LOTR: EE in a single sitting

heh I had a drinking game with Two Towers. Hobbit names are 1 shot. Human's are two. Gandalf is 3.


Oh and I honestly don't think your DVD player will make it through all the films in one sitting. Your player will probably heat up quite a bit. Throw eggs on it when you start watching the 3rd film, and then go the next day (if you drank) to get yourself a new player.

It works famously.

Did it on New Years Day when I had nothing to do.
My total time was about 14 hours, with a bathroom break in between each film and my P.O.S. DVD player was just fine. hiccuped once or twice during RotK but nothing major.


To be honest though, if this'll be the first time you see the RotK box-set I wouldn't recommend it.
Even an uber-geek like myself was getting a bit tired of the whole thing by the time that final battle was about to start.
Although I'm sure it'll be a lot more fun with a few people to watch it with.

If you actually were to watch the entire ROTK:EE's in one sitting I think you'd end up looking like that sloth guy from Se7en

Most of the time, I don't watch any of the films unless it's back to back to back.

Anyways, I have a simple ritual. 10 minute bathroom break between disc 1/disc 2 changeover. 15 minute bathroom/food break between films.

And as for drinking games, actually brainstormed this with a friend one day, and saved the ideas. Here's what we got....

1 shot every time there's a close up of the Ring. 2 if there's caressing going on. 3 each time someone puts it on. Finish off whatever you're drinking when the Ring is destroyed.

*Notes: The forging of the rings scene in Fellowship is exempt. Otherwise, you'll be passed out before the title comes up.


One shot for every Legolas arrow fired. God help you during Amon Hen, Helm's Deep, and Pellenor Fields.

*Notes: Killing shots only. That's most of them, but certain ones (the Orc that sets off the bomb at Helm's Deep, the one fired at the King of the Dead) are exempt.


One shot anytime someone's drinking on screen. Two shots for unusual drinks (Ent Draught, Eowyn's stew, Whatever the hell it was the Orcs gave Merry). Three whenever there's a toast involved.


Or, the best one...the Point system. Take your shots after each of these dies on screen.

Orcs and Uruk-Hai are worth nothing (primarily because there's too damn many)
Nazgul: Defeated or retreating due to actual attacks, they're all worth 1 shot per Nazgul.
Trolls are worth 2.
Balrog: Fall in Fellowship is worth 3. "Smote his ruin upon the mountain" is worth 4.
Lurtz is worth 2.
Sharku (Warg Rider Captain) is worth 1.
Saruman is worth 3.
Wormtongue is worth 2.
Corsair PJ is worth 3!
Denethor is worth 2.
Gothmog is worth 2.
Oliphaunt Army leader (the guy blowing the horn making crazy faces during the battle) is worth 2.
Witch King is worth 3.
Shelob retreating is worth 3.
Mouth of Sauron is worth 2.
Gollum is worth 3.
Finish the bottle when Barad-Dur explodes.

I watched all three in one sitting (sans drinking game...). They work incredibly well together, though I did feel pretty drained (emotionally and physically by the end). I took breaks in between each disk for food, bathroom, etc. The whole thing took about twelve hours. I played the DVDs in my computer, and it was find of the entire duration.

I went to Trilogy Tuesday and watched the first two EEs and the ROTK theatrical. That worked great, although I'm not sure how it would work with the ROTK EE, because frankly I don't think it's as good as the theatrical.

I pulled an EE weekened two weeks ago prior to doing a Matrix Trilogy weekend. Those where some hard weekends.

Frankly, it was fun to watch the EE's in a row to watch the whole story in completion but I still maintain that The Fellowship is the masterpiece in the trilogy in it's EE form. The other two are just 2 stars for me. Something about Fellowship that just works completely for me. And it has nothing to do with being the first one either. It just seems to me that everything in that film is damn-near perfect. Characterizations, visual effects, action, pacing, camerawork...across the board. Things get a little lazy and redundant being with the Two Towers.

Still, it's great having this trilogy setting on the shelf. It has an important place in cinema history. It's definitely worth watching all the films in one sitting.

Two Trilogies down, One Saga to go.

Something kinda lame I do, if my dvd player is starting to heat up, I switch to the xbox.

I can understand some criticisms of the LOTR movies, but I can not imagine how you could possibly accuse them of being "lazy". That's just crazy.

On the opening say of ROTK, i saw the marathon in NYC, the first two EE and the then the ROTK. It was a looonnnngggg day. Still haven't had the energy to watch any of them since. I guess a fan should do it once, but make sure you're comfy, your ass will be crying at the end of it all

I agree...To each his own, I guess.

