LOTR by George Lucas

[37H4N]

I was looking through fanfilms on youtube and came across this. I loved it! I think whoever made this did a pretty good job capturing the look of all the people that worked on star wars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv4Potdpjhw

[Hasid Lafre]

I thought it was retarted and that the movies sucked. the LOTR books were millions times better. Peater jackson sucks as a director and needs to stop runing films.

[Novastar]

I have seen that fun link down there before.... very funny, loved it.

Regarding LOTR, one of my favorite roles I've ever played on the stage... was Bilbo Baggins! It was in a children's version of "The Hobbit", also as a musical... and it was a lot of fun for me. I learned a lot about Tolkien's work at the time. Maybe someday I'll share some old photos of it if people care to see. I liked many of the photos... and the costumer was a WONDERFUL gal, and immensely talented--so we all looked great.

On the concept of the LOTR films sucking, I would have to disagree especially since you mentioned a fairly broad and singular concept on what created the suckage in your mind... "Books being converted to film".

Ok... in general--you're right. Taking a book and making it into a film... is not only tough... it can just suck.

But... taking a GIANT trilogy of books, not to mention which are FANTASY/MAGIC/FLYIN' CREATURES AND FIREBALLS EVERYWHERE stories (and let us not even count "The Hobbit" for now)... and then trying to bloody COMPACT those numerous pages, wacked out imaginary concepts, and overall locations into a set of--let's face it--TWO TO THREE HOUR MOVIES... is just ludicrous!!

I mean LOOK AT ALL THIS STUFF in the Tolkien's books... it's just INSANE... I have the trilogy volume and it PRETTY MUCH ADDS UP TO THE SAME AMOUNT OF PAGES AS "GREY'S ANATOMY"!!!!! So what the HELL is going on in here?!!? Am I supposed to read this in 6 hours? 8 hours??? Holy fluckin' ships ahoy, captain--we're sailing into the shores of EYESTRAIN m'lad!!!

...I CAN'T KEEP TRACK... TONS of characters, creatures of all sizes, ages and languages (WAY more than could EVER be in even a SINGLE episode/film), oh and some friendly some not... + locations all over the place, certain things happening in people's minds but not so much to everyone else... the minor characters... the numerous sub-plots that drag on and on--which are COOL--but don't belong in a 2 hour film...

I mean, look at SW. Same kind of concept different "time period", lol.

All that being said... I think Peter Jackson (along with a ENORMOUSLY talented group of people in nearly EVERY job on the set):

* Captured the "essence of Tolkien" via the material, script, concepts
* Combined and/or omitted events, characters and battles and such that simply could NOT fit into the films
* Literally had some magnificently powerful acting at almost every moment
* How the BEJESUS did he do that in a few hours each movie? That's just INSANE. I mean... that is some PLANNING. Lots of planning.

I wanna see ANYONE take even ONE book the size (and writing complexity/fullness) of a Tolkien... and make a 2-3 hour movie. You can't go over 3 hours, and it's preferable if you're more like 2.5 or whatever. Good luck... yer gonna need it!!

To praise and "bow" at the acting here... I mean I can't think of *ANY* and I mean any character... who did not really "stamp their memory" into my brain. Every single character (with MAYBE the exception of Legolas) just LEPT out of the film and their personality, style, character, way of thinking... just was in my face. Gimli, The Stryder/Aragorn, Samwise, Pippin, Bilbo, Gandalf, Peregrin, Boromir, Faramir, Frodo (DUH), Smeagol, and no, I haven't even gotten to the Elves and LIV TYLER yet! Who was like 10x more gorgeous than usual I might add. I have NO idea how they did THAT. Same with Cate Blanchette. Holy mother of Elves... I know she's pretty... but--HEAVENLY gorgeous? Wow. Just... wow.

And nearly all of the characters were VASTLY different, and this was proved not only by lines/script... but by their differing actions, choices, vocal tones, and so forth. This is neither an accident, nor a purely "casting agent's" doing. I'm certain Mr. Jackson HAD to have requested many aspects from his actors... yup... in ADDITION to just handling the shot direction.

Stack on to the fact that I was touched emotionally in SO many ways during the films (and I'm not exactly a "softy" dude over here)... it just blew my mind. Hopefully I'm not the ONLY one who was drained emotionally by watching many of those! In a good/bad way! :)

My final quick note would be on the cinematography alone which was simply masterful, amazing and breathtaking to watch... and well... you know what? ...

