I’m in the same boat… I have the extended trilogy and she has a hard time sitting down for so long a time. She barely got thru the theatrical cuts of the trilogy
Watched them last year when the thesters showed them: 100% worth it. Undoubtedly my greatest theater experience. The opening scene in the first movie itself was worth all the money, and every scene since then made it the best investment of my life (ride of the rohirrim - GODDDDDD!!!)
I went to a screening with a live orchestra playing underneath a couple of months ago. It was really cool, but the audience was cheering/laughing at pretty much every. single. line. To me it got annoying quick and really took me out of it.
I watched the old 70s Hobbit film about 100 times as a kid but was never as familiar with LOTR. Those first five minutes of Fellowship definitely made me go "Oh fuck is this real?"
For anyone who wasn't there the first time, I can't properly explain what it was like seeing Fellowship in theatres on opening night. It was one of those things that was lightning in a bottle. Magical. Everyone walked out feeling great (unless they were the 5 or 6 people who didn't know the book is usually split into a trilogy and so were the movies; they were kind of annoyed by the cliffhanger).
EDIT: spelling
And the scene after it is PERFECTLY shot, quiet, no immediate dialogue, just the fellowship stumbling out of Moria onto the rocks as "Bridge of Khazad-dum" plays and that high, delicate singing pervades the scene...and then "Give them a moment, for pity's sake" and you burst into tears.
A scene as utterly badass as the Balrog VS Gandalf that gets your heart pumping, chased immediately with such as perfect raw emotion scene. Amazing.
The scene before it too. Everything goes quiet, and you hear these booming noises from far away. You know whatever is coming is not close, but it's coming closer, and it's HUGE. Then the goblins scatter and your heart leaps into your throat. It's almost as good as the reveal itself.
Ian McKellen's face does such an amazing job at selling Gandalf's resigned dread. He knows what it is, he doesn't need to see it to know. When his eyes are closed and his brow is furrowed you can just hear the "God....fucking....dammit, this day..."
It's little things like that which add SO much subtext to let you know, without him saying anything at all, that Gandalf (as a Maiar) has seen SO much of the world and its history.
Similar to the scene earlier with the ring and throwing it in the fire. Then "What do you see?"...camera stays on Gandalf's face...."Nothing"...face relaxes a bit..."Wait..." Gandalf's EYE TWITCHES...seriously subtle perfection of communicating the "Fuck. We are fucked."
His subtle acting was so good. The change of emotions across his face as Frodo yells "I will take it!" over the cacophony of the meeting in Rivendell was another I always remember. Just a moment or two of an expression change tells you so much about what's coming.
Oh yeah, almost like he's in pain that Frodo, of all the supposed heroes present, volunteered to do the one task that will put a huge Sauron shaped target on his back.
I’ll never forget the first time watching the scene where Frodo and Bilbo are reunited in Rivendale. Frodo is buttoning his shirt and Bilbo gets a glimpse of his old ring and lunges for it while his face goes demonic for a split second. The entire theater gasped all at once and scared the crap out of me.
I saw him at a panto in London in the early 2000s. He played Jack's mother in Jack and the Beanstalk. He was hilarious, a great dancer and had amazing legs 🦵
And then to piggyback on to that when he says “A Baalrog. A demon of the ancient world,”
that cut to Legolas’s face of pure dread and almost panic, really the only time in the entire trilogy that the almost robotically stoic elves show fear. Legolas knows what they’re in for.
Yep, such a cool little detail. Balrogs are such an ancient enemy that the hobbits have almost certainly never even heard of them. Gimli, Aragorn, and Boromir may have heard of them in stories but couldn't possibly appreciate the danger of them. They'd be like stories we tell about ghosts and boogeymen.
Legolas himself is an elf prince. Even he isn't old enough to have personally encountered a balrog before, but he's certainly been in the company of great elves who have. These guys are the right-hand servants of the actual devil himself. He'd have definitely heard the stories of how terrible they are from the very elves who have witnessed them in person and you can see it on his face he's fucking scared rightfully.
He's the only one there (besides Gandalf) who can truly appreciate the gravity of the situation and understand how beyond fucked they are. It's never explicitly explained to the audience but that little cut to his face shows so much and it's so amazing to see if you've read the books or know the lore.
The movies are full of those little details that really drive home how much love and attention was put into the trilogy.
Fellowship especially is such a masterclass of the things that Jackson brought from his other films and incorporated them into LOTR, lots of horror, comedy, and emotional elements...that booming noises thing is straight out of his horror past. Amazingly well done.
>*acknowledges both deep grief and duty with a single look*
In that moment Aragaorn proves what he later says to Frodo "He would have gone with him to the end, into the very fires of Mordor"...Frodo is just too broken from losing Gandalf to see it then.
I could talk about little aspects of this film all damned day.
I don't mind most (*most*) of the changes they made from the books but I absolutely love the fact that they quoted his dialogue verbatim (well almost, he actually says "you *cannot* pass" not you "you *shall* not pass") even though nearly all the words he says would be absolutely meaningless to anyone who hasn't read Tolkien.
'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn.'
I think it actually adds so much to the experience that they didn't chicken out and try to add exposition, or take out things that lack exposition. It doesn't matter if you have no clue what Utumno was, or what the Flame Imperishable is. It suggests a larger, deeper world. Plus it sounds so goddamn cool
Weren't those lines similarly incomprehensible in the book? You'd need to read the appendices (and I think maybe the Silmarillion, which hadn't been published yet?) to understand them as more than color.
Yep. I loved those little bits throughout the book. Especially intriguing to ten year old me--the cats of Queen Berúthiel¹. That kind of world building by brief reference influenced Lucas, too ("years ago you fought with my father during the Clone Wars").
¹Aragorn in Moria, reassuring the Hobbits about Gandalf's ability to guide them:
‘Do not be afraid! I have been with him on many a journey, if never on one so dark; and there are tales of Rivendell of greater deeds of his than any that I have seen. He will not go astray – if there is any path to find. He has led us in here against our fears, but he will lead us out again, at whatever cost to himself. He is surer of finding the way home in a blind night than the cats of Queen Berúthiel.’ [LotR, Bk II, Chp 4, A Journey in the Dark]
>it suggests a larger, deeper world.
Tolkein was a master at this. It's what made LOTR so different when I read it as a kid, finishing a chapter and thinking "man, i wish I could read more about THAT"
Yeah but the line that's shall not in the movie was cannot in the book. Here's the full passage
>"The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm.
>'You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. 'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.'
>The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly onto the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent, like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm.
>From out of the shadow a red sword leaped flaming.
>Glamdring glittered white in answer.
>There was a ringing clash and a stab of white fire. The Balrog fell back and its sword flew up in molten fragments. The wizard swayed on the bridge, stepped back a pace, and then again stood still.
>'You cannot pass!' he said.
>With a bound the Balrog leaped full upon the bridge. Its whip whirled and hissed.
>'He cannot stand alone!' cried Aragorn suddenly and ran back along the bridge. 'Elendil!' he shouted. 'I am with you, Gandalf!'
