Brad Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 Anybody pick this up yet? I did on Friday and have enjoyed it tremendously, more so than I did in the theatre. They have previews of the expanded edition of the movie that's coming out in November as well as Return of the King, which I am really looking forward to. Speaking of these previews, if you plan on picking up the expanded edition, I'd probably not buy, but rent this DVD. Anyway, Wal Mart has it at a great price $15. Not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibes Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 I also picked this one up and watched it on Saturday, and I too enjoyed it more this time around. For once, I pulled myself away from the computer and actually paid attention to the movie (which I usually don't do at home) and found this helped tremendously. It got me excited about the series all over again, so I went and watched the first DVD again right after. Anyway, got it at Best Buy for $15. My wife is now pestering me about buying the expanded edition. I've heard they're going to re-release the first two installments in the theatres right before the third is released later this year. Anyone else heard this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Weil Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 (edited) I read that they were going to put out the two existing movies in the run up to the final one too. Seems like a nice idea, both marketing-wise and fan-wise. I got Two Towers a week ago. I think it's actually the more cohesive movie, of the two. They've changed the story-line significantly(from the book), which they didn't do with the first movie. I thought the first movie lacked a certain dramatic tension - which the second movie does have. All the stuff about Aragorn falling into that deep ravine and then coming back to the battle, I don't remember as being in the book but was of a piece with Gandalf coming back from his fall into the deep and the kind of moral descent to the depths that they're putting Frodo through. I don't think the movies are a patch on the book, really. They don't have its texture. But they're good fun. And, like the Philip French review said, they do have a certain grandeur. I was surprised to see how glad I was to have the characters back again. Simon Weil Edited September 1, 2003 by Simon Weil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 I look at the movies as a different thing altogether than the books. I will always have "first allegience" to the novels, but damn, did Peter Jackson and crew do an amazing job with these first two. I'm a flat out fanatic for both movies, and for those who haven't done it yet, DO NOT miss on the expanded DVD edition of the first. The "extras" stuff is truly fascinating and awe-inspiring. What Jackson did in making these movies is nothing short of extraordinary. People do less in their entire lives than he did in the time he spent translating the Tolkein legacy to screen. I'm holding out for the expanded edition of TWO TOWERS myself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 I'm going the "wait for the expanded versions" myself. Hope I'm not disappointed, but since LOTR was THE book of my teen years, I probably have expectations that can't be reached... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolff Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 Love it!!! Watched it 3 times already. Probably wait and buy all 3 together in a box set. Gollum is great. The Elves were never at Helms Deep, but it was cool when they showed up out of nowhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 We bought it last week as well. I was out shopping with my daughter, we happened upon it (also $15), and just couldn't resist. I too enjoyed watching it at home... it seems to go by more quickly in a theater, somehow. I love the grandeur of the films, but I also miss the "texture" that Simon refers to... the real depth of the narrative, the humor, and especially the full development of each individual character is all but impossible to include in these films- as magnificent as they are (and I DO think they're magnificent... particularly when compared to the old Rankin/Bass animated version of The Hobbit). I do think that the ratio of violence to charm is a little high (and that was more of an issue in the first film, I think), but that's just my opinion. As I watch these films, I constantly think to myself that I wish they could be longer, so that more time could have been spent in storytelling and character development. Wishful thinking, I know. I guess dreams can die hard... the idea of truly capturing the magic and depth of the books in a series of films is something that I had dreamed about 30 years ago. At any rate, it's a thrill to be able to sit down and watch these movies with my kids (both are excellent readers, and have read the trilogy already, for which I'm thankful). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use3D Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 I got the whole thing off the internet months ago, hahah suckers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 I wonder how many people who are huge fans of the books have re-read them real recently (read: since the movies came out). I have, and to be honest, while they still more than hold up and I find some new delight on almost every page (and can't wait to share them with my son when he's old enough), I have to say I was even MORE impressed with the movies upon doing this. Sure, Jackson had to take some cinematic liberties, but in many instances I think he's actually improved upon the books - and I almost never think that about any screen adaptation. Tolkein's books had great humor, style, and depth, but that doesn't mean he wasn't prone to just as much awkwardness in his