The behind the scenes footage of them shooting the Ride of the Rohirrim is amazing. First of all a lot of the "men" of Rohan extras were women because when the film crew put out a call for extras who could ride, had their own horse and could camp out on set for multiple days, it was mostly women who showed up. The land thet galloped over had to be thoroughly checked to make sure there were no holes or rabbit burrows that a horse could step in and hurt themselves/the rider. And the crew said that after Bernard Hill (RIP) did his amazing speech as Theoden, the call was given and the riders were given the green light to gallop those horses as fast as they could - the ground was shaking from 100+ horses racing across the ground.
If 100 riders felt that inspiring, imagine how 20,000 mounted Winged Hussars from Poland felt, riding to the aid of Vienna when it was besieged by the Mongol Horde.
Something kinda interesting about Sam having the ring: if I remember the text correctly, the ring actually has a hard time figuring out what to tempt Sam with. It tried to promise him that it could provide massively, luxuriously sprawling gardens but Sam said he only wanted a garden big enough to tend and was able to ignore the temptations. Now obviously the ring would have eventually gotten to him, but it's interesting that the first instinct of the ring is to go big and dramatic and it ties into the part where Sauron gets distracted by the invading army since the ring shows parts of its master's personality: Sauron is enticed by all the big, flashy parts of traditional fantasy with climatic battles and such, which is part of why he forged the rings of power in the first place. It's how the hobbits defeat him: by being simple and standing for goodness in ways that Sauron doesn't expect or is used to.
Thats so true, it's like Sauron can't comprehend a simple life of peace and prosperity, and he's so used to tempting men who are easily corrupted, and here is Sam finding the promise of '' the world can be your garden'' kind of excessive and a sh*t ton of responsibility for only him. As sad and unfair as it is, Hobbits were the perfect race to hold the ring (sure they can be tempted eventually and become like Smeagol, but they are very resilient when traveling to Modor)
There is a prophecy regarding the return of the King of Gondor: "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known." Following the victory at Minas Tirith, Aragorn would set up camp outside the city, refusing to enter so as to not appear to be seizing power. Instead, he appoints Imrahil - prince of one of Gondor's southern fiefs, Dol Amroth - as temporary lord per Gondorian law. Aragorn would enter the city in secret during the night and heals Faramir, Eowyn and Merry (all of whom were suffering from the Black Breath of the Nazgul), fulfilling the prophecy. Aragorn continues working long into the night, healing more and more people as word spreads. But when the people of Minas Tirith awake the next morning, they see the banner of Dol Amroth as Imrahil had taken his place as temporary lord, leading the people to wonder if the King's return had been a dream.
My understanding of why Frodo collapsed in Mordor when the beam of the Eye passed over him was because Sauron's "gaze" had a weight of evil behind it. Think of it like being in a really hot place and suddenly having a 500 degree beam of heat focused on you. You'd feel it. :) The other thing that I always thought was that Sauron wasn't literally seeing through the Eye manifestation, more that he was sensing things like the Nazgul do, and since Frodo wasn't actually wearing the ring, Sauron couldn't sense it.
35:33 yes! it’s impossible to throw the ring! isildur wasn’t weak. frodo wasn’t weak. it’s just impossible to destroy it with free will. that’s why gollum is so important in this story too! if it was not for him, sauron would win
Tolkien's philosophy was that good can't directly destroy evil, but rather evil will destroy itself, and good/hope can triumph simply by not succumbing to the despair/ darkness that surrounds it.
Oh, and regarding Aragorn healing Eowyn, in the books there is a legend in Gondor that "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer and so shall the rightful king be known." It was one of the ways Aragorn proved his kingship to the people of Gondor by healing Merry, Eowyn, Faramir and many others of both their injuries and of the Black Breath which is a deadly disease that infects anyone deeply touched by the shadows of Mordor. He also uses athelas AKA kingsfoil to help with his healing which is what he asks Sam to get in Fellowship of the Ring after Frodo is stabbed by the Morgul blade. Fun fact; athelas is implied to have a different scent to each person that Aragorn uses it on for healing.
Arguably it is a defect in the story-telling for Jackson to set up athelas in Fellowship, and not make it important here-it only makes the athelas a throw-away reference for book fans, with no payoff.
@@majkus I don't think I'd say it was a defect; just probably something that could have come across as really clunky in the exposition. Plus would many people (who haven't read the books) really remember the name of a plant from 2 movies and almost 3 years ago when these were first released? Would have been a nice little touch but I'd imagine working it in could have been awkward.
Sauron never once considered that anyone would try to sneak into Mordor to destroy the Ring. Also, his hatred of the line and heirs of Isildur contributes to why he tunnel visions so hard on Aragorn. The defense of Helm's Deep is the first time Sauron sees Aragorn's capabilities as a leader and as the heir of Isildur and Elendil. When Pippin and Aragorn look into the Palantir, Sauron incorrectly assumes that Aragorn now possesses the One Ring. This assumption forces Sauron to push forward with his plans much more hastily than intended. It causes him to send the Witch-king and a great army to Minas Tirith. His army ends up being defeated at the Pelennor Fields and the Lord of the Nazgul is slain by Eowyn and Merry. Despite this defeat, Sauron has managed to weaken the armies of Rohan and Gondor while he maintains enough armies in Mordor to defeat them. However, Sauron would again be forced into hasty action as Aragorn, Eomer, Gandalf, and the lords of the West march on the Black Gate. This causes the Dark Lord to concentrate his gaze on the heir of Isildur rather than on his own lands, where two Hobbits draw closer and closer to Mount Doom. As Sauron is poised to wipe out the army of Men and finally end the line of Isildur, Frodo puts on the One Ring. At this moment, Sauron sees the Hobbit and realizes he has been tricked.
I have a suspicion that Frodo's arc is that of a soldier through the mud and grit of war. Given that Tolkien served during WWI? An innocent man has to go through unspeakable horror to help end it for everyone. And the further he goes, the harder it weighs him down. To a point where cracks and embraces 'the dark', giving into the madness for a brief moment. But once it's over, he's relieved... If not for long. As he comes back, he understands that he cannot live with others who know what evil he had to bear to save them, just like soldiers did when they came home. They did save their home... But not for themselves. Because it's no longer the same world they once knew.
The scene that I have always felt was informed by JRRT's experiences in the Great War-perhaps even a portrayal of a scene he witnessed: “Slowly the lights of the torches in front of Merry flicked and went out, and he was walking in a darkness; and he thought: ‘This is a tunnel leading to a tomb; there we shall stay forever.’ But suddenly into his dream there fell a living voice. ‘Well, Merry! Thank goodness I have found you!’ He looked up and the mist before his eyes cleared a little. There was Pippin! They were face to face in a narrow lane, but for themselves it was empty. He rubbed his eyes. ‘Where is the king?’ He said. ‘And Eowyn?’ Then he stumbled and sat down on a doorstep and began to weep again. ‘They must have gone up into the Citadel,’ said Pippin. ‘I think you must have fallen asleep on your feet and taken the wrong turning. When we found out you were not with them, Gandalf sent me to look for you. Poor old Merry! How glad I am to see you again! But you are worn out, and I won’t bother you with any talk. But tell me, are you hurt, or wounded?’ ‘No,’ said Merry. ‘Well, no, I don’t think so. But I can’t use my right arm, Pippin, not since I stabbed him. And my sword burned away like a piece of wood.’ Pippin’s face was anxious. ‘Well, you had better come with me as quick as you can,’ he said. ‘I wish I could carry you. You aren’t fit to walk any further. They shouldn’t have let you walk at all; but you must forgive them. So many dreadful things have happened in the City, Merry, that one poor hobbit coming in from battle is easily overlooked.’ ‘It’s not always a misfortune being overlooked,’ said Merry. ‘I was overlooked just now by-no, no, I can’t speak of it. Help me, Pippin! It’s all going dark again, and my arm is so cold.’ ‘Lean on me, Merry lad!” said Pippin. ‘Come now. Foot by foot. It’s not far.’ ‘Are you going to bury me?’ said Merry. ‘No, indeed!’ said Pippin, trying to sound cheerful, though his heart was wrung with fear and pity. ‘No, we are going to the Houses of Healing.”
I said this in the previous part but the TEARS I SHED watching this in the movie theatre 😭😭 when Sam said “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you” I was a mess 😭😭
Sam was able to go where Frodo went in the end, because he had also briefly been a ring bearer. He just first needed to live the rest of his perfect life as Mayor of Hobbiton with Rosie and his many children. When Rosie passed away of old age, he took a boat to meet Frodo again in Valinor.
I love how well the Éowyn-Aragorn story is written in the books. And his words spoken in the Houses of healing 💔💔💔 - "few other griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man's heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned"
Watching the extended versions of this trilogy every New Year’s Day has been a tradition in my home for nearly a decade. Definitely one of my favorite stories ever put to screen!
I really love that the One Ring hang on to existence (Lava hardening for it to float) in an final attempt to completly corrupt and destroy Frodo. Frodo choosing Sam/Living over the Ring disrupts its last remaining bit of power (dominance and control) and it just melts aways into nothingness. I do wonder what Tolkien would've thought of that ending. I hope he would've enjoyed it.
