[The Saucepan Man]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I think that the movies and the books are both masterpiecies in their own rights. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Well said, Lord of Rohan. I have been an avid fan of Tolkien's works for some 25 years. And yet I do not feel let down, disappointed or resentful in any way about these films. Granted, I would have loved to have seen every detail of the book presented on screen just as Tolkien wrote it. One of my biggest gripes with the films (and it's not that big) is the way in which Merry and Pippin come into the tale. I would have loved to have seen the conspiracy unmasked. But I wholly accept that, if these films are to be brought to the big screen in any way which would do justice to Tolkien's visualisation (ie requiring a big budget), then compromises need to be made. <P>Jackson was entitled to make whatever changes he thought were necessary to make the films popular. Indeed, he was obliged to do so given the big budget that this whole project required. He made those changes and has sought to explain many of them (certainly the most radical). While I do not agree with some of the choices that he made, I accept his reasons for making them. And I agree with him on many counts. <P>Actually, I feel really quite lucky. For I have two masterpieces to enjoy. The books and the films. The books will, of course always come first (by a long way) in my affections. But the films are, to my mind, great films and ones that I can enjoy immensely. Having come to terms with the changes, I feel no need for the fact that I know the <I>real</I> story to impair my enjoyment of them.<P>And as Eurytus has pointed out, they are incredibly successful films. Not only in monetary terms (although that is certainly the case), but also in terms of their mass appeal and in the acclaim that they have received among Jackson's peers in the film-making community and amongst film-critics. So, on that basis, he has acheived what he set out to do: bring the story to the screen in a format which would have mass appeal.<P>I suppose that I just cannot understand why people get so irate about it all. I accept of course that people have a right to their opinons, but these feelings of anger, resentment, disappointment or whatever just wash over me. To me, as Lord of Rohan said, the books and the films are each masterful works of art in their own right.<P>And just to put in a word for New Line, let's not forget that they did take a gamble with these films. There was no guarantee that they would be so successful, so it was a big risk for them investing the amount that this project required. They are, in my view, entitled to a bit of payback. Yes, I hate such things as the KFC endorsements and think that they go to far, but I see it as an inevitable development in today's world.<P>As for the Matrix films, Gorwingel is right. I saw some action figures in a major toy department today, right alongside the LotR action figures . And, in addition to the reasons that Gorwingel gave, I think that the relative lack of merchandising speaks more to the relative level of success of the two film trilogies than to the integrity of the film-makers.