The horse at 31:58, Brego, was adopted in real life by the Aragorn actor, Viggo Mortensen, such a bond was created between the man and horse while filming. The horse's name was Uraeus, and upon his death many years later, Viggo Mortensen had this to say: "Aged 28, but a timeless presence in the minds of those who had the honour of knowing this proud, handsome, and supremely intelligent being, mighty Uraeus has finally come to rest on the physical plane. Thank you, Jane and Ray, for helping him do so with dignity. Dearest friend and teacher, I hold you and keep you."
Viggo also slept in the stable with the horse, to better bond with it. :) I don't think it was any sort of method acting, he just seems like the outdoorsy type, who is very comfortable camping out, and around animals.
Kahla, you are REALLY good at this! You catch things I didn't the first time. Like when Frodo falls into the water in the Dead Marshes. So many people think he fell in or was stupid to look; you knew right away it was the Ring that took him into the water.
For real. The effect of the ring is telegraphed through many scenes in the movie even. Every time Frodo wants to hide or not be seen he is highly tempted to put it on. Every time he is very close to great evil, the dead marshes, Mordor, the Nazgul, it practically pulls him towards those things. CRAZY.
Gandalf it´s one of the five Istari... sent to the middle earth by the Valar. With Saruman, it´s also Gandalf, Radagast and the two blue wizards. Saruman was the white because he was chosen as the leader of all them. When he turned to evil... the Valar chose a new leader.... returning Gandalf as Gandalf the white.
Actually the valar didn't choose gandalf he was sent back by the god of the LOTR universe Eru Ilúvatar , the valar had nothing to do with his new form & body
@@stefannydvorak7919 yes the valar chose him when he was was called Olorin , it was a young elf like physical form his maiar spirit took when he first appeared in Arda (Earth) , he was living in valinor (the undying lands) west of middle earth with all the Valar & his fellow maiar (spirits) , the valar choose him & 4 other maiar (spirits) to go to middle earth in the form of old man wizards Gandalf , Saruman , Rhadaghast, 2 blue wizards to lead the free peoples against sauron , his spirit changed from the elf like form of Olorin to the form of gandalf the grey, when he died fighting the balrog he returned to his true spirit maiar form leaving arda (earth) returning to heaven until he was reincarnated with more power as gandalf the white sent back by the god Eru iluvatar, only Eru can give a valar or maiar spirit more power seeing as he created arda (earth), he created the Ainur spirits (valar & maiar) and men & elves
Loved your perceptive reaction! You picked up so many points early that most people don't: 3:16 Sam's magic Elven rope. 3:50 that the ring gets stronger the closer to Mordor it gets. 10:45 that Theoden is not just senile but under a spell 11:27 that Saruman has angered the Fangorn trees 16:52 that the bodies in the Dead Marshes were from the battle in the prolog 17:18 that most of the attacks on Frodo are due to the influence of the ring 34:22 that Frodo's feelings for Gollum are due to their both being ringbearers In addition to orcs, both Sauron and Saruman have men fighting for them: Saruman 8:57 hill tribes that hate Rohan, and Sauron 23:20 Easterlings that are traditional enemies of Gondor.
Gandalf trivia. When she got news from the Fellowship about Gandalf being lost in Moria, Galadriel asked the Lord of the Eagles to do a flyover and see what’s up. The Eagle found Gandalf on the mountaintop and Ubered him to Lothlorien, where Galadriel fitted him out with new white threads. He arrived in Lorien the day after the Fellowship left in their boats. So think of in FOTR when they’re sailing down the river - Gandalf was landing in Lothlorien then. Also the Fellowship remained in Lothlorien a solid month - so that was how long Gandalf’s ordeal of chasing and fighting the Balrog and laying on the mountaintop lasted. Btw after the Balrog fought Gandalf awhile he did NOT want any piece of that anymore, and much of the time was the Balrog fleeing and Gandalf chasing him.
Sauron had the ring much longer than Gollum did. Sauron made the ring about year 1600 of the Second Age, held it about 1800 years, and then was defeated at the end of the Second Age, which lasted about 3,400 years in total.
@@Big_Tex and the orcs/goblins/trolls have trippled since sauron's death.. theres many "evil-based creatures" who are seriously underrated in lotr and other fantasy genres(the mentions i mentioned as always painted as dark or evil beings, no offense to tolkien who was huge on christianity a man after my own heart. i just find it really peculiar and odd that they havent changed the premise of them. in a story i read,way before tolkien/george lucas/gene roddenberry etc started with their own versions, i found out these creatures were known as "wild creatures." from the dark realm however darkness isnt bad thing "its your intentions behind what everyone else across different realms and genres has called you since after the dawn they started splitting up,wild and good changed it to dark/light giving them suppoed/assumed standards. in 400,000 years to 20,000 years afterwards of constant war and death, but the reality is they surviving no different from you or i just in "different or misunderstood ways.' personally i like the goblins.trolls/orcs and foul creatures designs with especially their misunderstood backstory many of them were betrayaed and put into slavery cause something greater of power or intelligence "said it was right to be under their foot and no one elses." same happened with light creatures or good natured characters/ someone decided they should be ruled over as well however, they were giving more "free will" live as ou please but pay/taxes/sacrifices/ or basically "live by our standards or die with no honor amongst your households.. either way good/bad they were both in slavery of the mind. really think about it?
I think you're one of the first reviewers to ever point out that Frodo said he didn't know the way in the beginning! lol Another insightful reaction, I'm really looking forward to what you think of the rest of the series
"Wormtongue" isn't an insult. In this context "worm" is "dragon" and in European mythologies dragons are usually intelligent and their magical power is in their words - never tell a dragon your name! Therefore, "wormtongue" is a name Grima had even before he became Theoden's counsellor because he was a wordsmith and gifted in persuasion. The name Gríma is also a play on words: in Old English a gríma was a face-covering to hide one's identity - symbolic of Saruman's using Gríma to influence Théoden; it also sounds like the modern English word "grime" which gives the character an unpleasant feel. Tolkien was a master at this kind of wordplay. Never take a name from Tolkien at face value.
At 8:55, the man swearing allegiance to Saruman is one of the inhabitants of Dunland, the region west of Rohan. These Dunlendings were displaced when the Rohirrim occupied their land 500 years before our story. The Mark of the Riders had been the northern province of Gondor; it was ceded by the Steward of Gondor to the Rohirrim as a reward for their help in routing an invasion of Easterlings (we'll see some Easterlings shortly, marching into the Black Gate of Mordor). The actions of the Dunlendings in the movie is limited to their burning of the Westfold and massacring its people. In the book they also join the Uruk-hai at the Battle of Helm's Deep.
The tales of the Dunlendings on the edge of Calenardhon, which then became Rohan, are explained a bit further in the gathered manuscripts of Prof JRR Tolkien edited and published by his son, Christopher Tolkien, in the book, Unfinished Tales. A few more references in the Appendices to LotR, too. According to some of those writings, the men of Bree, not too far from The Shire, are related to the men of Dunland, too.
Apparently you can see Viggo's Habs jersey under his armor in this scene. It was the home jersey, so it should be bright red. I still haven't found it yet so hopefully it wasn't digitally removed GoT style 😂
when i fractured my wrist i remember it was the only time i screamed like that. and after a few seconds of screaming (assuming this was just like any other injury, and the pain would subside atleast a bit) , the realization of "this isnt stopping" hit me. scary 😅
I had to google it because it's been forever since I've read the books, but: during the fall, Gandalf got burned by the Balrog. Then he almost froze in the water at the bottom of the pit. And yet he got up and hunted that damn Balrog all the way up the mountain, above the clouds, where they both fought the entire time, until Gandalf finally killled that thing, shattering an entire mountainside before he himself died. The entire fight lasted ten days.
At 16:40, the Dead Marshes probably derive in part from Tolkien's experiences as an officer in the British Army during World War I, where he saw many gruesome sights, including dead bodies lying in flooded shell craters.
At 21:07 Treebeard chants "O Rowan mine, I saw you shine." The rowan tree was one of Treebeard's favorites, and his poem is much longer in the book. Rowans are a European variety, and I had to do some research to discover that our American equivalent is a related species called the Mountain-Ash. They produce clusters of red berries in the fall, which are a favorite of many species of birds.
@@Makkaru112 Lassemista, Carnimirië...what's his other name for her? Anyway, if Kahla wants to hear some of the Ent music properly, she can refer to ua-cam.com/video/HL-TpGJoucQ/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared&t=2620
At 19:56 you say, "So this fight went on for a while." Tolkien gives a detailed chronology of events as an Appendix following ROTK. In it we find that Gandalf fought with the Balrog from January 15 to January 25. His dead body lay on the peak of Celebdil from January 25 to February 14, when he was resurrected as Gandalf the White.
one of the funniest things about this scene 6:56 is that everyone assumes its something nasty and a mean thing the orcs do because of how the Orc presents the situation... but it was actually medicine. i find that bit to be funny in the reaction videos everyone thinks its some kind of foul orc alcohol or blood
Movie-wise. Book wise, it was King Elendil, Prince Isildur, King Gil-Galad of the elves, and Lord Elrond who teamed to kill Sauron. Elendil and Gil-Galad died, and Isildur cut the Ring off of Sauron's body to keep as a weregild for losing his father and brother (who had died earlier in the siege of Barad-Dur). Elrond, like in the movie, disagreed with Isildur, but with their armies standing around them ahving just defeated the greatest evil in the world, it wasn't the time to start a human-elf war, so Elrond just made his disapproval known.
