*hugs* yay

Woohoo!!!! Been waiting for that one.

Bro this is cursed. Kyle Hill just released a lord of the Rings Video. This is confusing.

Ooooh, The Batman, eh? I imagine it will be a long two parts xD Also, respectfully, episode 82 of requesting my favourite film of all time, The Princess Bride :P

Thank you, I was waiting on this one 👍🏽

It's awesome how good actors can add so much to what was written years before to add character, world building and emotion to something that is already well written.

@@user-yv4mm6bx3c It's part of what gives the films their own unique touch. I grew up reading Lord of the Rings, and feel the films are an outstanding interpretation of the literary masterpiece the book is.

@@rikk319 Agreed! I honestly can't remember a time when Tolkien's work wasn't part of my life. Sure, I remember reading LotR for the first time, but The Hobbit had been a bedtime story for me *long* before that.

And that's why I get chills when I hear that line

i wont lie i thought theoden was played by Kenneth Branagh my whole life, maybe its the eyes

He's honestly got one of the most expressive faces in the movie industry. Much deserved.

@@austininkosi1494 the dude is just a human cartoon

That’s awesome, so awesome.

And they continued the voice/mocap duality with Smaug/Cumberbatch in the Hobbit movies.

And then the effects team completely revamped the Gollum model to look more like Serkis. The Gollum we kinda briefly see in FotR looks very different from the Gollum we come to know in the rest of the trilogy.

Yeah :) She sent Gwaihir the Eagle, however you spell his name haha.

@@Dilmahkana yah, off top of my head is something like Gandalf saying during his tale to the three Hunters: ' "Do not let me fall!," (for I felt life returning), "bear me to Lothlorien" ' . To which Gwaihir responds "That is indeed the command of the Lady Galadriel, who sent me to seek for you"

@@RatelRegalement yup bang on. I just read that bit the other day haha

No need for the accent in her name

How else was he getting a new staff and Wizard robes?

I just read this bit in the book, and Hama (the one who meets them at the door) says a good man must trust his intuition, and he senses no ill intent from the boys so let's them with the staff through. Broke his orders but a deeper a sense of "right" took him.

Omg my husband and I just talked about this on our most recent rewatch and I’ve never read the book and he hasn’t read it in a super long time so he didn’t remember.

Yup, they even flat put pull a guard back to let Gandalph do his thing, once. They all wanted it.

Lovely to know that someone else has watched all the Appendices. My kids roll their eyes at me when I come up with cool things from the "making of" parts.

No other movie has ever, *ever* had such devotion and love, and theres only enough that you could count on one hand, how many other films have had such an amazing man involved as Viggo Genuinely just such an amazing guy

He also kept the hors who was "Brego" in the movie because he had bonded with it.

@@scloftin8861 I have a 'bad' habit of adding my own 'subtitles'/commentary to movies (particularly when watching at home with friends) and one while watching The Two Towers made us stop the movie for nearly half an hour because we couldn't stop laughing. In the scene where Aeowyn is passing out the stew she made (so bad that even Gimli turns it down with an "I couldn't possibly"), Aragorn takes a bite and freezes - the Dunedin ranger who has dined on tree bark and squirrel droppings, and her stew is the vilest thing he has ever put into his mouth. They discuss his history (and age) a bit before she excuses herself and says "Please, eat." I have no idea where it came from but, when Aragorn looks up at her with that split-second baleful glare, I muttered (in my best Aragorn voice) "Don't threaten *me* woman." Granted, our peculiar shared interests were probably the biggest factor, but it landed so perfectly that everyone burst out laughing - then, just when everything seemed to be dying down, we'd glance at each other, someone would chuckle, and that set everyone off again. It's lost its punch over the years but that line still brings a smile to the face of everyone who was there at that moment. Again, I admit that the way it landed probably had a lot to do with our little group but I can't help but wonder what reactions it would get from other people in other groups - particularly if it was dropped on them without warning.

@@twylanaythias 😆😆😆 That is the only scene in the extended editions that i skip if I am paying attention. That trope annoyed me 'cause this woman has been supervising her uncle's household ... of course she doesn't cook ... I can see how that comment would set everyone off.

The way he slips into his roles is “fucking diabolical”

@@Nick-zl5xf I understood that reference!

