"guuuurl Im 87 and in all my years no one has cooked me something as nasty as this, and I spent weeks foraging through Moria where there was nothing to eat except dead dwarves!"
The question "what is wrong with me" is easily answered: nothing at all. It is a gift to be able to embrace such a wonderful story and feel deeply with it. And though we never met, and never will meet, I feel a connection in such a moment, as we gather around to listen to a well told tale and share the emotions.
It’s such a shame these days that there’s such silly stigma around being moved to tears, whether they be sad or happy, by a story. The whole point of stories in any medium - film, tv, theatre, literature etc. - is to move people, to embrace and explore the human experience, which is a tapestry of emotions. If you respond to something with emotion it means it’s done what it’s set out to do, to get you invested in the characters and their journey and share in their joys and sorrows.
After watching this reaction, I predict there’s a fair chance you might not stop crying throughout the Return of the King. And we will be right there with you.
Maple is fast becoming my favourite reactor in RUclips. She pays attention, she picks up on things, she understands and she is an absolutely perfect audience. She feels every emotion the filmmakers hope the audience will feel. It's very satisfying to watch. One of my biggest pain points with react content in general is people who just don't understand what they're watching. Concentrating on insignificant things and missing important things. She hasn't done that at all in all the videos I've seen of her. I'm starting to feel bad for what we're about to put her through, both in the conclusion to this trilogy and eventually when the Infinity Saga wraps up. Poor lass will be a wreck.
"His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder what his name is, where he came from. And if he was really evil at heart. What lies or threats led him on this long march from home. If he would not rather have stayed there in peace. War will make corpses of us all." For a soldier raised in a kingdom at constant (losing) war for literal good vs. evil, Faramir's a pretty deep guy.
I mean, that was Sam's line in the book, but yeah. In the film it lends Faramir some depth. *Correction: Sam did not speak this, but it's part of his internal monologue*
@@cremlindor6607 At this point in the book, he and Frodo have already encountered Faramir and his men, who had been setting up this ambush of the Haradrim. Faramir left a couple of his men with Frodo and Sam while they went after the Southrons, and it's during the attack that the line in question appears. Here's some of the surrounding text: _For a moment [Sam] caught a glimpse of swarthy men in red running down the slope some way off with green-clad warriors leaping after them, hewing them as they fell. Arrows were thick in the air. Then suddenly straight over the rim of their sheltering bank, a man fell, crashing through the slender trees, nearly on top of them. He came to rest in the fern a few feet away, face downward, green arrow-feathers sticking from his neck below a golden collar. His scarlet robes were tattered, his corslet of overlapping brazen plates was rent and hewn, his black plaits of hair braided with gold were drenched with blood. His brown hand still clutched the hilt of a broken sword._ _It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he was from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace - all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind._ What follows on from this is Sam seeing the oliphaunt, and then they rejoin Faramir and his men.
@@evenmoor Oh that's interesting. With the context it makes sense as a thought inside his mind rather than Sam saying that out loud, which in turn suited Faramir in the movie counterpart
@@cremlindor6607 Ah, apparently Sam *thinks* it, but does not *say* it: "It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace-all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind." So, it was wise to give this line to Faramir so it can be said, as fleeting thoughts can't be related easily on screen. And @Evenmoor beat me to it. Ah well.
Part of Elrond's problem with Arwen choosing mortality is that a very long time ago his twin brother made the same choice. That brother was Aragorn's many-greats grandfather.
Wait, I must have missed that little detail in the books since it's been so long since I read it. Does that mean they're technically doing some (very distant) incest?!? Wow lol
Yes Arwen and Aragorn are related. While the blood relation is incredibly distant due to their vast differences in age it is still relatively close in terms of descent on Arwen's side from her father. To Elrond it must seem that his daughter is in love with his nephew, her cousin. On top of that Elrond is also Aragorn's foster father, so Arwen is in love with her cousin/brother. Arwen is also 2778 years old, while Aragorn is a mere 87, which makes her 31 times his age. Comparatively, if Aragorn fell in love with someone when he was 31 times older than them, his love interest would only be a little over 2 years old. It's like the meme's. Arwen is the creepy Uncle (Aunt) that touches the kids. She should not be allowed anywhere near children, and must be heavily supervised when she is in their presence.
@@dialecticsjunkie7653 Technically, yes, but there are so many generations that the genetic similarities aren’t close enough to be “weird”. Like, a LOT of people today share common ancestors dating literal thousands of years back. It’s just that in this case, due to elven lifespans, Arwen is only two generations removed from Earendil (Elrond & Elros’ father, her & Aragorn’s common ancestor), while Aragorn is MANY generations removed (and so has a huge amount of genetic diversity mixed in). If anything, it’s far weirder that Arwen, who’d have been a grown woman for 2000 years when Aragorn and his mother arrived at Rivendell when he was young, would fall in love with him decades later. It’s not so much the age gap or their shared ancestry in a vacuum (since, in a world of fictional races with incredibly long lifespans, such things wouldn’t be expected to work the same as in our world) as it is that she’d have been more like “Aunt Arwen” to a young Aragorn once upon a time.
@@thechh8297 there's probably like 25 generations between them so they're almost not related. Also, while he was indeed the foster parent of aragorn but I'm pretty sure they didn't meet eachother untill his childhood was already over so they don't consider eachother siblings either
Nah it's the soundtrack kicking in that gets me there. Without a doubt LOTR will always be Howard Shore's best. You wouldn't even recognise that he did the score for Silence of the Lambs.
I also always love the change in the sound of Gandalf’s battle cry JUST before the Rohirrim connect with the Uruk-hai. It’s like we’re hearing a brief sound of his pure higher being voice
I know I went back after we filmed and watched a bunch of other people react and I didn’t feel like anyone felt it as deeply 😩 I almost felt embarrassed how emotional I got but I couldn’t help it!!
@@MapleDivine Most people are probably just too desensitized or emotionally repressed. It's a good thing that you're that in touch with your emotions. I wish I could cry at things like that, but especially being a man in our society, I've been conditioned to repress my emotions to the point where I have to actively fight against my instinct to hold back tears.
@@AnabolicPopcorn lmfao I’m trying to think the SpongeBob movie got me good when they make it to shell city to get the crown and save Mr. Crabs and they’re shriveling up but their tears save them by Running off the table to the outlet casing a fire and the smoke alarms go off. 😢 very touching
Brego, Aragorn's horse, was portrayed by a thoroughbred named Uraeus. Viggo Mortensen loved him so much, he purchased him after the production wrapped up. Uraeus passed away in 2015, at the age of 28, from natural causes. As a character, Brego was created specifically for the movie - he doesn't exist in the book. Instead, Brego was the name of a King of the Old Age, and the horse was presumably named after him, as an homage.
@Gerald H mathematically, you're correct, since he was of the Third Age. But, since there are about 500 years between Brego and Théoden, I guess he was kind of "a King of old"!😊
@Gerald H yup. He bought the horse who played Shadowmere for the woman who was Gandalf’s stand in rider. She absolutely fell in love with the horse, so Virgo bought him for her.
@@leroy1154 Viggo is a special man. If I show a girl Lord of the Rings, and she doesn't fall in love with Aragorn by the end, I know she's not the one.
The issue with Elrond is that it was impossible to put enough of his backstory in to give context without taking up a quarter of the movie, so he comes off looking like a dick. Basically, Elrond has lost everyone he loves, including his own twin brother who also chose mortality (and is Aragorn's distant ancestor). This includes his wife, who sailed a few hundred years before this story. He will see his wife again when he sails. But if Arwen chooses mortality, he will never see her again, and he will have to tell his wife that he "lost" their daughter (in the books it's even WORSE as the fate of their sons is also left ambiguous).
I didn't think he looked like a dick, tbh. I think people just like to side with love without understanding the very real argument Elrond is making. I side with love, too, but I don't fault him in the slightest.
You have to understand. Theoden is dealing with titanic guilt for having fallen to Saruman. So much happened when he was out of it that when he woke up and found out his son was dead, all he could default to was "I must protect my people from further death." But Saruman was looking to exterminate, not conquer.
FYI: The "Star Wars scream" is actually much older than Star Wars and has been used in many movies. It even has a name: the Wilhelm scream. (Edited to correct the name of the scream. H.T.: Diegesis)
@@Diegesis Most people say it originates from a Gary Cooper movie called 'Distant Drums' from 1951, but I could swear I heard it used in a western from the late 1940s.
@@Carandini I think you're right. I think it's from the treasure of the Sierra Madre. The movie with the famous "we don't need no stinking badges line"
Especially in times like these. It's my favorite moment in the entire trilogy and probably my favorite moment in all of movies. Credit to Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson. That speech is not from the books, it's one of the few additions they made and it is spectacular.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat Crazy it wasn't in the books but it feels super relatable to what Tolkien probably though himself while fighting in the trenches in France in WW1.
