COMPASS & LOTR comparison

[Child of the 7th Age]

Mr. Underhill,

Thanks for that link and also the identification of the poster, which I would never have known. I skimmed through Terry Rossio's later comments and wish he would have been more specific. His basic explanation in a later post was this:

I hated the first book ...... and beyond hating the book, the story seemed to me to be non-filmic as well.

Rossio never really says why he hates the story....if it's Pullman's underlying viewpoint or something totally different, nor does he say exactly why it's "non-filmic". Also, his comment on "non-filmic" is not too different from comments we've all read on LotR by JRRT and many others. While the opinion of someone with this much experience certainly has to be taken seriously, I do not concur that the story is "non-filmic".

I was deeply disappointed in the movie GC. Some of the visuals were appealing but I never made an emotional connection with the characters. The film seemed like a series of choppy vignettes set in a world that was only half explained. I am probably more of a Pullman "fan" than most on this site. I snatched onto an autographed copy of the American first printings very early on and definitely enjoyed the story (even the later volumes that many feel fall down in quality and have too much "propaganda").

I would be stunned and surprised if New Line filmed the later books, given the profits from GC, but will not give up all hope of decent movie adaptations of HDM. In the 70s, after a series of lousy cartoons, I thought I would never see a rendition of Lord of the Rings anywhere as good as PJ's. Everyone was groaning and complaining that Middle-earth could never be represented in a film. Despite definite flaws, PJ's films were better than what I ever expected, especially in capturing the look of Middle-earth. And while opinion is far from unanimous (putting it mildly! ), many long-time "bookies" I know feel that way. So maybe someday Pullman will be filmed in a way that captures some of the real spirit of the story.

The real question is whether or not these books will continue to be read. Will HDM be good enough to stand the test of time and appeal to future readers? If they don't, then you can wave goodbye to further films. If they do, then I would guess someone will try again to film them, perhaps with better luck, despite the assertion that they may be "non-filmic".

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BTW, maybe this is far afield, but what makes a story....any story..."non-filmic"? In what ways is LotR more "filmic" than HDM? Or then again maybe it isn't....