Finally, I have completed the Lord of
the Rings trilogy movies! It only took about four months. Since I was
watching the over four hour long extended edition it was hard to find
the time to sit down for that long. But I wanted to start off the New
Year by finishing the movies. I went into this one with less
anticipation than I did The Two Towers, but I wound up enjoying this
movie even more. The only things that I had remembered from this
movie were the giant spider scene and that the endings went on
forever. So, not knowing much, I didn't know what to expect from this
film. It continues from The Two Towers more so than The Two Towers
picked up after The Fellowship, so I like the continuation of the
story.
I loved the opening of the movie,
giving us the back story of Gollum/Smeagal. It's a very tragic tale
and so sad how he became so easily consumed by the ring. The fact
that he dies trying to hold onto the ring as it is destroyed in Mount
Doom is terrible but also poetic. Poor Gollum. I love his inner
turmoil between his two persona's.
We finish quickly with Sarumon and worm
tongue and then Gandalf goes off with Pippin to Gondor. While Aragorn
stays in Rohan trying to rally the troops to fight. There's a whole
quest with him, Gimli and Legolas recruiting the ghost soldiers into
fighting with them in order to break their curse. One thing I have
noticed about these three movies, it how well the visual effects are
executed. The ghost soldiers look so real and the combination of
practical and CGI effects work perfectly. I really enjoy the friendly
rivalry between Gimli and Legolas, they provide the perfect about of
comedy in these films.
As for the hobbits, I love the brave
and courageous journey that all four of them go on in this film. From
Pippin serving with Gandolf and doing the right thing stadning up to
Denethor, to Merry wanting to fight in the battle. Sam not giving up
on Frodo and the two of them making it to the top of Mount Doom to
destroy the ring. It's no wonder Aragorn says they bow to no one,
they are just as every bit of hero as Aragorn, Legolas, Gandolf and
Gimli are in these movies.
Having not remembered much of this
movie, there were a lot of surprises and some vaguely familiar
elements, like the ghosts, and the Denethor character who is not
really a good guy. I had completely forgotten the Faramir chraracter
but I like him ending up with Eowyn, even though I liked her crush on
Aragorn. One thing that I got very wrong in these three movies was
the use of the Arwen character, I had thought she was in a lot more
of these movies then she actually is. However, I like her decision to
give up her immortality to be with Aragorn.
Speaking of Aragorn, A.K.A, Stryder,
A.K.A the true king of Gondor, I love his journey from being hesitant
to even join in the fight against the dark lord Sauron, to him
rightfully claiming his place on the throne of Gondor. It's such a
great story arc and I love the ending of this movie, everything form
the tree of Gondor blooming to Arwen to the people bowing to the
Hobbits. That's the perfect ending to this trilogy.
As for the multiple endings to the
movie, it's more of an epilogue to the Hobbits story. I love that Sam
gets his happy ending with Rosie. I had forgotten that Frodo and
Bilbo went off to live with the Elves. It's a great few scenes that
bring us back to the Shire, which is a great bookened to the journey
that these characters have gone through in this Lord of the Rings
trilogy.
Watching the extended editions of these
movies has been interesting, considering I don't remember the
theatrical editions all that well. So, I'm not sure what parts were
added into the movies and if they made an impact story or not. Next
time I will watch the theatrical versions but I really enjoyed
watching these movies. I think that the movie I enjoy the most is The
Fellowship of the Ring, but the best story is in Return of the King.
Going into these movies I had thought The Two Towers was my favorite,
but now it's my least favorite of this trilogy, with the exception
that I love the Battle at Helm's Deep.
So, while it took a long time to get
through The Lord of the Rings movies, I am very happy that I watched
them. It's a great story, about friendship, finding one's identity
and standing up for what's right in the world. I have not read the
books, because I know they can be a bit dense and dry, but I will get
around to reading them some day. If only to get more out of the
story. The world that J.R.R. Tolkien has created is rich and full of
interesting chraracters. As for the Hobbit movies, well, I have seen
the first two, but not in any hurry to watch those movies. Right now,
I'll just enjoy the marvel that is the original Lord of the Rings
trilogy.
CW Arrow/Flash Crossover podcast leading up to Crisis on Infinite Earths
YouTube http://bit.ly/33XWe00
