January 13, 2003

Wisdom, Queries, Gripes and TTT
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Ah Everett, Everett! Great age does not assure great wisdom. Although by this measure Man/woman, (The 'Darker shade of pale' land urges equal opportunity), are shown to be greater then Elves as they do not have their longivity, yet they show as great an amount of Wisdom, perhaps not as much knowledge, but then, wisdom is by far the greater gift bestowed upon us all by Eru (bows head). I was just wondering how people saw/imagined what the living conditions of people under the guiding hand of Sauron was like? Ok Mordor was to the casual Eye (no pun intended) a bit like hell, but a huge volcano will do that to an area, what I mean is how was the land of the Easterlings and Harad governed? Was things generally the same as everywhere else except taxes (small percentage too) went to Mordor? and that there was sometimes conscription? Were they ruled by local kings/governors or direct control from Lugburz? I'd appreciate any opinions or information forthcoming.
The Extended version, there is one thing bugging me. I suppose it happens when you look too closely at a film, but I would love it if someone could say I'm wrong with this. The scene is set in Moria and it is the "Mithril mining scene" specifically, the wealth of Moria was built on Mithril etc. We see Gandalf walking along the ledge and... THERE! you can see the electric cable running out the bottom of the staff. Hopefully I'm wrong, but thats what I see.
The Two Towers, I would have to agree with Satinder. The Two Towers did not grab me as powerfully as the Fellowship. Perhaps the fact it in itself has no start and the story does not finish in it, lessens it somewhat, I dont know. The Fellowship blew us all away and did raise expectations too high, at least for me. It is a great film, no doubt, just wandered a little too much from the book at times. saying that, parts were more than spot on. One word, GOLLUM. I overheard some people in the cinema, who did't know he was a CG character, remark that the actor had alot of makeup on. When a CG character is mistaken for a real actor, then the developers have done their jobs well (massive understatement). The death scene of a certain elf in TTT was handled beautifully (perhaps poor choice of words, oops), a noble, long lived being, dying, and with his fading sight seeing the ruin to which he had brought his companions. It brought a little of the history of middle-earth to light, the long long history of the Elvish struggle against the North and later East.
Oh another tiny gripe, although I am not sure who with. I saw pictures of the Nazgul rings, they have the Eye and tiny skeletons on them. Elves would never make any rings like that. The way the "Three" were imagined is also, to my mind, roughly how the others would look.
See ya all later:) Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone. Sauron singing Auld Lang Syne... with the nearest Elf (Give them false sense of security). Ash Nazg...!!