**RotK - Minas Morgul**
 

What did you think of Minas Morgul in the movie?

It looked scary. That's about all we can say about it really, isn't it?

Minas Morgul was <I>exactly</I> like I had imagined it. I was afraid they wouldn't get it right, as it is sort of an odd description..."a corpse light", "a light that illuminated nothing"...it gave me shivers when I read it, as well as when I saw it. Actually, the first time it didn't, because I was too busy being thrilled that it was right. Heh. But the second time it was scary.

I was chilled to the bone seeing Minas Morgul - I mean I could feel the evil eminating from this place! I was so grateful when Frodo and Sam began to climb the um <I>so-called</I> stairs of Cirith Ungol <?sp>!

Very scary! I can't believe Sam went in there.<P>But a few questions. First, what was the light source? It was like it was a florescent, neon green! Second, Minas Morgul was originally Minas Ithil, no? I do not remember, but did the enemy troops build their own fortress there? Because that city was not very Numenorian. Also, why did it have such huge spirals? Who built it? What was it made out of? What became of it after the movie version? How did Sam climb all the way to the top and back down without being winded?<P>Just a few questions.

Cirith Ungol is not the same as Minas Morgul.

I missed the stinking flowers.<P>It didn't look the way I imagined it. Well, the Tower itself was good, but the setting was a bit off. I pictured the stairs as being to the right of the Tower, and the Tower and the bridge being further away. My vision was a little creepier-nightmarish and the movie looked more loud-scary.<P>That said, I liked it. Because I have my "book-vision" so well planted in my mind that it's still there and creepy as ever. <P>And it was well-done, I loved the lighting and the "rod" of light going up into the sky. Cooooool.

I agree with the Knight of Gondor, Minas Ithil(then Morgul) was a Numerorean creation and the statues outside where rather fitting but extremely inaccurate. The Orcs destroyed, they did not build. In addition, that neon light made the place look like a cheesy haunted house.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> pictured the stairs as being to the right of the Tower, and the Tower and the bridge being further away <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> So did I. I kept thinking "This is wrong" through the whole scene at Minas Morgul...

Orcs build stuff all the time. Where do you think they live? Goblin caves in the Misty Mountains, Gundabad, Black Gates, etc. Plus all the stuff they use every day, swords and armor and the like. Why wouldn't they modify the places they captured?

I am TRYING to find this one picture of Cirith Ungol that I'd seen before, because I remember thinking how the movie shot was almost exactly the same as the picture. But I can't seem to find it anywhere.

I love the way that Jackson stole an idea from George Lucas and used it in ROTK.<P>I'm talking about the bit where just before Minas Morgul lights up and shoots the beam out, there is half a second of SILENCE before the 'explosion' of light. It is amazing. <P>Now the last time I saw this is in the scene in SW Episode II just as Jango Fett drops a mine out of his spaceship towards Obi Wan, and we have that short bit of silence before we see and hear the explosion. <P>Brilliant in both cases. (Yes, before anyone says so, I know you can't hear sound in space........)

That pillar of light that shot up out of Minas Morgul just scared the living daylights out of me. Everything about the city was exactly how I'd imagined it, so it scared me even more.

Actually, when the Morgul Army emerged and was heading down the causeway, the scene reminded me of the scene in "The Wizard of Oz" just outside the witches castle. I half expected to hear the Black Army start singing "Oh-We-Oh, We-Oh-oh." Probably a deliberate tribute on P.J.'s part, but a lot scarier. Appropriate too. He got this one just right, I thought.

Hah. That never occured to me, but now I'll have to think of that. Thanks, ainur. <P>I quite enjoyed the beam of green light shooting up into the sky. I remember getting shivers when reading that part of the book, and the movie managed a similar effect. That is one scene that will, unfortunately, lose a lot of oomph when I watch the DVD on my little TV later, though. *sigh*