Your plural, "elfs", is technically correct, as is "dwarfs" as plural for dwarf. That said, Prof Tolkien, a philologist who worked on the Oxford English Dictionary during his career, popularised the use of "elves" and "dwarves" as new plurals through the success of his books.
At 26:22, the script writers in adapting Tolkien's book into movie form frequently chose to put the words of one character into the mouth of a different character. For example, the first words of the Prologue to FOTR, spoken over a black screen before the title card came up, are spoken by Galadriel; in the book, similar words are spoken near the end of ROTK by Treebeard! One of the strangest occurrences of this transformation is this creepy speech of Grima Wormtongue to Eowyn. In the book a similar speech is given much later in the tale by Aragorn to Eomer. In Aragorn's mouth and in the different circumstances, the words aren't creepy at all.
23:45 That's an army of Easterlings from Rhun, an eastern land allied with Mordor. Many of the people of Rhun have rebelled against Sauron, but others like that army stayed loyal to him. One of the Ringwraiths used to be an Easterling king. 35:41 Those are the Haradrim. Like the Easterlings, they're also forced to serve Sauron (which was easy bc of how close Mordor is to Harad) 31:59 He's actually speaking Old English instead of Elvish! The Rohirrim's language and culture are based on early medieval England (mid-5th to 7th centuries). Tolkien was a professor on the literature and language of this time period, so he included them into his writings.
By the way.. The voice of Treebeard are John-Rhys Davis voice. And he is the actor who played Gimli. His voice was so deep and on point that they didn't need to change it by the computer.
22:18 This piece of worldbuilding is often overlooked, but it is (IMO) one of the most genius devices that Tolkien used to build this epic tale. In the books, Gandalf (or someone else if I'm misremembering) remarks further that if Sauron had simply protected the land of Mordor with his vast armies of orcs to prevent anyone from traveling to Mount Doom, all the while sending out only small forces to find and capture the ring, then the world would have been doomed. Given this far more wise strategy, either Sauron would have found the ring eventually, or someone would have succumbed to the temptation to use it against Sauron. In either situation there was no way for good to prevail. However, because Sauron feared being defeated by a strong warrior like Aragorn who was wielding the ring against him, he could not allow any chance he might be overthrown. So in the end his fear and greed proved to be his undoing. It is one of the best ways in which the "Evil destroys itself" theme is worked into The Lord of the Rings, and it is done in such a clever and perfect manner that I want to applaud every time I see it.
The cast and crew clearly loved and respected the source material, and the world that JRR Tolkien created. It really shows, in the set design, the dialogue, the character casting choices, the acting... It is beyond amazing.
7:00 that is actually medicine. Maybe mixed with some kind of alcohol. Cause in the books the orcish medicine is sorta like elvish magic medicine (the orcs are twisted and cursed elves made originally by Morgoth, Sauron’s old boss who was much more powerful). It describes the medicine as like a black paste or goo that would go over wounds and cause a burning sensation. It would instantly heal skin wounds that weren’t too major. Like it wouldn’t reattach an arm but one of the hobbits has a big gash on his forehead and they smear it on the wound, he cries out in pain, but then it’s healed. It leaves a scar tho for the rest of his life. And the other hobbit is healed from drinking that black liquid we see in the movie, the other hobbit has broken his legs or maybe sprained it or something. He couldn’t walk and was very weak passing out. And when the orcs shove the liquid in his mouth the hobbit says it burned as it went down and he felt warm, but then the pain was gone, he was able to stand and walk again. Orcs sorta are looked at as very simple. But in the books, even without Saruman or Sauron we see them being very inventive, have their own culture and fixes for things. Very inventive for weapons, it’s describe they use gun powder, repeating ballistas (like a slow giant “machine gun” bow & arrow), even something like tanks. They have some kinds of their own “magic”. And do their own crude doctoring and surgery. They are very industrious, more so than other races to the point they are like humans in real life being very exploitative of the nature around them for their own needs.
In the scene where Aragorn & crew meet the white wizard, Jackson had Ian McKellen (Gandalf) impersonate Saruman's voice, & Christopher Lee (Saruman) impersonate Gandalf's voice, then composited them together.
I’m so excited when she uploads an LOTR reaction, each of these movies are absolutely top tier. I love seeing people experiencing this world for the first time
Excellent conjecture! The bodies in the Dead Marshes are indeed from the battle in Prologue of the first film 😃 Technically there were two phases in the War of the Last Alliance (which the movie condensed into a single event): a battle at the Black Gate and then a siege of Sauron's tower. Legolas' grandfather was killed in the former, so it's very possible that he's buried there somewhere.
The battle at the Black Gate was several years before the battle that saw Sauron slain. After they won at the Black Gate, the human-elf army besieged Barad-Dur for eight years or so.
I love the scenes where human allies of Sauron appear. Not only do they have cool armor but also ever since I was a kid it sparked my imagination of what far distant lands of Middle Earth must be like beyond Mordor
oh, and the dark-haired people who swear a blood oath to Saruman and attack villages in Rohan are the hillmen from Dunland, the same ones who lended Saruman crows to search for the Fellowship in the last movie
@@blueshit199 nah crebain are from dunland but Saruman has used them for a while they aren't just specific to dunland either melkor (saurons boss) had armies of twisted corrupted beings some were werewolves, "vampires" (they were just bats not humanlike), wargs, trolls, etc but yeah the dunlanders gave their blood for Saruman but they didn't give him something he already had. also no one knows what's past Mordor the Haradrim (the ones with the oliphants) are from the south of Mordor (east, south east of Gondor) rhun (middle eastern looking guys) are north of Mordor. but no living man has ever been east of Mordor at least none to survive or write down, as far as anyone knows its nothing, although i do find it interesting the elves go to valinor in the east, now this is just my own speculation and theory but its not confirmed nor ever will be but the dwarves live up north in the misty mountains but we don't know what's past that its just frozen wasteland so maybe that's where "dwarf heaven" is, the men live south just like the west its a massive ocean so that could be their heaven as all of the races do have their own "heavens" sort of men just die they go to valinor i believe but they literally die the elves are immortal so they get to stay in valinor but can choose to die whenever they want dwarves not a lot is known of their deaths except maybe possibly they return to the rock that made them finally we have the east the land of evil we have no idea where melkors soul went after he was defeated, except east as he could not face judgement from eru illuvitar (god), so maybe that's where evil goes to diminish and decay in their own twisted heaven or hell, again no clue its just my own thoughts it sort of doesnt work for the dwarves but maybe as dwarves were first brought to life from fire and clay so a frozen wasteland doesn't necessarily make sense. interested in what your thoughts are on what could be east of Mordor middleearthmap.app/# just in case you were curious of what the whole map looks like
@@ashleytaylor7621 I believe to the far east of Middle Earth, outside of the map, there are Red Mountains, aka Orocarni and beyond them there's another sea. Orocarni are also called Mountains of the East, and in the intro of Fellowship, when the map is shown, you can see a range labeled as Mountains of the East just next to the sea of Rhun
@@blueshit199 no its not outside of middle earth its basically the border and no one knows what's past it the red mountains are the edge of mordor and rhun.
As a lifelong JRR Tolkien fan and someone who saw the movies when they came out... You are picking up on way more than most people do on first watch. Nice :)
4:58 No. Sauron forged the ring in the year 1690 S.A. (Second Age) and wore it until his defeat in 3441(S.A.), that's about 1750 years. Gollum had it only for 500 years. By the way, that feeling you have for Gollum in those scenes, that's what Tolkien call "pity". We would call it "mercy" now. Gollum is a slave to the ring and he has suffered very much for a very long time and we would like to help him stop his suffering. Or, at least, Tolkien would say that's what we should.
The medicine drink orcs gave to Merri was described in the book to have an initial burning sensation in throat but quickly invigorating. That's what gave Uruk-Hai their speed. Also Battle of Dagorlad, the great battle of 2nd age showed in the beginning of the first movie, took place in the Dead Marshes.
18:40 the last movie all 9 of them were there. incase you forgotten, they chased down Arwen on horses after Frodo got stabbed. Their transportation got upgraded 😂
"What we need is a few good taters." "What's taters, precious? What's taters, eh?" "PO-TAY-TOES! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew... Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish." Fun Fact: Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is eighty-seven years old. He is a descendant of the Numenoreans, or a Dunedain, gifted with a long life of around 250 years. He is human, but like a different race of human. We meet another, dark and twisted Numenorean right before Aragorn lobes his head right off. Nine Hours Very Old Fact: Bernard Hill would spend up to nine hours in make-up to become the aged Theoden. He wore contact lenses to give his eyes the milky look that very old people can have, but it wasn't sufficiently successful, so his eyes were later tinkered with digitally. Building Gollum Fact: Andy Serkis said he based Gollum's desperation and cravings on the withdrawals of heroin addicts. Andy Serkis said that he based Gollum's voice on the sound of a cat coughing up a hairball. Andy Serkis's hobby of rock-climbing came in very handy for his mainly on-all-fours performance as Gollum.
