Lord of the Rings movie - Spoilers

[PollyMath]

OK, it has opened, and I really want to talk about it. I know that putting spoilers in the topic when we basically all know how it "ends" from the books it a little weird, but:

1) I guess not everyone has read the books.
2)I want to really talk about the specifics of this movie. What worked. What didn't. What I would have done differently. Etc.

So, let's begin.

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[PollyMath]

OK, me first.

I actually took a day off from work yesterday. No, it wasn't just to see the movie. I had to go into the city to get my student ID for the grad program I am starting in January, the ID office is only open during business hours, and I work during business hours. But that was as much an excuse as anything else. I really wanted to see this one. And I had one day of vacation left anyway this year.

I went to the second matinee at 2:00 PM. The first one was at 10:00 AM. Let me specify that I may have missed some stuff because there was a woman with a 4 year old uninterested child sitting right next to me. I consider this a mild form of child abuse, never mind rude, but that is not what we are discussing.

I really liked this movie. It worked. The story was there. It was not turned into some absurd allegory of anything. It was a little rushed, but what do you expect when you compact that much into 3 hours. I do have a few complaints. I'll limit myself to 3 of them here.

1) I don't like the implication that it was Arwen who is pushing Aragorn to live up to his potential/greatness. It is totally unnecessary. It is like trying to stick a "behind every great man there is a good woman (and a surprised mother)" into the mix. Arwen is an inspiration to Aragorn, as he fell in love with her the moment he met her on the same day he discovered who he was (the heir of Isildur), and Elrond wasn't willing to lose his daughter to any less a man than the King. But really, the movie makes it sound like he was messing around with his Ranger buddies and wasting his life until she gave him several shoves in the right direction, like a frat boy who was redeemed by a new girlfriend. Yuch. This aside, I wasn't much bothered by the extra stuff Arwen was given to do. I thought I would be, but I wasn't.

2) The elves have way too much architecture. I can't imagine them using that much wood. I could have imagined them encoraging trees to grow naturally into useful shapes. And I know that there are wooden beams in Rivendell as Frodo stares at the carvings when he wakes up, but all those gazebos? Again in Lothlorien (and more so because of the place) way too much architecture. Those elves are much too fond of trees to build that much. Besides, they don't sleep. What do you need so much indoor space for?

3) I missed that all the poetry was cut, except, I guess for the "one ring" verse. I didn't want much, just a little. Maybe the "Search for the sword that is broken/ In Imladris it dwells /There shall be counsels taken/..../and the Halfling forth shall stand" (approximate) verse. It would have been easy enough to bring up. And I really would have liked to hear the elves sing the one stanza of the one about Elbereth, "A Elbereth Gilthoniel...."

Anyway, that is me. But in general, I liked it. I will go again. Do you think I could avoid small children by going to the 10:00 AM show on Christmas day? Shouldn't be too many around at that hour, should there?

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[MightyLady77]

http://www.fjordstone.com/trailer.html

This is a link to see a list of the theaters that will be showing the Legend of the Rangers trailer before showings of Lord of the Rings starting December 28, 2001.

I'm amused that both these movies are known by the initials LOTR. :-D

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MightyLady of the Flame Red Hair
Every time I push the envelope, I get a paper cut.

[ianviking]

Okay - other than the heathens (sp?) laughing at events such as Legolas leaving no footprints on snow, I was allowed to watch on Wed 19th almost uninterrupted.

I enjoyed it immensely - in fact I almost cried through the whole movie. Waiting for bits I knew to show themselves.

Film itself - okay Arwen was way overdone from the book version, but I don't think the film lost anything from it.

The thing I miss most actually, was Tom Bombadil - he saved their lives twice in the book, and supplied their swords in the process - during their travel from the Shire to Bree. Of course, I still haven't been able to work out what kind of creature Tom was???

Okay.... who wants to see Ents.....?

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There is no fate but that we make

[This message has been edited by ianviking (edited December 25, 2001).]

[MightyLady77]

Ian, I laughed when I saw Legolas walking on top of the snow, but it was laughter of delight. I thought it was a wonderfully droll touch.

Now, you knew someone was going to do it. So here it is.

Fellowship of the Ring Personality Test

Go ahead, find your match! No-one can be more surprised than me that my match is Aragorn! I'll have to try it again when I'm in a different mood. (But I won't change my answer to the question of hairy feet.

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MightyLady of the Flame Red Hair
Every time I push the envelope, I get a paper cut.

Ok, I went back and tried it again... this time I match Samwise Gamgee. A better match, don't you think? Not the brightest bulb in the string, but loyal to the end in spite of being afraid of the dark. :-D

[This message has been edited by MightyLady77 (edited December 29, 2001).]

[fanuilhgkar]

Oh, my God ! I'm Frodo!!! LOL!

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[Wizz]

Well, Fan...you're definately in good company. I ended up being a Frodo as well.


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Do not tempt the patience of Wizzards, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.

[Nommy]

I got Aragorn.

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Nommy

[PollyMath]

Gandalf.

That's a little wierd.

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[ProfCrash]

I be Gandalf. Queen GOP was Sam. She feels gipped and wants to redo it.

I loved the movie, seen it twice. Good stuff.

Off to thehot tub.



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