I want more Dredd movies and I want him in a proper Doom Slayer movie.

Second only to Gary Oldman in terms unrecognizable when in character. imo

@@Tanstaafl_74 Oldman is an absolute monster when it comes to unrecognizable roles, and he kills it every time. Urban, however, has been in so many franchises of beloved properties. LOTR, Marvel, DC (kinda), Dredd, Star Trek, Riddick, Doom, the Bourne series. The guy is playing in every sandbox every kid wishes they could play in.

There were a lot of acting performances that weren't recognized with Oscar nods--Ian MacKellen, Brad Dourif, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, and Andy Serkis most of all.

HE'S NOT FROM THE WEST COUNTRY??? Jesus christ

Sean Astin's portrayal makes Sam one of my top 5 favorite movie characters of all time. He's just phenomenal in this role - like he was MADE for it.

I always wondered how good of an accent that was, I’m not from the UK but it always sounded pretty convincing to me. I’m happy to found out it really was as good as I always believed

Great piece of trivia! I agree he absolutely kills it in this role. You can't just not love Sam.

I was wondering why this wasn't mentioned already. 🤔 I love Craig Parker's performance.

Didn't Viggo adopt the horse after filming?

@@MarthadelPilarMoreno He did. He built up a huge trust with that horse--having a 600-800 pound animal kneeling that close to you can be deadly. The man truly was meant to play Aragorn.

@@MarthadelPilarMoreno Yep. Bought the horse and also bought the white horse Arwen rode and gave it to Liv's stunt rider.

Also it was literally a trained horse. So that too.

He’s wonderful

He didn't even want to take the role until his kids made him do it according to the extended edition commentary. So we owe his kids a huge Thank you LoL

Makes me think of how Harrison Ford was in his mid-30's before he got the life-changing role of Han Solo that really kicked off his career

Before LotR, I only knew Viggo from playing the first officer of the nuclear sub in Crimson Tide.

@@rikk319 wait, what?? I didn’t realize that was him! Lol

yes but he still made an oath in the books he let frodo to Shelob while he deals with sam

Exactly what happened. The movie does a great job of showing without telling.

Leaning on the fourth wall a bit!

He and Dante would get along great.

They do t even go to Osgiloath in the books as book Faramir based on the type of soldier that existed out of the World Wars (as in they had to actually think for themselves instead of revolve around valor and honor) sends them on their way with s9me provisions even though he knows his father won't like it.

It's called being extra :p

@@bemasaberwyn55 it’s just so… precious…

Gollum is an addict, and anyone who's known an addict knows they can be melodramatic over their issues...Jackson wrote the script well enough to show this, and Serkis acted brilliantly to reveal it. Tolkien portrayed Gollum like this to an extent, but this is really something that the movie shines over.

@@rikk319 yes

I completely agree. And not just for this. Andy's filmography is filled to bursting with amazing roles and voice work. He's almost singlehandedly written the book on mocap work and is usually either instrumental in, or an advisor in any film that showcases extreme amounts of it. But because the Academy is old and antiquated, it refuses to create a category for or even recognize mocap as legitimate acting. And that's simply criminal. Quite frankly, I think the Oscars is outdated garbage...a reason for Hollywood to celebrate itself and pat itself on the back. But, for actors dealing in the craft, having an Oscar MEANS something. It has weight and it shifts careers. And I get that. So, as unnecessary as I personally think it is, I hope that one day the Academy undergoes some fundamental changes. And if that day ever comes, I feel like Andy will be the first to receive a belated/retroactive/honorary award. Because he deserves it.

When filming was over, many of the actors performed a haka to honor the "kings", Bernard and Viggo. Then Viggo started doing a forehead bump with them, and he ended up with a bruise by the time he'd bumped everyone's head. :/

iirc they went to a full cricket stadium and told all the fans to cheer as loud as they could and thats the sound that they played for the army and over layed it with the 100 stunt guys doing the haka.

@@rinzzler366 that was definitely one of the battles.

My favorite line of his is the "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry YOU!", that just makes me cry all the manly-tears. 😭

It's a little rubbery, but not as rubbery as some of the fights in Blade II.

