I Have Never Seen The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2020
- The final part of our series discussing Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This week we look at one of the greatest fantasy films ever made: The Return of the King.
PATREON ► / fullfatvideos
Facebook: / fullfatvideo
Instagram: / full_fat_videos
Twitter: @FullFatVideos
Watch | Like | Share | Subscribe
All footage used in this video is for educational purposes only.
One does not simply skip the charge of the Rohirrim.
RIGHT!??
Agreed but what really seem weird to skip is the seen were Gandalf charges against the nasguls. The music and visual always gives me the shivers 😊
"Horns, horns, horns (...) Rohan had come at last." Powerful stuff, gives me chills every time.
I was waiting for him to mention this
He practically skipped the entire battle except for his hat tip to feminism.
“I’m sure he’s got a good heart”
Shelob: is literally a demon
*Pushes up glasses* actually, Shelob is the Spawn of a literal Eldritch Abomination, so not technically a demon by the traditional sense.
And female.
Well...the descendent of a gargantuan physical embodiment of the darkness and evil of The Void beyond this dimension, but yes.
@@christhestampeder Aaand has a hawt female lady form in that one Shadow of Mordor game.
@@EatinPaste Uuuugghhh.
“It all started here.”
*laughs in Silmarillion*
Mwuhahaha
*Unfinished tales enters the chat
Now that would be a dope movie series, maybe even something that could replace that Amazom Middle Earth series they sank half a billion into.
I don’t get it
@@ikoandreas5085 The Silmarillion is another book in the LOTR universe that takes place a long, long time before the story of the ring.
J.R.R. Tolkien simply wrote a masterpiece of a story, this film is timeless
The man wanted to make a mythology for a new era and he sure as hell did succeed in that goal
Other than the cgi not saying that it is horrific like a lot of early 200s cgi I’m just saying it probably isn’t timeless
@@obiwankenobi5845 For its age, you can tell but at the same time it doesn't pull you out of the story and distract you. And all things considered it still holds up and is sadly better than a lot of CGI still seen today. I just love how much they had to make themselves because the programs just didn't exist at the time. I remember they literally had to make the program to make convincing flame and shadow effects for the balrog. Just amazing work they out into it.
Is very different from the book
Tolkien would have despised these films though
“Where’s Saruman???”
Laughs in extended edition.
“Why is Aragorn’s sword dirty before attacking the Black Gate? You’d think the King of Men would clean his sword...”
Laughs in Mouth of Sauron losing his head.
It might sound obsessive...but Faramir ordering his men to beat Gollum in the 2nd movie and Aragorn beheading the Mouth of Sauron in the 3rd movie are both severe lapses of behavior for these characters
@@wrybreadspread I disagree. I consider LOTREE a proper remake of the books. Whatever liberties they take that serves the story properly, I can understand.
And neither Faramir nor Boromir were acting out of character. Boromir was entrusted by his kingdom, Faramir wanted to gain favor with his father who was being paralyzed/poisoned by a Palantir.
Also a major theme of the films is proximity of the RIng, which makes sense considering this artifact contains the spirit of a Maia. It's fair to assume this piece of jewelry could make Men do awful things when they're within reach of it. Even Galadriel was tested by it. A lesser Man would be much more susceptible to its wrath.
Using Faramir to push that theme forward doesn't bother me at all, and it acted as a great literal/visual compare and contrast between two brothers.
Where did you get the second quote from? That wasn't in the video...?
@@FullFatVideos I'm laying out examples why the EE is better than the theatricals.
@@FullFatVideos ayylmao
When Frodo tackles Gollum off the cliff, that wasn't him trying to destroy the ring. You can see the greed and hate in his eyes. It mirrors the beginning of the film. Two people clawing at eachother for a small gold ring. So in the final moments in Mt. Doom, Frodo failed his mission. He fully succumbed to the powers of the ring. That's one of the reasons he looks so conflicted by everyone bowing.
The only thing strong enough to destroy the ring, was the desire for the ring that caused so much destruction.
Exactly. Originally it was a much more aggressive tackle, meant to take Gollum down, but they decided it wasn't true to the essence of the books.
While the final version doesn't play out exactly as penned, the idea of the Ring causing its own destruction remains.
In the original version of the script, Frodo would push Gollum from the cliff. Thanks Eru they changed it! Also I love this scene of Frodo standing up with his hand mutilated but with such anger and desire in his eyes, and him and Gollum fighting for the Ring before falling. And I always thought that that "Don't you let go" moment was one of that changes from the books that were for the better. You can clearly see in Frodo's eyes that he is considering to let go and fall. Frodo always thought that he would die in the quest, so when he came back to the Shire, one of the ways that the darkness from the ring manifested on him was the thought that it would've been better if he had died in Mt. Doom. He felt guilt for not dying.
Frodo didn't manage to stave off the darkness in the end, in that moment he didn't mean to destory it, he was just trying to fight gollum to keep the ring.
yeah the ending is tragic because frodo gives into the darkness after fighting it off for so long
Tolkien was a Christian and Frodo not being able to destroy the Ring was his way of saying that all men sin
Sir Aksu yeah but he hated allegories if anything I think has more to do with his time in war and seeing people abuse morphine
ikaika otteman Yeah, I definitely agree with you on that one. I also got the drug addiction vibe from it.
@@ikaikaotteman7723 He hated overt, ham-fisted allegory. There's definitely some level of allegory in LotR, it's just much more subtle than in something like the Chronicles of Narnia (which is one of the works Tolkein was criticising with his comment on disliking allegory). LotR is pretty obviously a story about good vs evil, so it's kinda silly to say that there's no moral or political commentary to be found what so ever. There's definitely a Christian influence on his work, as well as anti-industrial and anti-war themes. The channel Hello Future Me has done a few pretty good videos on the philosophy behind Tolkein's work and explains it better than I can here.
The Rohirrim shouting “death” as they charge into what they think is certain death with the Ride of the Rohirrim theme playing is a cinematic masterpiece. Definitely my favourite scene and score. Howard Shore is a God
Sadly he didnt mention it even once :(
Yes my fav too!
You know its funny, the moment is epic on screen, but in the book its not a battle cry about there own sacrifce but a taunt to the assembled army of orcs. Their essetially screaming death over and over at them as a warning about whats imminently coming thier way coming and then they charge. Its still pretty epic but for different reasons.
What makes that scene even better is how it is a juxtaposition on Theoden and Denethor. Both are leaders of their respective nations who lost their son and presumptive heir, while not acknowledging other surviving kin (Eomer & Faramir respectively). While they share all those traits, it's how they respond to their situations that makes them an interesting contrast. After the events of the Two Towers, Theoden decides to actually act like a king by honoring alliances, leading his men to battle and fighting valiantly to earn a place beside his ancestors in the afterlife. Denethor on the other hand gives in to the growing shadow and goes mad.
Another contributing factor that makes this scene so good is the fear in Merry & Eowyn's faces as they see the Orc army. The fact that they take care of each other despite immense fear shows what courage really is.
Knowing all of this makes the charge of the Rohirrim go from just another big battle sequence to something really meaningful that honestly gets me choked up when I watch it.
