The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended) | Part 2 | First Time Watching! | Movie REACTION!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- Chandra and Jordan reacting to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition) Part 2 - First Time Watching! Leave a comment to let us know what you think! Subscribe and Like to support us!
PATREON: / maplenutsreact
#lordoftherings #firsttimewatching #moviereaction
I love how she predicts the next line like five times. That’s so cool
That's because this trilogy is full of narrative cliches.
@@celluloidprojectile those were not cliches when this trilogy was written. And there are no cheesy lines in these movies.
I'm with Chandra, the "Last March Of The Ents" moment is spine-tingling.
'cause: 2024+ BYE trees?
I watched all of these movies in-theater multiple times. The "Last March of the Ents" still stands out as the moment I got serious shivers down my spine, EVERY single time. Since then I've even watched these movies another dozen times in a local theater which airs them every year around Tolkien's birthday in January. It's a very special experience watching them with other fans, and I hope y'all get to experience that someday.
Your statement, "This movie is poetry" is an insightful observation.
Elvish sounds like a real language because it basically is. J.R.R. Tolkien was a philologist (study of languages) and made up entire languages for some of the peoples of Middle Earth following realistic rules and patterns of language. This is part of the reason why the names of characters and places have a kind of consistency and depth to them in the LOTR books.
Also called an “orthologist” and “linguist”. So many tools to create worlds and languages. Brilliant in imagination and intent!
He actually created the languages first, then wrote the stories to create a world for the languages to exist in.
Even more impressively, there are two completely distinct elvish languages used. Quenya is what the high elves and elvish scholars and learners would speak and what Saruman was chanting when he was manipulating the weather on the mountain pass, forcing them to go through the mines. Sindarin is like a common language used by all of the elves and is more of an example of what the common elves or lower class elves would be speaking, and is what Gandalf was chanting when he was battling Saruman in that same fight on the mountain.
So Saruman, who was the head of the council of the wise before he betrayed the others was using the language associated with wisdom and learning, and Gandalf was using the language of the common people, showing he was more down to earth and in touch with common folk.
@@Erin_J_ Huh, that is a detail I never knew. The language Gandalf and Saruman were using to cast their spells I mean. That was neat!
Most authors invent languages to give authenticity to the world they created.
Tolkien invented a world to give authenticity to the languages he created.
So, the Battle of Helm's Deep took 3 months to film, used 2,000 extras, they did it at night while it was raining plus they had to use some artificial rain on shots. The filming logistics had to be absolutely insane. I don't know if every single extra had the same level of makeup as an orc when close up, but on average it took 2-3 hours to apply the makeup for a single actor being an orc usually.
The ones wearing helmets in wide shots won't be wearing makeup
After filming on the battle was complete, everyone who worked on that part of the production got t-shirts, saying "I Survived The Battle Of Helm's Deep".
In the movies Gimli is kinda of the relief character but don't get fooled, he's a great and fearless warrior.
At 17:47, Theoden's words are part of a longer poem in the book: "Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?/Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?/Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?/Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?/They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;/The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow./Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning, Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?"
the original text is from "The Wanderer" an Old English poem
Tolkien made multiple languages, including several Elvish languages.
So in that sense it is a real language.
Yeah! All the best film/tv languages are real although not as deep as ones shaped over hundreds/thousands of years of use. Klingon is another good one. :)
Mir means jewel. Boro means faithful. Fara means adequate.
Functional vs real
Andy Serkis deserved an Oscar for this one! His scenes with himself are just so convincing!
You can tell when there is love put into a project, making this film is the best example of a labour of love that I can think of. 🙂
Peter Jackson and the other producers agreed to accept profit share so that their salaries wouldn't eat into the budget. When these movies were massively successful, the studio tried to avoid paying them by pretending that the production costs were massively higher than they really were. Fortunately, the studio lost in court.
One of the reasons why The Hobbit was stretched into 3 movies was because one of the LotR producers accepted his compensation as profit share in a theoretical future The Hobbit movie because there was no profit share left for him in the LotR movies. The studio's lawyers successfully argued that because his contract said Hobbit movie, singular, he would only receive profit share for the first movie.
@@kryptonianguest1903 what a bunch of disgusting pricks. I wonder how those corporate lawyers sleep at night knowing that they scam people who do the real work, in favor of a rich jerk who already has more than he could spend.
the weapons sound real because they are…they had 3 blacksmiths making just chainmail for 2 years etc
I heard they wore out their finger prints putting the chain mail together.
@@emmanuelprime4080 wow.
I love how this movie displays hopelessness. I couldn’t believe wthen the wall was blown to shreds. My heart stopped for a good second. But my moment of this movie is the speech of Sam. He’s the best.