The movie doesn't mention this, but Aragorn has Elvish ancestry. A very distant ancestor, but the connection is still there and Elves recognise him as kin. (For context, his ancestor was a half elf and twin brother of Elrond, each choosing differently as to whether they would live as man or elf - which makes Elrond Aragorn's many times great uncle (six thousand years of generations separated) and Arwen his distant cousin. Even with such a small amount of Elvish blood he still has long life and a connection to nature given by his distant forefather, even after he forsook immortality.)
Just wanted to point out that while Gimli is running with and pretty much keeping up with legolas and aragorn, gimli is in full battle gear pretty much at all times which is heavy and he has pretty short legs to boot.... dude is built different
sauron has always been good at winning allies - sometimes through threats, sometimes through tempting gifts, like the rings for example.I remember there was a moment in the books , in which he tried to win the dwarves from the lonely mountain, promising them new rings...
@@ashleytaylor7621 I don't remember the name anymore, but it may be the one in which Tolkien's son collected and systematized his father's works; or another one. I'm sorry I can't give you a more precise answer.
You're the first reacter I've seen that got the origin of the bodies in the Dead Marshes! I've always felt a little irritated at Legolas for breaking up a perfectly good game of Yomama. The army marching into Mordor are Easterlings. Sauron had been sending emissaries to the South and the East, seducing the peoples there into allying with him. (The more painted-up and tribal looking guys you see later riding Oliphaunts are the Southrons.) My theory about Wormtongue is that he's always loved Eowyn, but his love became bitter and grasping when he came to realize she was never going to be his. So he allied with Saruman to get what he craved, and it was only when he saw the army of Uruk-hai that he saw she would die along with all the others. Thus the tear. Everyone laughs at the wink Gandalf gives Hama (the guard at Edoras), but they never seem to notice Hama's smirk in return. "Old man with a walking stick? Really? Alright, go ahead." They've known each other for a long time, from Gandalf's previous visits. "Eo-" is Old English for "horse", which is why it's a part of names in Edoras. The Rohirrim are basically Anglo-Saxons with horses. I saw this movie in the theater with a friend who used to be a horsewoman, and she was mightily impressed with that surrounding maneuver the Riders did when they found the Three, telling me it would have taken literally weeks if not months to train those horses to do that safely. My friend and I got to go to a Q&A with Andy Serkis, and he confirmed that he did indeed chew that rabbit open!
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind on the meadow. The days have gone down in the west behind the hills into shadow. RIP Bernard Hill.
At 35:40, Who are they? They are the Haradrim, the men of the South, marching to the Black Gate. Sauron controls all the men of the East and the South.
I know that Hama the Doorwarden is a small role but I love this meeting before the gates of Meduseld. This moment shows us the charachter of Rohan culture. Esp if we compare it to Gondorian culture (from ROTK). Those two nations are different in the movies and I like this differenciation the movies made with these two lands. I guess this differentiation exists in the book but the movies made it more apparent. So Hama in that scene do smt which Gondorian courtiers and soldiers should not be able to do - he interpreted orders he was given for the sake of letting Gandalf's company enter the hall. He knew that any stranger is not allowed to enter the hall with weapons. But in the book Hama let them in with Gandalf's staff becouse it is a right of honest man to chose for himself if there is a doubt (as to the extend of the orders). from wiki :" He disarmed Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, but against the King's orders permitted Gandalf to keep his staff with him as a courtesy, though he knew, as he remarked, that "The staff in the hand of a wizard may be more than a prop for age." hama told them " I believe you are friends and folk worthy of honour, who have no evil purpose. You may go in." Comparing it to Gondorians - at least how they were adapted in tROTK - free warriors of Rohan have more to say about interpretation of their orders, while Gondorians dont have such custom or behaviour and their soldiers must execute their orders literaly, without spectrum of interpretation. Which we can see in the scene with Denethor's last wish :) The Gondorians behavious could not be imagined by Rohan warriors becouse for Rohan warrior (as for the real ancient Germanic tribes) the warrior serves his lord by oath only as long as he himself think that this lord is worthy of the service :) While Gondorian soldiers dont serve a lord by individual oath but serve the state (with all its apparathus and laws, and legal doctrines) and is probably a reminiscent of imperial army of previous glorious age of Gondor (while in ROTK we see a ruined remnants of old glory). IMO in the movie Gondorians were adapted such way that their manners or customs seemed more in tune with stiff, harsh Bisantinian courtly customs and then Rohan people - as we can see in the movie - were based by Tolkien, and by PJ on Germanic barbarians - of Anglosaxons (even Meduseld hall in the movie is based by the designers of PJ on the description of Heoroth hall from "Beowulf" - a poem written in Anglosaxon language in England but telling story of adventures of a Goth in a Danish king service), Ostrogoths, Longobards who battled and interchanged with ancient Roman empire in 3-6 c. (though most of the architecture we can see in the movie was based on later cultures of Danish vikings from X-XII c. still these vikings were sort of descendants of Anglosaxons and Goths) For Tolkien Gondor was based on the western (Roman) empire but in its later, christianic vision from Bysantinian empire (eastern empire) golden age. Gondor's design in the movie is sort of a mix between Bisantinian architecture and Longobardic architecture (from Italy) and very early Gothic architecture, with the white throne of the kings modeled after Charlemagne throne, while Rohan architecture is mostly based on 5-6 c. halls from Scandinavian excavations and on viking style of art (the golden serpents on the gate) - Ringelike style and Urnes style from 11 c. In the movie Gondor looks like Bysantium (golden details in interior) and medieval early Gothic (exterior) and is more driven by written system of law of an imperial state (written by educated lawyers) while Rohan looks more like "vikings with horses not ships" (as PJ said) and is driven by tribal law and personal oaths between a king and free warriors and by mutual honor which can be usurped - when a king does smt unhonorable his warrior is allowed to reconsider his oath of loyalty. Its mutual between kind and warrior. There can be no such thing in Gondor though - a soldier must obey his lord's orders to the last extend, without question and without freedom of interpretation by his own conscience. Letter of the law is above spirit of the law, Positive law (written by the ruling elites) is above natural law (customs and values of the people). Obey the law (of a legal system) without free will. These lands in the movie are for me like an allegory of the history of law :) the history of this difference between Germanic tribal law and written state law (Roman law), between honor-bound between two free sides (warrior and lord), and a hierarchic law of plebeian subjects (soldiers in standing army) and their only law-giver (king, ceasar, prince, pope). Well, that is what I can figure from the differences between the two lands or how PJ adapted them from the book :)
At 7:23 you say, "These Orcs are doing a lot more talking than they did in the last movie." The movie doesn't make it too clear, but this band of Orcs comprises three separate groups. Tolkien discusses the language of the Orcs in an Appendix to the book, where he says that each tribe of Orcs had its own distinct jargon, so that Orcs from different tribes couldn't understand each others' speech. So when different tribes came together as here, they spoke a debased form of the Westron, the Common Tongue of the West of Middle-earth, which Tolkien translated as Modern English. The folks at Weta Workshop did a good job of representing the three kinds of Orcs: the small Orcs ("Why can't we have some meat?") are from Moria and are out to avenge their folk, while the medium-sized Orcs (Oh, they look tasty!") are from Mordor and want to take the Hobbits to Sauron, and the large Orcs ("Looks like meat's back on the menu!") are Saruman's Uruk-hai and are Taking the Hobbits to Isengard.
the orcs consisted of isengard orcs (the orc that said "yeahh why cant we have some meat" his name was snaga) then there was mordor orcs led by grishnakh "what about their legs they don't need those" and finally ugluk of the isengard uruk-hai " they are not for eating" yes goblins are sort of kind of maybe we don't know considered orcs however not 1 goblin of moria served sauron nor helped in the war of the ring they were just doing what goblins do chill in caves and be creepy, other than in the fellowship we never see a single goblin not once the rest are snaga orcs (confusing i know as 2 orcs are named snaga but snaga is almost like a slave orc but it can be a name weird i know) mordor orcs and uruk hai and i guess technically trolls but they arent orcs.
I don't remember if I said this on one of the other videos, but these are some of the best reactions ever to these movies. You really pick up fast on just about everything. Very well done 👍🏻👍🏻
To think Frodo could've fallen to his death for what amounts to Sam's pocket-bottle of tobasco 😂 ... actually I can relate. The morale boost of just the thought of a well-seasoned meal can do wonders lol
Loving your commentary and how well you're following the story and every little interaction. Honestly impressive, for a first time viewer, you're a director's best thing ever 😂
The drink that they gave him was probably some form of alcohol mixed with blood (due to its color) because the book said it burned on the way down but basically made you feel much more vital. They also said it tasted vile so probably pretty high proof non-distilled alcohol with blood.
The rope is made by the elves and it actually burns Gollum - he is “poisoned” by the Ring. And he cannot eat those super nutritious breads precisely because they contain a small amount of Light forces.
Your comments on these films I love so deeply bring me so much joy. Your clear understanding of the plot and characters would make Peter Jackson proud.
Thank you. Of all the people of your generation who watch this movie [LotR is a 10-hourfilm in three parts, not three movies] who gets what's happening right away. I particularly like how you want to remember the names of characters in this character-rich saga. I love watching you. I believe you are ready to read the book.
