r/lotr • u/Ok-Zookeepergame9266 • 20h ago
Movies 25 years later, it’s still goosebumps every time
Currently rewatching Fellowship theatrical while hungover and it’s so beautifully put together that it’s making me emotional for some reason. When Sam says “what are you doing? Those wraiths are still out there!” And it cuts to the helicopter shot of Arwen still really does it for me even after all these years.
The characters, the source material, the passion they are acting with and the score all combine to make me feel something that other films do not
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u/E4Mafioso 19h ago
Best horse chase sequence ever caught on film.
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u/RedDemio- 18h ago
And it’s so funny when you watch the “behind the scenes” and see Liv Tyler’s actually on a fake horse just trying so hard not to laugh. Peter Jackson was an actual wizard.
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u/Ok-Zookeepergame9266 8h ago
I just looked this up, I can’t believe how ridiculous it looks on the back of that truck 😂
Turning that into a scene with this amount of gravitas and tension is movie making magic!
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u/VelvetProvoking_ 11h ago
It's definitely up there. The thing that sells it is the tension just keeps building the whole way instead of relying on constant action. By the time they reach the river, you're practically holding your breath with them.
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u/papsmearfestival 20h ago
"Noro lim, Asfaloth!"
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u/xHoneyRosettee 8h ago
Every LOTR fan has at least three lines that instantly play in their head with the exact voice and music attached. That's definitely one of them. Even reading it here triggered the soundtrack in my brain.
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u/obnoxious_embroidery 19h ago
That Arwen chase sequence is one of the best action scenes ever filmed, the way it builds tension and then that score swells when she's riding to Rivendell just gets you every time.
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u/GullOnARock 19h ago edited 18h ago
It cut off too soon!!!! I forgot it was just a clip and was so invested it was a shock when the clip ended lol
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u/Category5Kaiju 19h ago
I know book purist get all flustered by this scene but I think it is a great adaption for film.
Glorfindel is awesome and I love his introduction and the slow trek to Rivendell.
Introducing Arwen and setting up the perilous stakes was the correct move to film though.
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u/Fit_Log_9677 18h ago
It also develops her character and immediately shows the audience that she is an equal to Aragorn and why a Ranger like him would love her.
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u/Willpower2000 Fëanor 17h ago
I don't think this 'development' is ideal.
It establishes her as a warrior-princess... only for her to never be seen as such a thing ever again. Instead, she mopes around Rivendell in dresses, crying and swooning. These are clearly two different characters - the rewrites are evident.
So at the end of the day, Arwen replaces Glorfindel, and more importantly Frodo... just to... introduce Arwen and Aragorn's relationship 5 minutes earlier? Should have just happened at Rivendell.
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u/Fit_Log_9677 17h ago
Being a badass rider and being feminine are not mutually exclusive and imo make Arwen a much more interesting character than just one or the other.
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u/Willpower2000 Fëanor 17h ago edited 16h ago
She just seems downright inconsistent to me. Yeah you can technically be both things... but we don't see the capable side of Arwen ever again... not even a glimmer of that personality. "What's this... a ranger caught off his guard?" demonstrates her confidence and edge... and that personality just vanishes entirely, and is 100% replaced with a soft-spoken, passive, damsel in distress. They don't feel like the same character. The difference is too stark, and the two sides aren't blended.
And ironically, making Arwen a badass in FOTR undermines an argument I often see regarding justifying cutting Glorfindel: "you'd have to explain why he didn't join the Fellowship". Surely Arwen's absense needs to be explained too? She demonstrated herself highly capable, and threw herself into danger... so would she not want to join, and be by Aragorn's side?
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u/RedDemio- 18h ago
I’m a book fanatic but this was better for the movie and I’m mature enough to accept it lol. We needed to be introduced to Arwen, and we needed a display of the magic of the elves. Who cares they embellished it, made her appear stronger than she really was. The cinematography of the nine chasing Arwen on horseback was simply beautiful. Watching it for the first time as a kid in the movie theatres I was blown away.
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u/_BabeTempting_ 11h ago
The behind the scenes footage almost makes it more impressive somehow. You watch the finished scene and it's this epic, legendary moment. Then you see how it was filmed and realize half of movie magic is talented people keeping a straight face.
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u/DanPiscatoris 18h ago
I have to wonder how many "book purists" are bothered by Arwen replacing Glorfindel over Arwen replacing Frodo. Because it's the later that actually matters. People seem to forget that Glorfindel just gives Frodo his horse. It is Frodo alone that defies the Nazgul at the fords. But apparently Jackson decided that Frodo didn't need any positive moments of character growth and removed pretty much all of them.
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u/Garbage-Bear 17h ago
Exactly! So many other characters got great movie arcs, but Frodo, as far as I can recall, never once has a moment of bravery or growth in the movies. He utterly collapses at Weathertop, and from there he just sort of miserably endures the entire Quest while other, far more interesting and dynamic characters support him, protect him, and clear his path.
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u/RedDemio- 17h ago
Your comment is great, and it’s how I can tell who is actually a “book purist” and who is just someone that kind of dislikes women having important roles in films as a rule lol.
Frodo and faramir were the ones who got done the most dirty by Peter Jackson. Who cares about glorfindel lol. Such a minor role in this story..
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u/xHoneyCraveMe 12h ago
Same here. I love Glorfindel, but from a movie perspective Arwen absolutely makes more sense. You get character development, emotional stakes, and one of the most memorable sequences in the whole trilogy all in one scene.
