God damn...Saw this trilogy over ten times, watched a lot of people seeing it for the first time, read the book. Not once did I thought about Gollum as the safest place possible for the Ring to be hidden. She is not wrong though, that line of thought just blew my mind lol

Sadly Bernard Hill, the actor who played Théoden, passed away on May 5th. Such a great performance in this movie (and the next).

Andy Serkis deserved a special Oscar for his role as Sméagol/Gollum in the LOTR triology. Sméagol/Gollum was mostly CGI (including motion capture), but he seemed to really be there in the scenes.

The taller more muscular orcs are actually Uruk-hai, half orc half man hybrids that Saurumon bred. The shorter ones are pure orcs from Mordor.

At 27:28 you ask, "I wonder if this is a real place that exists. Probably not..." Well, it did...Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduseld were built in the middle of a nature reserve out in the boonies of the South Island of New Zealand. They had to make a deal with the authorities that the site would be returned to its natural appearance after the filming, so all the vegetation was carefully removed and maintained in greenhouses during the course of the filming. The interiors were filmed on sets in Wellington, but all the exteriors used this wonderful set. After the shooting was over, the producers restored the hill's original appearance, and today there's no sign that anything had ever been there.

One of my favorite things she does when reacting is that she goes back to certain scenes or parts and plays them again, for whatever reason. So many reactors will be like “oh I missed that” and just keep going, and that frustrates me. It shows she’s really engaged and interested in it. It’s good.

Sir Peter Jackson really put New Zealand on the map at the start of the 21st centaury with this franchise by capturing the live landscapes

Faced with Saruman's army, I don't think Grima Wormtongue was crying tears of awe and happiness; I think it was horror and sorrow. Up until that point he thought he was playing a political power game between two lords. Now he comes to realize, this is about the end of humankind.

1:11:36 Colette: "I'm officially convinced that there's nothing under his little cloth." Gollum: "Our eyes are up here, Precious."

Edoras is actually (mostly) a real place. The village was dismantled, but everything else is there

Something you should definitely do and would REALLY enjoy is watching the behind the scenes which is longer than the whole series combine. Maybe you can share the minds of actors behind the projects with us 😊

Faramir is the epitome of the virtuous man. Tolkien himself said so and that he admired Faramir the most. Faramir really doesn't get enough credit even in the extended edition, which you REALLY have to see as it includes several mores minutes of Faramir (and Boromir)

In the scene where Strider kicks the helmet away from the pile of dead orcs, the actor broke his foot. The pain in his scream is real.

So, the book does give more detail about what kind of a person Smeagol was before he found that ring and became Gollum. He was a mean-spirited, covetous little person. Most people in his village didn't like him, but they tolerated him because his grandmother was the matriarch of the village. He was mean and spiteful, and commonly stole things. When he acquired the ring and discovered that it could make him invisible, he became even worse. He stole more, and he took to skulking around invisible, eaves dropping for gossip and using his new knowledge to manipulate people. Eventually the complaints became too uproarious, and the matriarch had to take action. So she exiled him. Then he wandered, and eventually moved into the caves of the Misty Mountains, where he encountered the goblin tunnels. He becamse a dark horror to the goblin residents. He would stalk around in the dark, usually invisible but sometimes not, and attack stray, unwary goblins. He throttled them from behind and dragged the bodies back to his cave, where he ate them. So no, he was not a good person. But he was not utterly unredeemable (even Sauron and the Orcs weren't), and Gandalf held out hope for him. But he was very much a nasty, unkind, mean sort of halfling. When he acquired the ring in his greed and malice, the ring had him completely.

At 9:45, you note the different appearances of the various Orcs. The movie doesn't make it clear, but in the book, the troop of Orcs lugging Merry and Pippin are made of three different breeds. The small ones ("Why can't we have some meat?") are from Moria and have come to avenge their folk, while the medium-sized ones (Oh, they look tasty!") are from Mordor and are wanting to take the Hobbits to Mordor, and the large ones ("They are not for eating!") are Saruman's Uruk-hai, who are Taking the Hobbits to Isengard. The folks at Weta Workshop have really outdone themselves on the Orc prosthetics and makeup.

The distance Frodo & Sam walked to Mt. Doom from the Shire is equivalent to walking from Omaha, Nebraska to Jacksonville, Florida.

Faramir is an amazing character. Even more so in the books. The theatrical cut definitely does not make him justice. At least in the extended edition you can get more information through a flashback about him, which fixes it in some ways, you can understand much more about him, which is essential for this character. Funnily enough the extended editions of these films do not have any excess/filler scenes, they are not action scenes, they are all story material pretty much. Which makes them must-sees, not optional which is very unusual when it comes to extended editions. At least make sure to see the 3rd film on that version, it makes the pay-off so much better.