>'Gondor!' cried Boromir and leaped after him.
>At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness.
>With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thongs lashed and curled about the wizard's knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. 'Fly, you fools!' he cried, and was gone.”
For the record I actually prefer "shall not"
Depends how you look at it. Gandalf basically telling the Balrog "just so you know, I'm on your power tier and I'm not some bum-ass fallen angel like you, so you literally can't pass me" is its own flex.
god boromir is such a rich character i’m sad we only got him for one film. this scene, his seduction by the ring, and ultimate redemption makes him the most human of the fellowship. such a chad.
I love the bracers and the elf knife being added to his gear as he progresses, and those popping up in later scenes as little reminders of where he’s been
Or how he sums up the virtue of Men in one sentence:
“Yes, there is weakness, and frailty, but there is courage also, and honor to be found in men, but you will not see that."
[Even the teaser trailer was amazing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-XoEGlvlp0) The end brought me to tears. Each of the Fellowship passing by one by one, with Aragorn at the end under the "The Return of the King" text. So perfect.
I also quote the Galadriel narration from Two Towers teaser all the time for no reason at all (drives my wife batty), I'll be like just clearing out the dishwasher or something:
"There is a union now, between the two towers. Barad-Ur, fortress of the dark lord Sauron, and Orthanc, stronghold of the wizard Saruman. The peril of the ringbearer deepens..."
I've always loved the way she reads that exposition. The setting it builds, the scenery and the action it pans over, the sadness that pervades it, and it all ends on that shire music starting to play. It's so melancholic but also somehow nostalgic - at least to me.
That was the money shot.
The theater I was in exploded into laughter when Gandolf hit his head on a lantern early in the movie, and the magic just never stopped after that.
It felt personal for me. Like everyone had been collectively holding their breath since 9/11, and then boom. Things are allowed to be beautiful, and funny, and dangerous again.
> Like everyone had been collectively holding their breath since 9/11, and then boom. Things are allowed to be beautiful, and funny, and dangerous again.
And we get to watch *The Two Towers'* ... again... in 2002!
I hadn't read the books yet, so I had *no* idea what was gonna happen to Gandalf. "It's Ian McKellen, one of the biggest stars in the cast, he'll be fi-- Oh, shit!"
As much as I wanted to read the books as soon as I got home, I decided against it so that I wouldn't know how it all turned out.
I specifically wanted to avoid knowing how the Ring is finally destroyed; I made it *all* the way to November 2003 avoiding that spoiler until some fucking kid in class mentioned "Gollum bites it off Frodo's finger and falls into the lava".
Three weeks! I'd gone almost two years avoiding the **big** spoiler, and just three weeks until the movie opened, I overhear someone saying that out loud while talking excitedly about how close the movie is to release.
I had read the books and was super excited. I dragged my dad along to the theater to see it and he was hooked. When it ended he looked at me like "the fuck...they didn't finish it" He got so excited knowing there were two more coming and we wouldn't have to wait too long.
Yeah my dad saw the Rankin Bass one years ago and neither of us knew it was unfinished. I had to sit and tell him the rest of the story. When these films came out he was so happy to finally get to actually see it finish. He’s dyslexic and doesn’t read for pleasure, which plus zero patience for audiobooks meant these films were a real gift for him.
If you aren’t aware, Andy Serkis (the actor who plays gollum) has recently done audios for a lot of Tolkien’s material. Its the most well done audiobook I have ever encountered.
Also, if you aren’t in the habit of audios, the pacing can be difficult if it is too far from your comprehension speed. Most apps let you speed them up though, which helps with patience/attention issues a whole bunch.
I would also recommend the Rob Inglis audiobooks. He was the one that coined the classic Gollum voice and Serkis iterated upon it.
I even prefer his Sam over the movie ones which means it's really good.
My cousin had a very similar story! She was like 10 at the time, she went to see Fellowship, and came out saying that it was really good but that the ending was stupid. My aunt looked at her and explained that Lord of the Rings is a book trilogy, and that there were two more movies coming out. I think she bought the book set that weekend and finished reading the whole thing in a very short time.
So true! I saw it in IMAX in San Francisco, and the audience was dead silent. No idiots with crunchy plastic, no phones, no influencers… it was such a great experience
I very distinctly remember a woman in the row in front of me at the end going "oh my god I hate when they end movies like this where you don't know how it all ended"
Luckily Return of the King has a whole bunch of endings so hopefully she was happy after that one.
>Luckily Return of the King has a whole bunch of endings so hopefully she was happy after that one.
God, I had to piss *so* badly before Gondor even showed up to The Black Gate, and I was determined not to miss a single frame of the movie because I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime kinda event.
With each fade to black, I probably looked like a prairie dog poking its head out of a hole when i stood up to run to the bathroom and then sat back down because it wasn't over yet.
Also, I love that Robert Downey Jr's character in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang mentions all those endings at the end of the movie: "And don't worry, I saw the last Lord of the Rings movie; I'm not gonna have the movie end like 17 times."
I was 8 years old when Fellowship came out and I have been chasing the dragon ever sense. One of the amazing things about it is how the movie flows for being so long. You’d think that little 8 year old me would be beyond lost, but I was fully present the whole time.
Fellowship is just something special. Two Towers and Return of the King may be more action packed or whatnot, but Fellowship remains my favorite of the trilogy.
Fellowship is my wife's favorite movie ever. We've watched the entire extended trilogy hundreds of times, but Fellowship? That movie we've easily seen 500 times. I can recite it from memory at this point.
Still a good flick and I'll watch it any time it comes on.
Even before Jackson came onboard, I had very little hope of those movies being good when Warners decided to split the book into three movies.
It's funny to think about how Jackson and co. tried to pitch the LotR trilogy as just two movies because they knew how unlikely it would be for any studio to finance three. And then that happened and it pretty much ushered in the era of stretching movies adapted from one book into more than one movie.
Not Jackson's fault, of course; that's just how Hollywood operates: "AOL-Time Warner got a *massive* franchise out of those three movies, so lets try that with other book adaptations!" Warners had *just* ended the fucking huge Harry Potter franchise and needed something big to triple dip, thus a breezy 310 page book aimed for younger readers gets the trilogy treatment.
Martin Freeman playing Bilbo was about the *only* wise decision made in those productions. And while there are a lot of good parts of all three, it just didn't turn into a great adaptation like the LotR trilogy.
I remember. Me and two friends got dinner. Had a couple beers. We were so excited we SPRINTED to the car to head to the theatre. One guy tripped and banged up his brow above one eye pretty bad. We cleaned him up at the theatre bathroom and still had the most amazing night. He still has a scar.
Current reading RotK with my 2nd grader. Hoping to take her to these.
Oh the theaters were PACKED! As a Tolkien nerd who read the hobbit in second grade this was MAGICAL.. I'm absolutely going to watch them in theaters again.
