We apologize for any audio issue you may experience. YT was not friendly with us on this upload. Two Towers might be our favorite so far! And Gollum..... Hilarious and dark! Whats some of your favorite moments of Two Towers? Part 2 is in the editor and will be out soon! Full reactions on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/63492972
@@cgrimes34 I mean they didn't even give these two first movies the best picture. When the 3rd one came out they realized how fuckin dumb they were and gave all the awards to it.
@@cgrimes34 Andy Serkis is the King of motion capture. His work as Gollum was groundbreaking but also after these movies he portrayed Kong in Peter Jackson’s King Kong movies. But he actually may be best as Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes trilogy. Absolutely an award worthy actor that gets overlooked because his face isn’t on the screen
Treebeard is voiced by John Rhys-Davies ... who plays Gimli the dwarf ... and he created that sound by "inhaling when we usually dont do it". With this information it is easy to hear how he does it.
I am legally obliged to tell you that when Aragorn kicked the helmet the actor broke his toe. The scream was genuine. If no one else will post it, I will.
Ahhh...like others, always heard Chritopher speaking as Gandalf begins to address the trio...then clearly Ian's voice when The White Wizard is revealed. Very cool revelation. Much appreciated.
It took Saruman years to build that army. The time is condensed in the movies. In the books, there is a 17 year gap between Bilbo's party and Frodo leaving The Shire.
@@drix4275 highly recommend coming here (I live quite near hobbiton and I can always see the lotr tour cars driving past, pre covid ofc) just make sure you bring a lot of money cuz everything's so expensive 😭
Fun Fact: J .R. R. Tolkien actually based Treebeard on C. S. Lewis, a close personal friend of Tolkien's and also author of "The Chronicles of Narnia". C. S. Lewis also based "The Professor" in his own novels on Tolkien
Also Worm-tongue has a name closely resembling one of a character in the Screwtape letters wormwood which is the demon that Screwtape another demon is writing to as he is trying to tempt a man on earth
Knowing people who have lost their children and have had to bury them, they break down at that line, and Gandalf trying to console them. It's such a powerful, personal, and painful line that really shows him be utterly heartbroken by his loss. Bernard Hill played his role excellently.
Bernard had visited the site of a big building that had burned down, and met a mother who's child had died in the fire. She said those words to him and he brought the line to the movie.
@@benkelly2024 they generally died in childbirth though, or early childhood, not when they reached their twenties. And either way it doesn't change the sentiment that I think every time it happened the parents still felt like this.
The voice of Treebeard the Ent was none other then Gimli himself. John Rhys Davies voiced him. Also the Black Riders are now known as Nazgûl and the dragon like creatures they’re riding on are known as fellbeasts.
@@BaddMedicine I think in the Tolkienverse, a dragon must breathe fire to be called a dragon and is generally much larger with scales that are mostly arrow-proof. So if each of the Nine Nazgul had their own dragon, Middle Earth would have been utterly screwed since they would have to face nine different One-Man-Armies.
@@mechadoggy technically there are also so called 'cold-drakes' dragons that did not breathe fire but that's a whole other topic. Dragons in any case are something far more powerful, creatures of intellect, strong personality, cunning, vicious and even posssessing a form of 'magic' the famous 'dragon-spell' the dragons had powerful fire, their fiery blast apparently could melt some lesser Rings of Power (indeed four of the dwarven Seven Rings, were apparently destroyed by dragon fire) are capable of speech and highly independent so it;s harder to imagine them playing role of steeds, the flying creatures curiously enough Tolkien once compared (though rather loosely) with...dinosaurs :). "Pterodactyl. Yes and no. I did not intend the steed of the Witch-King to be what is now called a 'pterodactyl', and often is drawn (with rather less shadowy evidence than lies behind many monsters of the new and fascinating semi-scientific mythology of the 'Prehistoric'). But obviously it is pterodactylic and owes much to the new mythology, and its description even provides a sort of way in which is could be a last survivor of older geological eras." Tolkien letter, The narrative describes the beasts: "The great shadow descended like a falling cloud. An behold! it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, lingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil. And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his steed. Down, down it came, and then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and settled upon the body of Snowmane, Digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck."
I know a lot of people ask why Grima Wormtongue had a horse when he left. He is still a man of Rohan, and horses are a HUGE part of Rohan's culture. In fact, the horses of the Nazgul were bred from Rohirrim steeds. They took horsemanship seriously and were called Horse-lords in several cases and earned the name. Chances are, that was Grima's own horse. I can't imagine anyone in the court of Edoras didn't have their own horse
In the book, either Théoden or Aragorn ordered the guards of Edoras to give Wormtounge a horse since he refused to stay and redeem himself through honest work after plotting against the king with Saruman.
The Gandalf situation has to do with why the Wizards are in Middle Earth: When Sauron’s influence began grow, 5 spirits called “Maiar” were sent to Middle Earth to help contest Sauron’s will. These Maiar took the forms on Men and became the Istari (Wizards) They took on different roles; eg. Gandalf the Grey to be a wandering counsellor to the people of Middle Earth, Saruman the White to be a wise leader, etc. When Immortal beings like Maiar die their spirits return to Valinor to be judged, some being given new forms. Since Saruman betrayed his role, Gandalf was sent back to be his replacement. In fact Gandalf was the only Wizard to stay true to his purpose and not become corrupted or distracted by worldly interests.
@@Samael2824 He did part of his job, but he ultimately became preoccupied with animals and plants. Tolkien describes him as having failed at his greater purpose, but I guess it depends on if you agree with the author/cannon 😛
Also Tolkin later change that and said that two the Blue Wizards that went into the East and were able to stop Sauron from taking over the entire east, and thus completely overwhelm the west of middle earth.@@Dan-B
All of these scenes were done in New Zealand, which is where Peter Jackson (Director) is from. Some cast members bought apartments/houses in New Zealand because they were there for years, shooting these movies. Places like the Shire are still are still around because they built them in New Zealand and just let them grow.
@@BaddMedicine It's also the home of WETA Workshop. The special effects and prop company responsible for the bulk of the costumes, armor, weapons, miniatures, sets, prosthetics and animation in the films. They are on par with George Lucas's other baby Industrial Light And Magic.
Re the Shire/Hobbiton, sort of. It was a facade they took down after LotR, rebuilt and then kept up as a tourable tourist thingy after the Hobbit. Pretty awesome place! The Green dragon does great events
The Dead Marshes cover the ground in front of Mordor. That is where the battle at the beginning of the first movie took place. The Marshes took over later and the dead are still there, men, elves, and orcs.
The battle at the beginning of the movie was by Mount Doom as stated by the movie. The dead marshes is outside of Mordor where Legolas' grandfather died because they chased the orcs into the marshes.
A nice little detail about a specific scene in this movie - at the gates of Mordor, when Sam falls down the slope and Frodo has to cover him with the cloak, it's not just a trick of the light that shields them. When Celeborn gave them the cloaks, he said "May these cloaks help shield you from unfriendly eyes", so there's also elven magic at work there
In that running sequence that evoked "How much of this was New Zealand and how much was CGI?" - That was actual, because if you look closely, Gimli loses one of his boots but keeps running.
Also during its filming the actor of Aragorn had 2 broken toes from kicking the helmet and the actor of Legolas had a broken rib from falling off a horse during the filming of another scene so they were in immense pain while running but toughed it out like absolute badasses cause they didn't want to delay the filming. Also Gimlis gear weighed like 70 pounds so his running sequence was also pretty impressive for its own right.
ALSO also - when we say "Gimli" for the running scenes, always remember - there are TWO Gimlis! Basically, Gimli was portrayed in close-up and facial reactions (and full body when no one else was in the frame with him) by John Rhys-Davies (Sallah from the Indiana Jones films if that helps place him). But for any scene of a wide shot - like the infamous "Running wounded" shots that this sub-thread talks about, it's his "little person" double - Brett Beattie - doing the work. And taking the lumps! (I say "little person" reservedly though - he really was almost normal sized at 4'10" tall. But then - dwarves are noticeably about half-way between Hobbits and men in size.) So "Gimli" being hurt wasn't JRD, but Brett Beattie. In fact, Beattie did SO much of the work that when the other 8 main actors got their Lord of the Rings tattoos at the end of filming, John Rhys Davies thought Beattie deserved the honor more than him and had him do the tattoo for Gimli!
I haven't read all the comments yet but FYI, this movie is basically what made Andy Serkis' career explode. Gollum was the first full-fledged motion capture character at that time, I believe, one that looked so realistic and one that could physically interact with the actors. Back then, it was a real huge breakthrough in cinematography
So glad you’re continuing! The films just get better from here! The Dead marshes were actually directly inspired by the battle of the Somme in WWI. Tolkien’s daughter remarked that her father’s experience in that battle stayed with him, especially seeing the piles of dead. Hence the “dead faces in the water.” Gandalf did die. But the wizards were sent to lead the people against Sauron. Saruman betrayed them and the other wizards also lost their way. Gandalf was the only one that stated true to his purpose. So, when he died, the God of Middle Earth basically said, “I’m sending you back as the White to do his job in defeating Sauron.” That’s why Gandalf the White is more assertive than the Grey. He’s now in the position of Leader.