You need to go back and watch the extended version - if only to get the Boromir back-story, which shines a light on his plight.

Another thing about camera movement. Notice that in all of the shots up to the very end of Return of the King, the Fellowship is shown moving left to right on screen. This is because on the map of middle earth, they're moving L to R. It is only when the hobbits in the Fellowship are heading home that the camera shows them moving R to L.

Forgiveness, compassion and mercy are running themes for our heroes in LotR. Such as Bilbo sparing Gollum. Small acts of mercy can cascade into a larger impact. This is why Grima Wormtongue was spared. From the book, "See, Théoden, here is a snake! To slay it would be just. But it was not always as it now is. Once it was a man, and it did you service in its fashion"

Viggo bought Brego and kept him until the horse passed of old age.

The fact that that you pointed out that gollum is there best guide . It what i always thought he was the best guide for them and exposition for the audience.

The little village on top of the hill was actually built for the shoots, but was dismantled afterwards. So, it was a real place, for a while.

The “orcs” coming out of the sacks are Uruk-Hai, Sauruman’s hybridization of orc and human. Normal orcs/goblins were once elves, but they had been tortured and corrupted for centuries until they became the orcs we see today. Gollum has been warped by the ring for centuries. The effect the ring has on him is similar to that of a drug addict. He is basically hooked on ring magic heroin.

At 31:46 you say, "They must have such a detailed shot list for every scene." You would enjoy watching the Making Of videos that accompanied the DVD release. It includes the elaborate pre-visualization work Peter Jackson used in planning out the shooting of each scene, including mock ups of the scenery and characters (for example, they used thousands of toy soldiers to mock up the battle scenes). I found these videos to be as entertaining as the movies themselves--highly recommended.

The scene of Eowyn on the battlements of Edoras with the mountains in the background: The flag blowing off the pole was not intended, the winds were over 40 mph the day that they were filming and it tore clean off. The director was so impressed with how well it matched the mood of the scene that they decided to reshoot the Aragorn entering the city to show the flag blowing away.

At 1:05:40 the ruined city of Osgiliath was originally the capital city of Gondor, built on either side of the Great River Anduin. With the rise of Sauron's forces in Mordor, Osgiliath has become the front line of battle between Mordor and Gondor.

Believe me when I say that the exetended edition is the best version. For one it gives us more info on Faramir and why he is one of the best characters.

I was hiking with some friends and was certainly a slower hiker. Every now and then, they would stop and wait for me. Unfortunately when I caught up, they would say, “Hey, there you are.” and take off again. No break for me. I feel for Gimli.

All 3 movies where filmed at the same time and in 18 months then they released them in a 3 year timeframe

Edoras - the city of the Rohirrim, was built on a real hill in NZ. But as it was filmed in a National Park, it was removed and the Hill restored to original state after filming.

You recognize the King of Rohan bc he plays the captain in Titanic

At 58:30, the thunder and lightning was originally Tolkien's idea--I'm sure Peter Jackson was delighted to comply. The Battle of Helm's Deep took four months to film, mostly at night and mostly in the rain (real or artificial). The stunties had tee-shirts made saying, "I Survived Helm's Deep."

You will love the third beloved, but check out the extended version and you will enjoy more of this wonderful universe

You talked about the voice of Treebeard, which was actually done by John Rhys-Davies (Gimli). He did it using a wooden megaphone and speaking while inhaling.

"There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for" Bawling every time 😭

From what I understand, the screech of the Nazgul was created by one of the screenwriters, Phillipa Boyens. Peter Jackson had trouble finding the right noise to match what Tolkien described in the books and Phillipa got bronchitis and her voice got all crackly and screechy for a while, and she was able to make that noise, which he thought was perfect. So he got her to record it before she recovered and that's what they used.

At 16:57, some thought was given in the early design stages of omitting Gollum's loincloth; fortunately, clearer heads prevailed. I can find only one reference in Tolkien's book to Gollum's attire: "Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks. For a moment he might have paused to consider Gollum, a tiny figure sprawling on the ground: there perhaps lay the famished skeleton of some child of Men, its ragged garment still clinging to it..." In Tolkien's children's book The Hobbit, when Bilbo asks Gollum the climactic riddle, "What have I got in my pocket?", Gollum thinks of what he has in his own pockets, but his clothing is not otherwise described.

