Chapter 442: The Divine Eagle Descends

"What will the beginning of this film be like?"

Sitting in the second row, Jane Lauder leaned towards Ivanka Trump and asked, "It won't be another big battle, will it?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen it yet," Ivanka replied playfully, shrugging her shoulders and pointing to the director in front of them, Duke. "He's right there; you could ask him."

Jane Lauder suppressed her curiosity. "I'll wait a bit longer."

Duke's films always have an exciting start. This has almost become a consensus among the audience. Inside the Hollywood China Theater, countless people waited in anticipation, eager for the opening of The Two Towers.

The lights in the theater finally dimmed, and the big screen gradually lit up. The iconic opening music began to echo. From New York to Los Angeles, from Seattle to Miami, everyone watching this film seemed to be holding their breath, staring wide-eyed, as if afraid to miss even a second of the scenes.

"The world is changing, the age of elves is about to end..."

The subtitles appeared on the screen, and a dreamy, ethereal voice accompanied by music echoed, "Past glories scatter with the wind, the key person has awakened!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Chris instinctively said, "It's Galadriel, it's Queen Galadriel, she's my favorite!"

"Just by the voice, you can tell?" Pete couldn't help but ask. "How many times have you watched The Fellowship of the Ring?"

"Not many..." Chris scratched his chin, "Only five times!"

Brad Miller didn't say anything, just sighed. The Lord of the Rings movie adaptations had such a powerful appeal, especially for them, the book fans!

The subtitles were very brief, disappearing in just a few seconds. In the beautiful golden forest, Queen Galadriel stood proudly like an angel.

"He must complete the mission, find him, and bring him to Lothlórien!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a giant eagle soared into the sky and flew towards the distant horizon.

The camera moved with the eagle, transitioning from the forest to snowy mountain scenes, and an old voice echoed through the mountains.

"I am the servant of the secret fire. I am the holder of the flame of Arnor. The dark fire cannot defeat me..."

The camera passed through the mountain range and returned to the Mines of Moria, where Gandalf was dragged into the depths of the world by the Balrog. The camera followed Gandalf as he fell deeper, the old wizard holding a sword and fighting the Balrog in a life-or-death struggle. The opening battle officially began!

The battle between the two former Maiars was nothing short of brutal. Both passed through flames and fell into deep water. The Balrog spread its wings and flew from the deepest dungeon to the highest peak. Although Gandalf fought to the death, he was no match for the Balrog. He was gravely wounded on the peak, but just before he fell, he used the power of lightning to kill the Balrog.

The Balrog of Morgoth rolled down the mountain, and Gandalf lay motionless in the snow.

The Hollywood China Theater was deathly silent. Even those who had never read the original story understood that bringing Gandalf back to life in the film was definitely not to show how the old wizard died!

Everyone was waiting for the moment Gandalf would rise again!

The camera slowly zoomed in on the severely injured Gandalf. As the darkness was about to fill the entire screen, suddenly there was a sharp intake of breath, and the image returned to normal. However, Gandalf, now wearing a gray robe and gray hair, had transformed into an elderly man with white hair and bare shoulders.

The so-called divine system in The Lord of the Rings was rather complex. In the original story, it was Eru Ilúvatar who sent the dead Gandalf back to Middle-earth, but due to the film's time constraints and Duke's desire to avoid involving any divine systems, he simply used the "defeating the Balrog and leveling up" method.

This neither hindered the understanding of those who had not read the original nor did it prevent those who had read the book from easily deducing how Gandalf returned.

The next scene was, of course, the divine eagle descending, bringing Gandalf back to Lothlórien.

In the golden forest, Queen Galadriel personally draped a white robe over Gandalf and gazed at him with deep affection. "Gandalf..."

"My...dy..."

Gandalf received the white staff, officially becoming the White Wizard!

As soon as Gandalf received the staff, applause erupted without warning. The applause was thunderous inside the Hollywood China Theater!

At the Nokia Theater, Pete, Chris, and Brad Miller also clapped along with the crowd. They didn't know why, but after seeing Gandalf's rebirth, they couldn't contain their excitement!

At the AMG Theater in New York, the applause was deafening. David Demby was like a raindrop in the thunder, insignificant, but his brows were furrowed, his eyes filled with a hint of disgust as he watched the big screen. What was this mess? Aside from the special effects, what else was there? Was there a single scene filmed on location? What's the difference between this and those cheap animated films?