These movies are just the tip of the iceberg. I tried to read the Hobbit in grade 6 but wasn't much of a reader and didn't get far. Then these movies came out, then the Hobbit movies, then the Rings of Power and I decided to read the books (yep RoP convinced me to read, so not everyone disliked it). The stories that lead up to these movies is great and I highly recommend checking them out. When I read the Hobbit I found it funny that a book targeting the youth seemed like reading a thick phone book when I was younger. If you give the books a shot I recommend these titles in this order: 1) The Hobbit 2) The Lord of the Rings 3) The Silmarillion (aka the Tolkien bible, some find it hard to read but I didn't have much problems with it) 4) Beren and Luthien 5) The Children of Hurin (my favorite) 6) The Fall of Gondolin There are many other books, but I feel those give you the most complete middle earth experience without being too long. #3-6 above can be confusing at times since the Silmarillion tells some of the same story as #4-6 but some of the plot and characters are changed. So if the Silmarillion seems daughting, most of it should make sense after reading books #4-6.
The Dead Marshes were from the Battle of Dagorlad from the Second Age, fought during the last alliance of men and elves, so yep, you're not wrong about it being from the time of Isildur. The idea for the haunting sight was from Tolkien's experiences in WWI in the north of France. I think a lot of why these books continue to fascinate us decades later is because so much of the story is built not only around the man's extensive knowledge and understanding of myth and legend, but around his own real and harrowing experiences.
In the book, when Aragorn captured gollum, he also complained about his stink. Imagine medieval Rambo complaining about how bad someone smells. It must be truly awful.
The Balrogs were terrifying demons created by the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Remember in the first movie, when the orcs and goblins fled in the minds of moria? Gandalf mentioned a Balrogs, and you see Legolas' eyes widen in fear... Because he knows...
In the books it's a little easier to remember the names of the people of Rohan, because many of their nouns begin with the eo, ay o, sound. Also their language has a Germanic or Norse ring to it. They come by it honestly. Tolkien's job was translating the old Norse legends to English. His creation of what became The Legendarium served two purposes; to create a place where the people spoke the languages he made up, the other was to replace the irretrievably lost original creation myths of the folks of ancient Britain.
Hi Kahla! I’m so glad you’re enjoying these movies. As good as they are, if you really want the full Lord of the Rings experience, I recommend reading the books that the movies are based on. There are lots of differences between the books and the movies, and there’s some stuff that got left out of the movies. Then you’ll get the whole story the way Tolkien wrote it.
Gandalf is essentially a guardian angel in this world. He got to return because he's good at his job. He is to guide, not interfere. You'll only see him directly interfere once. It hasn't happened yet.
that wasn't interfering we wont spoil it but no he was meant to go there eru illuvitar would have whooped him into the void if he interfered as it had to be the certain races choice of the future also eru illuvitar interferers like twice which obviously isnt made obvious but yeah no Gandalf does not interfere he does exactly what he is supposed to.
The film's idea of what the Two Towers refers to (an alliance of evil essentially) makes for a compelling explanation for the film, but Saruman was actually fighting for his own selfish ends to claim the Ring for himself rather than fully pledged to Sauron's cause. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come up with his own symbol, the White Hand, in contrast to the Red Eye of Sauron. The deleted scenes for Fellowship of the Ring do show that Saruman was in it for himself, but they didn't make the cut.
@@kahlareacts Meanwhile, the end of Fellowship when Aragorn fights all the Uruks by himself while Frodo runs away; all those extras were New Zealander marines. And Aragorn's actor himself is a wild guy; so everyone in that fight were genuinely fighting each other having the time of their lives, while the director and producers were worried sick needing to actively remind the actors not to kill each other.
The inspiration of lord of the rings lore comes from norse mythology, celtic mythology and jrr tolkein ptsd abd experience from ww1. The size of muddle earth is the size of the content of Europe. The names of samwise, marrón and pippin were named after his vest college friends that went to ww1 with jrr tolkein and only jrr tolkein came back alive out of the 4 from ww1
I've seen a few reactors commenting on this epic and some of them have been very perceptive. You however, are by far the smartest cookie of them all. TROTK is quite loaded with info, so you MAY, if time allows, want to split it into 3 parts? Thanks for this reaction. Been waiting patiently since FOTR for this. 😊
Funny thing is - and I never have noticed it before even though I know this movie to the extend that I can tell the music from particular scene :D - that when Gandalf and the rest arrive to Edoras (Rohan's capital) and Hama the Doorwarden meets them before Meduseld (kings hall), Hama says "by order of Grima Wormtongue" though AFAIR in the book he says "Hama son of Galmod" as this was the proper name and Wormtongue was derogative nickname he was called by Rohirrims who dont like his politics. And I m sure PJ 've changed it to better explain his (Grima) charachter though in the book Hama or others would never called Grima by this name in public and to someone like foreign diplomats :)
I loved every minute of this! The Gandalf reveal warmed my heart. I love that you and Sam are SO on the same page! A+++++++++ can't wait for the next one!
I’ve been following your channel since Star Wars, you are extremely insightful and great to watch. When it comes to Return of The King, I would recommend three parts and a box of tissues. That’s if you haven’t started editing it yet. One of the best reactors to this series that I’ve seen.
"Gandalf was kicking his ass on the way down" Gandalf is so much more powerful here it's not even funny. That's what all that "I am the wealder of the sacred fire" and "You shall not pass" was all about. That was Gandalf telling the Balrog that he's out of his depth and basically flexing his abilities
I’ve watched many reactions to the LOTR trilogy, and am really enjoying your considered and deep take. You absolutely ‘get’ it, and that’s such a pleasure to watch. Thank you!
Minor detail you may like. Obviously Gandalf and the Balrog weren't human, but they're not gods either. Their like angels, so it was angel vs bad angel in that fight.
Dang I like you. I've loved the Middle Earth all my life and never wondered if Smeagel had the Ring longer than Sauron, had to look that up since it has been so long from when I read all the world building books and I don't think I even had that register.
I can never forgive PJ for few things esp omisions of important moments with important texts (mostly Frodo dialogues) but one of the less important mistakes are that in the scene with the death of Theodred (Theoden's son) there is no healers around in his chamber, Eowyn is alone. Its so strange to think that they have not tried to heal him or at least make him comfortable at his deathbed. I know Eowyn is there but still it seems a bit lack of care for someone as important as the only son of a king :)
The horse at 31:58, Brego, was adopted in real life by the Aragorn actor, Viggo Mortensen, such a bond was created between the man and horse while filming. The horse's name was Uraeus, and upon his death many years later, Viggo Mortensen had this to say:
"Aged 28, but a timeless presence in the minds of those who had the honour of knowing this proud, handsome, and supremely intelligent being, mighty Uraeus has finally come to rest on the physical plane. Thank you, Jane and Ray, for helping him do so with dignity. Dearest friend and teacher, I hold you and keep you."
I read that as King Aragorn.
Didn't Viggo Mortensen ♂️ also adopt the horse 🐎 from the movie Hildago? The mustang 🐎
Viggo also slept in the stable with the horse, to better bond with it. :) I don't think it was any sort of method acting, he just seems like the outdoorsy type, who is very comfortable camping out, and around animals.
Kahla, you are REALLY good at this! You catch things I didn't the first time. Like when Frodo falls into the water in the Dead Marshes. So many people think he fell in or was stupid to look; you knew right away it was the Ring that took him into the water.
For real. The effect of the ring is telegraphed through many scenes in the movie even. Every time Frodo wants to hide or not be seen he is highly tempted to put it on. Every time he is very close to great evil, the dead marshes, Mordor, the Nazgul, it practically pulls him towards those things. CRAZY.
Gandalf it´s one of the five Istari... sent to the middle earth by the Valar. With Saruman, it´s also Gandalf, Radagast and the two blue wizards. Saruman was the white because he was chosen as the leader of all them. When he turned to evil... the Valar chose a new leader.... returning Gandalf as Gandalf the white.
Actually the valar didn't choose gandalf he was sent back by the god of the LOTR universe Eru Ilúvatar , the valar had nothing to do with his new form & body
@welsh-cymru1588 The Valar did chose Gandalf, though.
@@stefannydvorak7919 yes the valar chose him when he was was called Olorin , it was a young elf like physical form his maiar spirit took when he first appeared in Arda (Earth) , he was living in valinor (the undying lands) west of middle earth with all the Valar & his fellow maiar (spirits) , the valar choose him & 4 other maiar (spirits) to go to middle earth in the form of old man wizards Gandalf , Saruman , Rhadaghast, 2 blue wizards to lead the free peoples against sauron , his spirit changed from the elf like form of Olorin to the form of gandalf the grey, when he died fighting the balrog he returned to his true spirit maiar form leaving arda (earth) returning to heaven until he was reincarnated with more power as gandalf the white sent back by the god Eru iluvatar, only Eru can give a valar or maiar spirit more power seeing as he created arda (earth), he created the Ainur spirits (valar & maiar) and men & elves
@@welsh-cymru1588 I know. I read the Silmarillion.
Smiting my enemy's ruin upon the mountainside is how I roll.
I absolutely love that line!
From the lowest dungeons to the highest peak...
Until at last I threw down my enemy
That is how I tend to smite.
Lmao! That was good!
