Amph One Thread To Rule Them All: The Rings of Power, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings & Middle-earth films

Sure. It was pretty well done for the most part. Though for me, the Moria chapter is one of the most evocative pieces of writing Tolkien ever put to paper. The sense of depth, time, space, and ancient sadness, is hard for PJ to match. Though he made a good effort.

 

Lots of good examples / details above regarding the movies vs. the books. As I mentioned in here a couple of weeks ago, I finally just finished reading the books then. For me, I actually like the movies more overall. Probably an unpopular opinion.

 

Maybe not as unpopular as you think, actually. Wrong, but not unpopular.

 

I have read or listen to almost all books. But Fellowship, i coundt get through and have no desire to go back.

 

Everything that makes Fellowship of the Ring an unconventional narrative is what makes it the greatest book in the series, IMO. And one of the most enjoyable books I’ve ever read.

If the first time around you can’t stomach a ring a ding dillo or two, take a pause, read a little Harry Potter or some other banal thing, and then step back into Tom’s house.

 

Maybe after i read everything else and have no choice, lol.

 

That’s in a different version of the book.

 

I know he's most known for Doctor Who, but as one who's never taken to the show, I was more interested in hearing Sylvester Mccoy talking about his role as Radagast in The Hobbit. Interesting hearing from him how he'd actually lost the role of the older Bilbo to Ian Holm in LOTR. This was taken at Wintercon in NYC.


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He does too have a girlfriend. Are you just blatantly not watching the show?

 

... and more!

Spoiler

 

I’m rewatching the film series just like I do every year around Christmas. The Fellowship of the Ring just changes the way I see movies, even 20+ years later. I’m always finding new things to be amazed at.

 

After so many years, I still find them to be depressingly clunky, heavy-handed films without even an iota of the depth, bracing beauty and bittersweetness of the books. How I wish a less manipulative director than Peter Jackson had taken on this project, and followed Tolkien’s preference for avoiding the “purposed domination of the author.” Someone who treated the material more like history than a mere action-adventure romp.

Minority opinion, I know, but they just rub me the wrong way on many levels. Except for some occasionally and masterfully epic visuals, particularly in Moria, Rohan, before the gates of Minas Tirith, and on Mt Doom.

ETA: Below is a quote from Tolkien, which is antithetical to PJ’s approach (by his admission), which is to remove all interpretive possibilities, and yell at you about exactly how you should be feeling about every moment of every scene. CRY NOW, he says. Because Frodo has tears rolling down his cheeks in slo-mo. CRY NOW!

I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers.

 

My biggest criticism of the Jackson films is that they looked exactly the way 1970s era Tolkien fans expected them to look. The choices he made for production design were incredibly low risk/safe. True in general there aren't a lot of fantasy films where the production design really defies expectations about what audiences think high fantasy should look like, and the Jackson trilogy, to almost the greatest extent possible, also wasn't one.

 

Yeah, that’s another issue (except for in Rohan - those Sutton Hoo inspired costumes were perfect - as was Edoras). Essentially, this is because he chose two very 70s fantasy artists to do all the concept art: John Howe and Alan Lee. Couldn’t get more “safe fantasy aesthetic from the 70s” than that. I would’ve liked an approach much more rooted in history.

But it’s what Jackson does with his camera, and the over-the-top takes he squeezed out the actors, that bother me the most. He’s just constantly getting in the way of both the narrative and the world, shouting his directions. And when someone doesn’t have anything interesting to say, their shouting is even less welcome.

 

The Middle-Earth Legendarium isn't history though. According to Tolkien, it is a prehistory - it predates our civilizations by thousands of years. So using historical influences wouldn't make any sense.

 

Of course it makes sense. They had technology that worked, so it serves as a guide. Bronze Age/Iron age cultures have limited toolsets. Being aware of what they were is helpful.

 

The Elves and men civilizations we see in LOTR predate Bronze and Iron Age culture by thousands of years according to Tolkien. So how could, say Gondor, have used those cultures as an influence on their design?

 

the technology available influences the design. You ignore the analogous cultures and civilizations at the expense of undermining willing suspension of disbelief.

 

In fantasy, doesn't suspension of disbelief kind of come with the territory? It's kind of the point IMO

 

sure but the filmmakers need to help it along. That's the problem with some of the MCU. The films get so far removed from any recognizable human experience that people can no longer relate to the subject matter.