Slashdot Mirror
LotR Two Towers Trailer Online
A few people have pointed out that Apple has put a trailer online for
The Two Towers, so if you have broadband and the ability to play video in
Apple's favorite format, you can check it out. I'm 0 for 2, so I guess
I'll wait. Besides, its only a half a year away ;)
Is that the Seuss version?
This is the voice of World Control. I bring you Peace.
Or maybe it's just the greatest fantasy/sci-fi crossover of all time.
Well, his name was Entwhistle after all.
The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination
- Douglas Adams
No, this one involves the Ent(wistle)s.
*****
There are many people in this country who, through no fault of their own, are sane.
It's just a Freudian slip. You know, like when you say one thing and mean your mother...
-Chris
Congratulations, you are the only one of the hundred people who will point this mistake out who is not redundant.
sadly, a little grammatical mistake makes any discussion on the actual topic impossible. thank you immature slashdotters!
Aye, "Dr. Who and the Two Towers".
Leave it to Hollywood to find a nice, punchy title to grace this soon-to-be classic sci/fi thriller.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
Just go see it in the theater on Wednesday. It's being shown with Men in Black 2.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Huh. Keep your eyes open for "Entwhistle the White", I guess...
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
then again, we already knew that it will look similar to the 1st one, and most of us know the story already as well. Another thing, I get the distinct feeling that /. readers who do not have Quicktime, often advertise the fact in a way that suggests they are proud of it. Why is that?
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Star Wars EP. III *Yawn*
Lord of the Rings Part II !!!WHOHOOO!!!
I definately sense a cultural shift among geeks. Or is it just that PLOT DOES MATTER!!!
Wouldn't suprise me if they did change the name to "The Who Towers"
I recall reading a massive rant and online petition asking for the name to be changed 'cos they thought "The Two Towers" had some sort of terrorist connetation.
How anyone can confise New York with the Shires in Middle Earth is beyond me.
Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
Don't believe what you read is the truth.
Ya know, CmdrTaco, there are doctors out there that can help you with your depression since the loss of John Entwistle of The Who.
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
I just downloaded it, and mplayer plays the audio just fine, but I'm not getting the video. Is there a working Linux codec?
To do that they'd have to go out, and quite possibly interact with real people.
A few people have pointed out that Apple has put a trailer online for The Who Towers
CmdrTaco has already expressed his [very high] opinion of the band 'The Who' so I wonder if this could be an intentional typo?
As with the sun's light
My mom was magnificent
Unquestionable
I think it has something to do with Hollywood being a bunch of clueless old hacks. Coming up with good ideas is (evidently) hard so everyone says "Hey alot of people like that book, lets make a movie of it but we'll have to take a bunch of stuff out and/or change the ending to make it work".
The other lame idea factory is to take a subculture and then do a movie "about" it but adding bank robbers and/or a love interest to make it accesible to the common man.
What do you want them to do, actually get people to come up with original ideas to create a movie around?
I am not a number! I am a man! And don't you
Becomes part of the machine /. wizard sure trys to get any mention of The Who into a headline even if it don't rhyme and messes up the cadence of the song.....
Bad spelin's comin' at you
His grammar is obscene
Ain't seen nothin' like him
In any other website at all
That
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
The sequel to "The yellowship of the king", from the great book "The nerd of the rings" ^_^
"So, once you know what the question actually is, you'll know what the answer means."
My favorite scene is when Frodo has to evade the Dalek.
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
133.3KBytes/sec, just over 4min to download =) Seems to be holding up quite nicely.
sadly, a little grammatical mistake makes any discussion on the actual topic impossible.
How true. Which is why it is so important that editorial control be exercised by individuals who are aware of how small details can ruin an otherwise good submission.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
I'm told by secret sources that a guy named "Tolkien"(sounds like a 37337 name) has let the cat out of the bag and has written spoilers to this movie and, get this, The Next One! He must have been a key grip or something on the film crew, as he seems to have real inside information.
I thought they had finally talked Tom Baker into making a movie.
I am *SO* disappointed.
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
is about the journeys of the fractions of the Fellowship towards Isengard (Tower of Orthanc) (Book III) and Mordor (Tower of Barad-Dur) (Book IV).
The Gates of the Argonath to whic you refer, while spectacular, play no further part in the plot.
