Favorite/Least favorite scenes

[yovargas]

I broke my promise. I iz sorry.

[Primula Baggins]

The problem with the kidz today is they won't do exactly what I want.

[Jude]

Yeah, that's what Thingol used to say.

[Beutlin]

I broke my promise. I iz sorry.

http://www.mediacollege.com/downloads/s ... iledme.wav

[yovargas]

Umm, so here's my slightly late list.....( )

FAVORITES:

#1 - Hands down the Mount Doom sequences, particularly the "End of All Things". It is for me the most emotional moment in the book and, amazingly, PJ got it just right, making it the most emotional moment in the movie. I've shed tears every single time I've watched it.



#2 - Arwen's Fate. For me, this moment, more than any other captures Tolkien's essence and puts it on film. Pure poetry and one of the most beautiful images ever put in screen.



#3 - Slight cheat but the whole sequence leading up to Boromir's death. It's a masterful sequence adding so much emotional heft to Boromir's sacrifice. Just about the only moment where, shockingly, PJ actually surpasses Tolkien.



#4 - It's an odd pick but I adore The Shadow of the Past scene in FOTR. The scene is mostly just an info dump, a pretty blatant bit of "fill in the blanks" exposition which is awfully difficult to turn into good drama. What could have been some dry monologue is instead a moment dripping with tension, with the brilliant intercuts to the Nazgûl making them more threatening and mysterious than they probably ever are again.



#5 - Gandalf's charge at Helm's Deep. Ugh. The music here just kills me. The impossible plummet into the valley. The breakthrough of the sun. Such greatness!!



#6 - Lots of people hate Sam's speech at the end of TTT but I don't care because Sam's the best and I love him forever and ever so neener neener.



Honorable mention for this moment cuz the visual is so great:





Least favorites are a bit tougher. In a way, these should all be from LOTR because I cared so much more that when a scene flops, it's so much more grating. In another way, these should all be from TH because the bad scenes aren't more grating is because the movie in general barely made me care about any of it. In a sense, the worse moment from LOTR is better than the best moment from TH because, even if I don't like it, at least it makes me really care one way or the other! With that said...

#1 - ...oh lord do I hate the POTD sequence. Especially unbearable is Gilmli's humour here. Most of his "comic" relief is pretty bad but it's also usually pretty brief. Here they drag the "he's so scared!" gag on and on and it's so very deeply, gratingly unfunny. Plus that his stupid gags completely ruin the mood of what's supposed to be a "spooky" sequence. HATE.



#2 - Rock giants. Specially Thorin being annoyed that Bilbo slips instead being baffled that they're not all dead. Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.



#3 - Nothing super-strong comes to mind for this so I kinda wanna just say "Most scenes in TH that didn't have Bilbo in it" but that's not really fair. So I'll go with this one because it made me audibly groan in the theater:




Do I get a prize now?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Not until you tell us what your third "dislike" is, since your Hobbit pictures don't work.

Slight cheat but the whole sequence leading up to Boromir's death

No, I won't even go there.

I don't disagree with most of your choices, other than the scenes that were largely ruined by Sean Astin's overacting.

[yovargas]

Not until you tell us what your third "dislike" is, since your Hobbit pictures don't work.

Huh, that's weird. Fixed!

Slight cheat but the whole sequence leading up to Boromir's death

No, I won't even go there.

Do you not like Boromir's death?

I don't disagree with most of your choices, other than the scenes that were largely ruined by Sean Astin's overacting.

How dare you insult My Dear Sam!!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Slight cheat but the whole sequence leading up to Boromir's death


No, I won't even go there.

Do you not like Boromir's death?

That was a reference to the "slight cheat" (given your criticism of my doing exactly the same thing).

Boromir's death scene was pretty good, but no where's near as good as the book, nor as good as Thorin's death scene in BotFA.

IMHO of course.

[Sunsilver]

Okay, the Hobbit. I'm going to give the 3 things I most disliked about it, one for each movie, then give 3 things I liked.

Dislikes:
1)The stone giant sequence. No, wait, the 'Rhosgobel rabbit' line was far more groan-worthy, and the whole chase sequence that followed with the rabbit sleigh was really ridiculous.

