Posted on 12/20/2011 8:45:05 PM PST by TitansAFC
The trilogy did not hold close to the book. Jackson admitted as much.
“Sure, it’s not really THE LORD OF THE RINGS ... but it could still be a pretty damn cool movie. “ — Peter Jackson
http://www.theonering.com/page3-25/TheMoviesTheCompleteListofFilmChanges
I know enough about movie making to know that what works well on paper isn’t always feasible in the movie and movie-makers have to keep that in mind when creating their products.
For example, when X-men came out, fan-boys were waiting to see Wolverine in his yellow costume and were highly pissed when Bryan Singer didn’t have that. Singer said that they tried a yellow mock-up to see how it looked and the colour looked terrible on film, so they chose to go with film reality and dropped Wolverine’s yellow costume.
Peter Jackson wanted as close to the LOTR as could be done on film, without taking undue risk of creating confusion or unworkable situations. He even fought the studios, which wanted a five minute overview of the previous films just so he could have that extra five minutes to cover more material.
You have to keep in mind that Peter Jackson and the studios were risking 800 million dollars to make the film and have the possibility that the subject material would be something studio audiences couldn’t relate to.
Goodie BUMP
Nice catch. i could not remember what Gandalf was off doing when he left Bilbo and the dwarves to their own devices. And I just re-read The Hobbit for the tenth? twelth? time within the past year.
Not an allegory as Tolkien seemed to dislike that particular literary device.
According to J.R.R. Tolkien;
“But I cordially dislike allegory in all of its manifestations, and have always done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.”
- Forward to the 2nd ed. by Tolkien which was re-printed in the 50th anniversary edition (includes all 3 books, and appendicies), pg. XXIV
Jackson is brilliant in his portrayal to the movie. It’s no joke that he tried his hardest to stay as true to the books as possible... The movies - for their genre - are masterpieces just as the books are to epic literature.
Peter Jackson did a marvelous job in getting actors to play the parts with all sincerity. He told the people playing the hobbits, for example, it was straight up when Sam told Frodo he loved him. It wasn’t to be done with a wink or with any level of uncomfortableness or homo-erotic context.
I honestly don’t think any other director alive could have achieved what Peter Jackson achieved with LOTR.
That’s the new thing to build up interest. Release information a little bit at a time.
It’s very successful.
I’m actually surprised they released a trailer now and not some other tidbit, like a poster or something.
The LOTR and The Godfather are two trilogies that I watch compulsively every time they come on the air. Fortunately, I have divorced my TV, so it's just the internet and my cell phone that keep me connected to the outside world.
I don’t mind it either.
I like seeing the appearance of a poster or hint or trailer. But usually a trailer is one of the later bits released. I was just surprised that the first thing to see was a trailer.
Wow!!
In the book, after Frodo and Sam were rescued from Orodruin, they were carried to Ithilien, not to Minas Tirith. They recovered there, and there was a great ceremony there. Aragorn had already been crowned by that time. He had thrones set up there, made of turf, and when Frodo and Sam were healed (more or less), they were brought to the field, where Aragorn yielded his throne to them, the entire host of the west knelt before them and shouted “Praise them with Great Praise”, and a minstrel sang a song telling the story of “Nine-fingered Frodo and The Ring of Doom”. Much more majestic than the thing in the courtyard of the tower.
I too want to hear Smaug, but I never much liked the Rankin-Bass design. I loved Boone as the voice, and I will be interested to hear how Benedict Cumberbatch does as well. I don’t much think J.E. Jones would do well as the voice. First, he’s kind of a cliche these days. Second, his voice is too “rich”. To me, Smaug needs to be “drier” than Jones can do, and more ancient. Maybe a more threatening version of Jeremy Irons, crossed with the voice actor who did Shan Yu from “Mulan”.
Ahh, thank you.
I knew about Frodo recovering, but I had forgotten where it was he spent his time recovering.
Looks like I’m due for a fourth reading.
Starting from the Similarion and forward, again.
Fun fact: It's not a trilogy. Or at least that is what Tolkien claims in the foreword of my LOTR edition.
No it didn't. Example: Elves at the Battle of Helm's Deep. That and other instances would have been forgivable however the 2nd and third film were DUMBED DOWN so much and "Hollywoodized" to such an extent that it was actually painful to watch in parts. I'm really hoping that The Hobbit is done in the spirit of the first flick and avoids the cliche lowest common denominator drek of the others.
As I said, there are film-making realities that don’t always allow direct translation from the books or that actually take away from the story on film.
Books and films are different mediums and each have their strengths and weaknesses. I trust that if Peter Jackson did leave something out, that you were hoping to see, it probably was that it was for good reason, like it really wasn’t that important overall or that, due to budget realities, that having that in the film would have meant leaving something out.
I’m glad they made the film as they did, as it gave me a chance to watch LOTR on the big screen. I’d rather have watched it on screen as was, as opposed to not having it made, because to make it perfectly would have been too costly and impossible.
“As I said, there are film-making realities that don’t always allow direct translation from the books or that actually take away from the story on film.”
And as I said that wasn’t the complaint. It was the dumbing down of the script which made the film unbearable in parts. I mean dear God, Gimli as comic relief? Sorry but there’s reworking the books for film and then there’s appealing to the Jar Jar Binks fans demograph.
Are you kidding? Didn't you see the extended version? The only things missing were Tom Bombadil, the barrow downs, Quickbeam, Ghan-Buri-Ghan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.