the flames, the eruption of Mount Doom, you could hear so many things in each scene which made them feel real. Ridiculous how good these movies look and how 20 years later they still look and sound better than a lot of movies released today.
For real. All the sequels, reboots, and comic book movies that are 99% CGI except for the actors' heads in modern cinema is just completely soulless by comparison. Thank god for people like Villeneuve and Nolan still fighting against the rest of the industry to make real movies with real stories. Watching LOTR is so comforting because it just takes you back to a time before all the rot, back when people still took risks, still made epics, still made movies that made you actually feel something and think.
Every time I work on my dissertation in history, I feel like Gandalf who goes through the long forgotten and ancient accounts of Isildur... And you know, it sends shivers down my spine
The Virgin “God studying is so boring why should I care what a bunch of dead people did” versus The Chad “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…”
I was worried about that when they announced a Lord of the Rings tv series but luckily it won't be this story that they will be making. Hopefully it's set in the same universe as the films
@Flash Fordon Really? And to think that Pygmies exist in the Tolkien's Legendarium, as Earendil ventured far in the south and the shored of Far Harad, and eventually met some of them. Oh, and there are also the Druedain, but while they are quite dark skinned, they certainly are not black sub-Saharans, as they were more grayish than brown.
That shot of Gondor shimmering in the golden morning sun accompanied by the music sends shivers down the spine everytime. What a *Magnificent* place, even if it is fictional
I read enough ancient books to notice where did Tolkien took his inspiration for his book. Orcs is based on the unclean peoples, the so called man-eating tribes of Gog and Magog. King Aragorn was based on Alexander the Great who drove all these fiends behind a black iron gate inside two mountains, it gets even deeper though. Gondor was based on the iron citadel of Japheth whom Alexander encountered along the way.
Damn, just look at Ian McKellen's eyes. He just sits there, saying nothing, yet speaks volumes with his eyes alone. That's what makes him one of the greatest actors out there.
I remember when this came out on vhs. Summer of 01 or 02? Not quite sure. But summer was just beginning and school season just ended. Too hot to play outside so I gave it a go and watched on a small t.v. with a built in vhs player. Had my lays chips and gatorade, cracked my window just a tad to let the breeze in (it wasnt too hot.. maybe around 70*).
3:31 "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!" I love that scene he is like reading history.
That's the beauty of Tolkien's narrative, by making you believe that you're reading a historical account of a fictional world like if it truly happened.
Can't explain the peace one feels seeing the library scene where Gandalf is just sat there and reading through those old books/pages. Can smell those pages literally.... that's how would want to spend my life. Going through old amazing historical books in an old library. That calmness ❤️❤️
Bro imagine u think sauron's ring was lost many centuries ago only to discover ur neighbor Bilbo baggins has been hiding it and u get rumors of black undead riders searching it u will probably shit on your self knowing the dark lord is still alive in spirit
There should seriously be an ASMR video depicting exactly that; it would be epic!! Update: Just found that exact video!! 5/1/2022, 9:31 pm. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7zhL6W-GDus.html
Gandalf has my dream career in this scene; I’ve always wanted to study ancient texts and manuscripts; no pressure from bosses, no deadlines, just myself, alone in an ancient library, leisurely reading and learning of ancient history at my own pace.
And then the theme of the ring plays and its just pure cinema. While the movies differ from the books quite a bit, as movies theyre near perfection through and through. Great casting, great story telling and incredible CGI that still holds up to this day nearly 20 years later. God i love this trilogy. Just rewatching them makes me almost forgive Jackson for The Hobbit trilogy. Almost.
Emperor Constantine 1. It makes the viewer a part of the story in a way because the knows as little as you, so when they research things it’s as though you’re on the same journey as they are.
I wholeheartedly agree. I do like the part in the Desolation of Smaug where Bard seeks and consults old leathern charts of dwarven ancestry to determine Thorin's lineage and birthright. Felt like a callback to Gandalfs poring thru the ancient parchment records of Isildurs finding of the Ring in some forgotten chamber of records in the corridors of Minas Tirith, which I loved in LOTR.
I've always loved the musical themes of Mordor/Barad-dur/Sauron. It's so fiendish. So demonic. Also pretty cool that we get our first glimpses of both Minas Tirith and Minas Morgul in this sequence.
Because most of it WAS real, as in real sets, and practical effects, mixed with just enough CGI to do the things that were simply impossible to do with practical effects.
@@Wurzelknecht so true. The orcs looked so real. Nothing like the cgi orcs. Although I thought Azog looked really cool(the battle at the Dimholt was so cool, like heavy metal videoclip), I thought it a pity that they used mo-cap. The original version of Azog is the orc who gets destroyed by Galadriel in dol Guldur. That wasn't mo-cap. That version would make a way scarier, Azog.