--
E_NOSIG
If memory serves correctly, The two towers referred to in the title of the book were the Towers of Minas Anor and Minas Ithil in Gondor. The Nazgul took Minas Ithil and it was renamed Minas Morgul. After the fall of Osgiliath, Minas Anor was renamed Minas Torith.
Now will it be Ringwraith Japanese, Chinese, French, or Italian?
</KAGA>
You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are.
-- Colonel Adolphus Busch
At this point, I'm confident enough to guess that God's account is now 'entwhistle' instead of 'pete'.
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
Yes, finally the return of Dr Who and a sequal to Paradise Towers! Maybe this one will have Felicity Kendell in it.
Holy shit, Gandalph is alive?
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
Exactly which two towers the title refers to is largely speculative, near as I can tell. Keep in mind the titles for the "trilogy" weren't Tolkien's originally (in particular, he didn't like "Return of the King" since he thought it gave away too much of the plot). Remember, LOTR was meant to be released as a single work and was broken up into three parts due to a shortage of paper at the time.
That said, a case can be made for any number of things to be the actual "Two Towers", but one shouldn't get too worked up over it. :)
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Looks like Slashdot isn't the only one covering this
Yeah, what else is new.. when's the last time you saw an original news peice on slashdot?
The same time I saw perfect spellink on Slashdot.
... The story of a band of elves living in middle earth, who escape to the upper levels of our planet to sneak into times square and play pinball...all the while searching for the golden ring of The Great Pinballio...
or something..
I lost my concept of community when my community lost all concept of me.
This is the same trailer that was reffered to by a story last week...however, it appears to be oh a higher quality...and in a variety of screen sizes...
also, i saw this after the story was posted last week...from theOneRing.net posted a frame by frame analysis of the trailer...it's pretty cool, and does a good job analyzing what's going on in the teaser trailer...contains major spoilers though, of course, that only matters if you've never read the book...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
Is that the creature that Sam vanquishes by unzipping his costume?
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
I think it depends on the context. In general, people here are pro-Apple for a number of reasons:
/., depending on who's posting and the context.
1) Anything that competes with Microsoft is good.
2) With OS X, you have a real Unix system.
3) Did I mention that it's not a Windows company?
On the other hand, they get their share of flak because:
1) They're not going out and GPLing lots of code.
2) They buy software companies and then shut down the non-Mac versions to lock customers in.
3) Apple has close ties to Disney (mostly via Pixar), and Disney brings with it all sorts of baggage (MPAA and such).
4) Apple sold its soul to the devil (that deal with Microsoft a few years ago).
5) Apple has never supported Quicktime/Sorensen for Linux, and though they've pointed fingers as Sorensen, we all believe that with a little pressure from Apple, it would happen.
So expect a mixed opinion of Apple here on
Anal typo bitches unite! Now is your chance to display your stupendous powers of observation, your razor sharp intellect and Sahara dry wit as you keenly point out Who, not What is wrong with this article! Be the envy of your friends,your family, even your dog! Be the first to score a redundant toda-- er... um... ok, nevermind. Join ATB now and recieve a 30% discount off our already low membership rates!
~Ahem~ On the topic, I'm am heartend by the fact by the fact these were all filmed at nearly the same time, by the same director. It'll ensure there is no dumbing down as oft happens in sequels these days... Batman comes to mind... I'm sure Spider Man will suffer the same fate... They go from serious to "lets star Jim Carrie in one of these! Wouldn't that be great?!" or "I like the character design. Name? Ummm.. Jar-Jar. See? Kinda just rolls off the tongue."
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Let's just get all the spoilers out in the open to get it open with:
Saruman is Gandalf's father.
Frodo and Samwise are brother and sister.
Legolas? He's an elf.
Liv Tyler is really a genetic experiment to see how hot Steve Tyler's lips look on a woman.
Mordor's primary export? Orcs and spam.
Gimli? He's a dwarf.
Having 1,000,000,000 orcs in your army: 1,000,000,000 gold pieces. Having Strider leading your army? Priceless.
Frodo? He's a hobbit.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Amen, Brother!
The thing about things we don't know is we often don't know we don't know them.
Simple. Because enough people are willing to pay enough money to see such movies.
The more interesting question is why so many people are willing to pay money to see such movies.
For me, for this particular example, I was willing to pay money because it looked like this particular translation of a story from one artisitic format to another was worthing paying to see. Happily, it turned out that I was correct. (So far, anyway. I hope the next two movies are as enjoyable.)