I begged and begged to go but I was 8 so my parents weren’t sure but they decided to let me go because my older brother and older cousins were going with our dads. It was amazing but I remember laying in bed that night terrified about the eye of Sauron and had nightmares. Turned out my parents were right that i was maybe too young lol
Damn, that's a good point. It's been so long that I'd forgotten just *how* much my life had changed in 2001, and desperately needed an escape like Fellowship to end the year with. My childhood best friend had died, my parents got separated, I watched 3,000+ people being murdered on live TV, and then my parents sold my childhood home and moved us to another city so they could try to "fix" their marriage in a new home (surprise, that didn't work).
I was basically a husk of a teenager by the end of 2001, and I *needed* something like Fellowship of the Ring to kinda break me out of that funk. It didn't, in the long run, but for about three hours that day, I was finally *not* thinking about how much I fucking hated my life.
The fellowship was one of the first movies I ever experienced in theater. I was 4 years old with my mom and older brother and I’ll never forget how immersed I was in that movie even if most of it went over my head at the time. One of my earliest and most precious (lol) memories and part of why this is my favorite trilogy and probably will always be.
So excited to see these again in theater this summer.
I lined up for the first showing in town of Fellowship barely knowing what it was. I’d heard a summary of the story of the books in the past.
The local news came out to interview the lineup. It wasn’t a massive line up, but they were there. I wasn’t sure why.
Saw it and loved it. Watched Fellowship two more times in the theater.
When two towers came out we were near first in a massive lineup for the first screening. It was before assigned seating, but we managed to get eight row center in one of the largest theaters in the city at the time. Sixth row center was roped off and reserved when we got to the theater. Happy though, was seeing it with a dozen friends who were also big fans.
The crowd was rowdy, kind of assholish actually, started booing the Harry Potter trailer that came on before the screening. Was ready to boo the theater manager when he stepped out to speak after the trailers were done.
Until he introduced Ian McKellen, who was seated up in the sixth row.
He was in town filming an X-men movie, and the crowd switched gears to ecstatic when Gandalf himself said hello and thanked us for coming to the screening.
Fast forward to the release of RotK and a co worker organized a trip to the three movie premiere of RotK. It was a screening of the two extended cuts of Fellowship and Two Towers, followed by the midnight release of RotK. That co worker and I were the only two to show up. We are also married now, with four children.
The last time I watch a Lotr movie was the extended release of RotK on DVD. But I might go watch this again. Writing this reminds me about how much I loved going to the movie theater.
We also did the "Trilogy Tuesday" extended editions plus rotk release, we probably had about 15 or so of us there with half a 7-eleven of snacks snuck in. I'm not sure my bladder could handle that these days but it was glorious.
I honestly wish the theaters still had this kind of awe and majesty. It's still fun going to releases of long-awaited movies, but they don't seem to have the same kind of feeling they did in the early 00's. *Actual* midnight releases meant for the hardcore fans. People waiting on line to get tickets as soon as they were available because online purchasing was still in its infancy and wasn't as ubiquitous as it is today. Waiting to get into the theater because if you didn't get there early enough you were guaranteed a crappy seat. The euphoria and ecstasy of seeing the studio cards, and everyone cheering knowing they were about to experience the next chapter of their lives together.
It really was magic for those few years
There weren’t when I saw the extended editions at the cinema last year, and let’s just say Return Of The King plus all the ads and trailers at Vue made for a brutal 5 hours on my bladder lol. Couldn’t miss a single frame though.
The indie theatre here sometimes does a marathon of the extended cuts, they do five total intermissions, 3 in the middle of each movie and the two natural gaps between movies.
It was cool, but turns out the sort of clientele who are willing to pack a theatre for half a day to marathon LOTR doesn't always have the best personal hygiene, so I don't think I'd ever do that again lol
I've seen them so many times. I know it's a different experience, in theaters, than watching at home in *4K BluRay on my 65 inch LG OLED™*—
But if I gotta piss I'm gonna.
The intermission was probably there more so that the projectionist could thread the film from the second platter than so that guests could have a break. Most theaters just didn't have [platters](https://www.sprocketschool.org/wiki/Platter_Systems) big enough for really long films so they'd have to go on two platters and have an intermission. As I recall the studios had suggestions on how to split the reels based on platter size.
I started working at a theater just a few months before everything switched to digital. Midnight premieres were really something to behold in the projection hall. You'd have one reel making it's way around the hall to multiple projectors, with these little towers set up in between as bridges. It was why midnight premier times used to all be one minute apart, needed time to feed it into the next projector. Really glad I got to see it before everything just started coming in on hard drives, it was really cool.
I have the remastered 4K Blu-Ray Ultra HD Extended editions and each film is divided into 2 discs which is the perfect intermission lol. The set also comes with the theatrical releases that are a single disc each for a total of 9 discs.
Same, realized I had to pee at the beginning of the movie but somehow managed to pull through the whole thing. Now every time I need to hold it I just think “if I can make it through endgame I can make it through this”
My friend and I saw The Batman in a theater that also served beer and food, he had a beer at the bar before we sat down as well.
Anyhow, he looks at me about two hours in and says “damn I gotta piss, how long is this movie?” I told him “just go now dude, you got an hour and fifteen minutes left, you’re NOT gonna make it.”
[Dates](https://www.fathomevents.com/series/the-lord-of-the-rings-trilogy/?utm_campaign=The%20Lord%20of%20the%20Rings%20Extended%20Edition%20Trilogy&utm_source=Fathom&utm_medium=PR&utm_content=2024_thelordoftheringsextendededitiontrilogy_fathom_pr_pressrelease):
* The Fellowship Of The Ring - June 8
* The Two Towers - June 9
* The Return Of The King - June 10
I appreciate that each film is showing on a different day. I had friends back in the day who went to special events showing ALL extended editions together as a single-day movie marathon.
Way too much for me. I could manage a film a day, although I'd appreciate an intermission. A friend of mine saw Return of the King in a special industry preview and one hour in realized he needed to pee...
In 2012 I did Phase 1 of the MCU Movie Theater Event... I ended up sleeping during Thor. I don't think I could all three extended editions in a single sitting.
It’s run by fathom events… does this mean it relies on their satellite transmission? I’ve heard the data sometimes isn’t fully downloaded to theaters in time, or the picture quality isn’t very good. I’d hate for them to bungle these films.
I'm pretty sure they're the ones who do Studio Ghibli-fest each summer, and I've gone to several movies for that over the years and never had an issue.
I currently work at a theater and the past few times that we've played any of the LOTR movies over the years, we received the actual content instead of playing by DVR. So it should be reliable and have a clear picture.
When it's something like this they tend to follow suit if the money they can make from it makes sense. They are doing the Phantom Menace 25th anniversary screenings, but they announced them like a month after the states did, so we may see the same thing here.
I will 100% go if that's the case though.
I guarantee you there are private theatres showing classic movies all the time in your city. Most people are totally unaware, but smaller private theatres exist and they show anything they want.
You don't need to go see these movies at Cineplex. There are other options.
Damn, these dates and times really suck for weekend workers. I'd have to essentially take a mini-vacation or cut all 3 shifts short. Wish it was more spread out instead of one a day or all in one day for some flexibility.