There are many heroes in this trilogy. But Sam is THE hero.
The king theoden speech about, "The days going down in the west, into shadow", hits differently for me in 2024 😢❤
well west has nobody else to blame and are getting their just deserts. and was never anything like rohan, however much think they are like that in fantasy and propaganda
Yes it's tobacco. Tolkien was an avid tobacco pipe smoker and was particularly fond of capstan blue flake.
That is the only pipe tobacco I smoke while reading Lord of the Rings books 😊
@@balvinen8024 just picked some up a few weeks back. Unfortunately I'm full of cold and dont feel like smoking anything right now. Hopefully feel better by the weekend and will have a bowl or twom
All of the parts you described as "poetry" are moments lifted right out of the books, almost word-for-word, testament to the creative genius of JRR Tolkien. If you ever read the books you will find many passages that are just stunningly beautifully written. Edit. After a long break I have just reread the books and I have not changed my mind. I have read and enjoyed many fantasy books but I haven't found anyone that matches the epic writing style of Tolkien, especially in those key moments in the story.
Arwen is Aragorn's elvish love interest/partner. Eowyn is King Theoden's niece, who is falling in love with Aragorn. (and Eomer is her brother)
One of the key scenes you wouldn't have seen if you hadn't watched the extended edition is the one with Boromir where you get to see the extreme pressure his father put on him to get the ring. It makes you realize how conflicted Boromir was about the ring, knowing he was part of the fellowship that came together to destroy the ring, while also knowing his father would never forgive him if he did help destroy the ring rather than bringing it back to his father and Gondor. It really explains Boromir's desperation to get the ring from Frodo as it wasn't just the power of the ring corrupting him but also his own father's demand he get the ring and its power for Gondor. It humanizes his brief moment of madness and makes his bravery and death more gut wrenching because you better understand his motive and also his deep regret for trying to take the ring from Frodo.
It also helps give a little bit of the lost depth to Faramir
7:40 This horse is actually NOT Aragorn's "loyal steed" (as you put it). Remember how I told you to remember Brego, the horse that Aragorn released in part 1 of your reaction? THIS is that same horse.
My favorite is Gandalf. There is no end to the amount of work he's willing to do for the betterment of all.
It’s interesting that he didn’t initially even want to be sent on the mission. Manwë‘s confidence and persistence in encouraging him to go certainly proved to be justified.
@@0okamino exactly! He was afraid and didn't quite understand his own worth. :)
Excellent reaction! The next film requires tissues…it swept the Oscars and is tied for the most awarded film in history!
At 6:09 you ask, "How did they make all this?" Helm's Deep is a combination of various scales of models, plus a series of sets modeled at various scales into the side of a quarry, plus the usual CGI. When the filming was done, they tore it all down and built the city of Minas Tirith in its place (you'll be seeing a lot of Minas Tirith in the next movie). Various pieces of THAT set were used for the fight on Weathertop, where Frodo was stabbed by the Nazgul. Waste not, want not...
On the extended DVDs and BluRays, there's a "Behind the scenes" piece called "Bigatures". Most of the landmark features were scale models, with Orthanc, the tower of Isengard, being massive. The rallying grounds around the tower measured 60 feet in diameter, with the tower standing at 15 feet in height.
Something I find interesting on rewatching is that we are introduced to Minas Tirith very early in the first movie whilst Gandalf is investigating the ring in the city library, but it's dimensions are cunningly hidden so that when we see it in the third movie it becomes a marvel.
Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) is the Lady of the Elves at Lothlorien, the forest realm. Her husband is Celeborn.
Elrond (Hugo Weaving) is Lord of the Elves in Rivendell
Arwen is Elrond's daughter and lover of Aragorn
Théoden is King of Rohan. His son, Théodred, was killed by orcs.
Éomer is the nephew of Théoden and leader of the Rohirrim's horsebound soldiers
Éowyn is the niece of King Théoden of Rohan
Denethor II is the Steward of Gondor. The Stewards ruled Gondor for centuries in the absence of the King.
Boromir is Denethor's eldest son
Faramir is the younger son
And Arwen is Galadriel's granddaughter because Elrond marriend Celebrian, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn.
Tolkien assures us the Hobbits smoked tobacco. But the novel was largely overlooked in the 50's when it came out, but gained a lot of popularity during the 60's hippie movement, at least partially because Tolkien called it "pipe weed," something that the stoners, I'm sure, found very appealing.
That and the story of different kinds of people banding together for a larger cause. For the hippies, it was protesting the Vietnam war, civil rights, etc. They found a connection to the fellowship. The Hobbits and Elves being very about the love of nature, the Elves with their long hair, and the dwarves with their beards. A lot lined up with the hippies.