@Cat Bowser Fantasy Therapist, we could debate that. Saruman failed for sure. But did Radagast? He was sent at the special request of Yavanna, to watch over her part of creation. In that respect, he may have succeeded. And I understand that Tolkien himself was undecided about the fate of the blue wizards. (Oh, and Gandalf was drafted).
@@servantofmelian9966 radagast did tarry among his beloved creatures of yavanna much too much that he abandoned his watch over the first born and second. tolkien mentioned that in 'unfinished tales' under the essay 'the istari', so in a sense radagast did not succeed for all the istari were sent to assist men and elves in resisting sauron.
@@servantofmelian9966 Later in his life, Tolkien decided that the two Blue Wizards went to the East and sort of led a resistance against the cults Sauron instituted. I wish we could have seen their story; it would have been amazing.
Treebeard was voiced by John Rhys-Davis, Same actor who plays Gimli. He spoke a lot of the dialog for Treebeard by breathing in while talking to create the effect.
@@BaddMedicine He has not been the voice of Megatron. The person who most often did Megatron was Frank Welker followed by a list of other voice actors. The most famous voice of Optimus Prime is done by Peter Cullen.
The elvish rope and cloaks are enchanted and "know" when they're needed most. The rope knows when to hold tight and to let loose so it doesn't get left behind. The cloak knows when to keep them warm, or when to camouflage its wearer as "natural" background stuff (like a rock!). Very handy items to have on a long trek.
Yeah so like all Elven made things, the rope ofc had to be magical too lol, it actually is real tight as Sam mentioned, but the magic allows the user to undo any knot it makes in order to take the rope back and use it again, if the owner of the rope so happens to want it loosened
All real scenery. New Zealand is a stunning place. I did a 2 week LOTR tour across both north and South Island 5 years ago and went to so many locations from these films, some of private land who only let that tour company in as it was the first one so has decades of connections. These films will always be special.
10:15 Whenever you see a group shot of the riders of Rohan, who are meant to be all men, they're actually almost all female riding extras with fake beards and bulky armor. When they sent the casting call out for horse riders during filming they discovered there were way more women riders in New Zealand than men, so they just went "Ah, well, glue on some facial hair and slap on a few helmets and no one will know the difference! :D"
So glad you guys are watching the extended edition, obviously very long, but the extra scenes add a lot to the entire world they tried to create. Can't wait for Part 2!
16:04 Not dragon, fell beast. You're a lot closer than you realize, I'll explain a bit 😀 At first, there were only great worm-like scaled creatures. The first dark lord (Morgoth) bred the first fire-breathing dragon (Glaurung), and eventually the first winged fire-breather (Ancalagon). By the time of The Hobbit, Smaug is about the only known flying, fire-breathing dragon left. I don't know if you've read it yet so I won't spoil what happens to him, but it's worth a read for sure. Come LotR, Sauron is basically making do with what he has. He doesn't have any fire-breathing dragons, but he does have some "cold drakes" (flying dragons that lost much of their intelligence and magical abilities, including the ability to breathe fire). So over the ages it's implied he breeds and warps them into the controllable, rideable form we see here.
addition: 4 legs is usually a dragon and 2 legs a Wyvern. Wyverns cant spew fire but in some Fantasy worlds spew poison instead. Just general fantasy background :)
@@DerPlaystationZocker Eeeeh kinda, that's a very European / D&D thing. Classical Loong dragons usually have 4 limbs and no wings, but can fly. I'd argue it depends more on the specific body of work and how they categorize them.
None of that is from the writing of Tolkien. He called them "Nazgul-birds" and they are not in any way related to dragons. They may have been created from giant long-necked birds. They have beaks in the books
I think I’m one of the few who Two Towers is actually my favorite film of the trilogy. It’s crazy to me how I can still get so excited over these films that I’ve see countless times. I literally just watched them again in December. Yet I had to rewind in this video several times because I got too drawn into it and had to go back to enjoy your reactions. For my bit of trivia I want to add about King Theoden at the funeral. A ton of the script for these movies is pulled straight from the books. Even if it sometimes said at a different time or different character. Which means these aren’t really the kinds of movies you improv on. But the line “no parent should have to bury their child was actually added to the script by the actor Bernard Hill. He was talking with an extra on the set and the woman was also a fan of the books. (Peter Jackson really liked using people who cared about the story.) They were talking and she spoke about how she connected with Theoden’s character because she had lost a child to an illness. She said the line “no parent should have to bury their child.” Bernard Hill found it so powerful he later added it to his performance at the funeral. Before I knew this I always thought that moment and the way it was acted was incredibly, but knowing the story and that it came from a very real person. It hits me every time.
Theodred's funeral scene - Eowyn's song is a citation from Anglosaxon "Beowulf" poem. "Lament for Theodred" written in Old English : Nú on théostrum licgeth Théodred se léofa hæ´letha holdost. ne sceal hearpan sweg wigend weccean; ne winfæ´t gylden guma sceal healdan, ne god hafoc geond sæ´l swingan, ne se swifta mearh burhstede beatan. Bealocwealm hafað fréone frecan forth onsended giedd sculon singan gléomenn sorgiende on Meduselde thæt he ma no wære his dryhtne dyrest and maga deorost. Now dear Théodred lies in darkness, most loyal of fighters. The sound of the harp shall not wake the warrior; nor shall the man hold a golden wine-cup, nor good hawk swing through the hall, nor the swift horse stamp in the courtyard. An evil death has set forth the noble warrior A song shall sing the sorrowing minstrels of Meduseld That noble cousin, who always held me dear Now is held in darkness, enclosed. Éowyn is only heard singing the last four lines of the song ending with the word Bealo, which in Old English meant "evil" or "harm". The first of those lines originates from the epic poem Beowulf, line 2265. Bealocwealm hafað fela feorhcynna forð onsended!
When I saw the extended edition for the first time and was introduced to this extra scene, it gave me chills. Absolutely one of my favorite extras. Gorgeous.
@@fayej6591 Isn't it? And it's so crazy to listen to, because you feel sure you should understand it, but it's not coming together into the words you know.
I always like to say this since everybody always talks about how Viggo (aragorn) broke his toe when he kicked the helmet. The sequence of them running in the beginning chasing the orcs was shot after he broke his toe. In addition, Orlando Bloom had some broken ribs and the stunt/short double for John rhys davies had terrible knee problems. So they're running and as soon as they call cut, the actor basically fall apart and groaning in pain and are like 'are we done? do we need another take? okay we're doing another take.' And as soon as action is called just go all in. Also, most of the locations they filmed at were remote so either had to drive on dirt trails or most often, helicopter in. At beginning of this movie when legolas talks about a red sun rising and they filmed a sunrise actually has an amazing story behind it. There was no way to really get it with how early everybody would have to get up, get in costume and helicopter in. Normally sunrise happens when the actors are in makeup. But Viggo and the actors were so dedicated to the film, Viggo suggested they camp out at the location, which is literally in the middle of nowhere, so they can get the shot. It was just supposed to be the people in the scene and the people needed to shoot. But word spread throughout the cast and crew and a lot of people showed up and they had a huge camp out, then woke up and got the sunrise shot. Edited to add: Gandalf and Saruman are two of five wizards who were sent from Valar (essentially heaven) to middle earth in the second age (about three thousand years before this) to oppose Sauron. Sauron is also from Valinor, he is a Maia (so are the wizards but there's sort of a hierarchy in there and Sauron was higher). The Maiar are sort of angels and they each serve/help different Valar (gods). Sauron followed Morgoth, who became corrupt and Sauron followed him into corruption. When Morgoth was defeated Sauron took over. Because he is corrupted he can no longer return to Valinor. The wizards can return (except Saruman who is now corrupted). Each wizard had different roles on how to help the free peoples of middle earth to oppose Sauron. Saruman was supposed to sort of be the lead opposition but abandoned that role. Gandalf's role was more subtle but we see him in the first one take the lead in how to destroy Sauron after he finds out about Saruman's betrayal. Because of this, once he dies (and because he does so trying to fulfill his purpose) the Valar send him back as Gandalf the White, now taking the role that Saruman was supposed to have. That's why you see some differences between Gandalf the Grey's character and Gandalf the White. Also of note, even though the wizards are in forms of old men, it's a deception. They do not age and do not have the physical weaknesses of an old body. They were given those forms so that the races (particularly men) would see them as wise and trustworthy and not be suspicious of them.
@@BaddMedicine All 3 of the hunters got this running scenes just after they left hospital (about these knee and rib and toes) so they taken their medicines and some sweets with them and packed them in Legolas' bagpack. :)
They all got hurt. The actor who plays Sam stepped in glass filming the scene he chased after frodos boat in the last movie and had to be airlifted to the hospital.
