First Time Watching THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Added 2024-01-22 03:54:38 +0000 UTCFULL UNCUT MOVIE REACTION !
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Part Two Comments as I watch through.... 1:50:24 Yes, they are siblings. 2:16:25 Yes, there are 9 Ringwraiths/Nazgul, including the Witch-King. Also, they don't really go into it in the films, but the Nazgul give off an aura of utter terror. It's like a fear spell effect that makes it very hard to even stand against them, let alone fight them. You notice in the first scene where you see one of them, back in the Shire in Fellowship of the Ring, when the hobbits were hiding under a tree root, suddenly all the insects come crawling out on the hobbits. That is because the insects were fleeing in terror from the aura of the Nazgul. The cries of their mounts also have a piercing and painful effect and also are terror inducing. 2:33:50 There is a blossom on the tree because the King has taken up his sword and called upon the oaths of the men of the Dimholt under the mountain. He has accepted the mantle of Kingship finally, and so the tree is coming to life. 2:42:00 They are already in Mordor, which is the name of the whole country/land. The Pass of Cirith Ungol and the tunnel brought them into the Mordor side of the mountains from Gondor. The tower is not Sauron's tower Barad-dûr, it is the Tower of Cirith Ungol, which means the "Spider's Cleft" and it is a fortress that is guarding the pass, which was originally built by Gondor and part of Gondor. I know....it's a lot of towers. LOL 3:01:00 Interesting fated moment here. Not only was Éowyn fated by the prophecy to kill the Witch-King, but Merry was fated to be involved as well. The blade he ended up with in the books was not given to him by the elves or by Rohan. It was from an ancient burial mound from part of their adventures. The sword was originally wrought by the smiths of Arthedain, an ancient enemy of the Witch-King during the many centuries when he was ruler of Angmar. It had been long ago enchanted with the power to harm the Witch-King himself by the Arthedain smiths. This is what allowed Merry to stab and harm the Witch-King and not only distract him long enough for Éowyn to fulfill her part, but also break part of his enchantment that enabled him to move and be invulnerable as an undead wraith, right at the key moment of her sword thrust. Without Merry, she would not have succeeded. It was the 1-2 punch that was necessary to take him down. Also, Merry was not a man either. He was a hobbit. Merry's blade disintegrated from the touch of the Witch-King but it had accomplished it's task. Both Merry and Éowyn took injury from dark magic from their sword arms from striking the Witch-King. Éowyn also took dark magic injury from the flail of the Witch-King shattering her other arm. 3:07:45 This moment gets me every time. Karl Urban knocked it out of the park. Imagine Éomer's shock and grief. Not only does he find his Uncle/King/Adopted Father dead, but then sees his beloved sister apparently dead, on a battlefield she is supposed to be far, far away from. 3:08:39 Aragorn is using both Ranger knowhow, and Elvish magic on her, the same way they saved Frodo after Weathertop, and perhaps something of the grace and power given to the returned King inside Gondor. There is a lot of that sort of fated magic and destined power floating around the men of Númenor, particularly of the line of Kings who are Elf-Kin. 3:15:16 Yes, Sam's purity. Though in the film Frodo says the Ring would destroy Sam, in the books it has little to no effect on him at all. He carried the Ring for days, put it on to hide multiple times from Orcs, and was still able to hand it back to Frodo with zero hesitation, unlike in the film. While he had the Ring in his possession, the only visions it could land on as possible temptations for him were of a big and beautiful garden for him to tend. He readily hands it back to Frodo when they are reunited, making him and Bilbo the only people in it's history to give up the Ring willingly, though Bilbo struggled to do it after having the Ring in his possession 60 years. 3:43:00 I explained in one of my other comments on this trilogy - but, he literally can't do it. It's part of the Ring's enchantment that the closer you are to Mt Doom the stronger its power becomes, and when you are standing in the Crack of Doom itself, you literally cannot throw it in the fire of your free will. You would have to throw in the ring bearer, or they have to fall in accidentally. So Gollum was THE ONLY WAY that was going to happen, because neither Sam nor Frodo was going to throw the other one in. Isildur got a bad rep for that, and it was not his fault. 4:00:10 The actors who played the Hobbits all became really close friends, but especially the ones who played Merry and Pippin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd. They live near each other in California now and have a podcast together called The Friendship Onion. They really are super BFFs. But for a lot of the cast members, especially those who were in the Fellowship, the whole experience was completely life changing. 