Lord of the Rings movie

[duke37]

I just got back from seeing the new Lord of the Rings movie. And I am taking 50 people to see it on Saturday. So what do you think about the movie?

 

I'll reserve my opinion here for a while, but I am curious what the interested among you think. Paging Rod Hagen

 

Well one opinion. Viggo Mortensen is completely hot in this movie. I bet Ian McKellan couldn't keep his hands off him.:9

[Guest Les]

Link for Viggo in Rings: :9

http://specialrealms.com/VM/lotrstrider.html

 

Take care, Les

[Bilbo]

We got an unexpected chance to see the movie this afternoon (Wednes,first day). Loved it! My lover, who hasn't read the books, loved it to. He usually complains that some part of every play or movie dragged. So far he sure hasn't said that about any part of this. I had to give up and hit the bathroom once, but just as he started to ask me where it was, the last climactic battle started, and he didn't even get the question out. He only had two complaints; A. It is such a cliff hanger! He sorta likes the way the Harry Potter books have their individual endings even though they all link together better. (He hasn't read them either, just seen the movie).

B. The man who appealed the most to him physically dies towards the end of this first movie, and won't be back again.

What can I say?

I promised to not let him get away from me. I don't intend to do that.

(Even have trouble remembering my own lines exactly, heh heh.)

[trilingual]

I'm going to see it on Saturday, but reviews on both sides of the Atlantic have been very good. Today's S.F. Chronicle gave it it's highest rating. Usually they find fault with just about everything under the sun, but there didn't seem to be anything they didn't like about this film.

 

I'm excited, because I always loved the books. I'm just going to have to avoid drinking anything all day before the flick to make it through 3 hours without a bathroom break. Whatever happened to planned intermissions in these epic flicks? I certainly remember them in the big Hollywood epics of my distant youth, like Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, Cleopatra, etc. Not only did everyone get to go pee, the theater could sell more popcorn! Am I missing something here? Or is it the film producers?

[Bilbo]

I agree with the intermissions idea. It seems to me the last time I saw one was Dr. Zhivago, but you know my memory. Might be a bit of a mess at the multiplexes keeping everyone going back into the right theater, though.

Well, day after and the "disappointing" ending was the only complaint L made when I asked him. And now he's even considering reading the books rather than waiting a year for the next installment. As a librarian's son, I am overjoyed. As a student's husband, though, I really don't think that I'll buy the books for him for this Christmass time. He needs his studying time!;-)

[duke37]

Well now I have seen it a second time, I am even more impressed. The directors use of such a wide range of CGI styles along with just about every conventional camera trick in the book (some not used in a long time) make the movie a film buff dream. The cinematographer almost becomes a charecter in the movie the use of light is so striking. I had a great deal of trouble sorting out the real landscapes from the CGI. New Zealand is an amazingly beautiful country. Some of the landscapes are so unearthly it made the CGI scapes seem more "realistic" by comparison.

 

The last scene with Boromir and Aragorn is sad and hot at the same time. Of course if you know the book you know the depth of what he acknowledges for the first time. But the movie did a good job suggesting the depth.

 

My favorite customer reaction was "Legolas rocked!". :-)

 

I think it is so rare to have a long movie these days they don't think of things like bathroom breaks. The last film I remember with an intermission is "Gandhi". Be advised skip the "bladderbursta" soft drink at the concession stand.

[Guest Lorenzo]

I saw it last night.I liked it very much, though I didn't love it. I do have a desire to see it again so that's a good sign. This may be the kind of film that gains with more than one viewing. I absolutely agree that they should revive the old Intermission idea from the old days of epic films because I had to hold takin' a leak for an hour and a half because I was afraid I was going to miss something. Overall it was an excellently made film with great acting, set design and f/x. Hopefully I'll connect to the story more on the second viewing.

[Bilbo]

Duke, Please expand upon your remark about the different kinds of CGI used? Especially any differences in the animation of the cave troll and the ballrog. They were both quite effective, but, to me, the troll seemed almost like clamation and the ballrog was more like what I think of when I hear CGI. I don't know enough to tell what the difference is and would love to have it explained to me.