Book V - The War of the Ring
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9606056/Red%20Book%20V.avi
Fan Edits Discussion - Book V The War of the Ring
Fan Edits Discussion - Book V The War of the Ring
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Book V - The War of the Ring
Again, as we diverge further from the books it gets harder to make the footage fit, but once again Kerr does a great job here.
We start with the lighting of the Beacons as Gandalf and Pippin ride to Minas Tirith. Yep, they're already lit, as in the books. I'm sure this would make no sense to anyone not familiar with the books or the movies, but again, there's no dialogue to support it in the available footage. Denethor remains a jerk, but the scene plays out pretty much as it should.
I think at this stage we cut back to Aragorn seeing the Beacons. No hesitation from Théoden when he says "And Gondor will answer". This whole scene looks great, the muster at Dunharrow following straight after. Elrond brings Aragorn the sword and tells him to take the Paths of the Dead, as in the movie, but there's no "Arwens life is now tied to the fate of the ring". In fact we haven't seen Arwen since Rivendell. My kids are still capable of following the fact that "Éowyn fancies Strider but he already has a girlfriend". Even the 5 year old. I forgot how brilliant Miranda Otto is in these scenes. First her hopeful plea to Aragorn and then in her desolate responses to Théoden after she is rejected. We follow the three hunters into the Paths of the Dead, with no silly Gimli humour and no skull avalanche. PJ's Corsair cameo is cut, we only see up to "What say you?"
Now we cut back to Osgiliath I think. Faramir's rout and Gandalfs odd appearance carriying Pippin. I believe this was originally supposed to happen as they approached Minas Tirith for the first time. Anyway, in every version of the movie it seems bizarre than Gandalf would grab Pippin for a quick jaunt out to face down some Winged Nazgûl. However, it does show that even PJ did some editing that had worse continuity than Kerr has had to put up with, and he MADE the movie.
Pippin doesn't flub his oath and Denethor doesn't see a vision of Boromir. Faramir's scene with Denethor is spot on.The reveal of the Witch King is pretty much as before, and Gothmogs role is reduced quite a bit. The siege and Faramirs body are as they were, but Gandalf doesn't thwack Denethor. The attack on Minas Tirith is fantastic. Because of the lack of intercuts to Frodo, it feels relentless. Unfortunately we lose Pippins chat with Gandalf about death, because as in the book, he is with Faramir and Denethor.
The WItch King does not defeat Gandalf!Just as they are about to face off, he stops, turns to look and we cut to the Rohirrim. Again this is all fantastic, and the editing here is great along with the Mumakil arrival. Éowyn vs Wiki is tightened up a little, but mostly is far better simply cause it isn't intercut with other stuff. She says farewell to Théoden, and we cut to Aragorn and the Dead's Arrival. Ok, here it feels like even more of a Deus Ex Machina, because following after the previous scenes it feels like all their effort was wasted, and they could have just waited for Aragorn to come and wipe the whole army off the face of Middle Earth. Not really Kerrs fault though.
Back to the pyre of Denethor. This is much better. Shadowfax doesn't kick him onto the Pyre and he doesn't do the Denethor Flambé run. On the field of battle Pippin finds Merry and Éomer finds Éowyn.The Last Debate goes ahead with no Captain Obvious, and Aragorn challenges Sauron through the palantír with no sign of weakness. Incidentally, there has been no sightings of the Giant Eyeball on Barad-dûr in the entire movie.
Aragorn still beheads the Mouth of Sauron, but it was worth it to see the kids reaction when he throws the mithril shirt at Gandalf. Remember, the last they saw of Frodo was when he was captured by orcs. The movie finishes with "The Eagles are Coming!"
Again, as we diverge further from the books it gets harder to make the footage fit, but once again Kerr does a great job here.
We start with the lighting of the Beacons as Gandalf and Pippin ride to Minas Tirith. Yep, they're already lit, as in the books. I'm sure this would make no sense to anyone not familiar with the books or the movies, but again, there's no dialogue to support it in the available footage. Denethor remains a jerk, but the scene plays out pretty much as it should.
I think at this stage we cut back to Aragorn seeing the Beacons. No hesitation from Théoden when he says "And Gondor will answer". This whole scene looks great, the muster at Dunharrow following straight after. Elrond brings Aragorn the sword and tells him to take the Paths of the Dead, as in the movie, but there's no "Arwens life is now tied to the fate of the ring". In fact we haven't seen Arwen since Rivendell. My kids are still capable of following the fact that "Éowyn fancies Strider but he already has a girlfriend". Even the 5 year old. I forgot how brilliant Miranda Otto is in these scenes. First her hopeful plea to Aragorn and then in her desolate responses to Théoden after she is rejected. We follow the three hunters into the Paths of the Dead, with no silly Gimli humour and no skull avalanche. PJ's Corsair cameo is cut, we only see up to "What say you?"
Now we cut back to Osgiliath I think. Faramir's rout and Gandalfs odd appearance carriying Pippin. I believe this was originally supposed to happen as they approached Minas Tirith for the first time. Anyway, in every version of the movie it seems bizarre than Gandalf would grab Pippin for a quick jaunt out to face down some Winged Nazgûl. However, it does show that even PJ did some editing that had worse continuity than Kerr has had to put up with, and he MADE the movie.
Pippin doesn't flub his oath and Denethor doesn't see a vision of Boromir. Faramir's scene with Denethor is spot on.The reveal of the Witch King is pretty much as before, and Gothmogs role is reduced quite a bit. The siege and Faramirs body are as they were, but Gandalf doesn't thwack Denethor. The attack on Minas Tirith is fantastic. Because of the lack of intercuts to Frodo, it feels relentless. Unfortunately we lose Pippins chat with Gandalf about death, because as in the book, he is with Faramir and Denethor.
The WItch King does not defeat Gandalf!Just as they are about to face off, he stops, turns to look and we cut to the Rohirrim. Again this is all fantastic, and the editing here is great along with the Mumakil arrival. Éowyn vs Wiki is tightened up a little, but mostly is far better simply cause it isn't intercut with other stuff. She says farewell to Théoden, and we cut to Aragorn and the Dead's Arrival. Ok, here it feels like even more of a Deus Ex Machina, because following after the previous scenes it feels like all their effort was wasted, and they could have just waited for Aragorn to come and wipe the whole army off the face of Middle Earth. Not really Kerrs fault though.
Back to the pyre of Denethor. This is much better. Shadowfax doesn't kick him onto the Pyre and he doesn't do the Denethor Flambé run. On the field of battle Pippin finds Merry and Éomer finds Éowyn.The Last Debate goes ahead with no Captain Obvious, and Aragorn challenges Sauron through the palantír with no sign of weakness. Incidentally, there has been no sightings of the Giant Eyeball on Barad-dûr in the entire movie.
Aragorn still beheads the Mouth of Sauron, but it was worth it to see the kids reaction when he throws the mithril shirt at Gandalf. Remember, the last they saw of Frodo was when he was captured by orcs. The movie finishes with "The Eagles are Coming!"
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
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Voronwë the Faithful
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Other than the beheading of the MoS, almost as good as I could imagine, given what they were working with. A truly inspired job. Loved the witchking confrontations, particularly with Gandalf.
On to Book Six.
On to Book Six.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."