4:01:10 Notice when the Hobbits return to the Shire, Pippin is in Gondor Livery and Merry is in Rohan Livery. Their return is different in the books, which I won't get into because it's a lot. The Shire was not untouched by the war in the books and they had work to do when they got home clearing out the bad guys. But this is a lovely ending for the films and more fighting would have felt wrong at this point in the story. After all was said and done, Sam was elected Mayor of the Shire for 7 consecutive terms and he and Rosie had 13 children. In his elder years, after she passed, he sailed to the grey havens to be with his other soulmate, Frodo. Pippen became Thain of the Shire (Lord) and held the position as a distinguished leader for 50 years, working closely with Mayor Sam. Merry inherited the title Master of Buckland and became historian of the Shire, filling a museum with artifacts and treasures from their adventures. At age 102, he returned to Rohan and Gondor with Pippen and they both died in Gondor. As some of the greatest heroes of the Third Age, they were laid to rest among the Kings of Gondor in Rath Dínen, the Street of Tombs. Later, after Aragorn died, they were moved to lie next to Aragorn, their companion in the Fellowship of the Ring. Also, the little girl who runs to Sam (Sean Astin) at the end is his real daughter. He had his wife and daughter with him in New Zealand because filming took over a year. Don't apologize Gabriella. Your emotion is perfect for this trilogy, the greatest trilogy ever filmed. You should read the books. I cried along with you.
Nanci B. Kuykendall
2024-02-01 06:20:53 +0000 UTCOK - here we go...LOL (It will take me some time to get through this, so expect edits on this post because I have already sent it prematurely by accident by hitting the return key.) Oh, I wish there was sound on the film in this. 15:16 It was the King of Gondor, Isildur, the ancestor of Aragorn who had the ring before it ended up in the river. I know, it's a lot. Tolkien's world is a lot. Side Note - You finally get to see Andy Serkis without being digitally painted over as Gollum. But it was not just a vocal performance he gave as Gollum, it was the physical performance in the motion capture suit and when they animated Gollum, they captured as much of his physical and facial performance as they were able. 17:45 Black Speech is the language of Mordor, which is a corrupted form of Elvish. It is the same language the inscription on the ring is written in, which reads: "Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul." Or "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." 21:16 Lembas Bread is Elvish and supposedly not only lasts indefinitely, but also tastes very good and is extremely sustaining. Magic elf food. It's a bit of a McGuffin to allow Frodo and Sam to just travel endlessly without having to spend much time looking for food, cooking and eating in harsh landscapes where they might otherwise starve before they reach their objective. 31:10 Galdalf is too savvy and cautious to use the palantir. Sauron was using the palantir to exploit existing weaknesses in those who were using it regularly. Both Saruman and Denthor (Steward of Gondor) felt the weight of leadership and frustration at their helplessness and were using palantirs it to try to get information to protect themselves and those under their charge, and Sauron used that to get into their heads. In Saruman's case he exploited he desire for superior knowledge, power and authority to win him as an ally. In Denethor's case, he could never win him as an ally, so he used Denethor's fears and desire to protect his people to fill him with paranoia and despair and drive him to madness. Denethor got his palantir from the extensive catacomb archives under Gondor, a repository of art, artifacts and information similar to the Vatican archives. That's one of the places Gandalf went to look for information to confirm the nature of the ring Bilbo had. 34:50 Elves can get drunk but Elvish wine is....different. Very strong and probably magic. Legolas' people, in the Kingdom of Mirkwood, are known to make wine and be partiers in the Hobbit book. 37:17 Notice that when he is Smeagol his pupils are dilated and when he is Gollum, they are pinpoints. 40:29 Pippin is just really inquisitive. The palantirs are ancient and powerful artifacts and just the sort of magic treasure to tempt a curious child, which is essentially what Pippen is, as the youngest of the hobbits and the hobbit equivalent of a human teenager of about 16, though some ages are a bit different in the movies than the books. In the films, Frodo is made a bit younger than his book age of 50 which would be like a late-twenties or early 30s human adult. But Sam, Merry and Pippen seem to be the same as their book ages. Notice how when Merry is watching Pippen ride off he tells Aragorn, "he's always followed me everywhere, since before we were tweens." He means their 20s, which is the equivalent of teen years for hobbits. They don't confirm his age in the films, but in the books he is not an adult in Hobbit terms, still being in his 20s. Merry is a 8 years older than Pippen. The two of them were known in their Shire as real brats, always getting up to tricks and shenanigans and very carefree and playful. Sam is around the same age of Merry, in his mid to late 30s, so they are very young adults in hobbit terms. Gandalf has been kicking around in his human form at least a few thousand years, but in his angelic form, he is literally as old as the dawn of time. Legolas' age is never confirmed, but he is probably a couple thousand years old based on context clues in the books. Gimli is 126, which is young for a Dwarf, but a respectable full adult. Boromir and the hobbits are the youngest members of the Fellowship, and Aragorn is the next youngest at 87. In the end, Pippen's impetuous curiosity turns out to be a blessing, because they get exactly the kind of intel they wanted from Saruman, namely: to know what is Sauron's next target of attack. He also draws Sauron's gaze to himself, further distracting him from Frodo, who is currently sneaking into Mordor. 