Did this happen to anyone else?!

[AngieBaggins]

HI,
Ok, did anyone else get up and go at the end and heard people say, "Wait, did i miss something? WHERE's the ending!" lol.
I did, the second time i saw it i was with my sister and when the part came when it was just about to black out, i stood up and she said, "Where are you going, it hasn't ended yet!" I laughed really loud when she turnedback and saw that credits were rolling. All the way to the parking lot and halfway home she woulnd't stop saying, "What happened! It didn't have an ending!" LoL. I had to explain it to her why it, had an ending, and why it didn't have an ending. Anyone else had an experience like this??

[ann]

I've seen it twice so far and both times people have seemed quite disgruntled at the end of the movie. One guy was standing outside complaining and said that there needed to be another movie so everyone can know what happens. The man next to him replied that they were making another movie. I laughed and felt tempted to tell him to tell him what happens, but hopefully he'll realize that there are some pretty fantastic books that were around long before the movies!

[mrs legolas]

yah....i took my mom to go see it and she shouted at the end...*well that was stupid*!!! I said...ooopsi i forgot to tell her.. that it is a trilogy...i think that it should state that at the end of the movie...for all of those ig's....what'dya think?

[Renille]

My brother's employer's daughter saw it and thought the same thing. My friends who I took to see it were blessedly aware that it was a trilogy.

By the way, welcome to the moot, mrs. legolas!

[bropous]

The only really negative comment I heard when the film ended was one hideously annoying brat of a child around 11 who blurted, "I just didn't get that movie!". I wanted to throttle him. This is the same brat who chortled and guffawed at the insultingly moronic Austin Powers preview, talked through the whole movie, made six trips to the lobby during the film, stepping on peoples' feet without as much as an "excuse me", and who was obviously dragged there by his parents. He was the only detractor I encountered. Thank the Valar!

As for the others in the crowds the four times I saw it [my friend's wife slipped in the snow when we were hiking on Pikes Peak and sprung her wrist today so I didn't get to see it the fifth time], at the end of the film folks were dead silent. It's like they were all spent, emotionally exhausted, and totally awed and numb from the experience. A pall of sadness hung over the whole theatre each time. I felt the same way: drained, exhausted, and with a heavy heart. Such a beautiful film, so well-crafted, it ensnared Tolkien fan and uninitiate alike. Each time it was an incredible thrill.

Next weekend, viewing number five...I can't wait!

[truffleoreocookie]

Ok, so when I saw the movie, these really dumb people were sitting behind us.So we are watching it, and they are all babbling on and on about various things. Well, you know the part where Frodo says:We shall go into the mines.?Well, the guy behind me said:"Uh oh.".And at the end of the movie, one of them said:"Hmmm.That was good.I wonder if they are going to make the other two."another says:"Well, they have to.They cant just leave it hanging like that."I thought that that was so dumb.

[ladyisme]

I have had to explain the cliff hanger to many members of my church choir. I can hardly wait to see the faces after the next movie, after all if they think that things are left hanging after FOTR just wait till they see the way TT ends.

"The road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began."

[CardenIAntauraNauco]

When my sister and brother-in-law went to see it there were a couple of people sitting in the back that were yelling obnoxious things throughout the entire movie. One of the most horrible offenses occured right after the death of Gandalf... A very emotional moment of the film in my opinion. After gandalf fell and they left the mines the theatre was quiet and they clapped so that the sound of their evenly spaced slow claps(with an obviously sarcastic implicacation)filled the whole room. They did the same thing after Boromir's death. I would have been infuriated... After the film.. they shouted "WHAT! THAT WAS THE WORST MOVIE EVER!" revealing their total lack of intelligence or previous knowlege of the book.

Morons...

[HOBBIT]

Well, I've been asking kids from my school if they have seen the movie, and if so, what they thought....here are some of the reactions:

"I liked the guy with the Sword." Wow! What an intelligent thing to say.....that could apply to everyone in the film, but I think he meant Aragorn.