There are several interpretations one can make as to which "Two Towers" Tolkien was talking about: Orthanc and Barad-Dûr, Minas Tirith (Anor) and Minas Morgul (Ithil)... I hadn't heard anyone say they were supposed to be the Argonath before, tho...
In any case, there is a very strong case (see item #3) that the one true interpretation, what Tolkien intended, is for the Two Towers to refer to Orthanc and Minas Morgul, because these are the goals of the split parties of the Fellowship in Books III and IV, respectively. This is in contrast to the above reply that state's Book IV's goal was Barad-Dûr; Frodo and Sam don't even really enter Mordor until Book V. Additionally, the note at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring in the 3-volume edition of LotR refers to Orthanc and Minas Morgul as "The Two Towers", and Tolkien's own illustration for The Two Towers was clearly of those 2 structures.
To: Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema
Those of us who have seen The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring know what an amazing director Peter Jackson is. When I learned that there apparently was to be a sequel, I was overjoyed. However, Peter Jackson has decided to tastelessly name the sequel "The Who Towers". The title is clearly meant to refer to the attacks on the Whorld Trade Center. In this post-September 11 world, it is unforgiveable that this should be allowed to happen. The idea is both offensive and morally repugnant. Hopefully, when Peter Jackson and, more importantly, New Line Cinema see the number of signatures on this petition, the title will be changed to something a little more sensitive.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Because in the Two Towers there is a creature called Entwise... I think...
...And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." - Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984)
This was a great trailer until they gave away Gandalf's return. I mean, quite a few people would know this given the wide readership of the books, but for ~half the audience that hasn't read them, isn't this a ridiculously massive spoiler?
And apparently, peter jackson has decided to do a little editorial magic and have gollum making a deal with a spider named boris...
Your mind is squeezed by a blast of pain!
Nononono... Starwars has plot for days; Just you already know what's going to happen. Having three prequels certianly doesn't do anything to enhance that. The producers have their work cut out for them trying to keep an audience intrested when they already know the Emperor is going to feed Anakins ego, the princess is going to die and somehow help tip him to the dark side... What do you want to bet Obi-Wan has to open a can of whoop-ass on him?
:)
You could say that readers already know what's going to happen in the Rings saga, but there is a huge difference between having already seen the vision on the screen, knowing what will probably happen and seeing a masterfully crafted novel done justice on the screen for the first time especially for those of uswhose first exposure to Rings is that screen. Cultural shift? Nah. Star Wars has lots of plot, but after 100's of sci-fi novels and the poor handling in Ep1 (and Ep2; Distinctly different styles from the originals. Overuse of cut sequences), Starwars has lost it's shine to stale franchise whoring.(watching Yoda command a battlefield full of stormtroopers was an unexpect delight
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Atleast PetitionOnline.com posted a sensible response...
"Please Note: The Two Towers is the title of the JRR Tolkien book originally published in 1954, the second book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The title was thus established some 47 years prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center towers, and there is no evidence to suggest that Peter Jackson meant anything by continuing the same title other than faithfulness to the beloved Tolkien classics. Furthermore, the two distant, opposing towers in the Tolkien classic have very little if anything in common with the two matching towers of the World Trade Center. -- PetitionOnline.com"
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
Nope. Seems that before his death, The Who bassist John Entwistle was cast in the Two Towers. As an Ent. Who whistles.
...k, I'll shut up now...
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted
Please, in the name of god, please, create a category for LOTR so we can ignore it.
Thanks
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
As I pointed out here, it is pretty clear that Tolkein thought the Two Towers were Minas Morgul and Orthanc.
--
E_NOSIG
And does Jim Carrey play the Grinch? Perhaps the Cracks of Doom are on Mt. Crumpet.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Why would they show Gandalf in the preview?
I know about 60-75% of the people have read the book, but I still think it doesn't make the preview any better and it spoils it for that 40-25% left. I have many friends that are going to be pissed when they see this
Oh Well, i guess it a movie made mainly for the fans.
You're "0 for Who"?
-Grant
My stupid web site
Although the first movie was enjoyable, why do they always make movies based on books we've all already read?
Because otherwise you'd be complaining about why they always make books based on movies we've already seen.
When I go to see it I already know what's going to happen at the end. No suspense.
I also know what's going to happen at the end when I re-read the LOTR or watch a good movie (or Simpsons episode for that matter) twice. Doesn't stop me from enjoying them the second time though.