A little explanation to Tolkien’s genius in that scene in the dead marshes, when Frodo looks in to the water, sees ghost, and falls in. This is a direct experience Tolkien had in World War 1, he and others had to cross a river, but when he got close he saw that it was literally filled with hundreds of bodies friend and foe alike. He was so shocked that he froze, his body frozen like a statue, he fell in and started to drown. In an attempt to process the pure horror his brain made it seem like the corpses had come alive and were dragging him down. If it were not for his fellow countrymen grabbing him and pulling him out he would have joined the floating mass grave. (Note: I’m not certain if this exact story is 100% true but I can confirm that JR Tolkien used many of his horrific World War I experiences to make the many dark horrors of the Lord of the rings.)
Cannot wait for part 2 you guys. You each bring something special to the table and I enjoy all of your inputs, especially The Oak laughing his butt off at all the memes from Fellowship
Just wanted to say, they really did the running and they ran A LOT. And they were all injured unfortunately: Aragorn (Viggo) had 2 broken toes (from kicking the helmet), Legolas (Bloom) had a cracked rib, and the scale double of Gimli (Beattie) had dislocated his knee. The dedication of these men ❤
I just love the genuine reactions of people watching LOTR for the first time! Specially when they haven't read the books. I love how the one reacting to founding were the memes come from laughs so much
@@tapsin3923 yeah, the part with "Tell me where is Gandalf for I much desire to speak with him" was in that song too, was waiting for them to laugh at it :D
The Dead Marshes were based on the Battle of the Somme from WW1. Tolkien fought there used what he saw (men dying and laying in the mud, unable to be taken off the battlefield) as inspiration.
Gandalf was sent back to Middle-earth as the White because the former White Wizard, Saruman, had betrayed his purpose. In the book, this is made even more explicit - when Gandalf went to visit him in _Fellowship,_ Saruman declares that he is no longer "Saruman the White" but "Saruman of Many Colours." Gandalf was not impressed, and neither were the Valar who sent them to Middle-earth in the first place. When Gandalf was killed in Moria, the Valar sent him back as the new White Wizard, with greater power... and a more urgent purpose. The fight against Sauron was coming to a head, which makes the betrayal of Saruman all the more tragic. Imagine running a race, and two inches from the finish line you stop dead and start throwing out bear traps to catch the other runners.
I know they watched these movies over a year ago, but it's fun to watch these big dudes get so enthralled with a fantasy movie. Despite their reluctance to give the films a higher score, you can tell they're totally into it.
The scene between Gollum and Sméagol I know word for word and we were watching the lord of the rings in 10th grade English to follow the “hero’s journey” and my teacher saw me mouthing the words during that scene, paused the movie and had me recite the scene in front of the class. What would normally have been an anxiety inducing incident to be put on the spot like that, was actually incredibly fun. A bunch of people had never seen the movie and were astounded that I had the movie memorized. But then again I was never invited to any parties so why wouldn’t I have it memorized? The teacher gave me an A for the essay I would’ve had to write about the journey Frodo took, but because I knew it so well he just let it go.
When the actor kicks the Helmet, Viggo (the actors) mothers got a letter from her dad saying he was sorry for not moving to Norway when they had the chance.
And just so you know, Saruman didn't raise an army in a matter of weeks. These three movies span over years. In the first one, 17 years passed between Gandalf leaving to research the ring and him coming back to throw it into the fire. So it might look quick, but it's really weeks, months and years
@@KevinLopez-jf5ys4 legs, no wings. Wyverns are winged with two legs, dragons are winged with 4, wyrms have no legs or wings, and Ampitheres have wings but no legs.
When I saw the notification, I clicked so fast I nearly sprained a finger. So glad to be with you on your journey through Middle Earth. I've read that when Aragorn kicked the helmet and then cried out, that wasn't faked: he kicked the helmet so hard he injured his foot, and the cry was for real.
@@trinitybirtcil6696 - "broke a toe" is what I remember, but I didn't want to be too specific in case it was incorrect - start a debate on how many toes it was!
@@franl155 yeah. He lost a tooth in shooting Helms Deep and they had to shoot the shots of him holding a torch in Balin’s Tomb in the first movie all from one side because he was sporting a massive black eye after taking a surfboard to the face (Pretty sure it was a surfboard)
Wish more directors would do cut scenes the way Jackson did. I know technically it’s an extended edition but a lot of them just out the cut scenes at the end vs Jackson having them in-line with the movie.
What's even crazier about the shooting of these movies is that it was all done back to back as a single grand endeavor over a few years, so you can really feel how every actor/actress lived in their role as well as their relationship to those around them (not to say movies shot separately don't but lotr was and probably still is the undisputed king)
Treebeard was actually voiced by John Rhys Davies who also plays Gimli in LOTR.... he said in the behind the scenes interview he wanted the Ent to sound like the wind and that's how he imagined trees would talk - taking forever to speak a sentence😂
Fun Fact: When the Aragorn actor kicked the uruk-hai helmet, he broke his nail ( i guess ), and that scream was for real, but instead of calling the medics, he used his pain to make the scene even more real.
I didn’t go through the comments, but Hugo Weaving played the voice of Megatron. John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gilmli (the dwarf), also played the voice of Treebeard (the Ent, talking tree).
For some background lore that isn't explained in the movies: Gandalf and Saruman are Maiar, spirits which serve the Valar (basically the Gods of Tolkien's stories). Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast and 2 more Maiar were sent to middle earth in order to guide the people and help with the fight against Sauron, who by the way is also a Maiar but turned to darkness and serves Morgoth (something like Lucifer in Christianity). Saruman was meant to be the leader of the 5 Maiar who were sent to middle earth, but since he joined Sauron and became evil, Gandalf has been sent back to replace him. Which is why Gandalf says "I am Saruman as he should have been". Also, although Gandalf has taken human form, he is still a spirit and consequently immortal, in fact he has been roaming Middle Earth for about 2000 years and has lived as a spirit for more than 9000 years. Hope this is interesting and clears some things up for you guys.
i wonder if a show you guys might like to react to is black sails? it's notoriously underrated, and it might just be up your alley. incredible action, incredible storytelling and scripts, great characters, and if you have even a passing interest in pirates or treasure island, i think you will love it.
Just to clarify LOTR occurred before “The Walking Dead” series. so you need to clarify when watching “The Walking Dead” that it’s LOTR references you have heard before. 👍
Almost no CGI here, sirs. This was made between 1998-2003. 95% of everything is real. Also, it's been a couple months since Saruman's betrayal already. They spent a month in Rivendell, another in Lothlóriën.
The one dark skinned orc with blue eyes. The one who suggested to eat the Hobbit's legs. His name is Grishnak, in the books he served Sauron not Saruman. In fact he was the only orc of that company who knew they were looking for the ring. Pippin would then imply that they had it. Grishnak wanted the ring for himself and planned to betray the others.
The dead bodies in the water were from the battle of the last alliance, 3000 years before Frodo's quest. That was the battle portrayed in the prologue of The Fellowship. The main leaders of both elves and men perished along with thousands more since the battle was 7 years long. Isildor, heir to Elendil of Numinor , lived only for a short while after the battle, but, as you can see Elrond is still around and one of the most powerful and wise elves in middle earth.
Fun fact, when Aragorn kicks the helmet and screams, it was genuine because he destroyed his foot and had to lay off it for a few weeks. Also the scene where Aragorn deflects the the knife throw, was completely by accident, and so they kept it in
Nice reaction guys, looks like most of your questions were answered below. It's great to share this story with folks that have never seen it before, very enjoyable and entertaining so really thanks for that. Cheers and looking forward to continuing the saga.
Trivia: Balrogs are fire spirits that were corrupted by Morgoth, Sauron's former boss. They are of the Maiar class, same as Sauron (another fire spirit) and the Istari/wizards (whereas Morgoth was one of the Valar, the more powerful spirits). The only fire spirit who wasn't corrupted was Arien, who became the captain of the vessel of the sun. Even Morgoth feared her piercing gaze, and orcs couldn't go out in daylight because of her. There are only three people who ever managed to kill a Balrog: Gandalf, Ecthelion and Glorfindel. All three of them died in the process - Ecthelion drowned himself and his foe in a fountain, and Glorfindel got dragged to his death off a mountainside by his long, shiny, golden hair. Moral of the story: tie back your hair when you go into battle, even if you're a fancy elf lord. Fun fact: The majority of the Rohan soldiers are women, since they couldn't find enough men who could ride. They would get their hair and make-up done before breakfast, and then complain whenever food got stuck in their beards. Viggo Mortensen war rather smitten with one of these "men". Oh, and since John Rhys-Davies is taller than the actors who played the Hobbits, they didn't need to green screen him when it was just the five of them.
the worst part was that Peter Jackson made him kick the helmet like 3-4 times and finally the last kick, Viggo broke his toe. And it just so happens that Peter liked that one the most.
