Just give me a movie with swords

[Kent2010]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

So I'd say you would just have to accept that the Neverending Story, Braveheart and others (The last of the Mohawks, Robin Hood - Prince of thieves etc...) gave birth to this cultural phenomenon of which LotR is just one follower.

I hope you don't mind bearing with me some more, because I don't think I made my post, and questions clear. Sorry about that, I'll have to work on it.

I'm not exactly asking what this film's legacy will be in the years to come, that was more of a side thing to get my ideas down. Like I said, I tried to think about that, but it just made my head hurt, and honestly I believe it's rather silly to wonder whether LOTR will be seen as a 'landmark' film 10, 20 years down the road. That's like wondering if an i-pod shuffle will still be the 'big thing' 10 years from now. It's here with us now, so lets enjoy it (or not).

What I was wondering was, for you - individually - how has LOTR shaped the movies you watch, or the movies you want to go see? If it even has at all. Before Lord of the Rings I was more of a comedy person, I loved the movies that poked fun at these types of movies - I'm talking Mars Attacks and Spaceballs. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves? Huh? Give me Robin Hood Men in Tights.

I did see Gladiator and Princess Bride, before LOTR, but neither of them effected the movies I wanted to watch. (I would also include The Princess Bride more in that Men in Tights category than a fantasy/heroic epic). I actually didn't watch Braveheart until after LOTR. That is what I was trying to get to is that since LOTR the movies I want to watch has changed. I still like Spaceballs, but I'm more excited to just see the next LOTR-style movie. So, what is it about LOTR that made it more exciting than Gladiator, The Neverending Story, or other movies before? I guess, as far as I go, only I could answer that, but I was hoping others could kind of see where I was coming from. How has LOTR shaped what movies you want to see? Or just what you like to see in movies?

If you wish to make LotR outshine the other movies you can always say that it is based on a far greater original story than the other "competitors" in the field.

Now there's something, maybe we can broaden it a little bit...how has LOTR shaped your reading of Tolkien's books? I might get tarred for saying this, but I preferred the Narnia movies over Lewis' books. I can't say the same about LOTR, but I did watch the movies before reading the story. Tolkien's story was by far better, but I have no doubt that the movies impacted my reading of the books. Maybe for someone who read the books first the movies had no impact on the reading of the text. I don't know? Did it?

I will forever be grateful for what the movies have done to introduce me to a great story and if that makes me in someway a lesser fan, so be it. I can't sit here and pick out all the differences between the two, and I'm not going to even if I could. But I can tell you this is how the LOTR movies impacted what movies I like watching, and this is how the LOTR movies impacted my reading of Tolkien's story. I'm just hoping others are willing to share. (for either good or bad reasons - don't matter to me)