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Star Wars vs Lord of the Rings

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I think there is an age difference going on here.

If you are old enough to remember when Star Wars came into theaters then you will most likely pick it. But if you aren't then you will pick LOTR.

A lot of you younger folk don't realize what an amazing cultural phenomenon Star Wars was. It was unlike any movie that had ever came along. A year after its release it was still in theaters, while a year after a LOTR film came out its sequel was hitting the theaters. A song based on the cantina theme hit the billboard charts and was being played on 'hit' radio stations. "May the force be with you" is one of the most quoted movie lines in history.

Buck Rogers (the 70s tv show) Battle Star Galactica and dozens of other shows and movies were all influenced or ripped off Star Wars. Name one movie or TV show that ripped off the LOTR films?

LOTR are great films and incredibly well put together. But are they really that much better or influential than the other films that came out in the same time frame? Harry Potter? Shrek? Spider-Man? Pirates of the Caribbean?
 
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
I think there is an age difference going on here.

If you are old enough to remember when Star Wars came into theaters then you will most likely pick it. But if you aren't then you will pick LOTR.

A lot of you younger folk don't realize what an amazing cultural phenomenon Star Wars was. It was unlike any movie that had ever came along. A year after its release it was still in theaters, while a year after a LOTR film came out its sequel was hitting the theaters. A song based on the cantina theme hit the billboard charts and was being played on 'hit' radio stations. "May the force be with you" is one of the most quoted movie lines in history.

Buck Rogers (the 70s tv show) Battle Star Galactica and dozens of other shows and movies were all influenced or ripped off Star Wars. Name one movie or TV show that ripped off the LOTR films?

LOTR are great films and incredibly well put together. But are they really that much better or influential than the other films that came out in the same time frame? Harry Potter? Shrek? Spider-Man? Pirates of the Caribbean?
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Are we ONLY talking about the movies here?

Because the books > *
 
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
I think there is an age difference going on here.

If you are old enough to remember when Star Wars came into theaters then you will most likely pick it. But if you aren't then you will pick LOTR.

A lot of you younger folk don't realize what an amazing cultural phenomenon Star Wars was. It was unlike any movie that had ever came along. A year after its release it was still in theaters, while a year after a LOTR film came out its sequel was hitting the theaters. A song based on the cantina theme hit the billboard charts and was being played on 'hit' radio stations. "May the force be with you" is one of the most quoted movie lines in history.

Buck Rogers (the 70s tv show) Battle Star Galactica and dozens of other shows and movies were all influenced or ripped off Star Wars. Name one movie or TV show that ripped off the LOTR films?

LOTR are great films and incredibly well put together. But are they really that much better or influential than the other films that came out in the same time frame? Harry Potter? Shrek? Spider-Man? Pirates of the Caribbean?
Click to expand...

err, no... Lucas himself said LOTR was a major influence to Star Wars. We are talking about the whole thing, not just the movies. LOTR movies came close to the books but still not quite there. Not to mention all the things that happen before the part covered by the 3 books.

Hobbit is in the works. I hope they don't fuck it up.

I found this funny http://www.moongadget.com/origins/lotr.html
 
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Buck Rogers (the 70s tv show) Battle Star Galactica and dozens of other shows and movies were all influenced or ripped off Star Wars. Name one movie or TV show that ripped off the LOTR films?

LOTR are great films and incredibly well put together. But are they really that much better or influential than the other films that came out in the same time frame? Harry Potter? Shrek? Spider-Man? Pirates of the Caribbean?
Click to expand...

It is simply impossible to talk about LOTR with out talking about the books. As much as Star Wars was a cultural phenomenon in the 70?s and 80?s, LOTRs was just as big in the 50 and 60?s, as books. There is countless films and TV shows influenced by LOTRs, I would go as far as to say that Star Wars is one of them.
 
I was talking about the movies.

The LOTR books are a totally different things and certainly among the most influential books in modern history.
 
well i don't really like star wars (i don't dislike it either, it's just there) and I like LOTR movies, so I'm going with LOTR.
 
Originally posted by: zinfamous
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: zinfamous
Star Wars has 3 crappy movies bringing the series down.

LoTR has 3 crappy books bringing the movies down.

...so it's a push.
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FAIL
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you're correct. those books were utter fail, like the SW prequels.
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HEATHENS!!! May a Balrog roast your flesh and toss your smoking putrid remains into the deepest pits of Moria to be gnawed on by the foulest creatures to inhabit the impenetrable darkness. :|

Wiki:

The book has remained so ever since, ranking as one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, judged by both sales and reader surveys.[43] In the 2003 "Big Read" survey conducted by the BBC, The Lord of the Rings was found to be the "Nation's best-loved book." In similar 2004 polls both Germany[44] and Australia[45] also found The Lord of the Rings to be their favourite book. In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com customers, The Lord of the Rings was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium."[46]
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To be fair, I only read those books a few years ago. So maybe had I read them when I was 12, the age they are written for...then I might have enjoyed them more. I think the films were fantastic; but the books are filled with juvenile language, one-dimensional characters, and flat, boring writing.

I did read the Silmarilon, which I thought was more fitting for the idea that Tolkein had in mind when he wanted to create a literary piece of work; an English mythology or whatever it was he claimed.

Beowulf is still much, much better than LoTR, however.
 
Originally posted by: zinfamous
To be fair, I only read those books a few years ago. So maybe had I read them when I was 12, the age they are written for...then I might have enjoyed them more. I think the films were fantastic; but the books are filled with juvenile language, one-dimensional characters, and flat, boring writing.

I did read the Silmarilon, which I thought was more fitting for the idea that Tolkein had in mind when he wanted to create a literary piece of work; an English mythology or whatever it was he claimed.