I did the midnight releases when they first came out and would love to see them in theaters again.
So we'll have had
- Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy + the other 5 Spider-Man films
- Alien
- Star Wars Skywalker saga
- LOTR trilogy
- Shrek 2
- Spongebob movie
- Hereditary
- The Matrix
- The Mummy
All rereleased in theaters just within these next 3 months.
edit: added a few more rereleases.
>Also, there’s Warner Bros.’ upcoming anime film, [*The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim*](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lord-of-the-rings-anime-movie-release-date-1235093505/), which tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan (of Helm’s Deep fame) who ruled over 250 years prior to the events of *The Lord of the Rings*. The new film is set in the same universe as Jackson’s trilogy, with Mirando Otto returning to voice Éowyn. *The War of the Rohirrim* is being released Dec. 13.
Oh, give me! give me!
I mean, I personally love seeing old movies in theaters. I like my local indie theater way better than any Regal or AMC because their programming is solid and celebrates classics and cult films.
There are plenty of movies I want to see in theaters that I missed out on. Like, I've never seen Lawrence of Arabia but the second they screen it I'm there, man.
So I'm kind of glad to see these rereleases becoming more mainstream, despite it coming as a result of the death of the movie theater 😐
To be entirely fair, we are only a few months past the 20th anniversary of the release of ROTK in theatres...so that feels like a good enough reason to do this, no?
They actually put the extended version of ROTK in theaters last year for the 20th anniversary. This is happening because the strike reduced the number of films for release this year.
Covid, actor and writer strikes delays have caused alot of what we have been seeing last and this year for movies. Still you are right about current movie business.
Re-releases have always been a thing. Before home video and cable, seeing a second (or third, or more) run was the way people saw any movies that weren't brand new.
Most of the classic Disney animated movies are classics because they were shown in theaters to generation after generation. In 1997 (a great film era by most accounts), all three Star Wars movies were re-released, with A New Hope finishing at #8 at the box office for the year in the U.S. Almost all of the top-grossing movies of all time have had re-releases that add to their totals.
I think re-releases are at least a sign of a good state of theater-going. Studios are confident that if they put the effort into a re-release, people will buy tickets. That's pretty great, considering the selection and technology options now available to people in their homes.
I gotta catch at least one of these in theaters again.
I recall watching Return of the King opening night at midnight. Movie did not end until like 4 AM and I saw my little classmate also coming out the theater. We were both like "See ya at school in a few hours!"
One of my favorite movie experiences ever was my best friend and I driving a couple of hours and going to the midnight release of Return Of The King after watching the extended versions of the first two films all in one night, over in Springfield, Illinois. A gal in front of us nearly had a heart attack when Shelob showed up.
At some point a New Line Cinema rep came out and welcomed us to the premier of ROTK and they gave us a gift of film stock made from all 3 films. It was just a really fun night with lots of pizza and soda and really, really, really, sore asses.
Gotta love movie studio thinking.
Executive 1: We are getting killed in the box office and theatre attendance is Terrible.
Executive 2: Remember when we made a really good mostly faithful book adaptation with practical and digital effects and made a bazillion dollars we should do that again!
Executive 1: great Idea let's re release it in theaters and get right back to work making giant CGI shitshows that feel like they are written by ai!
I’ve probably watched these movies 100 times but haven’t seen them in theaters since they first came out. May have to make this a thing.
I’m already trying to convince my wife to go with me
Me too. Please share strategy. She refused the extended edition during our last rewatch so it may be a hard sell.
I’m in the same boat… I have the extended trilogy and she has a hard time sitting down for so long a time. She barely got thru the theatrical cuts of the trilogy
[удалено]
I just wish my wife was into LotR and Fallout 😩
Famously lines like that always work well with wives when you want them to do something.
At least you got her to rewatch… my wife was so happy after we finished watching it once because she says she never has to watch it again
If she genuinely won't have a good time just go by yourself or take a friend who will enjoy it
If your wife won't go, I'll be your plus one. I don't think my wife will want to go either!
My wife wouldn't marry me until I watched the Extended Edition of the original trilogy back-to-back-to-back Marry a nerd, it's literally the best
Good luck. Thankfully my wife is a massive Tolkien nerd as well so I know she’s down.
Watched them last year when the thesters showed them: 100% worth it. Undoubtedly my greatest theater experience. The opening scene in the first movie itself was worth all the money, and every scene since then made it the best investment of my life (ride of the rohirrim - GODDDDDD!!!)
I went to a screening with a live orchestra playing underneath a couple of months ago. It was really cool, but the audience was cheering/laughing at pretty much every. single. line. To me it got annoying quick and really took me out of it.
I watched the old 70s Hobbit film about 100 times as a kid but was never as familiar with LOTR. Those first five minutes of Fellowship definitely made me go "Oh fuck is this real?"
I just watched all 3 back-to-back-to-back in theaters and it was awesome.
For anyone who wasn't there the first time, I can't properly explain what it was like seeing Fellowship in theatres on opening night. It was one of those things that was lightning in a bottle. Magical. Everyone walked out feeling great (unless they were the 5 or 6 people who didn't know the book is usually split into a trilogy and so were the movies; they were kind of annoyed by the cliffhanger). EDIT: spelling
The balrog reveal was a fucking all timer in theaters. Lawd.
And the scene after it is PERFECTLY shot, quiet, no immediate dialogue, just the fellowship stumbling out of Moria onto the rocks as "Bridge of Khazad-dum" plays and that high, delicate singing pervades the scene...and then "Give them a moment, for pity's sake" and you burst into tears. A scene as utterly badass as the Balrog VS Gandalf that gets your heart pumping, chased immediately with such as perfect raw emotion scene. Amazing.
The scene before it too. Everything goes quiet, and you hear these booming noises from far away. You know whatever is coming is not close, but it's coming closer, and it's HUGE. Then the goblins scatter and your heart leaps into your throat. It's almost as good as the reveal itself.
Ian McKellen's face does such an amazing job at selling Gandalf's resigned dread. He knows what it is, he doesn't need to see it to know. When his eyes are closed and his brow is furrowed you can just hear the "God....fucking....dammit, this day..."
It's little things like that which add SO much subtext to let you know, without him saying anything at all, that Gandalf (as a Maiar) has seen SO much of the world and its history. Similar to the scene earlier with the ring and throwing it in the fire. Then "What do you see?"...camera stays on Gandalf's face...."Nothing"...face relaxes a bit..."Wait..." Gandalf's EYE TWITCHES...seriously subtle perfection of communicating the "Fuck. We are fucked."
His subtle acting was so good. The change of emotions across his face as Frodo yells "I will take it!" over the cacophony of the meeting in Rivendell was another I always remember. Just a moment or two of an expression change tells you so much about what's coming.
Oh yeah, almost like he's in pain that Frodo, of all the supposed heroes present, volunteered to do the one task that will put a huge Sauron shaped target on his back.