I've read 'em all: stories of heroes from Gilgamesh to Hercules to the Monkey King to Arthur to Robin Hood to Superman - and the greatest hero in all of human literature is Samwise the Hobbit.
@@liljenborg2517 I sorta disagree that Sam is the only "real" hero in the pair. I personally believe that both he and Frodo are two halves of the great hero archetype. Sam is the brave heroic part that holds onto the light and the hope and never gives up the fight and Frodo is the half with the quiet strength, who carries all the emotional weight and scars that come with the pain the hero must face on the journey. Alone neither would have been able to fulfill their quest, but together they are a powerful unit.
Merry didn't have a Morgul Blade. What he had was a blade formed by the smiths of Arnor, the Northern Kingdom which was the counterpart of Gondor in the south. They had a long history of fighting the Witch-King and his followers and were especially made to fight them. It is all part of the Tom Bombadil story that wasn't included in the movie.
You're right, that's accurate to the books. In the movies, Merry may have stabbed the Witch King with a Noldorin dagger received as a gift from Galadriel.
At 9:04 Tolkien writes, "Shelob was gone, and whether she lay long in her lair, nursing her malice and her misery, and in slow years of darkness healed herself from within, rebuilding her clustered eyes, until with hunger like death she spun once more her dreadful snares in the glens of the Mountains of Shadow, this tale does not tell."
At 18:18, in the book, this stroke did break her arm. There's no indication in the subsequent scenes of the movie, but in the book she had her left arm in a sling while she was in the Houses of Healing.
At 20:38, in the book Theoden's last conversation is with Merry, not Eowyn. He has a chance to hand his banner to Eomer and acknowledge him as king. "And so he died, and knew not that Eowyn lay near him." Both scenes work wonderfully, and in the movie's version, Bernard Hill and Miranda Otto just triumph.
Sam's daughter at the end were played by Sean Astin's real daughter Alexandra "Ali" Astin, who was 3 years old when it was filmed (now she's in her early twenties). The baby that Rosie carries (who's named Frodo in the book,, named after our hero) is Sarah McLeod's own daughter. On a side note, Peter Jackson have worked with three generations of Astins. Along with Sean and Ali, he worked with Sean's dad John Astin (best known for playing and voicing Gomez in The Addams Family live action tv-series and the animated series from 1992) on The Frighteners, the movie he did before The Lord of the Rings.
Not all adventures are about fighting dragons and finding gold. Not all adventures are about long journeys, solving ancient riddles or winning epic battles on vast wastelands. Sometimes an adventure is just a walk to the market, exploring what items hide in an attic, a quiet sit in a tea shop, reading a book, learning a new language, wanderings aimlessly through a park, a swim at the beach, smiling at someone who needs a smile to brighten there day or just finding that perfect stone or stick that just feels right in your hand. Adventure does not have to be a test of strength, skill and/or survival. Adventure should bring you joy, happiness laughter and fulfilment. Its challenges to break down personal walls past whatever it is we fear to do or go. Even if its just cleaning out a closet you procrastinated to clean for years. So, before you go looking for that epic adventure quest that takes you across the world and fighting monsters, why not find adventure close to you of a more gentle nature. Adventure is not what charges at you in malice, Adventure is what you make it to be. May you all find your Adventure.
Facts. Also it’s also just doing anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Unless there is some risk involved it’s not really an adventure. Some people go about their whole lives doing things they love which is GREAT! But an adventurous life involves someone daring to put themselves out of their comfort zone.
Going to the midnight premiere of this movie with a jam packed theater is still one of my favorite memories. The crowd was perfect and each big moment felt 100x more powerful. Theoden’s speech, Eowyn’s badass fight, Sam carrying Frodo…. An unforgettable experience to say the least.
At 24:14 you say, "I wonder how Sauron handles situations like this, like disciplining them?" In the book, there are several conversations between Orcs, where the "Black Pits" are mentioned without elaboration. In the movie, the Lord of the Nazgul threatens Eowyn, "Come not between the Nazgul and his prey!" In the book he adds, "Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the Houses of Lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shriveled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye." I'm sure Sauron had ways of keeping everyone in line.
It was not a morgul blade that Merry used to stab the Witch King, but according to the book, it was a blade that Merry got on the Barrow Downs in a scene that was never in the movie. In the chapter "Fog on Barrow Downs" we learn that the blade was wrought ages ago for the very purpose of fighting the Witch King of Angmar. Therefore we can assume it is wound with spells for his destruction. No ordinary blade, even if wielded by a much stronger person would have been so deadly. The Witch King was prophesied to be killed some day, but not by the hand of man. Since neither Merry or Eowyn are men, the prophesy was fulfilled.
Tolkien noted in letters after he wrote the book that no one in Middle-Earth could have withstood the draw of the Ring at Mount Doom. It was Gollum who inadvertently destroyed the Ring by seizing it from Frodo. If Frodo (and before him, Bilbo) had not been merciful and killed him when they had the chance, Gollum wouldn't have played his part in saving Middle-Earth.
Aragorn is chanting the Oath of Elendil, the words his ancestor spoke in reaching Middle-earth out of the wreck of Númenor. Viggo Mortensen provided the melody. The words mean "Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world". The same Sindarin words are heard in the music that plays as the Fellowship passes the Argonath in the first film. It need not be supposed that every King of Gondor spoke this oath. This is, after all, a special event in which Elendil's heir 39 generations removed is restored to the throne.
When Sauron see's Frodo and Sam, he just see's two insignificant hobbits. The idea that someone could walk into Mordor with the ring with the goal of destroying it without succumbing to its power is inconceivable to him.
An astute observation there about Frodo getting a sudden surge of adrenaline! As Tolkien writes: "This was probably the only thing that could have roused the dying embers of Frodo's heart and will: an attack, an attempt to wrest his treasure from him by force. He fought back with a sudden fury that amazed Sam, and Gollum also."
What a great journey to watch this trilogy with you! It's no doubt my favorite movies ever, I've watched it so many times and it was really nice to rewatch it with you. What I would add about these movies is the wonderful music Howard Shore gave to us. In my opinion, it's the best music film ever written. I love your videos so thanks for sharing this trilogy with us!
They filmed the mordor scenes in the national park of tongariro in nz. Beautiful volcanic scenery. There is a great walk trek called the northern circuit there. I reckon for you its not that expansive to go even ah? What like, 3h flight?
Merry stabbed the Witch-King with a blade of Westernesse, in the book at least--it was forged by ancestors of Aragorn's, specifically to fight against their mortal enemies of Angmar, which was ruled by the Witch-King back then. It had spells put on it that were made to cut through the Witch-King's magic defenses. After Merry broke the spell, Eowyn was able to kill him. Side note--both of their weapons were destroyed, as another part of the prophecy said no weapon that touched the Witch-King ever survived.
I thought I recall not that Merry's sword broke all protections he had, just that it was able to pierce him. And I think there was a bit about Eowyn's sword being special too, though in a different way.
It wouldn't take any more physical courage to face down a troll than that shown by the soldiers in the trenches in the Great War (where Tolkien was a soldier), facing poison gas and automatic weapons that could mow down a row of men like a sickle harvesting grain.
At 22:12 you say, "He makes it not look very complicated here; is that the point? Like there's magic involved..." The book contains an entire chapter, "The Houses of Healing," where Aragorn heals Faramir, Eowyn, and Merry, using the athelas or kingsfoil plant (which we saw back in FOTR), and showing that "The hands of the KIng are the hands of a healer, and so could the rightful King ever be known."
At 45:02, compare this smile of Frodo's with the smile when we first see him in FOTR, and also the terrible smile he gives in the Sammath Naur as he puts on the Ring. Sam is everybody's favorite character, but Frodo is really Numero Uno.
In the book Gandalf faces The Witch King at the Main Gate, when Grond breaches the gate it's The Witch King who comes through, and on his black steed instead of the Fell Beast used for the movie. Also Gandalf's staff didn't break and he didn't fall off Shadowfax. They sat on their horses facing each other for a while before the horn signalling the arrival of the 6,000 Rohirrim blew and The Witch King turned away. Plus of course the Army of the Dead wasn't at this battle, they just scared off the pirates so Aragorn could capture their ships. Also Rohan brought the light with them, the sun had risen a long time ago, it rises in the east and Rohan came from the west.
I recently saw this in theaters for its re-release, and boy do I tell you, when Theoden yelled death, the WHOLE THEATER screamed it back. Probably the greatest theater experience I've ever had.
At 25:30, the Eye of Sauron isn't seen out in the open in the book. The Barad-dur was mantled in layers of Shadow: "Far off the shadows of Sauron hung; but torn by some great disquiet within, the mantling clouds swirled, and for a moment drew aside; and then he saw, rising black, blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood, the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower of Barad-dur. One moment only it stared out, but as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye; and the shadows were furled again and the terrible vision was removed."
41:20 what Aragorn is saying is "From the Western Sea I am come. Here me and my descendants shall abide until the end of the world." It was first spoken by Isildurs father after he and his men fled Numenor and established the kingdom of Gondor in Middle Earth.
