1. Firstly, I really want to thank you all for how much love and support you've shown these videos thus far. It's really made watching it that much more fun and personal. 2. I again had to tweak the audio and this time the visuals of the movie footage to get it through. It's all still really visible except the few very dark scenes so apologies in advance. 3. This was meant to go up 2 days ago but I forgot to schedule a publish time 😅😂 Nevertheless, the march to Mordor continues. God Bless
If you want to run through an Open World of this, it's hard to beat Lord of the Rings Online; free entry, and it has a huge and fairly accurate Middle-Earth. The gameplay is dated and nothing to write home about but the exploration is first-rate and its quite beautiful for an older game.
Boromir's line "they took the little ones" gets me every time. The words and the fact that it's the first thing he thinks of as he's dying is so representative of his character - a noble man, a protector of his people and especially of those smaller and weaker than himself. I love how well Sean Bean portrayed that in the limited time available in the films.
He was always partial to Merry and Pippin. He helped them in the snows of the mountain, taught them to fight, and died protecting them. He always loved the little ones.
That line has me on the verge every time as well. As someone who doesn’t get emotional easy. Hearing him saying those words in his last moment. The pain and regret, the shame all culminating even after his ultimate sacrifice. And to know he couldn’t save them. Fucking sad stuff
I'm glad you recognize the tragedy of Boromir's character. Some reactors don't recognize that Boromir is a genuinely good man who is unfortunately twisted by the ring's power, and it's hard to watch a good man being vilified as he dies to protect someone else.
“Yeah, I don’t trust him either. Not because he’s some like evil guy, but just the pull of the Ring” - Five minutes in and he’s already locked in and Gets It. From the beginning, he can tell Boromir is inherently good but seems a little more susceptible to the corruption of the Ring. And I agree, taking down so many orcs defending Merry and Pippen, and the absolution he receives from Aragorn as he dies…it’s so moving, every time ❤️
Yea the ring uses your deepest desires against you and Boromir just wanted to save his people. the ring made him think he could use it's power for that purpouse.
@Araanor more than that, it made him believe Frodo would fail and get the ring to Sauron and seal their fate. It wasn't until AFTER he spoke his fears that the spell of the ring was broken and he could acknowledge what he had done. And beg forgiveness. Twice. It was also only when facing death that his father's programming was broken and he could see what Aragorn would mean for Gondor, and in his last moments gave him the encouragement to seek that position.
It really speaks to how welcoming and open-minded Khazad-dûm-Dwarves were back in the day: Their door password is a super basic riddle in a language meant to accommodate foreigners. Also, Sean Beans line delivery on "they have a cave troll" never fails to make me chuckle.
Yeah, that door was made before any orcs settled in the mountains and when there was a really friendly elven civilization next door called Eregion. It was only during the Dark Years that Eregion was wiped out and Khazad-dum closed its doors.
The door was made by elves and dwarves together and was not the main entrance. It was meant to serve as an access point for the neighbouring elves who came to visit
iirc, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd (Merry & Pippin) both said that if they were to have any character use their one PG13 "Fuck", it would be Boromir saying "They have a fucking Cave Troll!"
During Boromi's death scene, you can hear a choir in the soundtrack. The choir isn't singing random vowels, they're actually singing in Elvish. The english translation of the lyrics? It's a line from the books: "I do not love the sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only what they defend," For bonus hurt points- In the books, those lines were said by his little brother Faramir.
It's times like that you can definitely tell Tolkien was a soldier. I've heard the same thing, only less poetic, from my uncle who was a vet. They love their home and the people that depend on them for safety, not the glory or the honor of warfare.
@@BobBlumenfeld the shire is completely built out, except for the insides of the hobbit holes which were filmed in a studio in wellington. but from the outside it looks just like in the movies, taking a stroll through there is magical!
Edoras set was planned to be taken down from the beginning tho cos it would’ve been disastrous for the local ecology. Hobbiton by contrast works with the local environment
@@zeldaolinkberserkgantz1136 While technically true, it's worth noting that the Istari (wizards) are nowhere near as powerful as Sauron or even the Balrog due to the limitations placed on them when they were sent to Middle Earth. Frankly, even ignoring that, Sauron was probably a much higher order Maiar to pre-Gandalf; it's kind of like comparing the US Vice President with an assistant manager at Costco- same species, yes, but not equivalent in power.
@@sifitis2927 I don't see it that way more that Gandalf studied under the most compassionate valar and is more subtle in his ways whereas sauron studied under a more direct valar and was all about shows of power and domination
@@sifitis2927 They are are powerful as Sauron was before the ring, they're just not allowed to use that power. Because the Valar remember what happened when they confronted Morgoth that way.
The thing that gets me most about boromir's death is that when in lothlorien he spoke of how his people had no hope. At the end, recognizing Aragorn for what he truly was, you could see that even as boromir was dying he was filled with hope. Sean Bean knocked that outta the park. Brings tears to my eyes every time.