@@zandylovesrisk 100%. Tolkien was very insistent that this is not an allegory for anything and he disliked allegory in general. But I think it's pretty clear his time in WW1 made a huge impression on him and a lot of his work drew inspiration from those trenches. There's actually a lot of art made by the veterans of WWI in the 20's and 30's. I think it was much harder on them than it was on veterans of other wars. Much more traumatic. Many of them turned to art.
Sam's speech to give frodo the strength to continue on is so intense and heartfelt. It gets n better as a friend that helping your bet bud when he's down and out. It's a lesson we all need to learn from Sam, "....folks in those stories had ever chance to give up and go back. And how could you continue when facing such despair. How could the end be any good when the journey is fought with so much peril, so much despair....."
@@Hiraghm Evil uses fear and msinformaton to turn us against each other. If we would ony walk a mile in the other man's shoes. and help each other when we get the chance. The world teches us to lash out in pain, but not to empathise with love and compassion.
I honestly love how shes picking up on the lore, what really caught my attention is when she picked up on there being different breeds and types of Orcs.
You know what makes the Battle of Helmsdeep so tragic is not just all the lives they lost, but the elves in particular. They had to have volunteered to go and help the humans. They each gave their lives willingly knowing they could’ve left middle earth and lived forever with the rest of their people. They bought time for Helmsdeep to hold out just a little longer for Gandalf to arrive. I think it’s a thing that’s a little overlooked.
The thing is that elves will be reborn in Halls of Mandos if they will die in middle earth so they will meet in the end with other elves. Humans don't. We don't know the fate of humans after their death.
@@Dak1624 hang on, I'm not familiar with the lore outside the movies...if this is true, doesn't this undermine Arwen's decision to stay with Aragorn? Because she's not really giving up her immortality, she'll be reborn regardless?
@@RastaganTheGreen No. She did choose the life of a mortal. So the same fate as men awaits her. What is sad is that what Elrond told her in the second movie about her not founding a comfort after Aragorn will die came true. She died one year after Aragorn died. And not from sickness or old age. She died of broken heart. She didn't found solace in their kids or anything else. Aragorn death shattered her.
@@Dak1624 thank you for the info! It's giving so much richness to the world, reading comments here from so many people who are well versed in the rest of the lore!
Fun fact: Growing up, Aragorn wasn't known by his real name, but the elves called him "Estel", which means hope. Makes it extremely funny when he says stuff like "there's always hope". Also, Éowyn is Théoden's niece, not his daughter. A lot of people get this wrong. And the fellbeasts the Nazgûl are riding aren't dragons - dragons would be far, far worse.
I’ve watched almost every LOTR reaction, and this has been amazing so far!! Anyone who is moved by Sam’s speech gets it…although I don’t know if you’re gonna make it through Return lol.
@@lethaldose2000 i wish they showed a bit of the journey to the black gate, there's something so profound to me about men knowingly and willingly marching towards their death with enough time to think about turning back.
You are exactly right to feel bad for Frodo. The ring is constantly trying to take his mind and bend him to its will. Thank goodness he has a friend like Sam with him. Love your reaction!
Faramir is the most perfect character with the most amazing moral integrity and the way they wrote him in the movie is my only major complain. In the book he wasn’t even tempted by the ring at all, treated Gollum well and helped Sam and Frodo with food for the road.
@@lesyablackbird I don't get the fear that some directors have with portraying characters with high moral integrity, characters that are nearly flawless and aspirational. We already have plenty of human-relatable characters.
@@di3486 yeah I heard that argument, that some how it was too unrealistic. But I always like that he was one of the few humans that had other things in his heart, other than power. Who knows what could have happened in the long run. But for the time they met him, the ring wasn't his temptation.
When Aragorn shouts HOLD when the old man fires an arrow, he says it in Elvish because he assumed only an Elven bowman could have made that shot. So many small tidbits that make this series so awesome.
Right? He may not have been strong enough to hold the bow drawn (well, it takes a lot more strength than movies would have you believe) but it was a perfect shot.
Yes, it is usually overlooked, as was Hama. Notice that he did not insist on taking Gandalf’s staff- and he had to know the significance. He had probably seen Galdalf often and trusted him. He also stopped Gamling from joining the fight while Gandalf freed Theoden.
*"DEEEAAAAAAAATTTTHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"* EDIT: Coming back here to do my bi-annual rewatch, I still cannot get over how terrifying it must be to have an entire army of heavy horsemen charging you screaming "DEATH!" at the top of their lungs. That goes so hard I cannot even fathom it.
Maple, I hope you realize that Gollum is a completely digital character with movements acted by Andy Serkis. Also, freeze-frame a close-up of Gollum and his skin texture was pioneered in this movie. Now it's a movie standard. The motion capture techniques were pioneered from gaming and in the movie Final Fantasy.
"My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end." They all had a part to play, Gandalf needed everyone to be who they were.
"Whats wrong with me?!" (breaking down crying) What's "wrong" with you is that you appreciate the work of one of the best writers in English, and some of the best music and acting ever put to screen. In short, nothing's wrong with you: youre just a thinking, feeling human being
Girl, I cry ugly tears when I watch these, too. Glad to see I'm not alone! Also, really enjoying your reaction to one of the best movie series of all time - thanks for being so animated and genuine!
40:10 *OMG I JUST NOTICED!!* His pupils were constricted! That means that even GOLLUM was moved by Sam's speech. Because when it's Smeagol, it's wide pupils and when it's Gollum, it's constricted pupils
Basically, theoden was a really good king(except the time he was under sarumans control). There was just not many things he could do and helms deep had some positive effects on its side. First of all it is the most fortified castle in rohan and, definitly not least, it is quite near to isengard. So if they survive, they could immediatly go in the offensive(but that strategic decission was not in the movie). So, theoden planned 2 steps ahead. No one knew saruman could destroy the walls that easily and early.
@@larrote6467 I wouldnt say that here. I see the fault more in the portrayal in the movie. They literally showed him that he is feared and the heroe-group says that he is running away. So, the movie itself implicates that he is scared and runs away, but thats a misconception of the movie. And i have to say, ive read lotr after i saw the movies and thought the same thing like she did.
However, had he been more proactive and not made the run for Helm's Deep, his warriors would have been far more effective. They're cavalry, perfect for hit-and-run assaults against slow-moving infantry. That advantage goes out the door when they're put into a siege. Hence why Gandalf urged Theoden to go on the attack.
@@Carandini except thats literally the kind of battle the Uruk Hai army was equipped to fight, those long pikes were meant for holding a formation in the field that cavalry couldn't penetrate, with the crossbows firing out from the safety of their lines. like this was an army specifically made to take on Rohan, Saruman 100% took the Cavalry into account.
@@Carandini without the walls, they would have been overrun in minutes. Yes, they were tired and trapped, but they exchanged those benifits for a much bigger one. So no, youre not right. And just a little reminder: Half of their cavalary was banished and roamed somewhere else and think a bit. What happens with the people with this hit-and-run-tactic? So, your basic strategy would be letting 10.000 of uruk-hai roam your kingdom without much trouble?
You loved Sam as a character since the Fellowship movie. He's the friend we all want and hope for. You did know he could get even better as a friend in this movie and the movies to come. Tolkien based the character on the squires/batmen that often aid British Officers in WW1. He admired their humility and self-sacrifice in the face of unprecedented danger.
Tolkien always said that Samwise was the hero of the story. Oh, and they weren't squires but 'batmen', a kind of personal adjutant to officers in the British and Indian armies.
2:46 These good-boys are Wargs, descendants of werewolves from the First Age 🐺 And yes, there used to be vampires as well, but they are now extinct, and the werewolves survived and evolved
8:45 elronds speech is hauntingly moving. It’s so powerful and moving that every time I watch it it brings me to tears But it’s this line that is just so damn powerful and melancholy: “He will come to death, an image of the splendour of the kings of men in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world.”
21:07 Keep in mind when TOLKIN wrote this story while WWII was already at it's worst... And their were soldiers on the battlefield as young as fourteen years old, so....
18:09 At this point, Theoden has literally done everything he can do except what he does next--which is, army everyone who can carry a weapon. Reactors are always demanding Theoden "do something" but they never, ever once suggest what. 22:06 Again--what can Theoden DO? He knows exactly what he's doing, and he sees the situation is very bad. But he is doing all he CAN DO. Hold on for as long as he can. And he is right--that is the winning tactic. Hold on and hope. In effect, that is the strategy of every single hero in all three of these movies. Hold on, and hope. Do what you can, and hope. It is ultimately those who gave up on hope who do the most harm. 31:22 This shows off one the strengths of the design of Helm's Deep. That narrow bridge that leads to the entrance--it can be defended by a very few soldiers against many, many others because it is so narrow. So Aragorn and Gimli can hold off the Orcs while Theoden shores up and reinforces the main gate. Likewise as you can see there are layers of defense. This is why Saruman needed such a gigantic army to even hope to take Helm's Deep--and even that huge force ultimately failed, because it took too much time. The defenders did such a good job they bought time for reinforcements to arrive. That is what castles were designed to do. 32:19 There are interior lines of defense. If Saruman had not given his army gunpowder, they would not have to fall back. Up until that moment, the defenders were winning. At this point, they are still undefeated.
