RotK EE Rant 1.
Dec. 15th, 2004 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elwenDelivering my preordered Return of the King Extended Edition on the day it came out is one of the reasons I love Amazon.com. I wasn't allowed to finish watching it last night because it was a temptation for my brother to stay up, but some ranting about what I already saw. I can't remember the sequence in the movie, so I got to where Aragorn gets through the Paths of the Dead and where Faramir charges Osgiliath and Pippin sings his song, whichever comes later.
It was pretty cool that they added The Voice of Saruman. It was really funny in the trailer how Christopher Lee basically said, "It would be blasphemy not to have this scene." I agree, but it was amusing that he was so adamant about it.
That said, the scene still didn't do the book justice by far. The Voice of Saruman is one of my favorite parts in the book, for the descriptions of his effect on the people, and I guess it's not something you can convey on film. Like how Saruman's appearance seemed to change, and how Theoden's vassals saw him as a rough old man while he was disagreeing with Saruman, and how they all felt like stupid children as Saruman tried to coax Gandalf to join in. They had the lines, but the context was quite lost. Especially Theoden's declaration of peace, which is so dramatic in the book when he's on the brink of succumbing. It seemed kind of random in the movie. They sure added to his standing as a tragic figure, though. I can't remember if it was that bad in the books, but man, I feel so bad for him, with everyone telling him that he's just not good enough.
So that was good to see, but meh.
The scene at the crossroads was beautiful. I love it when they show more scenery, and I've been missing all the lush descriptions of Ithilien in the bare, dead forests Frodo walks through.
Then there was the extra stuff in the Paths of the Dead. Okay, skulls are creepy, we get the point. The avalanche at the end was way overkill, in my opinion. I don't think even Sauron's army has enough Orcs to supply that many skulls, and it just became kind of ludicrous, like they were wading through tumbling ping pong balls, which is probably not far from the truth. And, believe it or not, the body actually has more bones than just a skull. And those bones probably take up at least five times the volume of a skull. And, you know what, they can be pretty creepy, too. Geez.
So that scene didn't make me too happy. I really don't like the way the movies repeat these gimmicks that really only have impact the first time, and PJ serves them to us as if we've never seen them before. Aside from the fact that they're totally inconsistent with the books. What I'm talking about in this instance is the way the Dead seem like they're not going to help Aragorn, and we have this scene where he's all sad and thinking he failed, and I just kept thinking, "Wait, didn't we have other green things doing the same thing last movie?"
[Speaking of the Ents, my stupid brother says he likes it when the Ents attack, but he refuses to read the books because he's seen the movies and thus thinks the books will be boring. Argh.]
We all know the other example of the movies turning something powerful and moving into a cliché: the whole, "I'm dead... not!" *sigh*
Probably going to try to finish watching tonight, if Disgaea doesn't eat my soul. Then again, we didn't even get through half the movie last night, I don't think, or didn't get through the first disc, at least, so maybe I won't finish ranting until Friday.
It was pretty cool that they added The Voice of Saruman. It was really funny in the trailer how Christopher Lee basically said, "It would be blasphemy not to have this scene." I agree, but it was amusing that he was so adamant about it.
That said, the scene still didn't do the book justice by far. The Voice of Saruman is one of my favorite parts in the book, for the descriptions of his effect on the people, and I guess it's not something you can convey on film. Like how Saruman's appearance seemed to change, and how Theoden's vassals saw him as a rough old man while he was disagreeing with Saruman, and how they all felt like stupid children as Saruman tried to coax Gandalf to join in. They had the lines, but the context was quite lost. Especially Theoden's declaration of peace, which is so dramatic in the book when he's on the brink of succumbing. It seemed kind of random in the movie. They sure added to his standing as a tragic figure, though. I can't remember if it was that bad in the books, but man, I feel so bad for him, with everyone telling him that he's just not good enough.
So that was good to see, but meh.
The scene at the crossroads was beautiful. I love it when they show more scenery, and I've been missing all the lush descriptions of Ithilien in the bare, dead forests Frodo walks through.
Then there was the extra stuff in the Paths of the Dead. Okay, skulls are creepy, we get the point. The avalanche at the end was way overkill, in my opinion. I don't think even Sauron's army has enough Orcs to supply that many skulls, and it just became kind of ludicrous, like they were wading through tumbling ping pong balls, which is probably not far from the truth. And, believe it or not, the body actually has more bones than just a skull. And those bones probably take up at least five times the volume of a skull. And, you know what, they can be pretty creepy, too. Geez.
So that scene didn't make me too happy. I really don't like the way the movies repeat these gimmicks that really only have impact the first time, and PJ serves them to us as if we've never seen them before. Aside from the fact that they're totally inconsistent with the books. What I'm talking about in this instance is the way the Dead seem like they're not going to help Aragorn, and we have this scene where he's all sad and thinking he failed, and I just kept thinking, "Wait, didn't we have other green things doing the same thing last movie?"
[Speaking of the Ents, my stupid brother says he likes it when the Ents attack, but he refuses to read the books because he's seen the movies and thus thinks the books will be boring. Argh.]
We all know the other example of the movies turning something powerful and moving into a cliché: the whole, "I'm dead... not!" *sigh*
Probably going to try to finish watching tonight, if Disgaea doesn't eat my soul. Then again, we didn't even get through half the movie last night, I don't think, or didn't get through the first disc, at least, so maybe I won't finish ranting until Friday.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-15 06:22 pm (UTC)Ditto to the crossroads as well. It made me very happy. I had already said Sam's line for him by the time he turned around and said "The king has got a crown again" because they had already passed the statue's head and I thought he wasn't going to say anything.
The appendicies disks are priceless. Be sure to watch the chuckle-worthy Introduction to the last disk. Billy Boyd is my hero.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-15 07:14 pm (UTC)Regarding the paths of the dead scene (they showed it to us at comic-con), remember that PJ started off his career filming really awful horror films;o) I agree it was really quite silly, but it seems like one of those scenes he and the weta guys probably thought was a hoot=P
Regarding klaquessa's comment about Billy Boyd - the man is in the new Chucky movie(the psycho doll franchise that jumped the shark a long time ago, imo=P). What was he thinking?!
(Although I'm sure the intro is amusing=) It is the clip about dom and kids? Guess I'll see in a few days...)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-15 10:34 pm (UTC)