Badd Medicine coming in for a win again :D always an entertaining dive when you guys hop into Middle Earth. During the whole filming of Lord of the Rings, Brad Dourif (who plays Grima Wormtongue) used an English accent, even off set, so when he dropped the accent on the last day of filming, Bernard Hill (who plays Theoden) thought he was actually English the whole time, In reality, Brad is the voice actor for Chucky, very easy to hear it once you know what to listen for lol
A few lesser-known facts about production: -The scenes where Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas were running were painful for all of them. Aragorn had broken his toe, Legolas had a cracked/broken rib, and the scale double for Gimli had a dislocated knee. -The scale double for Gimli once fell into a river during on of the river scenes in the first movie and sank fast because of all the armor. Orlando Bloom (Legolas) saved the guy's life by pulling him out. -The man who voiced Treebeard the Ent is Gimli's actor. -Many of the orcs throughout the movies were played by Nori's actor in the Hobbit movies. -The scene in the first movie--the battle with the Nazgul atop the ruins--was Viggo Mortenson's (Aragorn) first scene of the movie. Due to several problems, Viggo was a replacement for someone else, and only had several minutes to learn the choreography for the fight before the cameras started rolling. He would also fish on set if there was a body of water nearby. -Christopher Lee is the only person in the whole production who has actually met JRR Tolkien, and was given express permission by the author to play Gandalf if a movie was ever made. He ended up playing Saruman.
Wizards were Maia, each served a specific purpose, created by the Valor, who were essentially gods. Since Saramon left his purpose, Gandalf was sent back to fulfill that purpose. So not necessarily barrowed time, but who Saramon shouldve been. Saron is or was a maia as well but followed Morgoth, a Valor, who essentially is the devil, and Sauron was his right hand. So even Sauron as powerful as he was, still had a master.
When Gandalf says "I am Saruman as he should be" it's because Saruman was originally Saruman the white, but he became Saruman the colorful in his greed for power and as he fell towards evil. Gandalf was the gray, and now he has returned Gandalf the white.
The part in the Dead Marshes, with all the dead bodies in the water, is taken from the legend of the Boogieman. Bogs are anaerobic (oxygen-free) environments and the water is full of tannins (used to make leather). So if you die in a bog, the water will naturally preserve your body. Hundreds of years ago, people would find bodies of long dead people in bogs who look like they had just recently died. This created the story of the Boggy Man to scare children from going into bogs. Today, we still talk about the Boogieman to frighten kids.
Theoden is my favorite character in all of LOTR along with Sam. He is such a badass and so, so brave in the face of death. And Sam's loyalty is absolutely untouchable.
17:40 Basically five wizards were sent to try and stop Sauron (that’s their task) Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast and the two blue wizards (Alatar & Pallando) Gandalf is the only one who actually doing his task that’s why (Eru Ilúvatar) (The God) sends him back after he dies
You guys really gotta watch all the behind the scenes footage, now that you're done the trilogy. The background stuff about how they did the perspective changes is all reaaaally fascinating!!
@@BaddMedicine yup! They put beards on most of them and hid their faces with helmets. You can see them better when you pause at the scene when the 3 first meet them
Gandalf is not on borrowed time. Well, I guess for a type of divine being with hierarchical obligations you're technically always on borrowed time, but he came back to life a new person. His time spent in "the darkness" was lifetimes over lifetimes, Gandalf the Grey is dead, in the movies we dont see a lot of tht but the new Gandalf really has to search his memories to remember the fellowship as The Gray would
btw, the dead swamps are an allegory to the Battle field craters and horrors of WW1, especially the cruel battle of the Somme, in which J.R.R. Tolkien fought.
fave factoid moment from the movie (other than the famous breaking of Viggo's toe) is that Eomer's sword slides out of its scabbard as he mounts his horse to ride off with the rohirrim after meeting Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli for the first time. You have to slow the movie down to see it but once you have you can't unsee it.
What the riders are mounted on in the second and third movies are called Fellbeasts. Tolkien kept their origins deliberately vague and mysterious, only saying that they were likely bred and raised in service to Sauron for centuries.
We apologize for any audio issue you may experience. YT was not friendly with us on this upload. Two Towers might be our favorite so far! And Gollum..... Hilarious and dark! Whats some of your favorite moments of Two Towers? Part 2 is in the editor and will be out soon!
Full reactions on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/63492972
IT’s so terrible that Andy Serkis was not recognized at the Oscars for his work as Gollum/Sméagol
@@cgrimes34 I mean they didn't even give these two first movies the best picture. When the 3rd one came out they realized how fuckin dumb they were and gave all the awards to it.
@@cgrimes34 Andy Serkis is the King of motion capture. His work as Gollum was groundbreaking but also after these movies he portrayed Kong in Peter Jackson’s King Kong movies. But he actually may be best as Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes trilogy. Absolutely an award worthy actor that gets overlooked because his face isn’t on the screen
I love the Rohan scenes! (Also, I think Theodred and Eomer are both kinda hot so-)
Treebeard is voiced by John Rhys-Davies ... who plays Gimli the dwarf ... and he created that sound by "inhaling when we usually dont do it". With this information it is easy to hear how he does it.
I am legally obliged to tell you that when Aragorn kicked the helmet the actor broke his toe. The scream was genuine.
If no one else will post it, I will.
Lol... Others have and now knowing it makes it that much better
Wait, what? I have _never_ heard that before! 😉
Hey, if you hadn't, I definitely was going to.
Was looking for this comment to see if someone shared this fun fact.
@@johnnyxxxv Same here, if not just for the meme that is that every LoTR nerd absolutely has to share that fact. ^o^
For the reveal of Gandalf the White, they got Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee to do an impression of each other and then blended the two voices
🤙🤙
You can even see Saruman very slightly in the light 🤯 just recognized that the other day
No wonder they sounded almost the same. Great actors with even greater voices.
Like a morph, but with voices. Brilliant!
Ahhh...like others, always heard Chritopher speaking as Gandalf begins to address the trio...then clearly Ian's voice when The White Wizard is revealed.
Very cool revelation.
Much appreciated.
It took Saruman years to build that army. The time is condensed in the movies. In the books, there is a 17 year gap between Bilbo's party and Frodo leaving The Shire.
Lol maybe it wasn't as quick as I thought 🤷
@@BaddMedicine it also took roughly two years for osgiliath to fall back into enemy hands after Boromir said "never again"
All of the wide scenery panning shots of them chasing the Uruk's are real, that's why they're so amazing!
such great scenery
New Zealand is a beautiful country. I went on a LOTR tour while there and it was amazing.
@@albertcornett7408 I hope to go to New Zealand one day and see what you have seen, too, and eat and drink and be merry. ^_^
From what I heard, they used a helicopter to get those shots
@@drix4275 highly recommend coming here (I live quite near hobbiton and I can always see the lotr tour cars driving past, pre covid ofc) just make sure you bring a lot of money cuz everything's so expensive 😭
Fun Fact: J .R. R. Tolkien actually based Treebeard on C. S. Lewis, a close personal friend of Tolkien's and also author of "The Chronicles of Narnia". C. S. Lewis also based "The Professor" in his own novels on Tolkien
Also Worm-tongue has a name closely resembling one of a character in the Screwtape letters wormwood which is the demon that Screwtape another demon is writing to as he is trying to tempt a man on earth
Tree beard was quite different in the books than the movies.
@@AnthonyCerliano1wormwood is a medicinal herb that can be toxic in dosages
I'm sure Lewis based the professor on one of his old teachers.
gollum is a freakin emotional roller coaster. he's adorable, terrifying, disgusting, cute, awesome all at the same time
Very well said!
And it makes sense!
I don’t how people can call Gollum adorable or awesome
I don’t how people can call Gollum adorable or awesome
@@patrickoconnor6893 smeagol is cute, Gollum is terrifying.
"No parent should have to bury their child" is such a strong moment, every moment in these movies is strong though.
Knowing people who have lost their children and have had to bury them, they break down at that line, and Gandalf trying to console them. It's such a powerful, personal, and painful line that really shows him be utterly heartbroken by his loss. Bernard Hill played his role excellently.
It's also the way he cries, gets me every time.
Bernard had visited the site of a big building that had burned down, and met a mother who's child had died in the fire. She said those words to him and he brought the line to the movie.
It's a great line, but a terrible anachronism. Losing most of your children was the norm until relatively recently.
@@benkelly2024 they generally died in childbirth though, or early childhood, not when they reached their twenties. And either way it doesn't change the sentiment that I think every time it happened the parents still felt like this.
The voice of Treebeard the Ent was none other then Gimli himself. John Rhys Davies voiced him. Also the Black Riders are now
known as Nazgûl and the dragon like creatures they’re riding on are known as fellbeasts.
Ok... not dragons... fellbeasts! Got it! Thank you!
The scream of the Nazgûl was Peter Jackson’s wife Fran Walsh
@@Punslinger1005 Didn’t know that. That’s awesome. Andy Serkis who plays Gollum voiced a lot of extras too including a number of Orcs and Uruk Hai
@@BaddMedicine I think in the Tolkienverse, a dragon must breathe fire to be called a dragon and is generally much larger with scales that are mostly arrow-proof. So if each of the Nine Nazgul had their own dragon, Middle Earth would have been utterly screwed since they would have to face nine different One-Man-Armies.
