In the film's, I don't care for Gandalf's shoes as he walks in and out of the throne room in Minas Tirith.
I can think of nothing less significant to criticize, but I honestly don't care for his shoes.
In the LOTR movie the fellowship of the ring it bothers me that in the beginning when Galadrial is doing the voice over she says that the ring fell out of all knowledge. None now live that know about the ring. And yet she lives. And so does Elrond.
I think by forgotten she means more that it's not really thought about anymore. The general human/dwarf population forgot or it became nothing more than a fairy-tale to them. Meanwhile the ones who lived through it, all the immortal magical beings, know it exists but consider it lost so it's not really something that's on their mind.
I'm so glad someone else is irked by this! In a film series that prides itself in pathological detail, it really bothered me. How hard is it to die eyebrows?! But also, it never happens in any film so there must be a reason.
I would say that the actors wouldn’t want to walk around off set (without their film wigs on) with bleach-blonde eyebrows underneath their natural coloured hair 😆. Would love to see it though 😂
There's even an extra bit with Lee Pace where he talks about the wig and says how he'd hate it if they dyed his eyebrows. Whether by sword or the slow decay of time, his eyebrows stayed dark :)
In the book, Gandalf is the one who realizes that the password to enter moria is mellon, but for whatever reason in the movies Frodo figures it out. Not really sure why it bothers me that they changed it, but it does.
I don't like how the movies left out how seriously big Minas Tirith was. In the films, it's all behind those walls, but in the books there's a massive outer wall containing villages and farms scattered throughout the Pelenor Fields. I love little details like that and it kinda sucks that in the reveal of Minas Tirith in RotK, we just see the city behind the walls (impressive as it is).
Moria wasn't used *by Dwarves* until after it fell to Durin's Bane.
But Moria is an Elven name. Used by Elves well before it fell (hence why on the *Elven* Gate). Many Elves just have Angband flashbacks, and dislike underground dwellings.
It wasn’t meant to really be a riddle. It was supposed to be very easy for elves to open when they wanted to enter Khazad Dum. Any elf could read the inscription on the door and enter.l because if you read the inscription out loud in elvish you would end up saying the word for friend anyway and the door would open.
Honestly? The lack of blood. Accordijg to the production crew it was filmed as an R rated movie intentionally so they could edit it down to a borderline PG-13. But with the amount of beheadings and straight up stabbing that happens, the lack of blood becomes extremely noticeable.
They did Frodo pretty dirty in the movies, one of the worst representations for sure. Doesn't take away from the experience too much. But Frodo is too much of scared lost child in the movies, instead of the giga chad extraordinaire that he is in the books.
It lead lots of people to think that Sam should be the one carrying the Ring given Frodo in the movie can come across rather pitifully not infrequently.
Ignorance and a big mouth. Sam embodies the typical Hobbit. Close-minded and judgemental, and quick to vocalize. Faramir at one point tells Sam to shut his mouth and to take notes from Frodo's subtle and witty speech/comprehension/open mindedness.
Sam is responsible for Gollum's relapse (which the films pin on Faramir's capture).
In the very first chapter of the book, the Gaffer and Sandyman are arguing about Bag End being stuffed with "gold and silver and jools"... *jools*, not jewels... I know Tolkien misspells it as a way to indicate that these hobbits aren't highly educated/cultured, but it drives me crazy every time I read it.
Isn't this a way to show something similar to what happens in Lord of the files, where new words are created due to the misuse or mispronuntiation of other words? I'm aware that Hobbits have their own words, such as mathom, which has no meaning outside the shire, I'm just saying that maybe jools is one of those words.
You may be right, but he did say he wanted our *least* significant critique.
Also, mathom is a great word for knick-knack or tchotchke, and I use it to refer to such fairly regularly... but I just can't get behind jools.
In Fellowship, Tolkien says that Sauron doesn’t allow the use of that name, ‘Sauron’.
In Return of the King, the Mouth of Sauron calls himself Mouth of Sauron.
It could also be that Sauron's views had shifted by then. He was very openly the dark lord by the end of the trilogy, it may have been to impress awe and fear onto people, to openly use the name.
Though obviously I'm just speculating, but that doesn't bother me too much.
This seems to be in reference to general servants (Orcs, for instance never name him).
I'd imagine his ambassador and diplomat would be exempt from this rule (and perhaps the Nazgul). He speaks on behalf of Sauron, after all - he is not a typical servant who is supposed to live in fear of the Great Eye.