@@Fordmister long since I've read trotk, t'was Eomer who started screaming death after Theoden died and he believed Eowyn dead too, right?
Everyone says that about Saruman in this movie. All I can say is, watch the Extended Edtitions if it bothers you that much. I’d love to see a bonus video of your thoughts on them now that you mention it.
I love the advice Christopher Lee gives Peter Jackson about how people react to getting stabbed
It's worth considering that in the books, Saruman returns to the Shire and destroys it. The films take a very different direction, writing Saruman out off-screen in the theatricals, and having him get stabbed somewhat abruptly in the Extended edition. That's possibly why the character's exit, in either edition, feels a little anticlimactic.
@@LabradorIndependent
Yeah, it's still lacking the full narrative exploration of "the Jedi Council decides to go evil" thing he mentions wanting to see in the video on the Two Towers movie, and it's mostly because the Ents are flat in the movies compared to the books where the emphasis is on that Saruman was supposed to be a good guy and their FRIEND, so the Ents respond as they do because that is A HUGE BETRAYAL.
Without that even the extended cut is just "oh, here's some extra scenes with Saruman" because the emotional weight it should have is still missing. If you have that, you can cut the Scouring of the Shire down for time as they still have to do in the extended version, and Saruman's death means more because the betrayer finally gets betrayed himself and that dramatic irony is much more satisfying.
You could maybe even make Saruman dying from being pushed off Orthanc work better if it's payoff for the setup, but when you're missing the setup, either way is anticlimactic.
@@LabradorIndependent Yeah it's pretty funny seeing as the Movies really are the "Happy Studio Versions" when you take out the Scouring of the Shire
@@LabradorIndependent What do you mean, anticlimactic? The setup doesn't allow for him to go anywhere or to do anythimg else. He's more or less in front of Gandalf and at their mercy, trapped in his own tower. His army has been defeated, he's all alone andthe only person he's with has a dagger and gets treated very badly by him. What would you expect him to do?
Saruman is in the extended edition, so that directly answers your criticism of his absence. :)
Tobias R be doesn’t have much to do extra in the extended, especially compared to the book
@@jamesschmidt7307at least there has an ending to his character
Yeah, it's still lacking the full narrative exploration of "the Jedi Council decides to go evil" thing he mentions wanting to see in the video on the Two Towers movie, and it's mostly because the Ents are flat in the movies compared to the books where the emphasis is on that Saruman was supposed to be a good guy and their FRIEND, so the Ents respond as they do because that is A HUGE BETRAYAL.
Without that even the extended cut is just "oh, here's some extra scenes with Saruman" because the emotional weight it should have is still missing. If you have that, you can cut the Scouring of the Shire down for time as they still have to do in the extended version, and Saruman's death means more because the betrayer finally gets betrayed himself and that dramatic irony is much more satisfying.
You could maybe even make Saruman dying from being pushed off Orthanc work better if it's payoff for the setup, but when you're missing the setup, either way is anticlimactic.
@@EmethMatthew But then Christopher Lee wouldn't be able to demonstrate how much he knows about getting impaled.
@@bluesbest1 He gets impaled in all versions, so... 😕
Kinda dissapointed to hear nothing about the charge of the Rohirrim, the Death of Theoden, or a single peep about Edward Shore's magnificent score, but I liked this mini series of yours. Would watch the extra video about the extended editions.
EDIT: Howard, not Edward.
*Howard Shore
@@EzioHanitore I've brought shame upon my house.
Rohirrim coming to the aid of gondor was really well done imo. Theoden and his men know they are charging into almost certain death but they still honor the alliance they once made with gondor. And that heartwrenching speech oh man...
@Gustav 1 pippin*
@Gustav 1 IKR and there was no mention of Aragorn saying, " For Frodo " then everyone charges at Mordor. My favorite part of the trilogy. There was no mention of that such bullshit
Frodo went to the undying lands, Valinor, the home of the elves. It's where pretty much all facets of life are perfect. It's where all ringbearers go. Eventually Sam joined him and much later Legolas took Gimli (the first of his kind) to Valinor. People can only access it via the straight way, which only wan stumbled upon by the ancient kings of númenor, who were banned from entering Valinor for their sins. Pretty complicated stuff. Also the Spider is called Shelob and she is a child of an even bigger spider called ungoliant who lives in Valinor and who sided with Morgorth in the war of the jewels (silmarillion).
Not sure where you got the idea that Ungoliant lives in Valinor... But she doesn't. She only visited Valinor once, during the Time of the Trees, to poison the trees and help Morgoth steal the Silmarils. Also, the Straight Way wasn't created until after Numenor was sunk into the sea. Before that the world was flat. After the sundering of Numenor, Eru made the world into a sphere and created the Straight Way to give the Elves a path to Valinor. Other than that, you're absolutely right though.
Dehler Ingham thank you. I knew this but only had a sense of it. Glad you are here to set it straight.
The Undying Lands don't make mortal beings - i.e., hobbits, dwarves, men - immortal, though. The Baggins, and eventually Samwise and Gimli, will live in paradise for a time, but will die in Valinor all the same.
How can Valinor be a place where 'pretty much all facets of life are perfect' if Shelob's mother-daddy, who sided with Morgoth, is there?
@@kieranbasham2678 Ungoliant and the servants of Morgoth were driven from Valinor (and Morgoth from Middle-earth itself, being cast into the Void) at the end of the First Age during the War of Wrath. Ungoliant eventually consumed herself.
I've seen this movies at least 20 times, I try to watch them at least once a year, make it a big event, and the ending of RotK still has me in tears every single time I watch it. My favorite movie series, and favorite books of all time.
I'm the same, even watching reactions of people watching it I still tear up. The acting and music combined is just so good.
If you think these shitty films are so great you obviously did not read the books!
@@NoName-uh3lp both are masterpieces of work. The books may be greater, but that does not lessen the cinematic art produced.
Max Holliday I’m not an expert but in my mind it’s called on the best damn musical cues ever
Christopher Lee wasn't happy being cut out either especially being a huge LOTR fan.
Kat Welham he was the only person working in/on the movies that had ever met Tolkien himself
What kind of madman cuts a man's scene just after he's told you he knows the sound a man makes when you stab him in the back?
@@GeordieSwordsman A man who has to answer to studio executives who think that nobody would sit through a 4 hour film
I didn't know that but considering he's such a fan he rereads the books every year it doesn't surprise me. Sean Bean had never read them and cribbed up using the BBC Radio Adaptation which had none other than Ian Holm voicing Frodo which is why he's cast as Bilbo in the film.
@@itsjustthemo It's still, like, a 2 minute scene. It should've been kept in
Interesting fact - the movie has a "happier" ending than the book. The book includes the "Scouring of the Shire", where the Shire gets essentially destroyed.
Edit - sacking to scouring... it is called "Scouring of the Sire". Oops
I do like the symbolism of the Sacking of the Shire, with it essentially showing that Sauron's evil is so pervasive that it even reaches a place as small and innocent as the Shire, but I'm also glad it was cut from the movie since destroying the ring just feels like a much more natural way to end the conflict of the story
@@Mitcheck315 With Sacking of the Shire, for a movie, it's timing would be off. In a film, it would have to happen before the ring was destroyed.
