Gimli The Dwarf
Posts: 73480
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Central Park Zoo
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I wrote the following a while back concerning my favourite ever scene....
The entire sequence from entering Dwarrowdelf until leaving Moria is one of heart-pounding tension and eye-popping joy, and coming as it does at the top spot of moments from my favourite film, it manages to become my favourite film sequence from all time in the process.
There's so much to love about it I could never even begin to do the scene justice but I'll natter on anyhow.
Continuing their journey after Gandalf's momentary lapse of direction, the Fellowship enter the city of Dwarrowdelf. Vast, cavernous, seemingly stretching to infinity, it as, as Sam says, an eye-opener. Aware of its impressiveness, Gandalf almost teases his comrades prior to providing extra illumination, the music for Dwarrowdelf solemn yet proud, almost mourning this fallen city. The angular, geometric, monolithic nature of the massive pillars reflect the nature of the dwarves and their mithril-mining activities, perhaps even their arrogance as well. But ruins abound also, so perhaps all is not well.
Moving into Balin's tomb, and Gimli offers up a quiet prayer fir his fallen cousin as Gandalf translates first the runes from the tomb of Balin and then the book.
"They have taken the bridge…and the second hall. We have barred the gates…but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums...drums…in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming"
It's an ominous voice from the past, echoing the fall of a realm yet hinting at what's about to come, and is perfectly delivered by a sombre McKellen. And then Pippin goes and wrecks the mood. From within the depths of Moria, clangs, booms and screeches resound, breaking the silence, and Fellowship's central set-piece kicks off in earnest. Music cuts and the sound of battle takes over. It's quite a brutal affair, all the Fellowship members afforded the opportunity to spill blood and the stakes are obviously high.
And then the cave troll lumbers in. The troll is one of the weaker effects from the trilogy, but it's not to the detriment of the scene and he does come bearing his own personality. As an aside, if you ever play the game for The Two Towers, which includes elements from the first film, defeating the cave troll is one of the most bastard hard things you'll ever do, flailing his chain about like a whip, Git. Anyways, the cave troll is defeated, and Frodo's saved by his Mithril vest. All, is good, no?
"To the Bridge of Khazad-dûm!" With this, the Fellowship bursts forth from Balin's tomb, and the off-kilter orc music is overpowered by The Fellowship theme in its most heroic statement. The scuttling orcs attack from every angle but the Fellowship is saved, not by their own doing, but from a low, not quite distant growl, and orange an glow. Even Legolas looks scared. It's our first hint of what to expect, bar the brief glimpse that Saruman provides in the extended cut. The choir starts chantingand then never stops for the next five minutes. It's the most vocal heavy area of all 11 hours of music, the dwarvish cultures music heavily dependant on voices; an all-male Maori-Samoan choir and the fabled rugby "grunters". I believe Peter Jackson wanted them to sound like voices from hell, and coupled with the fiery imagery on display, I think the whole thing does a fairly excellent job at showing us Hell on Middle-Earth.
The collapsing stairwell, just one more obstacle to overcome, provides both tension and spectacle and a few laughs as well, a perfect example of how the conceptual artwork proved invaluable within the films. A sequence that came about simply because Alan Lee draw the stairwell with a portion missing, it was expanded upon to become its own little set-piece. It looks suitably epic, I love the huge chunk of masonry falling into the fiery caverns below, and provides us with a last burst of the Fellowship theme. Cinema's greatest piece of music will never be heard in so grand a form again.
The Balrog is bloody magnificent. It really is. The heat haze, the soot, the crackling under the skin like lava, the flames, the smoke when he unfurls his wings, the flaming whip and sword. You can practically feel the heat, especially that moment when he roars at Gandalf. The scenery as we travel further from Dwarrowdelf reflect this too, there's a volcanic feel to the stairwell chamber. This monster is a terrifying spectacle and one of the most fantastically realised beasts I've ever seen.
And then the Bridge of Khazad-dum. "You shall not pass". Just thinking about it sends shivers up my spine. In fact, alongside the music and McKellen's performance in general, it was this particular moment that became one thing I truly adored about the film in my first viewing of it at the cinema. Next time I saw this moment, I knew I was watching my favourite film. It's magnificence in film form. I've heard a few people complain that the wording has been changed from the book's "You cannot pass". I like the change, "cannot" implies that the Balrog is a fool simply incapable of crossing a bridge, "shall not" is Gandalf actively defying him, as it should be.
Then Gandalf , after apparent victory, falls to his death. I had never expected Gandalf to die, and watching it in the cinema I was almost in tears (these days I am in tears, of course). It's the reactions once the Fellowship leave Moria that really sell it, stunned disbelief and sorrow, complimented by the heartbreaking music.
.....
Sorry it was so long 
My second favourite would be this
_____________________________
So, sir, we let him have it right up! And I have to report, sir, he did not like it, sir.
Fellow scientists, poindexters, geeks.
Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!
Much more better!
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It's here.... favourite ever scenes - 
) 
), but who knew it would turn out to be the best practical joke ever? 
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