Since Middle Earth isn't our Earth, I just figured Pipe weed was it's own thing that has a pleasurable effect. Not tobacco or anything else we have.
@@moon-moth1 I prefer to keep it left open to question.
(from CBR, quoting Tolkien) "They imbibed or inhaled, through pipes of clay or wood, the smoke of the burning leaves of a herb, which they called pipe-weed or leaf, a variety probably of Nicotiana." Nicotiana, of course, is a genus of plants that includes tobacco. Tolkien himself was an avid tobacco user and, particularly, enjoyed smoking his pipe.
But it's that "probably" that allows some wiggle-room. Tolkien almost certainly meant pipe weed was tobacco. But the movies, IMHO, subtly but clearly leaned in the opposite direction. Recall Saruman chiding Gandalf, "Your love of the Halflings' leaf has clearly slowed your mind."
@@terrylandess6072 That was my take when I read the books too. Fantasy plants. Leaving it open to interpretation.
"Many of these trees were my friends. A wizard should know better!"
The utter feeling of betrayal in those words always tears me up, great voice acting.
Honestly, Pippin has become my favorite character. Because he had the most growth out of any of them in my opinion. He started off just a foolish teen, and grew to be just as much a hero as the rest of them.
Aragorns elvish name is Estel, which means Hope. The epitaph on his mothers grave ,which he visits in Rivendell before they leave, id "I give Hope to men, I keep none for myself." When Aragorns father was killed, she brought him to Rivendell where Elrond raised him.
In ROTK, Elrod makes reference e to this.
The Elf from Rivendell is Arwen. She's Elrond's daughter. He also has two sons who don't appear in the movies. There's an entire appendix in the books devoted to her love story with Aragorn (partly because it doesn't fit neatly into the narrative of the story, where she only appears a couple of times)
Éowyn is Théoden's daughter. She hero-worships Aragorn because he's mysterious and a great warrior, which is all she wants to be, and she chafe's at the limitations of a woman's role in her society. She's grown up thinking of war as a good thing in itself, since it provides the opportunity fight and die gloriously, because those are the ideals of her culture.
The counterpoint to that view is something Faramir says to Frodo (at least in the book, where he is more intelligent - I don't remember if it's in the film):
"War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend". This is one of the ways LOTR is different from a lot of the fantasy that came before: Tolkien is telling us "It's not all about hitting people with swords".
In the movies and the books Éowyn is not Théoden's daughter, she is his niece. Éowyn is the daughter of the King's sister.
Elladan and Elrohir in the books appear in the Return of the King, so I won't give anything away regarding events in that film, but yeah, they're not in the film which is sad to me. They played a big part in the final days.
All that poetry you heard was Tolkien himself. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon, and the Rohirrim spoke Anglo-Saxon and used Anglo-Saxon poetic forms.
Favorite character. Samwise. He is the bravest of all. He isn't a fighter at heart, but he defends Frodo against all. He isn't anymore then a gardener yet he rises to the occasion no matter how hard things get. He is the most loyal friend of all time, and he has a heart of gold that even the ring cannot manipulate. (There is a point in the book where sam is tempted by the ring but he disillusions himself completely, then gives it back to Frodo) You could say that he isn't the only one to be tempted by the ring and not succumb to its power. Aragon, Gandalf, and a few others in the fellowship and not in the fellowship. However, the rings power grows the closer you get to mount doom, and Sam was BY FAR the closest to mount doom while being bearer of the ring. Samwise is the best character in my opinion.
Too hard to pick one favourite character, in such an epic ensemble piece - I adore Aragorn, but also love Sam so much, and Legolas is super cool, and Gimli so funny, and Theoden so regal, and Frodo so stoic and pure, and Arwen so beautiful and magical, and Merry & Pippin ... see what I mean!!! 😂😍
Arwen- Daughter of Elrond, Elf in love with Aragorn. Eowyn- Niece of Theoden King of Rohan, also in love with Aragorn.
Me, a straight male from America, also in love with Aragorn.
@@anscules😂 facts.
I only just now noticed, when Sméagol and Gollum, were talking to each other after Faramir’s men beat him up. Gollum was comforting Sméagol by stroking his shoulder/back with his hand
Another thing when Smeagol gets rid of Gollum, watch his pupils, how they are bigger on Smeagol and smaller, more evil, on Gollum.
Some of the scenes you were asking how they filmed it...Peter Jackson used something called bigatures. Very large and indepth minitures.if you can watch the behind the scenes its amazing!
My favorite character is Aragorn, but for a reason that only exists in the movies, not the books. In the movie, Aragorn has doubts about the strength of his blood to withstand the Ring and not fall like his ancestor, Isildor. I really resonate with leaders that understand their own possible weaknesses and thus are humble in their strength. That's what really caught my heart in the Fellowship of the Ring. (In the book, the story is more complex and he does not have the same doubts, but is still a figure you want to follow no matter what.)