While I love that ending, it would have devalued the whole film of it was included. These movies knew exactly how much to directly adapt and where to diverge!
I love that chapter but it would never work for the structure of a movie, but also I always saw it as the shire still being able to recover quite well from it.
I particularly love how The Shire becomes the last place on earth to ever house a Mallorn tree. And that's after an evil Maia does everything he can to destroy and mar The Shire out of sheer spite and hatred.
The trees of Valinor, passed on to Numenor as a gift to the Elf Friends, to Middle Earth in the realm of the Elves, to The Shire. A little sliver of the Elder Days planted in place of the uprooted Party Tree where Bilbo held his 111th (and likely many prior) birthdays..
13:20 I'm sorry but Frodo didn't manage to push of the darkness. He succumbed to it, he wanted the ring for himself.
Yes! This is what makes LotR so unique. The hero fails. But no one could have come as far as he did.
"Now no longer will I be told 'what do you mean you haven't seen the lord of the rings?', and that is a good feeling. "
Get ready to hear "What do you mean you haven't seen the extended cuts?" a lot until we get that follow-up video.
"I f' hate spiders! I can't stand them."
* does a speech about it with lots, LOTS of imagens and videos *
Ok... got your point.
I felt the same
I had to cover the screen for several minutes, I can't look at spiders 😞
"Smeagol promised!"
"...Smeagol lied"
Not Gollum. So yeah, not all of it is the Ring's fault.
There's a reason Shelob the spider is so effectively horrifying - in the extended edition extras Peter Jackson explains he too is deathly afraid of spiders, and there's a particular species in NZ that he asked the designers to model it after. So basically the designers were tasked with freaking out the director himself. If that's not commitment on the directors part, I don't know what is.
Bloody hell I forgot about that
Just a quick thing. Forgo didn’t mean to push Gollum he was trying to bet the ring back
In the book it's even worse: Gollum slips while dancing and just dives into lava accidentally.
@@Wolfeur Although Tolkien did confirm that it was actually Eru that pushed Gollum into the lava.
I prefer the movie ending so much more than the book ending. Its way more satisfying to have the ring destroy itself than to just have a random deus ex machina.
@@TheWodel1 ngl the fact that Eru made him slip instead of it being completely up to chance makes the impact of that moment alot less dramatic.
It's basically essential to Tolkien's worldview that Frodo fails and Eru must cause the ring's destruction. It's the idea of the Long Defeat, and of Eucotastrophe. Basically, the world is permanently marked by sin, the world of Arda was permanently marred by Morgoth and the world permanently deviated from Eru's divine plan. The people of Middle Earth can never defeat this evil through force of arms or any other skill and power known to them.
Every victory over evil comes at a cost and more and more of the beautiful and great things of the world are destroyed, but they must fight anyway. This is the Long Defeat. The faithful must keep resisting, but it is only through a sudden return of God, or Eru, that evil can forever be destroyed. This is the Eucatastrophe bit. The realms of men unite and resist, while the meek and humble Frodo takes the greatest burden. But even he must fail at the end, and Eru must deliver the world from evil. The idea of Eucatastrophe was coined by Tolkien and is inspired by things like the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. I guess the second coming would also count as Eucatastrophe, and it mirrors the events of LotR in broad strokes, the world declines due to sin until God returns (through Eru or Christ) and saves everyone.
I'm not Christian, but that Christian reading was kind of key for me to understand the book's ending. Otherwise Eru making Gollum slip feels kind of "meh."
Yes, please do the extended editions! They’re the only ones I’ve ever watched, and watching the theatrical version is always so annoying for those small golden moments that we miss!
But if you watch the theatricals than Theoden king doesn't have to learn of his son's death again. Let the poor man have a break for once.
@@evaunit0014 Oh, fair. Poor guy
@@evaunit0014 where is my son? noooooooooo
"It is time, Frodo."
Four words to get me to tears.
I cannot believe you uploaded this just as I finished watching the 2 previews parts after learning about your channel. Too good to be true.
There's no elephants in TLotR. You're thinking of Oliphaunts.
Part of the reason they feel so continuous is because the lord of the rings was written as one big book, then it was split into three
Yep, it wasn’t written as three books, but as one big story. The publishers decided to split it into 3 books to make it easier to digest by the reader (and for Cha-Ching reasons). It’s fitting that Jackson made these movies as one filming session, aside from pickup shoots later after they realized how successful Fellowship was at release. I would not even consider this being filmed ‘back to back’ as this video states. It was one big, complicated shoot, with some of the first scenes ever filmed taking place in Return of the King.
If you want to get accurate about it, it was split into 3 volumes, each of 2 books.
Fido Montoya I think the Cha-Ching reasons aren’t as much as the digestibility reasons.
You’re a publisher and this guy who wrote a children’s book that wasn’t very long (the Hobbit) comes in with this absolutely massive book saying that it’s the sequel.
Yeah bear in mind that these movies were all filmed simultaneously. Aragorn's first scene ever was the fight on Weathertop, and other actors had their first scenes shot that took place near the end of RoTK. Some days they shot scenes for the 2nd movie, other days they shot ones for the 1st. Watching the Behind The Scenes is really really interesting, the whole process of filming was so unique.
For proper context it was published in post war britian. Where releasing a 1000 page plus tome was deemed to big a gamble. So it was released in volumes
The trilogy’s ending rips my heart out every single time I watch it. I saw it on opening night, and the ending is still just as moving to me as it was that night.
Yes, please do extended editions! Almost every problem you might have with these movies is gone. Saruman in particular is given a good send-off, and all the characters are deeper, more complex, and more interesting.
"Legolas has no character."
*Inhales deeply*
Oh don't worry, he just meant it's a boring character. 😉
I actually agree with him
@@justthinking650 I do to, even in the books were he is explored a lot more he still feels a little bland.
My favourite Legolas moment from the books isn’t in the movies. It’s during the crossing of the snowy mountains, and he’s just a huge dick and goes to basically “check the weather” as the men borough themselves out of the snow.
He’s lighthearted and giving motivational “you’re almost there!” and does help carry the hobbits out, but you can tell that a few of them are just done with his shit.
@@labranehit7687 Aside from their friendship (which isn't even explored to the same degree as in the movies) both Gimli and Legolas are bland in the books.
In relation to frodo "dieing" at the end. It's kinda not like that. He goes to the undieing lands, which I suppose is sort of heaven, although I'd personally compare it to Tír ná Óge (my apologies if I've spelt that wrong, it's been years since I've seen it written) which is essentially you don't age or die as long as you stay there, and it's just a awesome party all the time. Back to the undieing lands, it's also where most of the elves went for many thousands of years, becoming wiser and fairer and just generally more awesome than the elves who stayed in middle Earth. It's also worth noting that after spending 7 terms as mayor of the shire, and just generally being the most awesome hobbit ever to live, Sam goes there as well.
Yeah because for the briefest of times, Sam held the ring
You're right that Frodo is going to the Undying Lands, but you are wrong as to what that means.
