logo Sign In

Lord of the Rings...what's the deal? — Page 2

Author
Time
Its mostly little things like Gandalf and his powers, stuff that isn't even explained very clearly in the books (like the fact that Gandalf isn;'t human, but rather a demi-god who has assumed human form). But for the most part I agree, it certainly won;'t impair someones ability to enjoy the films if they haven;t read the books. However if you see the movies first the books must seem pretty slow and boring by comparison.
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
Author
Time
To me, the only parts of the book that got boring were the sing-alongs. They got real old, real quick.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
Amen, brother! Can I get a hallelujah?

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

Author
Time
I was still glad they got the singing into the movies a bit. My wife turned to me during the FOTR EE and said "why the hell is Aragorn singing?" I just looked at her and said "you have no idea, this is nothing. You've been spared a lot of ballads"

speaking of which has anyone ever heard the song "the ballad of bilbo baggins" by Leonard Nimoy?
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
Author
Time
no i havent. is it good.


Note: i dont think gandalf is a demi-god, i think the reason he is so old is because he holds one of the rings of power. He is not an elf howeveer he has one of the three eleven rings because one of the elf lords gave it to him before he left middle earth. you find this out at the very end of the return of the kings, does anyone remeber the part i a refering to?
Author
Time
Well both Ian Mckellan, Peter jackson and my Middle Earth dictionary say he is a demi-god. He's the same thing as the Balrog, only he is good instead of evil. Gandalf, Saruman and the weilders of the flame of ar-nul chose to take benevolent human forms to show humility. The balrog being a servant of the flame of Udin and the others like him (aprently there was a time when the skies were filled with balrogs) chose more menacing forms to match their dark and arrogant wills.

What little we lern of Gandalfs past in the books is just Frodo musing on how or when Gandalf might of stolen into the world, he thought it hard to imagine Gandalf ever as a young boy, and it seemed he had been old all his life. Which is kinda cool.
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
Author
Time
you could be right there i dont really know about gandalf, i do know that he has one of the elven rings thou.

as for saruman i know he isnt a god. i read a little thin in the appendix about him. and it said that they didnt really know where he came from. he first appeared when the men a numenor came.and if he he is a demi god he would never have been corrupted because sauron is not a demi-god he was a servant of a demi god. (melkor i think his name was)
Author
Time
Yeha Gandalf was given one of the elven rings but only after the one ring was destroyed. I'm pretty sure Saruman is the same thing as Gandalf, but I could be wrong.
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
Author
Time
I have heard Nimoy's song. One of our local stations played it once just for kicks. Weird, wild shtuff there, Ed.

I can't say that all the singing is bad. Some of it is good. And the few that made the movie were good. I especially enjoyed Pippen in ROTK singing to Denethor while Faramir goes to battle. That was so beautifully filmed. But if I had to sit through the Hobbits singing while hiking (a la Stand by Me) or have everyone singing around a campfire throughout the movie, I would probably get very angry. And we know what happens when I get angry, right, Mr. McGee?
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
LOL

I agree with you about the pippin song part in ROTK. In fact Pippin surprisingly struck me as the best character in ROTK.
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
Author
Time
Pippin was my fave character in that movie too. I was happy to see him come to the forefront of the story.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
he was mine as well. that scene when he sang to denethor, was brillently done, almost brought tears to my eyes, and that is saying something cus i have cryed for any reason since i was 12.

Gandalf got the one eleven ring way b4 the one rings was destroyed rebel, he got is from an elf named celenor or something like that, 2000 years b4 the lotr story.
Author
Time
I will admit to getting teary eyed as well. I liked Pippin in that scene even moreso than the critically raved performance by Sean Astin (Sam) in the entire movie.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
Pippin really does come into his own as a character in ROTK, and becomes less of a comic foil; contrast this with Sam, who was always a strong character, and it's not hard to see why most of us were more impressed with Billy Boyd's performance.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

Author
Time
Good point.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
Yeha people rave about Sam in ROTK, but I thought he was much better in FOTR and TTT. Not that he was bad, but he just didn't stand out so much IMHO. Pippin and Faramir were the stand out characters for me in ROTK. I really felt like ROTK was from Pippins perspective (hobbit perspective was one of the things TTT lacked IMHO) in many ways he came across as the main character to me and he had a strong character arc. And farmair is such a sad man, I felt terrible for him, I wish his romance with Eowyn had made the theatrical cut, just to give some resolution that these two sad characters finally found some happiness.