That's the absolute worst moment in this trilogy. It is so bad, it almost brings all the hard work of the trilogy itself crashing down. Why didn't Jackson just do a quick insert closeup of him mounting a horse on the run from the side or something?

@@jondunmore4268that stunt was supposed to be practical actually. But Orlando Bloom’s ribs were still broken. So they had to CG it in post.

So true. Cinema Wins and Bob Ross. Positive energy much needed

Then you have his evil twin, cinemasins. Hate thay guy, ruins all my favorite movies

@@MINECAT3 I can't stand to watch CinemaSins honestly, sucks out all the life and enjoyment

@@MINECAT3 evil twin would imply that cinemasins is competent like cinemawins I would say cinemasins is more like a guy who has delusions he's a great critic when really he is only relevant because most people use him as a preview for a movie and don't care about the sins

My I point those that see this toward r/wholesomememes... if you like :)

They really did catch lightning in a bottle. Who knows if anything like it will ever be possible again, but I'm so glad I was able to experience it.

I remember Peter Jackson saying something about shooting scenes from all three movies before the first one had to come out. And aparently they had shit so many scenes already that the studio was like, we're too deep now make 3 movies

@@koraydemir9255 The movies were filmed concurrently, so yes they shot all three movies before the first one came out I think that particular thing about being "in too deep" was referring to pre-production (writing, planning, set-building, prop-making, etc)

Two movies would never have worked. We would have lost sooo much of the story, and a lot of it important. I'm beyond happy that they decided to do three, and that they did extended editions for all three. I love the books and movies, it's my favorite story.

When they made the films and the 'making of' docs Harvey Weinstein was in his prime and so they had to suck up to him a lot and (IIRC) at some point Sir Christopher Lee, a man who's boots Weinstein would never be worthy to touch, had to credit him on film as being the wise and sagacious guy that said the films had to be a trilogy and so on, years later, after the fall of Weinstein, we find out HE wanted there to be just two films, he wanted the Battle of Helm's Deep to be smooshed together with the battle at the Black Gate, he wanted one of the Halflings to die... For all the shit the Jackson crew get for the changes they make to the film, they had to fight like Gandalf to stop Harvey Balrog from destroying the film.

Never forget; "Mr Frodo, I might not be able to throw it in for you, but I can throw you in!"

Thank you for this!! Gonna have to find it

No wonder too. Not only he was one of the tallest in the cast, he was also one of the better built. Then add those axes and yeah, bruises are guaranteed.

Apparently John Rhys-Davies was a terror to fight against because: He was allergic to the glue for his prosthetics, making his face and eyes swell partially closed, His helmet limited his peripheral vision, and He didn't really learn his fight choreography, preferring to give Gimli a very basic hack and slash fighting style of basically hitting whichever stuntman presented himself next.

I agree, it makes you care about them more seeing them as sympathetic characters. I love boromir and wanted more

So does that make Return of the King the Return of the Jedi of the Lord of the Rings trilogy?

@@erichfiedler1481 Or maybe The Return of The Lord of The Jedi?

Not exactly comparable since LOTR was one long book that was published in 3 parts for ecomonic reasons, whereas Empire is a "simple", normal sequel. One continuous, very long story vs. one more story that can have different themes, etc.

So…it’s an overrated grimdark sequel? Also comparing Empire to this film, which had the most egregious deviations from the book (Faramir being a completely different person is a MUCH bigger issue than an army of ghosts), is not the W you think it is.

@@OneTrueVikingbard something something worse than the book is not the humble brag you think it is

Living vicariously through your group as my friend group is currently trying to plan such a weekend

Same here, I've been watching it on Amazon Prime LoL

The beauty of the algorithm it encourages everyone to engage with the same pop culture property at the same time.

@@tatehildyard5332 sometimes algorithms are a positive

Well, you gotta do what you gotta do to rinse that awful taste of RoP from your mouth

Oscars mean nothing..... Films win oscars every year.... By your logic, that means they change how films are made. Such a dumb statement to make. LOTR is beyond any and all awards; you lower them by acting as if a stupid award is something that elevates the film

Sending you love and strength. Hope you're doing as good as you can. ❤️

I’m sorry to hear that. You should check out a KZfaq channel called Living waters.

And voiced by Andy Serkis I think!