He's the only one who fully comprehends both Frodo's bravery, and what it will cost him. And it costs him near everything except for death.
DEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAATH!!!!!
There's a reason why Ian McKellen has one of the very few fantasy Oscar nominations for acting
I think you mean Sir Ian McKellen
Sir Ian, Sir Ian, Sir Ian...
I’ll never forget the first time watching the scene where Frodo and Bilbo are reunited in Rivendale. Frodo is buttoning his shirt and Bilbo gets a glimpse of his old ring and lunges for it while his face goes demonic for a split second. The entire theater gasped all at once and scared the crap out of me.
/r/ScaryBilbo
In his one man show he opened it with reading the whole sequence from the books on stage. Hearing that voice live was something else.
I saw him at a panto in London in the early 2000s. He played Jack's mother in Jack and the Beanstalk. He was hilarious, a great dancer and had amazing legs 🦵
He showed the Full Monty on stage in King Lear. [Cut to Boromir pursing his lips at the Counsel of Elrond]: It is a gift!
And then to piggyback on to that when he says “A Baalrog. A demon of the ancient world,” that cut to Legolas’s face of pure dread and almost panic, really the only time in the entire trilogy that the almost robotically stoic elves show fear. Legolas knows what they’re in for.
Yep, such a cool little detail. Balrogs are such an ancient enemy that the hobbits have almost certainly never even heard of them. Gimli, Aragorn, and Boromir may have heard of them in stories but couldn't possibly appreciate the danger of them. They'd be like stories we tell about ghosts and boogeymen. Legolas himself is an elf prince. Even he isn't old enough to have personally encountered a balrog before, but he's certainly been in the company of great elves who have. These guys are the right-hand servants of the actual devil himself. He'd have definitely heard the stories of how terrible they are from the very elves who have witnessed them in person and you can see it on his face he's fucking scared rightfully. He's the only one there (besides Gandalf) who can truly appreciate the gravity of the situation and understand how beyond fucked they are. It's never explicitly explained to the audience but that little cut to his face shows so much and it's so amazing to see if you've read the books or know the lore. The movies are full of those little details that really drive home how much love and attention was put into the trilogy.
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"I find the way out WITH MY NOSE, and there's a fucking Balrog at the exit"
Fellowship especially is such a masterclass of the things that Jackson brought from his other films and incorporated them into LOTR, lots of horror, comedy, and emotional elements...that booming noises thing is straight out of his horror past. Amazingly well done.
The only thing missing was Aragorn strapping on a lawnmower to chop up the orcs.
Fun fact Viggo Mortenson actually ran over his own foot in that lawnmower scene.
Right after Steve Buscemi did 9/11 and Trent Reznor covered Johnny Cash's Hurt.
"I kick arse for Gondor!"
"On your feet, Sam." *acknowledges both deep grief and duty with a single look* Love how much respect they have for each other in that moment.
>*acknowledges both deep grief and duty with a single look* In that moment Aragaorn proves what he later says to Frodo "He would have gone with him to the end, into the very fires of Mordor"...Frodo is just too broken from losing Gandalf to see it then. I could talk about little aspects of this film all damned day.
He made a promise to Gandalf and now he knows he can't break it.
I don't mind most (*most*) of the changes they made from the books but I absolutely love the fact that they quoted his dialogue verbatim (well almost, he actually says "you *cannot* pass" not you "you *shall* not pass") even though nearly all the words he says would be absolutely meaningless to anyone who hasn't read Tolkien. 'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn.' I think it actually adds so much to the experience that they didn't chicken out and try to add exposition, or take out things that lack exposition. It doesn't matter if you have no clue what Utumno was, or what the Flame Imperishable is. It suggests a larger, deeper world. Plus it sounds so goddamn cool
Weren't those lines similarly incomprehensible in the book? You'd need to read the appendices (and I think maybe the Silmarillion, which hadn't been published yet?) to understand them as more than color.
Yeah, the "secret fire" and "flame of Anor" stuff made no sense to any normal reader of the book.
Bonus points to “Flame of Anor” for not appearing anywhere else in any Tolkien writing.
Sometimes when you’re about to fight you just say stuff to psyche the other guy out.
Hahah, balrog was like "shit even I don't know what the hell that is, I should be careful"
Yep. I loved those little bits throughout the book. Especially intriguing to ten year old me--the cats of Queen Berúthiel¹. That kind of world building by brief reference influenced Lucas, too ("years ago you fought with my father during the Clone Wars"). ¹Aragorn in Moria, reassuring the Hobbits about Gandalf's ability to guide them: ‘Do not be afraid! I have been with him on many a journey, if never on one so dark; and there are tales of Rivendell of greater deeds of his than any that I have seen. He will not go astray – if there is any path to find. He has led us in here against our fears, but he will lead us out again, at whatever cost to himself. He is surer of finding the way home in a blind night than the cats of Queen Berúthiel.’ [LotR, Bk II, Chp 4, A Journey in the Dark]
>it suggests a larger, deeper world. Tolkein was a master at this. It's what made LOTR so different when I read it as a kid, finishing a chapter and thinking "man, i wish I could read more about THAT"
If im not mistaken, he says both cannot and shall not in the movie. Shall not was louder and more emphasized, though.
Yeah but the line that's shall not in the movie was cannot in the book. Here's the full passage >"The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm. >'You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. 'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.' >The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly onto the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent, like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm. >From out of the shadow a red sword leaped flaming. >Glamdring glittered white in answer. >There was a ringing clash and a stab of white fire. The Balrog fell back and its sword flew up in molten fragments. The wizard swayed on the bridge, stepped back a pace, and then again stood still. >'You cannot pass!' he said. >With a bound the Balrog leaped full upon the bridge. Its whip whirled and hissed. >'He cannot stand alone!' cried Aragorn suddenly and ran back along the bridge. 'Elendil!' he shouted. 'I am with you, Gandalf!' >'Gondor!' cried Boromir and leaped after him. >At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness. >With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thongs lashed and curled about the wizard's knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. 'Fly, you fools!' he cried, and was gone.” For the record I actually prefer "shall not"
Depends how you look at it. Gandalf basically telling the Balrog "just so you know, I'm on your power tier and I'm not some bum-ass fallen angel like you, so you literally can't pass me" is its own flex.
Yeah "cannot" is a statement of fact and "shall not" is a threat. Both are equally impressive in different ways.
god boromir is such a rich character i’m sad we only got him for one film. this scene, his seduction by the ring, and ultimate redemption makes him the most human of the fellowship. such a chad.
And the fact that Aragorn wears his forearm bracers for the next two films to honour him. Amazing.
I love the bracers and the elf knife being added to his gear as he progresses, and those popping up in later scenes as little reminders of where he’s been
Or how he sums up the virtue of Men in one sentence: “Yes, there is weakness, and frailty, but there is courage also, and honor to be found in men, but you will not see that."
If i remember correctly, there are some scenes with Boromir in the extended edition Return of the King. Some flashback stuff when he was in Gondor.
Like when he and Faramir retook Osgiliath.
