{ Sunday, January 18, 2004 }
Having drunk one of those movie house drinks suitable for birdbaths, and having been watching the movie for 3.5 hours, I was ready for The End of The Return of the King so I could stake my place in the ladies room bathroom queue. But it would not end, boy, it would not. I thought it ended several times, including when:
- Sauron was extinguished
- The battle was won
- Aragorn was crowned king
- Aragorn married the soft-focus elfbabe
- The Hobbits returned to the Shire
- Sam married the buxom hobbitbabe
- Frodo gave Sam the book
- Bilbo & Gandalf showed up again
But of course it didn't end until Frodo, Bilbo and other selected folks said their endless goodbyes and floated off into a Maxfield Parrish neverland. After Aragorn married the soft-focus elfbabe I got up and stood by the exit door at the back and was thereby able to avoid the lineup altogether.
LINK | 12:22 PM | TB
Tragically, tragically overwrought..... it should have cut from the eagles saving Sam and Frodo to the coronation and collective royal bow to the halflings, and be done with it.
tim | January 18, 2004 6:59 PMHey - it was a great movie! Yeah, the last third was a tapestry woven of previously untied-up ends. But it was cool nonetheless.
Well, to me, anyway. And all the rest of my D&D geek friends, who all knew it was 3.5 hours long and avoided liquids.
And stuff.
Plurp | January 18, 2004 7:17 PMHeh, the film actually *left out* part of the ending. In between 5 and 6 there's a major scene that would probably have added another 15 minutes or so to the film. I'm disappointed it was left out, it actually adds a lot to the book. Jackson could have left out other scenes instead.
The whole 'floating off to the Grey Havens' bit was necessary thematically, I think. It added a lot to the film, rather than just ending when Aragorn was crowned.
Simon | January 19, 2004 11:34 AMMore evidence that the story were better told in prose than moving pictures.
Vanlal | January 19, 2004 11:45 PMSF Chronicle (or Gate) argued in an article about the time of ROTK's release that the latest LOTR installment proves that while people will endure 3.5 hour films if movies are good enough, their bladders may not. 3.5 hour films and birdbath big-gulp type soda drinks are not a good combo! Imagine watching the entire trilogy for 10+ hours!! Thank God for those Aragorn/elfbabe moments when you can sneak into the loo and return just in time for the next action scenes.
Gino | January 20, 2004 9:10 PM"The grey havens" was always ,to me at least, the most powerful part of the story. It brings the reader/viewer back to reality. Even if the battle is "Won" sacrifices will have been made and many things lost that can never be regained. In my opinion it lends a modernity and gravity to all that came before.
diane | February 15, 2004 12:10 PMHow can you say that they should have left out the departure to the Grey Havens? That is quite possibly the most important part in the story! But I do think they should have left out Sam marrying Rosie and put in the Scouring instead.
Victorinia | May 24, 2004 12:29 PM{ Post a comment }
You are not alone. Heaven knows how long the 'extended edition' on DVD will be!
Gordon | January 18, 2004 4:17 PM