I've always believed that the weakness of Men was that they are easily corrupted, but their strength is that it just takes one good man to rekindle the hope of thousands. The Elves speak a lot of the loss of hope, and even though they have thousands of years of art, poetry, and music, they don't have the answers to the problem of the passing of their kind from the world. Their weakness is that THEIR loss of hope is irreversible.
Boromir's development over time, when he first meets Aragorn he says Gondor has no King. In Lothlorien he says they shall both return as equal Lords of Gondor. And in his dying moments he calls Aragorn his King.
Thank you. You clearly summed up what usually turns into a dissertation from me about Boromir symbolizing the redemption of Gondor with the line of kings. From admiring AND mocking relics such as the shards of Narsil to being the first person of Gondor to call Aragorn *king.* I really love this interpretation of Boromir. And the fact Sean Bean auditioned to play Aragorn... there is poetry in that.
The gift of three of Galadriel’s golden hairs to Gimli is significant because long ago she was asked for 3 by an elf she didn’t trust, to work some magic. She denied his request. So giving 3 to Gimli is a sign that she doesn’t feel the distrust for him that elves typically feel for dwarves.
@@sulrana1812 I’ll pay extra attention during that scene when I get to it, but I’ve never seen astonishment on Legolas’ face, just mild amusement and maybe even affection 🙈
I could be completely wrong but does the elf not ask for one hair and when gimly gets 3 it makes it even more impressive? Again I could be wrong it's been a while since I did the books and the silmarilian
when Aragorn deflected the knife while fighting the Orc to save Boromir the actor who was playing the orc was suppose to throw the knife way off and far away from Vigo Mortensen but because of his heavy makeup his vision was impaired and actually threw the dagger at Vigo and he ACTUALLY DEFLECTED IT WITH HIS SWORD, I just personally think that pretty crazy and badass.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but in Pippin's defense he's the youngest of the group (the one who keeps touching stuff). He's actually more like a teen in Hobbit years. He's also a little spoiled because he's lowkey Hobbit nobility (this isn't really gonna come up in the movies but it's more explicit early on in the books so not a spoiler), but he's also from a family (the Took clan) who are notoriously more mischievous. He's Frodo's cousin, on Frodo's mother's side (the Tooks), and they share that same curiosity and "un-Hobbit-like" bravery. EDIT. Most Hobbits are pretty brave in character but socially they're more peace and quiet anti-busybody and bravery is deemed, generally, as foolish and inviting trouble.
Also! As for there being no prophecy, Tolkien wrote this after coming home from WWI and was very focused on the idea that wars are fought by and goodness is upheld by people and their choices, not by higher powers or ideals which can only offer support to mortal means. So there's no prophecy or destiny, only people choosing to do and be good and to fight for that goodness.
My theory on the ring having less ability against Hobbits is that their ambition doesn't stretch as far as other races. They just want to have a small family life, maybe a farm, and plenty of free time to eat, drink, and smoke
If they had tried to rescue Gandalf, it would have meant endangering Frodo who has the ring. It was a crumbling bridge, and they would likely have fallen.
Galadriel's strange gift of rope to Samwise is the continuation of a story arc left out of the movie. When the hobbits were first setting out from Bree, Sam realized he hadn't packed any rope but that there was no time to go back and get some. Here he receives his rope.
You wanted a prophecy? There are a number that appear in the books. Bilbo wrote a poem for Aragorn that refers to his destiny and Gandalf includes it in a letter that the innkeeper in Bree was supposed to send to the hobbits but forgot to. It mentions his friend Strider and tells the hobbits that he will help them. The innkeeper gave it to them after they'd already met Aragorn in the book; the letter is left out of the movie entirely, though part of the poem gets quoted later. All that is gold does not glitter Not all those who wander are lost Old that is strong does not wither Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken A light from the shadows shall spring Renewed shall be blade that was broken The crownless again shall be king.
The fight between Gandalf and the Balrog is not a mismatch. In fact, it's a perfect match, as they are the same kind of being. They are both Maiar, angelic beings of light who took physical form to enter Middle Earth. Sauron is also a Maia. He was a lieutenant of Morgoth, the Middle Earth equivalent of Satan, who was vanquished long ago. Gandalf is a disciple of one of the Valar, more or less the gods of Middle Earth. The Balrog is a Maia of fire, an elemental being. Tolkien created his world from the very beginning onwards, from the Creation of the universe. So there's a LOT that never gets covered in these films, but which is present in its structure and lore. (There were five Wizards, the Istari, who were sent to Middle Earth to fight Sauron. There's Gandalf the Grey, a wanderer and kindler of hearts; Saruman the White, a loremaster and seeker of knowledge; Radagast the Brown, who knows the language of birds and beasts, and lives in the forest of Mirkwood; and two Blue Wizards, who went into the East to fight evil there, and whose stories never get told in the legendarium.) An explanation of Pippin: He isn't stupid. He's a kid. Hobbits normally live to about 100, they don't come to maturity until 33. Pippin is 28, the youngest of the hobbits, which would put him somewhere around 16 or so in human terms. He's not only young, but very sheltered. He's the son of the most important Hobbit in the Shire, so he's their equivalent of a Prince. And he's an only child, so he was coddled and sheltered in a land where there's rarely anything to be sheltered from. He's never been outside the Shire, and never met an Elf or a Dwarf. He's energetic and curious, but incredibly naive and trusting. Evil for him has always been a matter of gossip and dog-bites and jealousy; he has no knowledge of murder or real violence. So he messes up a lot, but he'll grow on you. :)
Something a lot of reactors don't seem to realise is that the Gandalf scene after he breaks the bridge happens in seconds, that's why everyone but Gandalf is in slow motion. There is literally no time to run and pull him up, he gets tethered and then in seconds he's gone.
