Lord of the Rings

[darkewaffle]

Horse hockey. The only thing I hear about that movie is "Oh my god, when is the real ending going to happen?' There's only 4 endings to that movie right? There's Frodo waking up, there's Aragorn's coronation, there's the return to the shire and Sam's wedding and then there's Frodo's goodbye.

Look, I UNDERSTAND the point of all this. I thought it was really well done. But by the time the movie really, really ends, it's like a half hour from the climax of the film... The climax is the climax... It's the pinnacle. It's supposed to be the culmination of the entire story. Keeping the audience in the theater that long after the climax just doesn't make sense. You've already cut out the scouring of the shire, why do we need to see Frodo go back to eventually leave? Why do we need to see Sam marry bar wench? It doesn't matter. Yes, it's nice closure, I don't disagree, but save it for the extended edition.

You have the audience's adrenaline pumping after the massive battle and Frodo's own battle with himself. You see Frodo being saved and waking up. You have the coronation, where the line of kings is restored and he gets the girl. Then, he recognizes the Hobbits and they basically just say 'Hey, we're all here because of you.' The camera pans out and you see the entire crowd and the music is playing and fade to black and CREDITS!

The perfect place to end the film. Send your audience out on a high note for a movie like this. Just because the ending is dark doesn't mean it's "quality cinema". The movies are great, wonderful adaptations of a book. But, when you make a movie, you need to accept that you're making a movie.

Is that you Mr. Bay?

 

[DrunkenSano]

What no. Thats insane. Thats the worst possible spot to end the movie. You obviously have no idea what the movie was actually about.

From someone who has not read the book and only watched the movie, the movie was about getting that stupid evil ring destroyed. So ending it at the coronation wouldn't be a bad thing. Now if you read the book religiously, then it might've been a bad place to end it.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

From someone who has not read the book and only watched the movie, the movie was about getting that stupid evil ring destroyed. So ending it at the coronation wouldn't be a bad thing. Now if you read the book religiously, then it might've been a bad place to end it.

The movie simply was not about getting the damn ring destroyed. It was also about the friendship that everyone had and the idea that, no matter how hard you try, once you experience those horrors, life can never be the same again.

Remember that the book was based on his experiences in war? What kind of movie would it be if it didn't show the aftermath of months and months of hardships and horror. It would be a Michael Bay film.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Read the Hobbit first, then LOTR.

Think about reading a few pages each night as part of your bed time routine. IMHO it helps reinforce the sense of time over which the story unfolds.

Wish I could read those books again for the first time...

Best advice I've seen in the thread right here. :thumbsup:

I loved the series as a child and young adult. I re-read it when I heard the movies were being made. It's an awesome series.

However, if you're impatient, ADHD, easily bored, or lack imagination in general, then I could see how the books and movies would not be fun for you.

 

[DrunkenSano]

A regular person watching the movie wouldn't know anything about the author or the book, so they would have no clue about the war and that the book/movie was suppose to reflect on it. So basically the movie is a well made and lengthy good vs evil film, where a group of adventurers and heroes banded together to make a fellowship to destroy the ring so that evil can be brought to an end. Stuff like experiences the author had during the war won't even come into play for most viewers.

Best advice I've seen in the thread right here. :thumbsup:

I loved the series as a child and young adult. I re-read it when I heard the movies were being made. It's an awesome series.

However, if you're impatient, ADHD, easily bored, or lack imagination in general, then I could see how the books and movies would not be fun for you.

I tried reading the Hobbit but was never able to get into it, just didn't like the author's language and style I guess. I enjoyed series like A Song of Ice and Fire a lot better due to the writing. To me, the Hobbit is an acquired taste.

 

[ch33zw1z]

A regular person watching the movie wouldn't know anything about the author or the book, so they would have no clue about the war and that the book/movie was suppose to reflect on it. So basically the movie is a well made and lengthy good vs evil film, where a group of adventurers and heroes banded together to make a fellowship to destroy the ring so that evil can be brought to an end. Stuff like experiences the author had during the war won't even come into play for most viewers.

