Random fact: I went to see The Two Towers on New Year's Eve 2002 and sat next to former Texans' GM Charley Casserly and his wife.

Honored to have a group.

Man, there were some really tough choices. The MuckRaker group was especially tough.

The poll has made me want to do a rewatch very soon.

The Rohan moments are my favorite overall, as I've always felt Texas is kind of the Rohan of the United States.

But man, as I've grown older I appreciate the Sam and Frodo dynamic, especially Frodo's dynamic with the ring.

Dammit, I'm having trouble picking just in the first one. Going to be a stacked field

Please tell me I am not the only nerd chick with a group?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Hey I got 1 right. Where's my Lembas bread?

I got a lot of chills going through the moments and picking. I basically just wrote everything down as I went through the best quotes on the IMDB listings and then arrived at a round number. Way more than Marvel or Star Wars so many of the "moments' are just incredible dialogue, thanks to your professor Tolkien.

Things that I hemmed and hawed about as departures from the text now seem a lot cooler, like the elves showing up at Helm's Deep, especially when Haldir says we are honored to fight alongside men once more and Legolas is right behind him.

If your group produces one of the top 4 vote getters, you also get a region named for you starting tomorrow.

As of right now, that would be
Tanya93
Hunter2012
Hogties
West Texan

MuckRaker96 said:

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The current 80% club.

80.8% Sam's speech about the great stories and that there's some good in the world, and it's worth fighting for. TTT

86% YOU SHALL NOT PASS - Gandalf vs. the Balrog of Moria - FOTR

88.5% Let this be the hour when we draw swords together. Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn. Forth, Eorlingas! - Theoden - TTT

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Everyone remembers this line, but really the whole scene is amazing. Gandalf isn't taunting or posturing, he's commanding; when he says, "you cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you..." because that power is subordinate to the Secret Fire. He is stating fact.

The exchange shows Gandalf's power in a way an action scene never could. The movie absolutely nailed this one (unlike Gandalf's contest with the Witch King, which is possibly the worst-adapted scene in any of the movies).

Tough bracket. I had to think long and hard on some of them, as the trouble that I always had with this trilogy - well, mostly in terms of the novels - is that I couldn't keep track of these wierd names. That alone kept me from reading FOTR right after I saw the movie; nope, I had never read the books prior to the movies, not even The Hobbit. Wasn't really my thing growing up.

I did eventually read the books by the time The Hobbit trilogy came to screen. I rank them among the very best I've ever read. I do believe Peter Jackson did a fantastic job bringing those books to the screen, albeit with some possible controversy on certain sequences he left out, such as the scouring of the Shire, but all in all, these movies are the best novel-to-film movies ever made. (I still can't figure out what he was thinking when he took on The Hobbit ...)

Now I want to re-watch the entire trilogy.

And looks like it pays off to be among the first-page posters on the related thread ...

So where does the lighting of the beacons across the White Mountains fall in the moments?
Does it fall after "Pippin helps Gandalf light the beacons" in the heddleston Group or does it come before "Gondor calls for aid! AND ROHAN WILL ANSWER! -" in the ChipFTAC01 Group?

Umm... best part in FotR, to me.



Can't wait to see how this turns out. This is one of those where I don't think I will be disappointed with any outcome. However, I don't know how you can get much more perfect than the opening exposition dump.

Yes

I was assuming the Pippin one meant that whole scene. I do wish it was more clear. Maybe just "lighting of the beacons" for clarity?

I voted like it was a part of Pippin lighting the beacons! Everything from Aragorn seeing it and running to Theoden response is the next part.

if you're a midnight person, I'll be shutting the voting around 1130 and doing the seeds. Will probably post the winner of each group as well so you group people can each know thy champion.

Will open the ballots after midnight as well.

Oh, I am so in for this. Love it and honored to have my own group.

My brother and I recently had to quarantine for 8 days in our apartment waiting on covid test results (both negative), and he had never seen the extended editions. We spent one day binging all three while playing a drinking game we found on the internet. It was brutal, but amazing.

The polls are closed!
I feel like Dumbledore about to read from the Goblet of Fire.
Your first 4 winners - sorry I'm trying to write the last 1K words of a long ass book at the same time.

Brian Earl Spilner Group - The Elves arrive at Helm's Deep / Weare proud to fight alongside Men once more - TTT

Tanya 93 Group - Sam's speech about the great storiesand that there's some good in the world,and it's worth fighting for. TTT

Ocean of Funk Group - Aragorn fights off the Nazgul at WeatherTop, throws the torch at the last one - FOTR

Hunter2012 Group - Let this be the hour when we drawswords together. Fell deeds awake. Nowfor wrath, now for ruin, and the reddawn. Forth, Eorlingas! - Theoden - TTT

More to come in a minute.

more group winners

Hogties Group YOU SHALL NOT PASS - Gandalf vs.the Balrog of Moria - FOTR

Solo Tetherball Champ Group Eowyn slays the Lord of the Nazgul / Iam no man - ROTK

Chase McGuire Group - Saruman shows Grima his new army atIsengard - TTT

Wangus12 Group - Legolas to Gimli: Shall I describe it to you? Or would you like me to find you a box? - TTT

Cinco Ranch Aggie Group - Aragorn's speech - Stand, Men of theWest! - ROTK

PDWT_12 Group - Gimili: Let them come! There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath! - FOTR

PneumAg Group - Gandalf tells Pippin not to talk toDenethor about Boromir or Frodo or the Ring .. or Aragorn .. In fact maybedon't talk at all. - ROTK

Cromagnum Group - Frodo puts on the ring and sees the Nazgul as they truly are. - FOTR

Cbr Group - Pippin at the Prancing Pony: It comes in pints? - FOTR


more to come

What else was in the ocean of funk group? I can't recall but I know I thought there were a couple better than that winner for me.

