ETH Ultimatum # 2 - Lord Of The Rings

[ElfTheHunter]

“So do all who live to see such times, but it is not for them to decide.  All you have to decide, is what to do with the time that is given to you.”

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Directed by Peter Jackson

Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood

Trailer (not figured in final score) – 10

The Fellowship of the Ring had two great trailers. The first one was one where they begin over the river Anduin and is more Dark Rider and Fear oriented, it did very well. But the true star of the trailers is the second one. Much longer, it begins with Gandalf saying that in the lands of Middle-Earth legend tells of the Dark Lord Sauron and ends with his “You Shall Not Pass”. This trailer is amazing, if it’s not the best, it’s one of them.

Watch Ability – 10

Every scene, every battle, every dialogue line is captivating. Even for someone who is not a fan of the books. But, it is a long movie, and not easy to watch many times. This is perhaps the only flaw with this movie, but we all know I’m going to give it a 10 either way.

Genre Quality – 10

What can I say, there’s no doubt there are no better fantasy movies. Even if you compare the quality of this with any movie it will seem superior. Never have I seen so much detail in costumes, armor, weapons, environments or any other part of a movie. There’s no question that this movie is higher quality that any other movie I have ever seen! You heard me

Originality – 10

What Peter Jackson did has never before been done, anywhere. Not just him, New Line Cinema deserves credit as well since they took on a very risky project, gave it a large sum of money and gave it in charge of yet undiscovered film-maker genius. Professor Tolkien’s novel has never before been translated this successfully, for that I give this a 10.

Acting – 10

I love the acting of every character in the movie. Ian McKellen does an amazing job of bringing Gandalf to life, even under so much prosthetics. Elijah Wood manages to make every expression of his face unique, the camera strays on him for more reasons than him being Frodo. And Orlando Bloom gives us amazing scenes; silent yet awesomely expressive. But the stage goes to Mortensen, who pushes the movies’ view of Aragorn into our minds with pure passion and force. Brilliant!

Plot/Story – 10

What can I say? As a movie plot, is it flawless. And as an adaptation of the books, it does a near perfect job. There is only one problem, one corruption of Tolkien’s first book, which can easily be ignored and helps the actual movie. I give it a 10.

Music/Songs – 10

Perhaps the best part of the movie is the Howard Shore’s beautiful soundtrack. Shire music is excellent, evil is chilling, Lothlorien is the essence of night and resting… The music in Lord of the Rings is brilliant, there’s just no questioning it. It deserved its Oscar. I give it a 10.

Overall – 10

+: Great Music

+: Amazing Acting

+: Awesome Quality

+: Based on Tolkien

Yep, this is my idea of perfect. If there’s something better than this, I will see it. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Kudos to Mr. Jackson, and everyone involved. This is a classic, and will remain a classic.

“The battle for Helm’s Deep is over, the battle for Middle-Earth is about to begin.”

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Directed by Peter Jackson

Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis

Trailer (not figured in final score) – 10

The trailer which featured the Summer Overture music from Requiem for a Dream simply is my favorite trailer. I still keep the file and watch now and then, that tells me this is a great trailer. Brilliant trailer, the best ever IMO.

Watch Ability – 10

This is definently a much more fun movie than Fellowship, and I can give it a 10 without any worries, I know it deserves it. The battle is amazing, the tension climbs and there’s nothing that would hurt this score. I give it a triumphant 10!.

Genre Quality – 10

We have never seen such quality, not even Fellowship of the Ring matches the detail of Rohan and Edoras and the Rohirrim. The battle is superb, the cutting between Frodo and Sam to Merry and Pippin to Helm’s Deep is amazing. I think none deserve a better score than this.

Originality – 10

What Peter Jackson did has never before been done, anywhere. Not just him, New Line Cinema deserves credit as well since they took on a very risky project, gave it a large sum of money and gave it in charge of yet undiscovered film-maker genius. Professor Tolkien’s novel has never before been translated this successfully, for that I give this a 10.

Acting – 10

Ok, does Gollum ring a bell? The acting achievement in this movie is Gollum, amazing. For Gollum alone I would give it a 10, but everyone does well. I really loved Eowyn and Grima’s characters, they did an amazing job. I can’t give a single complaint, which means it deserves a 10.

