Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?

[Tim]

A little more elaboration would be good - not that I am about to drag my sorry ass to the flicks to see it but I am a bit of a Tolkein fan.

OK . . . . , I'm also a huge Tolkien fan and actually sat through over 9 hours of LOTR at the première for the last film in New Zealand, sat in a cinema of elves, hobbits, orcs and wizards - a fantastic night!

I didn't really like the quality of the production, felt low budget compared to the LOTR trilogy. I saw it in 2D and the 48 FPS to me made it look poor quality. I was confused at the beginning as it departed from the book and started I know not where with Bilbo and Frodo at Bag End. Need to research that as it could be my error?

It was good once it got going and I felt more into it, feeling like I had returned to Middle Earth. It really kicked up a gear and excelled when Gollum entered the story, as Andy Serkis is pure class in the role. It ended well too and the scenes at Rivendell were also superb, as was the acting from both Lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and the Lady Galadriel (Kate Blanchett).

So a stuttering start for me, the frame rate actually made it appear poor quality, not sure if that's universal or the cinema I was at, but others have said the same.

So all in all I had slightly mixed feelings after the splendour of the LOTR trilogy, but even for Peter Jackson that is a hard act to follow. Everything just clicked for that production, not just the film and story but also the cast, who felt it was a one off special never to be repeated.

[Macca]

Thanks Tim. IIRC Frodo is not even mentioned in the book but I understand that there is a lot of back story detail in order to pad the thing out to 3 films. Not that it is a problem for me. As regards LOTR I thought the first episode was excellent but the changes to the story in 2 and 3 were a little odd, and the ending to 3 drags on and on and yet misses the final confrontation with Saruman in the Shire which is (almost) the whole point of the story. I couldn't do a nine hour marathon in the cinema - not unless I could smoke and drink anyway

[Tim]

I couldn't do a nine hour marathon in the cinema - not unless I could smoke and drink anyway

It wasn't that bad actually, there were gaps between the 3 films so you could go off to eat/drink between and the first screening of TROTK started at midnight on the official release day. It was a lot of fun with all lot of the audience dressed up, felt like a party and to be honest it flew by. The whole event was nearly 12 hours in total, with 9 hours watching the 3 extended version films, so it wasn't 9 hours straight

[Macca]

The Good Shepherd

Man is this a long film! If I had realised how long it was I would not have started watching it so late. I like a good cloak and dagger thing and although it is a bit slow in places I managed to keep going and I guessed the big revelation way before the end - not cos I am so smart but when you have seen one thriller you have sort of seen them all. Some issues - he is married to the Angelina Jolie character but he is not interested in her? Okay it is a shotgun wedding but that just didn't work for me at all. Also Matt Damon just always seems cast out of type in anything I see him in. Maybe that is just me.

[synsei]

Thanks Tim. IIRC Frodo is not even mentioned in the book but I understand that there is a lot of back story detail in order to pad the thing out to 3 films. Not that it is a problem for me. As regards LOTR I thought the first episode was excellent but the changes to the story in 2 and 3 were a little odd, and the ending to 3 drags on and on and yet misses the final confrontation with Saruman in the Shire which is (almost) the whole point of the story. I couldn't do a nine hour marathon in the cinema - not unless I could smoke and drink anyway

I think Frodo is mentioned Martin but in passing, he certainly doesn't enter the book as a main character anyway. IIRC he pops up briefly near the end of the book when Bilbo appears at Bag End during the auctioning off of his stuff by the Sackville Bagginses.

[Macca]

I think Frodo is mentioned Martin but in passing, he certainly doesn't enter the book as a main character anyway. IIRC he pops up briefly near the end of the book when Bilbo appears at Bag End during the auctioning off of his stuff by the Sackville Bagginses.

I must re-read it - got one of those fancy hardback copies of it somewhere

[synsei]

Me too, it has been a while...

[Barry]

I re-read it last year. It's a nice enough children's story, but not one that requires up to 9 hours worth of film to relay it.

Don't expect the film to exactly follow the book. The film of The Lord of the Rings didn't.

[synsei]

I have mixed feelings about the changes made to the LOTR films. I was very glad the whole Tom Bombadil section was missing as it grates with me big time when reading the books. I do think Jackson could have incorporated the Barrow wight vignette before the Midgewater Marshes and Weathertop scenes, it would have fitted in well there.

The change that annoyed me the most was the complete rewrite of the Faramir/Ithilien storyline, all the more upsetting because of the sensitive way in which Jackson handled the rest of the book. It is such a hatchet job and it still gets my ears steaming

[Macca]

My recollection is that it starts as a childrens book but by the end has become a complex military and political conundrum that Bilbo has to solve. I agree the changes to the story in LOTR were unnecessary and devalued the whole effort. Very dissapointing. Nothing wrong with the odd omission here and there to keep the running time within acceptability, but crucial changes? No. Jackson is not a better writer than Tolkein.