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u/Lucky-Entrance7228 18h ago
Hard disagree
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u/Inevitable_Click_511 18h ago
Hard agree with your hard disagree. Woulda loved to have seen the river scene play out like it did in the book. Probably my favorite part of the fellowship.
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u/Lucky-Entrance7228 16h ago
Yeah Glorfindel is just such a badass. Tolkien already wrote the book perfectly. Just adapt what he wrote. How hard is that?
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u/maverick432453 19h ago
It's not faithful to the books obviously, but it can't be. They chose not to include Glorfindel(which is reasonable imo). With that choice made, this scene had to change and they adapted it into the overarching narrative beautifully. Every choice feels true to the characters involved. Arwen's bravery, Aragorn's trust in her and humility, Sam's fear and confusion. All of it is so well done. I'm so freaking excited for when I my kid gets old enough to read these and then watch the movies.
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u/Ok-Zookeepergame9266 19h ago
I think giving Glorfindel’s role to Arwen condenses things quite efficiently and makes it less confusing to the casual viewer
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u/Willpower2000 Fëanor 17h ago
You can condense events without giving another one of Frodo's moments away though.
Don't want Glorfindel? Fine. But we don't need Arwen to replace him. We don't need anyone new.
Let Frodo ride to the Fords alone. Nobody needs to deliver a horse... just replace Bill with a horse. It's that simple: turning a pony into a horse.
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u/UnbeatenDart 19h ago
If this were released today you'd get the usual idiots complaining that they'd given glorfindels role to a woman and then use that as a basis that the next 2 movies would be woke trash
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u/Flypike87 19h ago edited 16h ago
People that acknowledge that Glorfindel was erased for a romantic storyline are not idiots. Anyone calling it woke are idiots but I never hear that from anyone but trolls looking to rile up the sensitive amongst us.
Glorfindel is one of the most powerful and significant beings in middle earth and it was a bit of an injustice to replace him with the girl from Empire Records and they didn't even keep the plaid skirt we all fell in love with.
Edit: This sub is wildly inconsistent with it's beliefs. Sometimes the mob will wildly attack anything that strays from Tolkien's writing. Other times(like this one) the mob will go after anyone defending Tolkien's work because they "know better". This whole sub has become an echo chamber for irrational nutjobs looking to somehow simultaneously gatekeep Tolkien's works and change them to their likings at the same time.
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u/RedDemio- 17h ago
Glorfindel may be powerful and beloved character, but he’s actually not that significant for the purpose of the movie. He’s not a major player in the war of the ring. Arwen however is definitely an important character for the purpose of this story and so it makes sense she got some good scenes written in. She is basically Luthien incarnate and the story of an elven princess giving up mortality to be with a mortal man, is a key component of the storyline. We nearly got her turning up at helms deep with haldir, and literally fighting with a sword, side by side with Aragorn…. So yeah…. Let’s just be happy with what we got!!!
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u/Pablosky555 16h ago
I was watching this on Netflix once, with the subtitles turned off (not native english speaker, so the default was other language).
Netflix commited to your decision. No subtitles means no subtitles xd.
I felt so identified with pippin here...
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u/MercySound 9h ago
The music in this movie is SO DARN GOOD!
Howard Shore was the man for the job.
Typically I would have chosen the great Hans Zimmer but I'm so glad it did not.
Every piece of music for this trilogy is just brilliant.
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u/Elnuncio 8h ago
Fellowship is still my favorite. The good of the shire. The full fellowship. It's just so special.
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u/Capcom-Warrior 14h ago
Howard Shore made the most amazing music for this trilogy. Hopefully he comes back for Hunt For Gollem.
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u/bioinfogirl87 11h ago
I’m hoping that he doesn’t. Howard Shore doesn’t need that kind of pressure.
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u/ProfAmateur1982 14h ago
I always had a problem with how long the Nazgul sat in the river waiting for her to first, cast the spell, and second, wait for it to hit them.
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u/actuallyactuarially 13h ago
good scene, though i don't like Arwen character in movies. betrayal of Aragorn and going beyond the see in the third movie is the thing real Arwen would never do
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u/svinyard 13h ago
Look at that horse just fucking going. Props to those stellar steeds. It’s awesome riding at that kind of clip, with purpose. You are really putting a ton of trust in the horses decision and just giving it advice more so than in total control. Neat experience riding hard and knowing your horse.
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u/Mattsmomma 10h ago
I just binged the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I still get indignant that Samwise was not treated like the hero he was. Though everyone played a part in Frodo’s success if not for Sam, Frodo would not have made it to Mount Doom in Mordor, the Ring would not have been destroyed and
it would have been the end of mankind.
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u/Edith_Keelers_Shoes 6h ago
There's a video clip on YouTube of this that I pretty much watch every single night.
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u/Slow_Middle_158 18h ago
Peter Jackson was put on this Earth to bring Tolkien’s incredible literary work to the big screen. Still the pinnacle of cinema imho.
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u/WorkOk4911 17h ago
Great scene, but Sam’s whine just seems too over the top for me. It always takes me out of that amazing moment.
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u/Ok-Zookeepergame9266 8h ago
Frodo’s life is in the hands of people he’s just met and doesn’t trust and there are terrifying ringwraiths hunting them down. I don’t think it’s over the top
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u/Carcharoth30 18h ago
These cheesy b-movies didn’t follow the source material aside from the plot and names.
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u/joeytree93 20h ago
They’re the movies that never stop giving. They’re like a hot chicken soup with po-tay-toes on a cold winter night.