Yes, it’s tobacco. “Weed” is short for pipe weed aka tobacco. It grows very well in the soils of the Southern part of the Shire. They aren’t stoned, they’re drunk. It’s the ale they drink that makes them jovial like that.
Even in The Hobbit, the book, he explicitly says tobacco. I was confused on that for so long, but actually started to read the books, so there’s concrete understanding now:)
Elrond and his brother Elros were both half-elvish. They were given the choice to live immortal or mortal lives. Elros chose a mortal life, that said his life was still measured in centuries not decades. Aragorn is part of his bloodline and has an extended life span because of it.
The flashback scene of Boromir, Faramir and their father in Osgiliath is one of the scenes that are only in the Extended Edition. Another one is the funeral of Theodred (son of the King of Rohan), with the beautiful and heartbreaking burial chant of Eowyn.
With no intent to diminish any other character, King Théoden of Rohan is one who has grown in my estimation in the quarter of a century since the movies came out, and in the nearly sixty years since first reading The Lord of the Rings. The aged King Théoden of Rohan recovered from sickness and despair to lead his people through great perils to miraculous victory. It was a bit of a shock to have recently lost Bernard Hill, the actor who so skillfully inhabited the character of Théoden for these films.
Since Tolkien was quite fond of his pipe, pipeweed was likely a metaphor for tobacco. I believe he did say later that people could interpret it as they liked.
The Arwen-Aragorn love affair is a sort of repeat of the tale of Luthien and Beren, which Aragorn sings to the Hobbits in the wilderness in FOTR. it's the story of an elf princess who saves a man from a dungeon and then gives up her immortality to marry the man. On the grave of Tolkien and his wife are themes Lithien and Beren.
Helm's Deep was built practically, in pieces (the wall, the gate, the keep) in a rock quarry. There was also a very large "miniature" built for the big, full establishing shots from afar.
I visited that quarry a few years ago. Looks like.. a quarry! A bit of an anticlimax 😂
@@chrisnielsen9885 Reality rarely matches our dreams.
@@magicbrownie1357 well true. I also visited the secret pool that Gollum was captured at. That is a fantastic little spot, down a long narrow winding path. I am left scratching my head as to how they got all the crew and equipment in without wrecking the place
Funfact: When the elves march in, notice they dont move until Legolas appear before them. Then they all instantly turn because they know who he is (royalty), and they stand at attention
So many great lines in the film. I gotta go with Éomer: "TO THE KING!!"
I've seen this movie many times. Never get tired of it. At @16:00 the acting is incredible and powerful.
24:50 IIRC, in the book, Haldir and the elves never showed up for the defense. This was a choice made for the movie to help show the cost of war, while also showing that Elrond was attempting to support the war in what small ways he could.
Yes, Aragorn is part Elf, but the connection is deeper and goes back to the First Age. One of his foremothers Melian the Miai, was a devine spirit who took the form of an Elven queen and married an Elven king, in Beleriand, a sub continent west of Eriador that was lost under the ocean during a war among the demi gods that sang the world into existence. Melian's half Elven half devine daughter Luthien married a mortal man. ( His father's ring is the one Saruman and Grima discuss in Two Towers). Their devine/ Elven/ human son's line crossed another human Elven line so at the end of the first age came the twin brothers Elrond and Elros. Because of their unique heritage they were allowed at anytime to choose mortality for themselves and so did Elrond's children. Elros chose to be mortal, but with his devine nature he and his direct descendants had life spans of hundreds of years. The deni gods gave Elros an island called Numenor, where he could rule the High Men who had befriended the Elves and assisted them in the Devine war. They got arrogant of course, which made them vulnerable to Sauron, and most died when Numenor was swept away by the sea. But nine ships carried The Faithful to Middle Earth and the colonies there. The right ruling line, who had been usurped in Numenor established Arnor and Gondor.
So Aragorn is dating his great great aunt?
@@steve716 I feel like an Ent now.
Elrond's Daddy , and Aragorn's remote ancestor, is in fact "Earendil, the "most beloved star" gift to Frodo that provides the blessed light in dark places. Galadriel is also Elrond's mother-in- law, and one of the oldest and most powerful elves still in Middle Earth.
@@steve716 Probably a hundred more greats in there, but yeah.
@@steve716 Technically Arwen is his first cousin about 80 times removed. Sh'es also like 1600 years older than him. Weird tho it may sound, at this point they're about as unrelated as like 40th cousins would be. So really any two people growing up in the same village together at most points in human history are probably more related to each other than Arwen and Aragorn are.
