The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - Extended Version (Full Reaction)
Added 2024-02-06 17:00:12 +0000 UTCFrodo and Sam finally reach Mordor in their quest to destroy the ring. Aragorn leads his people to defend Minas Tirith from Sauron's invasion. The fate of Middle-earth comes down to this final confrontation between the forces of good and evil.
This movie was a phenomenal masterpiece. What a joy to be able to experience this wonderful film. I finished The Return of the King book only a handful of hours before watching this film. It was such a joy to see all of these book characters come to life in this epic trilogy.
**This reaction contains SPOILERS since I am comparing the book to the movie. You may want to watch this movie on your own first if you haven't seen it yet.**
Watched on: HBO Max / Runtime: 4:23:05 (This film also syncs with the Google Play version, if you're looking for another option.)
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/910288062/c4ea228ae1?share=copy
I hope you enjoy!
โค๏ธ๐
Comments
The greates trilogy of my life, I grew up on the books and films, and now 20 years later(from when i first read the books for the first time) this is still my favorite, I love the whole story and the way they adapted it into film is just mindblowing. Anyone who loves these really should watch the behind the scenes, it really shows how much of a wonder it was that these films turned out as amazing as they did, Gandalf surely came down and gave Peter Jackson and the team hope and courage to pull this off, what a masterpiece. I loved ur reactions, and the fact that you read the books this close to watching was great also u are the first reactor I have seen (probably because u read the books) who loves the scene with " the crownless again shall be king" as much as I do. Anyway I could say so much more but I am getting carried away, so I loved the reaction, thank you so much. I hope everyone reading this has a great life no matter the hardships and any time you feel down I hope you can come back to this story and fill yourself with a little bit of hope and courage yourselfs!
samuel Jakob
2024-12-15 02:19:47 +0000 UTCThank you for taking us on this journey :) It was amazing
Tobias
2024-06-05 23:24:13 +0000 UTCWasn't able to watch till today (Sunday) because of work, but I was looking forward to this all week. Another excellent reaction to the greatest movies ever made Jax, Your reactions to all three movies were up there with the best I've ever seen, and I've seen many.LotR reactions
Richard Maurer
2024-02-12 05:44:45 +0000 UTCThis was beautiful
NotMyRealName
2024-02-10 08:01:20 +0000 UTCHaha! Yes!
Jacqueline
2024-02-10 07:52:12 +0000 UTCHahaha! That is basically what I did! I am so glad I finished though since the book was wonderful.
Jacqueline
2024-02-10 07:50:45 +0000 UTCHaha! You know it!
Jacqueline
2024-02-10 07:20:14 +0000 UTCThis movie was shot in New Zealand and you can visit Hobbiton. I haven't finished the RotK yet either but from what others have said, "Going to Valinor" is used as a euphamism for death. Elves can simply sail there on their magical boats, while mortals simply die and go there. They actually did build Minas Tirith. They built what they called Bigatures. Big miniatures. and then moved a camera through it to get the shots they wanted and digitally add the actors in later. As far as Denethor, they took lines he said throughout the book and put them in that initial scene to make it more impactful. I did a much different enjoyment of the books. I've watched the movies SO MANY TIMES since I was like 4 or 5. So finally reading the books with a sharp memory of what happens in the movies was a very interesting read
William P. Esping
2024-02-09 19:51:12 +0000 UTCHadnt time to watch it yet but i hope she will respect Tolkiens Work and never watch Amazonยดs "Rings of Power".
Curaitis
2024-02-08 23:29:52 +0000 UTCBut if you get the non-4K blurays, make sure to get the ones that say "Remastered" on the box. When the Extended Editions first came out on BluRay, the color timing on Fellowship Of The Ring was weird, the whole movie had a slightly greenish tint. When they remastered the movies to prepare for the 4K release, they fixed it. Both the 4K release and the "Remastered" regular BluRay release have the correct coloring.
Patrick Egan
2024-02-07 18:04:08 +0000 UTCTreat yourself to the bluray extended boxsets someday. The visual quality is so much better than streaming (streaming always looks dark to me) and you'll also have hours and hours of fascinating behind-the-scenes materials.
Chester Beals
2024-02-07 17:54:03 +0000 UTC"Kudos to Elijah for his STARING prowess" "Somehow the bas**** is still alive. Still staring at me." :-)
Happy Hanukkah
2024-02-07 07:09:23 +0000 UTCThe ride of the Rohirrim will forever be my favorite cinematic moment of all time.
