The Eye of Sauron is a very heavy motif used throughout the book, Jackson taking such an impactful literary device and turning it into the iconic cinematic visual it is today was very well done.
Far off the shadows of Sauron hung; but torn by some gust of wind out of the world, or else moved by some great disquiet within, the mantling clouds swirled, and for a moment drew aside; and then he saw, rising black, blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood, the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower of Barad-dûr. One moment only it stared out, but as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye.
Not sure how that wouldn’t translate to literally looking like an eye of flame but okay.
To be fair, the eye looks cool and gives the BBEG some much needed character, instead of being the nebulous master of evil he is.
Its implosion+explosion as Barad-Dur falls is possibly my favorite VFX in film.
I don’t think the eye is bad but I prefer how it is in the books, the mystery makes him more intimidating to me
A half ethereal necromancer with boundless sight who can possess an entire tower wasn’t intimidating enough for you?
I feel like showing it as a visual in the eyes of the spies or random urikai witnessing important events would have conveyed the idea better instead of confusing the audience into thinking it’s just a tower that can see really far. I didn’t get that it was symbolic when I watched it.
You are correct. That would have been cool.
My head canon was always that the eye was just a spell or a possession ability he had while he was working to come back (which required the ring).
The Big Big Enormous Globe?
Big Bad Evil Guy
The eye always makes me think of Series of Unfortunate Events even though the Illuminati clearly has the most brand recognition attached to it
“Damn.”
Oh, that’s why the fall of that tower felt so inconsequentual? The eye just fizzled out, not the expected big baddaboom.
I can’t remember how it was in the books
Frodo sees an eye, that looks out through a window in a room at the top of the tower. Some speculate, that it’s the Palantir in Barad Dur.
Damn, being spied on by an evil overlord via palantir. Such fantasy. Such whimsy.