prose, and a tendency to telegraph every plot development, and another tendency to go all didactic when leaving more to the reader's own imagination would have done even better. Jackson has streamlined in many cases where the text most needed it. Hey, if nothing else, he's jettisoned about 90% of the songs, which to be honest I've always felt were almost always the weakest, least inspired, and most tedious parts of the novels. So my main point is, sometimes through the rose colored glasses of memory (especially memory steeped in childhood), it's easy to elevate things like the Rings trilogy beyond reasonable level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Weil Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 The one great thing that Jackson has done - and it is a great thing - is transfer the book to film and make it work. I mean I was one of those people who simply didn't think it could be done. So please view my comments within the context of that. Basically I don't think Jackson is that great a film-maker. I think the production design, particularly in the first film, wobbles - and makes it difficult to achieve the kind of underlying filmic texture that would add to the cohesive sense of the movies. I didn't like the design of Rivendell and Lothlorien, in the first movie, and Treebeard and the Ents, in the second movie - at all. And because these are kind of magic zones in the work, it does take away from the magic of the movies. Liv Tyler is a realm unto herself, however. I think Jackson is much better on the human stuff - and achieves a depth and a grandeur in that. And Aragorn really helps. I think that's some fine acting there. I think that's the real strength of the movies, in the human zone, though I'm getting more impressed by Frodo as the movies go on. Gollum does work- and that eye is pretty evil. On the books, well I'm about half way through the Two Towers, reading at the pace of sludge. I just remember it more or less as I'm reading it. I never thought it was a great work, like Tolstoy or something, but it's a very good one. A bit of a modern myth that works. It has its flaws. I agree that he can be a bit didactic and the poems are skippable, but it is all of a piece and kind of magical. So... Simon Weil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 I guess it depends on the mental images one has formed of all the creatures and locations in the books, Simon. For me, seeing the Ents, and Rivendell, and Lothlorien, it was like "damn, how did this guy tap into my brain?!" It was uncanny sometimes how exactly what I was seeing on the screen corresponded with what I'd pictured internally. I think a lot of that is down to his collaboration with some key illustrators of Tolkein's work during the production design...probably subliminally, I've seen those illustrations and they left a lasting impression. There's a whole lot of coverage of the painstaking nature of his preparation and collaborations with these folks on the DVD extras (one who's particularly reclusive he literally had to search the globe to locate). Again, I was simply astonished at what they did after seeing the "making of" (which is like no other "making of" you've ever seen). For example, EVERY piece of armor, every torch holder, every other bit of gear was hand-made (often at several scales, since they used small people for some of the hobbit scenes), even stuff that you see way off in the background, the kind of things where a lesser production would just have faked it. But to me, when you see the movie in the glaring detail afforded by DVD, you can FEEL that detail there, the realism it affords, even though you don't consciously process it all. But I wax rhapsodic...sorry, I just simply love these films. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 I happen to have access to inside info on LOTR, and those who are working on the third one are pumping it up to be the best of the three. The additional footage on the extended DVDs is worth waiting for. Can't say much more. I read all the books in elementary school, and I think Peter Jackson and crew have done a fine job translating them to film. Considering all three movies were shot at once, it is really an incredible production. My only complaint would be that Gollum doesn't look like I imagined him. However, it makes little difference to me since he is well-executed in all other aspects, and stole the show in Two Towers, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Weil Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 Oddly, I'm not a guy who forms mental images all that much when I read, Dr J. I am quite visual (used to take photos etc) but it's more the mood I get from the text. It is probably "your milage will vary" - kind of sensibility related issues - to some (even some major) extent. But I do stick to my guns - say in relation to Ridley Scott, who apparently visualises whole scenes and then transcribes them to celulloid - I do think there's some lack in production design. I mean to me the detailing on "Blackhawk Down" or "Gladiator" or "Blade Runner" or "Alien" is just so convincing. Perhaps it's unfair to compare. Simon Weil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted September 4, 2003 Report Share Posted September 4, 2003 I do think it's a "mileage vary" thing, because ALIEN aside I'm just not a Ridley Scott fan at all (I'm probably the only person on the board who thinks BLADE RUNNER was an insufferably boring, ugly, and vastly overrated film). But that's cool, we can certainly agree to differ amiably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolff Posted September 4, 2003 Report Share Posted September 4, 2003 Liv Tyler is a realm unto herself, however. Great line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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