Plot/Story – 9

Finally, a flaw in Two Towers. Two big changes from the book, which in my opinion are the only flaws in the whole movie. One is Galahdrim elves showing up at Helm’s Deep and the corruption of Faramir’s character. And while some of you may think that I should treat Faramir as a new character, and not base it on the books, but even so Faramir’s change of mind at Osgiliath is not explained.

Music/Songs – 10

Does it get any better than the Rohan theme? I think not, it’s brilliant. Helm’s Deep is perfect. Howard Shore is the man, I really love the Marching of the Ents bit. The music is flawless, it’s amazing. I give it a 10.

Overall – 9.9

+: Great Music

+: Amazing Acting

+: Awesome Quality

- : Flawed Interpretation

Even though I can’t give it a perfect score, you must realize I loved this movie. I find watching this movie a lot easier than Fellowship of the Rings. But I can’t ignore the less than perfect interpretation of the movie.

“For Frodo.”

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Directed by Peter Jackson

Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin

Trailer (not figured in final score) – 10

The trailer was good, but not perfect. It seemed to lack a defining identity to it that the other two trailers had. I was really hoping this was not the only trailer for Return of the King, but it was. I did however love the final 10-20 seconds of the trailer, beautiful. It deserves a 10.

Watch Ability – 10

I really thought of lowering this category due to the last 20 minutes of the film which are really slow and hurt the movie, but looking back at Shelob, and the Battle at the Pellenor Fields and Legolas’ scene I just can’t. This movie was awesome, at least certain scenes, and I fear that when it comes out on DVD I shall be enthralled by it for at least some weeks.

Genre Quality – 9

Yes, the battles were great. Yes, it was a fitting end for the trilogy, but some choices force me to lower the score for quality. The parts after the battle and Cirith Ungol seem rushed, with Modor being displayed in a almost comical view (such as the orcs just sitting around inside Mordor, and the spotlight Eye). And, those ‘false endings’ near the end only alert us that it’s been three hours and we’re tired. Though certain themes are just seeping with it. The battle at the Pellenor fields was flawless except for the dead army and does it get any better than Eowyn and the WitchKing? I regret to give this a 9, but that’s what I think it deserves.

Originality – 10

What Peter Jackson did has never before been done, anywhere. Not just him, New Line Cinema deserves credit as well since they took on a very risky project, gave it a large sum of money and gave it in charge of yet undiscovered film-maker genius. Professor Tolkien’s novel has never before been translated this successfully, for that I give this a 10.

Acting – 10

It succeeds! Even though Denethor seems a bit flawed, he still does a good job. I applaud Sam and Faramir the most, Faramir was brilliant in the scene with his father. The hobbits did a good job as well. Aragorn’s character did not seem the same, and not there quite as much as I’d like but they all did a great job.

Plot/Story – 9

What can I say, it did well as a movie plot, but there were so many changes from the book that I can’t ignore it. Dead Army showing up at Pellenor Fields, and all of Sam and Frodo’s trip across Mordor practically ignored. It still was a decent interpretation of the books, but far from perfect.

Music/Songs – 10

The Minas Tirith theme was great, but even more interesting to me was the singing. Pippins and Aragorns. I think that’s very fitting with Middle-Earth, since singing was greatly practiced and an essential part of the world. I was really pleased with the music in this film, though for most of the film I thought it lacked it. Now I know where it lacked, was lacking for a reason. The music was great.

Overall – 9.8

+: Awesome Action

+: Great Music

- : A Bit Odd At Parts

- : Flawed Interpretation

I myself was quite disappointed with the final installment of Peter Jackson’s trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, It was great. But perhaps I was expecting more, anyway, I think it’s the lesser movie of the three and a fitting, but still (to me) disappointing end.

[King Tutankhamun]

haven't seen Return of King yet, but sounds a lot better. So I vote for that one.

[Enarwaen]

concerning the theatrical cut i voted for Fellowship. it was the most complete and accurate depiction of the books into a movie. TTT suffered from overlong battle-scenes and invented gap-fillers. RotK only continues that trend, by being bogged down with scenes that should have gone into TTT and thus having too little time to accuratly depict the latter half of the third book.

For me the theatrical versions got worse with each installment. The Extended Editions are another category - TTT:EE was a major improvement over the theatrical version and i guess RotK:EE will do the same to the theatrical version.

suilad

-Bernd