@@mechadoggy technically there are also so called 'cold-drakes' dragons that did not breathe fire but that's a whole other topic. Dragons in any case are something far more powerful, creatures of intellect, strong personality, cunning, vicious and even posssessing a form of 'magic' the famous 'dragon-spell' the dragons had powerful fire, their fiery blast apparently could melt some lesser Rings of Power (indeed four of the dwarven Seven Rings, were apparently destroyed by dragon fire) are capable of speech and highly independent so it;s harder to imagine them playing role of steeds, the flying creatures curiously enough Tolkien once compared (though rather loosely) with...dinosaurs :).
"Pterodactyl. Yes and no. I did not intend the steed of the Witch-King to be what is now called a 'pterodactyl', and often is drawn (with rather less shadowy evidence than lies behind many monsters of the new and fascinating semi-scientific mythology of the 'Prehistoric'). But obviously it is pterodactylic and owes much to the new mythology, and its description even provides a sort of way in which is could be a last survivor of older geological eras." Tolkien letter,
The narrative describes the beasts:
"The great shadow descended like a falling cloud. An behold! it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, lingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil. And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his steed. Down, down it came, and then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and settled upon the body of Snowmane, Digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck."
I know a lot of people ask why Grima Wormtongue had a horse when he left. He is still a man of Rohan, and horses are a HUGE part of Rohan's culture. In fact, the horses of the Nazgul were bred from Rohirrim steeds. They took horsemanship seriously and were called Horse-lords in several cases and earned the name. Chances are, that was Grima's own horse. I can't imagine anyone in the court of Edoras didn't have their own horse
In the book, either Théoden or Aragorn ordered the guards of Edoras to give Wormtounge a horse since he refused to stay and redeem himself through honest work after plotting against the king with Saruman.
The Gandalf situation has to do with why the Wizards are in Middle Earth: When Sauron’s influence began grow, 5 spirits called “Maiar” were sent to Middle Earth to help contest Sauron’s will. These Maiar took the forms on Men and became the Istari (Wizards) They took on different roles; eg. Gandalf the Grey to be a wandering counsellor to the people of Middle Earth, Saruman the White to be a wise leader, etc.
When Immortal beings like Maiar die their spirits return to Valinor to be judged, some being given new forms. Since Saruman betrayed his role, Gandalf was sent back to be his replacement. In fact Gandalf was the only Wizard to stay true to his purpose and not become corrupted or distracted by worldly interests.
Thank you for this🤙
I mean, he did indulge in the west farthing a bit
Don't forget Radagahst. He did his job and did it well, even if it wasn't a glamorous one.
@@Samael2824 He did part of his job, but he ultimately became preoccupied with animals and plants. Tolkien describes him as having failed at his greater purpose, but I guess it depends on if you agree with the author/cannon 😛
Also Tolkin later change that and said that two the Blue Wizards that went into the East and were able to stop Sauron from taking over the entire east, and thus completely overwhelm the west of middle earth.@@Dan-B
All of these scenes were done in New Zealand, which is where Peter Jackson (Director) is from. Some cast members bought apartments/houses in New Zealand because they were there for years, shooting these movies. Places like the Shire are still are still around because they built them in New Zealand and just let them grow.
New Zealand just has some awesome scenery!
@@BaddMedicine It's also the home of WETA Workshop.
The special effects and prop company responsible for the bulk of the costumes, armor, weapons, miniatures, sets, prosthetics and animation in the films.
They are on par with George Lucas's other baby Industrial Light And Magic.
Re the Shire/Hobbiton, sort of. It was a facade they took down after LotR, rebuilt and then kept up as a tourable tourist thingy after the Hobbit. Pretty awesome place! The Green dragon does great events
The Dead Marshes cover the ground in front of Mordor. That is where the battle at the beginning of the first movie took place. The Marshes took over later and the dead are still there, men, elves, and orcs.
Do they ever come to life?
@@BaddMedicine nope.
@@BaddMedicine the Bodies in the marshes aren't physically there in the books, they are just shapes in the water
The battle at the beginning of the movie was by Mount Doom as stated by the movie. The dead marshes is outside of Mordor where Legolas' grandfather died because they chased the orcs into the marshes.
The visual description of The Marshes definitely refers to the battlefield of "no man's land" in WW1 that the author saw firsthand.
A nice little detail about a specific scene in this movie - at the gates of Mordor, when Sam falls down the slope and Frodo has to cover him with the cloak, it's not just a trick of the light that shields them. When Celeborn gave them the cloaks, he said "May these cloaks help shield you from unfriendly eyes", so there's also elven magic at work there
It doesnt even matter if you like Fantasy, Everybody loves the LOTR world. peter Jackson really brought these movies to life with such a good vision!
He did. These are great.
Because it’s not fantasy, it’s mythology, that’s why!
Damn, wish my Ex gave it a chance. She watched Game of Thrones, but refused vehemently to watch the trilogy
I question the IQ of anyone who doesn’t get something as profound of LOTR.
In that running sequence that evoked "How much of this was New Zealand and how much was CGI?" - That was actual, because if you look closely, Gimli loses one of his boots but keeps running.
🤘
Also during its filming the actor of Aragorn had 2 broken toes from kicking the helmet and the actor of Legolas had a broken rib from falling off a horse during the filming of another scene so they were in immense pain while running but toughed it out like absolute badasses cause they didn't want to delay the filming. Also Gimlis gear weighed like 70 pounds so his running sequence was also pretty impressive for its own right.
@@zGamerGodz Don't forget Sean Astin's lacerated foot in the final Falls of Rauros scene.
ALSO also - when we say "Gimli" for the running scenes, always remember - there are TWO Gimlis! Basically, Gimli was portrayed in close-up and facial reactions (and full body when no one else was in the frame with him) by John Rhys-Davies (Sallah from the Indiana Jones films if that helps place him). But for any scene of a wide shot - like the infamous "Running wounded" shots that this sub-thread talks about, it's his "little person" double - Brett Beattie - doing the work. And taking the lumps! (I say "little person" reservedly though - he really was almost normal sized at 4'10" tall. But then - dwarves are noticeably about half-way between Hobbits and men in size.) So "Gimli" being hurt wasn't JRD, but Brett Beattie. In fact, Beattie did SO much of the work that when the other 8 main actors got their Lord of the Rings tattoos at the end of filming, John Rhys Davies thought Beattie deserved the honor more than him and had him do the tattoo for Gimli!
@@logandarklighter Nice, fresh stuff.
I haven't read all the comments yet but FYI, this movie is basically what made Andy Serkis' career explode. Gollum was the first full-fledged motion capture character at that time, I believe, one that looked so realistic and one that could physically interact with the actors. Back then, it was a real huge breakthrough in cinematography
I hope Andy got paid well! Cause it crushed it here.
So glad you’re continuing! The films just get better from here!
The Dead marshes were actually directly inspired by the battle of the Somme in WWI. Tolkien’s daughter remarked that her father’s experience in that battle stayed with him, especially seeing the piles of dead. Hence the “dead faces in the water.”
Gandalf did die. But the wizards were sent to lead the people against Sauron. Saruman betrayed them and the other wizards also lost their way. Gandalf was the only one that stated true to his purpose. So, when he died, the God of Middle Earth basically said, “I’m sending you back as the White to do his job in defeating Sauron.” That’s why Gandalf the White is more assertive than the Grey. He’s now in the position of Leader.
Oh yes! Return of the king right after part 2 of two towers
@Cat Bowser Fantasy Therapist, we could debate that. Saruman failed for sure. But did Radagast? He was sent at the special request of Yavanna, to watch over her part of creation. In that respect, he may have succeeded. And I understand that Tolkien himself was undecided about the fate of the blue wizards.
(Oh, and Gandalf was drafted).
@@servantofmelian9966 radagast did tarry among his beloved creatures of yavanna much too much that he abandoned his watch over the first born and second. tolkien mentioned that in 'unfinished tales' under the essay 'the istari', so in a sense radagast did not succeed for all the istari were sent to assist men and elves in resisting sauron.
@@gwillgi2surely mirkwood wouldn't be a thing if he succeeded?
@@servantofmelian9966 Later in his life, Tolkien decided that the two Blue Wizards went to the East and sort of led a resistance against the cults Sauron instituted. I wish we could have seen their story; it would have been amazing.
Treebeard was voiced by John Rhys-Davis, Same actor who plays Gimli. He spoke a lot of the dialog for Treebeard by breathing in while talking to create the effect.
Ok. Ill have to look up see if he did Megatron too.
@@BaddMedicine He has not been the voice of Megatron. The person who most often did Megatron was Frank Welker followed by a list of other voice actors. The most famous voice of Optimus Prime is done by Peter Cullen.
Ohhh... Ok. Thank you for clearing that up. 🤙🤙🤙 Much appreciated 👍
Interestingly, Hugo Weaving voiced Megatron in a few of the live-action Transformers movies.
@@Warrior-S092 And John Noble (Denethor) voiced Unicron in the Transformers Prime finale.
The elvish rope and cloaks are enchanted and "know" when they're needed most. The rope knows when to hold tight and to let loose so it doesn't get left behind. The cloak knows when to keep them warm, or when to camouflage its wearer as "natural" background stuff (like a rock!). Very handy items to have on a long trek.