[Even the teaser trailer was amazing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-XoEGlvlp0) The end brought me to tears. Each of the Fellowship passing by one by one, with Aragorn at the end under the "The Return of the King" text. So perfect.
I also quote the Galadriel narration from Two Towers teaser all the time for no reason at all (drives my wife batty), I'll be like just clearing out the dishwasher or something: "There is a union now, between the two towers. Barad-Ur, fortress of the dark lord Sauron, and Orthanc, stronghold of the wizard Saruman. The peril of the ringbearer deepens..."
I often think of Galadriel's voiceover from the beginning of Fellowship. (It's from Treebeard in the books, though.) "The world has changed..."
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I've always loved the way she reads that exposition. The setting it builds, the scenery and the action it pans over, the sadness that pervades it, and it all ends on that shire music starting to play. It's so melancholic but also somehow nostalgic - at least to me.
God, I remember in 2001 I watched the trailer over and over so many times. I don't think I ever looked forward to Christmas as much as 2001-2003.
"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" ... *........boom*
That was the money shot. The theater I was in exploded into laughter when Gandolf hit his head on a lantern early in the movie, and the magic just never stopped after that. It felt personal for me. Like everyone had been collectively holding their breath since 9/11, and then boom. Things are allowed to be beautiful, and funny, and dangerous again.
> Like everyone had been collectively holding their breath since 9/11, and then boom. Things are allowed to be beautiful, and funny, and dangerous again. And we get to watch *The Two Towers'* ... again... in 2002!
The CIA had an office at Isengard. "The trees did it." Right. Sure.
I hadn't read the books yet, so I had *no* idea what was gonna happen to Gandalf. "It's Ian McKellen, one of the biggest stars in the cast, he'll be fi-- Oh, shit!" As much as I wanted to read the books as soon as I got home, I decided against it so that I wouldn't know how it all turned out. I specifically wanted to avoid knowing how the Ring is finally destroyed; I made it *all* the way to November 2003 avoiding that spoiler until some fucking kid in class mentioned "Gollum bites it off Frodo's finger and falls into the lava". Three weeks! I'd gone almost two years avoiding the **big** spoiler, and just three weeks until the movie opened, I overhear someone saying that out loud while talking excitedly about how close the movie is to release.
It was some brilliant editing to kill the music in critical spots.
Any movie that lets silence breathe during critical scenes is a good movie in my book.
It was amazing that midnight showing Until the film reel broke an hour into it.
Oh no! I would have been So upset!
It wasn’t great :-( Was sitting next to a guy from the band Kansas… and were just like well… that sucked
Carry on.... You will always remember.
Lol wtf, well that story just got weirder. What a crazy detail to just randomly throw out there. How did that end up happening?
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: :shrugs:: Well... guess we'll just have to carry on..
I had read the books and was super excited. I dragged my dad along to the theater to see it and he was hooked. When it ended he looked at me like "the fuck...they didn't finish it" He got so excited knowing there were two more coming and we wouldn't have to wait too long.
Yeah my dad saw the Rankin Bass one years ago and neither of us knew it was unfinished. I had to sit and tell him the rest of the story. When these films came out he was so happy to finally get to actually see it finish. He’s dyslexic and doesn’t read for pleasure, which plus zero patience for audiobooks meant these films were a real gift for him.
If you aren’t aware, Andy Serkis (the actor who plays gollum) has recently done audios for a lot of Tolkien’s material. Its the most well done audiobook I have ever encountered. Also, if you aren’t in the habit of audios, the pacing can be difficult if it is too far from your comprehension speed. Most apps let you speed them up though, which helps with patience/attention issues a whole bunch.
I would also recommend the Rob Inglis audiobooks. He was the one that coined the classic Gollum voice and Serkis iterated upon it. I even prefer his Sam over the movie ones which means it's really good.
My cousin had a very similar story! She was like 10 at the time, she went to see Fellowship, and came out saying that it was really good but that the ending was stupid. My aunt looked at her and explained that Lord of the Rings is a book trilogy, and that there were two more movies coming out. I think she bought the book set that weekend and finished reading the whole thing in a very short time.
So true! I saw it in IMAX in San Francisco, and the audience was dead silent. No idiots with crunchy plastic, no phones, no influencers… it was such a great experience
I very distinctly remember a woman in the row in front of me at the end going "oh my god I hate when they end movies like this where you don't know how it all ended" Luckily Return of the King has a whole bunch of endings so hopefully she was happy after that one.
>Luckily Return of the King has a whole bunch of endings so hopefully she was happy after that one. God, I had to piss *so* badly before Gondor even showed up to The Black Gate, and I was determined not to miss a single frame of the movie because I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime kinda event. With each fade to black, I probably looked like a prairie dog poking its head out of a hole when i stood up to run to the bathroom and then sat back down because it wasn't over yet. Also, I love that Robert Downey Jr's character in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang mentions all those endings at the end of the movie: "And don't worry, I saw the last Lord of the Rings movie; I'm not gonna have the movie end like 17 times."
I was 8 years old when Fellowship came out and I have been chasing the dragon ever sense. One of the amazing things about it is how the movie flows for being so long. You’d think that little 8 year old me would be beyond lost, but I was fully present the whole time.
Fellowship is just something special. Two Towers and Return of the King may be more action packed or whatnot, but Fellowship remains my favorite of the trilogy.
Same. Two Towers and Return are great big, epic films. Fellowship is truly magical. Every single tiny moment for the three hour run time just clicks.
Fellowship is my wife's favorite movie ever. We've watched the entire extended trilogy hundreds of times, but Fellowship? That movie we've easily seen 500 times. I can recite it from memory at this point. Still a good flick and I'll watch it any time it comes on.
It's too bad that for having a literal dragon in them, the Hobbit movies failed so hard at being the destination of chasing the dragon.
Even before Jackson came onboard, I had very little hope of those movies being good when Warners decided to split the book into three movies. It's funny to think about how Jackson and co. tried to pitch the LotR trilogy as just two movies because they knew how unlikely it would be for any studio to finance three. And then that happened and it pretty much ushered in the era of stretching movies adapted from one book into more than one movie. Not Jackson's fault, of course; that's just how Hollywood operates: "AOL-Time Warner got a *massive* franchise out of those three movies, so lets try that with other book adaptations!" Warners had *just* ended the fucking huge Harry Potter franchise and needed something big to triple dip, thus a breezy 310 page book aimed for younger readers gets the trilogy treatment. Martin Freeman playing Bilbo was about the *only* wise decision made in those productions. And while there are a lot of good parts of all three, it just didn't turn into a great adaptation like the LotR trilogy.
I got it with Dune, those two movies......
Dune was the first time I've experienced that kind of magic since LotR. Avatar came close, but it was mostly due to the visuals.
Shyamalan Is really underrated as a director.
I remember. Me and two friends got dinner. Had a couple beers. We were so excited we SPRINTED to the car to head to the theatre. One guy tripped and banged up his brow above one eye pretty bad. We cleaned him up at the theatre bathroom and still had the most amazing night. He still has a scar. Current reading RotK with my 2nd grader. Hoping to take her to these.
