I thought I was enjoying it as I watched and then the ending just kind of snapped me into reality.
Spoiler!
I really think the giant eagle/falcons are a huge lazy plot device. I found myself once again muttering under my breath on the walk to my car "they should just be starting the damn movies with these huge birds and save everyone the trouble of hours of walking".
Was it as good as the trilogy? No and that's not a fair comparison. On it's own, stacked up against Spiderman reboot 1000, Superman reboot 404 billion, yes it's amazing. Vs any of the LOTR movies it certainly left me wondering what went wrong. A lot of unanswered questions and general sloppiness, and I can see why critics don't seem to be getting on board.
I did like a number of things but overall I think I've left fairly disappointed. Maybe after I sleep this off I'll feel better about it.
My favorite part is when you nevertheless went to the movie on opening day.
As for the movie, rewatched some of the 70s RankinBass animation recently, and am always struck how much of that stuff is echoed by Jackson's movies. Wouldn't be suprised to find out he has watched them a time or two.
My brother works for a promotions company, and got free passes. Of course, I'd be an idiot not to go see a free film, right? RIGHT?!
Well I can think of one problem with trying to fly into Mordor..
Spoiler!
Few more reasons.. first off this was a secret mission, nobody was supposed to know what they were actually doing.. or as few people as possible. The eagles are also very smug, they are of the same order as the Ents and do not really care what any other race is doing unless it directly affects them, and up in their 'ivory towers' they just look down upon everyone.
Gandalf was also worried that they would take the ring for themselves and betray the Fellowship. Eagles love shiny things as you may or may not see in later Hobbit movies.. it motivates them to do things they normally wouldn't do. For the same reason that Gandalf himself could not carry the ring (temptation) he feared to trust anyone else with it but that which had showed a great deal of restraint (Frodo).
Also, like they said in the third movie, they can't win the war by shear strength of numbers. The distraction was a great ploy, but trying to get an eagle (that is clearly visible in the sky) even close to mount doom would have been suicide. If a nazgul didn't pick you off then certainly one of the 100,000 archers would have. A lot harder to get past a searching eye when you are in the sky than crawling under bushes and shrubs on the ground. The sky they would expect and watch intently, the back door with two little Hobbits? (remember how well these guys can sneak around) Not likely.
In the end it was decided that the risk was far too great to try and bulldoze their way to the mountain, so the alternative route was picked.
/nerd
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Last edited by GreenLantern; 12-18-2012 at 10:01 AM.
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to GreenLantern For This Useful Post:
Well I can think of one problem with trying to fly into Mordor..
Spoiler!
Thats the thing though, at the end of the trilogy the great eagles fly into mordor. So it's established that they can do it. We can become comic book guy and professor frink all you like but the movie established they can fly to mordor.
In this movie,
Spoiler!
the great eagles/falcons whatever clearly can carry these dudes long distances. Why did they drop them off so far away from the mountain? If I was Bilbo I'd be like "Hey Gandalf.. why are they flying away? Tell them to chill out for a minute and then have them fly us the rest of the way". I dunno. Just bothers me as being a lazy plot device. The rest of the books/movies are so deep and complex it comes off as baffling to me.
Right, after the ring was destroyed and Sauron's power was shattered.
We do not see Eagles in Mordor any time before that.
Also:
Spoiler!
You act as if these Eagles are commanded by Gandalf. They are a Valar race, they are in their minds superior to everyone around them. The only reason Gandalf is able to call upon these favours is because he is of the same stature as them and the Eagle Lord owes him small debts along the plot lines. (There is a really big one I am not sure if I can spoil or not if you haven't read the book that explains any co operation they will find in this novel.)
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Last edited by GreenLantern; 12-18-2012 at 10:16 AM.
If you're familiar with the books, you know why the eagles weren't involved, but that isn't communicated to the audience in the films. To someone who has only seen the movies, it looks like sloppy writing as the main characters are repeatedly saved by deus ex aquila.
The Following User Says Thank You to MarchHare For This Useful Post:
You act as if these Eagles are commanded by Gandalf. They are a Valar race, they are in their minds superior to everyone around them. The only reason Gandalf is able to call upon these favours is because he is of the same stature as them and the Eagle Lord owes him small debts along the plot lines. (There is a really big one I am not sure if I can spoil or not if you haven't read the book that explains any co operation they will find in this novel.)
Re your spoiler:
Spoiler!
Again, none of that is communicated to an audience that is only familiar with the films, not the books (like my wife, for example). The only thing film viewers see is Gandalf whispering a command to a moth and then a few minutes later the eagles show up to save the day. It very much looks like Gandalf is using his magic to make the eagles do his bidding.
The Following User Says Thank You to MarchHare For This Useful Post:
Again, none of that is communicated to an audience that is only familiar with the films, not the books (like my wife, for example). The only thing film viewers see is Gandalf whispering a command to a moth and then a few minutes later the eagles show up to save the day. It very much looks like Gandalf is using his magic to make the eagles do his bidding.
Ya good point, I just assume that everyone knows the back story that you would get from the books and understands the relationship all of the races have.
Think of the Eagles as Canuck fans, the smugness is off the charts.
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to GreenLantern For This Useful Post:
thanks for the explanations, it really helps to clear that up.
that being said it really should have been clarified better in the movies, as stated before.
and give the people who complain about the length of the movies even more reason to whine about their bladder? maybe in the 5 hour super deluxe extended director's cut edition.
even if they did want to put that in though, I get the feeling they wanted to limit the anthropomorphism when possible, at least in the LOTR trilogy. it was a challenge doing the talking trees without making it look silly admist all that dark material...having a bunch of giant birds talking and acting like deebags might have gone over the edge.
I finally get to go watch it tonight! This has been the longest wait ever! Never promise to wait for someone to go see a movie.
__________________
The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the Company is true. Go Flames Go!
It did look really fast at the start, and ya it did make it look fake... weird.. almost like a low budget camera.
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
It did look really fast at the start, and ya it did make it look fake... weird.. almost like a low budget camera.
I thought the same thing about HD when it first came out. Everything looked like a daytime soap opera. Especially if you were watching HD format on an SD screen. Maybe its the projectors that need an upgrade or something.
__________________
The Following User Says Thank You to Coach For This Useful Post:
