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Old 03-28-2004, 04:27 PM   #1
Lalaith
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for the rest of America
You're right, the film wasn't made just for Tolkien purists. But it wasn't made just for Americans, either.
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Old 03-28-2004, 05:31 PM   #2
Knight of Gondor
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Yes, I've already been reminded once that LotR has opened for (and has been loved by) audiences that live in other countries. I just love mine so much, I tend to forgot about the others, ha ha!

Nonetheless, I don't believe I made that particular error again, did I?
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Old 03-28-2004, 06:00 PM   #3
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White-Hand Some points of order

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Arwen at the River, I think was Glorifindel in the book..

You’ve got a lot of people that join you there...but if you only “think” it was Glorfindal...!
Actually, it wasn't Glorfindel in the book either. Frodo was on his own. Glorfindel simply lent him his horse.


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I thought that was a bit of a bad move. I understand that many complained of “too many endings”, but from the behind-the-scenes stuff, PJ explains that he pretty much never intended to do the scouring, pretty much because he didn’t like it. I think that wasn’t a good reason, but for others, it will pass.
Actually, I think that Jackson is on record as saying that this is one of his favourite chapters. He left it out for cinematographical reasons, which stand up pretty well to scrutiny in my book. The destruction of the Ring and defeat of Sauron is the climax of the film, indeed the trilogy of films. It simply wouldn't have worked to have another mini-climax following that. Quite apart from the timing issue. There is a prevalent view among reviews that I have seen (presumably by critics who have not read the books) that the ending was 15 minutes too long. By all standard film-making conventions, RotK should have ended with Aragorn's coronation, Arwen's appearance and the honouring of the Hobbits. So let's be thankful we at least had the Grey Havens.


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And a lady by the name of Megan Bashem (spelling?) wrote an article about how the whole big picture of the general Good vs. Evil theme was overlooked (intentionally, Basham believes, and I agree) to keep the cast, crew, and audience more comfortable with their worldview that there is no such thing as a true, concrete sense of Right and Wrong. (Such a thing would mandate a Creator of Right and Wrong, which they don’t believe in, and really don’t want to)
Sorry, in what way was the Good v Evil theme not covered? The free peoples are good, and they are fighting a war against Sauron, who is evil. Seems pretty straightforward to me. In fact, I have read a number of articles complaining that the films are too simplistic in their portrayal of good and evil (elves and hobbits: good; orcs: evil) and that it therefore has nothing relevant to tell us about the complex world in which we live. Yes, the films are not overtly religious in their portrayal of good v evil (and rightly so, in my view), but then neither is the book. Nevertheless, many of the values which Tolkien held dear (which were influenced by his relious beliefs), and which are espoused in the book, seem to me to be present in the films.


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And a lot of run-of-the-mill movie goers don’t want to have to think about what they watch. For them, it’s mindless entertainment. PJ knew he had to target those people while still remaining as true as he could to us fans.
I do think that you may make a good point here. There is far more emotional investment in a book than in a film. Most films demand no more than 3 hours of someone's time, whereas a book will demand a lot more. So I think that it's understandable that people expect far less "thought-provoking" content from films, particularly big budget productions aimed at the mass market, than they do from books. Books also require less in terms of sales to recoup their production costs than films, certainly those requiring the kind of investment necessary to bring Middle-earth to life. So, again, I think that it's understandable that those involved in making the LotR films aimed for mass, rather than specialist, appeal.
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Old 03-28-2004, 10:00 PM   #4
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I can understand where some people might think that LotR is actually TOO concretely right and wrong. (Especially with that line about having to fight a war, even though you don't feel like risking it? Peace activist Mortenson, grit your pearly whites!) The movie itself couldn't have been more clear about right and wrong. It's just a shame that the writers and staff don't like that idea quite so much.

Please see this link: http://www.boundless.org/features/a0000860.html If this does not bring you to it, visit the base website, Boundless.org and go to archives, type in Megan Basham's name, and find the article "Tolkien versus Jackson". I will not post it here because that is a side issue, off-track from fault-finding in the movies. Nevertheless, I found it to be an excellent article.
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Old 03-29-2004, 05:39 AM   #5
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Knight of Gondor, it's a very interesting article, (although I personally disagree with it!) Perhaps you should start another thread in the movie forum to discuss it.
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Old 04-07-2004, 12:40 PM   #6
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Sting

Jackson did an exellent job with the movie. How much can we Tolkienfans expect?
If it wasn't for Jackson there would proboably be a tenthousen times worse movie. If another director had taken the job of filmatizing the book, he might just look at the project as a job. Jackson has put tens of years into this trilogi because he wanted to. New Line Cinema didn't throw the book in PJ's face and say: ''do whatever you like, just make it good enough to sell.''

As for time passing in movies: just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it didn't happen!!!!!! The Hobbits ate very much, so what do you think happened a few hours after a meal? Just because we didn't see anyone sneaking behind a bush, doesn't mean they kept it in until the war was over! It's a movie, not some crazy reality about elves and hobbits!
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Old 04-07-2004, 12:43 PM   #7
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I think the theatrical versions are good. and the EE's are better.
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Old 04-07-2004, 01:14 PM   #8
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I think the theatrical versions are good. and the EE's are better.
Excellent way to put it, Starcat! Nice and simple... I totally agree!
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