February 25, 2003

Elmo--you Are Exactly Right, and That's the Prob
Copewilson

Elmo has put his finger superbly on the problem of Jackson telling/retelling/ruining of LOTR. I would like to isolate a couple of his statements:

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I am sure that Two Towers appealed to cinema-goers who have not read the book because they had nothing to compare it to and so could enjoy the film for what is was – sheer entertainment!
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Precisely. Tolkien's book went far, far beyond "sheer entertainment," the movies, on the other hand, do not.

Elmo further stated:

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As a film in it’s own right Two Towers could not be faulted - it is a visionary master-piece. The scenery was breath-taking, the special effects were amazing and the musical score was exactly right.
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Once again. I'm not sure if Elmo intended to say "visual masterpiece" or "visionary masterpiece." If the former, I fully agree, the film looked great. But then so did the blonde bimbo cheerleaders in my high school, but they too lacked any real substance. It is this substance that we all loved so much about LOTR. If he meant the latter, I completely disagree.

Scenery, special effects, and musical score? I would have been much happier with character development, good acting, sincere emotion, and a stripped-down, almost minimalistic movie.

Sure, anyone who goes to a movie just for Hollywood-style entertainment, anyone who treasures style over substance, the movies were wonderful. Again, these things are not why so many love Tolkien.

THIS is why Jackson's adaptations are horrible.

How can I compare the movie to the book? This is easy--at the very least we should expect the movie to maintain not just the flashy imagery/beautiful scenery, but also the heart and soul of the books. Jackson gives us the former and robs us blindly of the latter. Ever hear of a literary adaptation?

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but I suppose in PJ’s wisdom he has left that for Return of The King.
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PJ's wisdom? Is this akin to Bill Clinton's honour, Oliver North's memory, beauracratic efficiency?

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So just enjoy the film for its entertainment value...
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I can't, the movies were littley more than eye-candy.

copewilson