HBO to make George R.R. Martin' SoI&F into a series...

[IcedEarth81]

Nobody is saying the movies are equal to or better than the book. The movies are a good adaption of the book. But I wasn't even arguing that. My whole point was there were a large number of purists who never gave the movie a chance. Some people hold the book in such high regard that they cannot stand anyone else interpreting Tolkien's work and putting the name LoTR on the final product. I'm hoping that the SoIaF fanbase isn't he same way if the HBO series comes together. If it sucks then it should be blasted, but give it a good shot.
It isn't going to be exactly like the books.


I personally like the LoTR movies. I also enjoy the book and think it was one of the greatest acheivements in literature during the 20th century. I've also read the Silmarillion and the Hobbit and liked both of those as well. Tolkien truly created a world in every respect, something few other authors can claim. However, I completely understood that Jackson was going to have to change some things to make a movie work and appeal to a wide audience. He made some unnecessary changes also, and some of those do kind of bother me when I watch, but they don't detract from the viewing experience. About emotional impact, the movies are dripping with emotion. When Sam delivers his "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you" line it gives me chills. One thing the movies had in spades was emotion. I don't think a better job could have been done adapting LoTR. For Return of the King to win Best Picture and all three movies to have appealed to such a large audience was simply amazing.

 

[Mistwell]

Nobody is saying the movies are equal to or better than the book.

Correction. I am saying the movies were equal to the book.

 

[Mistwell]

Double post

 

[Ranger REG]

My main concern is how will they handle the sometimes extreme material in ASoIaF. The pedofilia alone with Daenerys will offend modern sensibilities, even though in the time a 14 year old girl having relations was not uncommon. Also what happens to Bran will deeply offend most, as harming children is viewed poorly. It will be difficult for them to redeem Jamie as effectively as the book in a visual medium IMO.

With warning and either a MA or TV14 rating. Not like HBO haven't been down this road before.

Let's face it, this is the kind of fantasy story you DO NOT want to read to your kids at bedtime.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I can't wait for this one. I hope they do it justice.

 

[Klaus]

This is pretty irritating. The LotR movies were badly done in many areas and ruined quite a few characters. The only place where Peter Jackson really hit the nail on the head is with the special effects, but he did a poor job on most of the really key scenes in the film. Not only did they diverge from the text, but they also made no sense in the movie itself or lacked the emotional impact of the text.

I bought the extended edition of all three movies. I really enjoyed them when they first came out. But after multiple viewings, I became more and more dissatisfied with the final product until I gave them away. They just weren't well done and had glaring logic problems with plot and character beyond the differences between the book and movie.

I don't mind that people enjoy the movies. Just don't argue that they are better or equal to the books with all the problems that even a halfway intelligent viewer could find with the plot and character inconsistencies. I for one am happy that Peter Jackson is not doing The Hobbit, then I might have to watch another Tolkien work bastardized because a director with a poor sense of storytelling has a great eye for visual effects.


I very much doubt that ASoIaF will have the same problem as the LotR with the fans. Tolkien fans more than likely have a different basis for judging the books than Martin fans, at least the purists like myself. I very much like the morality in LotR as much as I like the story itself. The movies at times obfuscated the value systems of the cultures presented in the books, which was very troubling to me. I won't have that same type of investment in ASoIaF, because morality is relative to the situation or nonexistent.

My main concern is how will they handle the sometimes extreme material in ASoIaF. The pedofilia alone with Daenerys will offend modern sensibilities, even though in the time a 14 year old girl having relations was not uncommon. Also what happens to Bran will deeply offend most, as harming children is viewed poorly. It will be difficult for them to redeem Jamie as effectively as the book in a visual medium IMO.

Martin definitely has alot of stong themes involving children. I'm going to enjoy seeing how HBO handles this kind of material. It should be interesting. Can you imagine the graphic Red Wedding scene on the screen? You know they would show it. Just talking about it as they did in the book wouldn't capture the scene, though I guess they could do a flashback sequence. I'm looking forward to a ASoIaF being brought to the film medium. Should be interesting.

"Irritating" right back at ya, because I find the LotR movies to be FAR more enjoyable than the books (and I read all three before the movies came out). I have the theatrical and extended releases (and I like the opening sequence for FotR better in the theatrical version, as opposed to Bilbo's narration). I think Faramir in the movie is a FAR better character than the book one, flaws and all, just to name one.

 

[horacethegrey]

This is pretty irritating. The LotR movies were badly done in many areas and ruined quite a few characters. The only place where Peter Jackson really hit the nail on the head is with the special effects, but he did a poor job on most of the really key scenes in the film. Not only did they diverge from the text, but they also made no sense in the movie itself or lacked the emotional impact of the text.

:\ Only the special effects, huh? Hunh, that's funny. I guess the fantastic production design, haunting musical score, excellent screenplay and fine editing must have flown right by you, huh? Or were you just focusing attention on the FX and not on the other positive elements of the films, each of which has earned rave reviews and won awards at one time or another?

I don't mind that people enjoy the movies. Just don't argue that they are better or equal to the books with all the problems that even a halfway intelligent viewer could find with the plot and character inconsistencies.

WOW. I must say I find that quite insulting. So you're saying any person who likes the movies more than the book is a moron? No don't answer that.

Listen, I never stated that the movies were better than the books, I merely expressed my disatisfaction with the hardline Tolkien elitist fanboys who unfairly regard the films as dreck and are unwilling to accept the opinions of those who did like the films. You want my opinion? Well I still like the book better than the movies, despite my love for the latter. And I don't see the need to insult those who disagree with me by saying their intelligence is lacking. That would be snobbery.

I for one am happy that Peter Jackson is not doing The Hobbit, then I might have to watch another Tolkien work bastardized because a director with a poor sense of storytelling has a great eye for visual effects

Just so you know, a director can only be accused of being a bad storyteller if the film loses the plot halfway, characters are underdeveloped, and has no sense of pacing. These were problems I did not encounter in the whole of the LOTR trilogy, so I fail to see what you're going on about. Maybe you think he's just a bad storyteller because he failed to translate the holy text word for word, no?

Anyways, I've gotten way off base now with this ranting, so I'll stop right here so the discussion can go back to ASOIAF. Apologies.

 

[Christoph the Magus]

Correction. I am saying the movies were equal to the book.

Well, you're wrong.

Seriously though, they're different mediums. The books are more in depth, but the pacing is horrible. The movies had much better pacing and good character development, but they don't contain the same depth and history of Middle Earth.

 

[ssampier]

With warning and either a MA or TV14 rating. Not like HBO haven't been down this road before.

Let's face it, this is the kind of fantasy story you DO NOT want to read to your kids at bedtime.

Darn straight. I don't think any of us want a kidified PG13 version of SoIF.

 

[IcedEarth81]

The books are more in depth, but the pacing is horrible. The movies had much better pacing and good character development, but they don't contain the same depth and history of Middle Earth.

Very well put.