-
F
O
R
U
M

Just to Put In MY Two Cents
Ralph J.

Don't get me wrong, I think everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion, but I must say that I am getting sick and tired of all these people whining about how mr. Peter Jackson should make this film.

I think the Arwen Issue has been more than talked about: it has been regurgitated so many times now that it tastes like a piece of well done beef that you have been chewing on for the past couple of hours. The mere thought of it provokes a strong urge to run into the forest and discreetly vomit behind a Mallorn.

How Liv Tyler is going to perform remains to be seen.
What effect the changes will have remains to be seen.

Let's not bog down in how it should be done. If we were all film directors, and we were all given the opportunity to make this movie... how well would we do? How would we cope with the many, many difficulties to:

1. make a true-to-the-book rendering;
2. make the story comprehensible to non-adepts;
3. make the movie enjoyable for a wide audience
4. stay within reasonable time limits
5. keep a close eye on the budget (this film already costs a dollar a minute when the final product is there!)

I wonder how we would do that.

Anyway, what I am trying to say to all you die-hards out there (I am one myself: I have read the books in Dutch, English, German, French and Spanish. All in all I must have read it at least 40 times - no newbie!) let's look at the FUN SIDE for a change! Don't be so bloody serious about it! It is, after all, ONLY a story - albeit a very well told one.

For example: every year we do what we call a Total Immersion Video Weekend with a couple of good friends. A weekend of films, food, drinks and fun. Highlight of this year's edition? The Lord of the Rings Preview. We have all read the book at least three times, we love it and we are looking forward to see what parts of the film rock and what parts suck. Take the best film in the world - there will always be a part that sucks, as far as you are concerned. But that is not what I wanted to say. There we were, al four of us, sitting in front of a laptop computer that is playing this preview. I can tell you: it felt like we were in the theater, waiting for the show to begin.

Well, I can safely assume we have all seen the thing, because it has been downloaded 12 million times now. What we were looking at there, is just a couple of cleverly mixed shots, raw footage, working footage, lots of titles, accompanied by music that isn't even the definite soundtrack. But man, did we have fun! We must have played 15 times, exploring every detail and wondering what's what.

Afterwards, we could hardly wait for the movies to be in the theaters! It is going to be fun, and you will  be disappointed by some things in it. But on the bright side: there will be lots of cool stuff too!!! So cheer up, and look at the positive side of it: FINALLY we will be able to SEE Gollum, Ents, Shelob (no rumours about Shelob, anyone?), Moria and loads and loads of our favorite moments... And we will miss some, obviously.

Let's make this site an official Whine Free Zone!