The castle of Helm's deep is actually very poorly designed in it's totality, but it does have a few strong points e.g. the thick outer wall and the causeway in front of the gate. The primary problem is the tops of the wall. There are no Merlons, no machicolations, no crenels. Also, it would have been VERY easy to put a moat around that wall considering the culvert basically provides the water needed for it. All they literally had to do was dig a big ass ditch and let it fill up (the people who weren't going to be fighting could have done that so the people who will be fighting will be fresh and that could have been their contribution) This would have kept the bulk of the ladders from being deployed, not to mention the orcs who put the bomb in the culvert would have been stopped easier if they had to swim a moat. Also, in the keep itself, the inner courtyard doesn't have a gatehouse, the outer gatehouse doesn't have an outer and inner gate with murder-holes in the ceiling. They do, however, get the hoarding right on top of the outer gatehouse.
@@aaronburdon221 that's something the filmmakers could've shown but it would've complicated the whole scene. You're right but the filmmakers must also make choices
Dude you the man for laying this out. Theoden didn’t do anything wrong per say pending your preference in how you would defend your land in this situation. Your numerous cavalry force is out of range, your outnumbered, and you have a fortress that in your peoples history has never fallen or failed. It was a respectable decision to fall back to helms deep.
@@aaronburdon221 hey… these are all valid points… but let’s agree that… it’s not as bad as building catapults and trebuchets and sticking them on the front line for a single volley as a certain TV show did in terms of abysmal tactic strategy.
Also Theoden gives Aragorn a brief lesson of being a leader in putting on a brave face. When Aragorn is like “they are coming to kill us” he tells him basically, no shit Sherlock but I’m not going to scream that out infront of everyone standing here shitting their pants.
Maple, The depiction of the Ents in the movie is one of the most flawless execution of visual effects ever done. The cominabtion of creature design, animatronics, and visual tracking overlays makes their depicition to be one of the highlights of the movie.
30:09 I'm so happy to finally see a reactor get choked up at Haldir's death. Most don't even include it. The soft elvish vocals, slow-motion, showing us the last things he sees: his fallen warriors piled on the ground.. and the last expressions on his face... a blend of disorientation, disbelief, horror, grief, confusion, perplexed brow.. all hazy as his body is quickly dying. A masterfully crafted moment that I find so tragically beautiful.
The absolute SOBBING over Sam's speech is 100% me everytime. These movies show so much darkness and despair at times, but the point is about conquering evil--it's NOT an easy thing to do, but it's WORTH the fight. Tolkien believed in the power of good over evil and the power of hope. He used the term Eucatastrophe to describe the sudden and unexpected victory of good over evil at the last moment--a turning of the tide, so to speak. It was a term he used to describe the resurrection of Christ, and that is the same hope that permeates the Lord of the Rings--the darkness is just a small and passing thing, and in the end Good triumphs, we have only to stick to our course and stay true to the fellowship, resist evil, persevere, and choose what we do with the time we are given.
@ 05:52 John Rhys-Davies as Gimli was absolutely brilliant. Him saying “he fell” and being able to convey the raw emotion over Aragorn’s presumed death using mainly his voice and eyes while under heavy makeup always brings a tear to my eye.
"We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door!" - The Ents When I saw this in the theaters there were cheers and applause when the Ent who was on fire dipped himself and put the flames out. What a cool little moment.
I thought I had scene this film enough times to not cry, but when Maple started, man did I tear up again like it seeing it for the first time. Well done, great reaction and editing as always!
Girl! You have expressed every emotion outwardly that every man has felt on the inside watching this! Thank you for doing this and I'm so glad you enjoyed these movies!
I wish Maple could've seen these on the big screen and experienced the stirring music score on huge speakers. The March of the Ents shakes the soul (as did other scenes). Her range of emotions she was experiencing was exactly what Peter Jackson hoped to evoke. I hope you have a few extra boxes of tissues ready for the finale. I might need a box myself watching dear Maple drop all that water. 😆 Oh! And extra points to her for recognizing The Wilhelm Scream from Star Wars and so many other movies (RUclips it if you're not familiar)! That had me laughing. Another great video. Y'all take care. 🙂
Grima shedding a tear seeing what is unfolding infront of him way outside his wildest imagination and realizing what he had just done is one of the best subtle scenes.
Probably my favorite reactions Ive seen to these. I love seeing people react emotionally to things I love because its a reassuring feeling that you also underatand how great it is. Cnat wait for the next one!
Aw, there is nothing wrong with you for crying. I've seen these movies literally at least 100 times and I still well up with tears multiple times in every movie. Especially the scenes with Arwen, Boromir and Faramir. 😭😭
Maple made me cry along :) I've seen the battle so many times and i know the outcome so i already take it for granted, but i see how it can devastate someone watching for the first time and seeing no hope. Kudos for making it through. Hope you have stockpiled on those napkins though ;)
When she said: what’s wrong with me, I thought, if you didn’t cry then something would be wrong with you! I still cry after watching hundreds of times!
@@Diegesis lol, I love you maple! You're so smart, so perceptive, so sweet, so sensitive, such a good, effortlessly seamlessly and natural reactor. Definitely girlfriend material, lol!
"What is wrong with me?" ABSOLUTELY nothing. I have watched these films so many times I can quote them all by heart, and yet I _still_ cry almost every time I watch them. The LotR movies are a masterclass in creating a stunning world that strikes at the heart at every person who isn't a rock golom.
Your reaction is exactly what everyone's reaction when I watched LOTR in the theatres as a young teenager. By the end of the movie everyone's faces were wet from tears and light was reflecting off of the wet faces lol it was amazing experience when these movies came out.. Nothing has topped it since (Though I think Dune is coming pretty close).
That charge down the hill Gandalf does with the army has got to be one of the best climaxes ever done in a film. The whole moment looks like a moving oil painting. It always brings me to tears to watch.
40:59 Some of you might wonder how Gimli caught up with Legolas, I mean come on... He's Legolas right? I haven't read the books yet (shame on me), but I think I read it somewhere that Legolas actually ran out of arrows during the battle, and he had to collect arrows as he was going. He couldn't just pick up any arrows either because the Rohan arrows didn't fit his bow, so he had to collect his own that he already shot. Legolas Is definitely not someone you'd want to pick a fight with in close combat with melee weapons, but Gimli will outshine him easily when it comes to melee combat. You might've noticed when the Uruk-Hai's are sending up their first ladders, they only send ONE Uruk-Hai on each ladder, they are called Berserkers. Basically shock troops to soften up the Defenders. The berserkers wore little to no armour, only a helmet filled with the blood of men, the scent of the blood turned them into a frenzy, while in this frenzy they didn't care about injuries and just kept coming. You see a scene where 1 Berserkers is doing a wide swing with his huge sword and takes out multiple soldiers on the wall. One Berserker could probably take out 4-6 Elfs, or even more Men before they succumbed to their injuries. However, we can see Gimli picking some of these off with ease. This shows how f*cking dangeriously good he is in close combat.
That was a fantastically brilliant reaction. I've watched these movies many times, I even saw them at the cinema new and yet you had me crying along with you somehow...fabulous.🤷♂️💖
The "Star Wars scream" or "Wilhelm scream" has been a standard movie sound effect for far longer than Star Wars has been around. But it was Star Wars that made it famous, for whatever reason.
Faramir's character was changed quite a lot from the books. There are a few little stories woven throughout the movies that did not happen. One is that the elves did not come to Helm's Deep. It does make a good cinematic touch, especially given the fact that, barring death by war, the elves are immortals. So it was quite the move for them to come. That's why the shot as Haldir is dying, seeing all of the other dead evles, is so powerful. The Helm's Deep scene was so incredible in the theaters. As the army approaches and bang on their weapons, the whole place shook. Quite the experience.
I had the same reaction when I watched Haldir's death for the first time. Most people don't cry at it, but I couldn't help but just burst into uncontrollable tears. It's sooo sad :(
Although I love Legolas, I have to say I think the scene would hit so much harder if Legolas dies in that scene instead. He doesn't do anything important for the rest of the trilogy except shoot Grima, and that's only in the extended edition. And that moment where Aragorn puts his hand on Haldir as he symbolically says goodbye would be such a tear jerker if it was Legolas' body.
The Ents went to war immediately when they saw the burned trees because as the keepers of the forest they had known and raised all of those trees for hundreds of years. Imagine raising somebody and having hundreds of years to bond with them only for them to be burned to death by someone who helped you raise them and was a trusted friend for all those years. Then multiply that feeling by thousands and that's why the Ents went into a rage.