Yeah so like all Elven made things, the rope ofc had to be magical too lol, it actually is real tight as Sam mentioned, but the magic allows the user to undo any knot it makes in order to take the rope back and use it again, if the owner of the rope so happens to want it loosened
So many layers to this story
The Rope also really does burn Gollum. all Elven thing cause pain of some kind to those with less than pure hearts
@@andycallahan65 it’s also why he can’t eat the Elven bread right?
@@Drummer4PresidentI’m a little late, but yes, it is also why Gollum can’t eat the Elvish bread.
All real scenery. New Zealand is a stunning place. I did a 2 week LOTR tour across both north and South Island 5 years ago and went to so many locations from these films, some of private land who only let that tour company in as it was the first one so has decades of connections. These films will always be special.
How was the tour?
10:15 Whenever you see a group shot of the riders of Rohan, who are meant to be all men, they're actually almost all female riding extras with fake beards and bulky armor. When they sent the casting call out for horse riders during filming they discovered there were way more women riders in New Zealand than men, so they just went "Ah, well, glue on some facial hair and slap on a few helmets and no one will know the difference! :D"
So glad you guys are watching the extended edition, obviously very long, but the extra scenes add a lot to the entire world they tried to create. Can't wait for Part 2!
I want to go and watch the theater version now to see what was not in it.
16:04 Not dragon, fell beast. You're a lot closer than you realize, I'll explain a bit 😀
At first, there were only great worm-like scaled creatures. The first dark lord (Morgoth) bred the first fire-breathing dragon (Glaurung), and eventually the first winged fire-breather (Ancalagon).
By the time of The Hobbit, Smaug is about the only known flying, fire-breathing dragon left. I don't know if you've read it yet so I won't spoil what happens to him, but it's worth a read for sure.
Come LotR, Sauron is basically making do with what he has. He doesn't have any fire-breathing dragons, but he does have some "cold drakes" (flying dragons that lost much of their intelligence and magical abilities, including the ability to breathe fire). So over the ages it's implied he breeds and warps them into the controllable, rideable form we see here.
Thank you the explanation. Much appreciated 👍
addition: 4 legs is usually a dragon and 2 legs a Wyvern. Wyverns cant spew fire but in some Fantasy worlds spew poison instead. Just general fantasy background :)
@@DerPlaystationZocker Eeeeh kinda, that's a very European / D&D thing. Classical Loong dragons usually have 4 limbs and no wings, but can fly. I'd argue it depends more on the specific body of work and how they categorize them.
None of that is from the writing of Tolkien.
He called them "Nazgul-birds" and they are not in any way related to dragons. They may have been created from giant long-necked birds. They have beaks in the books
Also, in Lord of the rings, gandalf says there are still dragons.
Just that their fire's not hot enough to destroy the ring
Fun fact: Andy Serkis voiced not just Gollum, but also the hungry orc ("What about them? They're fresh!")
Hahaha that orc!? That orcs voice was something else 🤣
I didn’t know this! Makes me love Andy Serkis even more now
And the gollum sound was inspired by his cat having hairballs.
This is untrue, my father played that orc and he did the voice himself.
Well that's a blatant lie! My brother said that line.
"This isn't like a TV series. They don't have to give you "Previously on .."" Well, remember, this movie did come out one year after the previous one.
True!
Awesome scene though! My 2nd fav of the three film openings
@@georgechapman9688 Absolutely!
One of my favorite scenes is Gandalf introducing Shadowfax and he bows to them and you see them bow back. Just beautiful and magical to me.
I think I’m one of the few who Two Towers is actually my favorite film of the trilogy. It’s crazy to me how I can still get so excited over these films that I’ve see countless times. I literally just watched them again in December. Yet I had to rewind in this video several times because I got too drawn into it and had to go back to enjoy your reactions.
For my bit of trivia I want to add about King Theoden at the funeral.
A ton of the script for these movies is pulled straight from the books. Even if it sometimes said at a different time or different character. Which means these aren’t really the kinds of movies you improv on. But the line “no parent should have to bury their child was actually added to the script by the actor Bernard Hill. He was talking with an extra on the set and the woman was also a fan of the books. (Peter Jackson really liked using people who cared about the story.) They were talking and she spoke about how she connected with Theoden’s character because she had lost a child to an illness. She said the line “no parent should have to bury their child.” Bernard Hill found it so powerful he later added it to his performance at the funeral.
Before I knew this I always thought that moment and the way it was acted was incredibly, but knowing the story and that it came from a very real person. It hits me every time.
Honestly, I think this is better than fellowship. Really enjoyed this one. 🤙
This is my favorite of the trilogy too
Theodred's funeral scene - Eowyn's song is a citation from Anglosaxon "Beowulf" poem.
"Lament for Theodred" written in Old English :
Nú on théostrum licgeth Théodred se léofa
hæ´letha holdost.
ne sceal hearpan sweg wigend weccean;
ne winfæ´t gylden guma sceal healdan,
ne god hafoc geond sæ´l swingan,
ne se swifta mearh burhstede beatan.
Bealocwealm hafað fréone frecan forth onsended
giedd sculon singan gléomenn sorgiende
on Meduselde thæt he ma no wære
his dryhtne dyrest and maga deorost.
Now dear Théodred lies in darkness,
most loyal of fighters.
The sound of the harp shall not wake the warrior;
nor shall the man hold a golden wine-cup,
nor good hawk swing through the hall,
nor the swift horse stamp in the courtyard.
An evil death has set forth the noble warrior
A song shall sing the sorrowing minstrels of Meduseld
That noble cousin, who always held me dear
Now is held in darkness, enclosed.
Éowyn is only heard singing the last four lines of the song ending with the word Bealo, which in Old English meant "evil" or "harm". The first of those lines originates from the epic poem Beowulf, line 2265.
Bealocwealm hafað
fela feorhcynna forð onsended!
When I saw the extended edition for the first time and was introduced to this extra scene, it gave me chills. Absolutely one of my favorite extras. Gorgeous.
@@fayej6591 Isn't it? And it's so crazy to listen to, because you feel sure you should understand it, but it's not coming together into the words you know.
And Tolkien gave us one of the more unique translations of Beowulf as well, so it's an excellent choice.
I always like to say this since everybody always talks about how Viggo (aragorn) broke his toe when he kicked the helmet.
The sequence of them running in the beginning chasing the orcs was shot after he broke his toe. In addition, Orlando Bloom had some broken ribs and the stunt/short double for John rhys davies had terrible knee problems. So they're running and as soon as they call cut, the actor basically fall apart and groaning in pain and are like 'are we done? do we need another take? okay we're doing another take.' And as soon as action is called just go all in.
Also, most of the locations they filmed at were remote so either had to drive on dirt trails or most often, helicopter in. At beginning of this movie when legolas talks about a red sun rising and they filmed a sunrise actually has an amazing story behind it. There was no way to really get it with how early everybody would have to get up, get in costume and helicopter in. Normally sunrise happens when the actors are in makeup. But Viggo and the actors were so dedicated to the film, Viggo suggested they camp out at the location, which is literally in the middle of nowhere, so they can get the shot. It was just supposed to be the people in the scene and the people needed to shoot. But word spread throughout the cast and crew and a lot of people showed up and they had a huge camp out, then woke up and got the sunrise shot.
Edited to add: Gandalf and Saruman are two of five wizards who were sent from Valar (essentially heaven) to middle earth in the second age (about three thousand years before this) to oppose Sauron. Sauron is also from Valinor, he is a Maia (so are the wizards but there's sort of a hierarchy in there and Sauron was higher). The Maiar are sort of angels and they each serve/help different Valar (gods). Sauron followed Morgoth, who became corrupt and Sauron followed him into corruption. When Morgoth was defeated Sauron took over. Because he is corrupted he can no longer return to Valinor. The wizards can return (except Saruman who is now corrupted). Each wizard had different roles on how to help the free peoples of middle earth to oppose Sauron. Saruman was supposed to sort of be the lead opposition but abandoned that role. Gandalf's role was more subtle but we see him in the first one take the lead in how to destroy Sauron after he finds out about Saruman's betrayal. Because of this, once he dies (and because he does so trying to fulfill his purpose) the Valar send him back as Gandalf the White, now taking the role that Saruman was supposed to have. That's why you see some differences between Gandalf the Grey's character and Gandalf the White.
Also of note, even though the wizards are in forms of old men, it's a deception. They do not age and do not have the physical weaknesses of an old body. They were given those forms so that the races (particularly men) would see them as wise and trustworthy and not be suspicious of them.
Thank you for all this info. Didn't see that Orlando got hurt. Pretty cool to know
@@BaddMedicine All 3 of the hunters got this running scenes just after they left hospital (about these knee and rib and toes) so they taken their medicines and some sweets with them and packed them in Legolas' bagpack. :)
They all got hurt. The actor who plays Sam stepped in glass filming the scene he chased after frodos boat in the last movie and had to be airlifted to the hospital.