In the movie we get a shot from the point of view of Frodo, it’s a quick one so easy to miss, where we see how far away the rest of the fellowship are. They are not right there next to Gandalf, more like a hundred yards away. Running back on a half broken bridge without support while goblins are shooting arrows from above would be very very stupid. And Frodo still tried to, Boromir had to hold him back.
"Gandalf, bro, this is a mis-match." Actually, Gandalf and the Balrog have a common background. They were once angels in a far-off place known as Valinor, also called The Undying Lands and Westernesse. The Balrog and other balrogs turned to the Dark Side, to borrow an apt term from another movie universe, along with Sauron and his master (yes, he was once a servant), Morgoth, or Melkor. Gandalf the Grey, along with Saruman the White, a third wizard Radagast the Brown and two "blue" wizards who went off into the east and were never heard from again, were sent to Middle-Earth to fight Sauron. And remember Gandalf's last words, "Fly, you fools!" just before he let go. He didn't want them to risk their safety and, even more, the Ring, by trying to save him. There's even a possibility that Gandalf foresaw his fall when he said, "This is a foe beyond any of you." Not "us," but "you." And then he turned over leadership of the Fellowship to Aragorn.
i have a personal theory that gandalf knew he’d been hanging around with hobbits and elves and men for too long and enjoying life and now he’s come up against something only HE can face, maybe it’s just sir ian’s incredible performance but it always felt like he knew his time was finally up, and that’s part of the reason he chooses to fight the balrog and leave the fellowship on their own
little interesting note when she mentions that she has nothing to give Aragorn while touching the star necklace given by Arwen, Galadriel is Arwen's grandmother and in the appendices its mentioned that Galadriel helped to set the two of them up (even when Elrond kicked Aragorn out of Rivendell to "get experience as a ranger" (he didn't want his daughter tying herself to a human and dying like his brother had)).
@@emanuelosorio9610 Celebrían (IPA: [keleˈbriːan]) was an Elven noblewoman, the daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel, the wife of Elrond, and the mother of Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen.
More details of the tale of Aragorn and Arwen are told in the Appendices to the books of The Lord of the Rings. And Galadriel is Arwen's grandmother. On her father's side Arwen is also the great-great-great granddaughter of Luthien Tinuviel, the half-elf and half-maia princess of the First Age who fell in love and married the mortal man, Beren. As Aragorn comments (very briefly) in the first half of the Fellowship movie, she died - because she chose to become mortal and join Beren, both in life and death.
"Why did I lean over to see?" Because you're now totally immersed in the story, that's why. And I remember when computer games were just getting started, playing Castle Wolfenstein and trying to peer around the door jambs before setting foot in the rooms. Ludicrous, but it says something.
this book series is responsible for so many fantasy tropes, it basically spawned the entire genre. the long haired, bow wielding forest elves and axe wielding dwarves mining the mountains for ore that we take for granted in fantasy all began with LOTR. Tolkien took inspiration from mythology, mostly Norse mythology, but nobody else had written anything like it in modern times.
If you watch, the fellowship is filmed in slow motion during gandalfs death while Gandalf is filmed in normal speed. It’s to represent the shock of what they just saw and the time it takes to react. Also the scene before that where is shows a wide shot, you can see there quite amount of distance between Gandalf and the fellowship as well as orcs still firing arrows at them. However on a first time watch everybody usually says the same thing so you’re not alone.
The other major component is that they are actively being shot at by goblins. Granted they aren't the most accurate, but one stray arrow could've meant death for whomever tried to go help Gandalf.
I read in a comment somewhere that when everyone is shocked, Legolas looks confused, or at least incredulous. He's never considered that Mithrandir would ever die. Legolas was also the only one to be truly scared when Gandalf named the Balrog. The hoobits cried because they lost an embodied childhood memory. Aragorn lost his friend but also had the responsibility of leading fellowship. Boromir is also being strong but compassionate. And Gimli seems the most offended that Tharkûn died. Really such a great scene and direction
The pause while Gandalf dangles is another Jackson invention to help linger on the moment. In the book Gandalf is yanked into the abyss by the whip in an instant, his last admonition of "fly you fools" echoing from his fall. It happens in one sentence. Also, Boromir and Aragorn are right behind him on the bridge when he falls, making it more obvious that the fall happens in the blink of an eye. Ive found it best to interpret these discrepancies in Jackson's retelling as the director's attempt to emphasize the emotion of any given moment rather than try to interpret it as an attempt at a literal moment by moment accounting of the events.