41:50 The Rohan princess is named Éowyn. The Elvish princess is named Arwen. Yes, they are similar and it's confusing. Side Note: It always amazes me how they did the perspective on the different folk, like the hobbits and Gimli to make them look smaller. Lots of visual tricks and practical effects, body doubles and limited digital effects. John Rhys Davies, who plays Gimli to perfection, is actually the tallest member of the fellowship. 50:00 Pippen is a Took and a cousin of Frodo, whose mother was of the Took family. Tooks have a reputation for being impulsive and somewhat foolish. Frodo's parents drowned when he was a small child and his rich uncle Bilbo Baggins adopted him. The hobbit full names are Peregrin Took, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins. 1:00:00 When Denethor says "I have seen more than you know" he is alluding to the palantir he has been using and with which Sauron has been feeding him lies to drive him mad. They cut mention of it from the film, but this is why he is the way he is. He was always a hard man and played favorites with his children. But he was not a bad leader until Sauron got a hold of his mind. 1:01:40 Minas Tirith is the capital city of Gondor, the homeland in Middle Earth of the Dunedain who came out of Númenor in the undying lands, Aragorn's people, the long-lived folk who used to live in the West with the Elves but were driven out for turning against the Valar (the Elves) and their isle of Númenor was sunk again beneath the waves like Atlantis. They came by ships to Middle Earth. It has a proud and noble heritage but has fallen into hard times and decay with the rise once again of Sauron and the lack of a King for the last thousand years, only ruled by the line of stewards. 1:08:43 The Witch-King of Angmar - I mentioned about him in the last comments I posted to The Two Towers. After Angmar fell to the Elf hero Glorfindel, the Witch-King fled and moved to rule the Dead City, Minas Morgul "Tower of Dark Sorcery" in a valley called The Morgul Vale or Imlad Morgul "Valley of Dark Sorcery" at the foot of the Ephel Duath, "The Shadow Mountains" or "Fence of Shadows" between Mordor and Gondor. This is exactly where we see Frodo, Sam and Gollum at that moment, outside Minas Morgul, coincidentally just as the Witch-King and his army emerge to march on Gondor. The incredible strength it took for Frodo not to fling himself into the Witch-King's embrace on the order of the Ring must have been insane. He was **RIGHT THERE.** He would have failed were it not for Sam in that moment. It's exactly the same scenario that played out in Osgiliath, outside Gondor, on the battlements when Sam tackled him to the ground at the end of The Two Towers just before he gave himself to the Nazgul on order of the Ring, but the power must have been so much stronger at Minas Morgul, with Mordor closer and the power of the fortress and it's dark magic and the Witch-King himself there instead of another of the 9 like at Osgiliath. Minas Morgul was once a fortress of the Kingdom of Gondor called Minas Ithil, or "Tower of the Moon," which guarded the Eastern border of Gondor and the mountain passes - the Morgul Pass and the treacherous Pass of Cirith Ungol, where Shelob's tunnel lay. After the war, Lord Faramir of Gondor and his new bride, the war hero who destroyed the Witch-King with her own hand, Princess Éowyn of Rohan, moved there to rebuild and rule, safeguarding Gondor's Eastern border once again and reclaiming the name Minas Ithil for the city. 1:14:28 King Théoden of Rohan is not Éomer's father but his uncle. He is uncle to both Éowyn and her brother Éomer, but they are raised by him after the death of their parents, similar to Frodo and Bilbo, so he might as well be their father. Théoden's son, Théodred, we see die from battle with Saruman's Orcs in The Two Towers. 1:15:30 Whether or not female Orcs exist was much in debate until Tolkien said in a letter that they did, but was never concise about how Orcs live or reproduce. The consensus is that they are probably so similar to Orc males that we just don't notice them and the army is probably full of them, perhaps the smaller orcs. And yes, many, many high quality practical and makeup effects that are very well done are part of why LOTR stands the test of time and doesn't look dated. The technology for digital effects was not well developed at the time. I suggest you watch a great video called "Why we'll never see anything like The Lord of The Rings Trilogy again" The rise of digital effects is one of the things discussed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KrUarrx-UA&t=0s This is long enough so I will start a second message.....