Since a few people have mentioned it, I should also throw my hand in with the lucky collective that was fortunate enough to attend Trilogy Tuesday in NYC (even better, at the theater where Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Andy Serkis introduced ROTK). And yes, I knew from there the three films worked best as a 9 hour whole. But, again, pace yourself. Take breaks.

Watching these back to back to back would be a lot less tedious than reading the books.

Depends on your schedule.

Seeing as it takes fifteen hours to get through the first half of FELLOWSHIP... I concur with Jankis.

The second half of TTT is just tttedious. Frodo and Sam follow Gollum around on their way to Mordor. It's a rough trip.

It was a good time. We had some folks over and watched them back to back with a couple of breaks for the bathroom and to order/cook food. It took 11 hours, and was well worth it.

I still want to do this, though with a family around I rarely get the time. If wife and son ever go to the in-laws again, I'm all over it.

I actually came up with a few bits for a drinking game, which is useless for me, since I don't drink, but here you go.

Take a drink:

Every time Frodo says "Oh Sam"
Every time Gollum says "Precious"
Every time Gollum/Smeagol switches characters.
Every time Sam says "Gaffer"

And for those hardcore viewers who know the books inside out:

Take a drink every time you notice a change that Jackson made from the book.

If you want to make it really good, drink the entire bottle every time bloody Arwen is on screen.

Watched all 3 EE's in a row in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it. Never again though, it was almost too much although suprisingly it isn't the ROTK that i have trouble going through more TTT it just gets to a point where i'm desperate to fast forward the whole thing sometimes.

I'm a lightweight when it comes to drinking, if i did a drinking game i'd be wasted before they reached Lothlorien.

Lightweight? Dude, I'd be comatose before they left the Shire

It's funny. I LOVE the extended cuts of FOTR and ROTK, but TT is really heavy going in places. (The damn funeral in Edoras kills me.) Still, the prospect of Helms Deep is always what keeps me going

Despite the fact that it means watching Star Wars: Episode II again, I'm really looking forward to watching all six Star Wars movies back-to-back when Episode III hits the shelves on DVD.

Funny. If I was doing that, I'd dread Menace rather than Clones. Not that I'm saying Clones wouldn't drag like a mofo.

I haven't attempted to watch all 3 in one go yet, i've been busy lol Actualy i think i might get burned out and never watch the films for like 5 years or something.

As for the star wars marathon, i'm defently going to watch them all in one go. But it means i'll have to buy TPM which i promised myself i would never buy. SHIT! Well i think getting through the PT would be pretty quick, even Clones but then that's me. It would just be amazing seeing the story as one, wow!

I did this a couple weeks ago with a few friends too. It was good, although I did nod off for a few minutes once. What we did is watched FOTR on Friday night, wen't to bed and watched TTT and ROTK when we got up in the morning. I think it was a lot easier that way.

The opening day of ROTK, I saw the first two Special Editions back to back, and then the theatrical version of the third one. I had a true blast, everybody was disguised as elves or soldiers (not me, that'd been disgusting) and the people was extremely respectful.

The drinking game is hilarious, but I think it misses something: two shots for every helicopter pan. Drunk before getting to Bombadil.

I'm a huge fan, but I don't think I could do all three EEs in one sitting without an IV, a catheter and a bowl full of the finest amphetamines money can buy.

I haven't actually gotten around to watching all three back to back but a friend of mine just did it this past weekend with some of his buddies. They had it all planned out with breaks for food and everything. From the way he talked about it it sounds like they had a blast. It was his first time watching the ROTK extended version too so it was kind of a build up the whole time. I actually haven't sat through the extended version myself, but I have checked it out in bits and pieces. I just need to sit down and watch the whole thing straight through. My finace is really into LOTR stuff, maybe even more than me, so we just need to find the time to do it together.

I did it pretty recently... it was actually the first time I've had enough time to devote to it. I do recommend that you do it with a group of people, or at least several others. I would've dozed off or lost attention span if I didn't have other people to enjoy it with. Also, if you have time, take a pretty decent break between each one. Not just a bathroom break, but get up and take a decent break. We did an hour between each one to eat, use bathroom, etc. It was fun, but I don't know that I'll be doing it again anytime soon.
As for Star Wars, I'll probably do it eventually, although I'll most likely split the prequels and OT on do them on separate nights...

This would the sort of thing to do after two days of heavy partying while nursing a wicked hangover.

Trilogy Tuesday was fun. I haven't wanted to sit through all three EEs yet, but I have left them on when I'm at home doing other things (like cleaning), since I can watch a few minutes here and there, which ever parts for which I'm in the mood. And the soundtrack isn't bad to have in the background while you pay your bills and fold laundry.