New Zealand is where LoR was shot. Beautiful country, highly recommended.
The Orcs' vocal noises are those of wild animals recorded by the sound crew at a New Zealand zoo
That's so neat! I love how creative sound designers can be!
2:50 Elvish IS actually a real language now. In fact, Liv Tyler still speaks it occasionally.
"It sounds like a real language"
It IS a real language. Quenya, the language of the Elves, was created by Tolkien before these books were even written. He was a linguist first, and then wrote these books so that he could show off his languages (including 15 different dialects of Elvish such as Sindarin, the speech of Men in Adûnaic and Rohirric, Khuzdul which is the language of Dwarves, Entish, and the Black Speech of Mordor).
As for why Denethor is so harsh with Faramir: he blames Faramir for the death of his wife, Finduilas of Dol Amroth, who was a great beauty and loved dearly by her husband, who sought to keep her safe in Minas Tirith. His efforts ended up with her essentially being kept in a gilded cage, and she longed to see her seaside home once more, however after Faramir was born, she became weak, and began to wither from the effort of childbirth and from her depression, and died when he was only 4. Denethor blamed his young son for this and has treated him poorly ever since (although in the books he's not quite as viperish about it).
Aragorn it´s a Dunedáin, a kind of "royal" race among the men, blessed with long life (they have part of elves in their blood). That´s why he has 87 years old here, and looks young.
2:10 He is, actually! Elrond and his brother Elros were both part elf and part human, so they got to choose which people they wanted to belong to. Elrond chose to live as an elf and Elros to live and die as a human, but he and his descendants were blessed with long life. Aragorn is one of the last of them, dozens of generations later. Which technically makes Elrond his umpteen-great-granduncle and Arwen his cousin a bajillion times removed.
You're 2/3rd's of the way through The Lord of the Rings film now, happy viewing for the last 1/3rd of the film.
The lady is right. Every aspect of these movies is amazingly good. Certainly not the least of which is Howard Shore's wonderful music. Even all the bit parts are great, like the little girl on the horse leaving her mother. Just A +++ all around.
Guys you love these two movies and you cant wait the third one... Just dont forget this.. The third movie won 11 oscars at once.. :))
The dialog is so beautiful because of the author, JRR Tolkien. Most of it was read word-for-word by the actors. Nothing in fantasy comes close. Tolkien was a professor of languages at Oxford, so it makes sense he wrote well.
These movies are absolute masterpieces of cinema. From casting. To story. To acting. To little background details. Everything is 10/10. Nothing has come close since.
Don't forget the source material. Without great source material it's hard to make a good movie. The world Tolkien created in his books are fantastic in itself and so detailed that the producers had this huge treasure chest of details to work with from start. And they did a hell of a good job yes!
JRR Tolkien himself stated in the books it was Sam’s fault Gollum fell short of redemption. There is a moment in the books where Sméagol is almost redeemed, but Sam accuses him of being sneaky and up to something when he approaches Frodo. It’s in that moment Gollum returns and Sméagol is gone for good.
Andy Serkis should have gotten an Oscar for his work. I think he did got a MTV movie Award which is just as good.
Yeah. And Gollum's acceptance speech was a riot lol. You HAVE to see it. You can find it here on YT easily enough.
Yes! That last march of the ents is SOOO GOOD! But even as awesome as this movie is, the next one is a whole other level... There is a reason it is tied for the most Oscars EVER. It is also, much more emotional... Might want a tissue... But we "will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil." The second half of that movie is emotional, exhausting, and above all, beautiful. Looking so forward to watching it with you guys!
You should watch the making of and behind the scenes extras in the extended versions. It is fascinating and would answer a lot of your questions. The level of effort they went to to make every detail realistic will never be matched imo
Tolkien was a deeply Catholic man who smoked a pipe, and in LotR as written pipe weed is tobacco. In the 60's LotR was popular with the counter culture hippie types who were deep into using pot, and they asserted the pipe weed was actually weed. The movie kind of dances around both.
The breaking of the dam and the destruction, while involving a lot of computer effects, was mostly done with miniature composite shots. You can tell by the way the water moves.
2:53 It is a real language. Tolkien created two Elven languages. Quenya, and Sindarin, a Dwarvish toungue, the language of Rohan, and the Black Speech of Mordor.
All had rules, grammar, and syntax.
Smeagol remembers, thanks to Frodo, his original name; he also has momentarily taken on a helpful behavior and attitude. Do you recall Sauron's command to Saruman, "Make me an army worthy of Mordor"? Saruman surely succeeded! Arwen's Dad, Elrond, surely is a maudlin character in this one, so very negative., contrary to what we've been led to believe for elves! Time for the Ents to participate in the latest round of "Bowling for Uruks"! And for a performance of "Dances for Trees"!