Nanci B. Kuykendall
2024-01-31 22:26:01 +0000 UTCIt's important to go into the Hobbit films expecting a rollicking and fun adventure, not the life changing experience that is the original trilogy. It's much more reliant in CGI but you get to see some familiar characters and some out of legend, learn some back story, and you will have fun with it if you don't take it too seriously. They are great films, but they suffered in comparison to LOTR - which is hardly a fair comparison. When you are measured against the best film trilogy of all time, that's a high bar.
Nanci B. Kuykendall
2024-01-31 22:11:28 +0000 UTCI cheated and got to watch all your reactions to LOTR in a few days. LOL (BTW - totally off topic but Gabriella, you are gorgeous.)
Nanci B. Kuykendall
2024-01-31 22:01:20 +0000 UTCThe Hobbit is pretty good, but nothing compares to Lord of the Rings. Don't set your hopes too high and you'll love the Hobbit. It's a great time and a chance to revisit the amazing world J. R. R. Tolkien built
Sir_Dalagad
2024-01-30 00:22:27 +0000 UTCLol its fine im just poking fun lol. It does not have any evidence to point to any one gender of orcs. Tolkien never exactly explained how they breed but it is believed that they do have genders and breed like rats but are disgusting and dull minded creatures. Furthermore, I don't think that Morgoth (Sauron's master, the most wicked of the Valar) really cared who would fight so long as they fight for him. Orcs seem to have a loose amount of culture, but not really any idea of society that would imply a kind of sexist structure? I mean for God's sake they'll kill each other over something as little as a meal or a shiny shirt. What do you think? I mean this is just all from my experience lol
Radiodanoo
2024-01-29 23:49:19 +0000 UTCWell shoot, I hope I didn't offend the female orcs haha! But you make a really good point, I honestly hadn't thought about that at all, and that would make so much more sense than just assuming there are no female orcs at all. Do you know if it's ever specified at all in the books?
Caley
2024-01-29 22:07:42 +0000 UTCThis movie is one of the greatest I've ever watched, honestly. I feel like I went through an entire rollercoaster of emotions: crying, laughing, screaming. Wish I could rewind the hands of time and rewatch it again for the first time and it hasn't even been more than a week. I don't know anything about The Hobbit series, but I'm looking forward to watching that if it's anything like LOTR.
Caley
2024-01-29 22:03:02 +0000 UTCIt's been a really great journey, with such an amazing pay-off. I'm honestly sad that it's already over, but eventually we will get around to watching The Hobbit series soon. Also really excited to watch The Prestige and Christopher Nolan's other films, that one will come very soon!!
Caley
2024-01-29 21:58:02 +0000 UTCCongrats on completing the LOTR journey!! Would love to see you react to The Prestige (my favorite Nolan film)
sirallen
2024-01-29 03:49:33 +0000 UTCLook guys, i love the reaction but i think its funny how its just assumed that there are no female orcs lol Orcs are so grotesque looking and have such unique features from each other that you might not be able to tell the difference between the genders. Like how the male elves all look more or less androgynous, and how the dwarven women have beards.
