Anyone going to a midnight showing of "Return Of The King?"

[AKA]

I went to midnight showings of "Fellowship Of The Rings" and "The Two Towers" in 2001 and 2002, respectively, but I'm bummed to have to count myself out of tonight's festivities. I work much earlier than I have in the past, so a midnight showing of "ROTK" would end two and a half hours before I have to get up for work.

Plus, I'm a big wuss. :D

[Steve Hoffman]

It sounds like fun. Doesn't it drive the rabid fans crazy to know that an hour of the movie is being held back for the second DVD version? Stuff like that drives me batty; like we're too stupid to sit still for so long in a theatre or something....

At any rate, it does sound like fun. I did something similar for Star Wars II.

[AKA]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
It sounds like fun. Doesn't it drive the rabid fans crazy to know that an hour of the movie is being held back for the second DVD version?

Kind of, but it's also good in a way to know that we have something new to look forward to.

[Drew]

No midnight show for me.

I saw the very last show on opening day of FOTR and the theatre was only half full. I did the same for TTT but the theatre was packed. I think I'm going to change my modus operandi for ROTK and catch a matinee on Friday (my day off).

Besides, I work a double tomorrow.

Didn't Peter Jackson say in the Appendices of the extended edition FOTR that even the extended edition of that movie didn't have EVERY scene they shot? My prediction is there will be a 3 edition set that includes even MORE scenes than the extended editions. They gonna milk these movies for all their worth. ;)

For those who are interested Yahoo has some exclusive clips from ROTK:

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=1804738130&cf=trailer

[aceman400]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
Doesn't it drive the rabid fans crazy to know that an hour of the movie is being held back for the second DVD version? Stuff like that drives me batty; like we're too stupid to sit still for so long in a theatre or something....


Not so much that, but I think the theatres would like to get as many showings in the first couple of weeks as possible. The longer the film, the less showings possible. Me, I'll wait til Sunday for a $5 matinee.

Aaron

[Jefhart]

Can't stay up that late any more, plus got to get to work by 8 AM. I already have tickets for me and my youngest son for Wednesday's 4:20 PM show. We're both looking forward to it immensely.

Jeff

[Ron Stone]

Were I still a college student with time to kill, I think it'd be funny to park in front of the ticket booth with a tent and supplies, dressed in the requisite LOTR costume, Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons books strewen about. And when the local press came around for the easy photo-op and soundbite, reply, "No, we're here for [whatever crappy movie's opening in one of the other theaters]. Why does everyone assume we're here for Lord Of The Rings?"

[Jimbo]

Six of us are taking a half-day off from work tomorrow to see a 2:45PM showing. Our own little "fellowship of the ring," as it were.:) We did the same thing for the first 2 installments.

[JohnG]

I also went to the last show on opening day for LOTR:Fellowship and the theater was barely even half-full.

Did the same for LOTR:The Two Towers...this time the place was packed.

It will be a zoo for the next few days at LOTR:TROFK.

I may catch it sometime on Thursday if I can fit it into my tight schedule.

[Jamie Tate]

So, how was the flick?

[Pug]

Originally posted by yesman
So, how was the flick?

In a word...INCREDIBLE. There were some deviations from the book, but it was incredibly well done! I am going to an IMAX show at noon today, that should be cool.

The battle scenes were unbelievable. The FX were mindblowing. Heck, I even got teary eyed a few times. If you love the first two, ROTK does not disappoint.

Sean

[Jamie Tate]

Got tickets for the 2PM show at the IMAX theater tomorrow. Can't wait!

Glad to hear it's good. I really didn't expect anything less.

[Pug]

Let us know what you think.

Sean

[Jamie Tate]

How long is it? I hear it's near 3 1/2 hours. Good! I love long flicks if they're good.

[MITBeta]

The movie length itself is 201 minutes.

I think that this is the best movie of the three. It was definitely the least fatiguing in the sense that it was just about all action, all the time, which kept my interest at full throttle for the full 3.5 hours.

The ending was a little bit drawn out, but I honestly can't think of a better way to have done it. After 3.5 hours, few people in the theater at which I saw it wanted to see Sam and Frodo hug for 30+ seconds, and there were a few audible sighs when what you thought would be the last scene switched to yet ANOTHER (hopefully) last scene.

Anyway, the effects were fantastic. I found most of the deviation from the books to be mainly in omission, rather than an actual change in the story. The city of Minas Tirith was amazing, and one of the best scenes in the movie was Legolas' battle with an Oliphant. Another scene that sent chills down my spine was the one where the beacons are lit.

Anyway, I think this movie will be enjoyed by most who see it.

[Jamie Tate]

Originally posted by MITBeta
The movie length itself is 201 minutes.

How long's that? Like six hours or so? I can't do that kind of complex math in my head.

Originally posted by MITBeta
which kept my interest at full throttle for the full 3.5 hours.

Oh, 3 1/2 hours. Thanks. :)

Originally posted by MITBeta
I found most of the deviation from the books to be mainly in omission, rather than an actual change in the story.

The extended cut for the DVD has another hour of footage. Maybe the missing parts will find a home there.

[MITBeta]

3 hours, 21 minutes to be exact.

[JohnG]

Originally posted by MITBeta
3 hours, 21 minutes to be exact.


Just saw it today at 230PM showing (only a few people in the theater..i was suprised) and its all of 3 hours +!

