New Lord of the Rings Trailer

An anonymous reader writes "Apple is hosting the new trailer for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Of course, the trailer is in quicktime. Looks pretty darn good, in my opinion." I just finished the 4th disc on FotR, and am ready for TTT to be out now!

Comments

And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

...remember NOT to whine about the next tactics of MPAA and/or DRM implementations and/or Palladium. When you buy the movies, you finance those operations.

Think about it.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

Then I'll just pirate it so I can have my cake and eat it too.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

And what is wrong with going to see TTT or buying the LOTR DVD in an attempt to say that people will happily pay for a *quality* product, thereby reducing piracy? Think about that.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

I suggest you lay off the cakes there Gandalf the enormous

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Slashdotess]

When you buy the movie or go to see it, you're intent is to watch a good quality movie. You do make a point, I'm paying $7.50 for my movie ticket and some of that is going to go into limiting my rights, but I'm not worrying about that, I just want to see the movie with my fiance.

And piracy? How can anyone stand those awful telesync's? I know, I know, there as a good quality FotR dvd rip out a month after the movie, but that is pretty rare.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[plone]

Wrong! If you don't go watch the movie, the MPAA will assume that you have watched a bootleg copy at home, thereby enforcing their belief that DRM needs to be implemented.

Catch 22, my friend, Catch 22.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[gotih]

whew! good thing i plan to use my roommate's printer, scanner, and paper to forge us some tickets! then i get to see the movie, avoid supporting the MPAA and void the argument that the only way to see a new release for free is to watch a bootleg. don't worry, some day i'll buy dvd to make up for the studio's loss.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Floyd Turbo]

Oh, for crying out loud, can we please stop seeing this post modded up to +5 insightful every single time there's an article about a good movie or CD?

There is no inconsistency between (a) enjoying the creative work of the artists who make these movies and music, and (b) decrying the oppresive tactics of the "executives" who both corrupt the laws of the varying nations to protect their stranglehold on content and rip off the artists who actually create the content.

So yes, enjoy the film, continue to complain about the actions of the suits, and understand that doing one is not the opposite of the other.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[neostorm]

Unfortunately, MPAA & co. doesn't see it like that. Every sale is another sucker customer they have in their strict control.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

You need to take off those pink sunglasses for awhile. The artists create the content, yes, but the studios and such invest money into them. The movie/CD/whatever is a product which has to be profitable, or else there will be no more movies/CDs/whatever.

The studios/labels don't want to see their investment go up in smoke by people who do not pay for the content the studios/labels create. The studios/labels want you to buy the stuff. They also want to ensure that nobody eats parts of their revenue chain by not paying to see the movies. Thus DRM/Palladium/MPAA strongarm tactics which are financed by the sales of the movies and music. This is perfectly logical from the business point of view. It's about preventing freeloaders from "enjoying the creative work of the artists" without paying for it.

If you don't like the strongarm tactics, stop buying the movies. Stop consuming that media. The oppressive tactics will NOT go away if you keep on financing it or otherwise giving them a reason to continue.

And yes, I do enjoy a good movie every now and then. But I don't have 160 Gb of them in my hard disk. I go to the theater to see the movie.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[hswerdfe]

Dude, I so disagree with you:

yes, there is [almost] nothing wrong with enjoying the movie.
But, I think you should be aware of who is getting your money, and how they are going to use it.

p.s. Have you ever noticed that posting to have something modded up or down is usually more effective than actually moding it up your self (assuming you have points).
Or even just asking to be modded in the text of your own message.
If you ask me thats F*ing retarded

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

The whole Lord of the Rings movie puts this in new light too. I got the FOTR:SE 4-dvd set, and thanks to their fucked up attempt at copy protection, my DVD drive in my PC won't read it. Just mounts as a blank disc with no movie files. That's real useful copy protection, since I can't even WATCH THE DAMNED MOVIE.

See more here.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Daytona955i]

LOTR *IS* the geek book and now it is being made into a movie. To me that is news for nerds, stuff that matters. Just because the MPAA is evil doesn't mean the director (in this case Peter Jackson) and the actors and everyone else that worked on the film didn't create a great work.

Since the RIAA has gone after music sharers and now they are making copy-protected cd's... I refuse to buy a cd ever again. The movie industry, while pissing me off with macrovision protection and regional encoding, they haven't actually gone after things that make dvd players regionless, they don't (or at least it hasn't come out that they do) rape the artists and keep all the money.

Because of the rise of prices, I now rarely go see a movie in theaters because it's too expensive. For 2 people to go see a movie in the theater, it costs just as much to buy the dvd when it comes out. And for those movies you don't think you'd like, just head over and rent it (or download it).

I love movies, there is no other way to boycott the MPAA than to avoid watching movies except when I go to a friends house to watch it. Movies just aren't prevelant enough on the internet to download and after spending a few hours to download movie if you have a bad quality version you just wasted a lot of time.

If there is really going to be any change, the media needs to show people affected by these things.

Back to the original poster, Peter Jackson is making a great movie about possibly the greatest literary work of the 20th century. And if you don't like it, go to your preference page and check off to exclude movie news. Then you don't have to put up with it anymore.
-Chris

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

"...remember NOT to whine about the next tactics of MPAA and/or DRM implementations and/or Palladium. When you buy the movies, you finance those operations."

I didn't whine about Macrovision and keying.
I downloaded smart ripper.
Makes nice pretty copies of MY movies.

LOTR2 is content that I don't mind spending money for.
In fact I'll buy the DVD when it comes out, just like I did the Fellowship.

Good movies, on DVD, are priced right.
CDs are a whole different issue.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

Since the RIAA has gone after music sharers

You misspelled "pirates."

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Twirlip of the Mists]

I'm not entirely sure this is relevant, but it's an interesting tidbit nonetheless.

The best reports are that New Line spent about half a billion dollars making and promoting The Lord of the Rings, all three films, and that includes money budgeted but not yet spent on promotion and advertising for the last movie. Of that half a billion, about $300 million went into making the movies themselves. The $500 million figure includes all the cost of making, distributing, promoting, and showing the movies; basically, the studio's total costs.

According to boxofficemojo.com, The Fellowship of the Ring has made about $860 million worldwide for New Line since its release last year. That's only gross revenue to the studio generated by movie theaters; it doesn't include DVD sales or any other sources of revenue.*

The punchline: if nobody in the world buys a ticket for the next two movies, New Line still will have made about a 72% profit on the Lord of the Rings. They could put The Two Towers and The Return of the King on a shelf, finished but unreleased, and still have made a fortune.

* Historically, the ratio of worldwide box office receipts to worldwide revenues from all media is about 1:1.5. In other words, for every dollar of box office gross, a movie can be expected to generate about $1.50 in video sales, rentals, TV rights, book and toy tie-ins, and so on.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Somebody wasted a mod point. This is not interesting. There is not copy protection on the extended DVD set, apart from Macrovision and CSS that's on virtually every DVD.

I copied discs one and two to my girlfriend's iBook so she could watch them on the plane on the way to her uncle's house. No problems. Works fine. Just like every other DVD.

(Had to clean off nearly 20 GB to make the damn things fit, though. Hope she doesn't need MS Office until she gets back.)

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Peterus7]

This trailer has been out on Apple for quite a while, but what ticks me off is that it was on AOL first. Have they no decency?

Also, on the second trailer, did anyone notice that the song near the end is 'summer requiem' from Requiem for a dream, with music by the kronos quartet? Nice.

Another cool thing on Apple is the X-men 2 trailer, which incorporates "Mars," from the planets. Good stuff.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[shokk]

You also finance the artists and directors who make the effort to give us a decent picture instead of the next Home Alone dribble.

When I pay for my movie tickets, I'm not concerned about how I'm going to watch it on DVD months later because I'm not forced into any DRM agreements there. I'm paying for my tickets because they cover my current entertainment that the transaction represents. It's the guy in the back with the camcorder and his connection to the guy selling the movie on the street that's causing the management to be nervous. He's akin to the average KaZaa'er.

Worry about your DVD playability later when the DVD hits the shelves. But please, while about them if you're truly being infringed on and not if you are deciding that you are entitled to rip a DVD because your friend paid for it. Sorry, but I know too many people who have MP3s for music they do not own and download ripped movies that they do not own. I'm pretty sure the whole reason movie/music downloading is so popular is that it is being abused by a majority that has no right to it. If you're among them, you are no better than petty thieves; have fun leeching off humanity. Just because you *can* rip it doesn't necessarily make it right for *you* to rip it. And by giving yourself the right to perform something illegal against someone else, I see no reason someone else can't do the same to you.

