12-21-2003, 02:56 AM
Hmm. Just as I figured. We have 3 types of posters here.
A) Those who have read the book, understand the plot, and aren't so picky as to whine about what was left out. It was a 3 hr 20 minute move, it wasn't perfect, but, compared to the way many of my favorite books were murdered by Hollywood moviemakers, this was a GREAT adaptation. I liked it just as much as the other two.
B) The book purists who whined that there was too much stuff left out.
C) The Tolkien-clueless who never read the books and have no clue about the plot. "The eagles are coming!" is in RotK, and in the Battle of Five Armies. The rescue of Sam and Frodo by the eagles is again, right out of the book. At least *most* of the non-readers are forgiving. I think this movie would be the hardest for the uninitiated to watch. Too many plot threads finish here, like Denethor, Eowyn/Faramir, etc. Hey, at least they resolved Sam and Rosie. As far as the Scouring of the Shire, it would have been great in a movie for purists, but, coming AFTER the 'climactic' scene (the fall of the Barad-dur), it would have confused those who didn't read the book a LOT. (I thought we won? What's this?)
I, myself, loved it. Great movie. All are entitled to their opinions, of course. And the categorizations above are not meant to insult any of the three categories. Just to classify.
A) Those who have read the book, understand the plot, and aren't so picky as to whine about what was left out. It was a 3 hr 20 minute move, it wasn't perfect, but, compared to the way many of my favorite books were murdered by Hollywood moviemakers, this was a GREAT adaptation. I liked it just as much as the other two.
B) The book purists who whined that there was too much stuff left out.
C) The Tolkien-clueless who never read the books and have no clue about the plot. "The eagles are coming!" is in RotK, and in the Battle of Five Armies. The rescue of Sam and Frodo by the eagles is again, right out of the book. At least *most* of the non-readers are forgiving. I think this movie would be the hardest for the uninitiated to watch. Too many plot threads finish here, like Denethor, Eowyn/Faramir, etc. Hey, at least they resolved Sam and Rosie. As far as the Scouring of the Shire, it would have been great in a movie for purists, but, coming AFTER the 'climactic' scene (the fall of the Barad-dur), it would have confused those who didn't read the book a LOT. (I thought we won? What's this?)
I, myself, loved it. Great movie. All are entitled to their opinions, of course. And the categorizations above are not meant to insult any of the three categories. Just to classify.
--Mav