To
To
I think of any movie, LOTR reactions will always be my favorite
A little explanation to Tolkien’s genius in that scene in the dead marshes, when Frodo looks in to the water, sees ghost, and falls in. This is a direct experience Tolkien had in World War 1, he and others had to cross a river, but when he got close he saw that it was literally filled with hundreds of bodies friend and foe alike. He was so shocked that he froze, his body frozen like a statue, he fell in and started to drown. In an attempt to process the pure horror his brain made it seem like the corpses had come alive and were dragging him down. If it were not for his fellow countrymen grabbing him and pulling him out he would have joined the floating mass grave. (Note: I’m not certain if this exact story is 100% true but I can confirm that JR Tolkien used many of his horrific World War I experiences to make the many dark horrors of the Lord of the rings.)
Interesting tidbits here. Really interesting to see how much Tolkien pulled from his experience.
Cannot wait for part 2 you guys. You each bring something special to the table and I enjoy all of your inputs, especially The Oak laughing his butt off at all the memes from Fellowship
🤣🤣🤣 thank you and much appreciated 👍🤘
King Theoden is my absolute favorite character. His pay off in film 3 is incredible.
Can't wait🤘
If he lives through film 2, that is. SPOILERS! 🤦♂️
Reform the line !!!
@@themoviehobbit355 We'll take them head on!
Redemption in film always makes for good viewing
Just wanted to say, they really did the running and they ran A LOT. And they were all injured unfortunately: Aragorn (Viggo) had 2 broken toes (from kicking the helmet), Legolas (Bloom) had a cracked rib, and the scale double of Gimli (Beattie) had dislocated his knee. The dedication of these men ❤
I love watching people enjoy these movies for the first time. I'll wait until part 2 comes up first, the cliffhangers are rough.
It’s like enjoying them for the first time all over again. Love first time reactions to these movies!!
Its in the editor! Two towers was great!
@@BaddMedicine Grea! They're all amazing movies, love to see people who get to enjoy them for the first time.
that line gets me every time... "no parent should ever have to bury their kids"
as a father of 3 this hits hard
"I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside." Is the most badass line of dialogue EVER.
John Rhys-Davies who played Gimli was also the voice of Treebeard the Ent.
Hugo Weaving who played Elrond was the voice of Megatron.
Hugo... Man of many talents
I just love the genuine reactions of people watching LOTR for the first time! Specially when they haven't read the books.
I love how the one reacting to founding were the memes come from laughs so much
I look forward to watching Oak find the memes lmao he cracks me up
You should see our group chats lol Memes all day.
Yeah! I was sad they missed "they are taking the hobbits to Isengard" from this upload :c
@@tapsin3923 yeah, the part with "Tell me where is Gandalf for I much desire to speak with him" was in that song too, was waiting for them to laugh at it :D
When shadowfax runs up and stops in front of Gandalf there was a mat for the horse to run to and it did it in one take
“Shadowfax. He's the lord of all horse actors, and he's been my friend through many dangers.”
Have my eyes been cheated by some spell? Yes they have, its actually a donkey legolas.
@@FuckoffgoogleGetDoxxed 😂😂😂
The Dead Marshes were based on the Battle of the Somme from WW1. Tolkien fought there used what he saw (men dying and laying in the mud, unable to be taken off the battlefield) as inspiration.
20:22 The magic cloaks "blended in with any background, either green grass, green trees, green rocks, or green sky" - Ch. 5, Bored of the Rings
Man i love when the people reacting to Lotr know of the memes and have a reaction when they appear.
20 years for the Oak 😂
Gandalf was sent back to Middle-earth as the White because the former White Wizard, Saruman, had betrayed his purpose. In the book, this is made even more explicit - when Gandalf went to visit him in _Fellowship,_ Saruman declares that he is no longer "Saruman the White" but "Saruman of Many Colours." Gandalf was not impressed, and neither were the Valar who sent them to Middle-earth in the first place. When Gandalf was killed in Moria, the Valar sent him back as the new White Wizard, with greater power... and a more urgent purpose. The fight against Sauron was coming to a head, which makes the betrayal of Saruman all the more tragic. Imagine running a race, and two inches from the finish line you stop dead and start throwing out bear traps to catch the other runners.
🔥🔥🔥🔥
I know they watched these movies over a year ago, but it's fun to watch these big dudes get so enthralled with a fantasy movie.
Despite their reluctance to give the films a higher score, you can tell they're totally into it.
The scene between Gollum and Sméagol I know word for word and we were watching the lord of the rings in 10th grade English to follow the “hero’s journey” and my teacher saw me mouthing the words during that scene, paused the movie and had me recite the scene in front of the class.
What would normally have been an anxiety inducing incident to be put on the spot like that, was actually incredibly fun. A bunch of people had never seen the movie and were astounded that I had the movie memorized.
But then again I was never invited to any parties so why wouldn’t I have it memorized?
The teacher gave me an A for the essay I would’ve had to write about the journey Frodo took, but because I knew it so well he just let it go.
Frodo feels the sharp stab on his left shoulder and starts to have flashbacks of the ringwraiths true form when he wore the one ring.
That dang ring is unreal. Dig the story on it.
When the actor kicks the Helmet, Viggo (the actors) mothers got a letter from her dad saying he was sorry for not moving to Norway when they had the chance.
🤣🤣 that's awesome
And just so you know, Saruman didn't raise an army in a matter of weeks. These three movies span over years. In the first one, 17 years passed between Gandalf leaving to research the ring and him coming back to throw it into the fire. So it might look quick, but it's really weeks, months and years
The voice of the ent Treebeard was John Rhys-Davies again, knocked down an octave electronically when he wasn't being Gimli.
The common rule is, if it has 2 legs its a Wyvern, if it has 4 its a Dragon
🤘
then what's a Drake?@@BaddMedicine
@@KevinLopez-jf5ys4 legs, no wings. Wyverns are winged with two legs, dragons are winged with 4, wyrms have no legs or wings, and Ampitheres have wings but no legs.
When I saw the notification, I clicked so fast I nearly sprained a finger. So glad to be with you on your journey through Middle Earth.
I've read that when Aragorn kicked the helmet and then cried out, that wasn't faked: he kicked the helmet so hard he injured his foot, and the cry was for real.
Hell yeah! Thank you! And damn! That's actually awesome! 🤣🤣🤣
If I remember right he broke at least one toe
@@trinitybirtcil6696 - "broke a toe" is what I remember, but I didn't want to be too specific in case it was incorrect - start a debate on how many toes it was!
@@franl155 yeah. He lost a tooth in shooting Helms Deep and they had to shoot the shots of him holding a torch in Balin’s Tomb in the first movie all from one side because he was sporting a massive black eye after taking a surfboard to the face (Pretty sure it was a surfboard)
"I clicked so fast I nearly sprained a finger." You and I wouldn't last a minute in Middle Earth. ^o^
Loved your Fellowship reaction. Really looking forward to this one!!!
Thank you! We hope you enjoy Two Towers!!!
Wish more directors would do cut scenes the way Jackson did. I know technically it’s an extended edition but a lot of them just out the cut scenes at the end vs Jackson having them in-line with the movie.
What's even crazier about the shooting of these movies is that it was all done back to back as a single grand endeavor over a few years, so you can really feel how every actor/actress lived in their role as well as their relationship to those around them (not to say movies shot separately don't but lotr was and probably still is the undisputed king)
Treebeard was actually voiced by John Rhys Davies who also plays Gimli in LOTR.... he said in the behind the scenes interview he wanted the Ent to sound like the wind and that's how he imagined trees would talk - taking forever to speak a sentence😂
Fun Fact: When the Aragorn actor kicked the uruk-hai helmet, he broke his nail ( i guess ), and that scream was for real, but instead of calling the medics, he used his pain to make the scene even more real.
He broke a couple of toes, put the pain into his scream.
Knowing that makes that scene even better
I didn’t go through the comments, but Hugo Weaving played the voice of Megatron. John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gilmli (the dwarf), also played the voice of Treebeard (the Ent, talking tree).
For some background lore that isn't explained in the movies:
Gandalf and Saruman are Maiar, spirits which serve the Valar (basically the Gods of Tolkien's stories). Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast and 2 more Maiar were sent to middle earth in order to guide the people and help with the fight against Sauron, who by the way is also a Maiar but turned to darkness and serves Morgoth (something like Lucifer in Christianity). Saruman was meant to be the leader of the 5 Maiar who were sent to middle earth, but since he joined Sauron and became evil, Gandalf has been sent back to replace him. Which is why Gandalf says "I am Saruman as he should have been". Also, although Gandalf has taken human form, he is still a spirit and consequently immortal, in fact he has been roaming Middle Earth for about 2000 years and has lived as a spirit for more than 9000 years.
Hope this is interesting and clears some things up for you guys.
i wonder if a show you guys might like to react to is black sails? it's notoriously underrated, and it might just be up your alley. incredible action, incredible storytelling and scripts, great characters, and if you have even a passing interest in pirates or treasure island, i think you will love it.