For pete's sake, how do you expect people to respond when you walk into their house and steal from under their nose? You have to identify yourself before you can walk in. Now, thanks to those without morals, we who follow the rules get to deal with DRM to go into that house of entertainment. Who wants to finance a decent picture when they know the public will rip them off in exchange for their work rather than applaud them? That's when we end up with formula pictures like Home Alone 17.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[shokk]

Unfortunately, those without scruples will take this large profit from the first movie to mean that the studio and actors are no longer entitled profits from the next two movies for their work on those two movies. All the more reason for them to download the DVD files of the movie and the MP3s for the soundtrack off the net without ever having paid their share, or so they believe. With so many people willing to casually perform acts of petty thievery it's no wonder things are as screwed up as they are.

The article before this titled "Attempts To Stop Music Sharing Pointless?" may be right, though. The ultimate weapon against stealing has always been keeping your morals in place and I see no attempt at people trying to bolster that.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[aminorex]

I've seen FOTR in theatres (with several guests)
three times, and will certainly see TTT and ROTK
similarly. I downloaded FOTR while waiting for
the 4-disc set to come out, and if I feel like
downloading TTT and ROTK, I damn well will.

It's about the freedom, stupid.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

No no! You misunderstand... everything is black and white. You're either moral and 100% support the right of Jack Valenti to make pantloads of money by screwing every customer on the planet, or you're a dirty evil moral-free pirate who is contributing to the downfall of society and has a billion DivX movies sitting on your hard drive. There IS no middle road.

Sarcmode off

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[CoJoNEs]

you only pay $7.50?
Tickets around here are $9.00 and if I prepay for them online its $10.00 not counting any shipping charges.
Thats another thing that drives me nuts, $1.00 service charge for an automated system which has to be cheaper then the fool that works the ticket window.
More scams to boycott...

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Twirlip of the Mists]

It's about the freedom, stupid.

Freedom to take without permission. I love it. Only in America.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[RedWizzard]

According to boxofficemojo.com, The Fellowship of the Ring has made about $860 million worldwide for New Line since its release last year.

The punchline: if nobody in the world buys a ticket for the next two movies, New Line still will have made about a 72% profit on the Lord of the Rings. They could put The Two Towers and The Return of the King on a shelf, finished but unreleased, and still have made a fortune.

Umm, no. That's total ticket sales. Half that money goes to the theaters. And New Line did not put up all the money alone. There are other investors involved who will be taking a large percentage of the gross. Then you need to take out all the money for the people who are receiving gross points. I'm fairly sure Peter Jackson is one, there may be others. New Line will do well out of the trilogy for sure, but it's not as rosy as you make out.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[runderwo]

"They wouldn't give it to me, so what other choice did I have?"

I think entitlement is the word of the day (week, year?) here. Pretty sad.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Twirlip of the Mists]

That's total ticket sales. Half that money goes to the theaters.

As I understand it, the numbers reported as "box office grosses" are studio grosses, not theater grosses. The figures come from the total amount of money paid to the distributor on a given day, weekend, or (in this case) interval.

I won't swear that this is true, but I understand it to be so. If I'm wrong, then oops.

Also, I'd be stunned if Jackson, or anybody else, was getting gross points. Points on the net, sure, but gross points?

(That said, I have been stunned before, so it's not impossible.)

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[shokk]

That's NOT what freedom is about, stupid, and that still doesn't make it right for you to do it. "While waiting for my car to arrive at the dealer, I decided I'd drive around town in other people's cars and even kept a few." Sounds as stupid as what you are doing. I don't understand how you justify it.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[shokk]

The middle of the road is where criminals try to justify their actions. The nice thing is that if you play there long enough you eventually get run over.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you can't see why that analogy doesn't even apply, then you are a fool.

"While waiting for my car to arrive at the dealer, I made a 100% perfect duplicate of my neighbours car and used that. Ford then sued me for theft, and lost."

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[RedWizzard]

Hmm, you may be right. Inflation adjustment methods used by sites like this one give me the impression that theater grosses are reported, but on the other hand studios are in a much better position to accurately report studio and/or distributor grosses. But then if they are reporting distributor grosses then that's not what goes to the studio either.

Also, I'd be stunned if Jackson, or anybody else, was getting gross points. Points on the net, sure, but gross points?

Tom Cruise is reported to have made $75M on Mission Impossible 2 due to getting gross points. I think a few people have wised up and realised that net points are basically worthless unless you are very careful. The One Ring.net are reporting that Jackson gets 10M + 5% of gross. It may not be true, of course.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Twirlip of the Mists]

The One Ring.net are reporting that Jackson gets 10M + 5% of gross.

Ho. Lee. Shit.

(If you're doing the math at home, that comes to $53 million for Fellowship alone. And that doesn't even count the bragging rights. "Nyaah, nyaah, I made The Lord of the Rings and you didn't, nyaah, nyaah." Not bad for five years' work.)

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[nelsonal]

I pay $4.50 for evening shows and $3 for matinees. Of course there is currently a foot of snow outside, and the theater could certainly be better, but it isn't terrible.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[Anonymous Coward]

You're not doing any 100% copies of a Ford without breaking any patent laws. So you probably would get sued and you would lose. Your argument is that you are entitled to something because it is a copy of the original. Not convincing.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[aminorex]

I think "I don't give a rat's anus for your
fallacious self-serving justification of
extortion" is the operative phrase. After
shelling out a few hundred to support an
organization that is actively pursuing the
rape of the public domain and the suppression
of free speech, I think I've done more than
my share to support the art that I am
consuming, and I unilaterally claim a
comprehensive right to unlimited use of this
material in my home, where, by the way,
I have the right to privacy and what I do
is none of your flipping business.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[aminorex]

While waiting for the Jews to drop dead of
their own accord, I decided to waste a few
million of them with Zyklon-B.

The analogy sounds about as relevant as yours.
I don't understand how you justify it.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[aminorex]

Ah, I see. The light has dawned on me.
Extremism is the only true path.
I repent in sackcloth and ashes!
Not.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[runderwo]

I unilaterally claim a comprehensive right to unlimited use of this material in my home, where, by the way, I have the right to privacy and what I do is none of your flipping business.

Unfortunately, just because you claim that it's your right doesn't mean that's true.

If you think the laws are broken, it's up to you to lobby and support efforts to get them changed. Otherwise, you can't complain when what you do continues to be illegal.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[RedWizzard]

Here's a new report on it. They're now estimating that Jackson's getting more than 10% - currently estimated at more than NZ$170M (approx. US$85M) for Fellowship alone. This excludes any percentage he gets (which is likely) from merchandising and DVD/VHS sales. Jackson is likely to end up with something like $250M from this.

The Time article they mention is online. It mentions Jackson's 10+%, it also mentions that Harvey Weinstein (of Miramax) gets 5% of gross. And it mentions that New Line's initial investment was only $25M per film which is only about 30% of the costs (presumably they invested further when budget blew out by $40M from $270M to $310M). So I think it is highly likely that New Line are not making anywhere near the sort of money a lot of people think.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[shokk]

So, you see someone who doesn't take what doesn't belong to them as an extremist. There's something wrong in that.

Re:And while you're so hot about the movie...

[RedWizzard]

Here's another interesting It has a lot of quotes from Peter Jackson, who makes it quite clear that report box office figures are theater sales, not studio or distributor grosses.

We Love the MPAA now

[Anonymous Coward]

well I guess when they're being horrible and evil by taking away your rights, you hate them, but now you love them?

Do you people have any principles at all? If you think they're robbing your liberties and fair use rights why continue to hand your money to them? They will use it to rape you even more.

fucking hypocrites.

Re:We Love the MPAA now

[Anonymous Coward]

Not that we get a choice to be hypocritical here. In Canada the movie has already been banned. Fuckers

Re:We Love the MPAA now

[hkmwbz]

He doesn't love them, but LotR.

Re:We Love the MPAA now

[Anonymous Coward]

well I guess when they're being horrible and evil by taking away your rights, you hate them, but now you love them?

Which rights are those, actually? Have you ever read Title 17? Do you have any idea what your rights are?

Educate yourself, friend. Educate yourself.

read the book

[AstroMage]

As nice as seeing the movie is, if you still haven't, read the book! It's worth it :-)

Signed: an old-fashioned geek :-)

Re:read the book

[Nasheer]

I wonder what part of the book will be sniped now. You all (who read) remember that Tom Bombadil was cirurgically removed from the FotR. I have no concerns about this, indded, I am very thankful. I almost stopped reading because of the stupiduty of such a character. But having read The Hobbit before made me proceed.

The part of Merry/Pippin and Treebeard is not as boring (and nonsense) as the Bombadil's, but is is the slowest part of the whole TTT. And even being huge, there's no scenes of it in this "new" trailer.

