Extended Two Towers.
Nov. 23rd, 2003 02:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elwenJust got back from the screening -- my own copy is probably at home by now, but it's probably for the best considering how much work I have to do before Thanksgiving break.
So just some quick reactions, I suppose.
The flashback to Faramir, Boromir, and Denethor was cool because I got to see Denethor, and because I think it showed Boromir as a much bigger person than he's always seemed to me, either in the books or the movies. Unfortunately, I don't think it helped with "the Faramir situation" at all. In fact, it makes it seem even more that Faramir is acting entirely out of bitterness. While it's true that he had this shadow over him in the books, it came out more in the third book, and he didn't let it affect him so much when he was dealing with Frodo, considering how grave the situation was.
I really disliked the fact that Denethor's script repeated lines that had already been in the movie. Especially the line about Faramir showing his quality. It was really pretty in the book, the way Sam said it, and in the movie Sam concluded it, but it makes less sense, since Sam is just bringing up something he heard Faramir say, that he probably shouldn't remember given all the other things that were going on at the time.
The "mighty gift" lines makes more sense, I suppose, after Denethor said it, but again it makes Faramir seem a lot more bitter.
So I don't think the extended edition really made me all that much more forgiving towards Peter Jackson regarding Faramir, although it was nice to see the brothers getting along, and the added bit at the end was mostly good, although he shouldn't have shown so much rage towards Gollum.
Other scenes... I loved the Caves of Aglarond. Huorns were great. Lots of little random bits, though, that I didn't think were necessary. Like showing more of Gandalf fighting with the Balrog as they fell was really pointless. And some of the transitions were really choppy. And Boromir looked really chubby in the boat. Eowyn singing the dirge for Theodred was cool. Her confession to Aragorn was not. The soup and bad cooking jokes were totally uncalled for, although I liked the extra "color" added by bringing up Aragorn's background, especially how he served Theoden's grandfather. (I don't know if that's accurate, but he did run around serving incognito in Gondor and Rohan a long time before the story timeline, a fact that I did not comprehend and remember until the last time I reread the books. I forget whether it was in the Appendices or The Silmarillion.)
I was really disappointed with the depiction of Wellinghall, which I'd always wanted to see. When Treebeard left them there at night, it totally looked like just a random spot in the middle of the forest -- I had images of him coming back in the morning wondering, "Now where did I put those two . . . ?" Moving Old Man Willow to Fangorn, and especially depositing him right in the middle of Wellinghall, kind of pissed me off. Treebeard going off to wake up the forest, and then coming back and telling him, with Tom Bombadil's lines, that it's not time for him to wake up was rather awkward.
I liked the added attention they gave to Legolas and Gimli's kill counts, although if you think about it, they both probably got tons more if you think about the number Legolas crushed when he made the siege ladder fall and the number Gimli knocked off the main ramp.
I've said in the past that I don't really like all the poking fun at Gimli, but some of them are just too cute and amusing. I think my favorite is:
Still lots of things that were in the theater version that grated on me, of course, but there's no sense in me complaining about those again. So I guess that's about all I remember in terms of reactions to the extended edition. Will watch again after this huge mountain of work has been pared down.
Now I must resist the urge to pick up the books and start rereading them right now. I was going to just start with Two Towers, mainly to review Faramir, but then I pulled out Fellowship to look something up, and the moment I opened it, this wave of . . . something passed over me, and I wanted to read the whole thing. It's just so beautiful but sad.
So just some quick reactions, I suppose.
The flashback to Faramir, Boromir, and Denethor was cool because I got to see Denethor, and because I think it showed Boromir as a much bigger person than he's always seemed to me, either in the books or the movies. Unfortunately, I don't think it helped with "the Faramir situation" at all. In fact, it makes it seem even more that Faramir is acting entirely out of bitterness. While it's true that he had this shadow over him in the books, it came out more in the third book, and he didn't let it affect him so much when he was dealing with Frodo, considering how grave the situation was.
I really disliked the fact that Denethor's script repeated lines that had already been in the movie. Especially the line about Faramir showing his quality. It was really pretty in the book, the way Sam said it, and in the movie Sam concluded it, but it makes less sense, since Sam is just bringing up something he heard Faramir say, that he probably shouldn't remember given all the other things that were going on at the time.
The "mighty gift" lines makes more sense, I suppose, after Denethor said it, but again it makes Faramir seem a lot more bitter.
So I don't think the extended edition really made me all that much more forgiving towards Peter Jackson regarding Faramir, although it was nice to see the brothers getting along, and the added bit at the end was mostly good, although he shouldn't have shown so much rage towards Gollum.
Other scenes... I loved the Caves of Aglarond. Huorns were great. Lots of little random bits, though, that I didn't think were necessary. Like showing more of Gandalf fighting with the Balrog as they fell was really pointless. And some of the transitions were really choppy. And Boromir looked really chubby in the boat. Eowyn singing the dirge for Theodred was cool. Her confession to Aragorn was not. The soup and bad cooking jokes were totally uncalled for, although I liked the extra "color" added by bringing up Aragorn's background, especially how he served Theoden's grandfather. (I don't know if that's accurate, but he did run around serving incognito in Gondor and Rohan a long time before the story timeline, a fact that I did not comprehend and remember until the last time I reread the books. I forget whether it was in the Appendices or The Silmarillion.)
I was really disappointed with the depiction of Wellinghall, which I'd always wanted to see. When Treebeard left them there at night, it totally looked like just a random spot in the middle of the forest -- I had images of him coming back in the morning wondering, "Now where did I put those two . . . ?" Moving Old Man Willow to Fangorn, and especially depositing him right in the middle of Wellinghall, kind of pissed me off. Treebeard going off to wake up the forest, and then coming back and telling him, with Tom Bombadil's lines, that it's not time for him to wake up was rather awkward.
I liked the added attention they gave to Legolas and Gimli's kill counts, although if you think about it, they both probably got tons more if you think about the number Legolas crushed when he made the siege ladder fall and the number Gimli knocked off the main ramp.
I've said in the past that I don't really like all the poking fun at Gimli, but some of them are just too cute and amusing. I think my favorite is:
Gimli: [Something like, "Hope that luck of yours lasts the night."]And also the way he says, "Come on, we can take 'em!" as he and Aragorn are going to take care of the orcs who are ramming the gate.
Legolas: Your friends are with you, Aragorn.
Gimli: Let's hope they last the night.
Still lots of things that were in the theater version that grated on me, of course, but there's no sense in me complaining about those again. So I guess that's about all I remember in terms of reactions to the extended edition. Will watch again after this huge mountain of work has been pared down.
Now I must resist the urge to pick up the books and start rereading them right now. I was going to just start with Two Towers, mainly to review Faramir, but then I pulled out Fellowship to look something up, and the moment I opened it, this wave of . . . something passed over me, and I wanted to read the whole thing. It's just so beautiful but sad.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-23 06:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-23 10:16 pm (UTC)BTW, I love your icon. :)
no subject
Date: 2003-11-24 08:08 pm (UTC)