At 10:58, this scene between Faramir, Boromir, and their father Denethor is one of the main reasons Tolkien fans prefer the Extended version of the movie. This scene was cut from the Theatrical version, but it helps explain much of Boromir's behavior in FOTR. There is another important scene near the beginning of ROTK that should not have been cut from the Theatrical version--you'll recognize it when you see it.
I'm convinced Gimli would do "battle" as an 8-5.
March of the Ents! It is such a pleasure to experience these movies over and over again with people who haven't seen them. Truly masterpieces, and some of the best movies ever made!
Guys amazing detail.. Look at 19:17 You didnt show us tish scene but you saw it already .. While Haldir is greeting Aragorn, Elvish soldiers didnt respond anything..But..While Legolas and Haldir greet each other, at that exact moment Elvish soldiers return to them and do respectful military standing salute. Because Legolas is the son and heir of King Thranduil. He is the prince of the Elven kingdom of Mirkwood. And the elves have great respect for the dynasty
One comment that is nice to know if you really pity elf deaths is taht they really don't "die". They return to the halls of the Valar, the gods, then resurrect in valinor, the undying land. So even when it's still sad, as they won't return for a time, it's not that bad haha
As others have mentioned, there is literally an entire book's worth of backstory and lore to these characters, lands, and people ~ it's called "The Silmarillion".
But what blew me away was when I started listening to the cast commentaries, and learned of the amazing behind-the-scenes details. Like how the hilltop location for the city of Edoras was chosen because it matched Tolkien's description of the city's location almost perfectly. Except for one little detail: that hill is actually located in the middle of a huge national park, with no roads in the area. Also, the government only agreed to let them use the park if they agreed to return it to it's original, natural state - which they did. So they actually built the gate, near the bottom, and all the buildings that you can see from the Golden Hall (they used the interior of the Golden Hall for offices, makeup, and the commissary). The rest of the city, typically only seen in long shots, was CGI. They filmed various scenes there for several months, and then, when shooting completed, they removed all the buildings, and as they promised, returned the land to it's natural beauty.
When you see the banner at the Golden Hall tear and fly off into the wind, that was unplanned. It was pure luck that they caught that on film. The Director decided to keep the shot, and added the one where Aragorn finds the banner in the grass.
In the scene where Gollum chases a fish down a stream, it snowed at the filming location the night before, and they had to bring in large heating fans to melt the snow around that stream location before they could do any shooting that day. But Andy Serkis still had to freeze his ass off, rolling around in the icy snow-melt water so they could get the shot and CGI Gollum in later.
Honestly, the more I learned about what it took to make these masterpieces, the more I'm in awe of them.
Tolkien wanted to write a story that England could adopt as its mythology. He succeeded!
"Just like D&D when you help someone". +1
The way Sting rolls out of Frodo's hand after threatening Sam, you can tell how well balanced the blade is.
I love all the characters in this phenomenal trilogy. But my man is Sam, hands down.
There are literally no dreams. Its all memories and flashbacks.
Favorite character: Samwise Gamgee, his gardening skills are epic.
"Forty-two? Oh, that's not bad for a pointy-eared elvish princeling. Hmph! I myself am sitting pretty on forty-THREE."
"Forty-three."
"He was already dead!"
"He was twitching."
"He was TWITCHING because he's got my axe EMBEDDED IN HIS NERVOUS SYSTEM!"
Fun Fact: They couldn't recruit enough men in the six foot height area to play Uruk-hai, so men from five foot high were cast as well. They were affectionately nicknamed the Uruk-Low.
I Survived Helm's Deep Fact: The battle at Helm's Deep was edited down from twenty hours of footage, shot over a four month period with the rain machine battering down on the cast.
Not CGI Fact: On the wall of Helm's Deep during the battle, a one-eyed warrior turns to the camera, revealing his scarred empty socket. The performer who played him showed up as an extra, wearing an eye patch. Director Sir Peter Jackson politely asked to see what was under the patch, and then inquired if the gentleman would be interested in appearing in the movie sans eye patch. The gentleman was reluctant at first, and quite self-conscious, but afterward, said the experience had made him more comfortable with his condition.
A great TH-camr, Nerd of the Rings, just came back from a vacation to NZ recently and visited several locations, if you’re interested in looking to see what they look like now. Great reaction. ❤
My favorite character is Faramir. To be clear I’m talking about Faramir from the book, not the movie version. Close second is Prince Imrahil (again book character, I don’t think he’s shown in the movies), the leader of the Knights of Dol Amroth who plays a part in the story that’s told in the third book/movie.
