What people think of Two Towers (*SPOILERS*)

[Bronwyn of Gondor]

First off, I must say that I haven't yet gotten around to reading Towers yet... I'm still only half-way through Fellowship - not because I'm a bad reader or slow or anything, just because I basically have no time to read otherwise. Usually, my reading time is right before I go to bed, and most of the time I fall asleep after one page, usually with the lights still on and the book still in my hands!

But anyway, I loved the movie. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, it was great. I don't know what was changed or left out, so I probably won't be able to give a full review until I've read the book, but anyway, I thought the effects were great, the acting was great, the music was great; all-around great movie.

[SonOfSamWise]

I didn’t like Aragorn’s sentiments about Eowyn being placed in the mouth of Wormtongue.

Theoden’s mourning the death of his son and Gandalf’s role as grief counselor was compelling and very well acted. (the best scene of the film)
But, I have found no scene depicting such grief in either text or appendix.
Am I missing it or is this a Boyens-Jackson creation?

The mirthful singing of the treacherous Gollum at the pool of Henneth Annun is contrary his murderous rantings in the book.

Faramir is awfully silent for the loremaster that he is.
Perhaps Jackson will define this stately character more in the Return of the King.

Theoden did indeed “fall under the spells of Saruman, and was healed by Gandalf…” (appendix A)

[Nurvingiel]

Theoden was healed, not excorcised. I think a little too much artistic liscence was taken with that scene IMHO.

[Black Breathalizer]

Originally posted by Nurvingiel
Theoden was healed, not excorcised. I think a little too much artistic liscence was taken with that scene IMHO.

Imagine the alternative. It would have changed what turned out to be a very dramatic scene into Theoden-Gandalf exposition. PJ made the right choice, regardless of whether or not it was truly Tolkien inspired.

[Nurvingiel]

If it wasn't Tolkien inspired, then was it really the right choice? Drama and suspense are inherant to TTT, nothing needs to be changed to add it. Sometimes change needs to happen for other reasons.

[Black Breathalizer]

Originally posted by Nurvingiel
If it wasn't Tolkien inspired, then was it really the right choice? Drama and suspense are inherant to TTT, nothing needs to be changed to add it. Sometimes change needs to happen for other reasons.

Your comment is all well and good--coming from a huge Tolkien fanatic. But what about the casual movie-goer who sees TTT without a clue who King Theoden or Wormtongue are? The nice thing about the exorcism is that it made it clear to the audience that Saruman was controlling the King behind the scenes without a lot of boring (to the general audience anyway) exposition otherwise required to bring everyone up to speed. Whether Tolkien envisioned it the same way is open for debate. But it was an absolutely perfect way to adapt this part of the book to the big screen.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Two questions:

Why do people quote the post right before their's?

And is there anything PJ DIDN'T do just perfectly?

[Black Breathalizer]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Two questions: Why do people quote the post right before their's?

Because by the time you post your reply, it might NOT be the post right before their's anymore.

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
And is there anything PJ DIDN'T do just perfectly?

Yes, but I am not telling you what it is.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

It most likely will be. Is that really necessary when the last post was an hour ago?

*gasp* There IS? Oh, if only I knew what.

[Nurvingiel]

Originally posted by Black Breathalizer
Your comment is all well and good--coming from a huge Tolkien fanatic. But what about the casual movie-goer who sees TTT without a clue who King Theoden or Wormtongue are? The nice thing about the exorcism is that it made it clear to the audience that Saruman was controlling the King behind the scenes without a lot of boring (to the general audience anyway) exposition otherwise required to bring everyone up to speed. Whether Tolkien envisioned it the same way is open for debate. But it was an absolutely perfect way to adapt this part of the book to the big screen.

That's one of the nicest things someone's said to me all day (Tolkien fanatic).

I enjoy movies where I hadn't read the book first, A Beautiful Mind, for example. But that's beside the point.

The casual movie goer knows who Theoden, Wormtongue, and Saruman are, because they're featured in other scenes. I wouldn't call this scene "absolutely perfect" because it's not fundementally the same as the book, despite having the surface details.

And when I say "fundementally the same" what I mean is that the movie scene has the same intent, spirit, and subtlety as the book scene.

It was all there, except the subtlety. Why not just have Theoden's head spin around for added drama? Sorry... sarcasm doesn't really become me. But you see what I mean.

Also, your arguments wouldn't lose their validity if you were to say what you didn't find perfect about PJ's movies. In fact, I think it would make it easier to agree with you on other points.

edit: casual movie goer

[-elfearz-]

Originally posted by SonOfSamWise
Theoden did indeed “fall under the spells of Saruman, and was healed by Gandalf…” (appendix A)

i always took that to mean that he'd listened to saruman's lies (through wormtongue) and thus fallen into dotage rather than that he was physically possessed by saruman

[Nurvingiel]

That was my take on it too, elfearz.

[Baby-K]

I enjoyed TTT for it's entertainment value, however some of the deviations from the book were a bit too much IMO.

It would be great if there were two versions of every movie based on a novel - one for the general movie goer who doesn't give a damn about the intricacies of the actual novel and a second version, which stays truer to the original novel. I feel that sometimes scriptwriters just don't get it, which is why they often leave out certain points that to many who have read the books are essential in the description & motivation of a character's actions & thoughts.

I watched a bootleg DVD of TTT this weekend - it was hillarious, 'cos I turned the Chinese subtitles on - whoever did the translations should be shot Found it a bit difficult to concentrate on the plot 'cos I was laughing so much & had all these visions of Chinese Orcs doing all kinds of ninja tricks.......

[Varda Oiolosseo]

The more i see it the more I love it!
Well i loved it anyway just a lot more now!

I loved it when Legolas went down the stairs on that sheet of metal or something and firing arrows! I was like wow impressive!
It was good when they set out to fight the wargs and Legolas swung round the front of the horse and landed on top!
There is too much Legolas in this film... I'm deffinately NOT complaining...it's just so brilliant I'm annoying people by talking about Legolas non-stop!!

(Did that make sense? basically I love Legolas and it's driving people mad!)

[Nurvingiel]

Give us an example of the Chinese subtitles!

The movie itself wasn't actually different, was it?

[Elvellyn]

I loved TTT!
Regardless of how true it was to the book or whether or not the orcs were doing ninja tricks, it didnt detract from the movie itself.

[Ërendil]

Ok, after seeing TTT for the sixth time, I absolutly love the film more than i did to begin with Even though the movie has faults, I don't think that they are so major that they ruin the story completly. Yes it is different to the book, but I love them both in different ways.

[Nurvingiel]

Well put Ërendil, that pretty much sums it up for me too.

Discussing the changes is fun, liking some, not liking some, analyzing them all to death, it's great times!

[Elvedans]

I loved the movie to bits, and the only part that made me cringe the tiniest little bit was when Legolas did his Stair Surfing trick. I thought that was a little bit over the top. But apart from that I loved it, regardless of whether it did the book justice or not.

[Blackboar]

I saw it for the 6th time last night and it grows on me every time I see it