Frodo pretty much went to the elve's "garden eden" in the end. It's not actually the afterlife, but a place where elves go to settle, never able to return to middle earth ever again. So in a metaphorical way, it is Frodo going to heaven to be at peace.
I didn't read the books, but it always seemed to me that the line "no man can kill me" was something like a person seeing the future, and observing that all the men who tried to kill the Witch King failed, then seeing this moment, and writing it. "No man can kill him." It was a prophesy more than mere ego.
I think one of the very early cuts, that troll Aragorn is fighting in the final battle is Sauron. He does have a body in the books, the "Eye of Sauron" was a metaphor for him having spies everywhere and knowing everything that's going on, but having the actual eye like that makes it much more interesting for a movie than a bad guy that's just sitting around in Mordor.
They filmed the Mordor scenes on Mount Ruapehu on The North Island. In the winter it is a ski resort and it was also used as location for Emyn Muil in The Two Towers. They also filmed the scenes from The Battle of Last Alliance for Fellowship of the Ring at the same time as Frodo and Sam going through Mordor. It was also the first time they filmed with Andy Serkis, having shaved his head for the first scenes (though he wore a head piece/mask for the other scenes) when Gollum attacks Frodo and Sam on the slopes of Mount Doom.
It is a fragmented variation of the Shire's theme from "Concerning Hobbits" in _The Fellowship of the Ring._ As he slowly crawls up the mountain, he can't recall what drives him forward, but it drives him nonetheless. _I cannot recall the touch of grass..._ It is perseverance and hope, however vain, in its purest form.
At 23:42 you say, "Why did they even have a ball that big just hanging around?" The set designers built the Tower of Cirith Ungol with chutes down which these balls could be rolled onto the heads of their enemies. It's not in the book, of course, and I wonder if any real castles were designed with this feature, but I wouldn't like to stand under one.
This has been really awesome. It's great to see these films alongside a fellow fan who knows the story and gets excited and hyped and emotional about all the same scenes we all do. Your commentary also was very insightful and smart. Kudos.
The outro is like the best outro for a movie ever made. It doesn't feel like dragging at all but rather like a perfect reward for all the characters. I only wish they could've add the information somewhere that after some years, Sam also joined Frodo bc he was "wearing" the Ring for a while too.
Next Trilogy The Hobbit Extended Edition Of The Adventures Of Bilbo Baggin: (1) An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition (2) The Desolation Of Smaug Extended Edition (3) The Battle Five Armie Extended Edition
"And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring and claimed it for his own, even in Sammath Naur the very heart of his realm, the Power in Barad-dûr was shaken, and the Tower trembled from its foundations to its proud and bitter crown. The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him, and his Eye piercing all shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made; and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now hung." I love this passage.
Wel, The Eye of Sauron does makes mentions in the books, something that Frodo sees from time to time when he put The Ring on, though it's not disemodied as in the movie. Sauron did have a new body after he lost The Ring, though he didn't openly go out to war, that's something Denethor say in the book, that a leader doesn't go out to fight but to command from a fortress. In fact, Sauron didn't involve himself in The Battle of Last Alliance until in the last moment when it seemed like his forces wouldn't have won against The Last Alliance.
In the film, Pippin's blade is an elvish blade from Lórien; in the book, it was a sword from a tomb of the lost Kingdom of Arnor, wrought with spells specifically to oppose the Witch-king a couple of thousand years earlier.
Hi Oscar! Thank you for making these reactions! This is one of my favorite series and it was really fun watching with you! I'm not sure how much you know/care about music but there's a channel that does an analysis of the LoTR soundtrack and it's made me have SO much appreciation for what all went into it. Like, everything had importance in the composition, down to intervals and what keys were used. It's really astonishing. The channel is Listening In and they made a 3 video series (about 12 min. each). I always recommend them, especially to people who have a real appreciation for filmmaking and artistry, like you. Looking forward to your next videos! Stay cozy!
At 35:00, Tolkien writes, "Gollum was tearing at his master, trying to get at the chain and the Ring. This was probably the only thing that could have roused the dying embers of Frodo's heart and will...Even so things might have gone far otherwise, if Golllum himself had remained unchanged...He was a lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow skin. A wild light flamed in his eyes, but his malice was no longer matched by his old griping strength."
Rankin and Bass did an animated version back in the late 70s for back The Hobbit and The Return of the King. I was a big fan growing and watching these two on my TV back in the day. I showed them to my nephew years later, and he fell in love with them as well. The music in these movies is the best part of the film. Some songs are originals, while others are ripped from the pages of the book. Peter Jackson also used songs from the book in his Hobbit movie.
Yeah, I didn't like that; Gandalf is a Maia, much more powerful than the Witch King; that wouldn't have happened. I guess they needed it for dramatic effect (like many of the other changes).
At 38:20, in the book Sauron's end is a bit different but equally impressive: "And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed, and then a hush fell." The notorious Ace paperback edition of ROTK used this scene for its cover.
At 27:17 you say, "I heard some people don't like how sudden that is..." The movie has to keep moving, but Faramir's courtship of Eowyn occupies several pages in the book, in which Merry plays a small but important part. I think of it as two damaged people helping each other to heal. It's a pretty tale...
This is my favorite set of movies of all time. And I watch all three In one day on my birthday , every year in my And My birthday is coming up in just a couple days. so I can't wait
That was a great journey! A truely great time going through it again with you. A great follow up would be you reacting to the three parter from the channel „Listening In“ about Howard Shores score for the trilogy. They are „uses voices“, „builds tension“ and „makes us care“. I think you would greatly enjoy that, since you already said you love the music. Wishing you the best from Europe!
12:30 I have to say, the battle cry of "Death!" makes so much more sense where the book places it, rather than here at the beginning of Rohan's involvement. The rest of Theoden's speech is placed correctly, and is an epic prelude to their charge into the fight, but in the book they SANG as they charged, and song was their battle cry -- until Eomer saw his little sister, his only remaining family, who wasn't even supposed to be there, lying still and cold on the battlefield, apparently as dead as the beloved uncle she had been trying to defend. Then his battle cry changed from a song to a furious shout of "Death!" and the rest of the Rohirrim followed his example. To me, that's way more moving than having them call out for death from the beginning. Sure, some of them expected to die (Theoden hints before they even leave Rohan that he doesn't expect to return), but only Eowyn actually wanted that outcome. Going into battle shouting that they're going to be killed doesn't seem right for Rohan's people. 19:09 Merry's sword isn't a Morgul blade. Just the opposite. It's a blade enchanted against the Morgul-lord. Most weapons can't touch someone who doesn't really exist in the material realm, but the swords used by the three younger Hobbits (and the one used by Frodo before it was broken at the ford outside Rivendell) are designed and enchanted specifically for killing the Nazgul, so stabbing the Witch-king with one of those, even just in the calf muscle (not normally a fatal wound) pulled him into the material realm enough for Eowyn's sword of ordinary steel to reach his face. That's why she was able to kill him. 22:17 Oh, there's definitely power involved. (Tolkien prefers that word rather than "magic.") The healers of Gondor are some of the best among mortals, so they know quite well how to tend Eowyn's broken shield-arm, Faramir's arrow-wound, and all the other injuries of battle (those that can be cured at all). But they are helpless against the Black Breath, the deadly illness that afflicts those who have spent too much time in the presence of the Nazgul (as Faramir did during two retreats from Osgiliath), or who have actually stabbed a Nazgul (as Merry and Eowyn have). All three of those people, and many others in Minas Tirith, would have died after the battle, probably that very night, if there hadn't been power involved in their healing, with kingsfoil, "the hands of the King," and Arwen's necklace -- a powerful amplifier for Aragorn's healing gift. He called Faramir back from the very Gates of Death, and apparently there was some kind of spiritual connection involved in that moment, that allowed Faramir to recognize and acknowledge him as King the second he woke up, even though he'd never seen him before. Then he healed Eowyn (who wasn't quite as far gone as Faramir) so that he was able to step out of the room and have her brother wake her up. (Aragorn didn't want to be the first face she saw in that moment, given that her crush on him was part of what drove her to the battlefield in the first place.) Then he healed Merry, which was probably his easiest task that night by far, despite the deadly heroic act Merry had done, because Hobbits' cheerful spirits are a huge advantage when it comes to healing them, especially from a mostly-spiritual illness like the Black Breath. Then he sent for Arwen's twin brothers, who had come to fight beside him and had the same healing power he and their father had, and the three of them spent most of the night going all over the Houses of Healing and the whole city, healing the Black Breath wherever they found people suffering from it. After a ten-day desperate race to get to Minas Tirith on time, and then a terrible all-day battle, Aragorn didn't go to bed until the sun rose, and the brothers (being Halfelven, so they didn't need as much sleep as mortals) probably didn't stop tending the sick until they had to attend the Captains' council later that morning. 