Radiodanoo
2024-01-26 22:58:31 +0000 UTCLove the reaction. It's great that you take good notes because we want your reaction of course, but to go in depth on anything at the time would cause you to miss too much. Hope your eardrums are ok, but t's hard to watch that spider without screaming. I feel ya though. Something about that spider's fangs and clicky noises make me wanna scream too
Sir_Dalagad
2024-01-25 20:17:57 +0000 UTCThere's some irony for me that Tolkien put so many religious themes in his works. I was raised in a very strict Christian church and anything fantasy themed with magic and undead and whatnot was considered blasphemous. Very ironic considering how it was written and the religious themes throughout. Tolkien also had strong themes of the industrial vs the natural world. You love to see it play out. A lot of his work was influenced by the effects of the World War and its affects on his friends. You see it in small ways like the innocence of the hobbits outlook at the beginning and the silent toast they make when they return to the Green Dragon back at the Shire. How could they tell the other hobbits of their adventures and would they even be believed? So much fantasy has been influenced by Tolkien. He didn't just create a world with its own history and languages... he established a genre. George R. R. Martin is a huge Tolkien fan and you can see some nods to the Lord of the Rings in his Game of Thrones books. There is a lot in this series to live up to, from the great job Peter Jackson did to the great literature of Tolkien, from the great stories of the individual characters and their romances and adventures to the great acting and music, from the lessons of not letting your weaknesses destroy you to the great role models to exemplify. We all want a friend like Sam, but we should all be trying to be that friend. My favorite line in the entire series is from Aragorn when Elrond gives him Anduril, the Flame of the West and reforged sword of his ancestors. Elrond: "I give hope to Men". Aragorn: "I keep none for myself".
Sir_Dalagad
2024-01-25 18:25:01 +0000 UTCI had been waiting for this one for a while now! Thank you!! If someone hasn't mentioned it already, Denethor's despair was motivated by one of the palantír's he had access to. Consequently, he was presented with visions of his defeat that Sauron had been presenting to him through it, essentially leading him to despair and thus his own ruin. Also, his opposition to Faramir was rooted in the fact that the Steward's wife had died during the child birth of Faramir. Some will say that Tolkien was not a fan of allegory or symbolism. This is only partially true as he wasn't a fan of the kind of explicit symbolism like those he had criticized CS Lewis for (a friend of his). CS Lewis was far too intentional and literal with his characters and storylines (e.g. the Lion in Narnia being representative of Christ), a very shallow form of symbolism. Tolkien was far more creative and less explicit. This has allowed fans to draw their own conclusions more intuitively and not by force (in a sense). Furthermore, it's obvious that there's symbolism in LOTR, be it about the perils of war (which he experienced), the destructive nature of industry, the spiritual life, evil, etc. By the way, both Gandolf, Sauron, and the Balrog were all angelic-like figures, or Maiar to be specific. I'd strongly recommend you both check out the YouTube video "The Complete Philosophy of The Lord of the Rings", it's very well presented and is philosophical not religious. Finally, it has been argued that the ring could be equated to the attraction and effects of sin or that which prevents us from growing as people; thus representing our carnal attachments in life that we often struggle with and which can also ruin us if we become too attached or consumed by them (i.e. our pride, intellect, belongings, ego, "things", disordered passions, etc). Additionally, some have suggested that since Tolkien tried to avoid direct analogies, the characters of Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandolf, if not the entire fellowship are collectively symbolic of Christ who are all seeking to destroy the ring and its effects on the world, it's potential destruction. Also, Lembas bread could be analogous to that of the Holy Eucharst (the new manna of the new covenant), which Tolkien had a great reverence for. Though, since Tolkien wasn't explicit about these various interpretations, people are free to make of them as they wish, which I love. On a side note, the Catholic Church would agree with you that other religions very often contain “true and holy” elements—“rays of the same Truth” that the church professes. Because of this, people of other faiths deserve our admiration and respect, and the church calls on all people to engage in dialogue and collaboration around our shared values. At Vatican II, the church highlighted many positive aspects of other religions that are similar to those of the Catholic faith and practice. In Nostra Aetate (Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions), the church praised specific aspects of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Despite your probable reservations concerning the Catholic Church, you're both more than welcome to attend Holy Mass on any day of the week as it's not just for Catholics. Also, there's no social interaction which I absolutely love. You'll just want to refrain from going up to receive communion. Alternatively, Fr Mike has some great homilies and masses that he posts on YouTube, if interested. Continue to seek and explore the deeper meanings of film and life just as you've been doing! It was great sharing this journey with you both.
Greg
2024-01-25 01:48:34 +0000 UTCBeen waiting for this one, but we're already up too late... First thing tomorrow and I can hardly wait. Such an awesome movie!!!
Sir_Dalagad
2024-01-22 06:29:30 +0000 UTC