Loved your perceptive reaction! You picked up so many points early that most people don't: 3:16 Sam's magic Elven rope. 3:50 that the ring gets stronger the closer to Mordor it gets. 10:45 that Theoden is not just senile but under a spell 11:27 that Saruman has angered the Fangorn trees 16:52 that the bodies in the Dead Marshes were from the battle in the prolog 17:18 that most of the attacks on Frodo are due to the influence of the ring 34:22 that Frodo's feelings for Gollum are due to their both being ringbearers
In addition to orcs, both Sauron and Saruman have men fighting for them: Saruman 8:57 hill tribes that hate Rohan, and Sauron 23:20 Easterlings that are traditional enemies of Gondor.
Gandalf trivia. When she got news from the Fellowship about Gandalf being lost in Moria, Galadriel asked the Lord of the Eagles to do a flyover and see what’s up. The Eagle found Gandalf on the mountaintop and Ubered him to Lothlorien, where Galadriel fitted him out with new white threads. He arrived in Lorien the day after the Fellowship left in their boats. So think of in FOTR when they’re sailing down the river - Gandalf was landing in Lothlorien then. Also the Fellowship remained in Lothlorien a solid month - so that was how long Gandalf’s ordeal of chasing and fighting the Balrog and laying on the mountaintop lasted. Btw after the Balrog fought Gandalf awhile he did NOT want any piece of that anymore, and much of the time was the Balrog fleeing and Gandalf chasing him.
@@Makkaru112if anything, they’re a Lyft.
@@brianparks4236 if you upgrade you get to ride Gwaihir.
@@ethancha9361 And he will tell you that he will bear you far . . . but not _too_ far.
Sauron had the ring much longer than Gollum did. Sauron made the ring about year 1600 of the Second Age, held it about 1800 years, and then was defeated at the end of the Second Age, which lasted about 3,400 years in total.
sometimes i forget how long the second and third ages were compared to the first lol
@@snaz388 I like how Tolkien very neatly made them about 500, then 3500, then 3000 years, to keep the math simple 😂
@@Big_Texyeah he made the story and world huge and complex but made things people who read his work hate to think about simple😂
@@Big_Tex and the orcs/goblins/trolls have trippled since sauron's death..
theres many "evil-based creatures" who are seriously underrated in lotr and other fantasy genres(the mentions i mentioned as always painted as dark or evil beings, no offense to tolkien who was huge on christianity a man after my own heart. i just find it really peculiar and odd that they havent changed the premise of them. in a story i read,way before tolkien/george lucas/gene roddenberry etc started with their own versions, i found out these creatures were known as "wild creatures." from the dark realm however darkness isnt bad thing "its your intentions behind what everyone else across different realms and genres has called you since after the dawn they started splitting up,wild and good changed it to dark/light giving them suppoed/assumed standards. in 400,000 years to 20,000 years afterwards of constant war and death, but the reality is they surviving no different from you or i just in "different or misunderstood ways.' personally i like the goblins.trolls/orcs and foul creatures designs with especially their misunderstood backstory many of them were betrayaed and put into slavery cause something greater of power or intelligence "said it was right to be under their foot and no one elses." same happened with light creatures or good natured characters/ someone decided they should be ruled over as well however, they were giving more "free will" live as ou please but pay/taxes/sacrifices/ or basically "live by our standards or die with no honor amongst your households.. either way good/bad they were both in slavery of the mind. really think about it?
The Anduin river held the ring longer than even Sauron.
I think you're one of the first reviewers to ever point out that Frodo said he didn't know the way in the beginning! lol
Another insightful reaction, I'm really looking forward to what you think of the rest of the series
"Wormtongue" isn't an insult. In this context "worm" is "dragon" and in European mythologies dragons are usually intelligent and their magical power is in their words - never tell a dragon your name! Therefore, "wormtongue" is a name Grima had even before he became Theoden's counsellor because he was a wordsmith and gifted in persuasion. The name Gríma is also a play on words: in Old English a gríma was a face-covering to hide one's identity - symbolic of Saruman's using Gríma to influence Théoden; it also sounds like the modern English word "grime" which gives the character an unpleasant feel. Tolkien was a master at this kind of wordplay. Never take a name from Tolkien at face value.
At 8:55, the man swearing allegiance to Saruman is one of the inhabitants of Dunland, the region west of Rohan. These Dunlendings were displaced when the Rohirrim occupied their land 500 years before our story. The Mark of the Riders had been the northern province of Gondor; it was ceded by the Steward of Gondor to the Rohirrim as a reward for their help in routing an invasion of Easterlings (we'll see some Easterlings shortly, marching into the Black Gate of Mordor). The actions of the Dunlendings in the movie is limited to their burning of the Westfold and massacring its people. In the book they also join the Uruk-hai at the Battle of Helm's Deep.
The tales of the Dunlendings on the edge of Calenardhon, which then became Rohan, are explained a bit further in the gathered manuscripts of Prof JRR Tolkien edited and published by his son, Christopher Tolkien, in the book, Unfinished Tales. A few more references in the Appendices to LotR, too.
According to some of those writings, the men of Bree, not too far from The Shire, are related to the men of Dunland, too.
I broke a toe a while ago, hurt like hell. That scream is relatable.
Apparently you can see Viggo's Habs jersey under his armor in this scene. It was the home jersey, so it should be bright red. I still haven't found it yet so hopefully it wasn't digitally removed GoT style 😂
when i fractured my wrist i remember it was the only time i screamed like that. and after a few seconds of screaming (assuming this was just like any other injury, and the pain would subside atleast a bit) , the realization of "this isnt stopping" hit me. scary 😅
I had to google it because it's been forever since I've read the books, but: during the fall, Gandalf got burned by the Balrog. Then he almost froze in the water at the bottom of the pit. And yet he got up and hunted that damn Balrog all the way up the mountain, above the clouds, where they both fought the entire time, until Gandalf finally killled that thing, shattering an entire mountainside before he himself died. The entire fight lasted ten days.
At 16:40, the Dead Marshes probably derive in part from Tolkien's experiences as an officer in the British Army during World War I, where he saw many gruesome sights, including dead bodies lying in flooded shell craters.
yes, and mud-filled trenches with scattered bodies and body parts hit by artillery...
At 21:07 Treebeard chants "O Rowan mine, I saw you shine." The rowan tree was one of Treebeard's favorites, and his poem is much longer in the book. Rowans are a European variety, and I had to do some research to discover that our American equivalent is a related species called the Mountain-Ash. They produce clusters of red berries in the fall, which are a favorite of many species of birds.
@@Makkaru112 Lassemista, Carnimirië...what's his other name for her? Anyway, if Kahla wants to hear some of the Ent music properly, she can refer to ua-cam.com/video/HL-TpGJoucQ/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared&t=2620
Ok, I admit it. I got choked up when you got choked up when you saw Gandalf. ❤
At 19:56 you say, "So this fight went on for a while." Tolkien gives a detailed chronology of events as an Appendix following ROTK. In it we find that Gandalf fought with the Balrog from January 15 to January 25. His dead body lay on the peak of Celebdil from January 25 to February 14, when he was resurrected as Gandalf the White.
Gandalf falling down to the underground lake with the Balrog is my favourite sequence in the entire trilogy. Great insights, great reaction.
That wide shot, where you just see the glow slowly coming from the ceiling until they finally are revealed just... gives me chills every time.
It’s such a great moment.
@@Crazy_Diamond_75 Shine On .... Great observation.
@@chrisbanks6659 😄
@@kahlareacts @19:50 It’s never too early to cry happy tears in a movie.
RIP Bernard Hill. Theoden King!
"This tree is terrifying, but it took out that orc, so I'm like... kinda sorta rootin' for it?"
You're an accidental genius with that tree pun. 😂
one of the funniest things about this scene 6:56 is that everyone assumes its something nasty and a mean thing the orcs do because of how the Orc presents the situation... but it was actually medicine. i find that bit to be funny in the reaction videos everyone thinks its some kind of foul orc alcohol or blood
Piter de Vries, Chucky, Gríma Wormtongue... Brad Dourif always plays these nice, wholesome, well-adjusted characters.
I'm picking up your sarcasm.
At 16:54 Yep, that was the War of The Last Alliance, where Elfs and Men fought and defeated Sauron by Isuldur chopping off his finger.
Movie-wise. Book wise, it was King Elendil, Prince Isildur, King Gil-Galad of the elves, and Lord Elrond who teamed to kill Sauron. Elendil and Gil-Galad died, and Isildur cut the Ring off of Sauron's body to keep as a weregild for losing his father and brother (who had died earlier in the siege of Barad-Dur). Elrond, like in the movie, disagreed with Isildur, but with their armies standing around them ahving just defeated the greatest evil in the world, it wasn't the time to start a human-elf war, so Elrond just made his disapproval known.
Your plural, "elfs", is technically correct, as is "dwarfs" as plural for dwarf. That said, Prof Tolkien, a philologist who worked on the Oxford English Dictionary during his career, popularised the use of "elves" and "dwarves" as new plurals through the success of his books.
@@parissimons6385 Wolf-wolves, calf-calves, half-halves...Tolkiens "-lf" etymology makes sense.
@@parissimons6385 Weird I typed Elfs. I normally use "elves". Probably too much pipeweed.