29:15 One of my favorite lines of narrative, not just in this series but in all of fiction, is the longer version of what Sam says here: "There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower [another all-time favorite piece of writing, left out of the movie, of course] had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him." 30:01 Sauron never actually saw Frodo (though he did know that his border-guards had caught a small spy wearing Dwarf-made armor and an Elf-made cloak, and carrying a Dunedain-made sword, indicating some kind of conspiracy involving all the Free Peoples, and that the spy had somehow escaped). He knew the tempting power of his Ring, and he had a tendency to assume his enemies would do pretty much what he would do himself in their place, so he never dreamed that anyone who had the Ring would not seek to use it, let alone that they would send it into the heart of his own land to destroy it. He was convinced that Aragorn, or one of the other Captains of the West, had the Ring and was trying to use it against him. Whatever that little spy was up to couldn't possibly be as important as crushing the arrogant Ringlord at his front gate and taking back his Ring. 31:30 Even before "some sort of cataclysmic event" had time to happen to anyone else, Gandalf would know Sauron had the Ring because his own ring, Narya, one of the Three, would respond to the One. The One's main purpose, after all, was to find and rule the other Great Rings. Gandalf would immediately have a major fight on his hands, and I don't mean the fight against the army pouring out of the Black Gate. 35:43 You're not wrong. No one could have done it. There inside Mount Doom, Sauron's power was way beyond any other, even the strength of Hobbit will. Only Eru Himself could act against the Ring at all in that place, which is why its destruction had to be His own intervention -- an accident, or so it would seem to those who don't know that there are no accidents in Middle-earth. Not only Frodo claiming the Ring, but also Sam not really interfering except by yelling at him, is completely to be expected within Mount Doom. They couldn't do anything other than what they did. The same applies to Isildur and Elrond three thousand years earlier. There is no blame for any of them, though Frodo definitely spent the rest of his time in Middle-earth thinking there was. 38:35 "Once again, nature coming in clutch." Oh, yes! It's never actually stated, but I've always had the impression that the moment Sauron's hold on Mordor was broken, several of the Valar rushed into the situation: Aule collapsing the towers and gate (and in the movie, the ground under Sauron's army), Manwe driving away the clouds and speeding the Eagles' flight to rescue the Ringbearers, Ulmo starting the cleansing of the various waterways in Mordor, Yavanna awakening whatever seeds might be hidden in that barren soil, Orome helping Rohan's horses in their pursuit of the fleeing orcs and trolls, etc. The one thing we ARE told (though without any names mentioned) about the actions of the Valar in that moment is that Namo refused to collect what remained of Sauron's spirit (as he usually does when people die), but drove him away instead. Sauron had forfeited his place among the servants of the Valar, so he was not welcome in the West even once he was dead. The army of the Free Peoples actually watched the drama unfold in the sky above Mordor, as Sauron's scrap of spirit rose out of the Dark Tower like a cloud, turned to the West to seek the way home, and was driven eastward by a strong wind. He had his chance six thousand years ago to stand trial and accept punishment (which at the time would probably just have been several thousand years in prison, if I know Manwe), and he chose to hide in the depths of his old master's fortress and dodge justice, and then do a lot more evil after the messengers of the Valar gave up searching for him, so now it's too late to be allowed into their presence, even for judgment. 39:57 Three Eagles, not two, is Tolkien's own decision, not a movie exclusive. As far as I know it's never explicitly said, but I do believe you're right: Gandalf was hoping to rescue three Ringbearers, not just two.
The Lord of the Rings is such a masterpiece (both the book and the movie trilogy) that one can't help but be drawn in. As a Christian, I love the symbolisms in this movie the most. Its a timeless set of movies and I wish we'd make more as such.
presentation of Shelob's lair is a movie concession. If I remember correctly the caves were absolutely pitch black. Frodo couldn't see the webs or anything really until he used the light.
I'll rewatch LotR with people who are seeing it for the first time and with people who have seen it one-hundred times. It's just one of those experiences that's always special with someone.
8:46 I’m watching this while at lunch break… eating during these spider scenes is pretty damn tough ngl. You phrased it perfectly: a combination of fear of needles and fear of spiders.
"I fear it may be so with mine," said Frodo. "There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest?”
It was interesting that in one of the trailers, they had Theoden do the speech that Aragon makes at the end instead of the actual speech he made. That one happened to be the first trailer I saw, and I was kind of confused when I saw the movie and Theoden made the other speech.
Is it just Bilbo, Boromir, and Sam who willingly give up the ring after personally holding it? Respect to each! Especially Bilbo who had it for so long. I feel like he doesn't get enough credit for that
If I remember correctly, Sam eventually follows Frodo once his children have all grown up and his wife passes away. So they do get to see one another again
I think Frodo didn't had he heart to tell Bilbo that The Ring was destroyed, that it'd break his heart. In the book, though, after Bilbo said "Oh pity, I'd like to have held it one last time." he realizes "Oh yeah, but you were suppouse to lose it.".
Easily one of the best movie trilogies of all time as well as one the best book to film adaptations. Well deserved winner for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It's crazy how Gollum and his obsessive greed is what saved all of Middle Earth… without even trying!
According to Tolkien lore The Haradrim have for a long time hated Gondor and they fought for Sauron because he and his master Morgoth had corrupted this men a long time and therefore have been in their service. Also the early settlers from Númenor, called the Black Númenoreans (Mouth of Sauron is a grand example of them) enslaved Harad as they were The King's Men, following the orders of the corrupted kings of Númenor (including the last king Ar-Pharazon who was tricked by Sauron to attempting attack valinor to seize Immoirtality for himself).
14:15 🐎 kick! 14:23 don’t just lay there! 34:02-34:18 my dad doesn’t like gollum, because he’s scary 😧 and talking himself. 37:14 so long, gollum! 40:01 what a happy 😃 reunion. 44:11-44:33 I’m going to miss Gandalf, Frodo, and Bilbo leaving the middle 🌏.
I think there's an incredible foil and contrast between Denethor and Theoden as rulers, fathers, and men in general that often gets overlooked. - Both men feel insecure in their role as leaders of their nations: Theoden because he doesn't feel strong enough for the main conflict of his age (The War of the Ring) and Denethor because he's only a Steward in a long history of Stewards who lived and died waiting for a King who never returned. - Both men lose their sons and only found out about the deaths after a significant remove: Boromir was gone for months before his body turned up at the fords of the Pelennor, and Theoden was possessed and remembered nothing, so almost the first thing he hears after waking is that his son is dead. - Both men face the end of their own lives and the doom of their people in similar ways for different reasons: Denethor chooses to burn "like the heathen kings of old", thereby elevating himself and Faramir in the highest way he can think of, an historic, martyrdom-like passing, and Theoden rides willingly at the head of the greatest host of Rohirrim ever assembled, straight into the teeth of the most terrifying army of Orcs ever assembled. There was a comment I saw on another reactor's page when they watched LOTR - Theoden's call of "Death! Death! Death!" was an acceptance of Eru Illuvatar's (the primordial Creator of Middle-Earth) gift to Men. The hosts of Mordor supposedly would triumph only as long as Men denied that gift, seeking solace in false protection and power given by lesser beings (the Rings, as a gift from Sauron). So Theoden's battle-cry was a fulfillment of prophecy, which is why the Orcs on the front line grew fearful as the King's speech drew to a close, because they recognized it for it's esoteric meaning more than the literal "death" that was coming to them.
The Witch-king was, quoting Tolkien, given added demonic strength for the siege. I do think the odds favored him at that moment, both in the book and film. All defences had been broken, and only Gandalf stood between him and taking the city. Then the darkness breaks, the Rohirrim arrive, hope is restored, and the odds don't favor him so much anymore.
At 45:31 you say, "I wonder if that was like a few months, that trip?" According to Tolkien's chronology of events, Frodo and Sam set out for the Grey Havens on September 21, and Sam returns home on October 6.
The behind the scenes footage of them shooting the Ride of the Rohirrim is amazing. First of all a lot of the "men" of Rohan extras were women because when the film crew put out a call for extras who could ride, had their own horse and could camp out on set for multiple days, it was mostly women who showed up.
The land thet galloped over had to be thoroughly checked to make sure there were no holes or rabbit burrows that a horse could step in and hurt themselves/the rider. And the crew said that after Bernard Hill (RIP) did his amazing speech as Theoden, the call was given and the riders were given the green light to gallop those horses as fast as they could - the ground was shaking from 100+ horses racing across the ground.
If 100 riders felt that inspiring, imagine how 20,000 mounted Winged Hussars from Poland felt, riding to the aid of Vienna when it was besieged by the Mongol Horde.
It was 250 or 350 riders if I recall correctly.
Something kinda interesting about Sam having the ring: if I remember the text correctly, the ring actually has a hard time figuring out what to tempt Sam with. It tried to promise him that it could provide massively, luxuriously sprawling gardens but Sam said he only wanted a garden big enough to tend and was able to ignore the temptations. Now obviously the ring would have eventually gotten to him, but it's interesting that the first instinct of the ring is to go big and dramatic and it ties into the part where Sauron gets distracted by the invading army since the ring shows parts of its master's personality: Sauron is enticed by all the big, flashy parts of traditional fantasy with climatic battles and such, which is part of why he forged the rings of power in the first place. It's how the hobbits defeat him: by being simple and standing for goodness in ways that Sauron doesn't expect or is used to.