During the run early in the movie Orlando Bloom had injured ribs, Vigo Mortenson has a broken toe and the little person who doubled for Gimli had blown out his knee and they all still ran throughout the scene

Gollum was definitely corrupted by the ring however he was Not Innocent while possessing it. In fact he would sometimes sneak into the nearby Village with the ring and steal babies out of their cradles when he got hungry...

Patiently waiting for Part 3...

One of the comical background facts of this film is that John Rhys-Davies, who portrays Gimli, at 6' 1" (185 cm) is taller than anyone else in the principal cast.

Sean Astin who plays Samwise gamgees is the son of john Astin the Gomez Adams from the 60's tv series and his mother was patty duke who also had her own tv show in the60's the patty duke show where she played two roles of identical cousins.

LOTR is still hands down my favorite trilogy ever conceived.

Gandalf it´s one of the five Istari... sent to the middle earth by the Valar. With Saruman, it´s also Gandalf, Radagast and the two blue wizards. Saruman was the white because he was chosen as the leader of all them. When he turned to darkness... the Valar chose a new leader.... returning Gandalf as Gandalf the white.

Because you asked: the scrawny ones are Orcs, the muscular ones are Uruk-Hai. They are the improved orcs, that Sauroman bred in the first movie and sent after the fellowship at the end. Form here on out they are intermingled with the orcs. Incidentally, the first orcs were captured elfs, that was corrupted ages ago, so it's quite sad.

The enchanted Elvish rope really burns and is painful to Gollum.

Weta workshop are legends now but back then with the Matrix and Lotr they were blowing my mind. some of the best special features on a disc ever with those franchises.

46:46 - it's about here and 5 years ago i realized that Boromir was the last update of the fellowship he got before he returned to Rivendell. gandalf was still dead, now boromir. Frodo and Sam looked the fate and insurmountable task of destroying the ring in the eye and said "we are going to get this done". they knew no victory, only fear and the anxiety that at any moment the ring could make its way back into the hands of sauron. that is the reason his optimism faded so fast. he wanted to believe through Gollum and Smeagol that returning from the mental attacks was possible, and through Sam and Smeagol, his hope remained. no word of victory or hope outside.

Thank you for your reaction. I appreciate your insights on the actors and the direction. Keep up the great work.

miranda otto(eowyn) and bernard hill(theoden) were just perfect in their roles.that's how i always imagined these two characters from the books!

Fun fact: John Rhys-Davies voices both one of the shortest characters (Gimli) and one of the tallest (Treebeard.)

Aragorn it´s a Dunedáin, a kind of "royal" race among the men, blessed with long life (they have part of elves in their blood). That´s why he has 87 years old here, and looks young.

Fun FACT - Aragorn's scream when he kicks the helmet at the corpse pile is genuine, because when he kicked the helmet he broke his foot and they used that shot.

31:34 this is one of my favorite shots in the trilogy - just the sheer change in energy as the blade crosses the screen is so (chef's kiss) This is actually my favorite movie of the three, for the introduction of the Rohirrim, the epic battle at Helm's Deep, the emotional climax of all the storylines tied together with Sam's beautiful speech... I love it all.

I would love the hobbit life, to quote Bilbo, it is not a bad thing to celebrate a simple life.

"We come, we come with roll of drum. Ta runda runda runda rom. We come we come with horn and drum ta runda runda runa rom. To Isengard, though Isengard be ringed, and barred with doors of stone. Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone. We go, we go, we go to war. To hew the stone, and break the door. For bole and bough are burning now. The furnace roars! we go to war. To land of doom, with tramp of doom. With roll of drum. We come. We come. To Isengard with doom we come. With doom we come. With doom we come." -The ents marching song

I'd want to be a dwarf. diggy diggy hole, mining precious ore and metal, drinking my fill of beer and working the smithy stone.

... and I'll say it for the thousandth time -- Theoden gets all the great lines.

@Colette Cherry The larger orcs are called Uruk hai the smaller one's are pure breed orcs. The Uruk hai are capable of running long distances for long periods of time both during the day and night 🌙 but the regular orcs are smaller and have significantly less endurance especially in the sunlight. The Uruk hai are technically the superior breed of orcs. They are also very loyal to their master saruman, willing to even go through starvation and cannibalism in order to bring saruman his "prize" while the smaller pure breed orcs were more than willing to disobey if it meant they could eat.

Colette Cherry 19:01 "What's he doing stroking it", 19:04 the entire internet "that's what she said". Sorry could not resist. Great reaction.

Great reaction! Your observation about the dynamic camera movement, that is basically a Peter Jackson trademark ,was spot on. Also the difference in the Orcs is that the smaller goblin looking ones are normal orcs and the big scary ones are Uruk Hai created by Saruman.

