Some thoughts on the series...
I adore Peter Jackson with a sort of ardent fervour... considering the amount of time I spend contemplating the LOTR movies blissfully, if he hadn't existed, I'd probably have had to take up something foul like painting to fill up those hours. Instead I get to dwell on the divine pieces of art he's created, and be eternally grateful.
I'm going to say something here that's going to have most hardcore LOTR fans out for my blood... Tolkien was a lousy writer. A perfect 10 for imagination, no doubt, but puh-leeze. 6 pages describing trees and the green green grass, and Gandalf's death goes: ' "Fly, you fools," he said, and was gone.' Yeah. Not even an exclamation mark at the end of that. Heartstopping adventure and chase scenes as Frodo finally manages to get to Rivendell, and all the action stops for half a year (literally!) - everyone's just content to sit around and listen to bedtime stories about how each of them happen to be in Rivendell. Not that it's not crucial to the storyline, but nothing wrong with a bit of chop-chop, what? Hobbits might like tracing their family trees, but surely Tolkien didn't expect us all to be polite King Theoden! (That's the guy who offers to sit down and listen to Merry and Pippin's long tales.)
Anyway. Enter Peter Jackson. The man takes this mammoth work that's mostly filled with the kind of bilge I've mentioned above (occasional gems scattered randomly within), and turns it into, so far, two spectacular, *interesting* movies. His strategy? Chop-chop at just the right places. Hats off, PJ.
A word of warning, though. There's no way you'll appreciate, or even really enjoy or follow, the movies if you haven't read the book. And though I sound awfully critical of the book in the earlier part of this long and boring introduction, once you've managed to get through the Fellowship of the Ring, it all takes a turn for the better. And after you're done reading the whole book, you'll find yourself getting fond of every bit of it, dismal though the writing may be. The truth is, LOTR is a marvellous tale, full of passion and energy and imagination. It's the plot and the characters and that whole new world that will get you in the end... and I have to admit that there must be something right about the writing after all if it can feel so real and can touch you so deeply. Read it, then watch the movies. It's something that should figure in everyone's life.
Alright, here's something fun...
Ever wondered if the Palantir was actually a Microsoft product? Yeah, I know.. all Windows should be that reliable! Anyway... it's just a funny thought.
Praise the Lord that the for-once sensible studio guys decided not to press PJ on his contractual obligation to keep FOTR to two hours. Imagine what *that* would be like, whew!
And what if they'd done this to the movies??? What then, huh?? (SO SHUT UP, you dumb purists who're whining about "Oh, why did the elves come to Helm's Deep" and "Ooh, I wanted the "heigh ho, I'm Tom Bombadil-o" song in".. )
Alright, the anti-piracy guys have made a convert out of me.. anyone seen this bootlegged version of FOTR? Oh, *GOD*, the captioning! I'll bet it becomes a collector's piece....
How about the whole of LOTR in a Haiku?
Read my movie reviews:
The Fellowship of the Ring : The Two Towers
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