FIRST-EVER non-spoiler review of RETURN OF THE KING(highlights)
11-23-03, 07:41 PM
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FIRST-EVER non-spoiler review of RETURN OF THE KING(highlights)
You can read more about the movie in next week's isse of NEWSWEEK. An Anduril-brandishing Aragorn(Viggo Mortensen) is on the cover:
"Exhilarating...a sure contender for Best Picture...the first franchise ever that didn’t, at the end of the day, let audiences down... It takes the principal filmmaking currency of our times, special effects, and makes them matter. It’s an epic. It tells a passionate, elemental story...Jackson and the folks at WETA Digital continue to astonish...terrifying...spectacular battle sequences...The Battle of Pelennor Fields outdoes even the Helm’s Deep section of “The Two Towers” in scale, and it resonates far more because the characters have become richer and because the story is now filled with stark, Shakespearean familial dramas....“The Return of the King” will not get an entirely free ride from critics. In Jackson’s movies, as in Tolkien’s novels, the love stories tend to be undernourished. And even with three hours and 12 minutes to work with, he has had to make cuts that will cause gasping among some fans.. ..there are visually arresting moments, but this time, there are just as many emotionally arresting moments...The battle scene is just absolutely outrageous in scale and intensity, and that kind of thing costs a fortune.... It's terrific, its really terrific, its certainly the most moving of the three movies."
-Jeff Giles, NEWSWEEK (he has seen it twice)
From Newsweek and Newsweek Radio.
"Exhilarating...a sure contender for Best Picture...the first franchise ever that didn’t, at the end of the day, let audiences down... It takes the principal filmmaking currency of our times, special effects, and makes them matter. It’s an epic. It tells a passionate, elemental story...Jackson and the folks at WETA Digital continue to astonish...terrifying...spectacular battle sequences...The Battle of Pelennor Fields outdoes even the Helm’s Deep section of “The Two Towers” in scale, and it resonates far more because the characters have become richer and because the story is now filled with stark, Shakespearean familial dramas....“The Return of the King” will not get an entirely free ride from critics. In Jackson’s movies, as in Tolkien’s novels, the love stories tend to be undernourished. And even with three hours and 12 minutes to work with, he has had to make cuts that will cause gasping among some fans.. ..there are visually arresting moments, but this time, there are just as many emotionally arresting moments...The battle scene is just absolutely outrageous in scale and intensity, and that kind of thing costs a fortune.... It's terrific, its really terrific, its certainly the most moving of the three movies."
-Jeff Giles, NEWSWEEK (he has seen it twice)
From Newsweek and Newsweek Radio.
11-23-03, 07:49 PM
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Sounds good! 
Are those all Jeff Giles quotes, or are some of them from actors, etc. who he just quoted in the article? Only a few more weeks!
Brian
Are those all Jeff Giles quotes, or are some of them from actors, etc. who he just quoted in the article? Only a few more weeks!Brian
11-23-03, 08:04 PM
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I don't quite believe the bit about "undernourished love stories." First of all, the previous two films have gone to great pains to set up Aragorn and Arwen, and IMO succeeded--we're going to see the end of their story; second, there will very likely be more of that material in the eventual extended cut; and third, IT'S A FREAKING EPIC FANTASY, NOT A SOAP OPERA! You'll never please everyone, of course, but the reviews are going to be predictably great across the board. I'm avoiding reading any of them, though, except for bytes like these, so thanks for the quotes. 
11-23-03, 09:59 PM
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Originally posted by bdshort
Are those all Jeff Giles quotes, or are some of them from actors, etc. who he just quoted in the article?
Are those all Jeff Giles quotes, or are some of them from actors, etc. who he just quoted in the article?
Spoiler:
Last edited by Pauly; 11-24-03 at 12:18 PM.
11-23-03, 11:48 PM
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fawk the love story angle... bring on them battles. I swear, i wish I could go back in time and save the titanic... cause ever since that floating turd of a movie, everyone seems convinced that a love story MUST be over-laid onto EVERY type of movie for it to be a) a financial success and b) and great film.
j
j
11-24-03, 09:00 AM
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Mind you, this isn't a review. It's a promotional piece, and those are done with the understanding that the writer isn't going to say anything bad about the movie.
Real reviews won't be out until December.
Real reviews won't be out until December.
11-24-03, 03:55 PM
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Originally posted by jekbrown
fawk the love story angle... bring on them battles. I swear, i wish I could go back in time and save the titanic... cause ever since that floating turd of a movie, everyone seems convinced that a love story MUST be over-laid onto EVERY type of movie for it to be a) a financial success and b) and great film.
j
fawk the love story angle... bring on them battles. I swear, i wish I could go back in time and save the titanic... cause ever since that floating turd of a movie, everyone seems convinced that a love story MUST be over-laid onto EVERY type of movie for it to be a) a financial success and b) and great film.
j
I sort of agree with you. There's a lot of movies out there that shouldn't have romance in them (Bruce Almighty, anyone?). But Lord of the Rings wouldn't have worked as well without the romance.
11-25-03, 08:18 PM
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From the start I've liked PJ's take on LOTR. The EE versions of FOTR an TTT goes by so fast it doesn't seem like 3 hours.
I have no doubt ROTK will kick ass
I have no doubt ROTK will kick ass
11-26-03, 05:33 AM
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Originally posted by QuiGonJosh
Im probably more excited about the EE of ROTK than the Theatrical!
Im probably more excited about the EE of ROTK than the Theatrical!
11-28-03, 01:24 AM
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I am paraphrasing here some non-spoiler scuttlebutt from another messageboard; the first 'trade' screening took place today in Los Angeles. Summed up, briefly:
-the other Best Picture nominees don't stand a chance.
-grown men and women wept.
-visually incredible, unbelievable, epic of epics.
-8 rounds of applause at different points (keep in mind these are jaded film-industry types here).
-take the emotional impact of FOTR--double it; take the battle excitement of TTT, double it; combine them, and you still come up short of the true impact.
Three weeks will go by very slowly...
-the other Best Picture nominees don't stand a chance.
-grown men and women wept.
-visually incredible, unbelievable, epic of epics.
-8 rounds of applause at different points (keep in mind these are jaded film-industry types here).
-take the emotional impact of FOTR--double it; take the battle excitement of TTT, double it; combine them, and you still come up short of the true impact.
Three weeks will go by very slowly...
11-28-03, 06:13 PM
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8 rounds of applause at different points (keep in mind these are jaded film-industry types here).
bet there will be quite a few at my screening on tuesday night.
bet there will be quite a few at my screening on tuesday night.