We can add it to the list 🤙🤘
"Once he wore grey
He fell and slipped away
From everybody's sight
The wizard of them all
Came back from his fall
This time wearing white"
The voice of Megatron was Hugo Weaving, Elrond himself... which is a fun little twist
Just to clarify LOTR occurred before “The Walking Dead” series. so you need to clarify when watching “The Walking Dead” that it’s LOTR references you have heard before. 👍
Lol.... I made a joke early which I don't think made the cut, that Aragorn looked like he could be Rick Grimes brother.
The flying rides of the Nazgul are Fellbeasts, though they are depicted in the trilogy as Wyverns
Almost no CGI here, sirs. This was made between 1998-2003. 95% of everything is real.
Also, it's been a couple months since Saruman's betrayal already. They spent a month in Rivendell, another in Lothlóriën.
The one dark skinned orc with blue eyes. The one who suggested to eat the Hobbit's legs. His name is Grishnak, in the books he served Sauron not Saruman. In fact he was the only orc of that company who knew they were looking for the ring. Pippin would then imply that they had it. Grishnak wanted the ring for himself and planned to betray the others.
The dead bodies in the water were from the battle of the last alliance, 3000 years before Frodo's quest. That was the battle portrayed in the prologue of The Fellowship. The main leaders of both elves and men perished along with thousands more since the battle was 7 years long. Isildor, heir to Elendil of Numinor , lived only for a short while after the battle, but, as you can see Elrond is still around and one of the most powerful and wise elves in middle earth.
👍👍👍👍
Fun fact, when Aragorn kicks the helmet and screams, it was genuine because he destroyed his foot and had to lay off it for a few weeks. Also the scene where Aragorn deflects the the knife throw, was completely by accident, and so they kept it in
Nice reaction guys, looks like most of your questions were answered below. It's great to share this story with folks that have never seen it before, very enjoyable and entertaining so really thanks for that. Cheers and looking forward to continuing the saga.
Thank you and thanks for watching. We appreciate it 🤙
2 legs, nor arms 2 wings= wyvern
2 legs, 2 arms 2 wings = dragon
4 legs, no wings = drake
no legs, no wings = wyrm
Trivia: Balrogs are fire spirits that were corrupted by Morgoth, Sauron's former boss. They are of the Maiar class, same as Sauron (another fire spirit) and the Istari/wizards (whereas Morgoth was one of the Valar, the more powerful spirits). The only fire spirit who wasn't corrupted was Arien, who became the captain of the vessel of the sun. Even Morgoth feared her piercing gaze, and orcs couldn't go out in daylight because of her.
There are only three people who ever managed to kill a Balrog: Gandalf, Ecthelion and Glorfindel. All three of them died in the process - Ecthelion drowned himself and his foe in a fountain, and Glorfindel got dragged to his death off a mountainside by his long, shiny, golden hair. Moral of the story: tie back your hair when you go into battle, even if you're a fancy elf lord.
Fun fact: The majority of the Rohan soldiers are women, since they couldn't find enough men who could ride. They would get their hair and make-up done before breakfast, and then complain whenever food got stuck in their beards. Viggo Mortensen war rather smitten with one of these "men".
Oh, and since John Rhys-Davies is taller than the actors who played the Hobbits, they didn't need to green screen him when it was just the five of them.
You can tell the difference between Gollum and Smeagol by the change of his eye pupils.
Smeagol has wide pupils while Gollum's are small
the worst part was that Peter Jackson made him kick the helmet like 3-4 times and finally the last kick, Viggo broke his toe. And it just so happens that Peter liked that one the most.
As always lot's of laughs with this reaction🤣 glad you guys are enjoying these!! Looking forward too part2🍻
🍻🍻🍻🍻🤙🤙🤙
Badd Medicine coming in for a win again :D always an entertaining dive when you guys hop into Middle Earth.
During the whole filming of Lord of the Rings, Brad Dourif (who plays Grima Wormtongue) used an English accent, even off set, so when he dropped the accent on the last day of filming, Bernard Hill (who plays Theoden) thought he was actually English the whole time, In reality, Brad is the voice actor for Chucky, very easy to hear it once you know what to listen for lol
Hell yeah! 🤘🤘🤘 Let's goooooo! Oh dang... Chucky?! That's awesome!
A few lesser-known facts about production:
-The scenes where Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas were running were painful for all of them. Aragorn had broken his toe, Legolas had a cracked/broken rib, and the scale double for Gimli had a dislocated knee.
-The scale double for Gimli once fell into a river during on of the river scenes in the first movie and sank fast because of all the armor. Orlando Bloom (Legolas) saved the guy's life by pulling him out.
-The man who voiced Treebeard the Ent is Gimli's actor.
-Many of the orcs throughout the movies were played by Nori's actor in the Hobbit movies.
-The scene in the first movie--the battle with the Nazgul atop the ruins--was Viggo Mortenson's (Aragorn) first scene of the movie. Due to several problems, Viggo was a replacement for someone else, and only had several minutes to learn the choreography for the fight before the cameras started rolling. He would also fish on set if there was a body of water nearby.
-Christopher Lee is the only person in the whole production who has actually met JRR Tolkien, and was given express permission by the author to play Gandalf if a movie was ever made. He ended up playing Saruman.
Wizards were Maia, each served a specific purpose, created by the Valor, who were essentially gods. Since Saramon left his purpose, Gandalf was sent back to fulfill that purpose. So not necessarily barrowed time, but who Saramon shouldve been. Saron is or was a maia as well but followed Morgoth, a Valor, who essentially is the devil, and Sauron was his right hand. So even Sauron as powerful as he was, still had a master.
That makes sense
9:39 I'm surprised the dude in the bottom-right didn't cackle at this. That is the most recognizable meme of this film!
Anyone else get so invested with one storyline, that they forget about the others for a while?
When Gandalf says "I am Saruman as he should be" it's because Saruman was originally Saruman the white, but he became Saruman the colorful in his greed for power and as he fell towards evil. Gandalf was the gray, and now he has returned Gandalf the white.
The Ent Treebeard is voiced by John Rhys-Davies, the Actor who plays Gimili.(the Dwarf from this amazing quest). 🖤
LOL oak just seeing every scene and thinking it's a dream sequence
Frank Welker voiced Megatron. Treebeard the Ent was voiced by John Rhys Davies (Gimli the Dwarf)
The part in the Dead Marshes, with all the dead bodies in the water, is taken from the legend of the Boogieman. Bogs are anaerobic (oxygen-free) environments and the water is full of tannins (used to make leather). So if you die in a bog, the water will naturally preserve your body. Hundreds of years ago, people would find bodies of long dead people in bogs who look like they had just recently died. This created the story of the Boggy Man to scare children from going into bogs. Today, we still talk about the Boogieman to frighten kids.
I have watched the trilogy so many times, and watching with you guys is like rewatching the trilogy through new eyes. ^_^
Theoden is my favorite character in all of LOTR along with Sam. He is such a badass and so, so brave in the face of death. And Sam's loyalty is absolutely untouchable.
I think Sam is the MVP ❤️
17:40
Basically five wizards were sent to try and stop Sauron (that’s their task)
Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast and the two blue wizards (Alatar & Pallando)
Gandalf is the only one who actually doing his task that’s why (Eru Ilúvatar) (The God) sends him back after he dies
You guys really gotta watch all the behind the scenes footage, now that you're done the trilogy. The background stuff about how they did the perspective changes is all reaaaally fascinating!!
Most of the Rohan Riders were women. They ran out of stuntmen and recruited a local women's riders club. Worked well with the hair and helmets
lol for real? If so thats awesome.
@@BaddMedicine yup! They put beards on most of them and hid their faces with helmets. You can see them better when you pause at the scene when the 3 first meet them
Gandalf is not on borrowed time. Well, I guess for a type of divine being with hierarchical obligations you're technically always on borrowed time, but he came back to life a new person.
His time spent in "the darkness" was lifetimes over lifetimes, Gandalf the Grey is dead, in the movies we dont see a lot of tht but the new Gandalf really has to search his memories to remember the fellowship as The Gray would
11:11 in this scene where he kicks the helmet he broke a few of his toes
btw, the dead swamps are an allegory to the Battle field craters and horrors of WW1, especially the cruel battle of the Somme, in which J.R.R. Tolkien fought.
11:11 he actually broke his toe when he kicked the helmet so that’s a genuine scream of pain 😅
The orc "medicine" Merry drinks was peach tea thickened with glycerine.
Lol it did is job looking terrible 🤣
"Wow. So we're gonna see the orcs vs trees?" Hell yeah you are, sir!
fave factoid moment from the movie (other than the famous breaking of Viggo's toe) is that Eomer's sword slides out of its scabbard as he mounts his horse to ride off with the rohirrim after meeting Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli for the first time. You have to slow the movie down to see it but once you have you can't unsee it.
Someone quite accurately said that orcs knowing what a menu is implies that they must have restaurants😂
What the riders are mounted on in the second and third movies are called Fellbeasts. Tolkien kept their origins deliberately vague and mysterious, only saying that they were likely bred and raised in service to Sauron for centuries.