So, what should I wait, and what I shoudn't? Either way, it will be great to discover.

Re:read the book

[moonbender]

Treebeard is in (at least) one of the scenes - at 02:33. And cheers for that, Treebeard is just awesome, I'd have hated to see him removed. Seeing Bombadil (and like 30 pages before and after him) cut was bad enough, but he at least wasn't as essential to the story as Treebeard is.

Re:read the book

[bobdole34]

You score that Post with a 5?!

He has a referrer tag, he is getting free banner advertising on slashdot.

Re: read the book

[Black Parrot]

> You all (who read) remember that Tom Bombadil was cirurgically removed from the FotR. I have no concerns about this, indded, I am very thankful. I almost stopped reading because of the stupiduty of such a character.

Meetoo. But for some reason when read it a second time many years later, it wasn't annoying at all. (And interestingly, some of the stuff that I thought cool the first time around seemed like hamfisted melodrama the second time around.)

Re:read the book

[Anonymous Coward]

You, of course, mean the BOOKS. Asshole.

Re:read the book

[coraxo]

yeah

but i would love to see the story about Turim Turambar in the movie anyway, which is by far the best Tolkien wrote (and its not even finished).
Hopefully the studios will make some. They've earned enough money.

Re:read the book

[shokk]

Since Treebeard is being played by John Rhys Davies of Gimli fame Treebeard is in. The recent trailer, if you bothered to watch it, showed a Huorn picking up Merry or Pippin. People should get over Tom Bombadil...Tolkien himself said it wasn't that pertinent to the story so they shouldn't give it any more importance than it deserves. I also thought it was a left-over from the Hobbit, but the book soon picked up nicely after that.

Re:read the book

[Anonymous Coward]

Who gives two tugs of a rats cock? Bombadil was the bigest fuckign waste of space I have ever seen. If they had any sense they would have burnt his anoying ass to the ground and claimed the ring made them do it :D

I could give to fucks as to the meaning of his character and to who he realy was. To me he was so much of a fucking waste of space and I'm glad as hell they cut his fairy ass outa the picture.

Re:read the book

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, if you havent read the book, i'd wouldn't until you've seen the movie. I dont know how many of you found this to be the case, but i sat in that movie knowing everything that was going to happen, and i wonder what it would have been like if i didn't known what was around the corner. It was a great movie, but i think alot of suspense was lost from knowing the outcome.

Read the book, but do it second it'll explain a lot of things they leave out of the movie...

Re:read the book

[Anonymous Coward]

I have the entire story in one book. Does that make me a bad person?

Why is this on Slashdot??

[PsORoK]

What kind of news is this? I skimmed it and thought there was a new trailer, got my hopes up, watched it, got mad. Instead it's just that the trailer I've watched 100 times is being hosted by Apple? Even that is weeks-old news. Why is this on Slashdot?

Re:Why is this on Slashdot??

[TerraFrost]

This is the second trailer that was released... the one with music from Requiem.
Even slashdot mentioned it when it came out, here:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/30/171725 9&mode=thread&tid=97

Re:Why is this on Slashdot??

[fredopalus]

i know, i almost wet myself until i saw that i watched this one like a hundred times.

Re:Why is this on Slashdot??

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup and then you went off eating turds with your precious Jesus!

Re:Why is this on Slashdot??

[TeknoDragon]

and as I might add... "Lux Aeterna" is NOT music originally by Paul Oakenfold.

The confusion being "Zoo York" was destined to be in a yet uncompleted CD of Requiem remixes.

Re:Why is this on Slashdot??

[rednaxel]

It is old news and I have it in my HD since Sep 30. When I see this kind of "news" and compare it to my own list of rejected posts, the only conclusion is that the editors are actually random number generators.

Re:Why is this on Slashdot??

[Anonymous Coward]

wow free points for re-posting slashdot links!

god this place is lame

Direct Download

[daveirl]

Direct Link 40MB - HERE

Re:Direct Download

[Brandeissansoo]

You just realized every administrator's worst nightmare for one very special admin...

Re:Direct Download

[Old Wolf]

Well, given the animosity to the big corporations that some posters have shown so far, this gives them the perfect opportunity to use up some of AOL's bandwidth

Not a new trailer

[wpugh]

This is not a new trailer. It has been out for quite a while, at least a month, but probably several.

how to play in linux (& link)

[oskie]

To play this crap in linux:

1. wget "http://progressive.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/newl ine/lordoftherings/TheTwoTowers-tlr_fs.l.mov"

2. Follow instructions on http://mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/tech/qt-libwine-howto.txt

I'm not sure it will work, but it's worth a try...

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Anonymous Coward]

(remove the bogus space in the first link)

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Anonymous Coward]

This works great, better than any apple quicktime player i have ever used :-) , btw: to play the ttt trailer ( fullscreen version ) append -vid 5 -aid 6 so that mplayer starts with the right video and audio track...

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a great example of why linux isn't a home user desktop machine.

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a great example of why linux isn't a home user desktop machine.

Listen buddy if Sorenson has the patent to Quicktime codecs and they have not released (and never will because Apple won't let them) a player for Linux, you can't put the blame on Linux. Or yes, you can, but that would make you a moron.

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Anonymous Coward]

It sure does work !! Congrats to mplayer people

Still the command line that worked for me was :

wine -- z:/path/to/mplayer.exe.so -vid 5 -aid 6 TheTwoTowers-tlr_fs.l.mov

Just incredible ( full screen , perfect audio)

Bye

Philippe

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[DrEldarion]

No, you can't put the blame on Linux, but you can still chalk it up as another reason Linux would suck as a desktop machine for an average user.

-- Dr. Eldarion --

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Anonymous Coward]

"To play this crap in linux:"

There were lush green, rocky, hills and dark violet skys. Pristine pink virgins waiting for the plucking. Warriors on horseback gallop to their certain doom. Violent orange flames and red bloodshed, clashing cold grey swords and shield.

I think I'll watch it again.

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, right. Or you can stop bitching about linux not being a viable desktop solution and let those who have the want/skills to use it actually use it.

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Anonymous Coward]

startmol ;)

Re:how to play in linux (& link)

[Joe Tie.]

There's something very sad in the fact that difficulty in watching comercials on an OS is seen as a disadvantage.

Long wait

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this part of a new trend, waiting three years to see a movie from beginning to end?

Re:Long wait

[trite]

It is called a trilogy.

Re:Long wait

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm guessing he couldn't actually connect Tril and 3 together... figures.

Re:Long wait

[shokk]

From the sounds of your impatience, I really doubt you will sit in the theatre for the full 10 hours it would take to do the story justice. If you really want a short summary of the story, I'm sure there's some Cliff Notes around for you to enjoy...but that would take the effort of going to the book store.

"Amazing, that for a people with nothing to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon, we feverishly clamor for immortality."

Can't wait!

[Mac_Daddy]

I can't wait for this movie to hit the theater. If it is anywhere near as good as the first, which I fully expect it to be since they were all filmed together, this has to be considered one of the best movie series of all time. Don't you think? And it's about time, too, as good fantasy is hard to find these days.

The new trailer's not bad either. And at least everyone can watch it now thanks to the linux plugin.

And as one of the probable few who haven't read a single word of the books, this series has definitely put them on my "to read" list. The hard part is going to be finding the time...

Re:Can't wait!

[Anonymous Coward]

As has already been posted several times, this is not a new trailer. What is up with slashdot and all these out of date stories of the past few weeks. Did someone go on vacation and set a bot to post crap?

Re:Can't wait!

[pknoll]

The hard part is going to be finding the time...

Well, The Fellowship of the Ring is just over three hours long on the new CD set.

If you can spend three hours watching a movie once or twice a month, you can spend three hours reading the books instead, which will get you through the series in (much) less than a year.

The Return of the King won't even be out by then.

how to play on a REAL computer

[Anonymous Coward]

1. *click*

Re:how to play on a REAL computer

[DoctorPepper]

Yep, that's what I did on my nice new 17" LCD iMac. I *clicked* and it ran :-)

Re:how to play on a REAL computer

[Anonymous Coward]

It doesn't work on my Cray. Does that mean it's not "a REAL computer"?

Re:how to play on a REAL computer

[Anonymous Coward]

KDE 3.2 Will solve this crap forever/

Re:how to play on a REAL computer

[Anonymous Coward]

And I just needed to click to play my mst3k AVIs in Linux. In other news just as shocking and worth posting as our two, I plan in an hour to eat a potato with my blue fork. It's expected that the potato will stick onto the fork. Not only that, I can have the potato sit on my plate and not fly away! It's shocking I tell you!

Oh yes, and my parents could beat up yours! So there!