"He [Sauron] is in great fear, not knowing what mighty one may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place. That we should wish to cast him down and have no one in his place is not a thought that occurs to his mind. That we should try to destroy the Ring itself has not yet entered into his darkest dream." - Gandalf
Wow, you actually got me to tear up a couple times. This is why I love reactions, especially ones as genuine as this, because they give me the same sense of wonder and the same emotions as when I first watched the films. Thank you!
I always find Haldir’s death more emotional due to the fact that it’s mentioned earlier on in the film that the Elves are leaving this world to sail to the undying lands. So the Elves that come to the aid at the battle of Helm’s deep are basically giving up a life of peace and immortality to fight. So Haldir saying, “we are proud to fight alongside men once more”, may aswell add “to die alongside them too”hence the slow motion views of all the dead elves makes that whole scene more gut wrenching for me!
Part 2 wasn’t a disappointment. I would say that the kids fighting at helms deep was really the only choice because if Gandalf doesn’t arrive then they were all dead either way. I also need to know what movies you will be watching in the future because if they are going to be emotional ones, then I am going to buy stock in Kleenex. 😁
Yes, and it follows history very accurately. When a city was faced with total destruction the woman and children were often positioned on the roofs of buildings to rain down rocks and roof tiles and basically anything else they could find because they were going to die regardless. In other words, they were on dead ground, people will fight ferociously when there's no other option but to fight or die.
Uruk-hai are like improved Orcs, but they're not all like that freakishly strong brute named Lurtz who killed Boromir and threw Aragorn around until Aragorn hacked him to death. Men match up well against the average Uruk, and guys like Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli can kill them by the dozen (each).
Fun fact Maple. Game of Thrones writer GRRM thought that Gandalf should have remained dead. He has said so in many interviews. It would have given the story a doom and peril that would have made it even better. That's where he got the idea to kill off several main characters in the GOT series. How are the Fellowship going to overcome this evil without Gandalf? Now you know the genesis of your GOT of pain, despair, and heartache.
@@gsvanzyl Exactly. I don't want to hear a peep until he finishes. He has to realize that the longevity of his work, whether anyone will even bother reading it in a decade, depends on it being finished.
Another fun fact - Tolkein did much the same thing. The assault on Isengard by the Ents was inspired by Tolkein's disappointment that the prophesy in Macbeth where "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him" didn't involve the trees actually rising up to attack (and was instead an army carrying shrubs to hide their approach).
Chad, this channel is immeasurably underrated. The good news is, with your talent, way of thinking and consistency, you won't stay underrated for long. While others can rise and fall off, real talent holds the course and wins out. Not that any of this is a competition mind you, but you know what I mean. On another note, Maple is great! I really enjoy how authentic she is. I also can't help but get emotionally invested in her reactions. Very nice to see someone actually open to the experience, and really take in what is going on in a movie, understand it and genuinely have a visceral connection to it all. Please let her know I appreciate what she is doing and what she brings to the table. She is lovely. I just found this channel a few hours before your last live stream, and I got to chat with you there a bit.. You were amazingly open, honest and super easygoing. Never been so impressed by someone so fast. Thank you for connecting with me and letting me in on your process. It was very interesting and informative. You also have a terrific way of critically thinking about writing and filmmaking... and a naturally appealing way of getting your thoughts across to others. Thank you again for doing what you do and providing great content. I am a huge fan already and will be here to watch everything you guys put out. I have only watched Maple so far, but am about to watch the other lady right after I finish this LOTR reaction series. I am sure She is wonderful too based on some of the comments during the live stream, regarding her work. Looking forward to seeing all your vids soon, and can't wait to see you live again. Very best of luck with everything you do. I wish I could do more to help, but for now I will be watching and sharing everything.
Omg….I just started watching these videos and you’re so sweet 🤍🥹 I’m right there with ya girl! A lot of these great monologues from Sam and some others were written in Tolkien’s books and used perfectly for these films. It’s beautiful 🤍
It's sad that there are no good movies anymore. Movies today reminds me of a teenage girl clipping magazines to create a collage of their favorite things about movies. There is no story, character development and barely a theme.
the amount of rubbish films has seemed to have increased nowadays, but i think there r still plenty of great new films if you look. but in any case if you compare anything to lotr, youre going to be disappointed
I read "The Hobbit" and this series first when I was around 12. I have read this trilogy almost every year since, The Hobbit a couple of times. I'll be 64 be in March. Anyway, I learn something new from it every time.
Eowyn: "You're one of the Dunedain."
Aragorn: "There are few of us left."
Eowyn: "Please, eat."
Aragorn: "About to be fewer ..."
"guuuurl Im 87 and in all my years no one has cooked me something as nasty as this, and I spent weeks foraging through Moria where there was nothing to eat except dead dwarves!"
@@RastaganTheGreenDwarf meat is notoriously gamey too.
The question "what is wrong with me" is easily answered: nothing at all. It is a gift to be able to embrace such a wonderful story and feel deeply with it. And though we never met, and never will meet, I feel a connection in such a moment, as we gather around to listen to a well told tale and share the emotions.
Phrased like Tolkien. Well done.
Very well said. Her reaction was a beautiful thing.
And this is the point of LOTR! Love it and it's fans
Good way of explaining how i feel connected to people that can get emotional over LOTR.
It’s such a shame these days that there’s such silly stigma around being moved to tears, whether they be sad or happy, by a story. The whole point of stories in any medium - film, tv, theatre, literature etc. - is to move people, to embrace and explore the human experience, which is a tapestry of emotions. If you respond to something with emotion it means it’s done what it’s set out to do, to get you invested in the characters and their journey and share in their joys and sorrows.
After watching this reaction, I predict there’s a fair chance you might not stop crying throughout the Return of the King. And we will be right there with you.
The end of Pelenor onwards is just going to be a constant stream of tears for the last hour
Definitely agree. Especially throughout the last half.
She's definitely going to cry when Sam and Frodo climb mount doom... 100%
Yes. 😊
Well this aged like fine wine.
Maple is fast becoming my favourite reactor in RUclips. She pays attention, she picks up on things, she understands and she is an absolutely perfect audience. She feels every emotion the filmmakers hope the audience will feel. It's very satisfying to watch. One of my biggest pain points with react content in general is people who just don't understand what they're watching. Concentrating on insignificant things and missing important things. She hasn't done that at all in all the videos I've seen of her.
I'm starting to feel bad for what we're about to put her through, both in the conclusion to this trilogy and eventually when the Infinity Saga wraps up. Poor lass will be a wreck.
I agree. I love reactors that have high intuition like Maple, Dasha of Russia, and Magic Magy
@@Grizzlox I haven't seen the others but isn't Magy some OnlyFans girl?
@@garmisra7841 from what I understand yes but apparently it's nothing x-rated. I don't know though. I enjoy her reactions that's all I know.
@@Grizzlox allow me to add Cassie from Popcorn in Bed to those names.
@@Grizzlox I'd add cass darling as well.
A wizard is never late, Miss Maple. Nor is he EARLY. He arrives precisely when he means to. First light on the 5th day=A lot of blinded orcs.
Imagine the look of all the men and elves who died in the batzle of helms deep after you just said that....😠
He was late for the meeting at the Inn of the prancing pony.
@@meme4013 He wasn't late, he was delayed! :-)
Where have you been? I was looking ahead. Why have you come? I looked behind me.
"His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder what his name is, where he came from. And if he was really evil at heart. What lies or threats led him on this long march from home. If he would not rather have stayed there in peace. War will make corpses of us all."
For a soldier raised in a kingdom at constant (losing) war for literal good vs. evil, Faramir's a pretty deep guy.
I mean, that was Sam's line in the book, but yeah. In the film it lends Faramir some depth.
*Correction: Sam did not speak this, but it's part of his internal monologue*
@@DataLal It doesn't make sense to be Sam's line. I wonder if there's more context to Sam's character in the book
@@cremlindor6607 At this point in the book, he and Frodo have already encountered Faramir and his men, who had been setting up this ambush of the Haradrim. Faramir left a couple of his men with Frodo and Sam while they went after the Southrons, and it's during the attack that the line in question appears. Here's some of the surrounding text:
_For a moment [Sam] caught a glimpse of swarthy men in red running down the slope some way off with green-clad warriors leaping after them, hewing them as they fell. Arrows were thick in the air. Then suddenly straight over the rim of their sheltering bank, a man fell, crashing through the slender trees, nearly on top of them. He came to rest in the fern a few feet away, face downward, green arrow-feathers sticking from his neck below a golden collar. His scarlet robes were tattered, his corslet of overlapping brazen plates was rent and hewn, his black plaits of hair braided with gold were drenched with blood. His brown hand still clutched the hilt of a broken sword._
_It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he was from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace - all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind._
What follows on from this is Sam seeing the oliphaunt, and then they rejoin Faramir and his men.