Thats so true, it's like Sauron can't comprehend a simple life of peace and prosperity, and he's so used to tempting men who are easily corrupted, and here is Sam finding the promise of '' the world can be your garden'' kind of excessive and a sh*t ton of responsibility for only him. As sad and unfair as it is, Hobbits were the perfect race to hold the ring (sure they can be tempted eventually and become like Smeagol, but they are very resilient when traveling to Modor)
Yes, but that's also why Hobbits are harder to corrupt, they don't have a natural call for power to begin with
There is a prophecy regarding the return of the King of Gondor: "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known."
Following the victory at Minas Tirith, Aragorn would set up camp outside the city, refusing to enter so as to not appear to be seizing power. Instead, he appoints Imrahil - prince of one of Gondor's southern fiefs, Dol Amroth - as temporary lord per Gondorian law. Aragorn would enter the city in secret during the night and heals Faramir, Eowyn and Merry (all of whom were suffering from the Black Breath of the Nazgul), fulfilling the prophecy. Aragorn continues working long into the night, healing more and more people as word spreads. But when the people of Minas Tirith awake the next morning, they see the banner of Dol Amroth as Imrahil had taken his place as temporary lord, leading the people to wonder if the King's return had been a dream.
My understanding of why Frodo collapsed in Mordor when the beam of the Eye passed over him was because Sauron's "gaze" had a weight of evil behind it. Think of it like being in a really hot place and suddenly having a 500 degree beam of heat focused on you. You'd feel it. :) The other thing that I always thought was that Sauron wasn't literally seeing through the Eye manifestation, more that he was sensing things like the Nazgul do, and since Frodo wasn't actually wearing the ring, Sauron couldn't sense it.
35:33 yes! it’s impossible to throw the ring! isildur wasn’t weak. frodo wasn’t weak. it’s just impossible to destroy it with free will. that’s why gollum is so important in this story too! if it was not for him, sauron would win
Tolkien's philosophy was that good can't directly destroy evil, but rather evil will destroy itself, and good/hope can triumph simply by not succumbing to the despair/ darkness that surrounds it.
Anyone weaker than Frodo would have died on the way, anyone stronger would have succumbed before getting to Mount Doom
Oh, and regarding Aragorn healing Eowyn, in the books there is a legend in Gondor that "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer and so shall the rightful king be known." It was one of the ways Aragorn proved his kingship to the people of Gondor by healing Merry, Eowyn, Faramir and many others of both their injuries and of the Black Breath which is a deadly disease that infects anyone deeply touched by the shadows of Mordor.
He also uses athelas AKA kingsfoil to help with his healing which is what he asks Sam to get in Fellowship of the Ring after Frodo is stabbed by the Morgul blade. Fun fact; athelas is implied to have a different scent to each person that Aragorn uses it on for healing.
Arguably it is a defect in the story-telling for Jackson to set up athelas in Fellowship, and not make it important here-it only makes the athelas a throw-away reference for book fans, with no payoff.
@@majkus I don't think I'd say it was a defect; just probably something that could have come across as really clunky in the exposition. Plus would many people (who haven't read the books) really remember the name of a plant from 2 movies and almost 3 years ago when these were first released? Would have been a nice little touch but I'd imagine working it in could have been awkward.
Sauron never once considered that anyone would try to sneak into Mordor to destroy the Ring. Also, his hatred of the line and heirs of Isildur contributes to why he tunnel visions so hard on Aragorn.
The defense of Helm's Deep is the first time Sauron sees Aragorn's capabilities as a leader and as the heir of Isildur and Elendil. When Pippin and Aragorn look into the Palantir, Sauron incorrectly assumes that Aragorn now possesses the One Ring. This assumption forces Sauron to push forward with his plans much more hastily than intended. It causes him to send the Witch-king and a great army to Minas Tirith. His army ends up being defeated at the Pelennor Fields and the Lord of the Nazgul is slain by Eowyn and Merry. Despite this defeat, Sauron has managed to weaken the armies of Rohan and Gondor while he maintains enough armies in Mordor to defeat them.
However, Sauron would again be forced into hasty action as Aragorn, Eomer, Gandalf, and the lords of the West march on the Black Gate. This causes the Dark Lord to concentrate his gaze on the heir of Isildur rather than on his own lands, where two Hobbits draw closer and closer to Mount Doom. As Sauron is poised to wipe out the army of Men and finally end the line of Isildur, Frodo puts on the One Ring. At this moment, Sauron sees the Hobbit and realizes he has been tricked.
Liv Tyler is the one singing as Aragon wipes her forehead. She is as talented as her father the lead singer for Arosmith!
I have a suspicion that Frodo's arc is that of a soldier through the mud and grit of war. Given that Tolkien served during WWI?
An innocent man has to go through unspeakable horror to help end it for everyone. And the further he goes, the harder it weighs him down. To a point where cracks and embraces 'the dark', giving into the madness for a brief moment. But once it's over, he's relieved... If not for long. As he comes back, he understands that he cannot live with others who know what evil he had to bear to save them, just like soldiers did when they came home. They did save their home... But not for themselves. Because it's no longer the same world they once knew.
The scene that I have always felt was informed by JRRT's experiences in the Great War-perhaps even a portrayal of a scene he witnessed:
“Slowly the lights of the torches in front of Merry flicked and went out, and he was walking in a darkness; and he thought: ‘This is a tunnel leading to a tomb; there we shall stay forever.’ But suddenly into his dream there fell a living voice.
‘Well, Merry! Thank goodness I have found you!’
He looked up and the mist before his eyes cleared a little. There was Pippin! They were face to face in a narrow lane, but for themselves it was empty. He rubbed his eyes.
‘Where is the king?’ He said. ‘And Eowyn?’ Then he stumbled and sat down on a doorstep and began to weep again.
‘They must have gone up into the Citadel,’ said Pippin. ‘I think you must have fallen asleep on your feet and taken the wrong turning. When we found out you were not with them, Gandalf sent me to look for you. Poor old Merry! How glad I am to see you again! But you are worn out, and I won’t bother you with any talk. But tell me, are you hurt, or wounded?’
‘No,’ said Merry. ‘Well, no, I don’t think so. But I can’t use my right arm, Pippin, not since I stabbed him. And my sword burned away like a piece of wood.’
Pippin’s face was anxious. ‘Well, you had better come with me as quick as you can,’ he said. ‘I wish I could carry you. You aren’t fit to walk any further. They shouldn’t have let you walk at all; but you must forgive them. So many dreadful things have happened in the City, Merry, that one poor hobbit coming in from battle is easily overlooked.’
‘It’s not always a misfortune being overlooked,’ said Merry. ‘I was overlooked just now by-no, no, I can’t speak of it. Help me, Pippin! It’s all going dark again, and my arm is so cold.’
‘Lean on me, Merry lad!” said Pippin. ‘Come now. Foot by foot. It’s not far.’
‘Are you going to bury me?’ said Merry.
‘No, indeed!’ said Pippin, trying to sound cheerful, though his heart was wrung with fear and pity. ‘No, we are going to the Houses of Healing.”
You’ll never know because Tolkien denied it until his death.
I said this in the previous part but the TEARS I SHED watching this in the movie theatre 😭😭 when Sam said “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you” I was a mess 😭😭
Sam was able to go where Frodo went in the end, because he had also briefly been a ring bearer. He just first needed to live the rest of his perfect life as Mayor of Hobbiton with Rosie and his many children. When Rosie passed away of old age, he took a boat to meet Frodo again in Valinor.
I love how well the Éowyn-Aragorn story is written in the books. And his words spoken in the Houses of healing 💔💔💔 - "few other griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man's heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned"
Watching the extended versions of this trilogy every New Year’s Day has been a tradition in my home for nearly a decade. Definitely one of my favorite stories ever put to screen!
I really love that the One Ring hang on to existence (Lava hardening for it to float) in an final attempt to completly corrupt and destroy Frodo.
Frodo choosing Sam/Living over the Ring disrupts its last remaining bit of power (dominance and control) and it just melts aways into nothingness.
I do wonder what Tolkien would've thought of that ending. I hope he would've enjoyed it.
Samwise and Frodos friendship is so strong, it make me cry every time I watch this movie.
I've read 'em all: stories of heroes from Gilgamesh to Hercules to the Monkey King to Arthur to Robin Hood to Superman - and the greatest hero in all of human literature is Samwise the Hobbit.
@@liljenborg2517 I sorta disagree that Sam is the only "real" hero in the pair. I personally believe that both he and Frodo are two halves of the great hero archetype. Sam is the brave heroic part that holds onto the light and the hope and never gives up the fight and Frodo is the half with the quiet strength, who carries all the emotional weight and scars that come with the pain the hero must face on the journey. Alone neither would have been able to fulfill their quest, but together they are a powerful unit.
Merry didn't have a Morgul Blade. What he had was a blade formed by the smiths of Arnor, the Northern Kingdom which was the counterpart of Gondor in the south. They had a long history of fighting the Witch-King and his followers and were especially made to fight them. It is all part of the Tom Bombadil story that wasn't included in the movie.
You're right, that's accurate to the books.
In the movies, Merry may have stabbed the Witch King with a Noldorin dagger received as a gift from Galadriel.