Gimli is my favorite, aside from the obvious choice of Aragorn. Gimli is a brave, gruff and tough warrior, but also he's a softy. He has the character development of letting that soft side show, letting his fears show but staying true, and finding friendship with and love for the elves when he started off very against them.
Frodo is my favorite character, especially in the books, the amount of self sacrifice he endures for the world is truly incredible
Fun fact The voice of Treebeard is the same actor that played Gimli.
Weird thing - Gandalf and whoever moaning about Theoden going to Helm's Deep - if he hadn't done that, Edoras would have got smashed and they'd all have been slaughtered! He was spot on! :)
Filmed in New Zealand 🇳🇿
You mentioned you love the way they speak Elvish, like it's a real language. But it is. Tolkien was a linguist, and he probably did double or triple the work in preparation and world building before actually writing the books. He made the full Elvish language and could therefore include songs and poems in Elvish in the books.
While Tolkien always meant for the "pipeweed" to be tobacco, Jackson left it kind of ambiguous as a joke for modern audiences. And Theoden is my favorite character. Bernard Hill absolutely kills the role!
Tolkien was a linguist and the Common Tongue of the Shire is meant to use only Anglo-Saxon words. Tobacco is a borrowed word from the New World. So to avoid using a borrowed word he invented the word "pipeweed" for tobacco. It's effect on getting the hobbits high or not, well... I'll leave that one up to you.
Fun fact: Aragorn is related to Elrond, who used to be human before being gifted the chance to become an elf from the gods for his deeds. Elronds brother remained a man but was gifted long life- a trait passed down their line all the way to Aragorn.
I have read the books. These movies follow the books so well. Peter Jackson took lessons from Ray Harryhausen with the creature effects that required CG.
(Elves near extinction) Here is why the elves couldn’t help as much as some may have wished at the final battle of we Helms Deep & other places: By the Third Age of Middle-earth, the population of Elves had significantly decreased from their numbers in the earlier Ages. It is estimated that there were only a few thousand Elves remaining in Middle-earth by this time.
One reason why Elves didn't have much military prowess to help out more in the Third Age is because they had already fought many battles in the previous Ages, & were weary of war ontop of Lothlòrien(where Galadriel is) being constantly attacked throughout this current story during the trilogy story but the movies never show it.
Additionally, many of the great Elven kingdoms had already fallen, & the remaining Elves had scattered across Middle-earth, making it difficult to organize a large-scale military force.
Furthermore, Elves had a deep respect for the natural world, and were hesitant to engage in battles that could harm the environment. They preferred to use their skills in magic and healing to assist in battles, rather than fighting directly.
Despite their reduced numbers and military prowess, Elves still played an important role in the events of the Third Age.
They were instrumental in the quest to destroy the One Ring, and many fought bravely in battles against Sauron's forces. However, they had to be strategic about their involvement, as they knew that they could not sustain heavy losses without risking the extinction of their entire race.
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The exact population of Elves in Middle-earth during the Third Age is not explicitly stated. However, it is generally believed that their numbers had greatly diminished by this time, with only a few remaining Elven kingdoms & settlements scattered across Middle-earth.
Some sources estimate that there may have been only a few thousand Elves left in Middle-earth by the Third Age.
It is important to note that the exact population of Elves in Middle-earth is not a major focus of Tolkien's works, as he was more concerned with the individual characters & their journeys rather than the demographics of Middle-earth.
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While there are some distinct figures given in Tolkien's works, some fans have attempted to estimate the population of Elves in Middle-earth during the Third Age using various mathematical models comparing to what was known about the past.
One such estimate, based on the size of Elven settlements & their likely populations, suggests that there may have been around 100,000 Elves scattered across Middle-earth from different clans as it were with slightly different diverging history at certain points during the Third Age.
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The population of Elves in Middle-earth changed over time due to a variety of factors, including wars, migrations, & natural disasters.
During the First Age, Elves were relatively numerous and lived in many different kingdoms & settlements across Middle-earth.
However, many of these kingdoms were destroyed during the wars against Morgoth, the first Dark Lord.
During the Second Age, the population of Elves began to decline as many Elves left Middle-earth to sail to the Undying Lands, a paradise-like realm across the sea. This was largely due to the influence of the Valar, the angelic beings who created the world, who offered the Elves a chance to escape the sorrows and limitations of mortal life in Middle-earth.
By the time of the Third Age, the population of Elves in Middle-earth had greatly diminished. Many of the great Elven kingdoms had fallen, & the remaining Elves had scattered across Middle-earth in small, isolated settlements. This was partly due to the wars of the First Age and the destruction of many Elven kingdoms, as well as the gradual decline of the Elves' power & influence in Middle-earth.