The Undying Lands is where The Powers live (basically angels), and they let the Elves live there too, but mortals cannot. The reason that mortals cannot live there is because it has such a high magic level that mortal bodies wear out faster than they normally do. The mortals are surrounded by so many wonderful, beautiful things that their bodies give out and die from the experience.
Elves have the opposite problem that mortals do. The Elves lived on the Earth when everything was as wonderful and beautiful as the Undying Lands, but the world is decaying, and the Elves fade with the fading magic of the world. Elves who do not leave Middle Earth for the Undying Lands kind of evaporate into ghosts over time as magic fades away.
@@88michaelandersen I'm pretty sure frodo just lives a normal life there, and is reunited with sam when he goes too.
Nope. Frodo doesn't live forever. He leaves for the undying lands so his soul could find some comfort and he could live out what's left of his life in peace. something that wouldn't have been possible if he remained in Middle Earth.
@@alansmithee419 Mortals die faster in the Undying Lands; "there you would but wither and grow weary the sooner, as moths in a light too strong... ."
Full quote from the Silmarillion:
‘The Doom of the World' they [the messengers of Manwe] said, ‘One alone can change who made it. And were you [mortals] so to voyage that escaping all deceits and snares you came indeed to
Aman, the Blessed Realm, little would it profit you. For it is not the land of Manwe that makes its people deathless, but the Deathless that dwell therein have hallowed the land; and there you would but wither and grow weary the sooner,
as moths in a light too strong and steadfast.’
“Legolas has no character...but he grew as a person.”
....I thought he had no character
I think he meant "he has more lines" X)
He has some character yeah, he's cool, efficient, and is racist towards dwarves. He grows in that by the end of the movie he is cool, efficient, and is not racist towards dwarves. It is a character change but built upon not much leaving him still feeling very flat. Especially like Full Fat said in the video, Gimli shoulders a great deal of the emotional weight of that change and is also just the far more fun character out of the duo.
The extended editing gives Saruman a proper conclusion.
Meh, it still drops him.
@@MuxauJ7 true, but it's better than nothing.
@@tylerdunnan5059 Joke aside, I feel movies tried to, and wanted to bring into the view effects that events like ones that unfolded, would have on a wider scale, but it just stood shy of going there, keeping it on a more personal level, close to the characters. With the exception of ents, maybe. Seems as though the story was bumping into the time constraints, like "alright, I think our audience might reach the end of their patience if we do this, keep it on course, cut it". And the team of the movies still did a great job, far better than anything that could be reasonably asked of them. There was just no place left for "distractions", sadly.
@@MuxauJ7 lmao
Also, the reason why the lighting of the beacons is such a great scene is almost solely the score, at least for me.
Great score, great visuals, great pay off at the end. Best scene in the trilogy for me
You should definitely do the extended editions! Also watch some of the bonus features! They can teach you a lot about film making!
epic fan nerd yes! They are easily the best set of making-of videos I’ve ever watched
Thank you for the Ian Holm memoriam at the beginning 🙏
inb4 you find out that the spider is actually a kind of ancient demon that knows only hatred and malice...
Technically the daughter of an ancient demon, but potato potatoe
Shelob is a she, but easy mistake. It's not easy telling the gender of a massive spider.
Well, except that she is named “She-lob”
@@killianmiller6107 you could say mama Ungoliant isn't the most creative with her daughter's name.
@@jackparker7423 shelobs real name is ungwetari
To be fair, Gollum called her "she" like a dozen times.
@Tyreal567 lmao I just got a notification for this without context from which comment thread it was from, and I was SO confused
"fourth bonus episode-" 100% yes no questions asked.
This man really summed up Pelenor fields as “they killed elephants, sad”. Im actually mad! No charge of Rohan?? nor Mumakil charge???
If I didn't feel like I had anything to say on them, I'd just leave it. Great battles for sure but I didn't really have anything entertaining to say there!
@@FullFatVideos Your opinion is entertaining, tbh I would totally watch a far longer video if you could cover more of the amazing moments such as the Rohan charge and the like.
I too was hoping for some comments on the charge of the brave men and woman of Rohan
Just listening to your disappointment of Saruman in the third film is another reason you should immediately watch the extended version. Also to answer your question about the ending, yes, getting on that boat to Valinor which is essentially heaven so you can consider it him dying.
The extended movie is nothing compared to his role in the book, I don’t know if you know, but he plays another major role in the book
James Schmidt yes we know, buhu movie bad, book good. We get it
@@jamesschmidt7307 Yes I know about the Scourging of the Shire, that would've completely screwed with the pacing of the film though so it's pretty irrelevant imo
Couple of things:
-Frodo and the others don't die they go the the equivalent of Heaven in Middle Earth alive.
-The Spider: Peter Jackson has arachnophobia, and repeatedly had them change the spider again and again until it fully freaked him out.
Going to heaven without dying is the same as dying though right? Just without the suffering.
@@jackalackb17 Kind of. In Middle Earth, each race had their own version of the afterlife. For Elves, it was sailing to the Undyling Lands. For men, it was the gift of Eru, which was death that led beyond the mortal realm into an unknown realm. The dwarves had something as well, but I can't recall what.
I'm admittedly not 100% sure about the following, so I could be very wrong, but I believe that if you exist in the Undying Lands, you literally can't die. And you can be healed of any affliction, which is why Frodo specifically chose to go. See, it's not really shown in the movies, but the stab he received on Weathertop never fully healed, and even after returning to the Shire, he continued to be haunted by it. So the only cure was to go to the Undying Lands.
One fun fact: Gimli's and Legolas' friendship remains so powerful even after the events depicted in the movies that eventually when Legolas' goes to the Undying Lands, Gimli joins him, the only dwarf in history to be granted access.
I'm pretty sure since they couldn't decide on a design, they brought in a couple of kids and let them pick. Could be wrong though. I haven't watched the Appendices in a while...
@@EmrysMerlin8807 Mortals will eventually die even in the undying lands. The undying lands isn't an afterlife for elves, it is a continuation of their life. Many elves are born there and never leave. An elf that is killed will go to the Halls of Mandos (a kind of purgatory) and eventually be reincarnated.
The dwarves believe of themselves that they go to the Halls of Aule (their creator) and will be his helpers in reshaping the world after the final battle.
@@rockenrollern Thanks for the clarification. A lot of that I knew, but seemingly forgot.
"Legolas is only three words off lego and lego is great". And i thought gandalf had all the good lines!
when you'll finish the extended edition, you'll appreciate the Trilogy more
These films are my childhood and having the chance to see someones reaction to them for the first time will always give me joy
I’d be interested to see if the extended editions change anything for you. The only one that I feel is completely improved by extending is Return of the King.
Really? I think the first two are improved. The third one has Saruman but it wasn’t the best scene and it has poor scenes such as the skull surfing.
I feel Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King were improved in the extended editions. In the extended Two Towers though, there's some points in the second act of the movie where there are so many visions and flashbacks it hurts the pacing in the movie imo
I'm very used to the theatrical releases, to the point where the extended editions were actually a little off-putting. Mostly there being more of the cringe he was complaining about. Now that I think about it, it's almost like they cut out nearly all the cringe for the theatrical releases. Anyway, certain things like Aragorn's singing in Fellowship, and Faramir's extended dialog and Theodred's funeral in Two Towers, seem to do better in a book than on screen for me. I agree that Return of the King was significantly improved, like Merry's storyline, confronting Saruman, and everything about Eowyn in the house of healing. The different timing of Rohan arriving was probably better, coming in the nick of time rather than "this is bad, it's getting worse, hey, who's that?"
