hollywood melon man

Chapter 357: The Battle of Hope and Despair
Bingbing Li and Shu Chang had experienced going to the cinema to watch movies before.

But what they have not experienced is attending a movie premiere, and a premiere of such a grand scale.

I have never heard of any Chinese director's film being released with such a big fanfare before. Now I have seen it with my own eyes, it is indeed Hollywood.

But Brother Cheng Long told them that there were only a few people in Hollywood who could do all this, and little Gilbert was the best one among them.

In fact, there is a lot of debate about who is the best director in Hollywood.

But what is certain is that Gilbert Jr.'s name must be among them, and it must be at the very front.

After finding their seats and sitting down, Bingbing and Shuchang looked around. The premiere theater was packed with people.

"So many people?" Shu Chang whispered.

"No, I recognized several of them, and I even saw Jack." Bingbing Li didn't quite know Leo's name, but she had seen "Titanic".

In such occasions, the two of them were no different from the ordinary movie fans behind them.

These are all stars, all important figures in Hollywood, and they are like invisible people.

In fact, it is very lucky to be able to attend this premiere. Many second- and third-tier Hollywood stars cannot come even if they want to because of limited seats.

Before Bingbing Li had time to lament her own insignificance, the second viewing session of the premiere soon began.

Noel did not go to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of "The Return of the King". He was in New York and grabbed the advance tickets for "The Return of the King".

Because Thursday was a weekday, he went to the cinema a little late.

By the time Noel arrived, the advance show of "The Return of the King" was about to begin.

When Noel walked into the large theater that could accommodate more than 400 people, he saw that it was packed with people. Noel felt that the attendance rate for the advance screening of the film had reached %.

But when he looked around for seats, he found an empty seat in the corner.

This field is full, Noel thought.

It makes sense. The advance show tickets were sold out a week ago. Also, this is a movie theater in the busiest neighborhood in New York, which is not comparable to ordinary remote movie theaters.

So it’s normal that the attendance rate is full, and some fans even asked for more standing room tickets!

In fact, since the popularity of "The Lord of the Rings" series, many movies with the banner of epic have emerged in the film market.

Noel has seen several of them, but to be honest, none of them can compare to the "Lord of the Rings" series.

When it comes to epic movies, it has to be The Lord of the Rings series.

It’s actually a bit unfair to compare other movies with The Lord of the Rings, as the series can go down in film history. But the biggest problem with the epic movies that followed suit is that they didn’t even do a good job of telling the basic story.

Movies are about telling stories, there is no doubt about that.

Unlike Noel, Doug and Zoe in Los Angeles were lucky enough to get the chance to watch the premiere. They left their child with his grandmother and went to watch the premiere together.

Doug and Zoe have been following Gilbert Jr.'s movies since "The Shallows". More than ten years have passed, and the young couple have become parents now.

But what remains unchanged is the two's shared love and fondness for Gilbert Jr.'s films.

After finding her seat and sitting down, Zoe couldn't contain her excitement. She hugged Doug's arm and said, "I really don't know what the movie will be like. I'm really looking forward to it."

"Shh!" Doug signaled for silence: "The movie is starting..."

Including the premiere, all 2200 advance screening theaters across the United States were packed, but no one was talking, it was eerily quiet.

In this environment where the sound of a pin drop could be heard clearly, the much-anticipated "Return of the King" officially kicked off.

At the beginning, the titles of Disney, Warner Bros., Cantaloupe Studios, and several small investors flashed by. Everyone is familiar with these and has seen them many times.

"The Return of the King" does not have a big scene at the beginning, but rather proceeds step by step.

At the beginning, we go directly to Isengard, which was destroyed by the tree people in "The Two Towers", and Gandalf, who has become a white-robed wizard, faces Saruman directly.

In the original book, the exiled Saruman was ambushed and killed by King Theoden's favorite Gulmira in the second part, and Gulmira was also shot through the heart by Legolas.

Whether in Eastern or Western culture, people usually despise traitors, so Gilbert the Younger gave Saruman such an ending.

Christopher Lee, who played Saruman, smiled knowingly. He was really lucky to be able to participate in the "Lord of the Rings" series.

After finishing the filming of "The Lord of the Rings", his focus will be on the "Harry Potter" series, after all, he played Dumbledore in it.

In the first few dozen minutes of the film, there are very few action scenes, and it is mostly long stretches of literary drama. However, no one found it boring, and everyone enjoyed watching it instead.

From the 41st minute on, the pace of the film suddenly accelerates.

An evil pillar of light shot up into the sky, and Frodo fell to the ground. The closer he got to the Eye of Sauron, the more he was bewitched.

At this time, the Black Gate opened, and a dense army of orcs marched out in orderly steps and marched towards Gondor.

Gandalf looked at the Doomsday volcano in the distance and said, "This will be a battle of the century that will determine the fate of Middle-earth..."

The film first gave the fans an appetizer, the Orc army attacked the Gondor outpost by boat at night. Although the human defenders had been prepared, the Orc army was too large in number.