I guess it must've been a long time since you read the books, because Faramir does meet Frodo and Sam. The part that's not in the books is him taking them to Osgiliath. In the books, Faramir just listens to the hobbits' story; and even after they accidentally say that they have the One Ring with them, he lets them go, already knowing that the power of the Ring is not for Gondor to use. They changed that in the movies because it would've undermined the tempting powers of the Ring, and because this way we could see some character growth in Faramir.

@@rozatoth1934 I think there may have been even a third reason: If the enconter with Faramir would have gone down like in the book the Frodo/Sam-Stroyline would have been very short, maybe even too short.

I went back and saw that, looks like a boot I think

I'm never going to not see that now. lol Good eye.

@1 In Everything Great With King Kong: Skull Island, Cinema Wins points out a helicopter that’s flying backwards

@@SweetCandyDragon I haven't seen that episode. I'll have to check it out. I only saw the movie once.

@1 I’ve never finished the movie. I quit when the guy got carried off by birds and his arm was cut off by one of them. I’m perfectly able to watch reviews of it though lol

I remember noticing that, too. Legolas looking like, "I KNEW my people would have our backs..." Of course, it's high elves from Rivendell, not sylvan elves from Mirkwood...and Haldir, who is a sylvan elf from Lothlorien, lead by two high elves in Galadriel and Celeborn.

It makes it even better because in one of the scenes before theodon mocks legolas by saying to aragorn "who will come to our aid, elves? Dwarves? We are not so fortunate in our allies as you" and then bam, the elves are there

You had it on vhs? Was it on 2 tapes or just one?

@@adamthompson4072 i have the original vhs of the trilogy. first 2 movies are 1 tape each. only RotK is 2 tapes

They must have been some of the last movies to come out on VHS lol

@@ryangraham2459 I have the extended editions on both VHS and DVD. Each movie is 2 tapes. I can only remember that the break in FotR for the tapes is at the Doors of Durin. I forget where it is in the others.

@@user-kn6dq8uw2p They were released in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The first DVD was Twister, in 1997. The last VHS was A History of Violence in 2005 (hey, another Viggo movie).

i've broke plenty of bones and never once "almost fainted" from the pain

@@pyropulseIXXI I mean, okay? Maybe this one was a particularly bad broken toe, or maybe he was exhausted after a long day of acting.

Agreed. But let's not forget he was also lucky to avoid the worst director razzie for Venom 2.

Sir Christopher WAS always a win. RIP Sir Christopher.

His teacher has said Viggo was the best swordsman he ever trained.

@@25Erix yes and he had trained the great Errol Flynn as well. He was amazed by Viggo.

It's a thread from the books that hasn't translated into the film. In the books iirc, Saruman completely blocks out the sun to allow for easier orc travel, and the siege lasts several days. So dawn on the fifth day was the first sun they'd seen, and really showed how strong Gandalf had become (having the ability to both entirely foresee Saruman's plan and negate his magic)

Agreed, I loved The League, and how it made out these classical literary characters as the super heroes of their time.

I'd love to see an EGA about Big Trouble in Little China and The Monster Squad.

@@HeatRaver Dorian Gray was my favorite 😍 Especially in that scene where his place was ambushed and he was just casually strolling around stabbing people

How do you know some of my fav campy movies? Love these both

Most likely, his ring also had the power to kindle the flame of hope in men.

That's a lie.

@@randallflagg3700 How so? Pretty sure any doctor watching that scene would know the signs of concussion. And he didn't look all there either.

@@25Erix - Because the Viggo/Lurtz knife throw "fun fact" *never happened* . It's just a legend that started when some people on fan sites misunderstood a comment PJ and Fran Walsh made during one of the commentary tracks of TFOTR. The actor who play Lurtz (an the Witch King, and Gothmog, and Bolg in "The Hobbit"), his stunt double, and Viggo's stunt doubles all said that this never happened, and they're not sure where that story stemmed from (at every fan convention they attend they're always someone who bring it up because they read it online...) If you don't believe me, just look for a source for that "fun story", you won't find anything aside from fan sites repeating what they read on some old forum or wiki article.

It's a testament to sound design. And to audio engineers in general. The dialogue in this scene was probably substituted later in ADR, so they could get clean voices, and there was no foley added for the sword falling out of the sheath, therefore, it wasn't highlighted, and no on noticed it. When something is absolutely silent, its focus is lost.