Boromir flashback in the two towers is crucial for me
@@josemanuelperez3197 Agreed.
I’m sorry, I don’t wanna be that guy, but Frodo very specifically has zero agency in the final destruction of the Ring. The point is that while all of us can resist spiritual temptation, we are ultimately insufficient to defeat it on our own.
I don’t blame anyone for not seeing that, I myself only realized it when I marathoned them last summer (not as hard as it sounds).
But he was the only one who could have carried it so far. That was the task appointed to him and asking anything beyond that would've been impossible.
Darío Villanova, what tells you he was the only one who could’ve made it? He’s not special, I believe Sam or Faramir could have made it as far.
The task was to take the Ring to Mount Doom and destroy it. He failed at that task. If not for chance and the unwanted presence of Gollum, Frodo would’ve taken it for himself and ruined everything
@@doxazo5512 my point is: frodo is a hero anyways. he didn't failed his mission, he went beyond his capacity to resist the power of the ring, and when his strenght finally failed him, "destiny" (Illuvatar if you will) intervined and saved the mission. frodo redeemed himself the moment he decided not to kill gollum, and gollum ultimately had a part to play in all the grand scheme of things. I would recommend you to read Tolkien's Letters, it's a great read, lots of cool info and has answers to common questions.
Darío Villanova, no one is saying Frodo isn’t a hero. That said, it’s a pretty big taint on the hero reputation when you go so far to stop a murder and then at the last minute grab the gun yourself, intending to use it. Again, I believe he’s a hero, I believe you get hero points for effort, not just for success. But he DID fail.
He didn’t go *beyond* his capacity, but he did go all the way to his limit, which is much much more than most people can do (which is why I say he’s a hero).
Frodo didn’t “redeem” himself by not killing Gollum, he hadn’t done anything wrong yet.
Again, Frodo is absolutely a hero, but Tolkien (a Catholic) was illustrating the human struggle with temptation. Most of us give in way before we get anywhere near the limit of our will, but even if we could manage to hold on for that long, we will break eventually. Even our best efforts fall short, only God can save us.
It's even deeper than that. Arguably Frodo's crucial deed came way before he reached Mount Doom: both he and Bilbo showed Gollum mercy and kindness and let him live. If he hadn't, the Ring wouldn't have been destroyed.
He had agency. Just not in the way anyone could've imagined.
Gandalf riding out to save Faramir, the change in light and score...biggest chills
In concerning saruman in the last movie, in the books he flees with Grima and they take over the shire and corrupt it with men and industry, which the hobbits later come back and restore the shire at the end of the book, but Jackson cut that out which I don’t mind a whole lot. So basically he was meant to still have a role in the last one but Jackson cut it out and decided it was fine
James Schmidt But Saruman does have a confrontation and ending in the extended editions, which at least is something. He and Grima have the same fate as the book, but without traveling to the Shire and extending the ending even more.
Fido Montoya in regards to having the same fate, the only similarity is them ending up dead. Other than that I think they’re completely different in that he literally takes over the shire and corrupts it and leads to another battle at the scoring of the shire. Now I havnt read it in a while (currently re reading) but i don’t remember how grima dies in the books
@@jamesschmidt7307 they died the exact same way in fact: in te books, frodo tell grima to quit saruman, than he was a good man before, and sarouman taunt grima and tell him hes never gonna be free
so grima kill him exactly like in the films, and then the hobbits around frodo fire arrows on him while he try to run away
@@jamesschmidt7307
Yeah, it's still lacking the full narrative exploration of "the Jedi Council decides to go evil" thing he mentions wanting to see in the video on the Two Towers movie, and it's mostly because the Ents are flat in the movies compared to the books where the emphasis is on that Saruman was supposed to be a good guy and their FRIEND, so the Ents respond as they do because that is A HUGE BETRAYAL.
Without that even the extended cut is just "oh, here's some extra scenes with Saruman" because the emotional weight it should have is still missing. If you have that, you can cut the Scouring of the Shire down for time as they still have to do in the extended version, and Saruman's death means more because the betrayer finally gets betrayed himself and that dramatic irony is much more satisfying.
You could maybe even make Saruman dying from being pushed off Orthanc work better if it's payoff for the setup, but when you're missing the setup, either way is anticlimactic.
Seeing Hobbits in battle would be interesting, but I guess it would be too overblown for ending the movies hehe:
"The Men took one step forward and stopped short. There rose a roar of voices all round them, and suddenly they were aware that Farmer Cotton was not all alone. They were surrounded. In the dark on the edge of the firelight stood a ring of hobbits that had crept up out of the shadows. There was nearly two hundred of them, all holding some weapon.
Merry stepped forward. ‘We have met before,’ he said to the leader, ‘and I warned you not to come back here. I warn you again: you are standing in the light and you are covered by archers. If you lay a finger on this farmer, or on anyone else, you will be shot at once. Lay down any weapons that you have!’
The leader looked round. He was trapped. But he was not scared, not now with a score of his fellows to back him. He knew too little of hobbits to understand his peril. Foolishly he decided to fight. It would be easy to break out.
‘At ‘em lads!’ he cried. ‘Let ‘em have it!’
With a long knife in his left hand and a club in the other he made a rush at the ring, trying to burst out back towards Hobbiton. He aimed a savage blow at Merry who stood in his way. He fell dead with four arrows in him"
...
"The ruffians came tramping along the East Road, and without halting turned up the Bywater Road, which ran for some way sloping up between high banks with low hedges on top. Round a bend, about a furlong from the main road, they met a stout barrier of old farm-carts upturned. That halted them. At the same moment they became aware that the hedges on both sides, just above their heads, were all lined with hobbits. Behind them other hobbits now pushed out some more waggons that had been hidden in a field, and so blocked the way back. A voice spoke to them from above.
‘Well, you have walked into a trap,’ said Merry. ‘Your fellows from Hobbiton did the same, and one is dead and the rest are prisoners. Lay down your weapons! Then go back twenty paces and sit down. Any who try to break out will be shot.’
But the ruffians could not now be cowed so easily. A few of them obeyed, but were immediately set on by their fellows. A score or more broke back and charged the waggons. Six were shot, but the remainder burst out, killing two hobbits, and then scattering across country in the direction of the Woody End. Two more fell as they ran. Merry blew a loud horn-call, and there were answering calls from a distance.
‘They won’t get far,’ said Pippin. ‘All that country is alive with our hunters now.’
Behind, the trapped Men in the lane, still about four score, tried to climb the barrier and the banks, and the hobbits were obliged to shoot many of them or hew them with axes. But many of the strongest and most desperate got out on the west side, and attacked their enemies fiercely, being now more bent on killing than escaping. Several hobbits fell, and the rest were wavering, when Merry and Pippin, who were on the east side, came across and charged the ruffians. Merry himself slew the leader, a great squint-eyed brute like a huge orc. Then he drew his forces off, encircling the last remnant of the Men in a wide ring of archers.
