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LOTR: The Two Towers
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ringo
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Dec 11, 2002, 12:12 AM
 
I just got back from an advance screening.
VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE

I dont want to include any spoilers, but there were a lot more creatures than in the first and they looked freakin' great (George Lucas, I know you're reading this, go and take notes).

Other than one or two brief parts of a battle sequence, the special effects were top notch, easily the best computer generated effects I've seen yet. Golem looked great and moved really well, very believable.

This movie SO made up for the disappointment of the last two Star Wars flicks. All of the classic elements were there...friendship, loyalty, betrayal, good vs evil, hardship, sacrifice

OK, one little spoiler: TREANTS Woo-Hoo! Happy Geek!

There were a few cheesey parts, like a "skateboarding" character (only briefly) and one my favorites from the first movie had his part turned into bad comic relief, but still...overall I was very impressed and I'm really looking forward to part three.

Go. See. This. Movie.
     
KaptainKaya
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Dec 11, 2002, 12:14 AM
 
Oh I planned on it regardless of what the reviews say...having read the books I'm eager to see them on the big screen.
     
arrested502
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Dec 11, 2002, 12:20 AM
 
I wasn't as incredibly impressed with LOTR as everyone else was so hopefully it's a little better.

MikeM
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libraryguy
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Dec 11, 2002, 12:34 AM
 
I'll be in line come December 18th!! Can't wait. I LOVED the first one! These movies make Star Wars look like Saturday Morning Cartoons...I've have been very disappointed in the new Star Wars movies as a whole...thank god for LOTR!

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." -George Washington Carver
     
Fyre4ce
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Dec 11, 2002, 01:10 AM
 
Star Wars blows. The target audience is 7 year olds, and the acting is so bad and the plot and dialogue are so ludicrous that anyone of higher emotional maturity than that are turned away. Don't get me wrong, there are some children's' movies which do a great job appealing to a wide audieince (animated "Hercules" is a great example). The new Star Wars movies are not among them. Star Wars blows.

Lord of the Rings, however, is excellent for what it is: fantasy. I really liked the first one. Very suspenseful, very entertaining. The characters are true to themselves. I look forward to the second installment.
Fyre4ce

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ink
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Dec 11, 2002, 01:22 AM
 
Originally posted by ringo:
I just got back from an advance screening.
Ringo! You bastard!

How did you score that?!?

I know this movie is gonna rock. The Two Towers is the best of the 3 volumes in book form (IMHO), while Fellowship was the weakest. And Fellowship was an incredible film. I already have tickets to see it on opening day in a THX-certified theater.

Argh! We wants it! My precious!
     
ringo  (op)
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Dec 11, 2002, 01:39 AM
 
Originally posted by ink:
Ringo! You bastard!

How did you score that?!?
Entirely by accident. I work in marketing at the headquarters of a large-ish company that partnered with New Line to promote the next two films and the home versions of the same.

Last week, I got an email at work from someone in advertising with an invitation for tonight's screening. I saw it with a theatre full of co-workers.
     
Nimisys
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Dec 11, 2002, 01:42 AM
 
ringo, you are a bastard. oh well 7 days, 2 hours 19 minutes to go
     
00101001
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Dec 11, 2002, 02:28 AM
 
I must agree with ringo, (although I saw the Dec 5th Boston screening � not the one on the 10th )

TTT is without a doubt one of my favorite movies of all time � if you loved Fellowship, you will LOVE this movie...

if you liked Fellowship, you will LOVE this movie

If you liked Harry Potter, you deserve to be stabbed in the eye with a pencil.

Ringo, did you see it in LA?
     
OldManMac
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Dec 11, 2002, 02:51 AM
 
Can't wait to see it. IMHO, The Fellowship is one of the best movies I've seen in years! I've never read the books, and I don't go to the movies often, but I'll be there for this one!
Why is there always money for war, but none for education?
     
CaseCom
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Dec 11, 2002, 03:33 AM
 
Argh! So many sneak previews. I have tickets for the midnight showing Dec. 18 in downtown Minneapolis.

I can't wait! FOTR was exceptional. (And if you haven't got the Extended DVD yet, get it NOW!)
     
ringo  (op)
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Dec 11, 2002, 08:13 AM
 
Originally posted by 00101001:
Ringo, did you see it in LA?
Nope, Bridgewater, NJ.
     
Apple Pro Underwear
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Dec 11, 2002, 09:43 AM
 
DAMN YOU RINGO!



This and Matrix are the 2 most eagerly awaited movies i've ever wanted to see!

i must flame you now!!

raaaahhhhhh!!!
     
daimoni
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Dec 11, 2002, 10:00 AM
 
.
( Last edited by daimoni; Jun 5, 2004 at 04:08 AM. )
     
invisibleX
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Dec 11, 2002, 10:10 AM
 
Maybe he means "TREE ANTS"

I realy hope its better than the first. FOTR sucked badly in most parts... maybe just cause I read the books and noticed the glaring flaws.
-"I don't believe in God. "
"That doesn't matter. He believes in you."