At 9:04 Tolkien writes, "Shelob was gone, and whether she lay long in her lair, nursing her malice and her misery, and in slow years of darkness healed herself from within, rebuilding her clustered eyes, until with hunger like death she spun once more her dreadful snares in the glens of the Mountains of Shadow, this tale does not tell."
At 18:18, in the book, this stroke did break her arm. There's no indication in the subsequent scenes of the movie, but in the book she had her left arm in a sling while she was in the Houses of Healing.
Eowyn and Merry were both under the shadow for having struck at the Witch King, which would have killed them but for Aragorn’s use of Athelas.
At 20:38, in the book Theoden's last conversation is with Merry, not Eowyn. He has a chance to hand his banner to Eomer and acknowledge him as king. "And so he died, and knew not that Eowyn lay near him." Both scenes work wonderfully, and in the movie's version, Bernard Hill and Miranda Otto just triumph.
Sam's daughter at the end were played by Sean Astin's real daughter Alexandra "Ali" Astin, who was 3 years old when it was filmed (now she's in her early twenties). The baby that Rosie carries (who's named Frodo in the book,, named after our hero) is Sarah McLeod's own daughter.
On a side note, Peter Jackson have worked with three generations of Astins. Along with Sean and Ali, he worked with Sean's dad John Astin (best known for playing and voicing Gomez in The Addams Family live action tv-series and the animated series from 1992) on The Frighteners, the movie he did before The Lord of the Rings.
To the four people who have disliked this so far:
"Be silent!, keep your forked tongue behind your teeth."
But Sam did follow Frodo to the Undying Lands. When Rosie died, Sam passed on the Red Book and followed Frodo there.
Not all adventures are about fighting dragons and finding gold. Not all adventures are about long journeys, solving ancient riddles or winning epic battles on vast wastelands. Sometimes an adventure is just a walk to the market, exploring what items hide in an attic, a quiet sit in a tea shop, reading a book, learning a new language, wanderings aimlessly through a park, a swim at the beach, smiling at someone who needs a smile to brighten there day or just finding that perfect stone or stick that just feels right in your hand. Adventure does not have to be a test of strength, skill and/or survival. Adventure should bring you joy, happiness laughter and fulfilment. Its challenges to break down personal walls past whatever it is we fear to do or go. Even if its just cleaning out a closet you procrastinated to clean for years. So, before you go looking for that epic adventure quest that takes you across the world and fighting monsters, why not find adventure close to you of a more gentle nature. Adventure is not what charges at you in malice, Adventure is what you make it to be.
May you all find your Adventure.
Facts. Also it’s also just doing anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Unless there is some risk involved it’s not really an adventure. Some people go about their whole lives doing things they love which is GREAT! But an adventurous life involves someone daring to put themselves out of their comfort zone.
“i bet, they both [eowin and faramir] are just grateful to be alive. no waisting a single second now”
😂
Going to the midnight premiere of this movie with a jam packed theater is still one of my favorite memories. The crowd was perfect and each big moment felt 100x more powerful. Theoden’s speech, Eowyn’s badass fight, Sam carrying Frodo…. An unforgettable experience to say the least.
At 24:14 you say, "I wonder how Sauron handles situations like this, like disciplining them?" In the book, there are several conversations between Orcs, where the "Black Pits" are mentioned without elaboration. In the movie, the Lord of the Nazgul threatens Eowyn, "Come not between the Nazgul and his prey!" In the book he adds, "Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the Houses of Lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shriveled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye." I'm sure Sauron had ways of keeping everyone in line.
It was not a morgul blade that Merry used to stab the Witch King, but according to the book, it was a blade that Merry got on the Barrow Downs in a scene that was never in the movie. In the chapter "Fog on Barrow Downs" we learn that the blade was wrought ages ago for the very purpose of fighting the Witch King of Angmar. Therefore we can assume it is wound with spells for his destruction. No ordinary blade, even if wielded by a much stronger person would have been so deadly. The Witch King was prophesied to be killed some day, but not by the hand of man. Since neither Merry or Eowyn are men, the prophesy was fulfilled.
Tolkien noted in letters after he wrote the book that no one in Middle-Earth could have withstood the draw of the Ring at Mount Doom. It was Gollum who inadvertently destroyed the Ring by seizing it from Frodo. If Frodo (and before him, Bilbo) had not been merciful and killed him when they had the chance, Gollum wouldn't have played his part in saving Middle-Earth.
Best moment In any movie. “I can’t carry it for you…. But I can carry you. Come on!” 😢😢 Every time.
Aragorn is chanting the Oath of Elendil, the words his ancestor spoke in reaching Middle-earth out of the wreck of Númenor. Viggo Mortensen provided the melody. The words mean "Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world". The same Sindarin words are heard in the music that plays as the Fellowship passes the Argonath in the first film.
It need not be supposed that every King of Gondor spoke this oath. This is, after all, a special event in which Elendil's heir 39 generations removed is restored to the throne.
When Sauron see's Frodo and Sam, he just see's two insignificant hobbits. The idea that someone could walk into Mordor with the ring with the goal of destroying it without succumbing to its power is inconceivable to him.
I read the books for the first time a couple years ago, and I think “For Frodo” is the best thing the films added
An astute observation there about Frodo getting a sudden surge of adrenaline! As Tolkien writes: "This was probably the only thing that could have roused the dying embers of Frodo's heart and will: an attack, an attempt to wrest his treasure from him by force. He fought back with a sudden fury that amazed Sam, and Gollum also."
What a great journey to watch this trilogy with you! It's no doubt my favorite movies ever, I've watched it so many times and it was really nice to rewatch it with you. What I would add about these movies is the wonderful music Howard Shore gave to us. In my opinion, it's the best music film ever written. I love your videos so thanks for sharing this trilogy with us!
I'm so glad Eowyn and Faramir got their due in the Extended Editions. ❤
They filmed the mordor scenes in the national park of tongariro in nz. Beautiful volcanic scenery. There is a great walk trek called the northern circuit there. I reckon for you its not that expansive to go even ah? What like, 3h flight?
The little girl is Sean Astin's daughter in the end.😊😊
Merry stabbed the Witch-King with a blade of Westernesse, in the book at least--it was forged by ancestors of Aragorn's, specifically to fight against their mortal enemies of Angmar, which was ruled by the Witch-King back then. It had spells put on it that were made to cut through the Witch-King's magic defenses. After Merry broke the spell, Eowyn was able to kill him.
Side note--both of their weapons were destroyed, as another part of the prophecy said no weapon that touched the Witch-King ever survived.
I thought I recall not that Merry's sword broke all protections he had, just that it was able to pierce him. And I think there was a bit about Eowyn's sword being special too, though in a different way.
It wouldn't take any more physical courage to face down a troll than that shown by the soldiers in the trenches in the Great War (where Tolkien was a soldier), facing poison gas and automatic weapons that could mow down a row of men like a sickle harvesting grain.
At 22:12 you say, "He makes it not look very complicated here; is that the point? Like there's magic involved..." The book contains an entire chapter, "The Houses of Healing," where Aragorn heals Faramir, Eowyn, and Merry, using the athelas or kingsfoil plant (which we saw back in FOTR), and showing that "The hands of the KIng are the hands of a healer, and so could the rightful King ever be known."
Shelob is so freaking STEALTHY despite her size - it's terrifying!
At 45:02, compare this smile of Frodo's with the smile when we first see him in FOTR, and also the terrible smile he gives in the Sammath Naur as he puts on the Ring. Sam is everybody's favorite character, but Frodo is really Numero Uno.
In the book Gandalf faces The Witch King at the Main Gate, when Grond breaches the gate it's The Witch King who comes through, and on his black steed instead of the Fell Beast used for the movie. Also Gandalf's staff didn't break and he didn't fall off Shadowfax. They sat on their horses facing each other for a while before the horn signalling the arrival of the 6,000 Rohirrim blew and The Witch King turned away.
Plus of course the Army of the Dead wasn't at this battle, they just scared off the pirates so Aragorn could capture their ships.
Also Rohan brought the light with them, the sun had risen a long time ago, it rises in the east and Rohan came from the west.
I recently saw this in theaters for its re-release, and boy do I tell you, when Theoden yelled death, the WHOLE THEATER screamed it back. Probably the greatest theater experience I've ever had.
Been waiting for this to come out, can finally go watch your Fellowship of the Ring reaction now!
At 25:30, the Eye of Sauron isn't seen out in the open in the book. The Barad-dur was mantled in layers of Shadow: "Far off the shadows of Sauron hung; but torn by some great disquiet within, the mantling clouds swirled, and for a moment drew aside; and then he saw, rising black, blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood, the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower of Barad-dur. One moment only it stared out, but as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye; and the shadows were furled again and the terrible vision was removed."
41:20 what Aragorn is saying is "From the Western Sea I am come. Here me and my descendants shall abide until the end of the world." It was first spoken by Isildurs father after he and his men fled Numenor and established the kingdom of Gondor in Middle Earth.
Frodo pretty much went to the elve's "garden eden" in the end. It's not actually the afterlife, but a place where elves go to settle, never able to return to middle earth ever again. So in a metaphorical way, it is Frodo going to heaven to be at peace.