At last all was over. Nearly seventy of the ruffians lay dead on the field, and a dozen were prisoners. Nineteen hobbits were killed, and some thirty were wounded. The dead ruffians were laden on waggons and hauled off to an old sand-pit nearby and there buried: in the Battle Pit, as it was afterwards called. The fallen hobbits were laid together in a grave on the hill-side, where later a great stone was set up with a garden about it. So ended the Battle of Bywater, 1419, the last battle fought in the Shire, and the only battle since the Greenfields, 1147, away up in the Northfarthing."
The last confrontation with Saruman is also interesting in book version:
"Saruman laughed again. ‘Not he! When his tools have done their task he drops them. But you must go dangling after him, dawdling and talking, and riding round twice as far as you needed. “Well,” thought I, “if they’re such fools, I will get ahead of them and teach them a lesson. One ill turn deserves another.” It would have been a sharper lesson, if only you had given me a little more time and more Men. Still I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives. And it will be pleasant to think of that and set it against my injuries.’
‘Well, if that is what you find pleasure in,’ said Frodo, ‘I pity you. It will be a pleasure of memory only, I fear. Go at once and never return!’
The hobbits of the villages had seen Saruman come out of one of the huts, and at once they came crowding up to the door of Bag End. When they heard Frodo’s command, they murmured angrily:
‘Don’t let him go! Kill him! He’s a villain and a murderer. Kill him!’
Saruman looked round at their hostile faces and smiled. ‘Kill him!’ he mocked. ‘Kill him, if you think there are enough of you, my brave hobbits!’ He drew himself up and stared at them darkly with his black eyes. ‘But do not think that when I lost all my goods I lost all my power! Whoever strikes me shall be accursed. And if my blood stains the Shire, it shall wither and never again be healed.’
The hobbits recoiled. But Frodo said: ‘Do not believe him! He has lost all power, save his voice that can still daunt you and deceive you, if you let it. But I will not have him slain. It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing. Go, Saruman, by the speediest way!’
‘Worm! Worm!’ Saruman called; and out of a nearby hut came Wormtongue, crawling, almost like a dog. To the road again, Worm!’ said Saruman. ‘These fine fellows and lordlings are turning us adrift again. Come along!’
Saruman turned to go, and Wormtongue shuffled after him. But even as Saruman passed close to Frodo a knife flashed in his hand, and he stabbed swiftly. The blade turned on the hidden mail-coat and snapped. A dozen hobbits, led by Sam, leaped forward with a cry and flung the villain to the ground. Sam drew his sword.
‘No, Sam!’ said Frodo. ‘Do not kill him even now. For he has not hurt me. And in any case I do not wish him to be slain in this evil mood. He was great once, of a noble kind that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he may find it.’
Saruman rose to his feet, and stared at Frodo. There was a strange look in his eyes of mingled wonder and respect and hatred. ‘You have grown, Halfling,’ he said. ‘Yes, you have grown very much. You are wise, and cruel. You have robbed my revenge of sweetness, and now I must go hence in bitterness, in debt to your mercy. I hate it and you! Well, I go and I will trouble you no more. But do not expect me to wish you health and long life. You will have neither. But that is not my doing. I merely foretell.’
He walked away, and the hobbits made a lane for him to pass; but their knuckles whitened as they gripped on their weapons. Wormtongue hesitated, and then followed his master.
‘Wormtongue!’ called Frodo. ‘You need not follow him. I know of no evil you have done to me. You can have rest and food here for a while, until you are stronger and can go your own ways.’
Wormtongue halted and looked back at him, half prepared to stay. Saruman turned. ‘No evil?’ he cackled. ‘Oh no! Even when he sneaks out at night it is only to look at the stars. But did I hear someone ask where poor Lotho is hiding? You know, don’t you, Worm? Will you tell them?’
Wormtongue cowered down and whimpered: ‘No, no!’
‘Then I will,’ said Saruman. ‘Worm killed your Chief, poor little fellow, your nice little Boss. Didn’t you, Worm? Stabbed him in his sleep, I believe. Buried him, I hope; though Worm has been very hungry lately. No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.’
A look of wild hatred came into Wormtongue’s red eyes. ‘You told me to; you made me do it,’ he hissed.
Saruman laughed. ‘You do what Sharkey says, always, don’t you, Worm? Well, now he says: follow!’ He kicked Wormtongue in the face as he grovelled, and turned and made off. But at that something snapped: suddenly Wormtongue rose up, drawing a hidden knife, and then with a snarl like a dog he sprang on Saruman’s back, jerked his head back, cut his throat, and with a yell ran off down the lane. Before Frodo could recover or speak a word, three hobbit-bows twanged and Wormtongue fell dead.
To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.
Frodo looked down at the body with pity and horror, for as he looked it seemed that long years of death were suddenly revealed in it, and it shrank, and the shrivelled face became rags of skin upon a hideous skull. Lifting up the skirt of the dirty cloak that sprawled beside it, he covered it over, and turned away."
Frodo doesn't die, he just goes to a place without evil.
Well he will die there, it's the land doesn't make people immortal, it's called the undying lands because of the people who live there are immortal. Frodo, Sam, Gimli, Bilbo, all the mortals who go there will die.
@@jalaaldous3511 that's really up for interpretation as the undying land isn't necessarily described as a different continent as much as it's a higher plane of existence or another realm
That doesn't matter. He's left the mortal world and gone to something akin to heaven. It's not "death" in the sense that there's a corpse left behind, but it's still a kind of death. At the very least, it's a metaphorical death.
Wrong Frodo goes to the Undying Lands & is allowed to live as long as he likes!
@@NoName-uh3lp That's an overly literal and simplistic explanation. The undying lands are like heaven, and going there is like passing away.
There is a scene what happens with Saruman in the extended edition!!
dodoxp2 that sound form that scene haunts me
@@jamesschmidt7307
Peter Jackson: Ok, so when Grima stabs Sauruman in the back scream like this.
Christopher Lee: Do you KNOW what sound a man makes when he's stabbed in the back?
Peter Jackson: Well... no...
Christopher Lee: Well I DO!
@@methos-ey9nf wait, what??? I need to know that story, did Christopher Lee get stabbed?
@@pablox98 C Lee worked for British Special Forces during his early years. That dude has seen some shit.
@@pablox98 Christopher Lee was part of British Special Forces during WWII. A lot of what he did was/is classified. Suffice it to say it's possible, if not likely, that he has stabbed somebody in the back during the war.
That ending with Frodo is even sadder because the wound he got from the witch king and his lost finger never stopped hurting and he was always in agony, he goes with the elves to the undying lands because it’s the only place where he could live without suffering from his wounds and the ring. So yeah it’s death but he got to live in the best place on middle earth for his last days, still bittersweet cause he had to leave those he cared for most behind. Gods I love this movie
Glad to see this final part.
1) Definately do a video on the extended Editions. It was good that you started with the theatrical - but watch them now and do a video (could probably do one long for for all 3.) Totally worth it. You'll get more characterization by some of the characters you thought didn't get enough.
