Preemptive LOTR: The Two Towers thread

belle

I saw the latest preview last night, and it's got me excited again. The scenes of Saruman's army assembling before Sauron, and then massing at Helm's Deep; the return of Gandalf; will Aragorn let Arwen go?; Gollum assisting Frodo and Sam; Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli chasing the Uruk-Hai...



Okay, I know 99% of people here know what happens, but that preview has me drooling.



Only, um, 21 days(?) to wait...

alcimedes

yeah, the previews were enough to get me to do some reading up on the subject, outside the books. turns out Tolkein did a lot of corresponding with people who had questions about his stories, and areas that weren't crystal clear.



really helps flesh things out.

giaguara

What happened to the tolkien guy... ? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

brussell

I was surprised that the trailer used that Kronos Quartet music from Requiem for a Dream. I can't hear that music without thinking about... uh, the stuff going on at the end of that movie.

<img src="graemlins/surprised.gif" border="0" alt="[Surprised]" />



POSSIBLE SPOILER!!!



I heard a rumor that they kill off Saruman in a dramatic but original ending for this movie rather than the third. Probably for the best. Two Towers is really all about the war with Saruman, and then he doesn't really come up until the end of the third movie.

matsu

Dead, in '77 iThink. Christopher now makes a nice living periodically editing dad's old papers.



Tolkien seemed genuinely happy about people's response to his work, and loved to talk to them. I had a couple of profs years ago (freshman undergrad, oh gawd, I'm starting to feel old) who met him, knew him from their student days. Even though they'd learned the unfortunate habit of poo-pooing the fantasy genre as a whole, the still liked him and his work very much.

matsu

That's really fine actually, they played the departure of Boromir a bit early too. Tolkien himself only divided the books when he was pursuaded about the reality of publishing all those pages in one volume. That bit actually appears in the supplementary disc too, though it doesn't get at other good stuff, like his feud with CS Lewis.

brussell

[quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

<strong>That's really fine actually, they played the departure of Boromir a bit early too. Tolkien himself only divided the books when he was pursuaded about the reality of publishing all those pages in one volume.</strong><hr></blockquote>But that was different. Boromir still died in the proper sequence, they just cut the end of Fellowship the movie a few pages into Two Towers the book.



I've heard that they kill off Saruman in a totally different way, in Isengard, before the ring is destroyed.

belle

[quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

<strong>...like his feud with CS Lewis.</strong><hr></blockquote>

What was the fee-udd about? I thought The Inklings all got along on some basis or another?

simple ranger

[quote]Originally posted by Belle:

<strong>

What was the fee-udd about? I thought The Inklings all got along on some basis or another?</strong><hr></blockquote>



I think one of the bigger Tolkein v. Lewis fueds was due to Tolkein's attitude toward Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. He thought they were: 1) A rip-off of his stuff 2) too simplistic 3) too religious.



However, Lewis' encouragement kept Tolkein going on LOTR. It may have never been finished otherwise.

matsu

Fee-youhd, I like that intonation.



What about? Whether or not English should be taught in college literature programs. Big stakes -- English was previous only taught as a dramatic subject, not literature. Lots of academics in a huff... Bookish people squable over the strangest things, kinda like AI.



[ 11-27-2002: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>

scott

Trailer got me going too. Saw it at Harry Potter. Not a bad movie BTW.





IMO The first movie could have had gollum stocking them a bit more. Reading the book you know that he follows for quite a while. It seems to me that they could have just added a short short scene where you see something in the river.



The story gets much more complex from here on. We'll see how they do. My wife couldn't follow everything in the first, not having read the book.



Ents? Where are they? Can't wait to see them.





Saruman can't die. He's needed in the last act <img src="confused.gif" border="0">



[ 11-27-2002: Message edited by: Scott ]</p>

jellytussle

[quote]Originally posted by Scott:

<strong>It seems to me that they could have just added a short short scene where you see something in the river.

[ 11-27-2002: Message edited by: Scott ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



Methinks you need to invest in the Extended DVD Edition, Scott.

scott

[quote]Originally posted by Jellytussle:

<strong>



Methinks you need to invest in the Extended DVD Edition, Scott. </strong><hr></blockquote>



For $90. <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />

jellytussle

[quote]Originally posted by Scott:

<strong>



For $90. <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>



Woah! It was £24.99 over here, and i'm sure i've seen US pricing at around $25, with a $10 coupon for the cost of movie tickets for TT. You're not thinking of the Special Special Edition, which comes on 12 DVD's in a mithril box, with complimentary lembas and a signed scroll of authenticity from the Dark Lord himself?



[ 11-28-2002: Message edited by: Jellytussle ]</p>

jeffyboy

Spoiler alert

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I'm betting Return of the King ends shortly after the destruction of the One Ring, with narration describing the passing of the Ring Bearers over the sea.

I've always thought the Scourging of the Shire would be aniticlimatic in a movie after the Ring is destroyed.



Jeff

drewprops

I've seen the toys of the Ents and must say that I'm a little alarmed if ALL of the Ents look like the toy for Treebeard. The Huorns should be leafy and dark and shaggy shouldn't they?



Even if it is anticlimactic I hope that they find a way to return to the Shire. I know it's not a Hollywood tradition, and I can live it they change it, but seeing it done "right" would be very satisfying.



About six years ago at a bookstore in Charleston, SC I found a copy of the Tolkien book with his sheet music for some of the songs from the book. It's in storage now, but I checked the going price for it on Alibris and it was selling for double what I paid for it back then.



D



[ 11-28-2002: Message edited by: drewprops ]</p>

scott

[quote]Originally posted by Jellytussle:

<strong>



Woah! It was £24.99 over here, and i'm sure i've seen US pricing at around $25, with a $10 coupon for the cost of movie tickets for TT. You're not thinking of the Special Special Edition, which comes on 12 DVD's in a mithril box, with complimentary lembas and a signed scroll of authenticity from the Dark Lord himself?



</strong><hr></blockquote>



I got the price wrong. It's $70 for the five DVD set. Plus it comes with bookends of those kings with the hands up. From the movie poster.



I guess you're saying the two DVD version has the extra 30 min in it.

spaceman_spiff

[quote]Originally posted by Belle:

<strong>I saw the latest preview last night...</strong><hr></blockquote>



I haven't been to the movies lately so I downloaded the trailer. Yeah, it does look great. I'm psyched too. I planned to reread the first book this past summer and I still haven't. I need to get cracking.

scott

You should read the books. I'm glad I got the book before seeing the first one. I got that super thick paper back that has the three books in one. I think it's the cheapest you can pay for the three books. I got into it and ripped through it in like two weeks.

jellytussle

[quote]Originally posted by Scott:

<strong>



I got the price wrong. It's $70 for the five DVD set. Plus it comes with bookends of those kings with the hands up. From the movie poster.



I guess you're saying the two DVD version has the extra 30 min in it.</strong><hr></blockquote>



No, the one i've got is the four DVD set, with the extended film on 2 discs, and two discs of SFX ,interviews etc. The pricey one just comes with bookends.



try here



<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000067DNF/qid=1038505563/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-8478189-4468025"; target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000067DNF/qid=1038505563/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-8478189-4468025</a>;

brussell

[quote]Originally posted by Jellytussle:

<strong>No, the one i've got is the four DVD set, with the extended film on 2 discs, and two discs of SFX ,interviews etc. The pricey one just comes with bookends.</strong><hr></blockquote>The gift set does also have a fifth DVD with more "making of" type footage.