That's nobodies fault but their own. The books have been around for a long time.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

A regular person watching the movie wouldn't know anything about the author or the book, so they would have no clue about the war and that the book/movie was suppose to reflect on it. So basically the movie is a well made and lengthy good vs evil film, where a group of adventurers and heroes banded together to make a fellowship to destroy the ring so that evil can be brought to an end. Stuff like experiences the author had during the war won't even come into play for most viewers.

Well, I'm happy that some film makers choose to not cater to the lowest common denominator and actually has a story that has a proper ending instead of ending right after the big bad is gone.

 

[Sixguns]

Best advice I've seen in the thread right here. :thumbsup:

I loved the series as a child and young adult. I re-read it when I heard the movies were being made. It's an awesome series.

However, if you're impatient, ADHD, easily bored, or lack imagination in general, then I could see how the books and movies would not be fun for you.

If I start with The Hobbit, which one is it? Did a quick look on amazon and found like 3 parts and 3 different hobbit books. Which is the right one to start on?

 

[ch33zw1z]

If I start with The Hobbit, which one is it? Did a quick look on amazon and found like 3 parts and 3 different hobbit books. Which is the right one to start on?

http://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-There-B.../dp/0618002219

The book is written as if Bilbo had written it himself. It's an account of his adventures and discovery of the Ring of Power. So he names it There and Back Again.

After you read The Hobbit and LoTR Trilogy, take a crack at The Silmarillion...not an easy reader....but god damn does Tolkien have a vivid imagination.

 

[sactoking]

A regular person watching the movie wouldn't know anything about the author or the book, so they would have no clue about the war and that the book/movie was suppose to reflect on it. So basically the movie is a well made and lengthy good vs evil film, where a group of adventurers and heroes banded together to make a fellowship to destroy the ring so that evil can be brought to an end. Stuff like experiences the author had during the war won't even come into play for most viewers.

To follow that logic (ignoring the source material completely) would get you:

Dukes of Hazzard- shit movie
3 Transformers- shit movies
Voyage of the Dawn Treader- shit movie
Dragonball- shit movie
Avatar the Last Airbender- shit movie
Journey to the Center of the Earth- shit movie
Where the Wild Things Are- shit movie
The A Team- shit movie
GI Joe- shit movie
21 Jump Street
Blues Brothers 2000
Wild Wild West

and many others

 

[DrunkenSano]

It is what it is, movie makers and producers cater to the majority, which results in shit movies.

 

[ch33zw1z]

It is what it is, movie makers and producers cater to the majority, which results in shit movies.

I disagree in terms of LoTR. The movie was well done, and included much of the plots from the book series.

Are you saying that the series was shit?

 

[Sixguns]

http://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-There-B.../dp/0618002219

The book is written as if Bilbo had written it himself. It's an account of his adventures and discovery of the Ring of Power. So he names it There and Back Again.

After you read The Hobbit and LoTR Trilogy, take a crack at The Silmarillion...not an easy reader....but god damn does Tolkien have a vivid imagination.

Just paid for it and it will be here Friday thanks to Amazon Prime. Looking forward to a good read and I hope this can help me get back into reading more.

 

[ky54]

I realize it's not for everyone, but Silmarillion gives such great historical background to LOTR. And as long as you approach it as a collection of individual stories it's not difficult to read. I actually enjoyed it.

And the battles in Silmarillion are way more epic than anything in Lord of the Rings. The Nirnaeth Arnoediad makes Pelennor Fields look like a ping pong tournament.

Oh, absolutely. It's a complete history of the world mostly before men. The elven battles are great. You're right it's not overly difficult as long as you read it with your finger on the glossary of names because, like War and Peace, everyone has 4 names and Tolkein switches freely back and forth through all his writings. For me the best part is learning why the dwarves and the elves are so distrustful of each other and why the elves are leaving Middle Earth. I think The Silmarillion is by far more satisfying than the the trilogy.