Re:how to play on a REAL computer

[Anonymous Coward]

BLUE FORK!#%!%$

Re:how to play on a REAL computer

[EvilAlien]

Of course if a Microsoft format had been used we'd see streams of anti-Microsoft hate invoking antitrust etc etc. When it is Apple's format that they don't have the courtesy of releasing a *nix player for its all "yay for the underdog!"

The World is composed of two kinds of people...

[Erik_]

The World is composed of two kinds of people...

• Those that have read the books...
  and those that will read the books.

Enjoy them...

Re:The World is composed of two kinds of people...

[Arnulf]

The World is composed of two kinds of people...

Those that de-compose the world population into two kinds...
and those that don't.

Yes, if you haven't read the books yet already, go and do it.

Re:The World is composed of two kinds of people...

[kyletinsley]

The World is composed of two kinds of people...

Those that have read the books... and those that will read the books.

-----
Oh yeah?? Well I've read all the books, and I plan to read them again in the future. Wrap that little paradox into your precious little either-or divisioned world! :)

Am I missing something?

[10Ghz]

I have this very same trailer on my computer. Have had it for a long time now. Slashdot is only about 1.5 months late with this one ;)

Re:Am I missing something?

[koorneef]

The 2 Towers trailer is also included on the 2nd DVD of the extended version.

To find it you'll have to go to the 'select chapter menu' and have a look at the last chapter. When you move up again you'll see in the bottom right of the screen two towers. Select that, press ok .. and you'll see the director congratulating you for finding this easter egg.

Have fun !

Re:Am I missing something?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got some karma right here to give to the one who posts a link to the trailer converted to a "friendly" format.

Re:Am I missing something?

[FrostedWheat]

Yep! :)
It was covered on Slashdot back then to.

Well it's Sunday .. we can forgive CmdrTaco! I'm really excited about this next movie to!

Re:Am I missing something?

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool, it even has a little closer look at the ents,
but its not the same preview that's the subject of this slashdot story.

Re:Am I missing something?

[nolesrule]

No. That was The Two Towers preview that was attached to the end of Fellowship of the Ring for the last month of the theatrical run.

Re:Am I missing something?

[Anonymous Coward]

Here ya go, no karma necessary. Enjoy!

Re:Am I missing something?

[DarkEdgeX]

Uhh, maybe you should mention that this only applies to the Region *2* disc, the Region *1* disc does NOT have this easter egg (I just tried it repeatedly, then searched on Google and found out it was an R2-only egg apparently; R1 has a DIFFERENT egg I guess, how LAME, god damn region encoding BULLSHIT).

[sigh]

Re:Am I missing something?

[DarkEdgeX]

sigh...

It's on the R1 disc, the instructions weren't quite clear exactly WHERE you had to press DOWN at. You press down from the far-right group listing, NOT from the chapter name itself (mentally split the three areas you can navigate left and right into three columns, you want to be on the bottom right item, then press DOWN, and you'll get the Towers graphic as the original poster described). On the FIRST disc of the Extended DVD you can get to the MTV spoof of the Council of Elrond scene by going to the last chapter (this time the SECOND/MIDDLE column of selectable menu items) and press DOWN on the last item (doing this on the 2nd disc moved you to the first chapter, on the 1st disc it brings up a small ring icon in the bottom/middle area, press ENTER on this ring icon).

Sorry for my previous rant. I still think regions are lame though. ;)

Re:Am I missing something?

[Nermal6693]

It's on the R4 version too. And if you're really curious, you can do the same thing on disc 1 to get a different video, but be warned, it's sick.

Re:Am I missing something?

[nebaz]

On region 1, if you do that trick with the first disc, you get an MTV "Counsel of Elrond" parody. On disc 2 you get the trailer.

background music

[patrick_jones]

Is it just me, or does the music in the background of the trailer sound very much (i.e. exactly) like the main theme to Requiem for a Dream? Is this actually the music from the main movie, or is it just incidental trailer stuff? Does Clint Mansell know?

Re:background music

[Bunjo]

It's called "Requiem of the Rings," and it's a mixture of Clint Mansell's Requiem for a Dream and some LOTR sounds. The maker is Ajax Projection and they used to have it up for download. It then moved to War of the Ring but now it's gone from there too. But I'm sure you know where else to look.

Re:background music

[mindstrm]

They also used it in Photo Guy.. at least int he copy I watched.
I suspect, though, given that the first half was the soundtrack from American Beauty and the last was straight out of Requiem for a Dream, that it was just something the pirate kiddies added in on a pre-released version with no soundtrack.

Re:background music

[Anonymous Coward]

Bollocks... Quoting Ajax "Ok, I've noticed a lot of people asking questions about the Requiem song we pieced together from the trailer." In other words, Ajax did not supply the orchestral redo of the Clint Mansell music. They just cobbled together a remix of their own from the LOTR:TTT trailer.

Howard Shore was sanctioned by New Line to officially re-orchestrate Clint Mansell's RFAD theme for the trailer.

Re:background music

[IvyMike]

This is also discussed on this week's Roger Ebert Movie Answer Man.

Actually, it's not

[Large Green Mallard]

For one thing, it's made of more than three books, but it's actually just one long big book in three popular parts. There's something in the forward of the books about this. A Tryptych would be a more accurate description.

Re:Actually, it's not

[IIRCAFAIKIANAL]

Six sections, actually.

I believe you can buy editions where all six are separated too, though I am not certain.

Re:Actually, it's not

[dfluke]

Yes, that was the "Book of the Millenium" edition or something, it also had came with a cd with reading by Tolkien and other goodies. It's near-impossible to find now though..

Re:Actually, it's not

[Large Green Mallard]

Then there's also the debate regarding if Unfinished Tales and The Simarillion are part of the greater work known as "Lord of the Rings" or if they're part of the more general body of works known as Tolkein's Ring :)

Re:requiem for a dream

[Anonymous Coward]

It's from Requiem for a Dream. Ebert wrote about it. So did Harry Knowles. So did Dennis Moore (aka Archon).

old

[vs-Tsoonamy]

that trailer's f***** old!

It's a /. dupe even.

[Anonymous Coward]

Then you must not be reading slashdot regularly, because this trailer was the topic of a 400+ discussion back in September.

Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[eddy]

.. so if you haven't read the book already (what kind of a geek are you?) but are watching the movies, then DON'T WATCH THIS TRAILER, IT'LL SPOIL IT FOR YOU.

What were they thinking?

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Anonymous Coward]

DON'T WATCH THIS TRAILER, IT'LL SPOIL IT FOR YOU.

What?? Oh, you mean the part about how Gandalf's not really dead? Yeah, that sucks how they spoiled that for everyone that hasn't read the books yet.

muhahahahahhaaaaaaaaaa

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[sjwt]

hell, i hadnt read the books and manadged to pick up on that..

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Anonymous Coward]

Gandalf not dead.
Legolas and Gimli become friends.
Frodo really Sauron's son.

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[sprlmnl]

i agree... what's up with this?! the surprise was huge in the books. and what's with the very brief sneak look at treebeard?! they want to keep that part secret? did anyone see any tree ents in the helms deep bit?

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Daytona955i]

Oh please, if you don't see the spoiler coming you deserve to have it spoiled. Maybe I just read the book too many times...
-Chris

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[numark]

It's possible that when the trailer was made the digital rendering of Treebeard wasn't completely finished. Trailers have to be made weeks in advance in order to be released in time, and it's quite likely that they're working up to the end to get the final rendering done, thus not having it all available at the time of the trailer.

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Arandir]

DONT LOOK AT THE MOVIE POSTER EITHER THEN!!!

And don't look at the title sequence either, or you might catch a glimpse of the name of an actor playing a character who by all rights must be dead.

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[shokk]

I can't believe they showed that part seeing as how it was one of the most moving parts of the first movie; a real let down that was. But they seem to have kept Treebeard and friends out of the picture.

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Anonymous Coward]

Note that reading the book before is also a big spoiler, if u can read that is.

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Anonymous Coward]

It can't be...it's IMPOSSIBLE!

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Anonymous Coward]

Frodo Sauron's son ?! Huh, please tell me where _that_ is in the books ?

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Roland]

Ents weren't in the battle of helms deep, they attack Isengard.

Re:Note that this trailer has a big spoiler!

[Anonymous Coward]

While on the topic of spoilers...this goes back to Fellowship, in the beginning when they talk about where all the rings went, 3 go to the elves...well we know the one chick is Galadriel cause the actress is the same, but the two in the background....funny how they don't use the right actors to play those characters...

Re:CmdrTaco, TTT fan! propz from Tripppple T himse

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm happy because I browse at -1.

Slashdot's news rep...

[Fideaux!]

Good to see it rising, as /. headlines Google News with a month-and-a-half old story...