I think you’re one of the most wholesome creators I’ve encountered and I truly love your channel and your wholesome energy 🥰
Thank you so much 🥰
At 26:22, the script writers in adapting Tolkien's book into movie form frequently chose to put the words of one character into the mouth of a different character. For example, the first words of the Prologue to FOTR, spoken over a black screen before the title card came up, are spoken by Galadriel; in the book, similar words are spoken near the end of ROTK by Treebeard! One of the strangest occurrences of this transformation is this creepy speech of Grima Wormtongue to Eowyn. In the book a similar speech is given much later in the tale by Aragorn to Eomer. In Aragorn's mouth and in the different circumstances, the words aren't creepy at all.
23:45 That's an army of Easterlings from Rhun, an eastern land allied with Mordor. Many of the people of Rhun have rebelled against Sauron, but others like that army stayed loyal to him. One of the Ringwraiths used to be an Easterling king.
35:41 Those are the Haradrim. Like the Easterlings, they're also forced to serve Sauron (which was easy bc of how close Mordor is to Harad)
31:59 He's actually speaking Old English instead of Elvish! The Rohirrim's language and culture are based on early medieval England (mid-5th to 7th centuries). Tolkien was a professor on the literature and language of this time period, so he included them into his writings.
By the way.. The voice of Treebeard are John-Rhys Davis voice. And he is the actor who played Gimli. His voice was so deep and on point that they didn't need to change it by the computer.
Don't care what anyone says,Andy Serkis should have won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his legendary performance as Gollum ...
22:18 This piece of worldbuilding is often overlooked, but it is (IMO) one of the most genius devices that Tolkien used to build this epic tale. In the books, Gandalf (or someone else if I'm misremembering) remarks further that if Sauron had simply protected the land of Mordor with his vast armies of orcs to prevent anyone from traveling to Mount Doom, all the while sending out only small forces to find and capture the ring, then the world would have been doomed. Given this far more wise strategy, either Sauron would have found the ring eventually, or someone would have succumbed to the temptation to use it against Sauron. In either situation there was no way for good to prevail. However, because Sauron feared being defeated by a strong warrior like Aragorn who was wielding the ring against him, he could not allow any chance he might be overthrown. So in the end his fear and greed proved to be his undoing. It is one of the best ways in which the "Evil destroys itself" theme is worked into The Lord of the Rings, and it is done in such a clever and perfect manner that I want to applaud every time I see it.
The cast and crew clearly loved and respected the source material, and the world that JRR Tolkien created. It really shows, in the set design, the dialogue, the character casting choices, the acting... It is beyond amazing.
7:00 that is actually medicine. Maybe mixed with some kind of alcohol. Cause in the books the orcish medicine is sorta like elvish magic medicine (the orcs are twisted and cursed elves made originally by Morgoth, Sauron’s old boss who was much more powerful). It describes the medicine as like a black paste or goo that would go over wounds and cause a burning sensation. It would instantly heal skin wounds that weren’t too major. Like it wouldn’t reattach an arm but one of the hobbits has a big gash on his forehead and they smear it on the wound, he cries out in pain, but then it’s healed. It leaves a scar tho for the rest of his life. And the other hobbit is healed from drinking that black liquid we see in the movie, the other hobbit has broken his legs or maybe sprained it or something. He couldn’t walk and was very weak passing out. And when the orcs shove the liquid in his mouth the hobbit says it burned as it went down and he felt warm, but then the pain was gone, he was able to stand and walk again.
Orcs sorta are looked at as very simple. But in the books, even without Saruman or Sauron we see them being very inventive, have their own culture and fixes for things. Very inventive for weapons, it’s describe they use gun powder, repeating ballistas (like a slow giant “machine gun” bow & arrow), even something like tanks. They have some kinds of their own “magic”. And do their own crude doctoring and surgery. They are very industrious, more so than other races to the point they are like humans in real life being very exploitative of the nature around them for their own needs.
In the scene where Aragorn & crew meet the white wizard, Jackson had Ian McKellen (Gandalf) impersonate Saruman's voice, & Christopher Lee (Saruman) impersonate Gandalf's voice, then composited them together.
I’m so excited when she uploads an LOTR reaction, each of these movies are absolutely top tier. I love seeing people experiencing this world for the first time
I like that the Riders sorrounding the trio lower their spears only when their boss took off his helm :)
Yes, the battle that made the Dead Marshes was indeed the Battle from the beginning of the first movie.
Excellent conjecture! The bodies in the Dead Marshes are indeed from the battle in Prologue of the first film 😃 Technically there were two phases in the War of the Last Alliance (which the movie condensed into a single event): a battle at the Black Gate and then a siege of Sauron's tower. Legolas' grandfather was killed in the former, so it's very possible that he's buried there somewhere.
The battle at the Black Gate was several years before the battle that saw Sauron slain. After they won at the Black Gate, the human-elf army besieged Barad-Dur for eight years or so.
Actually the faces in the marshes come from the battle of dagorlad whereas the battle at the beginning is the siege of barad-dur so that is incorrect.
I love the scenes where human allies of Sauron appear. Not only do they have cool armor but also ever since I was a kid it sparked my imagination of what far distant lands of Middle Earth must be like beyond Mordor
oh, and the dark-haired people who swear a blood oath to Saruman and attack villages in Rohan are the hillmen from Dunland, the same ones who lended Saruman crows to search for the Fellowship in the last movie
@@blueshit199 nah crebain are from dunland but Saruman has used them for a while they aren't just specific to dunland either melkor (saurons boss) had armies of twisted corrupted beings some were werewolves, "vampires" (they were just bats not humanlike), wargs, trolls, etc but yeah the dunlanders gave their blood for Saruman but they didn't give him something he already had. also no one knows what's past Mordor the Haradrim (the ones with the oliphants) are from the south of Mordor (east, south east of Gondor) rhun (middle eastern looking guys) are north of Mordor. but no living man has ever been east of Mordor at least none to survive or write down, as far as anyone knows its nothing, although i do find it interesting the elves go to valinor in the east, now this is just my own speculation and theory but its not confirmed nor ever will be but the dwarves live up north in the misty mountains but we don't know what's past that its just frozen wasteland so maybe that's where "dwarf heaven" is, the men live south just like the west its a massive ocean so that could be their heaven as all of the races do have their own "heavens" sort of men just die they go to valinor i believe but they literally die the elves are immortal so they get to stay in valinor but can choose to die whenever they want dwarves not a lot is known of their deaths except maybe possibly they return to the rock that made them finally we have the east the land of evil we have no idea where melkors soul went after he was defeated, except east as he could not face judgement from eru illuvitar (god), so maybe that's where evil goes to diminish and decay in their own twisted heaven or hell, again no clue its just my own thoughts it sort of doesnt work for the dwarves but maybe as dwarves were first brought to life from fire and clay so a frozen wasteland doesn't necessarily make sense. interested in what your thoughts are on what could be east of Mordor
middleearthmap.app/# just in case you were curious of what the whole map looks like
@@ashleytaylor7621 I believe to the far east of Middle Earth, outside of the map, there are Red Mountains, aka Orocarni and beyond them there's another sea. Orocarni are also called Mountains of the East, and in the intro of Fellowship, when the map is shown, you can see a range labeled as Mountains of the East just next to the sea of Rhun
@@blueshit199 no its not outside of middle earth its basically the border and no one knows what's past it the red mountains are the edge of mordor and rhun.
Gandalf's trust and confidence in Aragorn is one of my favorite things.
As a lifelong JRR Tolkien fan and someone who saw the movies when they came out... You are picking up on way more than most people do on first watch. Nice :)
4:58 No. Sauron forged the ring in the year 1690 S.A. (Second Age) and wore it until his defeat in 3441(S.A.), that's about 1750 years. Gollum had it only for 500 years. By the way, that feeling you have for Gollum in those scenes, that's what Tolkien call "pity". We would call it "mercy" now. Gollum is a slave to the ring and he has suffered very much for a very long time and we would like to help him stop his suffering. Or, at least, Tolkien would say that's what we should.
Quite possibly the greatest trilogy ever put to the "film".
Tough to argue against it.
🤘🏼✌🏼
The medicine drink orcs gave to Merri was described in the book to have an initial burning sensation in throat but quickly invigorating. That's what gave Uruk-Hai their speed. Also Battle of Dagorlad, the great battle of 2nd age showed in the beginning of the first movie, took place in the Dead Marshes.
its grog which is rum so its orc rum....... they literally say cant take his grog
Fun fact: Viggo Mortensen actually bought the horse he rides. He slept beside it to form a bond between them for filming and beyond. What a chad 🤘🏻
18:40 the last movie all 9 of them were there. incase you forgotten, they chased down Arwen on horses after Frodo got stabbed. Their transportation got upgraded 😂
"What we need is a few good taters."
"What's taters, precious? What's taters, eh?"
"PO-TAY-TOES! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew... Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish."
Fun Fact: Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is eighty-seven years old. He is a descendant of the Numenoreans, or a Dunedain, gifted with a long life of around 250 years. He is human, but like a different race of human. We meet another, dark and twisted Numenorean right before Aragorn lobes his head right off.
Nine Hours Very Old Fact: Bernard Hill would spend up to nine hours in make-up to become the aged Theoden. He wore contact lenses to give his eyes the milky look that very old people can have, but it wasn't sufficiently successful, so his eyes were later tinkered with digitally.
Building Gollum Fact: Andy Serkis said he based Gollum's desperation and cravings on the withdrawals of heroin addicts. Andy Serkis said that he based Gollum's voice on the sound of a cat coughing up a hairball. Andy Serkis's hobby of rock-climbing came in very handy for his mainly on-all-fours performance as Gollum.
