Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Geek Talk & Media
Anti-LotR
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="ColonelHardisson" data-source="post: 469329" data-attributes="member: 363"><p>Although I thought the film was OK, and I liked some aspects of it quite a bit, there are things about it I disliked quite a bit.</p><p></p><p>The pacing is, indeed, one of those things I disliked. Not that it was too long - it was paced <em>too quickly</em> in many places. It was like watching a "Cliff's Notes" version of the Lord of the Rings, or reading one of those "Illustrated Classics" comics versions. This has everything to do with my having read the books well over a dozen times since I was 10 or 11, but I'm also a filmmaker (not a big deal, of course, but it's something I was traimed for over several years) and the film seemed "off" to me. What I mean, mostly, besides the obvious stuff where they compressed time to fit the film, was in scenes like at the Bucklebury Ferry - besides the scene being a mess editing-wise, I feel Jackson didn't have to ramp up the action as he did. Instead of going for the subtle horror of a cat-and-mouse pursuit, like in the book, he went for a Three Stooges-like chase. I feel the creeping horror of unknown pursuers, like it was portrayed in the book, would have been as, if not more, effective, and has been shown to work very well throughout the history of film. But, it seemed like the whole film was like that - in every instance, the action of the book was exaggerated greatly in the film - while it makes some sense to do so in some cases, to retain the interest of the viewers, it often gave the film a jarring feel, contrasting greatly with the sweeping vistas that Jackson showed.</p><p></p><p>There was too much screaming and crying. </p><p></p><p>Along with this is the weird feeling that we're seeing "cameos" from some of the major characters - Elrond's looming into the shot and saying "Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo" made me laugh out loud. I thought it was silly. "Let's give a big hand to Elrond, ladies and gentlemen..." </p><p></p><p>Elrond's whole "Men are stupid" shtick seemed bizarre to me, given that his <em>brother</em> founded the race of Numenoreans. Sure, movie viewers wouldn't be aware of this, but Jackson is, and could have found a better way to color the character - like using, say, the anger and sternness he felt towards Aragorn for courting his daughter, which is <em>in the book</em>, unlike the animosity he shows to Men. That would have played quite well in the film, and helped bolster the Aragorn/Arwen subplot.</p><p></p><p>I didn't like that Saruman was actually a servant of Sauron in the film. I guess it makes some sense from a screenwriting standpoint, though it doesn't always work, for me.</p><p></p><p>I really disagree with Jackson's choice in making Arwen the one who confronted the Black Riders at the Ford of Bruinen, rather than Frodo. This was a great place to give Frodo something to do, to show his strength, to let him, and us, finally see what he was truly up against, since, especially in the film, he had been pretty nondescript - and Jackson gives the scene to a supproting character. </p><p></p><p>Those are a few of the problems I had. The film was beautiful to look at, and I liked quite a bit of it - McKellan's portrayal of Gandalf seemed so right to me - but there are parts of it that drove me nuts. But, then, much of it probably comes from my having read the books so many times.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ColonelHardisson, post: 469329, member: 363"] Although I thought the film was OK, and I liked some aspects of it quite a bit, there are things about it I disliked quite a bit. The pacing is, indeed, one of those things I disliked. Not that it was too long - it was paced [i]too quickly[/i] in many places. It was like watching a "Cliff's Notes" version of the Lord of the Rings, or reading one of those "Illustrated Classics" comics versions. This has everything to do with my having read the books well over a dozen times since I was 10 or 11, but I'm also a filmmaker (not a big deal, of course, but it's something I was traimed for over several years) and the film seemed "off" to me. What I mean, mostly, besides the obvious stuff where they compressed time to fit the film, was in scenes like at the Bucklebury Ferry - besides the scene being a mess editing-wise, I feel Jackson didn't have to ramp up the action as he did. Instead of going for the subtle horror of a cat-and-mouse pursuit, like in the book, he went for a Three Stooges-like chase. I feel the creeping horror of unknown pursuers, like it was portrayed in the book, would have been as, if not more, effective, and has been shown to work very well throughout the history of film. But, it seemed like the whole film was like that - in every instance, the action of the book was exaggerated greatly in the film - while it makes some sense to do so in some cases, to retain the interest of the viewers, it often gave the film a jarring feel, contrasting greatly with the sweeping vistas that Jackson showed. There was too much screaming and crying. Along with this is the weird feeling that we're seeing "cameos" from some of the major characters - Elrond's looming into the shot and saying "Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo" made me laugh out loud. I thought it was silly. "Let's give a big hand to Elrond, ladies and gentlemen..." Elrond's whole "Men are stupid" shtick seemed bizarre to me, given that his [i]brother[/i] founded the race of Numenoreans. Sure, movie viewers wouldn't be aware of this, but Jackson is, and could have found a better way to color the character - like using, say, the anger and sternness he felt towards Aragorn for courting his daughter, which is [i]in the book[/i], unlike the animosity he shows to Men. That would have played quite well in the film, and helped bolster the Aragorn/Arwen subplot. I didn't like that Saruman was actually a servant of Sauron in the film. I guess it makes some sense from a screenwriting standpoint, though it doesn't always work, for me. I really disagree with Jackson's choice in making Arwen the one who confronted the Black Riders at the Ford of Bruinen, rather than Frodo. This was a great place to give Frodo something to do, to show his strength, to let him, and us, finally see what he was truly up against, since, especially in the film, he had been pretty nondescript - and Jackson gives the scene to a supproting character. Those are a few of the problems I had. The film was beautiful to look at, and I liked quite a bit of it - McKellan's portrayal of Gandalf seemed so right to me - but there are parts of it that drove me nuts. But, then, much of it probably comes from my having read the books so many times. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Geek Talk & Media
Anti-LotR
Top