MuckRaker96 Group - Boromir's death - I would have followedyou my brother, my captain, my king. -FOTR

Beat40 Group - Arwen summons the river / If you wanthim, come and claim him! - FOTR

West Texan Group - Treebeard summons the Ents to war -TTT

shaynew1 Group - Theoden's speech before the charge atMinas Tirith - A sword day! A red day!Ere the sun rises! - ROTK

DVC2010 Group - First look at the Shire - FOTR

amercer Group - Aragorn: My friends. You bow to no one - ROTK

Duncan Idaho Group - a tie! Gandalf rides up the rings of Minas Tirithto the top level with the White Tree - ROTK and Pippin and Merry light up the big boomerat Bilbo's party - FOTR

Mort Rainey Group - The Rohirrim arrive at Minas Tirith, ROTK

PatAg Group - What's Taters, Precious? PO TAY TOES, TTT

C@LAg Group - another tie! Sam tells Shelob: "Get away from him, you filth!" - ROTK and Isildur cuts the ring from Sauron's finger, FOTR

Cappo Group - Legolas mows down the Uruk-Hai at close range with his bow - FOTR

Ulrich Group - Legolas & Gimli: Die side by side withan elf? How about side by side with afriend? - ROTK

MW03 Group - Theoden's transformation / takes up hissword again - TTT

heddleston Group - Pippin helps Gandalf light the beacons - ROTK

wildcat08 Group - The moment the Rohirrim hit Saruman's army as the sun rises, TTT

AtlAg05 Group - The fellowship passes the gates of Argonath in their boats - FOTR

Legal Custodian Group - The Nazgul smells the Ring on the road outside the Shire- FOTR

jkag89 Group - Theoden dies / I go now to the hall of myfathers, in whose great company I shall no longer feel ashamed - ROTK

bonfarr Group - That blade was broken / It has beenremade - Aragorn vs. Army of the Dead -, ROTK

ChipFTAC01 Group - Sam carries Frodo the final few feet tothe Cracks of Doom - ROTK

powerbelly Group - Aragorn kills Lurtz the Uruk-hai - FOTR

here are your four #1 seeds for the field of 64. I gotta go get my 5 hours of beauty sleep (it's not working). Will do the rest of the seeding early morning Wednesday.

#1 overall seed hailing from the Hogties Region with 88.3% of the vote.
YOU SHALL NOT PASS - Gandalf vs.the Balrog of Moria - FOTR

#2 overall seed hailing from the Hunter2012 Region with 85.7% of the vote.
Let this be the hour when we draw swords together. Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn. Forth, Eorlingas! - Theoden - TTT

#3 overall seed hailing from the Tanya 93 Region with 81.8% of the vote.
Sam's speech about the great stories and that there's some good in the world,and it's worth fighting for. TTT

#4 overall seed hailing from the West Texan Region with 70.1% of the vote.
Treebeard summons the Ents to war - TTT

Three of the four top seeds from what is generally thought of as the weakest of the three movies.

Full seeding and Round of 64 matchups should be rolling by 7 a.m.

Been up since 345 am with a sick kid so the 2nd round won't start for a couple more hours. Just got kicked out of HEB at 647 am and told the store doesn't open until 7 am despite the sign saying 6 am and the doors being open. Wednesday is off to a roaring start

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Three of the four top seeds from what is generally thought of as the weakest of the three movies.

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I thought many consider The Two Towers to be the best...

Regardless it has the best endings of the three and it's capped off by Sam's speech which might be the main motif of the series. How can you not be moved by it...

powerbelly said:

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MuckRaker96 said:

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Been up since 345 am with a sick kid so the 2nd round won't start for a couple more hours. Just got kicked out of HEB at 647 am and told the store doesn't open until 7 am despite the sign saying 6 am and the doors being open. Wednesday is off to a roaring start

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Your references are out of control! Everyone knows that.

MuckRaker96 said:

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Been up since 345 am with a sick kid so the 2nd round won't start for a couple more hours. Just got kicked out of HEB at 647 am and told the store doesn't open until 7 am despite the sign saying 6 am and the doors being open. Wednesday is off to a roaring start

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You cannot pass!

Quote:

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I thought many consider The Two Towers to be the best...

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Really just depends on who you ask.

I think LOTR is a unique trilogy in that any of the three can conceivably be considered the best.

Even with the Star Wars OT, most people agree it's ESB, with only a few crazies who say it's ROTJ.

I most often see FOTR, followed by ROTK, but I also know people who like TTT the best.

Hard to differentiate between levels of greatness when the bar is so high.

Umm.. the original Star Wars is the best sir.

More reasonable than ROTJ, at least.