Bernard Hill (Theoden)
17 December 1944 - 5 May 2024
The movie doesn't mention this, but Aragorn has Elvish ancestry. A very distant ancestor, but the connection is still there and Elves recognise him as kin.
(For context, his ancestor was a half elf and twin brother of Elrond, each choosing differently as to whether they would live as man or elf - which makes Elrond Aragorn's many times great uncle (six thousand years of generations separated) and Arwen his distant cousin. Even with such a small amount of Elvish blood he still has long life and a connection to nature given by his distant forefather, even after he forsook immortality.)
Just wanted to point out that while Gimli is running with and pretty much keeping up with legolas and aragorn, gimli is in full battle gear pretty much at all times which is heavy and he has pretty short legs to boot.... dude is built different
sauron has always been good at winning allies - sometimes through threats, sometimes through tempting gifts, like the rings for example.I remember there was a moment in the books , in which he tried to win the dwarves from the lonely mountain, promising them new rings...
what books were you reading because its not in any of the books i have read thousands of times.
@@ashleytaylor7621 I don't remember the name anymore, but it may be the one in which Tolkien's son collected and systematized his father's works; or another one. I'm sorry I can't give you a more precise answer.
2:17 - this shot & the music accompanying it together make one of the greatest moments in movie history.
You're the first reacter I've seen that got the origin of the bodies in the Dead Marshes!
I've always felt a little irritated at Legolas for breaking up a perfectly good game of Yomama.
The army marching into Mordor are Easterlings. Sauron had been sending emissaries to the South and the East, seducing the peoples there into allying with him. (The more painted-up and tribal looking guys you see later riding Oliphaunts are the Southrons.)
My theory about Wormtongue is that he's always loved Eowyn, but his love became bitter and grasping when he came to realize she was never going to be his. So he allied with Saruman to get what he craved, and it was only when he saw the army of Uruk-hai that he saw she would die along with all the others. Thus the tear.
Everyone laughs at the wink Gandalf gives Hama (the guard at Edoras), but they never seem to notice Hama's smirk in return. "Old man with a walking stick? Really? Alright, go ahead." They've known each other for a long time, from Gandalf's previous visits.
"Eo-" is Old English for "horse", which is why it's a part of names in Edoras. The Rohirrim are basically Anglo-Saxons with horses. I saw this movie in the theater with a friend who used to be a horsewoman, and she was mightily impressed with that surrounding maneuver the Riders did when they found the Three, telling me it would have taken literally weeks if not months to train those horses to do that safely.
My friend and I got to go to a Q&A with Andy Serkis, and he confirmed that he did indeed chew that rabbit open!
Hama also stays the hand of one of his fellow guards when Gandalf exorcises Theoden, it's a shame he died in the Warg ambush
I'm really impressed by your attention to detail and understanding of the underlying themes. Cant wait to see part two and ROTK!
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind on the meadow. The days have gone down in the west behind the hills into shadow. RIP Bernard Hill.
An amazing actor among amazing actors.
Hail Theodin, King!
"SHOW YOURSELF!"
Another great reaction 💜 -x-
The lord of the rings and the hobbit has been #1 and #2 on the most sold fantasy books since the 1930s abd 1950s
At 35:40, Who are they? They are the Haradrim, the men of the South, marching to the Black Gate. Sauron controls all the men of the East and the South.
"I mean this tree is terrfying but also took out that orc, so I'm kinda sorta ROOTING for it" :D
I know that Hama the Doorwarden is a small role but I love this meeting before the gates of Meduseld. This moment shows us the charachter of Rohan culture. Esp if we compare it to Gondorian culture (from ROTK). Those two nations are different in the movies and I like this differenciation the movies made with these two lands. I guess this differentiation exists in the book but the movies made it more apparent. So Hama in that scene do smt which Gondorian courtiers and soldiers should not be able to do - he interpreted orders he was given for the sake of letting Gandalf's company enter the hall. He knew that any stranger is not allowed to enter the hall with weapons. But in the book Hama let them in with Gandalf's staff becouse it is a right of honest man to chose for himself if there is a doubt (as to the extend of the orders). from wiki :" He disarmed Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, but against the King's orders permitted Gandalf to keep his staff with him as a courtesy, though he knew, as he remarked, that "The staff in the hand of a wizard may be more than a prop for age." hama told them " I believe you are friends and folk worthy of honour, who have no evil purpose. You may go in." Comparing it to Gondorians - at least how they were adapted in tROTK - free warriors of Rohan have more to say about interpretation of their orders, while Gondorians dont have such custom or behaviour and their soldiers must execute their orders literaly, without spectrum of interpretation. Which we can see in the scene with Denethor's last wish :) The Gondorians behavious could not be imagined by Rohan warriors becouse for Rohan warrior (as for the real ancient Germanic tribes) the warrior serves his lord by oath only as long as he himself think that this lord is worthy of the service :) While Gondorian soldiers dont serve a lord by individual oath but serve the state (with all its apparathus and laws, and legal doctrines) and is probably a reminiscent of imperial army of previous glorious age of Gondor (while in ROTK we see a ruined remnants of old glory). IMO in the movie Gondorians were adapted such way that their manners or customs seemed more in tune with stiff, harsh Bisantinian courtly customs and then Rohan people - as we can see in the movie - were based by Tolkien, and by PJ on Germanic barbarians - of Anglosaxons (even Meduseld hall in the movie is based by the designers of PJ on the description of Heoroth hall from "Beowulf" - a poem written in Anglosaxon language in England but telling story of adventures of a Goth in a Danish king service), Ostrogoths, Longobards who battled and interchanged with ancient Roman empire in 3-6 c. (though most of the architecture we can see in the movie was based on later cultures of Danish vikings from X-XII c. still these vikings were sort of descendants of Anglosaxons and Goths) For Tolkien Gondor was based on the western (Roman) empire but in its later, christianic vision from Bysantinian empire (eastern empire) golden age. Gondor's design in the movie is sort of a mix between Bisantinian architecture and Longobardic architecture (from Italy) and very early Gothic architecture, with the white throne of the kings modeled after Charlemagne throne, while Rohan architecture is mostly based on 5-6 c. halls from Scandinavian excavations and on viking style of art (the golden serpents on the gate) - Ringelike style and Urnes style from 11 c. In the movie Gondor looks like Bysantium (golden details in interior) and medieval early Gothic (exterior) and is more driven by written system of law of an imperial state (written by educated lawyers) while Rohan looks more like "vikings with horses not ships" (as PJ said) and is driven by tribal law and personal oaths between a king and free warriors and by mutual honor which can be usurped - when a king does smt unhonorable his warrior is allowed to reconsider his oath of loyalty. Its mutual between kind and warrior. There can be no such thing in Gondor though - a soldier must obey his lord's orders to the last extend, without question and without freedom of interpretation by his own conscience. Letter of the law is above spirit of the law, Positive law (written by the ruling elites) is above natural law (customs and values of the people). Obey the law (of a legal system) without free will. These lands in the movie are for me like an allegory of the history of law :) the history of this difference between Germanic tribal law and written state law (Roman law), between honor-bound between two free sides (warrior and lord), and a hierarchic law of plebeian subjects (soldiers in standing army) and their only law-giver (king, ceasar, prince, pope). Well, that is what I can figure from the differences between the two lands or how PJ adapted them from the book :)
At 7:23 you say, "These Orcs are doing a lot more talking than they did in the last movie." The movie doesn't make it too clear, but this band of Orcs comprises three separate groups. Tolkien discusses the language of the Orcs in an Appendix to the book, where he says that each tribe of Orcs had its own distinct jargon, so that Orcs from different tribes couldn't understand each others' speech. So when different tribes came together as here, they spoke a debased form of the Westron, the Common Tongue of the West of Middle-earth, which Tolkien translated as Modern English. The folks at Weta Workshop did a good job of representing the three kinds of Orcs: the small Orcs ("Why can't we have some meat?") are from Moria and are out to avenge their folk, while the medium-sized Orcs (Oh, they look tasty!") are from Mordor and want to take the Hobbits to Sauron, and the large Orcs ("Looks like meat's back on the menu!") are Saruman's Uruk-hai and are Taking the Hobbits to Isengard.
the orcs consisted of isengard orcs (the orc that said "yeahh why cant we have some meat" his name was snaga) then there was mordor orcs led by grishnakh "what about their legs they don't need those" and finally ugluk of the isengard uruk-hai " they are not for eating" yes goblins are sort of kind of maybe we don't know considered orcs however not 1 goblin of moria served sauron nor helped in the war of the ring they were just doing what goblins do chill in caves and be creepy, other than in the fellowship we never see a single goblin not once the rest are snaga orcs (confusing i know as 2 orcs are named snaga but snaga is almost like a slave orc but it can be a name weird i know) mordor orcs and uruk hai and i guess technically trolls but they arent orcs.
I don't remember if I said this on one of the other videos, but these are some of the best reactions ever to these movies. You really pick up fast on just about everything. Very well done 👍🏻👍🏻
Gandalf vs Balrog is basically angel vs demon. Epic.
They're the same class of celestial being, yeh?
