Today I am, alas, home sick. Something horrible has taken up residence in my sinuses and is producing an amazing amount of… well, you get the picture.
Colds like this turn my brain to tapioca. I can’t focus, I can’t get into the groove I need to get things done. So I’m taking this opportunity to catch up on some movie watching that I’ve been putting off because of lack of time.
Today’s entertainment has been re-watching Lord of the Rings with the directors commentary turned on. I picked up one of the various ‘directors cuts’ at some point, and unlike many people, I’ve only watched the entire 3-movie series through once. (Okay, once in the theaters, once at home), so I am a long way from losing my sense of wonder about the whole thing.
I just finished up Fellowship, with the commentary track on, and, as I have every time I’ve seen this sequence, or read it, or even talked about it, I am completely gobsmacked by the final scene in Moria between Gandalf and the Balrog. It brings tears to my eyes, I start hyperventilating, I am simply floored by the intensity, emotion, and wonder of the story…
You cannot pass!
I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass!
The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass!
When the balrog brings the sword down on Gandalf, and he deflects it with a shining globe of pure white power. Ahhh…
And then, the final words…
Fly, you fools!
Sometime soon I’ll sit down with Zach and we’ll watch the movies together (he hasn’t seen them). I’ve watched out of the corner of my eye when we’ve shown him other movies, watching to see if he ‘gets it’ – if he feels the same sense of wonderment I have, and he does. They are magical moments for me (when the Death Star (mark 1) is destroyed… the other one is in Titan AE when the Titan first ‘powers up’…)
The directors commentary while watching Fellowship added a lot to it for me, because Peter Jackson et al were so passionate about the story, and the characters, and Tolkien’s vision for Middle Earth, it really came through in the decisions they made.
I probably won’t make it through the other movies today, but this brief interlude has been…. precious.
I have the same reaction each time I see that scene.
BTW, I *highly* recommend getting Z through each of the books before showing him the corresponding movie. That’s been working well for us….
If you don’t have the Extended Editions of the movies, I’d be happy to lend them to you. They add back in a lot of scenes that were cut from the theatrical release, and include a lot more background material and commentaries.
I’m pretty sure the version I have is the ‘extended edition’. There was a whole slew of different versions flying around for a while. Peter Jackson notes a lot of times where there’s new material included that wasn’t in the theatrical release, and it’s almost all having to do with character development.
The destruction of the Deathstar has always been magical for me too. I still remember seeing it in the theater as a kid.