The human defenders resisted all night but were defeated, and finally the remnants withdrew from the pass and retreated to Minas Tirith. The orc army caught up with the remnants and rushed directly to Minas Tirith, the largest city of humans in Middle-earth and also the last bastion.

The orc army is about to arrive, and Gandalf asks the little hobbit to light a beacon and request reinforcements.

The beacon fire was reignited, and hope was also reignited.

Accompanied by passionate music, the beacon fire spread from Minas Tirith, across the mountains, and raised the audience's emotions to a high point.

Noel in New York couldn't help but stand up to watch the movie. Not only him, but almost all the audience stood up.

It's just a simple scene of lighting a beacon, but the heavy epic feeling comes out.

Inside a movie theater in Los Angeles, the little-known Hollywood director Oakley Dell watched this scene and sighed inwardly, thinking that his film could not compare to Gilbert Jr.'s simple picture processing.

Oakley Dell and Legendary Pictures were working together to make an epic film about the fall of Byzantium, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The other party paid $1.1 million for the production and also negotiated a distribution contract with Disney.

However, the distribution contract was terminated by Gilbert Jr. because after watching the finished film, he felt that the story was sloppy and the scenes were chaotic.

At the time, Oakley Dell was still unconvinced, but now after seeing the smooth plot transitions and emotional control of "The Return of the King", Oakley came to his senses.

The gap between him and director Gilbert Jr. is at least ten Michael Bays.

The beacon reached the Kingdom of Rohan, and Aragorn ran towards the royal court: "The beacon of Minas Tirith, the beacon is lit, Gondor is requesting support."

The atmosphere froze at this moment. Facing Aragorn's request, King Theoden seemed to be thinking.

Princess Eowyn of Rohan, Legolas, Gimli, the knights of Rohan, and fans in the cinema are all waiting for King Theoden's decision.

If we follow the way some art films and film critics shoot, King Theoden should have refused at this time to reflect the darkness and complexity of human nature.

But for "The Return of the King", shooting it this way would obviously make the audience explode, and Gilbert Jr. certainly wouldn't do that.

"The Kingdom of Rohan will come to the aid of Minas Tirith and order the entire army to assemble." King Theoden's decision caused cheers to be heard in the premiere hall for the first time, followed by applause.

Shu Chang clapped and said excitedly: "It's so beautiful, so exciting."

"Yes, he is really talented. This is really a good movie." Bingbing Li praised.

Bingbing Li Bing had never watched the Lord of the Rings series before. It was only after she was chosen to play the role of the little snake that she went to watch Gilbert's previous works.

Then she realized what a great movie series she had missed.

The feeling of watching the movie this time was very different.

The assembly bell rang, and the knights of Rohan were gathering and filing out.

Different from the despair just now when the orc army was moving in full force, at this time, accompanied by the majestic and inspiring marching song, the Rohan Knights brought hope to people.

King Theoden looked at the assembled knights with a heavy gaze.

He knew that many people would never come back after this trip.

But as his inner monologue said, this battle will determine the fate of mankind and Middle-earth.

"The time for the decisive battle has arrived, Knights of King Theoden, remember your oath, and march out for the king and Rohan..."

The huge army set out on the march, and the elders and villagers of Rohan saw them off on both sides. Husbands said goodbye to their wives, sons said goodbye to their parents, and fathers said goodbye to their children.

This is the end of mankind, but it is also the hope of mankind.

King Theoden led the army in person. He knew that at this time he had to lead the charge himself to inspire the soldiers' fighting spirit.

From the lighting of the beacon until the departure of the Knights of Rohan, the emotions of moviegoers were always at a high point and never dropped.

On the front line, the army of Guancha retreated to Minas Tirith, and Flamel told Gandalf and Pippin that he had seen Frodo and Sam, and they were heading towards Mount Doom.

In the theatrical version, Gilbert Jr. shortened the story line of Frodo, Sam and Gollum as much as possible, and devoted more scenes to the battle between humans and orcs.

But some key scenes cannot be missed. Frodo, Sam, and Gollum are now struggling to move towards Mount Doom.

The dense army of orcs surrounded Minas Tirith. The defenders of Minas Tirith asked Gandalf: "Will the reinforcements from Rohan come? Where are King Theoden's cavalry?"

To this, Gandalf replied: "Now courage is your strongest line of defense."

At this time, the Regent of Gondor also sent out troops to retake the front checkpoint.

Under the order of the Regent, the soldiers launched a death charge against the Orc army and all died in battle.

The defenders and civilians on the city wall saw this tragic scene, as if they saw their own fate, and felt extremely despair.

But despair is often followed by hope, and in the river valley, King Théoden gathered his cavalry.

But Aragorn felt that the cavalry of Rohan alone was not enough, so he, Legolas and Gimli left the barracks and planned to find reinforcements.

This is different from the original novel. In the original novel, Aragorn is looking for the Southern Legion of Gondor, while in the movie, Aragorn is looking for the army of the undead that has never dissipated.

The battle between hope and despair is about to begin

(End of this chapter)