Beowulf is still much, much better than LoTR, however.
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you have reached ikariam levels of fail 🙁
 
episodes 1-3 = rocky V
does not exist or belong anywhere with the original movies

L.O.T.R. wins hands down for me and i've loved star wars as it was the the first movie i saw as a kid @ manns chinese theatre with my pops.
 
Originally posted by: zinfamous
To be fair, I only read those books a few years ago. So maybe had I read them when I was 12, the age they are written for...then I might have enjoyed them more. I think the films were fantastic; but the books are filled with juvenile language, one-dimensional characters, and flat, boring writing.

I did read the Silmarilon, which I thought was more fitting for the idea that Tolkein had in mind when he wanted to create a literary piece of work; an English mythology or whatever it was he claimed.

Beowulf is still much, much better than LoTR, however.
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Such an amazing level of fail in so few words. You think LOTR was seriously written for 12 year olds? I think you're confusing it with The Hobbit or Narnia.

 
Originally posted by: dainthomas
Originally posted by: zinfamous
To be fair, I only read those books a few years ago. So maybe had I read them when I was 12, the age they are written for...then I might have enjoyed them more. I think the films were fantastic; but the books are filled with juvenile language, one-dimensional characters, and flat, boring writing.

I did read the Silmarilon, which I thought was more fitting for the idea that Tolkein had in mind when he wanted to create a literary piece of work; an English mythology or whatever it was he claimed.

Beowulf is still much, much better than LoTR, however.
Click to expand...

Such an amazing level of fail in so few words. You think LOTR was seriously written for 12 year olds? I think you're confusing it with The Hobbit or Narnia.
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dude even the hobbit was aimed above 12

LOTR != Harry potter
 
Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
LotR overall although The Empire Strike Back was probably the best movie of the 6.
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double this. i like the all the starfighter stuff in jedi but....fucking ewoks.
the LotR movies have their own problems, but the books are good and the movies are better than the new star wars stuff by a mile.
 
Hands down...LoTR wins this competition.

Better story line, better production, better special effects, better acting.

(coming from someone who's been a Star Wars fan since the first movie in 1977)
 
I consider Star Wars (4-6) to be on the same footing as LoTR in terms of my movie watching enjoyment. TBH, Star Wars is probably the easier watch though.
 
Ok are we talking about books, movies, or universe???

Better Books are LOTR cus they are certainly timeless and were revolutionary. They will never be forgotten. You really can't compare here. Some Star Wars books are good but they came out after the movie and many just plain suck. They don't have the same epic appeal as the LOTR books.

Universe goes also to LOTR. I mean come on, the D&D world itself kills everything. Ton's of books stemming from LOTR, movies, board games, video games. The LOTR Universe is endless and timeless as well. The LOTR geeks would outnumber Star Wars Geeks.

Movies would have to go to Star Wars. Peter Jackson LOTR movies were good but it just seemed like he tried to hard to make them seem "Epic". Also with the extended editions damn I don't want to watch a movie for that long. The acting was much better in LOTR but it's not like we haven't seen a movie like that before, just not of that scale. Star Wars when it came out was well, nothing compared to it. Star Wars movies are going to be timeless as well as the LOTR movies. The Star Wars movies were much more fun to watch. LOTR movies got very boring at many parts. It had a lot of fluff that didn't really need to be in there. Yes you leave things out to make a good movie but it's to make a good movie. It's not a book. I would take fun over "epicness" any day. Remember, the new Star Wars movies never happened. I'm sorry but I can't stand George Lucas any more. He hasn't directed anything good since American Grafitti.
 
Originally posted by: BoomerD
Hands down...LoTR wins this competition.

Better story line, better production, better special effects, better acting.

(coming from someone who's been a Star Wars fan since the first movie in 1977)
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Same with me. I loved the Star Wars trilogy and eagerly awaited the next one from the moment the first one was released. I had the original toys and was completely enthralled by the concept (I was 10 in 1977 and probably saw Star Wars a dozen times in the theater).

That said, I didn't see a single one of the LOTR movies in the theater. My boss loaned me 1-2 on DVD a few years ago and I watched them one day when I had the entire day off. I actually watched 1 and 2 back to back and I was hooked. It is such a great story with so much emotion and depth. It makes the Star Wars story seem pathetic and shallow with no substance at all in comparison.

There is just no comparison. Lord of the Rings is the one series to rule them all. 😀
 
Originally posted by: acheron
Originally posted by: ironwing
Both series are deeply flawed from the perspective of social justice.

In the LOTR series, Tolkien uses race as the baseline determinant of good and evil. Elves are good by nature and it requires a great deal of twisting to make an elf evil. Numenoreans, having a bit of elf blood, are considered the most noble of humans, but they can be corrupted with less effort than the elves. Corrupting elves or Numenorians is considers a great, epic tragedy. The non-Numenorian humans and Hobbits are basic clods who might be good, might be evil, either way no big deal. Dwarves, having been made by a lesser god than elves, are not quite trust worthy. Orcs, trolls, etc. are always evil and can not be rendered good. Overall, a profoundly racist world view.
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re: Elves -- many of the Noldor, if not exactly evil, certainly aren't purely good, and without any "twisting" required.

re: Dwarves -- they're seen as not quite trustworthy from the point of view of the elves, but the dwarves think the elves aren't trustworthy too. I don't think it's an absolute thing that elves > dwarves.

re: Orcs -- Tolkien struggled with that idea, that they could only be evil, which he felt was in conflict with his religion. He was never able to come up with a good solution though.
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IIRC correctly (it's been a long time) the creatures that eventually became Orcs were once elves that turned evil. Something along the same lines that a Hobbit-ish creature became Gollum.
 
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