@@evenmoor Oh that's interesting. With the context it makes sense as a thought inside his mind rather than Sam saying that out loud, which in turn suited Faramir in the movie counterpart
@@cremlindor6607 Ah, apparently Sam *thinks* it, but does not *say* it:
"It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace-all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind."
So, it was wise to give this line to Faramir so it can be said, as fleeting thoughts can't be related easily on screen.
And @Evenmoor beat me to it. Ah well.
Part of Elrond's problem with Arwen choosing mortality is that a very long time ago his twin brother made the same choice. That brother was Aragorn's many-greats grandfather.
Wait, I must have missed that little detail in the books since it's been so long since I read it. Does that mean they're technically doing some (very distant) incest?!? Wow lol
@@dialecticsjunkie7653 You're reaching
Yes Arwen and Aragorn are related.
While the blood relation is incredibly distant due to their vast differences in age it is still relatively close in terms of descent on Arwen's side from her father. To Elrond it must seem that his daughter is in love with his nephew, her cousin.
On top of that Elrond is also Aragorn's foster father, so Arwen is in love with her cousin/brother.
Arwen is also 2778 years old, while Aragorn is a mere 87, which makes her 31 times his age. Comparatively, if Aragorn fell in love with someone when he was 31 times older than them, his love interest would only be a little over 2 years old.
It's like the meme's. Arwen is the creepy Uncle (Aunt) that touches the kids. She should not be allowed anywhere near children, and must be heavily supervised when she is in their presence.
@@dialecticsjunkie7653
Technically, yes, but there are so many generations that the genetic similarities aren’t close enough to be “weird”. Like, a LOT of people today share common ancestors dating literal thousands of years back. It’s just that in this case, due to elven lifespans, Arwen is only two generations removed from Earendil (Elrond & Elros’ father, her & Aragorn’s common ancestor), while Aragorn is MANY generations removed (and so has a huge amount of genetic diversity mixed in).
If anything, it’s far weirder that Arwen, who’d have been a grown woman for 2000 years when Aragorn and his mother arrived at Rivendell when he was young, would fall in love with him decades later. It’s not so much the age gap or their shared ancestry in a vacuum (since, in a world of fictional races with incredibly long lifespans, such things wouldn’t be expected to work the same as in our world) as it is that she’d have been more like “Aunt Arwen” to a young Aragorn once upon a time.
@@thechh8297 there's probably like 25 generations between them so they're almost not related. Also, while he was indeed the foster parent of aragorn but I'm pretty sure they didn't meet eachother untill his childhood was already over so they don't consider eachother siblings either
When Eomer shouts 'TO THE KING!' gives me instant goosebumps everytime.
Nah it's the soundtrack kicking in that gets me there.
Without a doubt LOTR will always be Howard Shore's best.
You wouldn't even recognise that he did the score for Silence of the Lambs.
I also always love the change in the sound of Gandalf’s battle cry JUST before the Rohirrim connect with the Uruk-hai. It’s like we’re hearing a brief sound of his pure higher being voice
He had me at "not alone"
Eomer isn't really in the trilogy that much, but literally everything he does is legendary.
It's that damn boys choir.
I don't think I've seen someone who has such a strong emotional reaction to these movies. You show what we all feel, I love it
I know I went back after we filmed and watched a bunch of other people react and I didn’t feel like anyone felt it as deeply 😩 I almost felt embarrassed how emotional I got but I couldn’t help it!!
@@MapleDivine Haha, I understand why you'd feel that way but definitely not necessary to feel embarrassed! These movies are art, no question.
@@MapleDivine Most people are probably just too desensitized or emotionally repressed. It's a good thing that you're that in touch with your emotions. I wish I could cry at things like that, but especially being a man in our society, I've been conditioned to repress my emotions to the point where I have to actively fight against my instinct to hold back tears.
just wait for Return of the king its gonna be mess 😭
@@AnabolicPopcorn lmfao I’m trying to think the SpongeBob movie got me good when they make it to shell city to get the crown and save Mr. Crabs and they’re shriveling up but their tears save them by Running off the table to the outlet casing a fire and the smoke alarms go off. 😢 very touching
Brego, Aragorn's horse, was portrayed by a thoroughbred named Uraeus. Viggo Mortensen loved him so much, he purchased him after the production wrapped up. Uraeus passed away in 2015, at the age of 28, from natural causes.
As a character, Brego was created specifically for the movie - he doesn't exist in the book. Instead, Brego was the name of a King of the Old Age, and the horse was presumably named after him, as an homage.
@Gerald H mathematically, you're correct, since he was of the Third Age. But, since there are about 500 years between Brego and Théoden, I guess he was kind of "a King of old"!😊
Didn't Viggo do a similar thing with the horse from Hidalgo?
@@leroy1154 I wouldn't be surprised!
@Gerald H yup. He bought the horse who played Shadowmere for the woman who was Gandalf’s stand in rider. She absolutely fell in love with the horse, so Virgo bought him for her.
@@leroy1154 Viggo is a special man.
If I show a girl Lord of the Rings, and she doesn't fall in love with Aragorn by the end, I know she's not the one.
Huge props to this channel for releasing the reactions a day apart instead of a week apart
Now we have to wait for Return of The King though :/
The issue with Elrond is that it was impossible to put enough of his backstory in to give context without taking up a quarter of the movie, so he comes off looking like a dick. Basically, Elrond has lost everyone he loves, including his own twin brother who also chose mortality (and is Aragorn's distant ancestor). This includes his wife, who sailed a few hundred years before this story. He will see his wife again when he sails. But if Arwen chooses mortality, he will never see her again, and he will have to tell his wife that he "lost" their daughter (in the books it's even WORSE as the fate of their sons is also left ambiguous).
And if you read the books you can clearly see he was in a way right about all of it. That she will taste the bitterness of mortality.
I didn't think he looked like a dick, tbh. I think people just like to side with love without understanding the very real argument Elrond is making. I side with love, too, but I don't fault him in the slightest.
You have to understand. Theoden is dealing with titanic guilt for having fallen to Saruman. So much happened when he was out of it that when he woke up and found out his son was dead, all he could default to was "I must protect my people from further death." But Saruman was looking to exterminate, not conquer.
Really. REALLY. You pullin' out some dad jokes here with that Titanic line? lmao love it
@@CameraActionLights1 Wait a minute. No kidding just realized i did that by accident! XD
Not sure if you meant to use the word titanic but that’s perfect, cuz he played the captain of the titanic in the James Cameron movie! Lol
@@michaelortiz9359 Somehow by perfect accident I used the word and didn't notice until it was amazingly pointed out to me XD
@@thepaladinauthoryoutube lol that’s great sometimes the stars align.
FYI: The "Star Wars scream" is actually much older than Star Wars and has been used in many movies. It even has a name: the Wilhelm scream.
(Edited to correct the name of the scream. H.T.: Diegesis)
I think it's Wilhelm but yeah
@@Diegesis Most people say it originates from a Gary Cooper movie called 'Distant Drums' from 1951, but I could swear I heard it used in a western from the late 1940s.
@@Carandini I think you're right. I think it's from the treasure of the Sierra Madre. The movie with the famous "we don't need no stinking badges line"
@@Diegesis You're right. My mistake.
@@BobBlumenfeld ain't nothing but a Thang. :)
I can’t ever hold back the waterfall during sam’s speech
neither can I. Every freaking time
Especially in times like these. It's my favorite moment in the entire trilogy and probably my favorite moment in all of movies.
Credit to Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson. That speech is not from the books, it's one of the few additions they made and it is spectacular.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat Crazy it wasn't in the books but it feels super relatable to what Tolkien probably though himself while fighting in the trenches in France in WW1.
@@zandylovesrisk 100%. Tolkien was very insistent that this is not an allegory for anything and he disliked allegory in general. But I think it's pretty clear his time in WW1 made a huge impression on him and a lot of his work drew inspiration from those trenches.
There's actually a lot of art made by the veterans of WWI in the 20's and 30's. I think it was much harder on them than it was on veterans of other wars. Much more traumatic. Many of them turned to art.
Sam's speech to give frodo the strength to continue on is so intense and heartfelt. It gets n better as a friend that helping your bet bud when he's down and out. It's a lesson we all need to learn from Sam, "....folks in those stories had ever chance to give up and go back. And how could you continue when facing such despair. How could the end be any good when the journey is fought with so much peril, so much despair....."
so many people reacting to this say, "Everyone needs a friend like Sam..."
to which I reply, "Everyone needs to BE a friend like Sam."
I agree. It's a speech we need to hear today again and again, as evil advances across the world in the name of "safety".
@@kingscorpion7346 So true, So true.
@@Hiraghm Evil uses fear and msinformaton to turn us against each other. If we would ony walk a mile in the other man's shoes. and help each other when we get the chance. The world teches us to lash out in pain, but not to empathise with love and compassion.
Maple is the shit. She literally made me feel like I was watching these for the first time again.
I honestly love how shes picking up on the lore, what really caught my attention is when she picked up on there being different breeds and types of Orcs.