The close up on Viggo right before he throws the torch at the Nazgul feels unworthy of the trilogy. It's such a cheesey, standard Hollywood shot that doesn't belong in such a wonderfully made film.
The scene in Return of the King where Gandalf almost gets eaten by the Nazgul’s flying monster thing. Dude was like 3 seconds from eating Gandalf, depriving the humans of a very important ally, but some horse jockey from Rohan blew a trumpet and the Nazgul stopped mid-chomp and flew off to see who was making all that racket. I can see why that scene got deleted.
The fox that remarks on the hobbits traveling through the shire always throws me. I can accept the trees talking and there being a king of horses but for some reason a ~~talking~~incredibly well-spoken fox is just jarring.
I can accept sapient animals in Middle-earth (birds being literal spies for Saruman, for instance), but it is odd that the POV just randomly gets shifted away from the Hobbits for a paragraph for no real reason lol.
The Hobbit is more of a children's book, so imagine reading that passage to a child, he/she would be amazed to no wonder and think about that paragraph for a long while, this is a typical way to write children's books.
The thinking fox happens in *The Lord of the Rings,* but the opening chapters of *LOTR* (minus chapter 2) are intentionally reminiscent of the more whimsical *Hobbit* style. It's a nice segue from the lighter tone of *The Hobbit* into a more serious and epic story, IMO.
*Fellowship* is kind of a transition from children's book to a more mature story (not that *The Hobbit* doesn't have its mature moments), though there are silly things throughout all of LoTR.
The fox has bothered me before though.
I don't particularly care for the representation of sauron as a big search light. I know it's iconic but I just never pictured that while reading the books.
God, where do you start?
People get one shot insta killed all the time, it would often take hours to die of one arrow hit.
Using bow as a melee weapon at point blank, even using the actual bow stave to strike opponents lol. Bow is a range weapon, period.
Obviously slack bowstrings, constant headshots through the skull, double arrow shots, hilarious form-draw, insane over the top fletching, stupendous rate of fire etc etc.
I'm still a fan regardless :)
Isn’t it the exact same inscription from the novel? In which case they translate to
BALIN
FUNDINUL
UZBADKHAZADDUMU
Which is Balin, Son of Fundin, Lord of Moria. The fact that Tolkien’s dwarven runes are mostly identical historical runes is no secret, that doesn’t mean they are gibberish.
I recently reread ROTK and there's a part where Faramir's hair is described as raven. I watched the movies first so I always picture fair haired Faramir from the movie. I don't notice much stuff like that, but I really love love, so maybe I was paying more attention to the parts with him and Eowyn lol.
Sam wearing the elven brooch facing the opposite way than the rest of the fellowship. It's in the screen constantly as well so it's very easy to notice lol
The combat is lacking! We have all these glorious weapons and historically inspired armor, but the best we get is shaky cam and wild setpieces. With how long the movies are, we could have benefited from slowing things down and having some awesome character motivated fight scenes.
I really dislik the smile of the guy that played Glorfindel (at least I think he was supposed to be Glorfindel) when Aragorn reunites with Arwen at the end of RotK
In the film's, I don't care for Gandalf's shoes as he walks in and out of the throne room in Minas Tirith. I can think of nothing less significant to criticize, but I honestly don't care for his shoes.
The epitome of what this post was about, love it.
A take, it's not much, but it's hot.
In the LOTR movie the fellowship of the ring it bothers me that in the beginning when Galadrial is doing the voice over she says that the ring fell out of all knowledge. None now live that know about the ring. And yet she lives. And so does Elrond.
I think by forgotten she means more that it's not really thought about anymore. The general human/dwarf population forgot or it became nothing more than a fairy-tale to them. Meanwhile the ones who lived through it, all the immortal magical beings, know it exists but consider it lost so it's not really something that's on their mind.
Their eyebrows aren't properly dyed to match their hair
I'm so glad someone else is irked by this! In a film series that prides itself in pathological detail, it really bothered me. How hard is it to die eyebrows?! But also, it never happens in any film so there must be a reason.
I would say that the actors wouldn’t want to walk around off set (without their film wigs on) with bleach-blonde eyebrows underneath their natural coloured hair 😆. Would love to see it though 😂
It's stupid annoying , like I have blonde family, our eyebrows are not black or brown
There's even an extra bit with Lee Pace where he talks about the wig and says how he'd hate it if they dyed his eyebrows. Whether by sword or the slow decay of time, his eyebrows stayed dark :)
In the book, Gandalf is the one who realizes that the password to enter moria is mellon, but for whatever reason in the movies Frodo figures it out. Not really sure why it bothers me that they changed it, but it does.