Re:Slashdot's news rep...

[satanami69]

I just noticed that too.
But the important part is that some of the 12 related stories
have links to buying tickets.

Movie industry

[Gary Franczyk]

Isn't it funny how the same people who complain about movie and recording industry "fatcats" are the same ones that slobber over the newest trailer for a series of movies that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce?

Re:Movie industry

[anonymous cupboard]

With the LOTR, the inital budget was $200,000 for three films. We seem to be getting quite good value for our money and some of the incom from the first film seems to be being tuned around into better postproduction for the others.

Peter Jackson is definitely not commanding a high salary (he doesn''t have enough experience), although I rea;;yy hope they give him a point or two of revenue. The same goes for the rest of the cast: no big budget names there.

Instead, we have got a picture that looks like a lot of money was spent on it. If someone at newline ends up making a bundle out of it, so what, we have ended up with a good film. Rgerttably that can not be said of a lot of movies out there.

Re:Movie industry

[damiam]

LOTR cost way more than $200,000. $200 million would be more like it.

Re:Movie industry

[kubrick]

Peter Jackson is definitely not commanding a high salary (he doesn''t have enough experience)

He does have a good reputation as a director -- Heavenly Creatures, especially, gave him enough critical and industry goodwill that he could have made a couple of duds without losing too much credibility, and after these three films he should be in a much stronger negotiating position for any future projects.

But you're right, it's definitely his technical reputation and not his 'star billing' that enabled him to get the LotR films up. :)

Re:Movie industry

[Dyolf Knip]

Peter Jackson is definitely not commanding a high salary (he doesn't have enough experience), although I reallyy hope they give him a point or two of revenue.

Sure, they'll just give him 10% of the profits.

Re:Movie industry

[sirinek]

Gary,

I still havent seen the movie and I havent read any of the books. Am I the only one? :)

Re:Movie industry

[S.O.B.]

Typo aside, according to The Internet Database the three movies cost $297 million to make. If the next two moives make the same as the first they should collective gross almost $2.6 billion. Even with Hollywood's creative accounting they should make a huge profit.

Re:Movie industry

[gakguk]

All I can say is, I would pay to feel the same excitement while I was reading the triology.

Re:Movie industry

[nihilogos]

We complain about Hollywood and MPAA fatcats, the fatcats who pump out the same derivative drivel year in year out with the single goal of making money.

LOTR is not a Hollywood movie. It was made by people with a genuine love of Tolkien. So stop babbling formulaic counter-counter-culture cliches. Honestly.

Re:Movie industry

[BaconLT]

Although you make a good point. I think it's a little different situation when you are talking about the movie industry spending a lot of money to make an excellent portrayel of one of the greatest fantasies ever written.

If a druglord were to donate an exorbitant amount of money to a TV campaign against drugs, would the campaign be any less valuable?

We can't focus on the cause, in this case.. we need to appreciate the effect. As well, we need to thank the people who brought the appreciation of a movie like this to the forefront of mainstream America.

Re:Movie industry

[anonymous cupboard]

This is exactly why I said rather than profit points. Hopefully as he has some experience, he hasn't been shafted.

Re:Movie industry

[anonymous cupboard]

I had heard $200mill earlier (before FOTR) came out but the postproduction was incomplete for the other two films. The word is that New Line liked the results from the first so much that they increased the post production budget.

To be honest, I guess that New Line didn't really guess how big it would be until the first came out. Many fantasy films do not do that well and maybe they didn't realise the place of LOTR.

New Line seems better than many companies, but if they realised how big this was worth, I guess they wouldn't have given it to Jackson or the cast. As it is, as there were no superstars there (or their egos), just a very good team and the movies was the better for it.

Re:Movie industry

[anonymous cupboard]

With great difficulty, I managed to see Bad Taste and Brain Dead (thank heavens for P2P). I saw Heavenly Creatures but missed his other stuff. Only Heavenly Creatures really shows him to have major potential and I am suprised that New Line managed to see this.

I just hope he doesn't go the way of Ridley Scott or James Cameron.

Re:Movie industry

[kubrick]

Brain Dead is great, while I find Bad Taste & Meet the Feebles to be a little... err.. crude for my highly refined tastes (except when I'm in that sort of mood, of course). Heavenly Creatures was a definite change of style, although it too was macabre in a much more restrained way.

I'm Australian, and there are few enough feature films from NZ that we've known about Peter Jackson for a while. I imagine no-one had heard of him outside this corner of the world until The Frighteners, and that was hardly the world's greatest film... I do remember seeing that he was getting major industry cred. in the UK/US from Heavenly Creatures soon after it was released, though, despite the fact it wasn't all that successful financially.

(Also, that film probably had a large impact on Kate Winslet's career... definitely gave her a better profile, and enabled her to become a megastar and then walk away from it all a few years later. :)

Re:TTT Scandal

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't worry, you're not the only ones, the Australian states of Tasmania and Queensland have also banned TTT.

Re:posting stupid comments = sign of no girlfriend

[Anonymous Coward]

for being the 20th centuries most read books behind the bible, that would constitiute a lot of sick minds

Re:interest in LOTR == sign of a sick mind

[schatten]

well.. he's hiding in his fantasy world of the roman empire as he already told you. yes, a reality, but only from a perspective. that is an alternative reality than the times that we live in right now.

he might argue that studying the past is preparing him for the future, but its all an escape of fascination someway or another.

Sorry, I meanth $200million

[anonymous cupboard]

Sorry, I meant of course $200,000,000. Still cheap for three major movies.

humm

[Anonymous Coward]

http://v2os.cx/~lnn/dc/

Re:interest in LOTR == sign of a sick mind

[joshua404]

3 out of 10 on the Troll Scale. Good choice in targeting and nice reference at the end to portray yourself as being well-read. But everything else was subpar. A troll more suited for the fuckedcompany forums than /. Better luck next time.

mmm, flame

[selfdiscipline]

It's interesting, your condemnation of fantasy worlds really doesn't incite me as much as your endorsement of history in it's place. History, in my mind, is a collection of idealized fantasies based upon second, 3rd, nth hand accounts with "irrelevant details" glossed over. It's hard enough to figure out what really happening in this world right now (which would be more productive than being stuck in the past) with incredible amount of people on this world, incredible amount of information available and the watered down presentations of mainstream media.
So forget about history, it's dead... read the newspaper (and your local "alternative" paper), internet news sites, etc, and when that gets to depressing, switch back to fantasy worlds where good vs. evil is clearly laid out and you can be inspired to believe there may be truth and justice in this world (even if there aren't such, it is better to believe).
That's my return flame.

Re:interest in LOTR == sign of a sick mind

[Jugalator]

Oh come on, please moderate this obvious troll down...

Ok, I'll spend a minute of my unreal life and sick mind to answer it:

They are constrained tautologies designed to provide you with a cosy and unchallenging little universe where you can retreat from real life

Don't you think that's why people like to watch them?

Re:interest in LOTR == sign of a sick mind

[po3t]

not that I disagree, because, for the most part, I don't. However, do you honestly believe that it's your place to say? I doubt that most of the people who spend their lives indulging in these fantasy worlds care about the psychological motives behind doing so. I don't. I think that though fantasy worlds offer someone to unplug from the real world for the time being, isn't that something that all very popular activities have in common (video games, books, TV, movies for a start)? It's not just restricted to fantasy. When you open up the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, are you thinking about your wife who says that she's unhappy, or your kid who's doing poorly in school? Did your reading that one of the possible reasons the Roman Empire collapsed was widespread homosexuality somehow make you remember about the taxes that you weren't be able to pay? Whether it's fake or real, you can escape reality through almost any medium.

Whats that song?

[sailor420]

Anyone know what that song playing in the background of the trailer is? Me likes...

Re:Whats that song?

[slavetrade55]

It's a piece from the Requiem for a Dream soundrack. Actually, almost every song on that soundtrack is a variation of just that piece of music. But since it's awesome, it doesn't really matter. heh

--RMT

Re:CmdrTaco, TTT fan! propz from Tripppple T himse

[Anonymous Coward]

So... you're now officially "out"? Good work, society is proud of your strength.

It's a version of the Requiem for a Dream

[Anonymous Coward]

From another messageboard:

"I found this on a Clint Mansell ('Requiem for a Dream' composer) website, it deals with the music for the new trailer.

It's been the talk of the net for the past week or so, and we can officially reveal the truth! the main theme from requiem for a dream has indeed been re-recorded for use in the lord of the rings: the two towers trailer.

Clint is really pleased with the results - three short pieces were re-recorded with a full orchestra and choir for use in different trailers. the theme is unlikely to be used in the film."

Mansell's website is down now, so I can't verify that.