2) The melting gold statue and Thorin's ride on the molten gold in a wooden wheelbarrow, which should have burst into flames.

3) Gosh, I've blocked her name from my mind...ah...Tauriel's groan-worthy line "Why does it HURT so much!"

Likes:

1) The whole Bag-End sequence was so good! I loved the washing-up song, and the Misty Mountain song was even better. I even liked Bilbo forgetting his handkerchief. I thought that was a great little comic moment, and P.J. handled it well.

2) P.J. redeemed himself with the melting of the gold statue by then showing a gold-covered Smaug exiting his lair, and flying off to attack Laketown. That was an unforgettable, awesome visual treat, which made me gasp in delight and horror!

3) I really need to watch BOFA again to come up with a favourite moment, but the ones that stick out are Bilbo escaping Erebor and his subsequent conversation with Bard and Thranduil, followed by Thorin's death speech to Bilbo. I also liked Bilbo's last moments with Gandalf, but need to watch it all again to decide which scene was the best. I'm in no hurry to do that, though, as I didn't much like the movie at all.

[yovargas]

(xpost with Sunny)

Your slight cheat was practically an hour long. Mine was actually slight.

I pretty much don't remember Boromir's death scene in the book at all (I doubt I'd be alone in that amongst people who haven't read the book in a long time) which pretty much tells me it wasn't a very noteworthy moment that PJ managed to make very noteworthy.
(I also barely remember Thorin's death scene so much the same logic applies for me (I mostly just remember being irritated at the dumb "stabbed thru the ice" moment).

[Sunsilver]

Yov, I'm with you there! I don't remember Boromir's death scene from the book, but I do remember crying at his death in FOTR. And I was so annoyed by everything that had gone before in BOFA that Thorin's death didn't have nearly the same impact on me that Boromir's did. I remember some of the dialogue sounding forced and overly sappy, though.

Hmm...maybe I should look it up on the net, and see how I feel about it without watching the rest of the movie.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The "whole sequence leading up to Boromir's death" would, in my mind, include everything from the point that Boromir confronts Frodo to his death, which is at least as long if not longer than the time from "Good morning" through "Misty Mountain Cold".

[yovargas]

The "whole sequence leading up to Boromir's death" would, in my mind, include everything from the point that Boromir confronts Frodo to his death, which is at least as long if not longer than the time from "Good morning" through "Misty Mountain Cold".

I was actually thinking more of the sequence from when Lurtz shows up to Boromir's death. But the scene where Boromir confronts Frodo is pretty great too!

Hmm...maybe I should look it up on the net, and see how I feel about it without watching the rest of the movie.

I just did exactly that:



And...that really is quite good. Their performances are both really beautiful. It's a great moment. It's just that IMO the movie hasn't earned the emotion of that moment, like, at all, so in context it felt pretty hollow to me.

[JewelSong]

I haven't seen the LOTR movies in a while and I saw each Hobbit movie only once. So, these are off the top of my head and may be more bridged than I would like.

Favorites:

I loved the FOTR movies, so it is difficult to choose favorites!

Long Expected Party...in fact, the entire Shire sequence. It was just so...organically middle-earth and hobbity,

Aragorn when we see him in the Prancing Pony for the first time. Love the shot with the pipe.

Death of Gandalf

The shot of the flying Nazgûl, rising above Frodo in Osgilliath.

Frodo's vision of Galadriel in Shelob's lair.

Lighting of the beacons...especially the music.

"You bow to no one."

Least favorites (at least in LOTR)
Frodo sending Sam away. Ugh, ugh, ugh...no. Worst cinematic decision ever.
Faramir's beating up Gollum and sudden change of heart re: Frodo. Just...why?


As far as the Hobbit movies....I really didn't care for them, except for the scenes with Bilbo. So...not going to list all my "least favorite moments" because the entire film was seriously flawed (IMHO). I will say that I thought the invention of the Tauriel character and her "story" was horribly mis-guided and seriously cringe-worthy. Hated the BS with the golden statue and all the Agog cr*p.

Loved Bilbo, loved the "good morning scene" and the singing in Bag End.







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[Sunsilver]

Yov, unfortunately, I can't hear a single word of the dialogue. Will have to see if I can find the same scene with decent CC...