@@jondunmore4268 If I’m not mistaken, that was actually one of the only scenes to not undergo ADR. Jackson thought it turned out perfect and they kept it “as-is”. You can tell, too. Some of their voices sound a little quiet. Another scene that was left untouched was the little girl getting on the horse crying to her mom as they were leaving Rohan.

Have you actually read the books? If so, you would know that Tolkien only has one elf fighting at Helm's Deep - Legolas. What you see in the movie is Peter Jackson thinking he can outdo the creator of Middle Earth 😒

@@mikelarsen5836 Darn right

I don't think he specifically says Helm's Deep but he does say the trees have business with orcs (or something to that effect). Nice foreshadowing Also I don't think they were Ents, I think they were regular Fangorn Forest trees. All the Ents went to Isengard

@@DreamyAileen I believe the in-universe name for them is Huorns. They’re trees that, like the ents, were awakened by the elves speaking to them and have some degree of awareness and mobility. However they either never achieved full sentience or lost it over the ages.

@@chrayez This. The distinction is never made in the films themselves, but in the source material the Huorns are a thing somewhat apart from and definitely a _lot_ less 'nice' than the Ents. They're a darker, much more primal spirit: maybe they were once trees that were influenced by the walking, sentient Ents in ages past, or maybe they were once Ents who became more like the trees they guarded; by the late Third Age of Middle-earth, it seems impossible to tell anymore. Either way, they're creatures of the deepest, gnarliest, most shadowy parts of the ancient forests, long to brood and slow to move - but when they do, they seem to _carry_ that shadow with them. They have no love at all for living creatures or even 'noble' races like the Elves, and unlike the 'true' Ents they can't be entreated, conversed nor reasoned with. They're actually one of the scariest creations in Tolkien's legendarium, all the more so for not being 'evil' per se but merely... elemental. Even the great Ents themselves, like Treebeard, appear to just barely command their respect and allegiance. Their hatred for despoilers like Orcs, though is ultimate, and implacable. Unleashed upon the routed forces of Isengard, their vengeance is swift, murky but horrifyingly final, as the terrified Uruks flee under the eaves of this forest-that-wasn't-there and vanish into its unnatural shadows, never to come out again. Fun factoid: I believe Tolkien included this scene as a nod to Shakespeare's _Macbeth_ and specifically its famous climax. The titular usurper knows throughout the play of a prophecy that he cannot be defeated "until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane", a threat he laughs off because obviously trees cannot move. In the end, his downfall comes after his enemy Malcolm has his forces _disguise_ themselves with tree branches before advancing on Macbeth at Dunsinane, causing the visual effect of the wood itself moving and Macbeth realising he is done for. Tolkien, I believe, regarded this as a bit of a lame 'cheat' on Shakespeare's part (i.e. the prophecy is fulfilled in spirit but not really in fact), but consequently wondered what it would be like if the trees really _did_ move...

(And re Huorns not being evil as such. This is _broadly_ true, but there's certainly suggestion that individual ones really can go over to the bad side. In the book, the hobbits' infamous early encounter with Tom Bombadil when first leaving the Shire comes when he rescues them from Old Man Willow in the Old Forest, their small local remnant of Middle-earth's primeval woods, where one dark patch in particular is the domain of this malevolent tree spirit - who seems to be something very like a Huorn gone rogue. Falling, nearly fatally, into Old Man Willow's clutches like this is perhaps their first real eye-opener that the world is a lot bigger, older, nastier and scarier than anything their cloistered young lives in the Shire have ever prepared them for, long before they have even begun to get near the brewing war against the forces of Sauron. Even then, though, this 'evil' is nothing directly to do with the side of Sauron and his allies, but an older, more universal sort of badness. In the same way, Bombadil is resistant to it and superior to it due to an innate 'goodness' that is very little to do with the 'good' side in the struggle against the Dark Lord, but again something seemingly just built into the fabric of the world before and beyond the petty struggles of demi-gods, elves and men. It's apparently fair to say that Tolkien himself couldn't quite explain where and how all this came from or belonged in the overarching narrative, so it's easy to see why it gets quickly lopped out of adaptations like these movies.)