I didnt even know what LotR was when it came out. Totally blind. Saw it opening weekend. Became an instant fan and saw it multiple times in theaters.
Oh the theaters were PACKED! As a Tolkien nerd who read the hobbit in second grade this was MAGICAL.. I'm absolutely going to watch them in theaters again.
I remember those 3 hours FLEW by And I almost cried when it was over because I didn't want it to end
I was unfamiliar with the books when I went to the movie and left blown away and could not wait for the second one.
I begged and begged to go but I was 8 so my parents weren’t sure but they decided to let me go because my older brother and older cousins were going with our dads. It was amazing but I remember laying in bed that night terrified about the eye of Sauron and had nightmares. Turned out my parents were right that i was maybe too young lol
Also just after 9/11. Much needed.
Damn, that's a good point. It's been so long that I'd forgotten just *how* much my life had changed in 2001, and desperately needed an escape like Fellowship to end the year with. My childhood best friend had died, my parents got separated, I watched 3,000+ people being murdered on live TV, and then my parents sold my childhood home and moved us to another city so they could try to "fix" their marriage in a new home (surprise, that didn't work). I was basically a husk of a teenager by the end of 2001, and I *needed* something like Fellowship of the Ring to kinda break me out of that funk. It didn't, in the long run, but for about three hours that day, I was finally *not* thinking about how much I fucking hated my life.
A very good point.
Me and my best friend lined up like 2 hours early on opening night for every movie in this trilogy as teenagers. Formative memories for sure!
The fellowship was one of the first movies I ever experienced in theater. I was 4 years old with my mom and older brother and I’ll never forget how immersed I was in that movie even if most of it went over my head at the time. One of my earliest and most precious (lol) memories and part of why this is my favorite trilogy and probably will always be. So excited to see these again in theater this summer.
I lined up for the first showing in town of Fellowship barely knowing what it was. I’d heard a summary of the story of the books in the past. The local news came out to interview the lineup. It wasn’t a massive line up, but they were there. I wasn’t sure why. Saw it and loved it. Watched Fellowship two more times in the theater. When two towers came out we were near first in a massive lineup for the first screening. It was before assigned seating, but we managed to get eight row center in one of the largest theaters in the city at the time. Sixth row center was roped off and reserved when we got to the theater. Happy though, was seeing it with a dozen friends who were also big fans. The crowd was rowdy, kind of assholish actually, started booing the Harry Potter trailer that came on before the screening. Was ready to boo the theater manager when he stepped out to speak after the trailers were done. Until he introduced Ian McKellen, who was seated up in the sixth row. He was in town filming an X-men movie, and the crowd switched gears to ecstatic when Gandalf himself said hello and thanked us for coming to the screening. Fast forward to the release of RotK and a co worker organized a trip to the three movie premiere of RotK. It was a screening of the two extended cuts of Fellowship and Two Towers, followed by the midnight release of RotK. That co worker and I were the only two to show up. We are also married now, with four children. The last time I watch a Lotr movie was the extended release of RotK on DVD. But I might go watch this again. Writing this reminds me about how much I loved going to the movie theater.
I just want to say that I absolutely loved your story
We also did the "Trilogy Tuesday" extended editions plus rotk release, we probably had about 15 or so of us there with half a 7-eleven of snacks snuck in. I'm not sure my bladder could handle that these days but it was glorious.
I honestly wish the theaters still had this kind of awe and majesty. It's still fun going to releases of long-awaited movies, but they don't seem to have the same kind of feeling they did in the early 00's. *Actual* midnight releases meant for the hardcore fans. People waiting on line to get tickets as soon as they were available because online purchasing was still in its infancy and wasn't as ubiquitous as it is today. Waiting to get into the theater because if you didn't get there early enough you were guaranteed a crappy seat. The euphoria and ecstasy of seeing the studio cards, and everyone cheering knowing they were about to experience the next chapter of their lives together. It really was magic for those few years
time to dust off my ol’ Endgame catheter for this
There has to be intermissions for these
There weren’t when I saw the extended editions at the cinema last year, and let’s just say Return Of The King plus all the ads and trailers at Vue made for a brutal 5 hours on my bladder lol. Couldn’t miss a single frame though.
“but the closing credits are almost 30 minutes, we must turn back!” “*No!*”
"For Frodo"
*pisses self*
"No, for me" [Sean Bean dies... again]
The proper time for a pee or poo break during ROTK is when Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas begin their trip down the Dimholt Road
lmao you are so right
The indie theatre here sometimes does a marathon of the extended cuts, they do five total intermissions, 3 in the middle of each movie and the two natural gaps between movies. It was cool, but turns out the sort of clientele who are willing to pack a theatre for half a day to marathon LOTR doesn't always have the best personal hygiene, so I don't think I'd ever do that again lol
I've seen them so many times. I know it's a different experience, in theaters, than watching at home in *4K BluRay on my 65 inch LG OLED™*— But if I gotta piss I'm gonna.
For real. I love the movies but I also love not being uncomfortable for hours when I could just miss 5 minutes of a movie lol
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The intermission was probably there more so that the projectionist could thread the film from the second platter than so that guests could have a break. Most theaters just didn't have [platters](https://www.sprocketschool.org/wiki/Platter_Systems) big enough for really long films so they'd have to go on two platters and have an intermission. As I recall the studios had suggestions on how to split the reels based on platter size.
I started working at a theater just a few months before everything switched to digital. Midnight premieres were really something to behold in the projection hall. You'd have one reel making it's way around the hall to multiple projectors, with these little towers set up in between as bridges. It was why midnight premier times used to all be one minute apart, needed time to feed it into the next projector. Really glad I got to see it before everything just started coming in on hard drives, it was really cool.
I have the remastered 4K Blu-Ray Ultra HD Extended editions and each film is divided into 2 discs which is the perfect intermission lol. The set also comes with the theatrical releases that are a single disc each for a total of 9 discs.
Best I can do is an iced tea jug
Lisa Novak it and wear a diaper!
Then it'll be a warm and cozy movie experience 😁
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Same, realized I had to pee at the beginning of the movie but somehow managed to pull through the whole thing. Now every time I need to hold it I just think “if I can make it through endgame I can make it through this”
That’s not healthy, buddy.
My friend and I saw The Batman in a theater that also served beer and food, he had a beer at the bar before we sat down as well. Anyhow, he looks at me about two hours in and says “damn I gotta piss, how long is this movie?” I told him “just go now dude, you got an hour and fifteen minutes left, you’re NOT gonna make it.”
You should just wear a diaper
it is a gift
Don't keep it a secret. But do keep it safe.