Without the special effects, without the action scenes and melodrama, what else would you do?

He ignored the thunderous applause around him, his face full of disdain as he looked at the screen, calculating how many points he should give.

Seven points? That might be too high. Do special effects films deserve that much?

However, the next scene made David Demby think that maybe seven points were possible. Frodo and Sam appeared, and the heavy burden of the Ring seemed to weigh down the hobbits, with the complex character of Gollum catching his attention. The film began to touch on the inner worlds of these characters.

The pace slowed, and the emotions of the characters gradually developed. David Demby nodded. If the film didn't focus on grand battles but instead followed Frodo Baggins, using a slow narrative structure to delve into his, Sam's, and Gollum's complex inner worlds, he could give the film seven points!

But just as he was thinking this, the camera cut to Aragorn and his companions, and another large-scale battle broke out. The silence in the theater was immediately replaced by heightened emotions. Though the battle between the Riders of Rohan and the orcs was short, it raised the audience's excitement back to a peak after the slight lull brought by Frodo's story.

David Demby looked at the war scenes with disgust, while the audience was thrilled by the action.

"Duke really is Duke!" Chris sighed, "His films never have a dull moment, and those battle scenes that were briefly mentioned in the book are amazing!"

Pete nodded in agreement, "When it comes to filming medieval battles, Duke is definitely Hollywood's top level!"

A film can't rely solely on fantastical scenery and deep character exploration. At least for a commercial film, that's not enough.

After all, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is still a big-budget commercial production. All major commercial films don't need to spend too much time on character exploration. Doing so would make the film drag, pushing it in the direction of niche audiences.

There's one thing even the most artistic directors can't deny: 95% of the audience goes to the theater for entertainment, for simple enjoyment!

As he had said in interviews, Duke always considered the audience's taste when making films.

Even his two films with the narrowest audiences, Chicago and Critical Emergency, were still classic mainstream films.

To maintain the film's pacing, Duke appropriately reduced some of Frodo's storyline. As long as the events were conveyed, it was enough. The film was 175 minutes long, and with the scenes of Merry and Pippin with the Ents, he simplified the long dialogues as much as possible to avoid dragging out the runtime.

In the end, Duke's approach was different from Peter Jackson's. He was a fan of the Lord of the Rings films but not a die-hard fan of the original books, so he didn't feel the need to adhere strictly to the source material and make the film slow and long like Peter Jackson did.

Therefore, when the film reached just over an hour, Théoden had already decided to retreat to Helm's Deep, where they would use the Hornburg Fortress to resist the army of Isengard.

Gandalf went to seek help, and on their way to Helm's Deep, Aragorn and the others encountered Isengard's wolf riders, leading to another battle.

"Oh, he's so handsome!"

Watching Legolas drawing his bow and shooting arrows, the theater erupted in admiration. "This elf is so charming."

"Even as a man, I'm in love with him."

"This is my favorite character in the film."

Right next to David Demby, a black girl nearly shouted, "Oh my god, I want to marry Legolas! I'm going to marry Legolas!"

David Demby's dislike for the film grew deeper as he heard and saw everything around him.

What is this? Not only was the film poorly crafted, but now there's a pretty boy character just to attract the audience. Besides these unrefined tactics, what else can Duke Rosenberg do?

David Demby felt a surge of disdain and couldn't help but sneer, "Disgusting character!"

His voice was loud, and immediately, the girl sitting next to him turned to look, as if he had insulted someone sacred and untouchable. "What did you say? Are you insulting Legolas and Duke's Lord of the Rings?"

Years ago, David Demby had encountered the crazed obsession of movie fans when he was tricked by a girl from the Lauder Family. He knew well the level of obsession and madness these fans had. Seeing the people around him glaring, he quickly lowered his posture. "I didn't mean that at all!"

"How could you mishear?" the girl was still a bit confused.

David Demby quickly responded, "Actually, I'm also a fan of Duke..."

Thinking quickly, he pointed at the screen. "Look, this scene is amazing!"

The others immediately turned their attention back to the big screen, unable to look away. In the panoramic shot, Isengard was packed with strong orcs, preparing to attack Rohan.

The Battle of Helm's Deep was about to begin!