What are the stakes of this side-challenge, I hear you online film aficionados asking... only a free ice cream from Cold Stone (just as soon as Kate and I get to the States, that is)!!! 12.5 hours, 4 snack breaks and 6 toilet trips later, the challenge was done.
Kate should have known better.
Synoahpsis, "The Fellowship of the Ring":
The first of the three installments of this saga had me absolutely riveted from very start. Actually, that's a lie; I've fallen asleep during all 4 of my previous attempts to see this movie. This time, I was considerably more interested in the film, especially as there was so much at stake. Knowing my propensity to loose interest in the realm of Middle Earth, I thought it would be best to try to really keep up and delve into Tolkein's world. I therefore switched on the subtitles, and followed the progress of the story according to my map of Middle Earth on the back of my DVD case.
Suddenly, it all made sense. I found that, with a bit of scope and geographical awareness, it was much easier to get into the story, and I ended up loosing myself in the film.
The first part of the adventure begins with Frodo getting a super creepy ring from old Bilby. The tall and eventually shiny guy tells him it's sort of a big deal, and he's now being hunted down for his new bling, and he needs to leg it before the baddies get there. The adventure begins.
To make a long story unjustifiably short, 4 short dudes, an eventually shiny guy, a garden gnome (but not in a garden), one of Santa's helpers, and to tall chaps with swords all set out from the North pole to throw the ring in the fires of Mt. Doom because Royal Mail didn't exist yet. They battle some evil guys, get about halfway there and disband. Roll credits.
I should have done this review before watching the other two films, because, in light of them, this whole film was just 3 hours of exposition for some good times to follow.
The best bit:
The whole film is a glowing example of epic cinematography and amazing story-telling. My favorite scene would have to be whole of the passing through the mines of Moria. From the reading of the dwarves journal to the plummet of Gandalf, It was one of those edge-of-your-seat bits of the story.
Marks out of 10: 7.1
Synoahpsis, "The Two Towers":
Ah, this was a lovely bit of film now. The fellowship's interests have been divided. There's the obvious tossing of the ring to be considered, but the kingdom of Rohan gets all attacked and whatnot, but their possessed king, Theoden, didn't seem too helpful. The whole of Edoras has to be moved to Helm's Deep for fear of obliteration from the orcs armies of Mordor, and that's just not fun for anyone. I don't remember how Merry and Pippin end up going to the forest of Fangorn, but the ents are awesome. Pretty much from the moment you meet the giant tree dudes, you want them to join the fight against Sarumon (whose name seems far too close to Sauron for coherence, I mean, c'mon J.R.) but this takes a while.
You would have thought that when Frodo and Sam get to the black gate that the series would have to be nearly over, but hey, it's only the halfway point. Anyway, there's a big battle that happens, humans win (score), Isengard falls to some flooding (which seems like it wouldn't take an army of trees to accomplish... maybe just some fireworks?) and Frodo gets even closer to Mordor with the help of Gollum/Smeagol, so everyone's happy.
Oh, and the eventually shiny guy turns up after a battle with a dragon or something like that all shiny now, which I think is more flattering. I still need to clear some points up about the shininess with Kate before too much time goes by.
The best bit:
While the battle for Helm's Deep was pretty epic indeed, it wasn't my favorite part. I enjoyed everything that happened in Fangorn really... it looked like a lovely forest to be in, and the slow meeting conducted in Entish reminded me of many a church meeting in the past!
Marks out of 10: 9.2
Synoahpsis, "The Return of the King":
Almost there! This film, 4 hours long as an extended edition, pretty much dwarfed all of the other movies and battles put together in scale. By the time I got to this film, I knew where everything was, thanks to my handy map of Middle Earth, and I appreciated the story line thickening up a bit with the addition of Boromir's family history.
I love when filmmakers know you know the films they've made. The opening of the film saw Smeagol murdering his brother over the ring of power... a nice little detail you don't pick up in the other films. This is odd, but not uncharacteristic of Gollum. His story is so intertwined with the ring's that it's very fitting that the beginning of the series and the end of the ring heavily involve him. Starting the film out this way just sort of echoes the ring's violent nature and brings in tension to the story of Frodo, Sam and Gollum, which gets the most screen time in this film.
Anyway, Helm's Deep turns out to be fine. The folks at Mordor don't like that, so why not attack Mina Tirith? Story lines build and converge on this huge battle, which, I'm happy to say, the goodies win (sorry for the spoiler). Oh, and Frodo, minus one finger, does manage to get rid of the ring, so woo!
Then some confusing things happen in a series of scenes which make it look like the film is about to end (something that can be very frustrating in the 11th hour and 49th minute of watching the series), but end it does. I think I still have to have a proper chat with Kate about boats, but it was a nice end to an amazing tale.
I can't believe I've been so hard on or at least ambivalent about these films. There is so much detail in the story that I want to actually read the books (someday), and so much work put into production that I want to check out other films directed by Peter Jackson. Good thing King Kong is on my list!
The best bit:
There were so many it's hard to choose, but I really did like seeing Sam rescue Frodo from the top of a tower in the middle of Mordor. Watching that scene start, I actually said aloud "Now how the heck is Frodo gonna get out of that one?" It did seem a bit unlikely that Sam would have been able to get up so quickly and so lacking in flesh wounds, but good for him.
Marks out of 10: 9.1
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