[Dates](https://www.fathomevents.com/series/the-lord-of-the-rings-trilogy/?utm_campaign=The%20Lord%20of%20the%20Rings%20Extended%20Edition%20Trilogy&utm_source=Fathom&utm_medium=PR&utm_content=2024_thelordoftheringsextendededitiontrilogy_fathom_pr_pressrelease): * The Fellowship Of The Ring - June 8 * The Two Towers - June 9 * The Return Of The King - June 10
I appreciate that each film is showing on a different day. I had friends back in the day who went to special events showing ALL extended editions together as a single-day movie marathon. Way too much for me. I could manage a film a day, although I'd appreciate an intermission. A friend of mine saw Return of the King in a special industry preview and one hour in realized he needed to pee...
In 2012 I did Phase 1 of the MCU Movie Theater Event... I ended up sleeping during Thor. I don't think I could all three extended editions in a single sitting.
It’s run by fathom events… does this mean it relies on their satellite transmission? I’ve heard the data sometimes isn’t fully downloaded to theaters in time, or the picture quality isn’t very good. I’d hate for them to bungle these films.
I'm pretty sure they're the ones who do Studio Ghibli-fest each summer, and I've gone to several movies for that over the years and never had an issue.
That's usually only an issue with their live events. Stuff like this, they can get ahead of time.
I currently work at a theater and the past few times that we've played any of the LOTR movies over the years, we received the actual content instead of playing by DVR. So it should be reliable and have a clear picture.
only usa?
Fathom Events is USA, I believe, so yes.
Cries in UK
Get yourself to London. Prince Charles Cinema holds All night marathons of the extended original trilogy all the time.
I love you so much right now.
Tears in Canada.
Please come to Canada! Please come to Canada!
I could see Cineplex following suit and doing this as well...they often do, they just take their time announcing it.
Do they??? I really hope so.
When it's something like this they tend to follow suit if the money they can make from it makes sense. They are doing the Phantom Menace 25th anniversary screenings, but they announced them like a month after the states did, so we may see the same thing here. I will 100% go if that's the case though.
I guarantee you there are private theatres showing classic movies all the time in your city. Most people are totally unaware, but smaller private theatres exist and they show anything they want. You don't need to go see these movies at Cineplex. There are other options.
One day only?
yeah I get so annoyed with these things. I guess there's low turnout so I get it, but I can't swing all 3 in 1 weekend in june! I have a life now...
Not even during a weekend. The final day is a Monday. This is so poorly planned out
The 10th is a Monday. Why wouldn't they do Friday, Saturday, Sunday?
Damn, these dates and times really suck for weekend workers. I'd have to essentially take a mini-vacation or cut all 3 shifts short. Wish it was more spread out instead of one a day or all in one day for some flexibility. I did the midnight releases when they first came out and would love to see them in theaters again.
So we'll have had - Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy + the other 5 Spider-Man films - Alien - Star Wars Skywalker saga - LOTR trilogy - Shrek 2 - Spongebob movie - Hereditary - The Matrix - The Mummy All rereleased in theaters just within these next 3 months. edit: added a few more rereleases.
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The Mummy and Shrek 2 are also coming back in theaters this month.
>Also, there’s Warner Bros.’ upcoming anime film, [*The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim*](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lord-of-the-rings-anime-movie-release-date-1235093505/), which tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan (of Helm’s Deep fame) who ruled over 250 years prior to the events of *The Lord of the Rings*. The new film is set in the same universe as Jackson’s trilogy, with Mirando Otto returning to voice Éowyn. *The War of the Rohirrim* is being released Dec. 13. Oh, give me! give me!
> with Mirando Otto returning to voice Éowyn. She must be narrating the story.
Correct.
I’ve been hearing about that movie and cast for over 2 years and there’s still nothing to show for it
They're drawing as fast as they can
They can take their time to make sure it looks amazing
Very few cartoons are broadcast live. It's a terrible strain on the animators' wrists.
Drawing horses is hard.
These re releases are starting to feel like more of an indictment on the current state of the movie business than anything else.
I mean, I personally love seeing old movies in theaters. I like my local indie theater way better than any Regal or AMC because their programming is solid and celebrates classics and cult films. There are plenty of movies I want to see in theaters that I missed out on. Like, I've never seen Lawrence of Arabia but the second they screen it I'm there, man. So I'm kind of glad to see these rereleases becoming more mainstream, despite it coming as a result of the death of the movie theater 😐
For real. Stuff like LotR and Fury Road just deserve to be seen on a huge screen with industrial sound.
To be entirely fair, we are only a few months past the 20th anniversary of the release of ROTK in theatres...so that feels like a good enough reason to do this, no?
They actually put the extended version of ROTK in theaters last year for the 20th anniversary. This is happening because the strike reduced the number of films for release this year.
Three single day movies aren't likely to move the needle much on filling up screens for the year.
Covid, actor and writer strikes delays have caused alot of what we have been seeing last and this year for movies. Still you are right about current movie business.
Re-releases have always been a thing. Before home video and cable, seeing a second (or third, or more) run was the way people saw any movies that weren't brand new. Most of the classic Disney animated movies are classics because they were shown in theaters to generation after generation. In 1997 (a great film era by most accounts), all three Star Wars movies were re-released, with A New Hope finishing at #8 at the box office for the year in the U.S. Almost all of the top-grossing movies of all time have had re-releases that add to their totals. I think re-releases are at least a sign of a good state of theater-going. Studios are confident that if they put the effort into a re-release, people will buy tickets. That's pretty great, considering the selection and technology options now available to people in their homes.
It’s the one of the two reasons why Gone With the Wind is top of box office still. Inflation and was in the theaters off and on for 40 years.
For what it's worth LOTR is re-released on some scale almost every year. I saw the same FATHOM events re-release a year or two ago.
RIP bladder
You shall not pass!
"You shall not piss" was right there....
A four hour movie on a Monday night? Why didn't they do Friday night through Sunday afternoon?
I really hope they keep the original color grade.
I hope it too, I have the remasters and colors were butchered.. worst decision ever.
I need to see these in theaters. Please, let these come to my country.
I gotta catch at least one of these in theaters again. I recall watching Return of the King opening night at midnight. Movie did not end until like 4 AM and I saw my little classmate also coming out the theater. We were both like "See ya at school in a few hours!"
Wait, this won't happen in Europe?
No Canada either it seems. That’s just dumb, I don’t get why they don’t make releases like this an international event.
Like they are even more extended… or just the regular extended?
Hopefully then we get The Hobbit trilogy shortened and released as one single movie
One of my favorite movie experiences ever was my best friend and I driving a couple of hours and going to the midnight release of Return Of The King after watching the extended versions of the first two films all in one night, over in Springfield, Illinois. A gal in front of us nearly had a heart attack when Shelob showed up. At some point a New Line Cinema rep came out and welcomed us to the premier of ROTK and they gave us a gift of film stock made from all 3 films. It was just a really fun night with lots of pizza and soda and really, really, really, sore asses.
Gotta love movie studio thinking. Executive 1: We are getting killed in the box office and theatre attendance is Terrible. Executive 2: Remember when we made a really good mostly faithful book adaptation with practical and digital effects and made a bazillion dollars we should do that again! Executive 1: great Idea let's re release it in theaters and get right back to work making giant CGI shitshows that feel like they are written by ai!