I didn't read the books, but it always seemed to me that the line "no man can kill me" was something like a person seeing the future, and observing that all the men who tried to kill the Witch King failed, then seeing this moment, and writing it. "No man can kill him." It was a prophesy more than mere ego.
Sam's a gardener. He probably fights bugs all the time.
I think one of the very early cuts, that troll Aragorn is fighting in the final battle is Sauron. He does have a body in the books, the "Eye of Sauron" was a metaphor for him having spies everywhere and knowing everything that's going on, but having the actual eye like that makes it much more interesting for a movie than a bad guy that's just sitting around in Mordor.
They filmed the Mordor scenes on Mount Ruapehu on The North Island. In the winter it is a ski resort and it was also used as location for Emyn Muil in The Two Towers. They also filmed the scenes from The Battle of Last Alliance for Fellowship of the Ring at the same time as Frodo and Sam going through Mordor. It was also the first time they filmed with Andy Serkis, having shaved his head for the first scenes (though he wore a head piece/mask for the other scenes) when Gollum attacks Frodo and Sam on the slopes of Mount Doom.
The tin whistle solo as Frodo crawls up Mt Doom always gets me
It is a fragmented variation of the Shire's theme from "Concerning Hobbits" in _The Fellowship of the Ring._ As he slowly crawls up the mountain, he can't recall what drives him forward, but it drives him nonetheless.
_I cannot recall the touch of grass..._
It is perseverance and hope, however vain, in its purest form.
Your snicker at "It's sticky!!" made my mind go in a whole other direction 😂 and my "yes -and?"-humor didn't make the "you'll see"- line any better 🤣🫠
At 23:42 you say, "Why did they even have a ball that big just hanging around?" The set designers built the Tower of Cirith Ungol with chutes down which these balls could be rolled onto the heads of their enemies. It's not in the book, of course, and I wonder if any real castles were designed with this feature, but I wouldn't like to stand under one.
Trivia the little girl that Sam picks up at the end is Sean Aston’s own daughter. ❤
This has been really awesome. It's great to see these films alongside a fellow fan who knows the story and gets excited and hyped and emotional about all the same scenes we all do. Your commentary also was very insightful and smart. Kudos.
At 13:18, this is why cavalry ruled the battlefield from the invention of the stirrup until the perfection of artillery in the 15th century.
And those pesky Welsh archers at Agincourt…
The outro is like the best outro for a movie ever made. It doesn't feel like dragging at all but rather like a perfect reward for all the characters. I only wish they could've add the information somewhere that after some years, Sam also joined Frodo bc he was "wearing" the Ring for a while too.
I like the theory that Frodo simply doesn't know the name of Legolas (until years later when he writes the book)
Next Trilogy The Hobbit Extended Edition Of The Adventures Of Bilbo Baggin:
(1) An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition
(2) The Desolation Of Smaug Extended Edition
(3) The Battle Five Armie Extended Edition
I've never been able to find an extended edition for Hobbit. Every single other, but not that 😢 it is my comfort movie...
"And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring and claimed it for his own, even in Sammath Naur the very heart of his realm, the Power in Barad-dûr was shaken, and the Tower trembled from its foundations to its proud and bitter crown. The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him, and his Eye piercing all shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made; and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now hung."
I love this passage.
Wel, The Eye of Sauron does makes mentions in the books, something that Frodo sees from time to time when he put The Ring on, though it's not disemodied as in the movie. Sauron did have a new body after he lost The Ring, though he didn't openly go out to war, that's something Denethor say in the book, that a leader doesn't go out to fight but to command from a fortress. In fact, Sauron didn't involve himself in The Battle of Last Alliance until in the last moment when it seemed like his forces wouldn't have won against The Last Alliance.
In the film, Pippin's blade is an elvish blade from Lórien; in the book, it was a sword from a tomb of the lost Kingdom of Arnor, wrought with spells specifically to oppose the Witch-king a couple of thousand years earlier.
Hi Oscar! Thank you for making these reactions! This is one of my favorite series and it was really fun watching with you! I'm not sure how much you know/care about music but there's a channel that does an analysis of the LoTR soundtrack and it's made me have SO much appreciation for what all went into it. Like, everything had importance in the composition, down to intervals and what keys were used. It's really astonishing. The channel is Listening In and they made a 3 video series (about 12 min. each). I always recommend them, especially to people who have a real appreciation for filmmaking and artistry, like you. Looking forward to your next videos! Stay cozy!
We would love to watch your reaction to The hobbit trilogy next
At 35:00, Tolkien writes, "Gollum was tearing at his master, trying to get at the chain and the Ring. This was probably the only thing that could have roused the dying embers of Frodo's heart and will...Even so things might have gone far otherwise, if Golllum himself had remained unchanged...He was a lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow skin. A wild light flamed in his eyes, but his malice was no longer matched by his old griping strength."
Rankin and Bass did an animated version back in the late 70s for back The Hobbit and The Return of the King. I was a big fan growing and watching these two on my TV back in the day. I showed them to my nephew years later, and he fell in love with them as well.
The music in these movies is the best part of the film. Some songs are originals, while others are ripped from the pages of the book. Peter Jackson also used songs from the book in his Hobbit movie.
34:18 Not sure why that was a deleted scene. it would've shown just how far gone Smegal truly was and he could never be redeemed.
In the book, the Witch-King didn't break Gandalf's wizard staff... I feel like that was an unnecessary addition that contradicted the book canon.
Yeah, I didn't like that; Gandalf is a Maia, much more powerful than the Witch King; that wouldn't have happened. I guess they needed it for dramatic effect (like many of the other changes).
At 38:20, in the book Sauron's end is a bit different but equally impressive: "And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed, and then a hush fell." The notorious Ace paperback edition of ROTK used this scene for its cover.
One of the best trilogies ever made! Thanks for letting us share it with you!!
At 27:17 you say, "I heard some people don't like how sudden that is..." The movie has to keep moving, but Faramir's courtship of Eowyn occupies several pages in the book, in which Merry plays a small but important part. I think of it as two damaged people helping each other to heal. It's a pretty tale...
This is my favorite set of movies of all time. And I watch all three In one day on my birthday , every year in my
And My birthday is coming up in just a couple days. so I can't wait
That was a great journey! A truely great time going through it again with you. A great follow up would be you reacting to the three parter from the channel „Listening In“ about Howard Shores score for the trilogy. They are „uses voices“, „builds tension“ and „makes us care“. I think you would greatly enjoy that, since you already said you love the music. Wishing you the best from Europe!
" That still only counts as one! " still one of the best lines ever
12:30 I have to say, the battle cry of "Death!" makes so much more sense where the book places it, rather than here at the beginning of Rohan's involvement. The rest of Theoden's speech is placed correctly, and is an epic prelude to their charge into the fight, but in the book they SANG as they charged, and song was their battle cry -- until Eomer saw his little sister, his only remaining family, who wasn't even supposed to be there, lying still and cold on the battlefield, apparently as dead as the beloved uncle she had been trying to defend. Then his battle cry changed from a song to a furious shout of "Death!" and the rest of the Rohirrim followed his example. To me, that's way more moving than having them call out for death from the beginning. Sure, some of them expected to die (Theoden hints before they even leave Rohan that he doesn't expect to return), but only Eowyn actually wanted that outcome. Going into battle shouting that they're going to be killed doesn't seem right for Rohan's people.
19:09 Merry's sword isn't a Morgul blade. Just the opposite. It's a blade enchanted against the Morgul-lord. Most weapons can't touch someone who doesn't really exist in the material realm, but the swords used by the three younger Hobbits (and the one used by Frodo before it was broken at the ford outside Rivendell) are designed and enchanted specifically for killing the Nazgul, so stabbing the Witch-king with one of those, even just in the calf muscle (not normally a fatal wound) pulled him into the material realm enough for Eowyn's sword of ordinary steel to reach his face. That's why she was able to kill him.
22:17 Oh, there's definitely power involved. (Tolkien prefers that word rather than "magic.") The healers of Gondor are some of the best among mortals, so they know quite well how to tend Eowyn's broken shield-arm, Faramir's arrow-wound, and all the other injuries of battle (those that can be cured at all). But they are helpless against the Black Breath, the deadly illness that afflicts those who have spent too much time in the presence of the Nazgul (as Faramir did during two retreats from Osgiliath), or who have actually stabbed a Nazgul (as Merry and Eowyn have). All three of those people, and many others in Minas Tirith, would have died after the battle, probably that very night, if there hadn't been power involved in their healing, with kingsfoil, "the hands of the King," and Arwen's necklace -- a powerful amplifier for Aragorn's healing gift. He called Faramir back from the very Gates of Death, and apparently there was some kind of spiritual connection involved in that moment, that allowed Faramir to recognize and acknowledge him as King the second he woke up, even though he'd never seen him before. Then he healed Eowyn (who wasn't quite as far gone as Faramir) so that he was able to step out of the room and have her brother wake her up. (Aragorn didn't want to be the first face she saw in that moment, given that her crush on him was part of what drove her to the battlefield in the first place.) Then he healed Merry, which was probably his easiest task that night by far, despite the deadly heroic act Merry had done, because Hobbits' cheerful spirits are a huge advantage when it comes to healing them, especially from a mostly-spiritual illness like the Black Breath. Then he sent for Arwen's twin brothers, who had come to fight beside him and had the same healing power he and their father had, and the three of them spent most of the night going all over the Houses of Healing and the whole city, healing the Black Breath wherever they found people suffering from it. After a ten-day desperate race to get to Minas Tirith on time, and then a terrible all-day battle, Aragorn didn't go to bed until the sun rose, and the brothers (being Halfelven, so they didn't need as much sleep as mortals) probably didn't stop tending the sick until they had to attend the Captains' council later that morning.