Kirk Andrew Uhl II
2024-02-07 06:40:34 +0000 UTCJust a little padding for your notes, for Jax: Fun fact if you don't remember, "The crownless... King" is part of the poem Bilbo wrote about Aragorn after finding out who he really was. It is shown in full in Gandalf's letter in the Chapter 'Strider'. I agree about them not showing us that Denethor had a Palantir. He should have had it in hand during his final scene. Yeah a lot of extra riders were needed for the charge scene. Any horse shot was a CGI horse ofc. Also, before shooting the scene, they had to go over that entire huge area with a lot of people looking for rabbit holes or anything a horse might trip over, etc. In real war those were real hazards for calvary. Pronounce the eagle' name GWYE-hear - Gwaihir. I think that is Sean Astin's kid too. : )
MertzRocks
2024-02-07 03:28:14 +0000 UTCHow about this fun fact? Right after Miranda Otto kills Lawrence Makoare, Viggo kills Lawrence M. (since LM played both the Witch King and Gothmog). LOL. Also in the series, Viggo kills Lawrence M. twice (LM is also Lurtz, the big bad Uruk-Hai at the end of TFotR). Your point is good though.
MertzRocks
2024-02-07 03:11:51 +0000 UTCI'll get my dinner between my DVDs :D You definitely want to get to the Aragorn and Arwen part of Appendix 1. You'll enjoy that if you haven't already. No one is a Tolkien expert (or The LotR expert) after just one read - or even three I'd say... I started reading The LotR in 10th grade. I'm only closing in on a score of reads for this and fewer than 10 for The Hobbit And Silmarillion each, and I turn 60 this summer. I'm still no expert, but I suppose maybe I'm somewhat 'learned' in Tolkien lore... Hope this isn't too long (I know it's longer than Patrick's b4 I type it LOL) - Smeagol to Gollum: The transformation took quite a long time and most of that montage should have been underground, as he would probably have found his way into the caves before he had the Ring even as long as Bilbo did. 450ish years of darkness! - The 'Eye of Sauron' is supposed to be metaphoric. It did not exist atop the Dark Tower and I still think that's a bit silly, but I guess it 'works'. However in using a Palantir, one WOULD see the eye like that in their own 'mind's-eye', to them seemingly in the ball itself. It would NOT happen to Frodo - or anyone - wearing the One Ring (unless Sauron was really close? IDK...). They just see everything around them as dim and shadowy (except Nazgul who 'live' in the 'shadow world'). Someone correct me if I'm wrong... - They show a whole bunch of beacons, some of them WAY up in the high peaks of the White Mountains. There were just seven beacons, atop outlying foothills along the Great South Road (which here goes mainly east-west). Hollywood needs things to look more epis LOL. - Legolas wrongly refers to Isildur as 'the last King of Gondor'. You have the book. Isildur did curse those men, but his brother became King of Gondor and Gondor had a King for over two millennia (2050). Isildur was to be King of Arnor (including the future Shire) but was killed and his youngest son Valandil became King. That Kingdom lasted until 1974, basically destroyed by the Witch King. - The tunnel! Well, ya can't really go over the top unless you have like an extra week to spare navigating that pathless terrain. Plus Shelob probably had holes to slip in and out up there... - The webs were a compromise that worked. That entire set was creepy. - Showing the one flower and later the tree in full bloom was the artistic license way to keep Aragorn from having to waste time finding the sapling up on the mountainside where it had been planted (ostensibly by Isildur way way way back when...). - Frodo wrapped up in webs: Kudos to Elijah for his STARING prowess when Sam rips the webs away. Elijah could've played a "hands of blue" guy in Firefly. They never blinked. - In the book, there are no women and children at Minas Tirith except a few older boys for errands and the women of the Houses of Healing. The rest went to the valleys west and south of the city. - When the Witch King challenges and speaks to Gandalf, all Pippin hears is the terrifying Nazgul screech. Later though, Eowyn hears the words of the Witch King. - Hahaha more license: Denethor's flaming leap from the prow could not have happened. It was a good mile or more from the tomb of his pyre back to the Citadel and thence out to the prow. He would have died before he got back to the Citadel. - During the Houses of Healing scene (extra scene for EV), Liv Tyler is singing the song named aptly The Houses of Healing. - In the book, Sam and Rosie raise their 13 kids at Bag End, which Frodo bequeaths to Sam. I'm not even sure if the hole they show in the movie is #3 Bagshot Row at the base of The Hill, where Sam grew up. - Frodo and Bilbo do pass away, even in the Undying Lands. But they are healed of all their hurts there and pass completely at peace. The other points I had, Patrick covered. Thanks Pat. :D
