Lujayne Posted December 19, 2001 Share Posted December 19, 2001 Well! I've seen the movie now... hmm... Y'know, it's not what I expected! I have to say, I'm glad I read the book or I'd have had no idea what was going on! And I love Sam! And Pippin and Merry. They're great. And Legolas and Boromir are awefully cute. ^_^ And I did not like how they portrayed Galadriel as an evil witch! AGH! That part was terrible. It didn't match up to my imagination, but all in all, it wasn't so bad. I think I'll go see it again! But be forewarned: anyone who has not read the book will have no clue what is happening. And this is important: whenever certain characters begin to suddenly look all evil, they're not actually possessed and demonic. It is all in Frodo's mind! It's terrible that that wasn't explained, but it is the Ring playing tricks on him; making him think that these people are after his Ring and all. They're not demonic - it's the ring trying to trick Frodo! And Galadriel is in no way evil, no matter how the movie portrays her! Remember that. Arwen's expanded role didn't bother me that much, but I would have liked to have seen Glorfindel. C'est la vie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted December 19, 2001 Share Posted December 19, 2001 And here I was purposely NOT reading the book so I wouldn't be spoiled for the movie. Oh wellz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Master Posted December 19, 2001 Share Posted December 19, 2001 Well, I read the books. Very, very good. Tolkien was a gifted author, and this is a good way to bring him back to light. I haven't seen the movies, but let me tell you all this: It is IMPOSSIBLE to portray a movie in a book. Impossible. They can use as many specail effects they want. It will never give you the same feeling as reading the books. So what I am trying to say is. Read them. Originals are always better than copies. Alright, that is enough advise for a month... Maybe I'll pay a visit on Christmas as my Christmas present to all of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cmdr. Cracken Posted December 20, 2001 Share Posted December 20, 2001 that was her name, eh ~L? well, i think it was just the way FRODO saw her, because of the corrupting way of the ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boba Rhett Posted December 20, 2001 Share Posted December 20, 2001 I assume she made herself look like that to show him what would happen if she took the ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lujayne Posted December 20, 2001 Author Share Posted December 20, 2001 Okay, maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought then... Hey you guys who've seen it and not read the book, what did you think? Did it make sense, or was it confusing? Did you like it?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle d'Tana Posted December 20, 2001 Share Posted December 20, 2001 hey, but when you don't have read the book , you can watch it too, or is it not well, and you have to read the books first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lujayne Posted December 21, 2001 Author Share Posted December 21, 2001 Well, I thought that it would be confusing without reading the book, but I am hearing from many people on a different site that they never read it and understood the movie just fine. So I'm sure you can see it without having read the book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilleApplePie Posted December 21, 2001 Share Posted December 21, 2001 I think for people who read the books before the movie (when the movie stays true to the book) it can seem like it would be confusing to other people because you see the whole picture while they're still piecing it together...Like I read all the Harry Potter books that are out right now and I thought the movie might seem confusing to my family members who hadn't read it but it wasn't...so yes...I'm rambling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LukA_YJK Posted December 21, 2001 Share Posted December 21, 2001 <B>Lujayne, <BIG>Lujayne</BIG></B> really nice to see you again ! Eh, I wanted ask some questions... huh... <FONT color="RED">Was you born in the same time with StarWars ?</FONT> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue15 Posted December 22, 2001 Share Posted December 22, 2001 how old is everybody? I'm 17, 18 on January 21, when that time comes i will have to do a mock invasion of the place with all that birthday spam fun! eheheheheheh post a happy birthday to me in every single forum i can click open with my mouse! mwhahahah no, i woulnd't do such a thing. I'd like to be given mod status of the war room for my birthday. o man i feel like such an adult. well, kinda. not REALLY, but i find myself accidentally thinking i'm 20 occasionally...it's probably cause i'm taller than my parents..i'm around 6' tall. anybody see TIE Guy around here? i bet he sets his thing to 'not logged in' and spies on us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!! help me i'm under attack by rebel forces and monster dianogas who've escaped out of thy toilet!!!! I NEED TO PLAY THE PHANTOM MENACE NOW!!!! I'M HYPED REDWING GET ON AIM IMMEDIATELLY OR I'LL COME TO YOUR HOUSE IN MY DREAMS AND WAKE YOU UP AND BEAT YOU WITH A RAW FISH!!!!!!!!! SOMEBODY GET ME A MEDICAL DROID I'M GOING TO DIE!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duder Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 Originally posted by Lujayne Well, I thought that it would be confusing without reading the book, but I am hearing from many people on a different site that they never read it and understood the movie just fine. So I'm sure you can see it without having read the book! I think that the most confusing aspect is the lack of narrative closure! I have read the books so I know what is to come, but a loot of people were baffled who had no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lujayne Posted December 24, 2001 Author Share Posted December 24, 2001 Hi LukA. Well, that's a strange question, but, yes, I guess I was. I was born in 1978, and Star Wars came out in '79, so I guess I was born even before Star Wars! : ) duder and E.A.P, I think you guys must be right. But I do have something to add to what I said earlier. In my last post I said that perhaps I over-reacted and maybe it is a fine movie - since nearly everyone else I've heard from thought the movie was fantastic and couldn't have been better. (Note: the following string of thoughts is going to be very disjointed - this ain't no english essay - bear with me) So I thought, Well, maybe the movie was good then. But I've considered it a bit more and have come to a conclusion: no, the movie was not that good. Here's why. Hear me out for a second. As a purely cinimatic experience, judging by just the movie with no account for Tolkien or the books whatsoever, then yes, I think it was pretty good and exciting, and will continue to be. But, when considering Tolkien's own vision... it's a whole nother story. I think if he saw the film today he would be completely aghast. Not for some poor directing or special effects, or for not sticking close enough to the story, but for an entirely