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gadster
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Dec 11, 2002, 10:16 AM
 
Anyone who liked the first movie and has not read the books, get thee hence to a bookshop and buy 'em, ffs. You know how the 'book is better than the movie', well in this case, the movie is nowhere near the books. But it's still a great movie, it's just that the books are brilliant. Can't wait to see TTT.
e-gads
     
valeriam01
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Dec 11, 2002, 10:25 AM
 
While the movies will never compare to the books, they've done a great job given the media....soooo going to see the two towers the day after i get back for break!!!
     
ringo  (op)
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Dec 11, 2002, 10:25 AM
 
Originally posted by daimoni:


Uh. There are Ents. And there are tales of Ent-wives... but I've never heard of 'TREANTS'.

Are you sure you've read the books?
Nope, didn't read the books. Someone gave me a copy of the hobbit when I was 7 and I couldn't get my head around the language. I'm probably going to wait another year before I pick them up so that the third movie isn't ruined for me.

Treants: The Dungeons and Dragons name for the same creature. They were called Ents in the movie, but Treant is what stuck in my head.
     
denim
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Dec 11, 2002, 11:24 AM
 
Originally posted by ringo:
OK, one little spoiler: TREANTS Woo-Hoo! Happy Geek!
Uh, you mean "Ents", right?
Is this a good place for an argument?
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calamar1
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Dec 11, 2002, 11:40 AM
 
I enjoyed the hell out of FOTR just like everyone else, and look forward to The Two Towers, but again I cringe at the seeming necessity of taking a topic that is 100% about Lord of the Rings, and within a few sentences, turning it into more Star Wars bashing.

The two are separate. It is not a zero-sum game. One can be praised without needing to diminish the other. They aren't very relevant to each other. It's been well-established that most of the cognoscenti don't like Attack of the Clones, but obviously it's scarred them to the extent that even movies they love remind them of it, even if only to take a piss upon it.

I'm sure those who disliked it so would rather talk about Peter Jackson's fine work rather than discuss George Lucas. And us benighted fools who actually liked Episode II would probably enjoy talking about TTT without having to be reminded that they are huge fans of something that the smart people think is crap.

Back to your regularly scheduled LOTR discussion, such as it is.
     
daimoni
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Dec 11, 2002, 11:53 AM
 
.
( Last edited by daimoni; Jun 5, 2004 at 04:09 AM. )
     
BlackGriffen
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Dec 11, 2002, 12:05 PM
 
Originally posted by ringo:
OK, one little spoiler: TREANTS Woo-Hoo! Happy Geek!
I hate to rain on your parade, but this is hardly a spoiler. Go watch the preview trailer again (if you avoid those, good for you, they put lots of spoilers in there). You can clearly see the hand and feet of an ent as is swoops up one of the hobbits. I was so pissed when I saw that in the trailer, I wanted the suspense.

*spoilers follow* :I guess it wasn't that much of a mystery, though. After all, what do you do with the kidnapped hobbits if you delete the Ent branch (yuk yuk!)? Also, they're an integral part of the battle, badasses that those slow moving mofos are. I guess I had just thought they might cut it out after the loss of Bombadil. Is he in the extended version, btw?

BlackGriffen
     
Phanguye
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Dec 11, 2002, 12:10 PM
 
Originally posted by BlackGriffen:

I guess I had just thought they might cut it out after the loss of Bombadil. Is he in the extended version, btw?

BlackGriffen
unfortuantly no he isnt... i guess you have to make cuts somewhere
     
Nonsuch
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Dec 11, 2002, 01:33 PM
 
Originally posted by 00101001:
If you liked Harry Potter, you deserve to be stabbed in the eye with a pencil.
Ha.
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.

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xi_hyperon
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Dec 11, 2002, 02:02 PM
 
Originally posted by daimoni:


Thank you. Well said.

What's next? Fools comparing Star Trek to the Harry Potter movies?
Probably the comparisons will always be there because people had such high expectations for episodes I and II. I think its people's way of saying "SEE George, this is the caliber of movie you could have made!" Also, there are some very obvious parallels between the SW story and the LOTR story. If George were to say he's never read the LOTR books, well, I'd have to say I'd be very surprised.
     
OwlBoy
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Dec 11, 2002, 02:20 PM
 
Wooot I can't wait. Only 1 week now!

And Back to the Future coms out on DVD the day before! Geek heaven.

