So AOTC ONLY Made 300 Mil This Past Summer, While Spider-Man Made 400 Mil....

The Abstract: "I know in this Nerd Kingdom, LOTR is praised through and through, but out in the real world the movie holds even less merit than Star Wars. "

It may not have the broad "recognition" factor of Star Wars, but most of that was earned by the earlier films, not AOTC.

Have you checked out the IBDM forums for reviews of LOTR? Many of the posters state that they are not really into fantasy or sci-fi, so there is definite cross over appeal. AOTC reviews are generally from Star Wars fans or from people just looking to bash the film to be "cool"...

It is innaccurate to extraplolate from personal experiences to make claims about movie's popularity.

Personal experiences are too subjective and varied.


For example, I live in the midwest. People are relatively practical and down to earth around here, so sci-fi and fantasy don't fly too well. However, I know of NO ONE else I work with or go to church with etc. who went to see AOTC. I know of eight other people who went to see LOTR and five of those loved it.

As for within my "forum" fan cirlces (non LOTR or SW boards) I know of only four others who went to see AOTC, and two of those hated it and one was disappointed. However, there are many more who went to see LOTR and loved it. It is a big topic of discussion on forums devoted to other subjects. So my personal experience is nearly opposite yours...

"I saw LOTR once. That's it.3 hour movies don't bear repeat viewings that well."

I saw it six times in the theater and loved it every time. And I have watched it over and over on DVD. It never seems to get old to me. I saw AOTC three times, and that was plenty.

"Every other person I know saw it once. No one was that enthused about it. Everyone said it was too long and boring. I didn't hear anyone clamoring to see the rest of the story."

Again, more people I know who are not into "fandom" per se, went to see LOTR than AOTC and loved it...

"But after AOTC came out, everyone I know was raving about it..."

Aside from my friends who are into Star Wars, NO ONE I KNOW even went to see it!


"My point. Know one I know wants to walk around playing hobbits and elves. But everybody wouldn't mind getting their hands on a lightsaber and kicking some butt."

This is telling, because at my age, most of the people I know aren't really into "playing" hobbits or jedi. We are all too busy trying to make ends meet, pay the rent, get dinner on the table, and deal with real life issues like our parents failing health, cut backs at work, etc. Maybe LOTR appealed more to an older crowd?


That is not to say that I don't like the occassional convention as an excuse to cut loose...but I don't think AOTC really appealed to my cohorts in the same way LOTR's did. LOTR seemed to have greater crossover appeal, despite the claims it appealed mainly to "geeks."

 

To its credit, The Fellowship Of The Ring is the most successful screen adaptation of Tolkien's masterpiece. However, I'm still waiting for the definitive film version of The Lord Of The Rings to be made. Perhaps some day, someone will make a 10 part mini-series so they'll have more time to do it right. PJ gave it a good go and made a mildly entertaining film that I enjoyed enough to want to see the sequels (but that has more to do with my love for the books than anything else). I just feel he made too many compromises to the story and made too many unecessary changes trying to spice up something that didn't need any help in the first place.

At any rate, Star Wars remains my favorite film series of all time with The Lord Of The Rings right behind it, at least until someone comes along and does a better job with Rings.

 

agrees

 

This whole argument about which film made the most money and is better is rather silly. I don't care which made more money. Are any of you guys profiting on any of these films? Come on. After you include Dvd sales and do forth Aotc will make around a billion dollars. If that's a flop I wish I could make flops like Lucas. Another thing is you shouldn't equate popularity with ticket sales. I guess that makes Titanic the most best film of all time. We must also consider this was the most competative year for any Star wars film. There was Spiderman, Sum of all Fears, Bourne Identity, Mib2, to just name few. How much competition did TPM have? ESB. sold less tickets than ANH but is regarded by many as the best of the films. Of all the polls I have seen Aotc ranks second favorite behind ESB by most fans.

 

And for the record I felt both Aotc and Spiderman gave me my money's worth,(Aotc still my favorite of the year though) and can't wait to own both.Isn't that what really matters in the end.

 

Upped for the sake of the current Spidy thread.