Do you think LotR holds up?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by suarezguy, Mar 12, 2014.

  1. Merlanthe

    Merlanthe Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2012
    I tried rewatching the first film last week after not seeing it for years. I remembered it being a good movie so had expectations of enjoying watching it.

    I ended up bored and annoyed mostly with the weird lighting choices and scene transitions. A lot of the time it seemed like we were jumping to a scene that had already begun or jumping to the next scene before the first was properly finished. Whenever there was a dramatic/important scene or exposition characters would talk really really slowly whilst the same distractingly dramatic music played in the background.

    Thats just my opinion. I was very disappointed as i remembered enjoying it when i first watched it :(
     
  2. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    So you'd rather have Aragorn be a stagnant character through the trilogy? There's no arc to him if he's already accepted his destiny as Isildur's heir before the story even starts.
     
  3. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 1999
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I agree with most of the changes Jackson made to the story. I agree that Aragorn needed to have some sort of character arc through the trilogy.
     
  4. Mach5

    Mach5 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2008
    Location:
    Manbaby
    A thousand times THIS! :techman:

    These books were incredibly hard to adapt, and I think Jackson, Fran and Pippa made a lot of very clever choices. People tend to forget how different literature and cinema are as media.
     
  5. Silvercrest

    Silvercrest Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2003
    Agreed. I don't agree with many of the changes they made, but I think others were very good (including Aragorn). And even in some cases where I disagree, I can at least see what they were aiming for.
     
  6. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 26, 2002
    Your "arc" doesn't make any sense. He had already accepted his role as king. It's why he was the leader of the Rangers and why he had fought for years in secret alongside the armies of Gondor and Rohan. If you are going to give him an arc, give him one that makes sense instead of making some shit up that is an utter contradiction of his character like Peter Jackson and the writers for the LOTR movies did.
     
  7. Silvercrest

    Silvercrest Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2003
    None of that means he's ready to step up and take the throne. It's all hypothetical until you're actually confronted with it. People react differently then.

    Besides, I don't think the movies ever said he fought in Gondor and Rohan. He may not have done a lot of the stuff that prepared book-Aragorn to be king.
     
  8. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2010
    Location:
    Annwn
    The extended edition of TTT mentions his service to Rohan in the time of Eowyn's grandfather.
     
  9. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 1999
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Hell, I don't even mind what they did with Faramir taking Frodo to Osgiliath. Because it gave him an arc, it gave him weakness, it showed the power of the Ring, and it gave Frodo something to do other than wander through the woods.

    And I wish they did some of the changes they reneged on;

    I would have loved to have seen Arwen directly contribute to the story and join the battle at Helm's Deep

    I would have loved to have seen Sauron take physical form and fight Aragorn at the end.
     
  10. Silvercrest

    Silvercrest Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2003
    Ah. Need to go back and look now.
     
  11. Runetouch

    Runetouch Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2014
    Both the novel(yes, even with those horrible Tom Bombadill songs) and the movies hold up very well.
     
  12. The Lensman

    The Lensman Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2001
    Location:
    The Lensman
    Well, there's a difference between an "adaptation" and a "remake". Every version of "Romeo and Juliet" isn't a "remake", it's a new adaptation of the play. A new "ET" would be a "remake".

    Personally I could care less about new adaptations or remakes. That isn't the problem, it's bad adaptations and remakes.

    The "Maltese Falcon" had three versions done over the course of twelve years, each film made six years apart. Thank god people had a different mindset when it came "remakes" or we might not have gotten one of the great films of cinema. Which was the THIRD version. And it was made despite the first version being a success at the theater.

    And this is really the difference between today's film goers and yesterdays. They didn't care.
     
  13. suarezguy

    suarezguy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2008
    Location:
    Albuquerque, NM, USA
    I did like Wood and Mortensen a lot more back when they were first released, mostly for having different expectations and now being apart from the hype (and I think complaints of the acting and pacing back then were pretty rare).
    I'm not suggesting new versions, just wanted to see how others also felt retrospectively.
    OTOH, The Matrix sequels could almost only get better from being remade.
     
  14. BigJake

    BigJake Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2013
    Location:
    No matter where you go, there you are.
    You're saying today's film goers... care? About whether or not something is a remake? To whatever extent that's true, surely it would have to be from fatigue, since reboots and remakes are a way more prominent part of the film industry's product now than ever before.
     
  15. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2008
    Location:
    Just around the bend.
    I'd say sequels are a more prominent part of today's film industry than ever before. Remakes have been pretty common since the early days.
     
  16. Mach5

    Mach5 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2008
    Location:
    Manbaby
    True. I don't mind remakes, as long as they're not mediocre PG 13 versions of R-rated classics (like Robocop 2014) or just downright terrible (like Total Recall 2012).

    Just look at all the stuff that's getting (or has gotten) rebooted, though. Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, Mad Max, Highlander... I wonder if these last two will also be PG 13 :rolleyes: ...
     
  17. Mooch

    Mooch Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2001
    Location:
    Canada
    Honestly, the only thing I dislike about the LotR movies is how they shoehorn Galadriel into every movie (and Arwen to a lesser extent), and how the crumbs on Sam's shirt randomly appear and disappear during the crumb scene. :lol:

    I'm really, totally cool with everything else. And I only watch the EE's.

    To be fair, they didn't have the option to watch them on home video. By the time the remake came out, they might be happy to watch the same story again.
     
  18. theenglish

    theenglish Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2001
    Location:
    Western Canada
    I don't understand this "hold up" question. It took the films nearly as long to make as the time that has passed since they've been released (yes, I am exagerrating...a little). The movies were never perfect, but they were highly entertaining adaptations for most people. They always had some critics. Roger Ebert had a very poignant criticism of the nature of the movies and how they failed to capture the spirit and intent of the books--his opinion of course.
     
  19. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2010
    Location:
    Annwn
    I thought Mad Max was supposed to be a sequel as opposed to a reboot, just with a different actor.
     
  20. Mach5

    Mach5 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2008
    Location:
    Manbaby
    We'll see. Batman Begins was initially said to be a prequel, wasn't it? :)