@@roddo1955 Yeah I didn't mind Azog's design, but it was just overall too much. And I had the feeling that Jackson was pandering too much to the 3D HD-craze, which forced him to use even more CGI for stuff that he could get away with in the previous movies with clever shooting techniques, like false perspective. I'm still getting mad when I hear the story of how Ian McKellen broke down crying from the stress of having to act all alone on a blue screen without being able to interact with the Hobbits and Dwarves, because unlike the last movie where everyone was on the same set, this time Gandalf was later added digitally, because the camera needed to move freely for the fucking stupid unnecessary 3D effects. I've been watching movies for nearly 20 years before Avatar arrived in theatres, and at no point did I ever think "oh man, this movie is so lame, I wish it had some 3D effects for me to feel more immersed".
This trilogy totally transports you to middle earth. You forget about the sheer suck one that we live in. Is it me or when i watch these films, i "feel" like i did when i first watch it? Like my mind set is back when i first saw it.
Yep, and the fact that the Shore’s theme for “the history of middle earth” is quite possibly one of the most incredible pieces of music ever written for film REALLY helps. I’m talking about that utterly magical theme that is hummed by the choir in the “never put it on” and “it is a strange fate” scenes. It’s so cold, and ancient and fateful… can’t really put it into words properly. It’s just magical.
I noticed it when I first watched the movie. It gave quite an unsettling feeling. Basically it was an invite for Isildur to put it on... and gradually get corrupted by it...
This moment at 2:12 is honestly really genius in displaying the *absolute power* of Sauron and his empire. "Woah. Sauron's tower is really freaking tall." 2:27 reveals it as just a small turret *"O H D E A R"*
There's a point in the book where Frodo kind of looks out toward Mordor and can see everything on the way there, basically going "Minas Tirith is one hell of a city, maybe there's a chance. Though Minas Morgul looks pretty tough as well... And the Black Gate is practically a fortress unto itself... wait... THAT'S Barad-Dur!? How do you fight that!? It's impossible!" You know.. not to be that guy going "actually, in the books..."
The thing is that the Hobbit book is tiny. It's smaller than any of the books in the LOTR and it's more of a light hearted adventure. Aside from Gollum and Bilbo finding the ring (which I'm not even sure was all that significant when Bilbo found it when Tolkein first wrote it) the adventure is straight forward. In fact, I think in the first version of the Hobbit Gollun gives Bilbo the ring, having won the riffle contest. Then tolkein later realized that could never have happened as the ring was the one ring and it's influence too powerful so the scene was changed
That haunting background melody catches me every time. It gives me goosebumps. It goes through the whole series and must be one of the best pieces of music ever constructed for a movie.
In the books, this part of the Fellowship of the Ring has some of the best build-up in the entire series, and the movie captures it excellently. You just see Gandalf popping in and out of Frodo's life, occasionally bringing up the ring, and then all of sudden after more then a decade he comes back with an enormous tome of knowledge to drop on Frodo, which really adds to the weight of Frodo's responsibility and all the events that follow.
It's amazing how Peter Jackson was able to convey that in a movie. Although the timeline and events were adapted for film, the moment Frodo has the ring in his hand for the first time, the atmosphere changes.
Yup, it bugs me that people think it's ''slow'' and that it's the most tedious part, I just love the uneasy feel throughout the start of the Fellowship with the Hobbits not really understanding exactly what is chasing them, bit of a manhunt mystery. Not a massive Bombadil fan, I can see why people think that drags a bit, but I enjoy the randomness of the character & it sets up the Barrow-blades that eventually kills the Witch King (which Aragorn gives them in the movie), and it's still sort of ominous because even though Bombadils house is incredible, you still know the Ringwraiths are just outside and that the Hobbits are going to have to leave the safety of Bombadils house. I really, really enjoy it between Bilbos party and Bree, then the crazy dump of history and ''news'' of the outside world at Rivendell which, especially on the first reads, is incredibly interesting and reveals this entire world outside of just the Shire.
The tone is amazing it changes from a typical normal life in someone's lad and then slowly we are showed that the mysterious and freaky ring is evil, yet it didn't showed enough why is it evil? Then the nazgul, ohh man
He also meets with Aragorn to find Gollum. After Gollum tells "Shire" and "Baggins" he escapes only to be caught by Aragorn at the dead marshes and taken to Mirkwood forest.
