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Return Of The King Footage From E3

Arathorn writes "TheOneRing.net has a Quicktime movie up of just over a minute's worth of live footage from Return of The King , as shown at E3. The quality's pretty abysmal, but it gives a much-needed taster of what RoTK's going to look like. The soundtrack (such as it is) is from the final act of The Two Towers." Update: 05/21 18:47 GMT by T : Reader Adam Roben has set up a BitTorrent session as well.

11 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Wow, live footage by Savatte · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I could have sworn they already filmed the movie.

    But seriously, one minute of footage in poor quality out of 180 isn't too much to get excited about. Just wait for the movie, folks. It's not that much longer. We had to wait 18 years for the fourth star wars movie.

  2. Re:We already know what it would look like by Fizzl · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Unless they add some Jar Jar Binks of Middle Earth in there.

    <rant>
    I'm still f*cking pissed they turned Gimli into a comic sidekick in Two Towers. I thought the original foolhardy and arrogant Gimli of the book was amusing enough.
    </rant>

  3. Or try the unofficial danish LOTR trailer :- by elgaard · · Score: 4, Interesting

    http://www.alexanderband.dk/lotr/index.htm

  4. Re:LotR Music by mav[LAG] · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Which just goes to show there's no accounting for taste :) I thought the soundtracks were masterpieces all round: grand sweeping themes for the grand sweeping bits, a light and bouncy tune for the hobbits, some stunning pieces that somehow actually managed somehow to sound elvish, and excellent dark and brooding bits for Moria. The Academy agreed.
    The memorability of both Star Wars and Raiders is a factor of time and how much both have penetrated Western culture. The themes from both have been played, parodied, and imitated a thousand times over the last two decades. Also, both are much less epics than rollicking adventure films which lend themselves more to a contemporary theme. Don't get me wrong - I love (and own) both the Raiders and Star Wars soundtracks - but I went straight out and bought both Ring soundtracks as soon as they were available.

    --
    --- Hot Shot City is particularly good.
  5. Re:Dont download it, dont go and see it by nigel.selke · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I must advise you not to have anything to do with this adulteration. If you haven't read the book then you'll get much more out of that than out of the film. If you have read the book then after seeing the Two Towers you should know better.

    I've read the novel and watched both movies, and while I agree with you that the novel offers more than the movies from a general perspective, both offer great entertainment. Your attitude towards the movies seems unneccessarily hostile.

    The Lord of the Rings is a great piece of work and the fact is that if the One Ring ever went to Gondor then Sauron would've noticed it, GAME OVER

    Not neccessarily. If you recall the original story, the closer to Mordor the ring got, the more its power increased. Surely from that point of view, taking it to Mordor, which is basically what they did, would be worse? (And as we all know, that is the basis of the quest - they are going to take the ring to Mordor). My point is, just because the movie had a detour to Osgiliath, I fail to see what you're getting your knickers in a knot about. Yes, it does change the original story's details, but it isn't as terrible as you're making it out to be.

    The Lord of the Rings is a great piece of work and the fact is that if the One Ring ever went to Gondor then Sauron would've noticed it, GAME OVER. Journey to Mount Doom was only possible because Faramir unlike his hot headed brother had the good sense to allow Frodo onto Mordor unmolested. (I walked out of the last movie when this bit went wrong.) I have to say that other than this crucially important departure from plot the visualisation has generally been great; while I give Jackson some credit for a good rendition, the fact is that the book paints the original picture.

    You walked out? Because a detail of the story was changed in leui of the movie adaptation? Ok, I'm not going to comment on that. Let's examine the rest of what you said, anyway.

    If you read the original story closely, Faramir was NOT entirely pleasant while holding the Hobbits hostage. He was thinking about taking the ring to Gondor and interrogated the Hobbits pretty efficiently. Now, I agree that he was less hot-headed and far wiser than his brother, and during the section of the story where he and his men hold the hobbits hostage, he did have a change of heart and allow them to proceed with their quest unhindered. However, to say that they "weren't molested" is cutting it thin. They were blindfolded, tied up, and held against their will for a long time, interrogated, and not all that Faramir had to say to them was pleasant (in the beginning, it's hard to miss the threatening undertones of what he was saying, unless you are very unperceptive). Yes - the movie changed the details of this part of the story. Did it remain true to the spirit of the story, though? I believe so. Re-read this part of the story if you don't believe me. Crucially important departure from the story? Not really. The outcome is going to be exactly the same. I didn't like some parts of this departure either, but you're really making a mountain out of a molehill.