You know what makes the Battle of Helmsdeep so tragic is not just all the lives they lost, but the elves in particular. They had to have volunteered to go and help the humans. They each gave their lives willingly knowing they could’ve left middle earth and lived forever with the rest of their people.
They bought time for Helmsdeep to hold out just a little longer for Gandalf to arrive. I think it’s a thing that’s a little overlooked.
The thing is that elves will be reborn in Halls of Mandos if they will die in middle earth so they will meet in the end with other elves. Humans don't. We don't know the fate of humans after their death.
@@Dak1624 hang on, I'm not familiar with the lore outside the movies...if this is true, doesn't this undermine Arwen's decision to stay with Aragorn? Because she's not really giving up her immortality, she'll be reborn regardless?
@@RastaganTheGreen No. She did choose the life of a mortal. So the same fate as men awaits her. What is sad is that what Elrond told her in the second movie about her not founding a comfort after Aragorn will die came true. She died one year after Aragorn died. And not from sickness or old age. She died of broken heart. She didn't found solace in their kids or anything else. Aragorn death shattered her.
@@Dak1624 thank you for the info! It's giving so much richness to the world, reading comments here from so many people who are well versed in the rest of the lore!
Fun fact: Growing up, Aragorn wasn't known by his real name, but the elves called him "Estel", which means hope. Makes it extremely funny when he says stuff like "there's always hope".
Also, Éowyn is Théoden's niece, not his daughter. A lot of people get this wrong.
And the fellbeasts the Nazgûl are riding aren't dragons - dragons would be far, far worse.
I’ve watched almost every LOTR reaction, and this has been amazing so far!! Anyone who is moved by Sam’s speech gets it…although I don’t know if you’re gonna make it through Return lol.
I wondered the same. ROTK is going to break her into 4 or 5 pieces. So much heartache and so much despir.
@@lethaldose2000 i wish they showed a bit of the journey to the black gate, there's something so profound to me about men knowingly and willingly marching towards their death with enough time to think about turning back.
You are exactly right to feel bad for Frodo. The ring is constantly trying to take his mind and bend him to its will. Thank goodness he has a friend like Sam with him. Love your reaction!
Without Sam I think the Ring would have turned him into something like Gollum. Sam was definitely a stabilizing influence.
Faramir is the most perfect character with the most amazing moral integrity and the way they wrote him in the movie is my only major complain. In the book he wasn’t even tempted by the ring at all, treated Gollum well and helped Sam and Frodo with food for the road.
still upsets me every time! why did they do that?
@@lesyablackbird I don't get the fear that some directors have with portraying characters with high moral integrity, characters that are nearly flawless and aspirational. We already have plenty of human-relatable characters.
@@di3486 yeah I heard that argument, that some how it was too unrealistic. But I always like that he was one of the few humans that had other things in his heart, other than power. Who knows what could have happened in the long run. But for the time they met him, the ring wasn't his temptation.
Yeah, they really did him dirty.
Ughhh yes
Thank God I didn't have to wait a week for the second part!
When Aragorn shouts HOLD when the old man fires an arrow, he says it in Elvish because he assumed only an Elven bowman could have made that shot. So many small tidbits that make this series so awesome.
Right? He may not have been strong enough to hold the bow drawn (well, it takes a lot more strength than movies would have you believe) but it was a perfect shot.
He wanted to wait, because when the first shot is made, starts the battle.
@@tomasalarconchible9729 what was wrong in that?
Not so fun fact, the kid Aragon talked to was Haleth son of Hamá. In the movie, Hamá was the one who got mauled by the warg scout.
Oh wow I never knew that. That's pretty sad
Hama was killed at helms deep in the book.
Hamá is also the guard at the door who didn't take Gandalf's "walking stick"
Yes, it is usually overlooked, as was Hama. Notice that he did not insist on taking Gandalf’s staff- and he had to know the significance. He had probably seen Galdalf often and trusted him. He also stopped Gamling from joining the fight while Gandalf freed Theoden.
"Wait, was that not THE battle!?"
...Oh you dear sweet thing
*"DEEEAAAAAAAATTTTHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"*
EDIT: Coming back here to do my bi-annual rewatch, I still cannot get over how terrifying it must be to have an entire army of heavy horsemen charging you screaming "DEATH!" at the top of their lungs. That goes so hard I cannot even fathom it.
Maple, I hope you realize that Gollum is a completely digital character with movements acted by Andy Serkis. Also, freeze-frame a close-up of Gollum and his skin texture was pioneered in this movie. Now it's a movie standard. The motion capture techniques were pioneered from gaming and in the movie Final Fantasy.
The smartest point in Pippins life - when He tells Treebeard to go south.
Agreed
You need people of intelligence to go on this sort of mission.
@@goomni72Quest. Thing.
"My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end."
They all had a part to play, Gandalf needed everyone to be who they were.
I swear given the amount of tears Maple shed watching this that they should issue a flood warning for the third one.
"Whats wrong with me?!" (breaking down crying)
What's "wrong" with you is that you appreciate the work of one of the best writers in English, and some of the best music and acting ever put to screen. In short, nothing's wrong with you: youre just a thinking, feeling human being
Well atleast you didn't use the 'if you didn't cry you're not human' BS.
Girl, I cry ugly tears when I watch these, too. Glad to see I'm not alone! Also, really enjoying your reaction to one of the best movie series of all time - thanks for being so animated and genuine!
What an amazing reaction. Love how Maple always gets the themes and tones of the movies. Can't wait for ROTK.
Same here!!! Can't wait to see her react to the best movie ever! She will be destroyed.
I love how Gimly and Legalos' realationship starts becoming friends
40:10 *OMG I JUST NOTICED!!* His pupils were constricted! That means that even GOLLUM was moved by Sam's speech. Because when it's Smeagol, it's wide pupils and when it's Gollum, it's constricted pupils
Basically, theoden was a really good king(except the time he was under sarumans control).
There was just not many things he could do and helms deep had some positive effects on its side.
First of all it is the most fortified castle in rohan and, definitly not least, it is quite near to isengard. So if they survive, they could immediatly go in the offensive(but that strategic decission was not in the movie).
So, theoden planned 2 steps ahead.
No one knew saruman could destroy the walls that easily and early.
@@larrote6467
I wouldnt say that here.
I see the fault more in the portrayal in the movie.
They literally showed him that he is feared and the heroe-group says that he is running away.
So, the movie itself implicates that he is scared and runs away, but thats a misconception of the movie.
And i have to say, ive read lotr after i saw the movies and thought the same thing like she did.
However, had he been more proactive and not made the run for Helm's Deep, his warriors would have been far more effective. They're cavalry, perfect for hit-and-run assaults against slow-moving infantry. That advantage goes out the door when they're put into a siege. Hence why Gandalf urged Theoden to go on the attack.
@@Carandini except thats literally the kind of battle the Uruk Hai army was equipped to fight, those long pikes were meant for holding a formation in the field that cavalry couldn't penetrate, with the crossbows firing out from the safety of their lines. like this was an army specifically made to take on Rohan, Saruman 100% took the Cavalry into account.
the only reason Gandalf's cavalry charge worked was using the sunrise to blind the uruks, and taking advantage while the pikes weren't braced
@@Carandini without the walls, they would have been overrun in minutes.
Yes, they were tired and trapped, but they exchanged those benifits for a much bigger one.
So no, youre not right.
And just a little reminder:
Half of their cavalary was banished and roamed somewhere else and think a bit.
What happens with the people with this hit-and-run-tactic?
So, your basic strategy would be letting 10.000 of uruk-hai roam your kingdom without much trouble?
Sam's speech gives me full body chills EVERYTIME
"I hope he ruins something for Saruman." Yeah, we'll get....BACK...to that. Hee Hee
You loved Sam as a character since the Fellowship movie. He's the friend we all want and hope for. You did know he could get even better as a friend in this movie and the movies to come. Tolkien based the character on the squires/batmen that often aid British Officers in WW1. He admired their humility and self-sacrifice in the face of unprecedented danger.
Tolkien always said that Samwise was the hero of the story. Oh, and they weren't squires but 'batmen', a kind of personal adjutant to officers in the British and Indian armies.
@@Carandini thanks. I couldn't remember their title as i wrote the comment.
He's the friend we all want, and the friend we should all strive to be.
2:46
These good-boys are Wargs, descendants of werewolves from the First Age 🐺
And yes, there used to be vampires as well, but they are now extinct, and the werewolves survived and evolved
One of the few things I liked in The Hobbit films was the redesign of the wargs. Evil wolves rather than hyena-pigs.
8:45 elronds speech is hauntingly moving. It’s so powerful and moving that every time I watch it it brings me to tears
But it’s this line that is just so damn powerful and melancholy:
“He will come to death, an image of the splendour of the kings of men in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world.”