@@monstermunch4956 I stand on the porch and when partygoers show up I pull out my staff. You can guess what I say when they ask if they can go inside....
old paper doesn't burn as easily as one would think, as it tends to be thicker, and depending how exposed the pages are to the air, the built up grime acts as a barrier, so it takes longer to catch aflame. of course, the pace at which it will burn depends on the temperature of the flame. it could be parchment for that matter, which is more common in ancient texts and is even more resilient. a smoldering pipe would only get the paper warmed. the lantern, on the other hand, poses the biggest threat. it is already on fire and if the fuel, most likely some sort of animal fat/oil, leaks at all he is ultimately screwed. on the upside, Gandalf the Grey is hundreds of thousands of years old and he probably knows some sort of fire-stopping spell he can use.
Timeless...these movies are Timeless...im almost in tears watching this because it meant so much to me back when they first came out..im watching almost 15 years later and it hits different every year i swear..comment if these movies will always have an effect on you ❤❤🥰
They are timeless because they included nothing that dates them, no political crap or preachiness that seems to permeate every film nowadays. This is just a damn good story conveyed with care and skill, nothing less than perfection on film.
I thought Game of Thrones was the same level as this but it is no where near. LOTR sits way on top of every film/tv show within its genre. I will watch the trilogy again very soon, and I’ll get the extended edition too.
the extended versions added so much value. for example, the whole scene with Gandalf studying the ring in the archives of Minas Tirith was scrapped from the Cinema Version because they thought it wasnt thrilling enough for theatres.
LOTR was shot 20 years ago, the trilogy was shoot together as one movie in 1999-2000, this battle took place in the second movie which is why was released in 2002. It was shot TWENTY YEARS AGO, That's one of the reasons why the LOTR is so especial.
LOTR is so serious and still comfortably watchable at the same time. I feel soothing music, excellent locations and superb cinematography are reason for the comfort..!
This 4 mins clip is better at world building; establishing good and evil aesthetical differences, ambiguity in mystery, plot and character development, than the entire first three hours of jeffy B’s new unlimited budget show.
FOTR is the best of the trilogy by a wide margin imo. It has sequences like this in spades. Zero fluff. 2.5 hours of bangers and chills. It’s probably the best movie ever made
Yep. And this scene is a perfect example of why it’s the best of the three. Trees is not one janky or unconvincing shot in this sequence, which shows: - Hobbiton - Barad-dur - Minas Morgul - Minas Tirith in the space of a few minutes. So that’s four massive, totally different, totally fictional Fanta settings, and you can just about smell each one. Not to mention how the score takes you through several utterly distinct themes in the same space of time without ever feeling jarring. And then on top of that it builds incredible tension and even has a mini-detective-story element to it. Fellowship, to me, with the exception of that poor slo-mo low-frame rate choice and a few others, has the most consistently epic tone, and also has the most poignant two death scenes. As the trilogy goes on there are still individual scenes that are among my favourite of all time, but there are more Hollywoodisms “per capita” with each additional film. And there is something about the way Fellowship was shot and colour-graded (this scene being among the best examples) that makes it feel so utterly real. The lighting. The sense of place. Exceptional. I’ve watched it dozens of times and am still in awe, especially when I go away and watch a bunch of other stuff and then come back to this. As far as large-scale productions go, it’s just unmatched. And by the way, that shot of Barad-dur where the first tower we’re circling I pretty big and then it bans up and you realise it’s a mere gate-tower of this gargantuan thing, while that tyrannical, demonic brass plays: It still takes me back to being 12 years old (had read the books) and watching it in the cinema with my family, and just being utterly transported.
@@Ti-up3dvwhat's the slow motion low frame rate part? I can't remember anything except a quick shot of Gandalf when he thinks Frodo's been skewered by the cave troll
@@ScapoloMichael Yep that is the effect I’m taking about (Gandalf thinking Frodo’s been skewered). They also use it in a weird montage of the Uruk-Hai pursuing them. I think that is the only two times they use it. Unfortunately dates the film unlike just about every other shot in the movie.
Gandalf: Sees eye of Sauron, the same eye he saw at Dol Guldur. Also Gandalf: Hmmm this might be the one ring but I cant be sure.. *Disappears for years to study the ring*
Yeah I was thinking that too...The Hobbit kind of robs this scene of the mystery. I guess Saruman was right, Gandalf's addition to the Halfling's leaf really did dull his mind.
@@tyranusfan in addition to the 9 rings of the Nazgul, there were 7 corrupted rings given to the dwarves, which have all gone missing (to say nothing of the possibility of unnamed minor rings which might also have been corrupted) So yeah, looking at a minimum of 17 possible identities for a ring which might produce that response, with 8 of those being fairly likely.