-Owl
     
calamar1
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Dec 11, 2002, 02:34 PM
 
Originally posted by xi_hyperon:


Probably the comparisons will always be there because people had such high expectations for episodes I and II. I think its people's way of saying "SEE George, this is the caliber of movie you could have made!" Also, there are some very obvious parallels between the SW story and the LOTR story. If George were to say he's never read the LOTR books, well, I'd have to say I'd be very surprised.
Of course there were high expectations, but how many years of backlash must he suffer for not meeting them? Episode II was consistent in tone and content with much of the classic SW trilogy, and in a world where Episode I hadn't happened, would probably have been well-received indeed. Do i think that Lucas could improve upon it? Absolutely. A lot, even. i liked, it but at the same time, i think that it could have been truly great with some attention to some relatively small details.

The thrust of my prior argument, though, is that the fact that "LOTR is good" is almost necessarily followed by "Star Wars sucks" does both movies a disservice. For a lot of people that claim to hate the movies, they sure spend a lot of time talking about them.

i am definitely a latecomer to the LoTR stuff, having never read the books, and i only watched the movie because i liked "Meet the Feebles" (i'm kidding, i'm kidding! that's not the reason, but it is a good movie!). but it's hard to learn more about it or talk about the movies because so often intelligent discussion of them devolves into a flamefest between the two camps.

i'm part of the problem, too, so i'm going to shut up now in the interest of people hopefully proving me wrong, and moving on, so we can all enjoy Two Towers, Return of the King, and Episode III as much or as little as we like, on their own merits.
     
thunderous_funker
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Dec 11, 2002, 02:35 PM
 
Originally posted by Phanguye:


unfortuantly no he isnt... i guess you have to make cuts somewhere
I don't think Bombadil was even in the final script. I'm pretty sure it was eliminated early on and not filmed rather than something lying on the cutting room floor.

*SPOILER*

I'm ok with cutting Bombadil out, he's too unusual and bizarre a character to really translate to film, IMO. He'd just be clownish on film, I think.

However, what bugs me about cutting the Old Forest stuff is the Barrow Downs and how the Hobbits aquire the Numenorean weapons which factor so very very very importantly in the Final Battle.

*Big Time Spoiler*




I idea that Stryder tosses some rusty old blades at them at Weathertop and one of them happens to be one of the only blades on the planet that can harm the King of the Nazgul is pretty crappy, IMO.

Then again, it's the lack of that sense of Epic and Fate and Destiny that I think is missing from the first film. It's more action adventure rather than fulfillment of prophecy kinda stuff. I'm not sure the latter is filmable, and at least they did a great job of the former.
     
Nimisys
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Dec 11, 2002, 05:01 PM
 
the other probelms i that tolken creates such a an intirciate detialed world that you would have a 9hour movie for each book and still have to had cut parts out.

given that and how well the current movies do hold to the books i am impressed that they got it down to the 3 hour range per movie.
     
nonhuman
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Dec 11, 2002, 05:25 PM
 
Yeah, but even if the whole trilogy was 27 hours long we'd still watch it...
     
mchladek
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Dec 11, 2002, 05:45 PM
 
Originally posted by thunderous_funker:
*Big Time Spoiler*




I idea that Stryder tosses some rusty old blades at them at Weathertop and one of them happens to be one of the only blades on the planet that can harm the King of the Nazgul is pretty crappy, IMO.

Then again, it's the lack of that sense of Epic and Fate and Destiny that I think is missing from the first film. It's more action adventure rather than fulfillment of prophecy kinda stuff. I'm not sure the latter is filmable, and at least they did a great job of the former.
*More Spoilers*


Although in the books Galadriel gives Marry & Pippin belts, in the movie they are given daggers. I imagine this is what Merry will use to damage the Nazgul. Sure, it's not a Numenorean blade, but nonetheless Elvish.


As far as fate/destiny I think that is very hard to get on film. This is why you have to compress this theme into the Gandalf's speech to Frodo about being "meant to have the ring," etc. I also think TTT will begin to address this theme a little better. It seems this movie will draw out the Aragorn/Arwen & Beren/Luthien connection such as Aragorn's fate to challenge Sauron such as Beren did with Morgoth. And Frodo juxtaposed with Gollum will allow the audience to see Frodo's destiny of suffering.
     
Atef's corpse
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Dec 11, 2002, 05:51 PM
 
And does TTT then use some 'flash-backs' to show the struggle with Morgoth? I'd love to see Morgoth on the big screen with the silmarils in his crown.

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mchladek
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Dec 11, 2002, 05:54 PM
 
Originally posted by xi_hyperon:


If George were to say he's never read the LOTR books, well, I'd have to say I'd be very surprised.
Haha! I would be quite surprised myself. Especially since Endor is elvish (Quenya) for Middle-earth.
     
Jim Paradise
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Dec 11, 2002, 05:59 PM
 
Originally posted by nonhuman:
Yeah, but even if the whole trilogy was 27 hours long we'd still watch it...
Obviously it wouldn't do well in theatres, but I'm sure most of us could be captivated/entertained for those 27 hours if it was done right; I'd be into allowing myself to be absorbed in the world of Tolken for that long.
     
   
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