The Lord of the Rings

J

jacfenway95

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I realise I'm 6-8 years out, but I really wanted to read the books before I was told by several that the films were really as good as the books, so watching the films first wasn't such a bad thing.

I got the 12-disc Extended Edition set for Christmas and I've finally gotten around the watching them now.. I'm at the end of first part of The Two Towers.

Wow is all I have to say, I'm thoroughly enjoying them and finding them much easier to follow than I thought I would. I'm not adverse to a bit of fantasy, but I'm always put off by their extensive mythology and complex plots/characters/places etc. so much so that I often feel if I'm not a dedicated fan, I can't be a fan at all.

But I'm very impressed so far, and I'm hoping they get even better! :D All these characters that I've heard people discuss over the years, are finally making sense to me: Gandalf, Gollum, Frodo... it's flipping fantastic.

What are everyone's thoughts on the films/books? Did anyone watch the films and then read the books, and how did you find it?
 
I read the books in 2000. Found them very hard to get through and the last book, I was skipped pages as it was all going over my head.

The films are just magnificent thought!! Loved them, and you are doing right by watching the extended versions. They make a better, more understandable story than the cinema versions.

I would love to have a day just watching them all back to back. I haven't seen then for ages. :)
 
Im waiting for them to come out on Blu Ray, seems to be taking an age though. I had heard it was going to be this christmas.
Greatest trilogy ever imo.
 
They're only releasing the theatrical cuts on blu-ray, though. I'm pretty pissed about that as I want the extended cuts. I expect we will get them a year later.

They need to bleed us all of as much money as possible.
 
I completely agree with the above. Just astounding.

I was actually very obsessed with the films when they came out ... I was 11 when Fellowship came out, and had just finished reading the books (which I also loved). They pretty much define my early teens.

I watch them quite often still, at least once a year, and they're still as breathtaking as they were when released. The score, the cinematography ... everything is just perfect (with the possible exception of Orlando Bloom ... :p)

I love the books, and I love the films. :D
 
Yes I agree totally. After watching ROTK I said to the wife in total sincerity "That's the greatest cinematic experience I've had since the original Star Wars trilogy". And trust me, if you were around in 77 when Star Wars broke that was a major statement from me :D
The extended editions are ESSENTIAL tho. Particularly ROTK, with Christopher Lee's scenes. I loved every minute of each film, and I had no time for the book. Every 10 minutes there seemed to be something amazing appearing, be it the Balrog, or the siege at Helms Deep, or the Fell Beasts, giant elephants or the Ents. Stunning. I don't use the term "classic" very often, but this is certainly a modern classic.
 
Just as a side note, there's a brilliant webpage here called "50 Reasons Lord Of The Rings Sucked". It's lighthearted and not meant to be taken seriously, and some of it is hillarious. Have a look if you fancy a chortle...


http://www.cracked.com/article_15739_50-reasons-lord-rings-sucks.html

Here's a few examples -

Why, in part 1, is the black octopus creature painted as the bad guy when it attacks, when one of the fellowship had clearly been throwing rocks at it?

The mutated muscular soldiers of Mordor turned out to be hilariously ineffective fighters, a dozen of them held off by a single dying human. Apparently they made the beasts by crossing Orcs, Goblins and the French.

:D:D
 
OMG:eek: Whoever wrote that neeRAB help.
I was in two minRAB about looking at it as I didnt want it to spoil the films for me when I watch them again.
I can deffinately say thats not gonna happen as what was written is total rubbish and the only thing that was funny was how bad the 50 reasons were. ie.
 
I didn't mind those examples too much. Sometimes things have to be cut or condensed. What annoyed me was the second film.

It has Faramir seize the ring and taking it to Osgoliath. Not only did it not happen, it's out of character of Faramir being the wise brother, and completely reverses the dynamic with Boromir.

The Ents in the book are wise and slow. In the film they are so stupid they have to be tricked into attacking Saruman by the hobbits, and they do so hastily. And because we missed the Old Forest sequence from the first film, the notion of moving/talking trees has to be introduced here, making it unbearably clumsy.

The Warg attack that ended with Aragorn falling off a cliff, being believed dead, and then rescued by his horse - shear rubbish. In the DVD commentary they say something about, "We had to put a character in jeopardy else the warg attack looks like a pointless CGI extravaganza." Well, that's what it was. It didn't happen and it was unneeded filler in a movie already 3 hours long. And the reason no other character was in jeopardy is that you chopped off the ending with Frodo stung by Shelob, and you chopped off the ending with Saruman, and you are muppets.
 
I'm due my first viewings of the year, actually I'm not sure I watched them at all last year! That's terrible.

I read the book in 2001 when I first learnt that the first film was to come out at the end of that year. I'd read the Hobbit when I was younger and had loved it, but I found LOTR to be REALLY REALLY long, full of over-involved unnecesary back-story, but a brilliant story on the whole.

THe films just take the best bits of the book, add some little touches to fill in the gaps left by stuff they've left out, and result in the greatest film series of all time, I adore them all.

And yes I have done a back-to-back extended edition day, it requires true dedication.
 
Haven't read the books, but as far as the movies go, I thought Fellowship of the Ring was a great opening, The Two Towers is my favourite - A work of art and such a dark film. Return of the King is my least favourite I'm afraid. Too many problems and far too self indulgent, and I could just never forgive Jackson leaving Christopher Lee out in the cinematic version.
 
Wow .. I bow to your bum-numbing film watching skills :)

I don't think i could ever manage that .. i don't mind watching one a night over a long weekend, but I couldn't do more than one in a day ...
 
Errr... the guy isn't serious, Dude. He's taking the **** to agitate fanboys.



Quite.... I think some are closer to home than we'd like to imagine :D
 
I watched them late last year with my brother,and I didn't expect to enjoy it but I really did. I'm afraid I fell in love with Aragorn,and even Orlando Bloom wasn't as annoying as usual,and the whole thing was so good, so well done and visually amazing-the scenery and sets and things were incredible.

And Gandalf hit that guy with his stick.:D

After finishing the films I read the books,and enjoyed them just as much in a different way.I particularly liked the way Tolkien describes absolutely everything down to the last detail,it made it so easy to feel involved with the story as I could picture everything clearly. I also found Frodo,Gollum and Sam much more interesting in the book,oddly enough.
 
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