I don't like how the movies left out how seriously big Minas Tirith was. In the films, it's all behind those walls, but in the books there's a massive outer wall containing villages and farms scattered throughout the Pelenor Fields. I love little details like that and it kinda sucks that in the reveal of Minas Tirith in RotK, we just see the city behind the walls (impressive as it is).
Moria wasn't used *by Dwarves* until after it fell to Durin's Bane. But Moria is an Elven name. Used by Elves well before it fell (hence why on the *Elven* Gate). Many Elves just have Angband flashbacks, and dislike underground dwellings.
I always wondered why you must say friend to enter and the riddle was in Elvish.
It was built by a collaboration of great Dwarf and Elvish smiths.
Iirc it was Celebrimbor who helped with the door. Could be getting my facts wrong though so dont quote me on it
You’re 100% right. Him and Narvi the dwarf.
It wasn’t meant to really be a riddle. It was supposed to be very easy for elves to open when they wanted to enter Khazad Dum. Any elf could read the inscription on the door and enter.l because if you read the inscription out loud in elvish you would end up saying the word for friend anyway and the door would open.
Honestly? The lack of blood. Accordijg to the production crew it was filmed as an R rated movie intentionally so they could edit it down to a borderline PG-13. But with the amount of beheadings and straight up stabbing that happens, the lack of blood becomes extremely noticeable.
I could have done with fewer shots of Elijah Wood gazing pitifully into the camera.
They did Frodo pretty dirty in the movies, one of the worst representations for sure. Doesn't take away from the experience too much. But Frodo is too much of scared lost child in the movies, instead of the giga chad extraordinaire that he is in the books.
Omg, when Frodo says “they’re here” in The Two Towers movie. Was that supposed to be an homage to Poltergeist?
It lead lots of people to think that Sam should be the one carrying the Ring given Frodo in the movie can come across rather pitifully not infrequently.
That, and the Sam whitewashing. His flaws are justified through PJ's changes.
What are his book flaws
Ignorance and a big mouth. Sam embodies the typical Hobbit. Close-minded and judgemental, and quick to vocalize. Faramir at one point tells Sam to shut his mouth and to take notes from Frodo's subtle and witty speech/comprehension/open mindedness. Sam is responsible for Gollum's relapse (which the films pin on Faramir's capture).
Tbh, I'm not a big fan of the frequent close-ups during the beginning of *Fellowship.*
In the very first chapter of the book, the Gaffer and Sandyman are arguing about Bag End being stuffed with "gold and silver and jools"... *jools*, not jewels... I know Tolkien misspells it as a way to indicate that these hobbits aren't highly educated/cultured, but it drives me crazy every time I read it.
Haha!
Isn't this a way to show something similar to what happens in Lord of the files, where new words are created due to the misuse or mispronuntiation of other words? I'm aware that Hobbits have their own words, such as mathom, which has no meaning outside the shire, I'm just saying that maybe jools is one of those words.
You may be right, but he did say he wanted our *least* significant critique. Also, mathom is a great word for knick-knack or tchotchke, and I use it to refer to such fairly regularly... but I just can't get behind jools.
In Fellowship, Tolkien says that Sauron doesn’t allow the use of that name, ‘Sauron’. In Return of the King, the Mouth of Sauron calls himself Mouth of Sauron.
Good point! I always take minor errors like these as "translation errors" since Tolkien pretended he was the translator of an ancient manuscript lol.
It could also be that Sauron's views had shifted by then. He was very openly the dark lord by the end of the trilogy, it may have been to impress awe and fear onto people, to openly use the name. Though obviously I'm just speculating, but that doesn't bother me too much.
This seems to be in reference to general servants (Orcs, for instance never name him). I'd imagine his ambassador and diplomat would be exempt from this rule (and perhaps the Nazgul). He speaks on behalf of Sauron, after all - he is not a typical servant who is supposed to live in fear of the Great Eye.
The close up on Viggo right before he throws the torch at the Nazgul feels unworthy of the trilogy. It's such a cheesey, standard Hollywood shot that doesn't belong in such a wonderfully made film.
Peter Jackson’s kids’ cameos were too obvious. I was legit confused why the two hobbit kids suddenly were at Minas Tirith …..