Really enjoyed your reaction because you really tried to keep the names and places and lore straight and made very intelligent observations and speculation, such as when you surmised that Gandalf did not realize the ring was the ONE ring until he saw its effect on Bilbo, which is why he told Frodo while still in the Shire to keep it safe and secret while Gandalf went off to do extensive research (explained in the book). Also, you realized Boromir couldn't be trusted around the ring, but not because Boromir was evil, simply because the ring is so corrupting of those near it. If possible, try to watch the extended version of the next installments for extra scenes to better understand Boromir and the pressure he was under.
I normally don't recommend the extended editions to first-time watchers, because I think the theatrical edit is a lot cleaner, and for the average viewer who's just watching it as a movie provides a better experience. Some people are already kind of lost in the sauce of the lore & more is not adding much for them. But I think this gentleman honestly would REALLY enjoy & appreciate the extra content, and I'm not worried about his attention span for it 🤣No shade to other reactors of course.
5:35 there are 5 wizards sent to middle earth to guide the people against evil. Gandalf the Gray, Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown and 2 Blue wizards (I forgot their names but they never show up anyway). Remember, they are very VERY strong but they are forbidden to use their full power, they can only use a fraction of it and in special circumstances. That's why they came to middle earth as "old men", they are not meant to fight, they are meant to guide, inspire, unite etc.
the 2 Blue Wizards are Pallando&Alatar, and while there is no more info given on them, it is assumed their work included in a Rebellion against Sauron in Harad&Rhun, the "wicked men" :)
yes to be more specific they are the Istari, one of the lesser Ainur sent to middle earth. he is not of the race of men of elves and is only disguised as an old man
@@novakaneiii8231 ...and the Balrog and Sauron are also Ainur (think angels) but were corrupted by Melkor (think the Devil) who once was a Valar (Think arch angels/demi-gods, though Tolkien probably wouldn't have preferred demi-gods, but to give you the idea of hierocracy.) THe Silmarillion is DEEP!
The wizards/Ishtari are Maiar, spirits that are like angels or avatars of the Ainur, the "pantheon" of gods that resemble figures like Odin or Posiden. Sauron was once a Maiar like Gandalf or Saruman, he served the original dark lord, Morgoth, who was the most evil & powerful of the Ainur. When he was defeated by the other Ainur, which sunk half the continent in the process, Sauron remained in Middle Earth to try and reorganize the forces of evil to serve him instead. So Sauron is actually the second "dark lord", and he is a wizard/sorcerer like Gandalf- he has just been on earth for a lot longer, pretty much since the creation of the world, and has been directly influenced by evil the entire time. Maiar are sort of like demigods, this is why the elves hold Gandalf in high regard, they are one step above them on the spiritual hierarchy. This is also why Sauron HATES elves, because he feels superior to them and is threatened by them. He would rather deal with humans, who he feels are simpler & easy to manipulate due to their short livespawn. Its also worth noting that wizards appear old because their bodies are sort of like projections, they only need them when they are on earth to do something. the colors of the Ishtari wizards indicate both the powers that they possess as well as who they seek to influence- Saruman the white has diplomatic powers and seeks to influence "important" people in society. Gandalf the grey influences more "common" folk, and Rhadagast the brown shuns society & influences wildlife instead. Even the blue wizards, though they are never really seen, are probably blue to represent the sky & sea, since they are travellers who influence people in far-off places of the world. Sauron, by comparison, would be the black maiar, his influence is driven by his own fear, hate, & selfishness, so those are the types of beings & emotions that he has the most influence over.
Sauron is a Maiar, the same kind of being as Gandalf, however the Maiar that came later to Middle Earth as Wizards (The Istari) were somewhat nerfed to prevent them being too powerful like Sauron if they went bad.
The Balrog was also very much a nerfed Maiar, but for different reasons. The Balrogs were so connected with evil and the material that they slowly lost many of their spiritual powers.
You're in for a treat. The second is better. The third you'll be cheering out loud and at other times wondering who the hell is cutting all the onions in your flat. First read the book when I was 13. Am 60. There were many attempts at making these books into a movie, with an animated version by Bakshi being one of the best, but Jackson nailed it. There is as much history and stories around the making of these movies as there is in the main story itself. Highly recommend the extended versions if you are up for it. 4hrs each but pass like an hour. I envy you just a little that you will not have to wait a year or more for the next films as we had to. Slainté 🍻😎
Just a call out, he's watching the extended versions I believe. His first video showed the Elves leaving for the West which is only in the extended version.
@@johnohrstrom5112 Thank you! I honestly wasn't sure and have not seen the first video he put out. This just came up in my feed. I'm a sucker for LotR reactions and Lovebites reactions (it's a metalhead thing)
All three movies were filmed together, which really helps them all feel like the same story. Two Towers is my favorite, but I know most people like Return of the King most, and some people really like the setup for the Fellowship. But it's really remarkable to me that all three movies are each strong enough individually to be people's favorites, it really shows the consistent dedication that was put into making these.