@@eXpriest yeah and so is sauron, sauron and gandalf and all balrogs are all maiar but obviusly sauron and the balrogs are evil
To think Frodo could've fallen to his death for what amounts to Sam's pocket-bottle of tobasco 😂 ... actually I can relate. The morale boost of just the thought of a well-seasoned meal can do wonders lol
You are an absolute pleasure to watch. You are so astute, catching things really quickly. Probably the best reaction I've seen to these movies!
Loving your commentary and how well you're following the story and every little interaction. Honestly impressive, for a first time viewer, you're a director's best thing ever 😂
The drink that they gave him was probably some form of alcohol mixed with blood (due to its color) because the book said it burned on the way down but basically made you feel much more vital. They also said it tasted vile so probably pretty high proof non-distilled alcohol with blood.
The words from Treebeard's poem at 21:53 really are beautiful!
The rope is made by the elves and it actually burns Gollum - he is “poisoned” by the Ring. And he cannot eat those super nutritious breads precisely because they contain a small amount of Light forces.
Your comments on these films I love so deeply bring me so much joy. Your clear understanding of the plot and characters would make Peter Jackson proud.
Thank you. Of all the people of your generation who watch this movie [LotR is a 10-hourfilm in three parts, not three movies] who gets what's happening right away. I particularly like how you want to remember the names of characters in this character-rich saga. I love watching you.
I believe you are ready to read the book.
These movies are just the tip of the iceberg. I tried to read the Hobbit in grade 6 but wasn't much of a reader and didn't get far. Then these movies came out, then the Hobbit movies, then the Rings of Power and I decided to read the books (yep RoP convinced me to read, so not everyone disliked it). The stories that lead up to these movies is great and I highly recommend checking them out. When I read the Hobbit I found it funny that a book targeting the youth seemed like reading a thick phone book when I was younger.
If you give the books a shot I recommend these titles in this order:
1) The Hobbit
2) The Lord of the Rings
3) The Silmarillion (aka the Tolkien bible, some find it hard to read but I didn't have much problems with it)
4) Beren and Luthien
5) The Children of Hurin (my favorite)
6) The Fall of Gondolin
There are many other books, but I feel those give you the most complete middle earth experience without being too long. #3-6 above can be confusing at times since the Silmarillion tells some of the same story as #4-6 but some of the plot and characters are changed. So if the Silmarillion seems daughting, most of it should make sense after reading books #4-6.
nope everyone hated it
The Dead Marshes were from the Battle of Dagorlad from the Second Age, fought during the last alliance of men and elves, so yep, you're not wrong about it being from the time of Isildur. The idea for the haunting sight was from Tolkien's experiences in WWI in the north of France. I think a lot of why these books continue to fascinate us decades later is because so much of the story is built not only around the man's extensive knowledge and understanding of myth and legend, but around his own real and harrowing experiences.
I cannot even imagine how bad Gollum must smell.
I thought about it for a moment while watching this and then immediately pushed it out of my mind. 😂
In the book, when Aragorn captured gollum, he also complained about his stink. Imagine medieval Rambo complaining about how bad someone smells. It must be truly awful.
Good one, Kahla! You're doing a great job with it. can't wait to see part 2. Thanks for sharing this one. 🙂
The Balrogs were terrifying demons created by the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Remember in the first movie, when the orcs and goblins fled in the minds of moria? Gandalf mentioned a Balrogs, and you see Legolas' eyes widen in fear... Because he knows...
In the books it's a little easier to remember the names of the people of Rohan, because many of their nouns begin with the eo, ay o, sound. Also their language has a Germanic or Norse ring to it. They come by it honestly. Tolkien's job was translating the old Norse legends to English. His creation of what became The Legendarium served two purposes; to create a place where the people spoke the languages he made up, the other was to replace the irretrievably lost original creation myths of the folks of ancient Britain.
Hi Kahla! I’m so glad you’re enjoying these movies. As good as they are, if you really want the full Lord of the Rings experience, I recommend reading the books that the movies are based on. There are lots of differences between the books and the movies, and there’s some stuff that got left out of the movies. Then you’ll get the whole story the way Tolkien wrote it.
I liked when you said you were "rooting" for the "tree"
Gandalf is essentially a guardian angel in this world. He got to return because he's good at his job. He is to guide, not interfere. You'll only see him directly interfere once. It hasn't happened yet.
that wasn't interfering we wont spoil it but no he was meant to go there eru illuvitar would have whooped him into the void if he interfered as it had to be the certain races choice of the future also eru illuvitar interferers like twice which obviously isnt made obvious but yeah no Gandalf does not interfere he does exactly what he is supposed to.
@@ashleytaylor7621 I can't stop laughing at "whooped him into the void".
@@WaywardVet its an ashbash original feel free to use at your own expense
The film's idea of what the Two Towers refers to (an alliance of evil essentially) makes for a compelling explanation for the film, but Saruman was actually fighting for his own selfish ends to claim the Ring for himself rather than fully pledged to Sauron's cause. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come up with his own symbol, the White Hand, in contrast to the Red Eye of Sauron. The deleted scenes for Fellowship of the Ring do show that Saruman was in it for himself, but they didn't make the cut.
FYI, most of the stunt riders who played the Rohirrim were female. Every shooting day it took several hours in the morning to glue beards on them.
On top of that they glued long hair into the back of the helmets to save time on wigs
Oh! This is really cool to know.
@@kahlareacts Meanwhile, the end of Fellowship when Aragorn fights all the Uruks by himself while Frodo runs away; all those extras were New Zealander marines. And Aragorn's actor himself is a wild guy; so everyone in that fight were genuinely fighting each other having the time of their lives, while the director and producers were worried sick needing to actively remind the actors not to kill each other.
I didn't know that. Was there a reason for it or was it just a coincidence?
@@TheCrazyCanuck420 I think it was just a coincidence, those were the skilled riders that were available in New Zealand at the time.
I'm so happy you;ve started this journey into a world that I love. Welcome to the Family!
6:45 say it, don't spray it bro.
34:09 very insightful for a first-timer
The inspiration of lord of the rings lore comes from norse mythology, celtic mythology and jrr tolkein ptsd abd experience from ww1. The size of muddle earth is the size of the content of Europe. The names of samwise, marrón and pippin were named after his vest college friends that went to ww1 with jrr tolkein and only jrr tolkein came back alive out of the 4 from ww1
Nice genuine reactions, subscribed.
She she she didn't show the bit with Aragorn kicking the helmet...she'll never know
I’ve been watching behind the scenes videos. I know now, and I now regret leaving it out.
I've seen a few reactors commenting on this epic and some of them have been very perceptive. You however, are by far the smartest cookie of them all. TROTK is quite loaded with info, so you MAY, if time allows, want to split it into 3 parts? Thanks for this reaction. Been waiting patiently since FOTR for this. 😊
Funny thing is - and I never have noticed it before even though I know this movie to the extend that I can tell the music from particular scene :D - that when Gandalf and the rest arrive to Edoras (Rohan's capital) and Hama the Doorwarden meets them before Meduseld (kings hall), Hama says "by order of Grima Wormtongue" though AFAIR in the book he says "Hama son of Galmod" as this was the proper name and Wormtongue was derogative nickname he was called by Rohirrims who dont like his politics. And I m sure PJ 've changed it to better explain his (Grima) charachter though in the book Hama or others would never called Grima by this name in public and to someone like foreign diplomats :)
I loved every minute of this! The Gandalf reveal warmed my heart. I love that you and Sam are SO on the same page! A+++++++++ can't wait for the next one!
Another great reaction. Can't wait for part 2 ✌️
I’ve been following your channel since Star Wars, you are extremely insightful and great to watch. When it comes to Return of The King, I would recommend three parts and a box of tissues. That’s if you haven’t started editing it yet. One of the best reactors to this series that I’ve seen.
With your videos, I'm always astounded at how accurate your guesses are. Maybe I'm just not good at catching on, but you seem pretty sharp to me.
"Gandalf was kicking his ass on the way down"
Gandalf is so much more powerful here it's not even funny. That's what all that "I am the wealder of the sacred fire" and "You shall not pass" was all about. That was Gandalf telling the Balrog that he's out of his depth and basically flexing his abilities
We should all smite our enemy's ruin upon the mountainside...:D
I’ve watched many reactions to the LOTR trilogy, and am really enjoying your considered and deep take. You absolutely ‘get’ it, and that’s such a pleasure to watch. Thank you!
Ofcourse the character named 'Wormtongue' is played by the voice of Chucky from Child's Play 🤣
I need to visit New Zealand
Minor detail you may like. Obviously Gandalf and the Balrog weren't human, but they're not gods either. Their like angels, so it was angel vs bad angel in that fight.
Dang I like you. I've loved the Middle Earth all my life and never wondered if Smeagel had the Ring longer than Sauron, had to look that up since it has been so long from when I read all the world building books and I don't think I even had that register.
I can never forgive PJ for few things esp omisions of important moments with important texts (mostly Frodo dialogues) but one of the less important mistakes are that in the scene with the death of Theodred (Theoden's son) there is no healers around in his chamber, Eowyn is alone. Its so strange to think that they have not tried to heal him or at least make him comfortable at his deathbed. I know Eowyn is there but still it seems a bit lack of care for someone as important as the only son of a king :)
Did you hear the one about the Ranger from the North and the saga of the broken toe(s) ..... you will. 🙄😂
I was just scanning comments for the toe. lol Who is going to do the honors