🥺
21:07 Keep in mind when TOLKIN wrote this story while WWII was already at it's worst... And their were soldiers on the battlefield as young as fourteen years old, so....
18:09 At this point, Theoden has literally done everything he can do except what he does next--which is, army everyone who can carry a weapon. Reactors are always demanding Theoden "do something" but they never, ever once suggest what.
22:06 Again--what can Theoden DO? He knows exactly what he's doing, and he sees the situation is very bad. But he is doing all he CAN DO. Hold on for as long as he can. And he is right--that is the winning tactic. Hold on and hope. In effect, that is the strategy of every single hero in all three of these movies. Hold on, and hope. Do what you can, and hope. It is ultimately those who gave up on hope who do the most harm.
31:22 This shows off one the strengths of the design of Helm's Deep. That narrow bridge that leads to the entrance--it can be defended by a very few soldiers against many, many others because it is so narrow. So Aragorn and Gimli can hold off the Orcs while Theoden shores up and reinforces the main gate. Likewise as you can see there are layers of defense. This is why Saruman needed such a gigantic army to even hope to take Helm's Deep--and even that huge force ultimately failed, because it took too much time. The defenders did such a good job they bought time for reinforcements to arrive. That is what castles were designed to do.
32:19 There are interior lines of defense. If Saruman had not given his army gunpowder, they would not have to fall back. Up until that moment, the defenders were winning. At this point, they are still undefeated.
The castle of Helm's deep is actually very poorly designed in it's totality, but it does have a few strong points e.g. the thick outer wall and the causeway in front of the gate. The primary problem is the tops of the wall. There are no Merlons, no machicolations, no crenels. Also, it would have been VERY easy to put a moat around that wall considering the culvert basically provides the water needed for it. All they literally had to do was dig a big ass ditch and let it fill up (the people who weren't going to be fighting could have done that so the people who will be fighting will be fresh and that could have been their contribution) This would have kept the bulk of the ladders from being deployed, not to mention the orcs who put the bomb in the culvert would have been stopped easier if they had to swim a moat. Also, in the keep itself, the inner courtyard doesn't have a gatehouse, the outer gatehouse doesn't have an outer and inner gate with murder-holes in the ceiling. They do, however, get the hoarding right on top of the outer gatehouse.
@@aaronburdon221 that's something the filmmakers could've shown but it would've complicated the whole scene. You're right but the filmmakers must also make choices
Dude you the man for laying this out. Theoden didn’t do anything wrong per say pending your preference in how you would defend your land in this situation. Your numerous cavalry force is out of range, your outnumbered, and you have a fortress that in your peoples history has never fallen or failed. It was a respectable decision to fall back to helms deep.
@@aaronburdon221 hey… these are all valid points… but let’s agree that… it’s not as bad as building catapults and trebuchets and sticking them on the front line for a single volley as a certain TV show did in terms of abysmal tactic strategy.
Also Theoden gives Aragorn a brief lesson of being a leader in putting on a brave face. When Aragorn is like “they are coming to kill us” he tells him basically, no shit Sherlock but I’m not going to scream that out infront of everyone standing here shitting their pants.
Maple, The depiction of the Ents in the movie is one of the most flawless execution of visual effects ever done. The cominabtion of creature design, animatronics, and visual tracking overlays makes their depicition to be one of the highlights of the movie.
And the actor that plays Gimli also is the voice of Treebeard
Thank you for the genuine reaction. And also thank you for releasing both parts back to back.
30:09 I'm so happy to finally see a reactor get choked up at Haldir's death. Most don't even include it. The soft elvish vocals, slow-motion, showing us the last things he sees: his fallen warriors piled on the ground.. and the last expressions on his face... a blend of disorientation, disbelief, horror, grief, confusion, perplexed brow.. all hazy as his body is quickly dying. A masterfully crafted moment that I find so tragically beautiful.
The absolute SOBBING over Sam's speech is 100% me everytime. These movies show so much darkness and despair at times, but the point is about conquering evil--it's NOT an easy thing to do, but it's WORTH the fight. Tolkien believed in the power of good over evil and the power of hope. He used the term Eucatastrophe to describe the sudden and unexpected victory of good over evil at the last moment--a turning of the tide, so to speak. It was a term he used to describe the resurrection of Christ, and that is the same hope that permeates the Lord of the Rings--the darkness is just a small and passing thing, and in the end Good triumphs, we have only to stick to our course and stay true to the fellowship, resist evil, persevere, and choose what we do with the time we are given.
@ 05:52 John Rhys-Davies as Gimli was absolutely brilliant. Him saying “he fell” and being able to convey the raw emotion over Aragorn’s presumed death using mainly his voice and eyes while under heavy makeup always brings a tear to my eye.
Wild how I only just discovered this channel and I'm already super excited when a new installment is released, I am a Maple fan
"We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door!" - The Ents
When I saw this in the theaters there were cheers and applause when the Ent who was on fire dipped himself and put the flames out. What a cool little moment.
I thought I had scene this film enough times to not cry, but when Maple started, man did I tear up again like it seeing it for the first time. Well done, great reaction and editing as always!
Girl! You have expressed every emotion outwardly that every man has felt on the inside watching this! Thank you for doing this and I'm so glad you enjoyed these movies!
I wish Maple could've seen these on the big screen and experienced the stirring music score on huge speakers. The March of the Ents shakes the soul (as did other scenes). Her range of emotions she was experiencing was exactly what Peter Jackson hoped to evoke. I hope you have a few extra boxes of tissues ready for the finale. I might need a box myself watching dear Maple drop all that water. 😆 Oh! And extra points to her for recognizing The Wilhelm Scream from Star Wars and so many other movies (RUclips it if you're not familiar)! That had me laughing. Another great video. Y'all take care. 🙂
The theater I was in was a slew of emotions; from the depths of despair, to shock and amazement when Gandalf and the cavalry arrive.
"It's not that it's risky,
It's wrong!"
So many in this time can't seem to make that distinction. I'm glad that you do.
I don't think Maple is emotionally ready for ROTK haha. Love the reaction! Its awesome to see someone catch all the nuanced things
Grima shedding a tear seeing what is unfolding infront of him way outside his wildest imagination and realizing what he had just done is one of the best subtle scenes.
Probably my favorite reactions Ive seen to these. I love seeing people react emotionally to things I love because its a reassuring feeling that you also underatand how great it is. Cnat wait for the next one!
@25:52 “The Star Wars scream?” 🤣 I’ve never heard anyone refer to the Wilhelm Scream that way before.
Needed this today! Such a joy to watch someone enter the LOTR appreciation club! Now we need her to read the books!!!!
Aw, there is nothing wrong with you for crying. I've seen these movies literally at least 100 times and I still well up with tears multiple times in every movie. Especially the scenes with Arwen, Boromir and Faramir. 😭😭
Maple made me cry along :) I've seen the battle so many times and i know the outcome so i already take it for granted, but i see how it can devastate someone watching for the first time and seeing no hope. Kudos for making it through. Hope you have stockpiled on those napkins though ;)
I was crying last night while editing 😆 and just bought more tissues today
When she said: what’s wrong with me, I thought, if you didn’t cry then something would be wrong with you! I still cry after watching hundreds of times!
@@Diegesis lol, I love you maple! You're so smart, so perceptive, so sweet, so sensitive, such a good, effortlessly seamlessly and natural reactor. Definitely girlfriend material, lol!
@@isasooner5 She'll never be the same after her 'reactions' to these movies . I wish nothing but the best for her -- so many good qualities ! !
"What is wrong with me?" ABSOLUTELY nothing. I have watched these films so many times I can quote them all by heart, and yet I _still_ cry almost every time I watch them. The LotR movies are a masterclass in creating a stunning world that strikes at the heart at every person who isn't a rock golom.
Your reaction is exactly what everyone's reaction when I watched LOTR in the theatres as a young teenager. By the end of the movie everyone's faces were wet from tears and light was reflecting off of the wet faces lol it was amazing experience when these movies came out.. Nothing has topped it since (Though I think Dune is coming pretty close).
That charge down the hill Gandalf does with the army has got to be one of the best climaxes ever done in a film. The whole moment looks like a moving oil painting. It always brings me to tears to watch.
40:59 Some of you might wonder how Gimli caught up with Legolas, I mean come on... He's Legolas right? I haven't read the books yet (shame on me), but I think I read it somewhere that Legolas actually ran out of arrows during the battle, and he had to collect arrows as he was going. He couldn't just pick up any arrows either because the Rohan arrows didn't fit his bow, so he had to collect his own that he already shot. Legolas Is definitely not someone you'd want to pick a fight with in close combat with melee weapons, but Gimli will outshine him easily when it comes to melee combat.