    I'm not a purist, I accepted that the films weren't going to be a mirror image, couldn't understand the need to screw up the end of the Fellowship, even managed to swallow Glorfindel being replaced by an Arwen who could cast spells, but this distortion of the fabric is unacceptable

    Sorry to tell you this, but Elves are "magical" in nature, and therefore can cast spells, and create magical items, to greater or lesser degree depending on the individuals themselves. Arwen is the daughter of Elrond, who has not only great Elf, but also Ainur heritage. To believe that she would be an Elf with little power is, well, shockingly ignorant on your part, to be brutally honest. If you don't understand this, read the Silmarillion, which deals with the nature of

    --

    We hang the petty thieves, but appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop

  6. Re:I can't wait by psychonaut · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You intended that post as a joke, but there really was a novelization of the 1970s animated LotR film. It was marketed as a book for older children and had lots of illustrations taken from the film.

  7. Re:Spoiler by NeoSkandranon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It would truly sadden you to know just how many people havent read the book, or started and stopped because they thought it was boring. You forget that Geeks are one of the subcultures nowadays that actually read regularly

    --
    If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
  8. Re:Spoiler by PovRayMan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    After seeing Fellowship of the Ring I decided it was time to start reading the books. I always had them, I just never read them.

    It wasn't until two months before the release of The Two Towers movie that I began with The Hobbit. By the time I saw TTT I was halfway through reading Fellowship. Around the end of March I had just finished reading Return of the King.

    I'm glad I waited until now to read them, because I definatly had a better appreciation for what he wrote. Up until then everything was a spoiler to me like Gollum biti-- oh snap.

    Well I just can't wait to see ROTK as well.

  9. Re:We already know what it would look like by cdrudge · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Two other bonuses are that you reduce the risk that one of the characters is involved in an accident and can no longer play the part. A shorter time frame for filming the three movies means less time for something to happen. A good example is Professor Dumbeldore in the first two Harry Potter movies. He died after the second film while I beleive he was suppose to be in the third and later movies.

    Also, if the films are shot over a long period of time, characters can change in their appearance, especially young actors. Daniel Radcliffe had a noticeable change from his first Harry Potter from his second one. His voice also changed considerably.

  10. Re:Dont download it, dont go and see it by redtail1 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    No - this film rates as a quick B-film made for the D&D crowd.

    Thankfully hardly anyone over a certain age pays much attention to the D&D crowd. Been there, done that, still enjoy it but also have a life now, thanks.

    I agree with you that Faramir was done a large disservice in the movie. The detour to Gondor and encounter with the Ringwraith was pointless and it compromised Tolkien's original idea that Sauron had no idea where the Ring was located.

    But to let those few mistakes ruin your enjoyment of an otherwise decent film? To become offended about every departure from Tolkein's sacred text?

    Get over it. It is just a film. There will be other adaptations of it, possibly within your lifetime. Extreme intellectual snobbery will bring you nothing but loneliness and make you insufferable in the eyes of the rest of the population.

  11. Re:LotR Music by the+gnat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They should have gone for something like "Requiem for the Ring", which was used in the Two Towers trailer.

    Oh god, that drove me up the wall. I'm sure it sounded great in the original context, but LotR is the type of epic that screams out for loud, heavy Wagnerian orchestral scores. The soundtrack to the trailer had a sort of throbbing feel to it, like it was just re-orchestrated pop music. Didn't fit in at all with the medieval fantasy world.

    Actually, re-use of standard music in trailers has become more and more annoying and obvious. . . like using the "Gladiator" soundtrack to promote "K-19". There's a piece called "Tikun" (not even from a soundtrack) that's been used in trailers for Minority Report, Pirates of the Carribean, and about seven other movies. Sounds sort of like "Carmina Burana", which has been ripped off more times than I care to remember.