There ARE different types of Orcs. The smaller ones are from Mordor, bred from the twisting of Elves thousands of years in the past. The hench ones are from Isengard, created in Fellowship of the Ring by Saruman on Sauron's command. They were Orcs crossed with men. They are stronger and can better stand the light of day than the Moria Orcs.

*Uruk-Hai* are half breed Orc's with Goblin's. They're the ones who are built like tanks with fangs. *Orc's* are the most ugly with a lot of battle damage and scars from fighting each other. They were once Elves but were corrupted. *Goblin's* are shortest with big eyes that are serpent like and a mouth full of pointed teeth. They are the ones that climbs the walls in the mines or Morea. Like the Uruk-Hai they mostly use Bow and Arrow but unlike the Uruk-Hai from far away.

There WAS a village like Edoras on the top of a hill......it was built for the film and then totally removed afterwards. The hill is still a magnet for LOTR tourists.

When Gandalf revealed himself in the forest they actually used both him and sauramns (christopher lee)'s voice overrlapping to create the confusion.. but i dont think anyone fell for it

There are also shape shifters in middle earth. The Popular one is Beorn, however most people don't know that Vampires and Werewolves exists in this world. Most notable are Draugluin, Saurons Lieutenant in the Tol-in-Gaurhoth and Thuringwethil also a servant of Sauron. Carcharoth the guardian of Angband and Morgoth's greatest and mightiest werewolf. If I'm gonna pick a race in middle-earth it would probably be a Drúedain.

Book spoiler: Legolas was the only elf fighting in Helms Deep.

At 49:36, it has always bothered me that PJ&Co. elected to have Frodo lie about Gollum. In the book, Frodo says, "I do not know where he is...He is only a chance companion met upon our road, and I am not answerable for him. If you come upon him, spare him. Bring him or send him to us. He is only a wretched gangrel creature, but I have him under my care for a while."

Kinda also interesting, this is not revealed in the films, but in the books Sauron had his own body in addition to the eye of Sauron

Well, Gollum did something wrong with help of The Ring. He used it to ambush goblins and another creatures met in his cave. But, OK, he was just hungry.

I would choose to be a sam. His moral code is something I strive to have.

There are also diffrent Uruk Hais.The reguler infantry ones with armor. The bigger boys on the ladders with no chest armor and bigger sword are if I remeber books correctly Berserkers..they are more savage then the reguler Uruk Hais.

At 46:15, how would you like to have a 1200-pound horse lie down next to you? Viggo Mortensen spent weeks bonding with "Brego" (the horse's real name was Uraeus), even sleeping in the stable with the horse. I always smile at this scene: Aragorn thinks he's being kissed by Arwen, when he's actually being kissed by the horse!

I love this movie, and I've seen grown men cry watching this movie... Don't apologize for feeling emotional. I'd be worried if you didn't. I don't know your tastes in music but the heavy metal band Disturbed was inspired to write a song called HOLD on To Memories.

At 17:15, Most reactors I've watched are repelled by the Hobbit's big, hairy feet. The problem actually is that the feet aren't hairy enough! in Tolkien's Prologue, "Concerning Hobbits," he says, "...their feet had tough, leathery soles and were clad in a thick curling hair, much like the hair of their heads, which was commonly brown." He says nothing about Hobbits' feet being big. PJ&Co.'s version of Hobbit feet doesn't work very well. The feet were prosthetics that slipped over the actor's feet, making the feet longer by the length of the toes. The feet took an hour or more to apply, including individually-applied hairs. are I think a better effect would have resulted if the actors had worn appropriately-hairy slippers.

The orcs are small and the uruk Hai are the big stronger ones. They really hate each each other.

If I could be anything, I would be a Wizard. Second to that, perhaps an elf, but I'm not certain.

Gollum: Yes, precious, she could. Colette: She? Me: Yes, she is! And I don't think you're going to like her.)))

Has anybody else noticed that the Hobbits are the only people in this world that have surnames??? All the other Men are named after the father...son of so and so or daughter of so and so.

They don't explain this in the movies, but Elrond is a half elf. Him and his descendants can choose whether to be elf or mortal. Elves go to the Halls of Mandos when they die, and can come back sometimes, like Glorfindel did. Men and Hobbits have the "gift of men" from Eru, and go to heaven basically when they die. If Arwen forsakes her immortality she can become mortal and will eventually die, receiving the gift of men. Aragorn is a Dunedain. His line descends from Elrond's brother, who became mortal but lived really long. Technically Arwen is his cousin, like 80 generations removed. Arwen is about 2,800 years older than Aragorn.