29:15 One of my favorite lines of narrative, not just in this series but in all of fiction, is the longer version of what Sam says here: "There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower [another all-time favorite piece of writing, left out of the movie, of course] had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him."
30:01 Sauron never actually saw Frodo (though he did know that his border-guards had caught a small spy wearing Dwarf-made armor and an Elf-made cloak, and carrying a Dunedain-made sword, indicating some kind of conspiracy involving all the Free Peoples, and that the spy had somehow escaped). He knew the tempting power of his Ring, and he had a tendency to assume his enemies would do pretty much what he would do himself in their place, so he never dreamed that anyone who had the Ring would not seek to use it, let alone that they would send it into the heart of his own land to destroy it. He was convinced that Aragorn, or one of the other Captains of the West, had the Ring and was trying to use it against him. Whatever that little spy was up to couldn't possibly be as important as crushing the arrogant Ringlord at his front gate and taking back his Ring.
31:30 Even before "some sort of cataclysmic event" had time to happen to anyone else, Gandalf would know Sauron had the Ring because his own ring, Narya, one of the Three, would respond to the One. The One's main purpose, after all, was to find and rule the other Great Rings. Gandalf would immediately have a major fight on his hands, and I don't mean the fight against the army pouring out of the Black Gate.
35:43 You're not wrong. No one could have done it. There inside Mount Doom, Sauron's power was way beyond any other, even the strength of Hobbit will. Only Eru Himself could act against the Ring at all in that place, which is why its destruction had to be His own intervention -- an accident, or so it would seem to those who don't know that there are no accidents in Middle-earth. Not only Frodo claiming the Ring, but also Sam not really interfering except by yelling at him, is completely to be expected within Mount Doom. They couldn't do anything other than what they did. The same applies to Isildur and Elrond three thousand years earlier. There is no blame for any of them, though Frodo definitely spent the rest of his time in Middle-earth thinking there was.
38:35 "Once again, nature coming in clutch." Oh, yes! It's never actually stated, but I've always had the impression that the moment Sauron's hold on Mordor was broken, several of the Valar rushed into the situation: Aule collapsing the towers and gate (and in the movie, the ground under Sauron's army), Manwe driving away the clouds and speeding the Eagles' flight to rescue the Ringbearers, Ulmo starting the cleansing of the various waterways in Mordor, Yavanna awakening whatever seeds might be hidden in that barren soil, Orome helping Rohan's horses in their pursuit of the fleeing orcs and trolls, etc. The one thing we ARE told (though without any names mentioned) about the actions of the Valar in that moment is that Namo refused to collect what remained of Sauron's spirit (as he usually does when people die), but drove him away instead. Sauron had forfeited his place among the servants of the Valar, so he was not welcome in the West even once he was dead. The army of the Free Peoples actually watched the drama unfold in the sky above Mordor, as Sauron's scrap of spirit rose out of the Dark Tower like a cloud, turned to the West to seek the way home, and was driven eastward by a strong wind. He had his chance six thousand years ago to stand trial and accept punishment (which at the time would probably just have been several thousand years in prison, if I know Manwe), and he chose to hide in the depths of his old master's fortress and dodge justice, and then do a lot more evil after the messengers of the Valar gave up searching for him, so now it's too late to be allowed into their presence, even for judgment.
39:57 Three Eagles, not two, is Tolkien's own decision, not a movie exclusive. As far as I know it's never explicitly said, but I do believe you're right: Gandalf was hoping to rescue three Ringbearers, not just two.
The Lord of the Rings is such a masterpiece (both the book and the movie trilogy) that one can't help but be drawn in. As a Christian, I love the symbolisms in this movie the most. Its a timeless set of movies and I wish we'd make more as such.
presentation of Shelob's lair is a movie concession. If I remember correctly the caves were absolutely pitch black. Frodo couldn't see the webs or anything really until he used the light.
I'll rewatch LotR with people who are seeing it for the first time and with people who have seen it one-hundred times. It's just one of those experiences that's always special with someone.
8:46 I’m watching this while at lunch break… eating during these spider scenes is pretty damn tough ngl. You phrased it perfectly: a combination of fear of needles and fear of spiders.
"I fear it may be so with mine," said Frodo. "There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest?”
It was interesting that in one of the trailers, they had Theoden do the speech that Aragon makes at the end instead of the actual speech he made. That one happened to be the first trailer I saw, and I was kind of confused when I saw the movie and Theoden made the other speech.
Is it just Bilbo, Boromir, and Sam who willingly give up the ring after personally holding it? Respect to each! Especially Bilbo who had it for so long. I feel like he doesn't get enough credit for that
If I remember correctly, Sam eventually follows Frodo once his children have all grown up and his wife passes away. So they do get to see one another again
Thanks for you videos, btw! I enjoy watching your channel)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the greatest trilogy ever made 💯🔥
Faramir and Eowyn spent weeks getting to know one another in the "hospital" of minas tirith so its not "sudden" that they fall for each other.
I think Frodo didn't had he heart to tell Bilbo that The Ring was destroyed, that it'd break his heart. In the book, though, after Bilbo said "Oh pity, I'd like to have held it one last time." he realizes "Oh yeah, but you were suppouse to lose it.".
Easily one of the best movie trilogies of all time as well as one the best book to film adaptations.
Well deserved winner for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
It's crazy how Gollum and his obsessive greed is what saved all of Middle Earth… without even trying!
29.35 . It was filmed at Mt. Ngauruhoe & Mt. Ruapehu in New Zealand 😊
Yay i was waiting for part 2.
Love your videos ❤.
According to Tolkien lore The Haradrim have for a long time hated Gondor and they fought for Sauron because he and his master Morgoth had corrupted this men a long time and therefore have been in their service. Also the early settlers from Númenor, called the Black Númenoreans (Mouth of Sauron is a grand example of them) enslaved Harad as they were The King's Men, following the orders of the corrupted kings of Númenor (including the last king Ar-Pharazon who was tricked by Sauron to attempting attack valinor to seize Immoirtality for himself).
14:15 🐎 kick! 14:23 don’t just lay there! 34:02-34:18 my dad doesn’t like gollum, because he’s scary 😧 and talking himself. 37:14 so long, gollum! 40:01 what a happy 😃 reunion. 44:11-44:33 I’m going to miss Gandalf, Frodo, and Bilbo leaving the middle 🌏.
Bernhard hill was the best theoden possible. He shall never be forgotten. Rest in power!
I think there's an incredible foil and contrast between Denethor and Theoden as rulers, fathers, and men in general that often gets overlooked.
- Both men feel insecure in their role as leaders of their nations: Theoden because he doesn't feel strong enough for the main conflict of his age (The War of the Ring) and Denethor because he's only a Steward in a long history of Stewards who lived and died waiting for a King who never returned.
- Both men lose their sons and only found out about the deaths after a significant remove: Boromir was gone for months before his body turned up at the fords of the Pelennor, and Theoden was possessed and remembered nothing, so almost the first thing he hears after waking is that his son is dead.
- Both men face the end of their own lives and the doom of their people in similar ways for different reasons: Denethor chooses to burn "like the heathen kings of old", thereby elevating himself and Faramir in the highest way he can think of, an historic, martyrdom-like passing, and Theoden rides willingly at the head of the greatest host of Rohirrim ever assembled, straight into the teeth of the most terrifying army of Orcs ever assembled.
There was a comment I saw on another reactor's page when they watched LOTR - Theoden's call of "Death! Death! Death!" was an acceptance of Eru Illuvatar's (the primordial Creator of Middle-Earth) gift to Men. The hosts of Mordor supposedly would triumph only as long as Men denied that gift, seeking solace in false protection and power given by lesser beings (the Rings, as a gift from Sauron). So Theoden's battle-cry was a fulfillment of prophecy, which is why the Orcs on the front line grew fearful as the King's speech drew to a close, because they recognized it for it's esoteric meaning more than the literal "death" that was coming to them.
At 29:36 you say, "I wonder where they filmed it?" It was filmed on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu, an active volcano. Very realistic.
I just watched all the other parts of this series what a coincidence that he puts this up just as I finished part one of the return of the king
The Witch-king was, quoting Tolkien, given added demonic strength for the siege. I do think the odds favored him at that moment, both in the book and film. All defences had been broken, and only Gandalf stood between him and taking the city. Then the darkness breaks, the Rohirrim arrive, hope is restored, and the odds don't favor him so much anymore.
At 45:31 you say, "I wonder if that was like a few months, that trip?" According to Tolkien's chronology of events, Frodo and Sam set out for the Grey Havens on September 21, and Sam returns home on October 6.