December 10, 2002

The Ultimate Visual Lotr Would Be...
Sharku

The latest movie is great, no question. It's fantastic that PJ is able to make three movies, each about three hours (almost double what Bakshi got for his '78 animated version, and he only actually made 1 part of 2). But even 9 hours total is not enough for we book fans that want to see all our favorite scenes. The only way that all the details such as Bombadil, Nob and Bob, the Mirrormere, Quickbeam, etc. will be shown is when there is much more movie length.

It's also clear that the whole blockbuster/movie-theater format doesn't allow the more leisurely pacing that we all would like to see to more faithfully portray the dialogue and story. The big movie format (as for the current movies) really puts the director under pressure to keep the action moving, so that even key scenes like Lothlorien have to be glossed over so that the movie doesn't lose momentum for general audiences. This is even more evident from PJ's commentary on the DVD extended edition of Fellowship-- he often mentions script/editing choices based on pacing and momentum needed for a movie.

So what would the ultimate visual presentaton of LOTR be for the book fans? Obviously, a miniseries, maybe on cable TV and/or on DVD. I figure 12 two-hour parts might be sufficient to capture almost all of the scenes from the book. I think you wouldnt need to be so concerned about pacing since viewers are expecting a drawn out story.

We can keep wishing, can't we? The number of die-hard fans that would watch it probably doesnt make such a project financially viable, but maybe the success of the current movies will allow it to happen someday. Of course, at that point, you could also ask the question, why bother? Just read the book or listen to the BBC radio production.

--Sharku