Galadriel and Celeborn are Arwen’s maternal grandparents. Arwen’s mother was their only daughter, Celebrian. Elrond and Celebrian also had two older sons, twins Elladan and Ellrohir. Lady Celebrian was returning to Lorien when she was waylaid and seized by orcs. She was rescued by her sons but she had been traumatized, tortured, and tormented to the extent that it affected her mind. She’d also received a poisoned wound. Elrond could heal her physically, but she was too far gone mentally. Elrond made the decision to let her sail over the sea to the Grey Havens where she remained ever after.
Fun Fact: When Aragorn was fighting Lurtz (the big orc guy) the prosthetics caused the actor to actually throw the real knife at Viggo, who then really deflected it!
The reason it holds up so well is they literally invented both filming techniques and technology during the filming. Most action, sci-fi, fantasy, and others use their methods or the inventions. Andy who plays Gollum has a school to teach filmmakers how to do it. Gandalf letting Frodo decide the route is him trusting to fate and what must be. He has some foresight as a wizard but must not influence with his own needs or wants. He hesitated to go that way likely because he sensed his own possible doom, but let fate decide if he must face it. Gandalf had a responsibility to fight the ancient evil that was before him. He was sent from Valinor to fight the evil that invaded Middle Earth, including Sauron. He already planned to fight it when he instructed Aragorn to lead the others out. He also knew the thousands of Orcs would be upon the Fellowship in moments with the Balrog out of the way, so told them to flee out into the daylight where the orcs will not go until dark. So sorry he was your fav. As soon as you said that I thought, oh no. 😞 I cried when I read it, and I cried in the theatre, and still do after hundreds of watches.
Yeah, with the Balrog, Gandalf was playing chess while the fellowship was playing checkers. Here's what I mean: The fellowship has one mission: destroy the ring. Gandalf? He has a BUNCH. And ensuring that Middle Earth survives a possible war with Sauron is one of them. Could you imagine a battlefield with a Balrog on it? I think Gandalf knew he couldn’t let it leave Morir. That's why he took that stand. Not to speak of his beloved companions on the other side of the bridge.
Same with Aragorn and Boromir. They originally wanted to leave the Fellowship close to Gondor and come to Minas Tirith together. Their main goal was defending Gondor, not destroying the Ring. When Gandalf "died", Aragorn took over and plans shifted: now only Boromir was to leave to Gondor and Aragorn would himself accompany Frodo to Mordor, maybe with Sam. When Boromir got killed and Merry and Pippin captured, Aragorn decided to abandon Frodo and go with Legolas and Gimli to save the hobbits. I also don't really think your idea of Gandalf works well with the movies. In the books it works becaude Gandalf is very much in favor of going to Moria, but in the movies we see the exact opposite.
Imagine a battlefield with dozens of Balrogs as warlords..... the First Age just fckn rocks 🤟 Too bad one Billion+ dollars aren't enough to do it justice.... *cough* amazon *cough* 🤢 (it would be more than enough, if they just wanted to..:/)
@@rafexrafexowski4754 I disagree with your last statement. Remember, in the films, we don't get any cues that the Balrog will leave Moria unprovoked. In fact, it's clear he's hoping to get through the mines unnoticed. Once the Balrog shows itself, that's when you see Gandalf make the call. "This foe is beyond any of you..." "Lead them on Aragorn."
"this is why he's my favourite character" Me: "Oh dear." :') Newly found your channel, glad to see people *still* finding LOTR and liking it, enjoy it, it's a HELL of a ride! Much love!
When you are done with the movies you need to watch the making of and behind the scenes features. The lengths everyone went too to make these amazing movies are unmatched
In the book Gandalf breaks the bridge to save Boromir and Aragorn who were running to help him fight the Balrog. Gandalf knew that if they tried to fight the Balrog they had zero chance and would die in moments, so he destroys the bridge under his (and the Balrog's) feet and sacrifices himself to prevent them from joining the fight. 'Fly' just means 'run really fast.'
Oh is that what the weather is like where my great-great-grandmother was born? The family immigrated from Wales to the U.S. in 1850. Never been there myself.
Youre correct, Gandalf knew Bilbo had A magiuc ring. He suspected something was odd with it when Bilbo reacted and called it precious. He only knew for certain once he threw it in the fire and the markings showed. There were 5 wizards, Sauraman was the head of the order, then Ganbdalf the Grey, Radagast the Brown and 2 Blue wizareds. Sauraman and Gandalf are in the LOTR movies, Radagasdt appears in the Hobbit movies. Little is known about the Blue wizards.
Facts. Also when Gandalf rides to Minas Tirith to read up on his ring lore, in the books that took 17 years for him to come back and tell Frodo. So Frodo was chillin in the shire not knowing he had the ring of power for 17 years. I know that but I haven’t read the book.
Its deceiving in the movie because the One Ring already is affecting Frodo and he "hasn't aged a day" much like Bilbo. 17 years or so has in fact passed as you said.
@@maxgoss5653 I don't think the timegap exists in the movies. The other hobbits also clearly did not age at all. But yeah, in the books Gandalf only takes Frodo on the journey at fifty (still not very old for a hobbit), the same age as Bilbo when he departed with the dwarves in the Hobbit.