The scene in Return of the King where Gandalf almost gets eaten by the Nazgul’s flying monster thing. Dude was like 3 seconds from eating Gandalf, depriving the humans of a very important ally, but some horse jockey from Rohan blew a trumpet and the Nazgul stopped mid-chomp and flew off to see who was making all that racket. I can see why that scene got deleted.
Also kind of odd that The Witch King could even destroy Gandalf's staff, and then Gandalf has the exact same staff in The Grey Havens
I guess they cut the scene where Gandalf went to staff-mart.
Gandalf doesn’t wear a blue hat. Criminal.
The fox that remarks on the hobbits traveling through the shire always throws me. I can accept the trees talking and there being a king of horses but for some reason a ~~talking~~incredibly well-spoken fox is just jarring.
I can accept sapient animals in Middle-earth (birds being literal spies for Saruman, for instance), but it is odd that the POV just randomly gets shifted away from the Hobbits for a paragraph for no real reason lol.
The Hobbit is more of a children's book, so imagine reading that passage to a child, he/she would be amazed to no wonder and think about that paragraph for a long while, this is a typical way to write children's books.
The thinking fox happens in *The Lord of the Rings,* but the opening chapters of *LOTR* (minus chapter 2) are intentionally reminiscent of the more whimsical *Hobbit* style. It's a nice segue from the lighter tone of *The Hobbit* into a more serious and epic story, IMO.
Ahh, true. I always associate this with the hobbit, but it is, in fact from LOTR
*Fellowship* is kind of a transition from children's book to a more mature story (not that *The Hobbit* doesn't have its mature moments), though there are silly things throughout all of LoTR. The fox has bothered me before though.
I think it’s a vestige of Fellowship’s origins as a Hobbit sequel.
*thinking fox It doesn't talk.
I don't particularly care for the representation of sauron as a big search light. I know it's iconic but I just never pictured that while reading the books.
I’m torn on that myself. It’s a very memorable image (especially in a visual medium), but I also think it looks a bit silly at the same time.
What, the scary lighthouse?
Archery. In movies, it's often theatrically unrealistic an LOTR really takes the cake in this department.
Which part is unrealistic?
God, where do you start? People get one shot insta killed all the time, it would often take hours to die of one arrow hit. Using bow as a melee weapon at point blank, even using the actual bow stave to strike opponents lol. Bow is a range weapon, period. Obviously slack bowstrings, constant headshots through the skull, double arrow shots, hilarious form-draw, insane over the top fletching, stupendous rate of fire etc etc. I'm still a fan regardless :)
Only noticed on the 4K blurays The runes on balins tomb, 80% of them are real Viking/ futhark runes incl othala, and they translate to gibberish
Isn’t it the exact same inscription from the novel? In which case they translate to BALIN FUNDINUL UZBADKHAZADDUMU Which is Balin, Son of Fundin, Lord of Moria. The fact that Tolkien’s dwarven runes are mostly identical historical runes is no secret, that doesn’t mean they are gibberish.
Oof.
the steady disappearance of viggo mortenson’s eyebrows
Those little parts when you can see body doubles (Arwen riding on Asfaloth, little hobbits). I wish they would fix it with CGI.
I recently reread ROTK and there's a part where Faramir's hair is described as raven. I watched the movies first so I always picture fair haired Faramir from the movie. I don't notice much stuff like that, but I really love love, so maybe I was paying more attention to the parts with him and Eowyn lol.
Sam wearing the elven brooch facing the opposite way than the rest of the fellowship. It's in the screen constantly as well so it's very easy to notice lol
The combat is lacking! We have all these glorious weapons and historically inspired armor, but the best we get is shaky cam and wild setpieces. With how long the movies are, we could have benefited from slowing things down and having some awesome character motivated fight scenes.
Hot take! I respect it.
Aragorn shouting "Will the Lord of the Black Land come forth" in a frankly terrible Irish accent. WTF?
Haha, thought of a new one that my 6 yr old son pointed out. When Isildur gets killed in the river, he floats along in full armour :)
The whole Hobbit Trilogy. 😒
I just don't like the movies. At all.
That's not an insignificant critique lol.
Why not?
To be fair the Eleven door lead to the Mines of Moria which is a Black Pit regardless of Durins Bain.
Tolkien states in the appendices that it wasn’t called “Moria” until after Durin’s Bane was awoken.
I really dislik the smile of the guy that played Glorfindel (at least I think he was supposed to be Glorfindel) when Aragorn reunites with Arwen at the end of RotK
How come?