New Zealand is one amazingland! :) I would have never known, never having been there.

[Mi Gin Gonn]

I thought it was retarted and that the movies sucked. the LOTR books were millions times better. Peater jackson sucks as a director and needs to stop runing films.

bah, you can say what you want about LoTR, but DAMN was Liv Tyler super-hot in those films. i'd date her anytime. and she can leave the prosthetic elf ears on.

[BlackDOG]

Tolkien is AMAZING.....I did a bit of research on him a while back and realixed that the story of LOTR was really just a vehicle so he could play with LANGUAGES.......GASP.....

After reading the books and seeing the movie, the movie could never live iup to the vivid nature of our imagination.....but gee whiz, that is true of just about every book I have seen converted to film. Unless you have a 15 hour saga with a bazillion dollar budget, the representation is going to be thin.

LOTR wold not, IMHO, rank in the SUCK category.....That is reserved for things like "Last Action Hero" and "Bring It On".......LOLZ

[Darth Zecks]

After reading the second post I was planning on making a good post, but then I read Novastars. So I will just give Nova a +1000, an I second that and I'll throw in a dido for good measure. You could not have said it better if you were Tolkien himself.

[chase]

Last Action Hero was an AWESOME movie! How bad/cheesy/Arnoldtastic can you get?! Last Action Hero sucked....bah!

[37H4N]

So far Nova is the only one who has mad a comment on the link. Would anyone like to talk about LotR by George Lucas, or make a seperate thread discusing the actual LotR movies and everything else?
8)

[xl97]

Im not some 'fanboy'.. but I too enjoyed the LOTR movies.. and I read the books.. books always give you a little 'more'... but your using YOUR imagination to build the the story in yoru head.. noone can compete with YORU imagination...

but he did damn close.. ;)

there are a few gripes..mostly personal preference.. but over all a good movie(s)

[Blues Light]

I've read LotR more times than most, and have read everything Tolkein ever wrote. I have to say it's one of the best works in any language, real or imagined. I may be one of the biggest Tolkien-nerds around as far as trivia and such goes, but......as far as the films go, I enjoyed them. I knew going in that it wouldn't be as good as the books, but they were good in their own right. What the good professor would have thought of them though, I don't want to imagine.

[DarthFender]

I agree with everything that Nova said, but I have more to offer. Nobody ever talks about how a movie that was made from a book will inspire our younger members of society to actually read the book. And for every kid who says the books were better, I usually have to say... "Movie got you to read the book, did it?, then it did its job."

I think that Mr. Jackson did a remarkable job bringing the world and characters of Middle Earth to life. And in the process, he invited a whole new generation of young readers to find for their selves, a direct connection to Tolkien.

Kudos to Peter Jackson for being the first director to ever be able to tell the entire tale, as well.

That's all I got.

[Blues Light]

Personally I read them years before the movies came out, but I agree with you DarthFender. The movies have caused many, both young and old, to read the books and enjoy the full experiences of book and film.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

I'm going to be the wet blanket here. I couldn't get through the first book. I thought it was very slow and boring, and abandoned it after about 100 pages.

In talking to people about it, I've been told that it starts to pick up shortly after the point at which I stopped reading. I've always meant to pick it up again and give it another chance, but somehow I never got around to it.

I feel like I've missed out on a major piece of culture. It's like talking to someone who has never seen Star Wars.

[Novastar]

Obi-Dar's concern and point is almost EXACTLY why I am even more happy to say that Jackson's movie "conversions" really DO work... in my opinion. They cut down all the BS and really give that "here's the meat and potatoes ESSENCE".

It's like how BOP I is just (essentially) what people WANT to see from SW... some fun jedi moves, but screw all that WHERE'S THE BIG FIGHT?!!!

Not to de-rail, but... sometimes I think SOME folks didn't like BOP II as much as BOP I... if they only watched the 1st 30 seconds. Because then they thought: "Cheesy costumed stormtroopers? Guerilla video work? hanh??!! No way, no can do sister, FURGETT it!" lol besides, the first REAL event happens at about FORTY seconds in. Which may be too long, and they've already "clicked forward into the net", lol. ;)

See, sometimes... people don't want to "wade through" 10 seconds of story... as ADD as that seems. But, sometimes they are resilient to 10 minutes of story. Depends on the person. Depends on the mood. Depends on the movie/short flick/whatever they WANT to see tonight... ;)

LOTR books = heavy on story/character + action from your imagination.
LOTR movies = quick story
/character + action as much as we can!!!