One of the things a lot of people miss about them letting Gríma go (and what I missed for a long time myself) is that Aragorn is concerned about the optics of the situation. King Théoden has been ill and reclusive for a long time, so when he emerges from the hall and throws Gríma down the steps, it's the first time the people of Edoras are really seeing their king in years. It would def impact their understanding of him if they witnessed him killing Gríma, his long-time advisor, even as Gríma is unarmed and begging for mercy. None of these people saw what happened within the hall, so they have no context for Théoden's anger towards Gríma and would only see their king killing a close advisor in cold blood. Aragorn realizes this, and you can kind of tell from Viggo's acting when he says "enough blood has been spilled on his account" that he is trying to say it without saying it and make Théoden consider the optics of this for his people as well. This is why Théoden seems to glance around and, I think, have that realization himself when he sees his people gathered and watching. Anyway, this is another great reaction! I can tell you're really engaged with the story and characters and it's so much fun to watch you experience it all for the first time. Thank you for sharing it with us! :'D

Nice reaction/commentary. I enjoyed it, thank you

13:41 Viggo Mortensen (Arigorn) actually broke his toe in this scene. His scream is real.

Gollum looks the way he does because of the Ring. It slowly pulls its bearer into the unseen world, like the Rings of Power did to the Nazgûl. Gollum did not complete the process. Bilbo described how the process felt when he said that he felt like butter being spread too thin on bread. Dwarves are not affected like this nor are Elves. The Rings of Power make Dwarves greedy for treasure, but they are too resistant to domination to become wraiths or Sauron's servants. The Rings were originally made for creatures like the Elves and they were meant to hold back the waning of Middle-earth from themselves and their realms. The One Ring was made alone by Sauron to turn the Elven bearers of the Rings of Power forcibly to Sauron.

Great reactions-really enjoyed

The muscular orcs are Uruk-Hai (a mix of goblin and orc) and the crook-limbed ones are standard orcs. They don't like each other.

They actually built Edoras for real and then removed it completely after filming. You can still visit the hill, quite remote though.

You said you could tell it was Gandalf by the voice. Actually they mixed his voice with Saruman's voice to make it hard to tell.

There are at least five different breeds of orcs, each adapted to their environment and purpose. And the different groups often don't get along with each other. I'd probably be a dwarf. I like building things, the craftmanship, and I'm not really much of an outdoorsman.

Gollum: "She, could do it..." And, in the next film, Colette appears, and stops Gollum's plan, with an onscreen insult of his withered anatomy, and helps Frodo and Sam escape 😉

If I could be anyone from LOTR I would be Tom Bombadil.

As a natural sprinter I'd be a dwarf.

The "big" orcs are Uruk-Hai, they have been bred by Saruman, the "creepy" ones are regular orcs, and they were Elves once, twisted by Saruman if I am correct. And if I had the choice I would like to be a Dunedain, the same race as Aragorn, humans blessed with long life.

I don't like trouble, adventures and that kind of shenanigans. I'd be a Hobbit. The Elves existed even before Light itself was added to the world, no wonder they have good eyesight. In every role he has, Brad Durif (Grima Wormtongue) is the master at giving you that psychopathic stare... Gandalf is an angel. When his body of Grey was destroyed he was sent back as White to effectively replace Saruman who betrayed his own divine mandate by joining Sauron. The rock on which Edoras is built really exists, it's a famous landmark in New Zealand. The set was built on it at 1:1 scale and was demolished, road included, afterwards, with the help of the NZ army. Theoden actor is Bernard Hill, also plays Captain Smith in Titanic. You could be an Elf but you would also be a good match for a Eowyn like character I think. No One can evade the power of the Ring, it's a part of Sauron, on him can master it. Try to undserstand Theoden, he's more blinded by his lack of self confidence due to the fact that he was taken out of the game for months during which his kingdom was ransacked, his people slaughtered, his son was killed, his nephew was banished by someone he thought to be a trusted advisor. He needs to rebuild that confidence and the only way he can do it is to take charge by himself.

Loved the reaction. It's interesting to hear the voice of someone in the film industry. You have a lot of technical insights that makes your commentary very fun to watch. Also, I know it's so much longer, and would require much more editing, but the third almost needs to be seen as the extended version. If you can't because of time, totally makes sense, but if you can find the time, I very much recommend it.

8:25 that's how everyone's born 😂😂😂

Anyone know if she is still going to react to Return of the King?

Gandalf the White should've known his name when he met Aragorn and company in Fangorn forest, because he previously met Merry and Pippin, and they would've called him gandalf.

Rain , lightning, long steel spears, metal armor from head to toe. I'd be more worried about mother nature in this battle 🟩⛈️🌩⚡️❤