You might've noticed when the Uruk-Hai's are sending up their first ladders, they only send ONE Uruk-Hai on each ladder, they are called Berserkers. Basically shock troops to soften up the Defenders. The berserkers wore little to no armour, only a helmet filled with the blood of men, the scent of the blood turned them into a frenzy, while in this frenzy they didn't care about injuries and just kept coming. You see a scene where 1 Berserkers is doing a wide swing with his huge sword and takes out multiple soldiers on the wall. One Berserker could probably take out 4-6 Elfs, or even more Men before they succumbed to their injuries. However, we can see Gimli picking some of these off with ease. This shows how f*cking dangeriously good he is in close combat.
Very dangerous over short distances, yes? Blasting the culvert closed the distance.
Treebeard: what's your name beautiful?
Her: Maple
Treebeard: Bless my bark!!
That was a fantastically brilliant reaction. I've watched these movies many times, I even saw them at the cinema new and yet you had me crying along with you somehow...fabulous.🤷♂️💖
Sam's speech near the end is one of the best things of this movie
Your reaction is one of the best reactions in this world. I was able to feel this emotions again. Thank you!
"What is wrong with me?" As she responds to one of the most emotional and moving moments in film history
I love how casually she destroys the ents without even trying: "oh so you CAN make a decision quickly. Cool" and just moves on immediately lol
The "Star Wars scream" or "Wilhelm scream" has been a standard movie sound effect for far longer than Star Wars has been around. But it was Star Wars that made it famous, for whatever reason.
Maple: “what’s happening to me?! 😭”
Lord Of The Rings is happening to you 😋
Faramir's character was changed quite a lot from the books. There are a few little stories woven throughout the movies that did not happen. One is that the elves did not come to Helm's Deep. It does make a good cinematic touch, especially given the fact that, barring death by war, the elves are immortals. So it was quite the move for them to come. That's why the shot as Haldir is dying, seeing all of the other dead evles, is so powerful. The Helm's Deep scene was so incredible in the theaters. As the army approaches and bang on their weapons, the whole place shook. Quite the experience.
Again, unbelievable acting. When you have to remember lines of a made-up language like elvish. Great job Liv Tyler, daughter of Steven Tyler Aerosmith
I had the same reaction when I watched Haldir's death for the first time. Most people don't cry at it, but I couldn't help but just burst into uncontrollable tears. It's sooo sad :(
This channel is slowly becoming the best reaction channel on RUclips.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who is heartbroken after seeing Haldir fall. Gets me every time, man
Although I love Legolas, I have to say I think the scene would hit so much harder if Legolas dies in that scene instead. He doesn't do anything important for the rest of the trilogy except shoot Grima, and that's only in the extended edition.
And that moment where Aragorn puts his hand on Haldir as he symbolically says goodbye would be such a tear jerker if it was Legolas' body.
Great reaction. I always shed a tear at Sam's speech.
The Ents went to war immediately when they saw the burned trees because as the keepers of the forest they had known and raised all of those trees for hundreds of years. Imagine raising somebody and having hundreds of years to bond with them only for them to be burned to death by someone who helped you raise them and was a trusted friend for all those years. Then multiply that feeling by thousands and that's why the Ents went into a rage.
(Sees crying in thumbnail.)
Ah yes, she's one of us. :D
"He [Sauron] is in great fear, not knowing what mighty one may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place. That we should wish to cast him down and have no one in his place is not a thought that occurs to his mind. That we should try to destroy the Ring itself has not yet entered into his darkest dream."
- Gandalf
These are genuinely amongst the best LOTR reactions out there. 👏
Wow, you actually got me to tear up a couple times. This is why I love reactions, especially ones as genuine as this, because they give me the same sense of wonder and the same emotions as when I first watched the films. Thank you!
Let the weeping begin! 😂
I always find Haldir’s death more emotional due to the fact that it’s mentioned earlier on in the film that the Elves are leaving this world to sail to the undying lands.
So the Elves that come to the aid at the battle of Helm’s deep are basically giving up a life of peace and immortality to fight.
So Haldir saying, “we are proud to fight alongside men once more”, may aswell add “to die alongside them too”hence the slow motion views of all the dead elves makes that whole scene more gut wrenching for me!
Let's hope Mandos lets them out quickly!
It makes me so happy that you are so touched by these movies ❤️
Those Elves were brave too going to Helm's Deep. They were immortal and knew they would most likely die...
Part 2 wasn’t a disappointment.
I would say that the kids fighting at helms deep was really the only choice because if Gandalf doesn’t arrive then they were all dead either way.
I also need to know what movies you will be watching in the future because if they are going to be emotional ones, then I am going to buy stock in Kleenex. 😁
Yes, and it follows history very accurately. When a city was faced with total destruction the woman and children were often positioned on the roofs of buildings to rain down rocks and roof tiles and basically anything else they could find because they were going to die regardless. In other words, they were on dead ground, people will fight ferociously when there's no other option but to fight or die.
Those mine-looking things are Saruman's "fireworks" (bombs). The way he uses the "magic" of gunpowder is rather different from how Gandalf uses it.
If this Darling Lady sheds this kind of tears for "The Two Towers" then this Angel will need 2 boxes of tissue for "The Return of the King"
Uruk-hai are like improved Orcs, but they're not all like that freakishly strong brute named Lurtz who killed Boromir and threw Aragorn around until Aragorn hacked him to death. Men match up well against the average Uruk, and guys like Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli can kill them by the dozen (each).
Fun fact Maple. Game of Thrones writer GRRM thought that Gandalf should have remained dead. He has said so in many interviews. It would have given the story a doom and peril that would have made it even better. That's where he got the idea to kill off several main characters in the GOT series. How are the Fellowship going to overcome this evil without Gandalf? Now you know the genesis of your GOT of pain, despair, and heartache.
GRRM is a great writer, but he can voice his opinion of the works of JRRT as soon as he finishes the ASOIAF series.
@@gsvanzyl Amen to that. Of course everybody should know that that's NEVER going to happen.
Which also explains why Martin won't ever finish his series - even he doesn't like to spend time with such bleak misery.
@@gsvanzyl Exactly. I don't want to hear a peep until he finishes. He has to realize that the longevity of his work, whether anyone will even bother reading it in a decade, depends on it being finished.
Another fun fact - Tolkein did much the same thing. The assault on Isengard by the Ents was inspired by Tolkein's disappointment that the prophesy in Macbeth where "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him" didn't involve the trees actually rising up to attack (and was instead an army carrying shrubs to hide their approach).
Chad, this channel is immeasurably underrated. The good news is, with your talent, way of thinking and consistency, you won't stay underrated for long. While others can rise and fall off, real talent holds the course and wins out. Not that any of this is a competition mind you, but you know what I mean.
On another note, Maple is great! I really enjoy how authentic she is. I also can't help but get emotionally invested in her reactions. Very nice to see someone actually open to the experience, and really take in what is going on in a movie, understand it and genuinely have a visceral connection to it all. Please let her know I appreciate what she is doing and what she brings to the table. She is lovely.
I just found this channel a few hours before your last live stream, and I got to chat with you there a bit.. You were amazingly open, honest and super easygoing. Never been so impressed by someone so fast. Thank you for connecting with me and letting me in on your process. It was very interesting and informative. You also have a terrific way of critically thinking about writing and filmmaking... and a naturally appealing way of getting your thoughts across to others.
Thank you again for doing what you do and providing great content. I am a huge fan already and will be here to watch everything you guys put out. I have only watched Maple so far, but am about to watch the other lady right after I finish this LOTR reaction series. I am sure She is wonderful too based on some of the comments during the live stream, regarding her work.
Looking forward to seeing all your vids soon, and can't wait to see you live again. Very best of luck with everything you do. I wish I could do more to help, but for now I will be watching and sharing everything.
I always believed Gríma was crying when he saw the army because he's thinking "All I wanted was to smash Éowyn and I killed everyone"
I always believed Brad Dourif had something in his eye and Peter J. loved the take.
Omg….I just started watching these videos and you’re so sweet 🤍🥹 I’m right there with ya girl! A lot of these great monologues from Sam and some others were written in Tolkien’s books and used perfectly for these films. It’s beautiful 🤍
When you gonna watch Captain America The First Avenger?
This week. She alternates between Mcu movies and other movies each week so she doesn't have to watch the whole series back to back
"I hope he [Grima] ruins something for Saruman"
I laughed out loud.
It's sad that there are no good movies anymore. Movies today reminds me of a teenage girl clipping magazines to create a collage of their favorite things about movies. There is no story, character development and barely a theme.
the amount of rubbish films has seemed to have increased nowadays, but i think there r still plenty of great new films if you look. but in any case if you compare anything to lotr, youre going to be disappointed
@@oremstale8558 I meant generally, however next to the masterpiece that is Lord of the Rings it is especially true.
The motivation today seems to be to get the biggest audience by having each person's favorite superhero, even if only for a short scene.
That is what the market wants, trash marvel and star wars movies, absolute garbage but it sells.
Try Dune.
I read "The Hobbit" and this series first when I was around 12. I have read this trilogy almost every year since, The Hobbit a couple of times. I'll be 64 be in March. Anyway, I learn something new from it every time.