fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #6269 ]

[ SECRET POST #6269 ]

⌈ Secret Post #6269 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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03. https://i.imgur.com/Tarobqr.png

I've never really been quite as hooked on Sam as a lot of people are. I dunno why, but...he gets on my nerves.

Yeah, me too. Everyone loves him, and I’m just like, “…he’s okay, I guess.” I always found him a bit much? Like he was overplayed somehow. It was kind of jarring, for what is a very humble character.

I think that’s why a lot of his scenes never hit the way they were supposed to for me either. Something about Sean Astin’s delivery of the lines doesn’t click with me. Not sure if it’s the emphasis or the accent, but it often feels less genuine to me than scenes with other characters.

Yes, this.
And then I read a few things about him (nothing crazy awful, but just kind of jerky to be around) that in re-watching always makes me kind of just...not enjoy him.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2024-03-06 02:34 (UTC) - Expand

I’ve always thought he was too earnest, if that makes sense. Just doesn’t really hit for me the way he clearly did for the majority and that was the only reason I’ve ever come up with. I never read the books or paid attention to conversations about the differences.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2024-03-06 02:39 (UTC) - Expand

To me it's the insistence that 'OMG, Sam is the real hero, not Frodo, am I the only one who sees this?!?!!' feeling that I get from other fans.
Yes. We get it. No. You're not the only one who sees it, and no, Sam is not under-appreciated.

I guess I'm just a salty Frodo fan annoyed that my fave got put through the character assassination blender and didn't get to the other side looking good in any way, unlike Merry and Pippin and maybe even Faramir. Though at least Frodo didn't get turned into stupid comic relief like poor Gimli!

That's baffling. How is Frodo not also a hero? He couldn't help what the ring did to him; more powerful people than him couldn't resist/were afraid of it. Yeesh.

I think this right here is a lot of it.

And yeah, Gimli's whole deal really got annoying after a while.

eh, each to one's own.

I love that scene. That scene and the scene where he follows Frodo into the water still makes me cry :')

Sean Astin got hurt doing that! He managed to step on the one bit of trash they hadn't managed to dredge out of the water.

I love that scene in terms of Sam. But I do think the score was a little too on the nose. I feel that way about quite a bit of the score. I know it is loved, but for me it is one of the weaker parts of those movies.

I've been finding I really dislike scores that are too present, which the LotR score kind of is. It's beautiful music, but there's too much of it, too often.

More and more, I appreciate films that have long periods of only ambient noise or incidental music (e.g. it's coming from a radio).

+1, Sam and his speech were fine but the movie felt it had really over-sell that moment.

I love these movies, but I hate it when a score tells me exactly how to feel.

I mean, I love that scene, but I also am completely incapable of separating my love or hate of ANYTHING in the LOTR movies with my love of the books. The result is that I have an unreasonable amount of hatred for the way movie!Faramir is characterized in Two Towers in particular, while also fist pumping an insane amount when I see a great Sam speech that ties his and Frodo's journey to the rest of the Fellowship's journey in a way that wasn't possible in the books. I have 0 objectivity on this lmao, even when I can tell that people might have legitimate problems with something from a filmmaking perspective if it scratches my book-loving itch hard enough.

I feel this so much. I've totally come around and agree with you an Faramir. But the thing that really bugs me in the movies is Elrond's characterization. He's not remotely book Elrond and I can never get past it. I still love the movies, but every time Elrond is on screen I get angry.

DA - Honestly, as much as I really like some of the associated performances, I don’t think Sir Peter’s movies did particularly well by any of the elves.

that speech was about the only thing that gave me any comfort after 9/11.

I'll admit 9/11 wasn't on my mind when I first saw the movie, but I get it, about these types of speeches being comforts during or after horrible events. Of course, people don't predict or control what they do or don't connect with, but it makes me a little sad that some didn't connect with this scene. Oh well.

It was certainly better than Laura Bush yapping on TV about kids and god.

It was specifically added because of 9/11, if I recall the bonus content correctly. I'm sure Peter Jackson has a little interview where he talks about worrying that it was too hokey, but keeping it because Sean Austin nailed it.

I think you might be misremembering something.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2024-03-08 08:51 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2024-05-27 03:12 (UTC) - Expand

I agree 100% with this. I love the books so much, and have seen the movies many, many times (although not for about a decade, and I wonder how I'd find them now given as I was in my late teens/early 20s when they came out.
It's very post 9/11 in a way that I don't think ages well - but I saw a post floating round tumblr (possibly what inspired this secret?) that was full of praise for it for that exact reason, so what do I know?

...I always felt it served to show just how small Sam and Frodo are in the world, especially then. They're being overshadowed by so much, including the music...

Yeah, not a huge fan either. IIRC in the extras they talk about how it was difficult to figure out how to end that film, since they had (reasonably) sliced up the order of everything to be different than the books.

Two Towers is the one I like the least and I recall my first viewing at this point of the film I was way too annoyed that this scene didn't happen in the book to feel moved. XD

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