I enjoy good movies with plenty of suspense, but I also worry that too many modern filmakers misinterpret or misapply the success of movies like the Sixth Sense and Pulp Fiction to create movies with trick endings while sacrificing the rest of the film.
Some of the best films have obvious or familiar plots and conclusions but distinguish themselves in other ways. And some are just plain silly and fun. LOTR (on film) is probably somewhere in the middle.
My next sig will be ready soon, but friends can beat the rush!
Ents were walking trees.
--
Reverse outsourcing: it's the future
I bought the Codeweaver Crossover Plugin the other day and am glad to have done so, even so much that I shamelessly pitch my happiness here. :) I like being able to watch the trailer at home, rather than having to wait for a Windows desktop at work tomorrow.
And Treebeard Entwise was the leader of them... more or less. It has been a few years since I read the books.
...And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." - Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984)
I am 0 for 2, so check it out
Taco, taco, taco. A member of the Xine team reverse engineered the svq1 format, so you CAN watch the Two Towers trailer using Xine. At least, it worked for me.
apt-get install xine-ui
xine LotR-TwoTowers-Teaser.mov
Then, drag the little bar back and forth, stop and start a few times, and watch.
I hit my local sam's club today, and they had the LOTR trilogy for 12 bucks. If you havent read the LOTR series yet, here's a cheap way to do so.
Lawyers, MBA's, RIAA? A jedi fears not these things!
The asshole above is posting false links. The last one may launch a trojan as well. Some mod this cockbreath into oblivon please.
Lawyers, MBA's, RIAA? A jedi fears not these things!
Spoiler alert please next time. Its it that hard to put in spoiler in the subject???
Think nothing is impossible? Try slamming a revolving door.
At least Lucas had it and lost it; Jackson wouldn't know where to look for it.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
That brings up a gripe. Why, why, why, did they leave Tom Bombadil and the barrow-wights out of the first movie?
I am still not really clear about the connection between Tom and the Ents (is his forest where all the Entwives went?), but I have to agree. Just how IS Pippin going to slay the Nazgul without the dagger from the wight's mound? "Oh, that? I just found it on the road..."
A dingo ate my sig...
*and* it had a very bad typo.
That wasn't a typo, it was intentional. I think it was actually suppposed to be some sort of meta-joke. A very bad meta-joke, though.
A tiny subset of the masses is not "the masses".
No, no, no. Once again I said
appeals to the masses that don't care about mucking with the thing
Once again, I'm refering to the a specific set of masses that don't care about mucking with hardware, not the general population. And there are definitely a large number of people who fall into this category. I never said "the masses that want to buy a Mac", you're misunderstanding what I wrote.
I won't comment about your final statement since it's so naive as to be troll bait.
First off I don't think that was a grammatical mistake. I think he was expanding the topic of discussion intentionally. What's more interesting to talk about anyway, a trailer for a movie about a book every geek has read multiple times or the death of a legendary musician who helped to redefine the role of the bass in rock music?
:-). It's their site, to post whatever the hell they want to on. We're free to start our own communities if we want (I have), and they're not responsible to provide everything for us.
As for the topic of discussion, what exactly is the topic supposed to be. I believe the previous discussion ends up defining the topic more than a headline does anyway. Besides, its not like there are ever any literary discussions or even film discussions worth much around here. Nobody even dares to interpret a work. The deepest they go is to just make sweeping good/bad distinctions. Take the "on topic" comments here. They're not about the quality of the trailer, the pertinence to the book, or even the role of the Who in Rock History. They're quick one liners and talk about how Quicktime/Apple/Sorensen suck.
This may be news for Nerds, but don't kid yourself: it's news for Computer Nerds. Music Nerds, Film Nerds, Book Nerds, etc. aren't included in that statement. But when I say that I'm not upset with Slashdot itself, or the editors, or even the posters (well... not all of the posters
try link #7. Free hint, make sure you got your virus scanner running first (or use mozilla to open it)
Lawyers, MBA's, RIAA? A jedi fears not these things!
When I rewatched the movie last Tuesday they ran a trailer after the movie and before the credits for Two Towers. I am not sure if it is the same being shown on Apple's site.
There was a brief flash of one of the hobbits grasping the face of an Ent. It was quick, but was there.