According to imdb, Howard Shore is making the scores for all three movies. I just hope that he'll improve for 2nd and 3rd movies, I think the score for the first movie was slightly too pompous at few points.

Re:It's a version of the Requiem for a Dream

[Anonymous Coward]

they always do this shit with trailers. it seems so strange to me to do such things when the music exists already for the 2nd movie and they could've used that. i guess it just means the music isn't exciting enough to grab people's attention during the trailer :)

the clips i've heard from the 2nd soundtrack do seem to be a bit better than the first but i liked the first so...

Can you believe the BALLS these trolls are growing

[kyletinsley]

They're not even subtle about it anymore. They just stroll in to a geek news web site, and carpet bomb everyone who might enjoy all of the main geek fantasy worlds, while making only a humorously pathetic effort in feigning it as a "reality public service announcement".

Maybe all this work in silencing the subtlest of the trolls has been counter-productive. Now only the boldest and most blunt of the troll species have survived... only to be modded up as "insightful"! What is that shit? Should we just raise the white flags and surrender Slashdot forums to the galactically stupid?

Re:About Quicktime

[Textbook Error]

Quicktime is as we all know the most crappy videoformat ever.

QuickTime is an API that defines a file format, not a codec. If you're not happy with the output of whatever codec you're using, use a better codec (or more likely, learn how to tune the one you're using for your subject matter).

It's bloated, and has a ugly player which you can't replace.

You do realise that QuickTime (the API) is not the same as QuickTime Player (the app)?

If you want to write a better movie player on top of QuickTime, knock yourself out - there used to be several such things on the Mac, all using the same API calls as the official player (QuickTime itself doesn't care - it's app agnostic).

Re:About Quicktime

[Anonymous Coward]

You really don't know what your talking about.

I'm not generally a big huge fan of quicktime, but it's currently the best media distribution format out there, end of story.

Sorry.

Spoiler?

[PaleBoy]

What were they thinking?

Well, it has always been my impression that these movies are sort of an homage to the books, a loving tribute, and that the director would rather that you had read the books than not. I'm sure he wasn't interested in being exclusionary, but since they are a major work of English literature, they probably operated under the assumption that the majority of the viewers have read the book, and those who haven't bloody well SHOULD.

Of course, I'm sure in interviews there will be quotes like "Oh, we made these movies for the hardcore fans AND the newcomers". But there is just soooo much geek-goodness, it isn't hard to see where the director's heart really is: with the dorks. ;)

Success??

[thefogger]

Does anyone know if LotR is already a financial success? If so, I think it would be great to make one or two movies about the stories from the Silmarillion after RotK is out. Not all of the Silmarillion, of course, I'm thinking of the Fall of Gondolin or something about Numenor.

Re:Success??

[Anonymous Coward]

marketting aside, the first movie made more money at the box office than all three movies combined. i don't know how that directly translates into money for the studio but i'd imagine that between that and the licensing deals for games and toys they're pretty far in the black from just the first movie alone...

~900m for the movie at the box office and ~300m to make all three movies.

Re:Success??

[numark]

Well, the first movie made more money than it cost to film all three movies, so it would appear that it's making quite a bit of profit in there. Though I'm not sure if the Silmarillion would bring people to the theators like LotR, just because there's not as much engrossing action for the average watcher to experience.

Re:Success??

[dkm92end]

for financial information on LOTR (and nearly every other movie), check out:

http://www.imdb.com

for LOTR, find its page on imdb.com and click on the "box office & business" link on the left column sidebar. should have all the financial information you want and more.

dkm92end

Excerpt from Clip

[Sponge Bath]

Camera zooms in on face of Aragorn...

"I was entering my quest plans on a PC and it went, like, beep beep beep..."

OK, you know the rest.

Its just a rumor

[Sorklin]

But I heard that they might even be making a LIVE ACTION version of the Lord of the Rings! I heard Michael J. Fox would play Frodo!

Jesus, how can Slashdot be this far behind?

Already been /.'ed

[Anonymous Coward]

We've already been over this. (even in more formats) Old /. message

Get it here!

[Anonymous Coward]

Link

In Quicktime, SO WHAT??

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course, the trailer is in quicktime

So fucking what? You think I can't play it on Linux? You're wrong. MPLAYER is the solution.

Better Link

[Anonymous Coward]

This file is twice as big a download as the 20 meg "large 480" version, and its still in the same shit resolution.

Don't bother downloading another 20 megs with this link, this file has some border around the movie that makes it harder to maximize with quicktime's shit player.

Just go here http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/the_two_towe rs/ and click the large .zip file

Re:interest in LOTR /Decline and Fall

[panurge]

Decline and Fall presents a world which, I suspect, is just as much a fantasy world as any other. In fact, I would recommend it to anyone who likes LOTR. I have a one volume edited version which actually sits next to LOTR on one of my shelves.
Gibbon wrote his history in a day when we knew far less about the "Barbarians" than we do now, far less about the economics of the Roman Empire. The result was he had to construct a story, one in which (in fact) Christianity is the villain bringing the Empire into eventual decline. He may be right about this, I suspect it's a gross oversimplification, but whatever, when he actually wrote it, it was a story.

And what about Moby-Dick? Does all the technical stuff about whale-hunting in the mid-nineteenth century make it a solid factual read, or is it in fact an escapist account of adventures in a world alien to almost all its readers, and so a kind of science fiction?

Just because it's a troll, doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a response.

This trailer has already been out for a month!!

[Phantom_24]

A wee bit behind the times are we !

And if Peter Jackson was to do ANY other Tolkien movie.....wish he would do The Hobbit! Think he's earned the chance to do a story based on just ONE book.....don't you?? :-)

Still though....what an incredible delivery he has given us all on such an expansive story!! One would think that somewhere the quality would start to drop off, but having done all principal photography for all 3 movies at once, ensured he was going to put a top notch movie!! I shudder at the thought if he had to do this over 10 years...with all the personel changes, money squabbles and actor whinings that would ensue !

Direct link to the movie.

[fmaxwell]

Here is a direct link to the movie:

http://progressive.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/newli ne/lordoftherings/TheTwoTowers-tlr_fs.l.mov

This way you can save it to your hard disk (41MB) and not needlessly waste bandwidth (yours, your ISP's, or the host's) every time you want to see it. You can also share it with your friends that don't have broadband by cutting it to a CD. Enjoy.

i remember movies...

[Anonymous Coward]

glad somebody still gets to see movies...

signed,

unemployed dot-bomb casualty

Re:i remember movies...

[Anonymous Coward]

Would you like a little cheese with your *whine*?

Re:i remember movies...

[shokk]

I remember being offered dot-com jobs at the height of the dot-com craze and steering clear of them because of the obvious bubble it was all riding on. Too bad more people can't see more clearly past the initial blinding offer of stock and cash. Your own poor choice based on ignorant greed, not anything else, is what has you in this place now. What have you done since then to ambitious help yourself out of this?

You mean this new trailer?

[st. augustine]

New Trailer For The Two Towers
Posted by timothy on Mon 30 Sep 09:49AM

YES! THE TROLL WORKED

[Anonymous Coward]

Sincerely,

Chinese Karma Whore

By "new trailer"

[Morgahastu]

do you mean 4 months old?

Yes, there IS a new trailer

[thebeagle]

There is no link to the trailer on apple.com/trailers, I think that's what's causing the confusion. You CAN get to the new trailer using the link in the original post, however. Yes, it mostly includes scenes already released, but it is a new trailer.

A Quicktime movie can use /any/ codec

[jo_ham]

Quicktime is just the format.

You can choose a plethora of codecs to use when making your quicktime movie, just like an avi or other such format.

You can even use the DV codec, which is why iMovie can capture so easily in realtime from your flashy firewire equipped camcorder without nailing the CPU - it doesn't have to do too much processing.

Hell, if you want you can use mpeg4 although this is only supported in Quicktime 6 (download the player free from apple).

Extended trailer airs in NZ

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sure about you folks, but Lord of the Rings has been running for just about the entire year down in this wonderful place where the film was actually made. I recently went to watch it for the second time and it had a 5 minute trailer at the end of it for the second film.
I forgot why I posted this

Repeat

[quakeroatz]

This is not a new trailer. It was even annouced on Slashdot over 2 moths ago.

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/30/1717 25 9&mode=thread&tid=97

You guys are geniuses.

[mindstrm]

I mean, here I am, all excited about a new trailer.. and I go look, wait for it to download....

THIS TRAILER HAS BEEN UP FOR OVER 2 MONTHS.

Way to go slashdot.. that's just fantastic reporting. You guys rule. Hey, I suppose we're so busy reading slashdot we need you to tell us 2 months later when a trailer comes out.