[Ghostbat]

I'm going to be the wet blanket here. I couldn't get through the first book. I thought it was very slow and boring, and abandoned it after about 100 pages.


I LOVE Tolkien and I completely agree with this criticism of his stories. He starts them very slow and it takes some effort to get into the real hook of the thing. I advise grabbing a copy and just powering through the first part, it's worth the effort when the book grabs you and sweeps you away.

For the record I liked the movies, Each one had a couple moments that angered me (the dwarf tossing jokes make me grit my teeth in physical pain) but I can see why a lot of the changes were made and can accept them in the name of fitting such a huge world into the limited space of a film. On the whole Jackson and crew did a great job capturing the world and characters and I hope the same care (actually I hope a little more) is taken with The Hobbit.

I am VERY nervous about the slated "sequel to The Hobbit" because... um... that would be Lord of the Rings?

[BlackDOG]

So far Nova is the only one who has mad a comment on the link. Would anyone like to talk about LotR by George Lucas, or make a seperate thread discusing the actual LotR movies and everything else?
8)

Yeah kinda got derailed there...................

A lot of folks never got over Jar Jar or Hayden........

The video made me laugh though......

IDK...where does everyone else come down on Lucas and the SW franchise?

[DarthFender]

A lot of folks never got over Jar Jar or Hayden........

The video made me laugh though......


And dont forget the Wanderful Performance of Jake Lloyd.

I don't mean wonderful. I mean it made me want to wander....

To a gun store......
And shoot myself. Wasn't he the kid in "Jingle All the Way?" He and Schwarzenegger are laughing "All the Way"... to the bank!

BTW the link video was funny.

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

I'm afraid I can't identify with those who find LOTR boring. I first read the Hobbit when I was twelve, soon followed by LOTR. I was never bored a single moment, and have re-read them several times, including the appendixes, unfinished tales, and the Silmarillion. (if you think LOTR is too complex, don't read the Silmarillion. it's at least 10x as complex)

Ghostbad - I'm worried about the Hobbit itself! As for the sequel, they would have to make many inferrences from the appendix, as well as create new material, something which I don't think has legally been done yet with Tolkien's work.

What I find interesting/ironic is that Tolkien mentioned in a letter to a friend that his original idea was essentially to create a set of mythology, and have other people add to it/enlarge it to create a set of mythology. In his letter he called his own idea absurd.
And yet the very thing he wanted to accomplish is what has happened with Star Wars: even now the original stories are popular, and more are constantly being written.

[DarthFender]

Luke,

That very absurd Idea was taken to the very limits by Gary Gygax when he created Dungeons and Dragons. It was ll based on the works of Tolkien. Then came the books and the spinn-offs and AD&D and it all took off like a rocket.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

I advise grabbing a copy and just powering through the first part, it's worth the effort when the book grabs you and sweeps you away.

I picked it up last night and started again. I'll push through it this time, and give it a chance. After I've read it, I'll be able to comment with intelligence about how the books translated to the movies.

[djobitwan7]

LOTR. Nuff said. I read these books and I don't like Jackson in-particular, but he did a wonderful job capturing most, if not all of the scenery that needed to be done. The only exception are some characters and role reversals. Liv Tyler's character (Arwen) did not ride Frodo to Elrond's hideaway. They just needed some heroine and someone who looked good lady wise. Although, if you never read the books, that can be overlooked and no one probably cares.

A disappointment missing is Tom Bombadil's charater. He was a key factor in getting the hobbit's to safety to meet up with their friend Gandolf. They made Elrond seem like some ancient war hero and he was not ( I won't do spoilers for those who do not know) and Frodo, well......he was supposed to be a fast thinker and he was not like this in the movies. Other adaptations are making it seem like the sword Aragorn was carrying not important (it never left his side in the books) and that he never seemed to wish to become king. This was never so and never should have been allowed to continue, but again.....if you didn't read them it made no difference.

I liked how it was fashioned in every other way and hit major key points in this loooooong story. I can live with slight differences, compared to the books, but it had vision with minimal boring parts. I'm all for action most of the time, but I expected long periods of time to go by without a single battle or what-not.

I hear the Hobbit is being made eventually and is in the works. I believe it is due to be started by 2010. I saw no directors or otherwise concerning anything except a title. Ian McKellen is not reprising his role as Gandolf. Ashame, for he fit the part well. I could be wrong and he may change his mind. Maybe Sean Connery will come out of retirement to do that, since he was their original pick. There's my two cents.