LotR films - faithful?

[paranoid marvin]

I loved the books - and I love the films (inc the animated part 1)

But , they missed the whole point of the books!

Because without the return to the devastation of The Shire , the story loses a lot of it's poigniancy

It's a story about Hobbits,for Hobbits.The whole adventure to Mordor loses all of it's relevancy , when compared to the devastation of The Shire by Saruman

In the same way that the Elves realise the irony of their assistance in the destruction of the One Ring (ie the end of their sancturies in Middle Earth)
so too , the exploits of Pippin and Merry lead to Saruman's ending of their poeples' innocent way of life

I understand that from a cinematic point of view , the average theatre-goer would see this as an anti-climax , especially after the defeat of the big bad guy Sauron - but I thought perhaps it may have made it's way onto the Extended Edition DVD

 

[j d worthington]

Paranoid Marvin: BINGO!

While I love the films for a lot of things, this is a major flaw for me, as well. Without making that point, it loses an enormous dimension... the maturing of the hobbits as individuals and as a people. And, after all, the subtitle of the thing ends "...as seen by the Hobbits", doesn't it? (I refer to the Cirth and Tengwar inscription on the title page here.)

And I must admit that, considering they filmed at least a fair bit of the scouring of the shire (a tiny bit of which was used for the peek into the Mirror of Galadriel), I see no reason why, if they were doing so much else, they didn't go ahead and include this on the extended version, instead of the death given to Saruman.

Which is why I maintain that Fellowship (in the extended version, not the theatrical release) remains the most faithful of the three films, and also remains my favorite because it has a lot of the flavor of the book, and a lot of its poignancy, which is often (to be honest) dumbed down to a rather comic-book level in the later films. Pity, that; as when Jackson hit it right, he hit it RIGHT!

So, yes; I enjoy the films and in many ways love them; but faithful? ... only in part.

 

[Kostmayer]

I've always thought the 3rd film was the weakest of the 3, not least because of the ending. I always turn the film off at the wedding scene.

And I was really looking forward to seeing the Shire at the end of the film. When I first saw Fellowship I hated the look of the Shire, thinking it was too, well shiny is the only way to put it. Too colourful. Then watching the rest of the film I realised that the Shire was deliberately portrayed that way. It was an idyllic view of Hobbit life, and the destruction of it would have made a much more poignant ending.

As for the Elves at Helms deep, I didn't mind the Elves as much, but they did display some questionable battletactics. Fantasy setting or no, men on horses should not charge infantry who are holding big pointy sticks.

And I know its not what happened in the book, but Aragorn should totally have picked Eowyn. Granted, a woman who is handy with a sword but can't cook probably isn't what most men look for in a wife, but she did have spirit.

 

[j d worthington]

I keep seeing this issue of Eowyn or Arwen... aside from the fact that Arwen loved Aragorn enough to give up her immortality and her ability to travel living to the Undying Lands -- no small sacrifice, and I don't know too many humans who'd do the same -- there are the small matters of: Aragorn and Arwen have been in love for longer than Eowyn's even been alive; and the fact that Aragorn would outlive Eowyn by several decades to a century... in fact, he wouldn't age nearly as fast as she would, which would also be a greater pain to her the longer they were together. Those are only a couple of very good reasons for not picking Eowyn. (And don't mistake me, Eowyn has always been one of my favorite characters in the novel. But she and Aragorn would not make a good couple... at all!)

 

[Pyan]

I, agree, j d - but I also often wondered - as a descendant of High Numenoreans, like Aragorn - wouldn't Faramir also outlive Eowyn by a good few years?

 

[j d worthington]

I, agree, j d - but I also often wondered - as a descendant of High Numenoreans, like Aragorn - wouldn't Faramir also outlive Eowyn by a good few years?

Most likely; but not (unless I'm mistaken) by anywhere near the span Aragorn would have, as he was not in the "direct line", and there had been more intermarriage with shorter-lived houses of men.