This Tolkien guy is a fraud. He leaked the script for "The Fellowship of the Ring" too and his character development and wonderfully thoughtful plot was nowhere to be found in the movie.
/mill
No doubt has he made this and the next one up all by himself as well.
Because, because, because he was just too silly for the movie :-)
Bear with me - in the book, it wasn't so bad, but then, a lot of people read the book in several "sittings". In the movie, they have to work to keep a "mood" going AND they have to fit the whole thing into a tolerable amount of time (Tom Bombadil would have added, what, at least another 1/2 hour to the movie which was already at 3 hours after cutting?). The giggling, capering 'Deus ex Machina' of Tom Bombadil popping in the middle of 'dark' and dramatic "escape from the Nazgul" situation would have been rather jarring and distracting in the movie, and would have served little purpose, since he's never seen again throughout the rest of the trilogy (but for a brief mention that he won't be leaving his forest to help in the battle).
This isn't to say that I would have minded seeing them do it ANYWAY, but it was probably difficult enough for them to get most of the people watching to sit still for 3 hours, let alone the 4 or so that it would have gone if Tom Bombadil had interrupted things...
(Perhaps they could have worked the barrow wight scene directly into the space between fleeing the village and arriving at Bree, without Tom Bombadil at all...)
So, in short, the "return" on shoe-horning a giggling Tom Bombadil into the movie wouldn't have been worth the effort and damage to the "mood" of the movie at that point and the additional time his appearance would have taken up, and would probably have just confused the audience anyway (especially those who hadn't read the books, and would end up wondering through the next two movies when he'd show up again...)
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
Great, now I'm sitting here bursting brain cells pondering Chen Kenichi's reaction when he finds out the Secret Ingredient is "Lembas"...
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
With the minor exception that the Dell is almost guarenteed to break down within a month of use. While I agree that in standard desktop computers, PCs beat macs for initial costs, my experience with Dell machines has been that they are just absolutely horrible machines. Compare maybe Gateway and Apple, but not Dell and Apple.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Personaly, with the exception of their towers, I find Apple's prices quite reasonable considering I've never had a mac seriously die on me. OTOH I've had my PCs randomly stop working all together after the addition of a sound card, I've had fans in powersupplies die and spark, I've had motherbords start smoking and in general have not had great experiences with any PC that I didn't build by hand. But seeing as how I can't build Apples by hand, compared with prebuilts from other companies, Apples computers a fairly reasonable.
Who are they fooling? In case you haven't noticed, Gandma Bessie doesn't need the latest quake cruncher. And personaly, I like a computer that not only is cool, but looks cool too. With the exception of some of the later iMacs (before the latest revision) Apple has generaly made very cool machines. Yeah colors look funky at first, but after a while, they're actualy great. Apple's machines look like they belong in a room, they don't look like a box you want to hide under a desk.
The look and feel suit against Microsoft was over the fact that microsoft stole the code directly out of the old Macintosh computers (microsoft had access to prototypes for software development and reverse engineered the OS). And the lawsuit against eMachines was perfectly valid. That did look almost exactly like an iMac, and Apple owned the rights to that design, just like coke owns the rights to the coke bottle design.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
As I recall from the appendices to the Lord of the Rings, the two towers referred to in the name are Orthanc and Minas Tirith, not Orthanc and Barad Dur. It doesn't refer to an alliance, just the fact that the action centers around those two locations.
Yeah, he's a good actor... But I guess it's just a matter of opinion as far as casting him in that role... Less pet-detective, more villan, I say. But the Batman movie franchise had already turned to shit, so it's not nessisarily his fault.
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OC-48 at the ready. I couldn't get the audio to convert, what did you use? I e-mailed you, reply and we'll get this up and running.
db
Actualy, have you looked at most of the newest toasters and microwaves? Lot's of them are loaded with asthetic designs all made to make things look better. Look at most new fridges too. Curved handles, shiny black, silver lining etc etc etc. While there is a functionality, there is plenty of style to it as well, and so it is with a mac. The iMacs have colors for style, but the actual design was because a handle on top is the best way to cary an all in one.
The new iMacs look sleek for style, but an easily moveable LCD screen and a neck that can support the wieght of the computer is loads of functionality.
The old iBooks were bubbly for style, but also because they were touted as laptops for students, those damn things don't break when you drop em (I know believe me).