There were the Great Rings, those 20 mentioned in the "One Ring to Rule Them All" verse (3 for the elves, 7 for the dwarves, 9 for men, and one for Sauron), and an unknown number of "lesser rings", which Gandalf considered still too dangerous for ordinary mortals. Gandalf knew that Bilbo's Ring was one of the Great Rings, but thought it must be one of the seven, since he already knew the status of the three and the nine. His suspicions were triggered when Bilbo got angry over the prospect of parting with it and called it "My Precious. "
I don’t believe it’s ever stated in the films, but within Tolkien’s writings, beings such as the wizards (which there were a total of five, Saruman the white, Gandalf the grey, Radagast the brown and two unarmed blue wizards) the Balrog and even Sauron were “angelic like” beings called Ainur, (all those being the lesser beings called Maiar, who were subservient to the Valar, one of which was Melkor, who turned evil and became the first dark lord Morgoth, Sauron was one of his followers, when Morgoth was defeated, Sauron rose to power) the Maiar took on a permanent physical form when they entered middle earth the wizards where sent to middle earth with divine purpose by Ilúvatar (God).
You have grasped the essence of the Elves with great alacrity. “But it is said: Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. The choice is yours: to go or wait.' 'And it is also said,' answered Frodo: 'Go not to the Elves for counsel for they will answer both no and yes.' 'Is it indeed?' laughed Gildor. 'Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.”
Fun fact about Galadriel's gift to Gimli, Back in the 1st age of Middle Earth, Fëanor, Galadriel's uncle, one of the greatest of the Elves, creator of the most beautiful jewels, containing the light of the two trees of Valinor, called the Silmarils, admired the beauty and light of her hair so much that he requested a tress three times. Three times, she rejected him, seeing his heart was not pure, and his intentions were selfish. Gimli asked for a single lock of her hair, and she gave him three, seeing that he was humble and kind. This was the start of renewed friendship between the Elves and dwarves. That's why Legolas gave him that look. He most likely knew the story behind it - Unfinished Tales, JRR Tolkien Even among the Eldar, she was accounted beautiful, and her hair was held a marvel unmatched. It was golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis, but richer and more radiant, for its gold was touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother; and the Eldar said that the light of the Two Trees, Laurelin and Telperion, had been snared in her tresses. Many thought that this saying first gave to Fëanor the thought of imprisoning and blending the light of the Trees that later took shape in his hands as the Silmarils.
I think that what you've discovered is that although Star Wars is fun with lots of action and humour, goodies and baddies, Lord of the Rings has that extra quality that is hard to achieve in a blockbuster : heart.
If you watch, Boromir always looks out for Merry and Pippin, and Aragorn looks out for Frodo and Sam. It's never mentioned on-screen, but every time there's a moment of danger where Aragon and Boromir don't need to actually fight, if they need to run or hide, Boromir dives for Merry and Pippin and Aragorn runs for Frodo and Sam. Even on the boats that's how they split up- both Boromir and Aragorn are in a boat with 'their' Hobbits. At some point off screen they had a conversation, so they wouldn't lose a Hobbit or fail to look out for one of them if things got dangerous and rushed. I love that it's just this tiny little detail that Peter Jackson deliberately added but didn't need to, like how he always filmed them traveling onscreen from left to right and never the other way around, so people would subconsciously get a feeling of a cohesive 'journey' to Mordor. I also have to think this made Boromir's end even more painful- he lost 'his' Hobbits.
40 days is still a severe understatement compared to the books. In them, it takes Frodo a month to reach Rivendell, then they stay in Rivendell a full two months, then they set off and reach Moria after another month, then travelled for almost a full week through Moria, and then they stayed another month in Lothlorien. Tolkien fully understood the importance of scale not only in his world building, but also in something as simple as physical distance and the effort such a journey requires.
At 21:30, most reactors I've watched wonder why nobody tried to rescue Gandalf. In the book, Aragorn and Boromir ran back to stand beside Gandalf in his fight with the Balrog, but they were forced to retreat when Gandalf broke the bridge. An arch bridge missing its keystone has no structural strength, and the rest of the bridge fell in just as the two men reached safety.
@@rafexrafexowski4754 You might be misremembering. "He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. 'Fly, you fools!' he cried, and was gone." He did grasp then slid into te abyss, much like the film portrayed. It was more dramatic in the film, for obvious reasons, with Gandalf hanging down for a few seconds, but it's pretty much the same thing. I doubt that Tolkien meant that Gandalf was shouting from down the abyss. The rest of the fellowship were not peeking down, to see him "gone," so we can interpret "was gone" to mean "he fell down." So Tolkien didn't give us a play-by-play chronological description of events, he described the event twice. "He tried to hold on, but he fell down the abyss. Oh, and he also said his last words before falling down."