different reason. (This might get long.) Think about it: in this movie, (as well as in virtually every other movie in our world) 'evillness' seems to get glorified. Not that we start thinking that the bad guys are actually the good guys; we know that they are evil. But you know that there are going to be all kinds of 'orc' toys and such along with the 'elf' and 'hobbit' toys. And the Ring inscription (something Tolkien did not like - I'll get to that later) is virtually everywhere now, on books, on toys (think of the Burger King toys. If you collect all the figures, you can get the light-up "Ring of Power" - as in, people are now striving to get this "Ring"), even on rings that people can buy. (this is actually going somewhere) And it's because if this movie. The mood of the film was also much darker; it seemed to show a lot more of the 'evil' side of magic than the 'good' side of it. (Even the Galadriel and the Lorien scene - Lothlorien was supposed to be a place of rest, and healing, and peace: a safe haven. But in the movie, safety was the last feeling I got from it.) This is completely opposed to Tolkien's vision for the book. He thought the evils, the orcs, Riders, and the Ring, were terrible things, and certainly not be glorified in such ways. He says in Letters that someone made and sent him a silver goblet with "that horrible Ring inscription" on it, and that he's never used it except as an ash tray. He also began to write a sequel to LOTR, called The New Shadow, which can be found in book 12 of the History of Middle Earth series. In it he describes just what is common in our world today, the glorifcation of evil. It takes palce in Gondor only a hundred years or so after LOTR. Of it he says, "I did begin a story placed about 100 years after the Downfall [of Sauron], but it proved both sinister and depressing. Since we are dealing with Men it is inevitable that we should be concerned with the most regrettable feature of their nature: their quick satiety with good. So that the people of Gondor in times of peace, justice and prosperity, would become discontented and restless...while Gondorian boys were playing at being Orcs and going round doing damage." And we know that this, something Tolkien never intended, is what will happen through this movie. It is precicely why the "Lurtz" character was created (he was the big, blue Orc): so that people could go, "wow, he's cool" and buy the little action figure, and 'play at being orcs'. Something which Tolkien called both "sinister and depressing." The whole movie was dark and demonic, can you deny that? I know, all of those evil, demonic things are in the book, too, but...it's different. It just is, I can't explain it. It's like this, the movie says, "this is an Orc, this is a Balrog, they are evil but cool!" and the book says, "this is an Orc, this is a Balrog, they are the epitimy of evil and Men should stay as far away from them as possible, or they might become like them...and there is no fate worse than that." Tolkien was a very strong Christian, and had a very firm faith in God - Jesus Christ. It was this faith in God that directed his writings. He would never want anyone playing with an Orc action figure, or wearing a ring with the Elvish writing on it - he would instead want everyone to praise and glorify God. If he knew what kinds of things were being portrayed in the film of his life's work, I think he would be sorely disappointed. More than that, I think he would hate the film. Unfortunately, I don't hate it. I just don't like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boba Rhett Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 *disregards the important part of Lujayne's post and points out Star Wars came out in 1977* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lujayne Posted December 24, 2001 Author Share Posted December 24, 2001 Lol, sorry Boba Rhett, you're right! ^_^ I guess I am post-Star Wars after all! I actually just came back because I realised that some might need more than just my word to believe that Tolkien's writings grew from his Christian faith. So I've gathered a few quotes, but I'll look for more if anyone wants them! "What many Tolkien fans don't realise is that The Lord of the Rings - the epic fantasy that has sold over 50 million copies and inspired the recent film trilogy - grew out of the author's strong Christian faith." -- Kurt Bruner, Finding God in The Lord of the Rings" Okay, that was cheating, it was just a restating of what I already said. "The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels, particularly artistic, beautiful, and moving: 'mythical' in their perfect, self contained significance.... But this story has entered History and the primary world.... This story is supreme; and it is true. Art has been verified. God is the Lord, of angels, and of men - and of elves." -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Tolkien Reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue15 Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 just the first star wars. empire strikes back and return of the jedi came after you were born. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lujayne Posted December 24, 2001 Author Share Posted December 24, 2001 Okay, that's true too. I am..what? Intra-Star Wars? Too confusing... Here's another quote from Tolkien which cannot be mistaken! "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. ... For as a matter of fact, I have consciously planned very little; and should cheifly be greatful for having been brought up (since I was eight) in a Faith that has nourished me and taught me all the little that I know; and that I owe to my mother, who clung to her conversion and died young, largely through the hardships of poverty resulting from it." -- J.R.R. Tolkien, Letters, 172. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue9 Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 I saw it Twice in 1 Day its rocks, and they don't seem to be portraying Galdriel as evil, in my mind it captured the spirit of the books as well as any movie I've ever seen, they're leaving out the barrows scene and and the way the hobbits got there swords was annoying though as well as some of the other details they had to drop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue Nine Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 I agree with L. Galadriel did see just a tad bit witchy. Ickiness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue15 Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 I wanna see that movie!!!!!! aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!! I WANT TO SEE IT NOW!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue9 Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 Also I would argue that the movie did not Glorify Evil, rather it depicted the evil as a broad backdrop to the times while the good shone through like a light in the darkness...can't say much more than that though because some peeps probably haven't seen the movie or read the book and I don't want to ruin it for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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