The new ones are compact for lots of functionality.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Yes, that's right. I thought Frodo's character developed in the first book, that Gandalf and Sauman didn't get into a ridiculous punch-up, that the Balrog didn't rescue the fellowship from the orcs, that Frodo defied the Nazgul alone at the ford (thus proving that Gandalf's faith was justified) instead of being rescued, that Galadriel made it clear that Frodo was the doom of the elves but that they still would help him, that the Nazgul were dangerous, that no one had time to stop and play balance-the-5000 ton-pilar-of-rock while escaping from Moria, that the watcher in the lake deliberately locked them into Moria, that the Council of Elrond made some sense, that Aragon's sword was reforged from the shards of Narsil, that The Shire didn't have dancing mountains in it, that the travellers actually noticed the stone trolls in the woods, and that the damn story actually worked.
Silly me, I must be damn near illiterate if I thought I saw all those things in the book when the great Peter "Just Get To The Next Fight Scene" Jackson didn't.
TW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
The Lord of the Rings films are quite unique in Hollywood as they are quite faithful to the book. Now take the Bourne Identity: the only part that resembles the book is the main character's name! Hollywood are kings of assuming people are too stupid to know the truth.
You tell em sister!
The movie is, in fact, the best possible translation of an unfilmable book. Yes, that's right, I said unfilmable and I mean it.
Bakshi put more of the first book into an hour of his aborted attempt than Jackson got in to four hours of his drivel. That does not make me feel that the book, especially with Jackson's budget, is "unfilmable".
The difference is, Bakshi tried and failed, his was a mess but an honest mess, Jackson's mess was dishonest - it didn't even try to adapt the book.
Learn something about film writing you putz.
Well, I'm sure you're William Goldman behind that AC so you won't be surprised to learn that adapting a story is all about compression; it's impossible to translate a piece of fiction of any length onto the screen in a sort of one-to-one way so things get compressed. Characters get merged, events are blurred together or removed etc etc. A screenwriter and director have to choose what to do to get the story told in the time available. There are compensations, of course. Tolkien had to spend pages describing things that can be displayed instantly on the screen.
A good example of this in the film was Rivendell: it was exactly how I imagined it from the book and this was established in a single, 2 or 3 second, long shot which represented a great deal of text from the book. But generally, the compression wins out.
The test of the adaption is what was taken out and what was left in and what new material had to be introduced to cover over the knife marks.
Jackson consistantly removed anything which introduced depth to the characters: Frodo's strength in the face of death, Aragon's destiny, even (unbeliveablely) the fact that Galadriel had one of the great rings on her hand while talking to Frodo!
The material left alone was some dialog, scenery, names and the visual appearance of most characters (almost all of which was done well, very well).
The material added was utter crap: fight scenes, pointless conversations and the silly "super-orc". A ten year old could write better filler.
And yet, Jackson had more than any other adapter has ever had: 4 hours of screen time and the budget of a small African nation to film less than 400 pages of book!
I'm not talking about putting Bombadil back in (it would have been nice in a 12 hr total length to have some of the "unusual" stuff but even in 12 hrs somethings have to go), I'm talking about Bree and Merry's encounter with the Nazgul, or vitally important plot points such as Sam's vision in the Mirror of the events which later do come true in the Shire, or, come to that, Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship which they have in the boats but which we don't see being given out. But at least we had a long fight scene in Moria to make up for it!
Better still, you might be able to go back to the cinema and enjoy the flawless and utterly brilliant Fellowship of the Ring.
Yes. And I'm the "fan-boy" am I?
It was neither flawless nor brilliant, it was a wasted opportunity. As a film it is mediocre and as an adaptation it stank.
I've mentioned this several times and, I think, gone some length to justify my position as to what was wrong with the film. No one has challenged any of the points I've made. Instead I get called names by AC's and modded as a troll (on, no, my karma's down to 49, what a shame!).
Come, on, then, justify your claim that FotR is "Flawless"; demonstrate your expertise in the art of film making (or even logging-in).
Didn't think so.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
But it becomes clear a two major turning points: the ford and the falls. In both cases Frodo makes important choices on his own. In the film both are skipped (He's rescued at the ford and asks Aragorn's advice at the falls, both greatly weaken his character).
The first film is ABOUT Frodo's choice - not Gandalf's
Nope. It's about getting a fast buck in.