Goes on just a bit too long for me but the action sequences were superb.

This is state of the art CGI. That spider was something. Very realistic.

Deserves its **** four star reviews but I kept feeling I wish I had my DVD remote in hand so I could FF thru some of the slower scenes.

Should be another killer DVD set.

[Pug]

Originally posted by JohnG



Just saw it today at 230PM showing (only a few people in the theater..i was suprised) and its all of 3 hours +!

Goes on just a bit too long for me but the action sequences were superb.

This is state of the art CGI. That spider was something. Very realistic.

Deserves its **** four star reviews but I kept feeling I wish I had my DVD remote in hand so I could FF thru some of the slower scenes.

Should be another killer DVD set.

What slow scenes? I thought it was fantastic throughout.

Sean

[JohnG]

the first half of the movie kinda drags till the battle gets going. Even reviewers like Ebert mention this.

and any scene with Frodo and Sam seems to be stuck in a time warp as we've already seen this struggle up that mountain for 3 movies already.

I know Jackson has to continue to show their progress but to me that makes the movie drag a bit. Its not fatal to the movie but I feel I've been there already with these characters.

[Jamie Tate]

We just saw it on the IMAX screen. First of all, it sounded excellent in there. They obviously keep this theater calibrated.

As for the movie... WOW!! I can't imagine it being done any better than that. I was a little scared it would just be one long battle sequence. I was almost dreading a 3 1/2 hour long action shot. Thank goodness Peter Jackson still remembered he had deep characters to put on the screen. We get even more back story. Having never spent the time reading the books I didn't know where the story was going. I had no idea if Frodo was going to live or die and was so impressed with the way they revealed it to us. I was also surprised at the emotions that were pulled out of me. At the end of the film you realize how much you actually care about these people. It didn't just end either. They let you see how the characters got back to their lives. Not a typical Hollywood ending. They actually gave it room to settle. Very good decision.

The movie's quite a moving experience. Amazing job all around!!!

Excited to see the extended DVD version.

[Michael St. Clair]

This movie feels like there is 'more missing' in the theatrical version than the other two.

Completely dropping Saruman and Wormtongue leaves a noticable hole. We don't get a proper goodbye to Eowyn or Faramir. Galadriel doesn't get her due either, IMO, and should have some closure with at least Frodo, if not Gimli and the rest of the fellowship. And don't get me started on the Ents!

Despite what Jackson says, I feel that only the Extended Edition will have the chance to serve as the 'definitive' film.

That said, this is a great film and you must see it in the theater at least two or three times.

[JohnG]

""Completely dropping Saruman and Wormtongue leaves a noticable hole. We don't get a proper goodbye to Eowyn or Faramir. Galadriel doesn't get her due either, IMO, and should have some closure with at least Frodo, if not Gimli and the rest of the fellowship. And don't get me started on the Ents!""

Thats true, the Ents and TreeBeard only have a quick scene. Even though the movie is over 3 hours long...it does feel incomplete on a satisfying end.

The EE DVD hopefully will fill in the holes.

No matter...the LOTR: The Return Of The King is a MUST see and deserves its accolades.

[GregM]

Yeah, I agree that some major holes are there. Some characters fell by the wayside with no explanation and others were picked up with no introduction. That's not what happens in the book. The movie painstakingly shows Faramir's father, the steward of Gondor, descend into madness which is really inconsequential in the scheme of things, yet we gloss over central issues and don't get a clear picture of Aragorn's final commitment to accept his destiny. The best insight we get is when he resigns his fate to assembling the army of the undead. But this was at the urging of Elrond.

I also thought the opening could have been done better to show Gollum's acquisition of his "birthday present". The way it was done seemed awfully disjointed and poorly filmed, which made the intro a bit rushed and set a tone: the entire film felt rushed except the scenes with Frodo.

And as for Frodo, he gave a downright droopy-eyed performance. In the book I always imagined him with a bit of fire in him, and even during the darkest moments he should have had a bit of passion for his quest. Not so in the movie. He looked like someone with a chronic case of pneumonia. Yes, the ring is a big burden to him. Understood. But I half hoped Peter Jackson would stray from the book and have Sam kick him down Mount Doom when he started whining. Well, not really, but I have felt no connection to Frodo since halfway through Two Towers. I'll wait and reevaluate after I see the extended version on DVD. There are definitely some important scenes and developments missing. Maybe I just went in with my expectations unreasonably high.

I agree that the fight scenes were incredible and I was rivited to the screen for much of it.

[Rspaight]

Completely dropping Saruman and Wormtongue leaves a noticable hole. We don't get a proper goodbye to Eowyn or Faramir. Galadriel doesn't get her due either, IMO, and should have some closure with at least Frodo, if not Gimli and the rest of the fellowship. And don't get me started on the Ents!

Though the Scouring of the Shire was never part of the movie (which IMO was a good choice as that would have made the post-Ring-destruction running time far too long), the Extended Edition DVD will at least feature Jackson's version of Saruman and Grima's fate at Isengard at the beginning, and will supposedly have some Healing Houses scenes that should give us more Eowyn and Faramir.

I thoroughly enjoyed ROTK and feel Jackson did a tremendous job in bringing the story to the screen. It could have been done differently, but I don't think it could have been done much better.

Ryan