I was today years old when I finally realized that it takes them 3 movies to get to Gondor and the wizard rides there from the shire in a 2 minute clip
2:13 that is one of my favourite parts of that film you see that small tower and think it’s Saurons home and then suddenly it pans to a massive tower with that intimidating music.
I wish I appreciated LOTR so much more when it was coming out on cinema. I know it was amazing and I loved it but I didn’t realise no movie would ever come close to its epicness since.
@Alooof23 who knows at first glance that they're watching something that will stay with them forever? There are scenes in this film that can still provoke an emotional response on the 10th watch, or the 100th watch or even the 1000th time watching.
I love that you see the first glimpse of Barad-Dûr and you think it's a scary-looking tower, but then the camera pans to reveal the tower you've been looking at was only a small auxiliary part of the fortress and that the main building itself is so huge you cannot see its top (in this shot).
0:19 *THAT'S* how you do a jumpscare! Not just as a jolt of the heart, but of the soul. As an introduction. A precursor, and a warning...that something _Very_ evil is in the air....
Weird time events between LOTR and real life. Took Tolkien 17 years to finish LOTR.(including breaks) Took Gandalf 17 years to study the one ring. Tolkien died in 1973. 3 rings for the eleven kings. 7 for dwarf lords. 9 for mortal men. 1 for the dark lord. 😧
@@checkmate9099 Well Galadriel was a lady though and the only bearer of nenya so i never understood the three kings as nenya was made for her :/ unless saying she might as well been king or queen status
It's entirely possible Isildur is familiar with black speech, or he heated the ring to reveal the inscription again, as the end of the passage would imply he discovered/ knew that would do it.
Indeed. Isildur would’ve been at least mildly familiar with Black Speech as he lived when Sauron walked Middle Earth in Physical form and his influence and people were widespread. The latter second age were dark days when evil didn’t hide and covered large portions of middle earth
@@yield56 exactly. He literally gives instructions as to how to make the letters appear. I can just imagine him, locking himself up in his chambers and staring at it for hours. Writing down his musings and throwing it into his fire place to look at the letters, again. It would appear as Tengwar to him but I don't think he would be able to decipher it. As Numenorean he would speak Andunaic and Sindarin.
A minute ago, Gandalf and Bilbo were together in the same house, everything seemed so warm and merry even though Bilbo was a bit unhinged. Then Bilbo leaves and the Shire's music just keeps getting jollier. Then from 0:00 to 0:22 Gandalf comes back in and stares the Ring down. There's no music; just complete silence, Gandalf's breathing and this trinket of devilry. Imagine finding yourself alone in a pretty big house with nothing but the most evil object in the Universe. It's like an exorcist going into a haunted house alone to purge it of its demon. The Eye of Sauron getting triggered is the icing on the cake. IMO, that's a very scary scene for an action-adventure movie and it's better executed than an actual horror movie. And Bilbo had to live with this thing for 60 years, surely there were moments where he felt a presence in his house. Then there's Gollum with 500 years... I know that Sauron came back just a few decades ago, but that doesn't change the fact that the Ring is a living entity with a mind of its own.
It’s sad how even with the biggest budget ever, Amazon can’t match the epic tone and feel if the PJ films. There’s making something out of love and respect for the source material, then there’s making something to send a message while disrespecting the source material and those who hold it dear. In the end I believe the Amazon series will fade into obscurity, while people will continue to return to these films.
@2:13 not sure how many realize this but at first you think this is Bara-dur, only to realize this was just a simple watch tower and you see just how much bigger the rest of the structure is... and you can’t even see the top until the 2nd film that finally shows the Eye of Sauron.
I always found brilliant the choice to let start the main theme when Frodo at 0:44 touches the ring for the first time in the trilogy. These movies were so perfectly crafted
Honestly astounded at the quality of these films still surpass films made 20 years later that have the benefit of larger budgets and “better technology” available.
Thats how it usually goes, right? "Oh im just gonna watch this LOTR scene" then BOOM. Now you're spending the weekend watching the whole extended trilogy.
The real dog, now gone to that great playground in the sky, was a seasoned actor, appearing in a well-known-in-New Zealand Toyota commercial: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cbBx4Ql6Umo.html
This is a prime example of all the elements of filmmaking coming together, the script, the lore, the set design, the special effects, the editing, the music, the performances, all complementing each other.
Just re-read the fellowship of the ring so I'm on a youtube binge to see the differences in the way each scene made me feel. I absolutely love the book and I adore the movie. Both have their own charms and are worth enjoying in their own rights!
