March 2, 2003

Shoulda Known
Iklarsis

I knew that if anyone were to ever make these films, that there would be a division between those who loved them and those who hated them. There has always been a great amount of scepticism about the possibility of creating a believable, watchable trilogy of films that would do 'justice' to the great works of Tolkien. People are getting overly excited about things that hold no bearing on the eventual outcome of the story. Most of the battles, though epicly depicted in the novels, were merely vehicles for character development and plot movement. Details about who did what and how they did it are secondary to the emotional atmosphere within the scenes of action. So, Aragorn never 'really' fell into the river. So, Haldir didn't die at Helm's Deep. So, they let the Dwarf be a little funny. So what. Fact is, Gimli did have some one-liners and he and Legolas did keep a tally on the orcs they slayed, leading me to believe that it was fine and dandy to let the fellow spout a few more remarks than Tolkien ever wrote. Just because it didn't appear in the Bible for dreamers doesn't mean it couldn't have happened that way. We are building a crecendo, here. The films are leading us to a wonderful, visual conclusion that will never be attempted again. I just want to say, forget about how far off the mark you feel these movies have been and be thankful that anyone could have done even half as good a job in the first place. Everything 'left out' and 'added in' are exactly as it should have been to capture the full scope of such majesty. People are people, soldiers will be soldiers and what they say and how they do the things neccessary to carry the story will never besmirch the beauty of Tolkien's vision. Middle-Earth Lives and that's all I care for.