2) Lore-stuff: Valinor (Heaven -basically) is a real place. You used to be able to sail there from Middle Earth, though now only Elves can. When Elves die they basically re-spawn in Valinor. Or they can also just choose to go to Valinor when they grow weary of the world. This is where all the Gods and Angles hang out, including Gandalf.
They are also tied to 'fate' in the world, so to speak. Basically everything that did happen, and ever will happen, was established at the dawn of creation, and they're tied to it.
Men, by contrast, are given the Gift of Men, also known as the Doom of Men. They are not immortal, but nor are they tied to fate. When they die, they go... elsewhere.
So at the end of the movie, because Frodo was a ring-bearerer (same for Bilbo), he was gifted the right to go to the Undying Lands (Valinor). But he wasn't made immortal, he just lived out the remainder of his life there in peace. And as a heart-warming Cherry on Top, when Sam (who briefly carried the ring himself) grew into Old Age, he went and joined Frodo there for the remainder of their lives.
My Favorite Trilogies:
• Lord of the Rings films
• The Dark Knight Trilogy
• Original Star Wars Trilogy
• Back to the Future films
They are the essential ones and it says a lot about the 12 of them films when Dark Knight rises is the worst one
@@SonRob01 I feel like you could argue Return of the Jedi or back to the future 3 are the worst. Or should I say least great.
I love both of them and the dark knight rises, especially return of the jedi which is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine in that I enjoyed it the most out of the trilogy, flaws and all. I have to say though, out of all of the trilogies, LOTR is the most consistent IMO.
Don't forget the cornetto trilogy (Great for playing movie reference bingo...)!
Luca Patel yeah Return of the king is one of the only good final movies (compared to the others) in a trilogy
Harmen Roelf van der Klei World’s end lets the Trilogy down also it’s more a anthology of different stories just with the same 2 leading men and director
You'll understand what happened with Saruman once you see the extended. He's not left to rot as in the theatrical.
"The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it. [...] White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
“Arise. Arise riders of Theoden. Spears shall be shaken. Shields shall be splintered. A sword day… a red day… ere the Sun Rises!” ~ Theodan, King of Rohan
RIP Bernard Hill (1944 - 2024)
If spiders freak you out that much, Dont Come to Australia.
In relation to Frodo sailing away, he’s going west with the elves where no one dies, so technically he died but no he doesnt
The undying lands are actually more of the land where things that never die live, which means frodo basically went and lived the last of his days in the land of the gods until his death
Josef Norman I wasn’t able to remeber the name but yes the undying lands is where he went, and I don’t know for sure but I don’t think he’ll actually die there, or at least live longer with the elves and myar
@@jamesschmidt7307 no its confirmed that he'll die there and only get as old as he would in the shire
But also a euphemism and metaphor for death perhaps. Death that was unpreventable like many of the ptsd racked war vets. But it also suggested a death that led to a good place because of all the suffering and good deeds that came before it. Even if suicide was a potential one of the metaphors here.
Andir 737 ah I didn’t know that thank you
I know that everyone goes on about the extended editions, and I do enjoy them, but man, I tell you what, going from Aragorn yelling, "What say you??" to the ghost army to not seeing them again until Aragorn jumps out of the boat is SO much more exciting! Having that mini cliffhanger just works so much better than having the whole thing telegraphed, even if it is obvious that the ghosts are going to help. I'll usually watch the theatrical versions for that editing alone.
Whenever I was sick off school when I was little, my mum and I would sit under a blanket and watch all 3 back to back, these movies are just as much a part of my childhood as the MCU and Star Wars the Clone Wars
You’re showing me far far too many clips of spiders, stop it please
16:02 - No.
It's a metaphor for death in a few ways, but he's literally going to a hidden place, where he will be cured of his injury and will live forever.
Like heaven, but no actual death required.
So, like an assumption into heaven.
@@SpaceNerd117
Lol, let's say Yeah
Nope, Frodo will be allowed to live out his life in peace, but he will still die.
I've often wished I could go back and experience these movies and this story for the 1st time again. I just happened across this video today and was able to watch, in order, this creator's entire experience in one go. Thank you for that.
It was a great time revisiting this beloved series of movies vicariously through your sober and knowledgeable eyes, well done! Keep up the great videos!
Great review, sad you didn't talk about 'you bow to no one'
Please do the extended edition video too!
also laughed at "it's incredibly disappointing that Saruman just drops off in the third movie" you should really watch those extended versions
Your videos are always top quality! I think your videos are the ones that give me the most goosebump moments, and maybe even a tear or two every so often. Great stuff!
I just watched all three from this series back to back because it’s fascinating to imagine what it would be like to have NOT seen these movies, or even to have seen them without knowing the story. My dad gave me the Hobbit to read when I was 11 and I read the trilogy right after, but I wasn’t allowed to see the movies until a few years later. This means I NEVER got to see them blind - even when I watched them for the first time I knew the story. Loved experiencing this vicariously through you. Please watch the extended editions and do a video!
YES! DO EXTENDED!
I would love to hear your thoughts on the extended editions!!!
I really really love this miniseries, it was amazing to relive LOTR through your eyes and remember everything that was great about it. Hearing you talk about the emotional ending brought tears to my eyes and I could feel the sadness of the ending all over again, thank you for bringing all those emotions back to me! I haven't seen the movies in a while, but I will definitely rewatch the movies this weekend. Please do another video on the extended version!
Good for you man! Glad you got to watch it and enjoy it. It is a marvelous work.
I'd really love to see your take on the extended editions, too.
Give us the extended editions! Please and thank you Master Full Fat
I have literally just finished my annual screening of the extended edition of these films last night. They are some of my favourite films ever. Please do a 4th video on the extended it adds so much more to the story you won’t regret it!!!!
Great seeing you complete this series and its quite a refreshing idea for a series. Of course I'd like you to do another installment on the extended editions but I'd also like to see you continue this idea onto other movies or movie series if you have any other classics that you havent watched
Yes please do a 4th vid on the extended edition
All of the elves are 1000+ years old. Of course they're stoic. They think first and talk fourth. Fullfat doesn't think about this video as much as feel it. His most excited moment in the vid are talking about spiders and elephants.
Remember it's a first time viewing. All of the lore is not explained in the movies
Sméagol's fall to Gollum is beautiful, and that's why Emilíana Torrini's Gollum Song in the end credits of the Two Towers is one of my all-time favorite songs.
Without spoiling much, a large amount of what gets added in the extended editions is more character building. A lot of the extra scenes consist of two or more characters having conversations with each other that either flesh out the characters further or provide bits of additional world-building.
Doesn’t watch Extended Editions - complains about not seeing Saruman...
Oliver Hill to be fair he didn’t know that such a crucial scene was cut. When you think ‘’extended’’ scenes, you think more: Storm and Wolverine being in love in DOFP
Nice of you to give a dedication to Ian Holm at the beginning there.
Ironic that you're watching Bilbo age and pass onto another life - after Ian Holm has died. I remember being in Richer Sounds and being utterly captivated by watching the acting masterclass that is the scene between Gandalf and Bilbo were Gandalf starts by persuading and finally has to coherse Bilbo I to giving up the ring and Holm's stubtle portrayal of someone try to do something he half knows is wrong but can't help himself.