MertzRocks
2024-02-06 22:36:07 +0000 UTCI don't think I've ever watched a reaction so quickly after it was posted :) One last time, my hopefully not-too-excessive notes: - I love that they gave us a mostly book-accurate version of Theoden's "Yes, we will have peace" speech at Orthanc, it's one of the character's best moments and Bernard Hill nailed it. - I really like how Treebeard is animated to look almost like a stop-motion puppet instead of a CGI character - The theatrical version cut Saruman's ending completely, they left him imprisoned in Orthanc. I'm glad we got an ending for him in the EE, even an abbreviated one. - How much of the sets were actually built? A LOT. There was a lot less "greenscreen stage" than would be used today, and a lot of wide shots that you'd think were CGI were actually matte paintings and large physical models of places like Orthanc, Minas Tirith etc. The huge models were nicknamed "bigiatures" :) - I love how your face lit up when Arwen said "The crownless again shall be king" :) - I think it hurt Denethor's character that they didn't show he had a Palantir of his own. In the books, we know Sauron had been influencing him causing him to despair & such, in these movies he's just a jerk. - I LOVE the design of the Witchking in this movie! I've seen visualizations of him that are more book-accurate and honestly he looks kinda goofy. In this movie he looks like a BADASS. - I love how they show the very presence of the Nazgul in battle being such a demoralizing force on their enemies - When Gimli tipped Legolas' bow, that pirate he shot was Peter Jackson :) - Shelob moving in total silence is TERRIFYING. - Sam's "Let him go, you filth!" reminds me of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, "Get away from her you b---h!" :) - Many of the Rohirrim in the big charge were played by women, they needed a LOT of riders :) - It's cool how the Oliphaunt riders' chants resembled a Maori "haka", nice little nod to New Zealand where the films were shot. - The eagle's name was Gwaihir the Windlord :) - Notice that three eagles came to save Frodo & Sam? Gandalf was prepared to save Gollum too :( - I *think* Sam & Rosie's daughter that Sam hugs when he gets home was Sean Astin's actual daughter - Sam "shooting his shot" with Rosie is one of my favorite moments of the trilogy. :) - Nice touch letting us see Gandalf & Elrond wearing the other two Elven Rings at the Grey Havens. - Into The West leaves me a blubbering mess every time I listen to it, what a beautiful song Jax, thank you so much for bringing us with you on this journey, it's been so fun watching a reaction from someone who had recently read the books. I'm glad you enjoyed them so much.
Patrick Egan
2024-02-06 22:07:43 +0000 UTCI love the extended versions of these except for one scene in this movie. After Eowyn kills the Witch King as a total bad-ass, it cuts to Aragorn essentially saving her from an annoying wounded orc. I always felt like that kind of undercut her triumph and never liked how that part got added in.
Steve J
2024-02-06 21:47:58 +0000 UTCI can agree with Lawrence of Arabia
MotoDork
2024-02-06 18:57:14 +0000 UTCThis second Rohirrim cavalry charge in a row leads me to recommend the non-CGI cavalry charges in the following movies: The Lighthorsemen (1987) The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) Waterloo (1970) Day of the Siege (2012) To make this a Top-5 and avoid charges (pun not intended) of equine supremacy: Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Happy Hanukkah
2024-02-06 18:46:47 +0000 UTC1:47:40 (aka 2:37:46) Of all the gumpty lines, this might be the gumptiest! :-) BTW, I don't think I'll ever cease to be amused by the eager fellow at 2:38:20 (1:47:10).
Happy Hanukkah
2024-02-06 18:42:17 +0000 UTCYes!!! ๐๐ Jax, I've considered whether to send you snarky messages demanding that you cease and desist all non-essential activities until you finish reading RotK, but now I don't need to! ๐
Phil Stubblefield
2024-02-06 18:34:47 +0000 UTCJax not afraid to have us carve out an afternoon for her. No complaints! Dearest Jax, kudos to you, again, for being a reader!
Lamar Smith
2024-02-06 17:34:07 +0000 UTCWell, I guess I know Iโm spending my afternoon! :)
Patrick Egan
2024-02-06 17:02:45 +0000 UTC