@@dkosmari Oh, that's interesting. This is probably a translation issue. In English it is vague whether he actually grasped the stone and then let go (hence "vainly"), or he only attempted to grasp the stone, but was unable to do so. In my language (Polish), they went with the second option unambiguously (it is translated more as "He staggered and fell, attempted to grasp the stone, and slid into the abyss").
to everyone that always says go pull him up, couple things to note. its alot further than it looks theyre being shot at by goblins the bridge is now unstable the fellowship doesnt know anything about a balrog and dont know if its truely beaten
There's a million-and-one moments in this series that gut-wrenchingly, heartbreakingly powerful. But that last moment with Boromir and Aragorn is one that usually wrecks dudes pretty hard. You even knew what he was going to say before he said it, and still got wrecked. It's like it just taps into this sense of loyalty and honor that's written into our DNA or something. Speaking of DNA, when I saw this in the theaters and they came around the bend in the river and you see those giant statues, the Argonath, I literally had to hold myself to my seat because I wanted to stand and salute. Before that moment I had never cared about my history or my ancestors or anything like that, and had even been taught that it was shameful to do so. But that scene woke something inside that I could feel all over, running in my blood. It's been almost 25 years and I still remember it like it just happened. Tolkien knew what he was doing when he wrote these tales, and Peter Jackson (despite the issues even I have with the movies) did an absolutely glorious job of bringing us into that world. I can't wait to tag along for the rest of your journey.
Without giving to much in spoilers of the future, in the book Aragorn is told by Elrond that if he has to marry his daughter he has to do something. He doesn’t go with the party for the sake of the party. He just basically says, we are going in the same direction for a while, I’ll accompany yall until I need to go do my own thing. So he leaves FOR her. They can’t be married if he stays
Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) actually batted away that thrown knife with his sword. It was not supposed to be thrown that close to his face, but he had been practicing so much with the sword that he was able to deflect it. He also lost two teeth during that battle scene.
And Sean Astin (Sam) cut himself in the foot from a shard of glass in the water when going out in the water to Frodo's canoe. He had to stitch the wound in the foot up before continuing filming the scene.
This was filmed in New Zealand (all 3 movies) There are 5 wizards, Saruman - the white, Gandalf - the gray, Radagast - the brown and the two blue wizards. Wizards are from the race called "Maiar" and they are supernatural beings like Angels. They have taken on these outer shells (bodies), so to speak, and are thousands of years old.😊 In the Fellowship movie, Saruman is the leader of the wizards. In Gandalf's position in Middle Earth he is only suppose to assist, encourage and advice. He's not supposed to make decisions for those living in Middle Earth. That's why Frodo had to decide to go into the mines or not.🙂
So some quick backstory as well, Galadriel is arwens grandmother, elronds mother-in-law. So when talking about the gift to give him, it is her granddaughter who is betrothed to him
No matter how many times I watch this movie Boromir's death always gets me. He truly was a good man in desperate times, who had seen his people suffer under the malice of Sauron and only wished to do whatever he could to defend and protect them. Sean Bean did such an incredible job with this character, Boromir's last moments always make me bawl like a little child.
Not going through all the comments to see if anyone has told you already, but you do absolutely have to watch the extras. It's the grand master of all "making of". Hours and hours and HOURS of behind the scenes content. It's so worth it.
Every named character who has succeeded in killing a Balrog also died in the process - three elves and Gandalf. They are demons who were tempted to fall by this world's original Big Bad, Morgoth, Sauron's former boss. Gandalf had to risk the Balrog battle because he couldn't risk the Balrog following the Fellowship out of Moria - they can run at about the speed of sound in open air - it would have killed them all and, maybe, joined up with Sauron.
There is essentially a kind of “Prophecy” is Tolkien’s universe, in that everything seemingly happens for a reason, in line with the grand design of Eru Illuvatar (The creator god of this universe) When characters like Gandalf and Galadriel talk about not yet knowing somethings full purpose (like Galadriel talking about Gandalf, and Gandalf talking about Gollum) or let events play out, they’re referencing a faith/trust in everything happening for a reason and eventually turning out as it should; a philosophy which in Elvish is called “Estel” (which is distinct from “Amdir”: which is more “hope” that things will turn out for the best)
They are releasing these movies again this summer in Theaters! Also word is that never before seen scenes are being added to these Extended versions (Director's Cuts?!?)!
A fun fact i haven’t seen shared: Tolkien intended the LOTR to be a single book, his publishers insisted on it being broken into three separate volumes (hence a trilogy: The Fellowship, etc.). The LOTR had internal divisions into six sections-each book of the trilogy consisting of two. The second section of the Fellowship begins where Frodo awakens after being healed in Rivendell with Gandalf seated at his side.
You're right that Gandalf knew that Bilbo had a magic ring, way back in The Hobbit, in fact, but he didn't know that it was The Ring. By the way, I'm not a fan of the three Hobbit movies, but they do have one long scene that ties the two series together very nicely. I won't say any more about it, lest I spoil something for you.
I'm not sure if anyone else already mentioned or if you knew already, but when Aragorn is fighting the Uruk-Hai captain Lurtz, the moment where Lurtz pulls the dagger out of his leg and throws it at Aragorn was a "real" take. They messed up and forgot to switch the dagger out with a prop one so the dagger that gets thrown at Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn's actor) was real and he really deflected it with his sword and that's why the sound is so good,. It isn't something added in with SFX, it's real. Viggo is a total badass.
