Return of the King

Just got home from Return of the King.

HOLY CRAP! Absolutely phenomenal movie. Best movie I've seen this year and probably one of the best I've seen, ever. I loved it (if you couldn't tell).

They even had an intermission! I left after the credits had started rolling and I was the last person in the theatre. I didn't want to make the old man running the place have to stay an extra 10 minutes or so just for me. It still clocked in at around 3 1/2 hours with the 10 minute intermission and plenty of credits to go. But it was the fastest 3 1/2 hours I've ever watched a movie for.

The only problem I had was aimed at the audience. I went to see the movie in Georgetown and there were probably about 20-30 people there, so it was nice and not crazy crowded or noisy.

The problem was that of all the seats in the entire, mostly empty theatre, King and Queen Let's-Narrate-The-Movie chose to sit RIGHT BEHIND ME! "Why are their feet furry? What's that ring for? Is that Gollum? I think he's schitzo." ARG!!!

At least they shut up before I had to turn around and stuff things down their throats.

The teenagers a couple rows behind me were great though. They kept hollering and gasping and just appreciating the battles but only when it was appropriate. Someone gets squished, they would go "Cool!" but then they'd be quiet again. That's acceptable theatre noise. Narration and post-lobotomy questions aren't.

Here are a couple points regarding the flick. If you don't want anything spoiled, well... THE BOOKS HAVE BEEN OUT FOR 50 YEARS!!! IT'S YOU'RE OWN FAULT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THEM YET!!!

That said, here we go:

1) The Battle of Pellanor Field and Minas Tirith: Absolutely amazing. This makes up the bulk of the movie. Of the 3 1/2 hour run time, I'd say 2 1/2 hours are devoted to this and the siege. Sure, they show some other stuff, but it's all about the battle. The trailer and commercials don't do this justice. It essentially makes the battle for Helm's Deep in The Two Towers look like a fight on the playground.

2) Earplugs: Bring a pair or at least cover your ears for the entrance of the Witch King. Especially if you have an aversion to high pitched noises.

3) No scouring of the Shire: This isn't too bad as I heard they cut it since it would have really dragged the movie out even longer and it wasn't that exciting. That is the one part of the book I'd never read so I didn't mind that they cut it. I now have a reason to go and re-read the series now though :)

4) Oliphants: They're just cool. Keep an eye out for all of the anti-personel weaponry they have tacked onto them. There are a lot of things that aren't immediately obvious but they're pretty cool.

5) Nazghul: They implode well.

6) Gollum doesn't combust as well as he should: 'Nuff said.

and lastly

7) Michael J. Fox: He's got a pretty cool cameo. Keep an eye out for him!

Well, I'm off to bed. It's already pushing 4:30am... yeesh. I better get some sleep!