SUMMERFEST '22: BNAT Fave Double Features VI - Bros on a Mission Double

"Men on a mission" has been a time-honored trope of adventure movies since just about the beginning of movies. And today's movies are a couple of great ones.

(No link to a BNAT 17 LJ post because I did not attend that year; I did an HPNAT with a friend that weekend instead.)

Gunga Din (1939) (rewatch)

Played at BNAT 17 (2015)

Trailers: Soldiers Three, Kelly’s Heroes

There’s no doubt this movie is well made and that the actors are great in it. And the story is certainly well told. But the story itself gets on my nerves, not only because of what it has to say about the Indian people (not to mention that Gunga Din is portrayed as a hero for betraying them) but also because the whole story only happens because these soldiers want to see some action (which they think will convince their friend to not get married and stay in the army – which is actually what ends up happening!) and so that Cary Grant’s character can steal some gold. These three/four guys just go off half-cocked and write checks the British Army has to cash. It all seems so unnecessary to me. Having said that, I do love this movie in spite of itself. It has also obviously inspired many other filmmakers, perhaps especially George Lucas, who based Jar-Jar Binks on the title character (even giving his race the name "Gungan") and apparently originally planned to give Jar-Jar a similar character arc. The extreme backlash to the character convinced him to drop it. This one is a classic, but with a LOT of asterisks. Hardly the only one of these to play BNAT (or indeed this week’s doubles).

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (rewatch)

Played at BNAT 5 (2003) (Theatrical Cut)

Trailers: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

(Please note that the BNAT 5 post linked above was written in 2003, when I felt somewhat differently about the final film and before most of us had learned many unpleasant things about its director.)

This one is well into the mission, but a mission nonetheless (I didn't have time for all three). Another one about which everything has already been said (and I’ve said plenty myself in other places). Yes, I watched the theatrical cut because it’s the one we saw at BNAT (and Wahleecon, incidentally -- still LOLing at "His name is Faramir," Emily). Don’t worry; I’ve seen the extended edition many many times. My favorite moments are still the lighting of the beacons (*happiest sobs*) and that silent moment with the hobbits in the Green Dragon at the end, but there are so many more noteworthy and iconic moments that it is fruitless to even start listing them. I do feel the need to shout-out both the Pelennor Fields battle sequence and the Black Gate battle sequence as absolute master classes in editing and the way they both push forward ALL of the competing story threads and character beats more effectively than just about any action movie (or any other kind) I’ve ever seen. And I love watching the credits roll with Alan Lee's excellent drawings of the cast, remembering how the whole room at BNAT 5 applauded each name like it was a curtain call. Well, except John Noble, poor guy. Fringe didn't exist yet and most people only knew him as this shitty father. :P