There are different "tribes" of orcs each with different skills so they're called orcs or goblins interchangeably. I refer to the bigger Uruk-Hai to super orcs in comparison to regular orcs since they're faster, stronger, smarter and more able to withstand the sun. 2 parts for each one seems to work best for most reactors. 😂😂The OG King Kong is b&w and older than I am at 62. 😂
At 4:10, your thinking about what Gandalf knew about the Ring ahead of time is correct. The movie moves along a lot faster than the book, in order to produce an exciting viewing experience. In the book, it took Gandalf 17 years to find out the truth of Bilbo's Ring.
I don't think this is a case of the movie being shortened easier viewing experience, just so that the actors did not need to be made to look older in the later scenes. However, there are many cases of the simplification of the plot for the movie, like the majorly cut journey from the Shire to Bree, the more complex Battle of the Pelennor Fields, or some simplified characters, like Merry being made more like Pippin and Pippin made even more silly to compensate.
27:48 The Mirror of Galadriel has nothing to do with the orb Saruman was using. The orb was called the Palantir, and it was part of a set of several orbs that in the ancient world served to communicate between certain allied kingdoms. After a cataclism most were lost, and that's why Gandalf said it was dangerous to use one because you didn't know who could be at the other side. Also, with the orbs the communication could become a battle of wits, so anyone using it who encountered someone else with enough malice and enough willpower could see themselves enslaved to their will. The Mirror of Galadriel only showed things in the past, present and future, but it didn't have any malice on its own.
Sauron, Saruman and Gendalf belong to the same kind of entities -- Maiar. Sorta primordial spirits who helped to shape the world. There were/are many of them.
It's filmed here in New Zealand & yes it does look like this. There are 5 wizards, but you only met 2 in this Sauron was once a Maiar from another relm, as were the Wizards.
Yessss there is. Lord of the Rings Online is a great MMO that takes you through the events of all of the movies and adds in more detail from the books and some original characters/events. It's well worth a playthrough.
It definitely is worth checking out. I started playing it at release date (April 2007), met some great people and joined their kinship. Eventually I stopped questing but I am still playing it today as a musician in two bands (Notenzauber, Jailhouse Rock) which use the in-game music system to provide some entertainment for all these battle weary adventurers.
No prophecy? Actually, there was, in a poem, written by Bilbo with Aragorn's help, that Arwen echoes later: All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be Blade that was Broken; The crownless again shall be King. Tolkien was very fond of poems, and many of his are included in the three books. (Too many, some say.)
There was also Faramir's dream (that later Boromir also dreamt): Seek for the Sword that was broken: In Imladris it dwells; There shall be counsels taken Stronger than Morgul-spells. There shall be shown a token That Doom is near at hand, For Isildur's Bane shall waken, And the Halfling forth shall stand
To answer "what race is Sauron", he's the same type of being as all the wizards. They're called maiar, spirits sent into the world, kind of like angels that have bodies. Vastly oversimplified, from the Silmarillion, a book of lore of ancient middle-earth. Sauron served the original rebellious being, Morgoth, as a lieutenant, and when Morgoth was overthrown, Sauron deceived everyone, pretending to have been rehabilitated. Created the one ring in secret while he helped or influenced the other rings to be made.
The second half of this video explains some of the perspective and set tricks they used to make the hobbits so small.. it’s super impressive, I feel like you’d never see this much care and calculation put into movies today! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MM2WX5s2y4k.htmlsi=dyf_OLd1S4yiED_X
Great reaction, looking forward to the rest. The timing of the Balrog grabbing Gandalf right after saying he's your favorite was unmatched. Also love seeing compassion for Boromir, and the rite of passage getting the daylights scared out of you by Bilbo in Rivendell. You're gonna fit right in, LotR fans will have you quoting trivia faster than you can say Viggo Mortensen's Toe.
I would kill to Able to watch this again for the first time. As someone who’s been a fan of this AND Star Wars since he was like 3 years old, LOTR is still the big bro to Star Wars. Grand pappy even. I envy you unc. If you don’t cry in any of these movies you a liar bc you edited it out.
At 20:55 your timing could not have been more spot on. Saying Gandalf is your favourite character and bigging him up, mere moments before he gets bodied.
I think what makes the scene where Sam is drowning so awful is the fact that Frodo’s parents drowned. So for Frodo to have to watch Sam deliberately put himself in the same kind of danger must have been awful 😢
Sauron infiltrated the Elves, disguised as an Elf, to teach them how to forge magic rings. Together they made many "lesser" magic rings for practice, before they forged the Rings of Power. Gandalf knew the 9 Nazgul still had their rings, he knew the 3 rings of the Elves were all accounted for (being held by Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel), and he knew the 7 rings of the dwarf lords were either destroyed by dragon fire (4) or recovered by Sauron (3). So it makes sense for him to assume, for so long, Bilbo's ring was one of the many lesser magic rings.