Most were confused with the whole Strider is Aragorn thing.........I don't see why. I mean, in the book its far more confusing...he has what, 5 or 6 different names?? In the film, he has only two. In rivendell, they basically say "Ok, Strider is now Aragorn." So I don't see what the confusion is.

They thought it was a little long....

A reaction from one peer: "There will probably be a sequel." Wow, a real intelligent person there....I wanted to smack him.

When asked "Who is Arwen?" I got the response of "Who...?" Many had no clue who Gandalf was when asked...pathetic. Or some confused Gandalf with Saruman, vice versa (or thought they were the same person).

One moronic girl said that it was a scary movie. She was screaming, etc. She was afraid of the black riders and everything else...this is the same girl that doesn't do her work and claims to have read the Lord of the rings in two days....and yet she has no clue what it is about.

The BIGGEST response or comment was that of the ending. No one liked the ending. They don't like that they are kept in suspense....many couldn't believe that it was over and that there must be more. A lot of the students (and pathetically teachers) didn't know that there were going to be two more movies........I suggested reading the second book to find out what happens...but no..they don't do that reading thing.

[samwise of the shire]

Luckily I was'nt sitting with the teens who went to the premiere. And some of the people there cheered when the movie came on(who would'nt after a ten minute wait?)and I went along with the clapping at the end and when Aragorn kicks Lurtz(?)butt. I have noticed that at the end of the movie(every time I've gone and seen it) NOBODY talks when exiting the theater unless it's in whispers, other then that it's dead quiet. My Big Brother hardly said anything at the end. I was crying.
The kids at my churchs favorite character is "the guy who shoots the arrows fast and has the cool bow". And when I said"I cried when Boromir died"they said "Who's Boromir?" That's basically all the ignorance I got. Other than that I talk to my BFF and I get my Movie boost that way(when I'm not on the puter talkin' to you guys)
Sam
I might be going on the 11th with my friend, and then again on the 28th for my Birthday.

[emplynx]

I had to explain to a guy at school what the whole LotR story was and I heard a few people at the movie complaining when it ended, but I didn't here any thing near a dumb as some of you have heard!!!

[Renille]

My first two times watching it were mainly spent explaining the story to ignorant people...my little brother (okay, so he's taller than me...) the first time, and my two best friends the second time. Today I went alone. You have no idea how good that felt...I actually got to enjoy it in peace. Except for someone's ringing cell phone, the laughing from accross the way in inappropriate moments, and these kids who were running out to get more soda...one fell and started bawling. She was five years old at the most. Her dad didn't seem to want to take her out. It was approaching the death of Boromir,too. Finally, he took the incentive.
Anyway. As for ignorance, I experienced it, yes. My two friends didn't know who SAM was the next day, let alone Aragorn. And they referred to Legolas as 'the cute guy.' I'm happy to say, one of them is now reading the Two Towers. She has all three, but thought she knew everything to do with the "Fellowship." (This was the one who calls Legolas "the cute guy.") I tried to convince her otherwise...but I can't push it.
My brother had no interest at all, got nothing out of it, and didn't even know the story line. Wah.

[bropous]

Well, I've listed a few of the moronic buffoons I was plagued with, but I gotta admit, I think some of you folks got it worse than I did.

I'm fortunate because I've not spoken to someone who has seen the film but not read the books. I think I'll just concentrate on the vast majority of the audiences I have been part of who watched the movie respectful of the other theatergoers and who left the theater in a quiet, pensive mood.

[KGamgee]

Oh my gosh!
Some people are just idiots!
(Who is Boromir?? Who is Sam??? Oh my gosh)
My favorite was "I liked the guy with the Sword."
That's actually kinda sad.
I'm still laughing.

[Rána Eressëa]

I never encounted any idiots and I know no one who has ever read "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Everyone I talked to knew who all the characters were. I did hear a few interesting things while walking out of the theater, though...

"Man, did you see Legolas? I was like, 'dude, where's he getting all these arrows from?!'"

"That dwarf Gimli was my favorite. 'Let them come! There's still one dwarf in Moria who draws blood!' I swear, he's just like me."

First girl: "You know what? That big troll should've killed Frodo - he's nothing but a walking casuality."
Second girl: "But he's way too cute to die!"