Quote

Originally posted by: Shimraa
he was mine as well. that scene when he sang to denethor, was brillently done, almost brought tears to my eyes, and that is saying something cus i have cryed for any reason since i was 12.

Gandalf got the one eleven ring way b4 the one rings was destroyed rebel, he got is from an elf named celenor or something like that, 2000 years b4 the lotr story.



Celeborn is Galadrials husband (he was in the movie briefly) He gave Gandlaf the ring after the war of the rings, not before. as far as I can remember it was either before the hobbits went back to the shire at the end of ROTK, or it was just before they went to the grey havens.
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
Author
Time
Quote

Originally posted by: Rebel Scumb
And farmair is such a sad man, I felt terrible for him, I wish his romance with Eowyn had made the theatrical cut, just to give some resolution that these two sad characters finally found some happiness.


***SPOILER ALERT***

It also would have helped give a little more meaning to seeing them standing together at Aragorn's crowning ceremony.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
agreed. Plus they both just feel absent from the last hour of the movie.
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
Author
Time
Weird to think that the battle scene was done before the last hour. You would think that would be closer to the end of the movie. at least that's how Hollywood logic normally dictates. And yes, they are both pretty absent from the last hour.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
Quote

Originally posted by: Mr.Coffee
I still don't get it. I am so tired of watching 'battle of the Orcs'! All three movies are the same. People say "you have to read the books" but I don't feel a movie has to be justified by reading the book. A movie should stand on it's own. I feel 85% of these movies have pointless plot lines, characters and fx. Isn't the story about getting the ring from A to B? The so called 'love triangle' thing was weak and had no meaning the story what-so-ever. As did most other characters. These movies are very predictable, and it takes forever for an event to happen! GET ON WITH IT! I don't mean to sit here and bash these movies. But I don't see what all the hype is about. Vissually, they are great. But that doesn't make a movie. Yes they were well acted, but that doesn't make the story any better. I feel they were over written and crammed with too much nothingness. (travell in this environment - fight orcs. - change environments - fight orcs. - repeat. - stray from this to listening to talking trees for an hour while waiting for them to do-in "Dooku" - fight more orcs - listen to elves talk about who know what - fight orcs - oh wait, Frodo has the ring and is still getting nowhere - fight orcs -) OK I'll stop there. I think the moral of the story is HOBBITS ARE A PAIN IN THE ASS AND SHOULD BE LEFT ALONE.

I know I am pissing a lot of people off, I'm sorry. But, I DON'T GET IT!



Well, I am going to have to side with Mr. Coffe on this one. Although visually stunning, I also found that the pace of the movies took way to long and I felt like I was watching a different version of the same movie with each one. (I guess thats what it was) Also, the dialogue was difficult to understand, especially gollum. I actually was dozing off during ROTK in the theater. As far as the female appeal, I agree because my wife is nuts over the flicks. She is trying to catch me in number of viewings of the OT. Like that will ever happen!!
All of that being said, I can also say that I was never a big fan of the books either. Read them in junior high, tried to read them again as an adult and lost interest. Just my opinion though, albeit a minority one. I also think a lot of people have jumped on the LOTR bandwagon, seeing it as the cool, hip thing.
Tag and Bink are NOT Dead!!!!
Author
Time
grammar corrections: alot is one word and I meant too instead of to. I majored in English and would not want to get accused of butchering.
Tag and Bink are NOT Dead!!!!
Author
Time
if only they had a pick up and go story like star wars
Author
Time
thats why we love it since we were little i rember my first action figure was darth vader
Author
Time
Your brother didn't properly guard the gates to your house and it was invaded and destroyed, too? Wow, what a coincidence. That would mean that pretty soon, you're gonna be chock full of Uruk-hai arrows. Keep a sharp eye out for their ugly mugs.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com