Overall, the population of Elves in Middle-earth declined more over time, with many Elves leaving for the Undying Lands & many others being killed in wars and other conflicts. By the end of the Third Age, the Elves' numbers had greatly diminished, & they were a shadow of their former glory in Middle-earth.
It’s been their fight for ages alone before Men came along and many of them befriended Men from the very beginning. They share the same fights/The same histories etc!
It used to be a few million so imagine what Galadriel & her husband Celeborn have seen regarding experiencing their entire race that still dwelled upon middle earth nearly being wiped out into extinction…
By War Of Wrath, Battle Under Stars, Battle Of Sudden Flame, Battle Of Unnumbered Tears, so many more!
What Tolkien saw during World War 1 really impacted massively in Two Towers, industrialisation changing the face of war, reckless hate, and nature being destroyed, is so impressive how it is all woven together in a fantasy setting.
On a lot of the sets, rather than making miniatures, they made what you might call 'bigatures', miniatures that were big enough that they could put in AAALLL of those little details and have them hold up under extreme close ups of the camera. Also, yes, 'pipeweed' is tobaco, this is VERY clear in the books. In the Hobbit, (the book) Tolkien even called it Tobaco, but for the Lord of the Rings he wanted a less modern word.
Theoden's speech "where is the horse and the rider,,," is from the book but Tolkien took that from an ancient anglo-saxon poem, known as The Wanderer, word for word in parts. That poem is about 1200 years old. A lot of the script is actually directly from the books (including the non LOTR books, like the Silmarilion).
Orcs are far smarter and more organised than these movies give them credit for. Tolkien wrote of them: "Orcs made many useful and clever things, but no beautiful things". Theyre basically a race of military creatures. Again it doesnt show much in the movies but not only are they highly organised but they are also very regimented, owing loyalty only to their own regiments and commands and their chieftains and those leaders that can instil fear in them, which can only happen by using the compulsion of magic, because the Uruk Hai are not easily frightened. When you see the orc interactions - like the confrontation between saruman's uruk's and sauron's ordinary orcs who were sent to "help" (ie spy on) saruman, when they argue over eating pip and merry - you can see that they will quickly turn on other orcs who arent under the same command. Only fear of their leaders stops them from fighting and killing each other all the time. In the books all the orcs wear the livery of their regiments and garrisons on their armour, and they'll happily fight regiment against regiment over minor things.
There were no ents at Helm's Deep. Just the trees, who covered the river bed and banks for two days and departed in the night so that none saw them come or go, but no orc that entered that wood ever departed it.
Its tobacco. Saruman had many spies in the shire and they bought or stole a lot of the tobacco from the shire. If you remember, in FOTR, saruman tells Gandalf off for smoking the hobbit tobacco but in fact its also saruman's (secret) favourite tobacco - thats an easter egg for the books' fans. In the books the ending has a large section that I wont go into because its a spoiler and that section isnt in the movies, but it has to do with saruman, wormtongue, and the shire.
Book vs movie fact, the elves did not come to aid Rohan. A group of Dunedin rangers (group Aragorn is part of) saw the approaching Isengard army and came to help their fellow men
The Battle of Helms deep in my opinion is the best battle in cinema history. Also i would recommend the making of these movies, yes there just as long or longer then the movies them selves, but they are worth the watch.
1. Samwise Gamgee 2. Aragorn 3. Legolas/Gimli - I love them equally for their relationship.
Legolas is a good sport, as that one shot that cut the rope and sent the whole ladder crew falling probably killed 20-40% of those on the ladder (the higher up the more likely of death). Guessing there were 50-70 Uruk hai on it then that shot killed 10 to 25. But as Legolas couldn’t count how many died for sure he kept that out of the competition tally.
As an Uber Geek about creatures and robots, GOLLUM is my absolute favorite character … on and off screen … from the technical achievement to the mind blowing visual presence. Superb Work.
Ages? Yes, Aragorn is 87, Gandalf and the other wizards were created as spirits by Eru at the dawn of time. (thousands and thousand of years) Gimli, is 139, and Legolas is 2931 years old here. Sam was 38, Frodo was 33 and made it 53 when he left the shores. Pippin is 28 and Merry is 36.
A normal lifespan for a Hobbit is around 130 years (without magic).
This part of the movie we see two changes that really irritate some fans of the books. To show the power and temptation of the Ring, they did Faramir dirty. He never tried to bring the Ring to Gondor - he immediately recognized the importance of destroying it and let Frodo, Sam, and Gollum continue their journey. The one that really sends some into a tizzy is even mentioning "elves at Helm's Deep." In the books, the only elf was Legolas and it was a turning point for the strength of Men as a race - Men were able to turn the tide of the war.