Next thing you know, you'll be telling us that Star Wars Episode 2 was just released in theaters! And in Febuary, you'll be telling us it's 2003!

I don't have a problem with fatcats.

[mindstrm]

I have a problem with fatcats who want to change the law so they can make even MORE money, and screw over the little guy. Want to make more money? Make better movies. Don't become complacent.

Great movies like this are WHY movie production will ALWAYS be able to make money, even without copy controls.

An Ent!

[Ligur]

I saw an Ent! Well, the leg of an Ent anyway.
Oh, right, that was two frelling MONTHS ago!

Didn't it bother anyone...

[Mex]

Didn't it bother anyone that the previous Two Towers trailer used the music from REQUIEM FOR A DREAM??

My girlfriend knew it, I knew it, even my mom knew it! It was just a bit reworked to sound more "Symphonic"(and it actually sounded pretty good when applied to the LOTR)

But isn't that some sort of copyright issue? Or is the music a copyright free work?

I'm just asking because I'd never noticed music from one movie being used in another. Very strange.

Re:Didn't it bother anyone...

[Anonymous Coward]

Happens ALL the time.

Rarely does music from an actual film appear in the trailer for it - mainly due to the fact the music isn't scored at that time. Studios usually use other music from their other films in the trailers. Countless times I've heard Dracula, Aliens and god knows what else being reused again and again in trailers. And yes, the studios can do it as *they* own the soundtrack masters, not the composer.

Re:Didn't it bother anyone...

[TomHandy]

What about it bothered you exactly? Music is often re-used, oftentimes with the full consent of the original composers.

Check out Roger Ebert's latest answer man column, where he talks to the people involved with the musical scoring for the Two Towers trailer and how it came to be:

Roger Ebert Column on The Music for the Two Towers Trailer

-Tom

Re:Didn't it bother anyone...

[Scrameustache]

I'm just asking because I'd never noticed music from one movie being used in another. Very strange.

Jeez, I noticed that trailers use music from previously released movies about 15 years ago, they allways use music from other movies.
If its a comedy, listen for the soundtrack from Beetlejuice, if its action, the one from The Rock (alcatraz, not the wrasller).

I've been told that Dark City used its own music in the trailers, that's the only one I know of that did.

No need to get all angry at them, its just a trailer you know. I think they mostly do it because the music isn't allways done in time for the teasers and the trailers (I know that they finished the music for the crappy "reimagining" of Planet of the Apes about 2 weeks before its release). As far as copyrights are concerned, they either use music from their own studios (they own them) or they pay for 'em. No biggie.

slightly moded version of an old trailer

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't remember seeing some of the scenes on the last trailer, specifically Gandalf falling with Durin's Bane. But aside from that, it's the same trailer. Seems 1-5% newer footage. I may be just senile. Be gentle if I am :)

Silmarillion

[coljac]

Well, you couldn't just film the Silmarillion. It's a recounting of the main points of a long legend, not a story per se. But certain parts of it could be fleshed out into narratives of their own; there's quite a lot of cool source matierial there.

Re:Silmarillion

[JabberWokky]

I kinda see it as a Fantasia style movie (or movie series) - abstract light and music (much like the actual story) at first, and then resolving into reality.

It would never sell, but it could be a fine work of art.

--
Evan

Re:Silmarillion

[shokk]

The thing that got me was the lack of real dialog in the Simarillion. It would have been great as a whole, but with all the jumping around the dialog would not have been connected. I'll have to force myself to finish reading it one day.

Not new trailer

[shoptroll]

Umm... This isn't new... The file date is 9/30... I thought it looked familiar.... I recall downloading this from the site a long time ago.

Re:interest in LOTR == sign of a sick mind

[doorbot.com]

Whether it's fake or real, you can escape reality through almost any medium.

Death works pretty well, I hear. And second to this is getting as close as possible... skydiving, etc make it very, very difficult to think about a crummy life while you're (for example) hurtling towards the earth at terminal velocity.

Just imagine a life without some means to escape from it...

Re:posting stupid comments = sign of no girlfriend

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll let you in on a little secret. Lots of people bought the Bible in the 20th century, but hardly anybody actually read it.

LOTR is, without a doubt, the most-read book of the 20th century.

Arwen--what?

[stevarooski]

Not a troll, but *why* is Arwen in The Two Towers?? Are those supposed to be flashbacks for Aragorn? I hope so, because I shudder to think about how would they work in a quick trip back to Rivendell just to justify Tyler's presence in the movie!

I loved the production design and art direction of the first movie, but some of the character portrayals made me sad. And I still haven't figured out why Jackson is pushing Arwen so much. Is it really his interpretation of the story or did someone tell him to make the movies more romantic to appeal to a wider audience than those who have read the books?

Re:Arwen--what?

[Arandir]

Not a troll, but *why* is Arwen in The Two Towers?? Are those supposed to be flashbacks for Aragorn?

I get the sense that they are partly a flashback, but mainly a separate plot thread involving the elves leaving for the Undying Lands.

And I still haven't figured out why Jackson is pushing Arwen so much.

This has been answered by PJ many times. Tolkien's work has many great themes. Among them are the end of the things and the beginning of others. The story of Arwen and Aragon is the perfect vehicle to bring these to cinema.

Or did you think that LOTR was just some geek hobbit jaunt through Middle Earth?

Re:Arwen--what?

[TomHandy]

Peter Jackson has acknowledged taking various liberties in doing these film versions, and that would include putting in scenes or events that weren't in the books. Tolkien's own son has said that he doesn't think the books could work literally as films so it is understandable, I think.

Aside from that though, even from seeing the first movie you should have recognized that these are not complete recreations of the books.....many characters and events are being emphasized in different ways, and I have seen a few people complain that the Hobbits seem more like background characters to the more action-oriented characters in the books, and that the movies have a different feel and tone than the books.

Regarding Arwen, Tolkien himself said that he wasn't comfortable writing female characters, but Peter Jackson felt that it made sense to expand Arwen's role. Will have to wait and actually see the movies of course to see how her expanded role plays out.

I really don't see any reason to object to it though. I agree with the general sentiment that an exact literal film of the books would simply not work well. But I think Peter Jackson has captured a lot of the spirit of the books, and that is what is really important.

In the meantime, feel free to look through the various talksbacks on articles about the Two Towers on aintitcool.com.....if I remember correctly there were a lot of discussions about the issue of Arewen in the Two Towers.

-Tom

Re:Arwen--what?

[alding]

It should be a flashback ... Aragorn having a talk with Elrond about himself and Arwen happen quite a while before FOTR if you read the appendices.

Re:Arwen--what?

[shokk]

You ought to take a look at Alejandro Jodorowsky's plans for Frank Herbert's Dune for an example of what a bastardization of a story looks like (http://www.orlok.co.uk/prime/history.html). Jackson's license with Arwen would pale in comparison. I'm sure they are just flashbacks meant to flesh out Aragorn from the rustic barbarian he started out as at the beginning of FotR. He has feelings, too, you know.

Re:Arwen--what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Most people also never seem to notice that it was Glorifindel that saved frodo in the 1st book as he rode from the black riders. Not Arwen. Right there was the 1st step of making Arwen more of a character than she was in the books. It fits in nicely though.

Re:Arwen--what?

[Arandir]

At first I didn't like replacing Glorfindel with Arwen. But the more I think about it, the more I realize it makes sense for cinema. There are an awful lot of characters already, and another heavy dude isn't needed. There wasn't any way getting around Haldir, but there is a way to get around Glorfindel. Replace him with Legolas (as in the animation) or with Arwen.

Re:Arwen--what?

[William Tanksley]

An excellent question; I started wondering whether she'd be in it when I first watched the movie. The reason I did that is that Aragorn didn't seem to get Narsil reforged in FOTR (as he did in the book).

I just finished watching the extended edition (whew, LONG movie, very very worth it), and my suspicions are confirmed: they didn't reforge Narsil because Aragorn wasn't ready for it/didn't want it.

Therefore, it'll be reforged in TTT, and someone will have to bring it. Guess who?

As to why Peter's pushing Arwen: that's pretty obvious. She's needed to build up Aragorn's character. Without her, he's just an action hero.

Tolkien had a lot of liberty in the books that Peter doesn't have for the movies. I think Peter, by and large, made some very good choices; delaying the reforging of Narsil was one of them (although cutting out the part where they talk about it was not such a good choice, IMO, since that talk makes Aragorn's character more evident).

I do miss Glorfindel, though. Seems he always gets dunked in the movies (he's ALWAYS cut out). I don't blame the producers, and in fact Tolkien really shouldn't have put him in because at the time of LOTR he was ___DEAD___, but poor guy...