Fantastic series - PLEASE do the extended! We all experienced them once in the cinema then got to sink our teeth into the extended on DVD.
Seeing you talk about the extended edition would be lovely! Keep up your fantastic videos!
One very important question:
Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell?
Frodo does not die when he goes on the ship cuz the ship sails to the gray havens where time moves at a much slower speed. It is kind of heaven on earth
Metaphor/euphemism ?
@@Tom_McMurtry im not sure actually ,but nothing dies there and bad things almost never happens. If you are looking for metaphores i think that there are many you can fint almost anywhere in the universe of Tolkien, as an example hobbiton
the grey havens is the port he departs from.
@@CN.67 elves dont die there, but others does
@@robinthomasson6630 yea but much slower
Beautiful. This trilogy is incredibly close to my heart, and it is delightful getting to watch someone else grow to love it too for the the first time.
Also, please, please, please do a video on the extended editions combined together. I think it would be good content.
I know there are countless countless amazing moments in this film, but I'm amazed you didn't mention the charge of the rohirrim. It's the pinnacle of LOTR for me, it's the Avengers Portals moment of middle earth - the hopelessness, the score, the idea that they are charging towards certain death, the speech: everything. It's amazing.
Great video as always though man! Just had to gush over that scene on your behalf.
"Going West" is an allegory for death, or ascension beyond human comprehension. JRRT used The West as a version of Valhalla with less fighting and more eternal verdancy and meditations, with a bit of hunting and other things thrown in. It's the closest thing in the mythology of Middle Earth to an afterlife.
*insert obligatory "Tolkien hated allegory!" here
No
13:25
That was entirely accidental. Frodo was gone, he and gollum were fighting for ownership of the ring. It was pure chance that the fight caused the ring to fall with gollum.
He charges gollum because he wants the ring enough to murder gollum. He unintentionally destroys the ring in the process.
In the books its even more of an accident :D Gollum just dances off the edge because he's so Happy he's got his Fav ring Back
@@joramsim huh, I have read the books, but it's damn near impossible (if indeed it is at all possible) to remember what happens in each trilogy and how they differ from each other.
I've noticed a rapidly growing trend on TH-cam of people getting around to seeing essential films for the first time and honestly it makes me really happy. We don't have that kind of "everybody saw it" culture when it comes to entertainment, anymore, and I think it's causing a lot of atomization, particularly among young people. I wish we could do this kind of thing in public schools where the kids all gather in the auditorium on a Saturday afternoon and all watch something like Top Gun, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Raging Bull, Hot Fuzz, etc.
When I was younger, I had a CD player and I would play the Return of the King before bed wanting to watch the full thing but I always fall asleep from how long it was
Frodo doesn’t “die” when he gets on the ship. The ship goes to the undying land which is essentially heaven except it’s a physical location in the world. It’s protected by essentially a magical forcefield making it impossible to find or enter. All elves are re-incarnated there when they die, and anyone with an invitation from the gods can go too. All ring bearers are allowed so way down the line when Sam’s wife dies he goes there too since he was technically a ring bearer for a little bit. Frodo decided to go early because of the lasting pain from being stabbed by the witch king. I have no idea if Sam in Frodo re-unite in the undying land but I see absolutely no reason why they wouldn’t be able to.
Yes they do reunite, I'm pretty sure that's canonical.
Maybe I've been fooled by the many fanfictions I read about that moment (lol), but I do think it said so somewhere in the appendices.
I always thought that the Undying Lands represent Heaven so he does die in some way
Valinor is not a physical location in the world, it was separated from Middle-Earth.
@@clairetellkamp6253 Wait. I'm pretty sure it is a physical location in the world, just another continent. How else could there have been a connection of the two up north when the sea froze over? You know, where the dudes that Feanor left behind crossed over to middle earth?
@@baguettegott3409 it USED to be on Middle Earth, but after Numenor blew the fuck up, Valinor was like "I'm fuckin' outta here, bitches." And left the physical world.
16:00
Bit long, but interesting, and less sad than what you assumed:
He doesn't die. He goes to where the elves are.
The destruction of the ring meant the loss of magic in middle earth. Without magic, the elves aren't immortal, so they leave middle earth to valinor, a part of the continent Aman to the west of middle earth which is completely separated from the planet later when Eru (god) makes the earth (then called Arda) round. Up to this point it was flat. I am not sure when the world was made round, but it must've been some time after frodo went there, as Sam also goes decades later, and presumably they are reunited. But after the world is made round (to protect valinor from invaders) no travel between the two is possible (aside from maybe to leave valinor in certain cases? Idk).
I believe canonically, the elves are still alive in valinor today (lotr is set in the real world, just thousands of years in an alternative history's past), but we have no way of seeing or interacting with them.
Edit/correction (thanks Dehler):
Arda became round at the end of the second age (~3000 years before the war of the ring). The elves could only get in because they had the valar's (lesser gods than Eru) permission.
Arda becomes round after Morgorth is defeated I'm pretty sure. And they can still access Valinor via the straight way which is only sailed by the elves.
@@dehleringham6445 thanks, I've added an amendment.
Tolkien never can up with a solid conclusion for his world. In one version Tol Eressea would return to Middle Earth one last time. Ulmo would be furious and try to drag it back but only ends up breaking it in two. These become Britain and Ireland. The elves that were on the island fade but still exist as woodland spirits seen only by those they want to see them. Thereby creating folklore
The music score during the lighting of the beacons is enthralling. Best part of the best film score in history (consider all 3 films as one).
Quality content, lads. Really enjoyed the POV! Especially as it coincided with me and my family randomly having a quarantine LOTR marathon. Ahhh zeitgeist. And yes, PLEASE do a video over the Extended Editions. I think you'll enjoy them.
"frodo dies young" LOL
Frodo is 50 iirc XD
I mean...that's young compared to humans in our world.
That's too young to die in human years never mind Hobbit.
@@Real28 not really...biblos 111 was ancient, in years the compare to humans pretty well
@@Frellyouall Medieval setting. 50 years is pretty good.
@@deviles Not really. The other three all make it to 100 I think, he lost a significant amount of time there. He could have had many more decades in the shire, maybe a family and children - okay that probably not, not so much his thing... but he could have spent a lot of quality time with Sam.
This is like the third video I've watched in like three days that has gratuitous and awful real spider stuff right after CGI spider. Like... why.
Frodo does not push Gollum off, he's trying to get the ring back.
There's an extended edition scene in ROTK which shows Saruman being interrogated by Gandalf, Theoden, Aragorn, and a few others. I won't spoil what happens but it's a great scene that quickly wraps up Saruman's absence in ROTK, and Saruman and Gandalf even attack each other a bit. I feel a shorter version of that scene should've been included in the threatical cut. Christopher Lee himself was surprised he wasn't in the theatrical cut for ROTK.
Actually, the line where Gandalf says, "He [Saruman] has no power anymore" isn't in the extended edition. Rather, Gandalf actually says to be careful, that even in defeat Saruman is dangerous.