And finally, the conversation with my brother...

Eric: "The only scene I did not like was when Frodo rescued Sam and they got all emotional and teary. That was pretty gay."
Me: "Oh, come on! It was not! If one of your friends was drowning you'd rescue him, too!"
Eric: "Not if he was that fat dumbass. Anyone who knows they can't swim but goes into water anyways deserves to die."
Me: "You're evil!"
Eric: "You know what I liked? How Frodo's sword glowed when Orcs were near."

*sighs* Sometimes I just don't understand him...

[bropous]

Er, Rogue Elf, the guy called Sam a "fat dumbass" and yet you claim you have never encountered any idiots? [wink!] I know, of course he's no idiot, he's your brother! I'd feel the same way...

Well, here's a living "dumbass" who is quite lucky to be posting. I also could not swim, as a kid, and ventured into deep water, and I ended up drowning, heart stopped, had to have CPR, near-death experience, the whole nine yards. You know what is so eerie, though? In the film, when Sam is drowning, the light of the Sun filtering through the water? That was the very last thing I saw before I succumbed. You talk about a director getting a detail right...you can bet your boots I cried at that scene!

And you can tell your brother for me thanks for him thinking I deserved to die...he must have been talking to Gollum! ROTFL!

All in good humor, my good hobbit....and welcome to the Moot!

[Entlover]

Hi, I saw the movie the first time with a bunch of old leftovers from the 60s (like me) who were totally respectful. Also took my 2 sons who loved it, including the 8 year old who sat through it without a peep and refused to even get up to visit the bathroom, he didn't want to miss a thing.
My priest liked it so much he recommended it in the church bulletin, which shows me that I'm in the right church.

[Rána Eressëa]

Originally posted by bropous
Er, Rogue Elf, the guy called Sam a "fat dumbass" and yet you claim you have never encountered any idiots? [wink!] I know, of course he's no idiot, he's your brother! I'd feel the same way...

Well, actually by dumbass I meant "someone who didn't know who the characters were". If I say dumbass as in "evil, semi-homophobe, cynical bastard" then that would count my brother

[Starr Polish]

Looking through some of these makes me laugh.

I liked the guy with the sword

::snort:: ::guffaw::

When I went to see the movie, I didn't even really want to go, but was with my dad, who had read it a long time ago, and had nothing else to do (divorced parents, my dad's weekend, yadda yadda). I'm one of those people that became a fan because of the movie It was really funny though, because throughout the movie I had to explain it to my dad! And I've also proven to my friend, whose almost done with the second book, that goblins and orcs are the same thing in Tolkien's Middle Earth.

Whooie.

[Gerbil]

I'm quite amazed at the stupidity of some of your US compatriots

I didn't have the same experiences.

- At the end it was not all quiet - but only insofar as people hadn't realised it was the end!
- When it had ended people grumbled, but not, I think because they didn't realise it was a trilogy, simply that people are so used to 'closure' in a film
- UK audiences don't tend to be so outwardly emotional during films. I can recall only a couple of cheering (death of errrr Lurtz is it at end?) and a few stiffled sobs when Gandalf apparently bites the big one.

I think PJ was very brave and was also handed a tough challenge with the endings of both Fotr and TTT. What is acceptable in literary way (the cliffhanger) has not really been done in the cinema. It seems to me people associate the cinema with a fixed slice of entertainment, whereas reading books is a much deeper affair. Hence people want happy endings in film (a crime Hollywood is VERY much guilty of. Fight Club springs to mind as a compeltely changed ending to make it happy). So people are less prepared to wait at the end of a film, especially a 3 hour one.

PJ has the unenviable task of producing this and the next film as part of a trilogy - IE films that DO NOT STAND ALONE. They don't, don't argue! You MUST watch them all to understand the whole thing. Compare this to other films with sequels - the Alien saga, Star Wars etc. Each film is a standalone (although The Empire Strikes Back comes closest to not giving closure).

Also, let's not forget that if you have read FotR and want to know what happens next, you read TTT. We have to wait ages for the next film