-Billy

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:TTT Scandal

[Anonymous Coward]

Put your hatred where it belongs...

on the Fucking Canuck Frogs...

There are some of else who actually would welcome you Yankees up here to save us from your Moronic leader and his frog advisors!

Re:interest in LOTR == sign of a sick mind

[Arandir]

They are constrained tautologies designed to provide you with a cosy and unchallenging little universe where you can retreat from real life.

Sort of like the FSF then?

Does anyone else have a skip on the second dvd?

[Anonymous Coward]

I bought the 4 disc at a local best buy - returned after a skip transitioning to the pool with frodo and the elf queen(right when boromir's shield is passing on the screen).

Came home with a second 4dvd set and the skip(1.5 sec pause) in the EXACT same place.

(playing it on a playstation - never had a problem playing dvds in the past)

Re:Does anyone else have a skip on the second dvd?

[punkmanandy]

Yeah, it happened to me, playing it from my friends dvdrom drive.

Re:Tom Bombadil

[modecx]

I thought Tom Bombadil was one of the more colorful characaters in the book. While, perhaps his incessant singing was annoying to some, I don't think he was there without a puropse. He was a metaphor (at least to me) of all of the wonderful things of life--being carefree, and being the master of yourself. He was the embodiment of the spirit of nature: old and wise, yet young and fragile.

I think Tolkien wanted to say something with the voice of Bombadil, but as all metaphors, it's open to interpretation.

At the very least, it was an opportunity for us to get to know the hobbits better. That said, I can see why he was left out of the movie. He added very little to the storyline, took much time, and most movie goers would be confused by him.

On the other hand, I can't see how Treebeard and the Ents could be left out of the movie, and would be disappointed if they don't play a major part. I thought the March of the Ents was a fabulous part of the story, and felt like I was there, amongst their great trumpeting and marching song. Perhaps, I don't want that part to be played in the movie, because it might spoil my imaginaton. At any rate, it would be sorely missed.

What, this IS the old one...

[dzym]

Thanks for getting my hopes up and then dashing it, you bastards.

Must ... wait ... till ... December ... 18th.

Why is TTT Banned In Some Countries?

[TomHandy]

I've seen a few posts here referring to the Two Towers being banned in countries, but not any explanations of why. What's the matter with it that countries would ban it? Is it a violence issue, or something else?

-Tom

beavis says

[Anonymous Coward]

I just finished the 4th disc on FotR, and am ready for TTT to be out now!

He should have said, "I just finished the 4th disc on FotR, and am ready for the TT to be out now!"

1st dvd has an egg in the same spot

[Anonymous Coward]

Its an alternative to the Council meeting

there IS a new trailor, just not at apple

[Parthymon]

I went to see Harry Potter tonight and there IS a new trailor. It's nothing to get your painties in a twist over. Same footage with like 5% more, you get to see a shoulder of an Ent. But it's not online, just in the theatre

asshole

[Anonymous Coward]

2 week old asshole, you are as dumb as a Lindows user......

Quicktime for Linux? Am i an idiot?

[hwalton]

So why does Apple not have a download for Quicktime for Linux. Piece of sheeooot!

No -- theaters live on popcorn

[MacAndrew]

Your 50% figure for the theater isn't quite right -- it's more like 20% in the early weeks when most people go to see it. The cut gradually rises to ~50% after 5-6 weeks, when the theatre is half-full or less.

From a friend who ran one, the theaters are totally dependant on popcorn and candy to turn a profit, hence the whacko prices. (Popcorn has an even bigger margin than soda.) Here's an overview.

My peeve is that box office totals are never adjusted for inflation, so the term "blockbuster" doesn't mean a whole lot in comparison to a film 20 years ago like Star Wars. On the other hand, the studios have grown much savvier about wringing every last penny out of a film, from product placements to marketing tie-ins to figurines.

I have no doubt LOTR will be a cash cow. It's like the next Star Wars, a tightly threaded trilogy. Or maybe more -- anyone else read the Silmarillion ? (It has been 30 years since I did.) Can you say "prequel"?

Re:No -- theaters live on popcorn

[Anonymous Coward]

Silmarillion is too close to a bible. That and the fact it's more for the hardcore fan than a lotr fan. People would sleep through the whole movie.

Ha! I claim a new buzzword.

[SecretAsianMan]

TTT

I hereby claim the coinage of T2T.

Re:interest in LOTR == sign of a sick mind

[Anonymous Coward]

I would say the same thing about anyone who believes in a GOD and worships them in some form of a church.

Re:interest in LOTR == sign of a sick mind

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you worship a god? Do you spend your sundays in prayer? I would say the same thing regarding you then. You are believing and worshiping in a fantasy that has never been proven. In fact you use it as the same form of personal security yet you have no way to know whether this god exists or the bible you read is true. Because of how old it is, it too could have been a political tool that has carried on for years.

Silmarillion

[MacAndrew]

Well, OK, how about an animated version?

I do remember it was quite a slog to read, but LOTR wasn't light reading. I wonder how many people will or have read the books, and understand the difference? There was a very funny thread here about the number of people overheard in the theater who didn't know it was a trilogy and were pissed that the movie ended so abuptly; who were annoyed they'd "have to wait a year to find out what happens next"; or who didn't even know the movie was based on a book.

And before any wiseass corrects me, I do realize that LOTR is technically not a trilogy, that was just a marketing feint.

Re:Tom Bombadil

[Peter Harris]

I thought Tom Bombadil was one of the more colorful characaters in the book

Not to mention being one of the few definitely heterosexual characters in the whole story ;)

Re:Tom Bombadil

[modecx]

*laughs* You're evil! Sauron incarnate? ;)

is this a movie about 9/11?

[patrickoehlinger]

I just told my girlfriend that the new two towers trailer is out. She was wondering: "wow, I didn't know they make a movie about 9/11".

Re:interest in LOTR /Decline and Fall

[meehawl]

Gibbon wrote his history in a day when we knew far less about the "Barbarians" than we do now, far less about the economics of the Roman Empire. The result was he had to construct a story, one in which (in fact) Christianity is the villain bringing the Empire into eventual decline. He may be right about this, I suspect it's a gross oversimplification, but whatever, when he actually wrote it, it was a story.

The transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire and then in the Roman Christian Empire was not so much a tale of military defeat but instead a gradual yet systematic progression. Urban centres that had endured for centuries disappeared "overnight" -- well, within a generation or two. Mostly this was not a result of warfare, but of a change in people's perceptions of what was important. A lot of this was due to the immigeation into the Roman Empire of people from the north of Europe who didn't share the same fasciunation with communal property and urban tithes. The cultural division between the the Gallo-Romans and the Carolingian/Merovingian Franks in what became France is a classic example of this change and the difficulties both "sides" had in evolving a common set of laws acceptable to all members of both communities.

The rise of a version of Christinaity to eminence within the Roman Empire was an effect of a growing tendency towards centralization, coupled with a general shift in people's attitudes from a simple, direct relationship with nature (animism) to a complex system of Pagan (then Christian) hierarchies and moral sensibilities. Between 50AD-250AD saw a huge growth in the complexity and depth of Pagan philosophies (the Stoics, etc) as well as Christian philosophies.

It's a lot easier and sexier to imagine that the Roman Empire broke up because of barbarian invasion. The more comprehensive account of its gradual transformation, and the of the people from Animism through Paganism into Christians, is best told not in war-obsessed works such as Gibbons' but instead in something like History of Private Life: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium .

In many ways the decline of the British Empire will seem similar in centuries to come. Sustained by small-scale military endevours, except for the war against the 13 Colonies the UK never fought a sustained campaign against any of its colonies that demanded independence. Instead, it slowly withdrew from them. Imagine India and Zimbabwe a century from now... they will have very little in common except for their past membership of the British Empire. But they will share some common language similarities (British English) and some cultural institutions. So it was in far-flung sections of the Roman Empire that began to evolve and acculturate their inherited Latin into regional dialects and local laws and customs.

Glorfindel

[Cato the Elder]

You're thinking of Glorfindel who got killed by the Balrog during the fall of Gondolin, n'est-ce pas? The Glorfindel who in Lord of the Rings is a different elf of the same name, also mentioned in the Silmarillion.

Re:Glorfindel

[William Tanksley]

That's a common theory, but Tolkien said in one of his letters that Elves didn't repeat names -- when he was asked about this specific one he reiterated the rule, and had to admit that it was a hole.

He never precisely explained, but I recall there being a letter in which he speculated about rebirth or resurrection having been the cause (he used resurrection elsewhere).

-Billy

Last Post!

[alpg]

Note that if I can get you to "su and say" something just by asking,
you have a very serious security problem on your system and you should
look into it.
-- Paul Vixie, vixie-cron 3.0.1 installation notes

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