It doesn't matter a damn that Galadriel was holding a ring
It matters because that is the point at which her people's sacrifice becomes clear. Her personal backing away from temptation is one thing, but there is more at stake than the negative of not getting more power; in fact she is going to let Frodo undo the last kingdom of the elves and lead them into myth.
I'm sure that the film covered what you got out of the book as it's pretty clear you didn't understand the depths of the book, but that's your problem.
Try reading it again when you're older.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
Oh, just go and read the book, will you?
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
Page 384, Galadriel talking about Nenya to Frodo:
The fact is that "doing it for money" means NOTHING when discussing the artistic merit of any movie, book, or other artwork.
Unless that's the only reason.
And of course you don't answer my point about the first movie being about Frodo's choice - because you don't have an answer
It had more to do with going for the train but also this gets off the subject and into debating the book's meaning. It can be argued that the story in the book is indeed about Frodo's choice but I would say that the book is more concerned with duty than choices; and with the loneliness and sacrifice that can come from duty.
This brings us back to your previous comments about Tolkien getting it wrong in the book by not having Aragorn debating about whether he wants his destiny or not. That's fine for a different story but it is a very republican idea which has no place in Aragorn's story which is meant to be an idealistic vision of monarchy. Aragorn is the king, as was his father before him. In this world view the idea of Aragorn resenting his role makes no more sense then him wondering if the sky's the right colour.
In the book this is the reason that there is no real tension from Aragorn to Boromir but only from Boromir to Aragorn: Arogorn is the king and Boromir's opinion is irrelevant, if Boromir was unhappy about Aragorn's height Aragorn would have no more reason to cause friction than he does when he resents Aragorn's kingship. That's not to say Aragorn is insensitive to it, just that there is very little he can or wants to do about it; it's Boromir's problem, not his.
The book is not really about being given or fighting for your destiny, it's about living with it and accepting it and not abusing it.
I secretly liked the film, but got a lot of kudos from poo-pooing it, making me the "Tolkien expert" of my peer group.
My peer group includes several Tolkien experts, one of whom liked the film; I was looking forward to the film and went the first night I could get tickets. As I've said before: as a film in its own right it's fair but as an adaption it was a waste of my and the studio's money. I thought that the background technicians did some great work and the acting was good to perfect but the foreground technicians (screenwriter and director) were clearly hacks doing a job they had no interest in. Perhaps they were just very bad at their jobs and in fact were sincere but I can't believe anyone that had any feeling for their work could be so dull.
God damn that Peter Jackson for not making the film in my head. Now, I can't intelligently explain why the film in my head would be better, but I'll know it when I see it and FotR was not it. So bah to Peter Jackson and more power to me and my wanky commentary on the film's "failings".
This is, obviously, closer to the truth. It is nearly impossible to sit through all the hype and advertising for FotR without imagining what it's going to be like. But I don't think it was an unreasonable to hope for a faithful retelling of the story in its main parts. After all, what's the point of spending all that money on the rights to the book if you don't want to film it? I mean, the alternative is to believe that they bought the rights to the book so that they could trade off the name?!
So, yes, Jackson didn't make the film in my head, which was much better, to me at least. More to the point, he didn't film what was in Tolkien's head which was better than both. As to the fight scenes, the number of fight scenes is the same in the book an the film (at least there are no new ones in the film), but they are greatly lengthened to the point of tedium. The fight in Moria just went on forever, as did the one at the falls. Did we really lose Radagast the Brown and Farmer Maggot, not to mention the Black Breath, in order to watch Legolas riding around on the back of the cave troll? Was Lothlorian cut to ribbons so that we could see Jackson's homage to Predator?
AND, my dad probably is bigger than your dad.
TWW
PS If you really want to continue at any length my email is just the above initials twice with an @ sign between and ".cx" at the end. I used to display it but got too much spam.
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
Frodo defied the Nazgul at Rivendell? He made it across the river and then Elrond swept them away - just like in the movie. The small addition of the rescue really was irrelivant to keeping true to the book.
On the other points, some of them were a little silly (rock balancing) but I really only see the loss of the full Elronds council as serious - I personally am waiting to see what gets into the directors cut DVD, I figure some parts from the book are just too much for most people (and despite being quite a fan, I did not miss Tom Bombadil at all!! I don't think it would have made good movie fodder).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"Come back, come back; to Mordor we will take you"
"Stick it up your invisible arse!" (I don't have the book handy but I think that's what Frodo said).
Good old Dave Sim. Pity about issues 201+.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"