growl!
Posted on 11/24/2001 12:41:42 PM PST by maquiladora
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) In a war of the wizards on New Zealand's silver screens, old-timer Gandalf looks like he will take a broomstick to young pretender Harry Potter.
New Zealanders are eagerly awaiting the release of the first Harry Potter film, which doesn't open here until Nov. 29. But it's the premiere of the first film in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy that has really cast a spell over the nation.
New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson directed the films and used the scenery of his home country as a backdrop, helping to spark the enormous local interest.
The first, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," hits New Zealand's movie theaters on Dec. 20.
Cinema operators predict "The Fellowship of the Ring" will outsell "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by 2-to-1 $5.2 million versus $2.6 million.
All three "Ring" movies were shot together. Editing work on the second, "The Two Towers," will begin shortly with an eye toward release in December 2002; the third, "The Return of the King," is set to come out a year later.
For fans who can't wait another month to get a look at Jackson's interpretation of Middle Earth, the mythical location of Tolkien's books, there is already plenty to read.
Special limited editions of the trilogy have been released to tie in with the film as have Middle Earth "guide books," photograph collections and movie guides.
The latest three-volume set of "The Lord of the Rings," originally published in 1954, has rocketed to No. 3 on the nation's fiction Top 10 list. And pricey models of Tolkien's characters also are flying out of shops.
Hoping to cash in on the movie's popularity, the government is spending $1.8 million to promote New Zealand as "Middle Earth."
As for "Potter," the movie did not live up to my expectations. The character development was awful, if you didn't read the book, you would be lost. Maybe I'm being overly critical as the Potter movie is targeted towards kids, who don't pay much attention to such subleties as character development. Still, the Potter movie is worth seeing at least once. The scenery is awesome and the girl that plays Hermione turned in a great performance. She outshone Potter himself in my opinion.
American's only like a fad for a certain length of time. The question is, how long will it be before Americans get sick of this dungeons and dragons garbage and return to the real world?
Mark W.
Since when is Lord of the Rings garbage?
Let's see, when was it first published?
Mark W.
It is absolutely amazing to me how much I remember after 40 years. Tolkien's writing and imagination has a staying power beyond most other writers.
If you're so hot to get back to the real world, why not turn off your PC and go rake your front yard.
growl!
So do I. I don't go to many movies, but I'll be in line for this one.
"One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them. One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them"
I would, but all the gnomes that live in the bushes and speak Esperanto scare the crap out of me...
Mark W.
J.R.R. Tolkein
I received the Trilogy as a 15th birthday gift, 33 years ago. I never read them because I wasn't into the fantasy genre. I was more into spy novels, Alistair McLean, etc. When our older boys were young, Sur SuziQ read The Hobbit and the Trilogy to them. Now we're reading the Trilogy with the younger two in anticipation of the movie. I guess it just took taking some time with the books, but I am enjoying them immensely. Tolkein had such a powerful way with words, and it is great to be able to read such wonderful literature to the kids (13 & 11).
We were late to the Harry Potter movie, so we must have missed the LOTR trailer, but we saw it on the NY Times website the other day. Yes, it does look dark, but the story is dark, so I think most people will understand that. Does anyone know what the rating will be? Someone told me today that it was rated R which makes NO SENSE to me.
Most everyone does.
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