I think I just figured out one of my summer books. It's been probably 20 years or more since I read it.

 

[TheAdvocate]

Tolkien wrote the Hobbit for his children... He never intended for it to become popular. It was a story he could read them at night (back before we were all glued to TVs), so it is written with a more simple style.

When he wrote LotR, he took the opportunity to address much more adult themes, as previously described. As a result, it's written for an adult audience.

It is a little dry at times, partially because it is so old and conventions have changed so much since it was written. It's still a staggering work, all the more impressive because it was unprecedented.

 

[Ninjahedge]

1. The books are better. But skip all the parts where he tries to be fancy schmancy and write in Elven or sing a song.

2. The first flik is the best when it comes to representing the actual story. It drifts further away from the story as it goes on and eventually relies too much on special effects and buddy-jokes (the "green" dead and the whole Boromir and Elf dude thing).

3. The endings would have been better if they did not show them as if they were all separate endings. They were each too long and any could have served as the finale. The one that seemed to fit was the boat departure, and it throws in that little surprise of Frodo leaving. The rest? That could have been done rather quickly.

4. Aside from the colossal cost, this probably would have been better as a miniseries than a movie. Having a few extra hours to tell a complicated story helps a LOT.

5. The "emo" bit at the end was not bad in any single respect, but just ironic. The story was not a confirmation on the acceptability of homosexuality, but knowing the actors that played Frodo and Gandalf... it was kind of creepy. It just did not fit quite right with the image you get from the book even w/o the actors personal lives in the background....

6. there is no 6.

 

[IronWing]

i read the book almost 10 years ago. awesome books but in ROTK half the book was frodo walking in mordor bored me

almost like Tolkein needed to fill it up to meet some minimum page number. he was originally told the book was too long and to split it up into several books.

This is sort of true. Tolkein said that he had to send Frodo and Sam wandering around to kill time so that their arrival at Minas Morgul and their arrival at Mt. Doom would be properly synchronized with events in Rohan and Gondor.

 

[ky54]

1. The books are better. But skip all the parts where he tries to be fancy schmancy and write in Elven or sing a song.

.

Yikes, I love his poems. I wrote music and recorded a version of In Durin's Day which Gimli recites at the bridges of Khazad-dum:

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/durin/

I think his poetry is very well done.

 

[sactoking]

3. The endings would have been better if they did not show them as if they were all separate endings. They were each too long and any could have served as the finale. The one that seemed to fit was the boat departure, and it throws in that little surprise of Frodo leaving. The rest? That could have been done rather quickly.

The bigger surprise would have been throwing in the fact that Samwise left for the undying land also, albeit much later.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I picked up the extended box set blurays a few months ago when I found em on sale. Enjoyed them quite a bit better vs the theatrical releases. GF and I did make the mistake of trying to watch them all in a row ... next time around, we'll watch them over 2 or 3 days at a more relaxed pace

 

[Ninjahedge]

The bigger surprise would have been throwing in the fact that Samwise left for the undying land also, albeit much later.

That would mean another ending scene...

(And I completely forgot that. I still do not remember it! I read the book a good, OMG, 30 years ago!)

 

[darkewaffle]

I never noticed the 'multiple endings' thing before anyone mentioned it in here, I never thought of it that way at all. To me it was the movie tying up the major loose ends and then ending with an 'informed' audience. I guess you could have skipped Sam's wedding and seeing folks return to the shire but I think all of it worked together to provide a fairly complete sense of closure.

 

[Sixguns]

So now that I have my copy of The Hobbit, I will need to get The Lord of the Rings set. Are there different issues like The Hobbit? If so which one should I get?

 

[IronWing]

So now that I have my copy of The Hobbit, I will need to get The Lord of the Rings set. Are there different issues like The Hobbit? If so which one should I get?

Books or movies? For books, get the cheapest used paperbacks you can find.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Frodo was 50.