[OT] LotR

[WizarDru]

You know, I sat down last night to watch 'Fellowship'. Again. And just like before, I was struck by how much I really love this film. Not just because it remains as faithful as can reasonably be, but because it's just so darn well done. Incorporating elements from previous interpetations and improvising it's own, it does such a great job of presenting the material.

And it's just a damn good movie, regardless.


It prompted me to reread the series, and appreciate it from a different perspective than when I was younger. I've been listening to the BBC production, as well. It's interesting how each adapter chooses to present the material, but as much as I like Micheal Horton, I can't see him as Gandalf nearly as well. That should be taken as an illustration of how good Ian McKellen performance is, not a reflection of others. That, and I can't help but see Micheal Horton as a badger.

One quick thought that occured to me, this time out:

Why does the elven poem specify men as 'mortal men, doomed to die', but not specify the dwarves as mortal? They are mortal, correct? Is this just poetic license, or is this more a question of the fact that elves so dramatically associate 'short life/mortality' with humans (perhaps in a pitying manner)?

 

[hong]

Why does the elven poem specify men as 'mortal men, doomed to die', but not specify the dwarves as mortal? They are mortal, correct? Is this just poetic license, or is this more a question of the fact that elves so dramatically associate 'short life/mortality' with humans (perhaps in a pitying manner)?

Possibly because men are fated ("doomed") to die, as part of Eru's grand design. Dwarves were made by Aule, and aren't part of the design (although they share a similar end).

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

The part I love most about the BBC Radio adaptation is the ambush in Moria, at the Tomb. When they finish reading the book, and it all goes quiet, and then you here this one solitary boom from very far away...

...and then someone says "I hear drums...drums in the deep..."

And Gandalf bursts out "Fool that I am!" and within a few seconds all hell is let loose!

Wonderful example of what radio is best at!

 

[Dragongirl]

Re: Re: [OT] LotR

Possibly because men are fated ("doomed") to die, as part of Eru's grand design. Dwarves were made by Aule, and aren't part of the design (although they share a similar end).

Hong is on the right track here. But I don't think it is clear what happens to Dwarves when they die. When elves die their spirit goes to the Halls of Mandos there to meet the others that have died and to await the end of the world. Men simply die, period.

 

[Felon]

You know, I sat down last night to watch 'Fellowship'. Again. And just like before, I was struck by how much I really love this film. Not just because it remains as faithful as can reasonably be, but because it's just so darn well done. Incorporating elements from previous interpetations and improvising it's own, it does such a great job of presenting the material.

And it's just a damn good movie, regardless.

I watched it again last night as well, and indeed, it just gets better and better with each viewing. With the meticulous attention to detail, it really pays to watch it on a DVD-ROM where a CRT's superior resolution makes the picture much more crisp. Needless to say, I'm counting the hours until the release of the extended edition.

I hope some more of the great works of fantasy receive the same cinematic treatment. Personally, I'd love to see Zelazny's Amber series hit the big screen (the Corwin books, anyway).

 

[kengar]

When my wife & I watched the movie in the theatre for what I think was the 3rd time (total of 5), They screened the E2:AOTC trailer. She turned to me and said "Lucas? pfft! We have a new god now, and his name is Peter Jackson."

(please, no flames from Star Wars fans. I loved E4 & 5 and even liked parts of 6)

I believe LOTR is one of -if not the best- films I've ever seen. Certainly the best book adaptation to screen ever.

 

[Felon]

Hard to imagine some folks loathed LotR. Richard Roeper, of "Ebert and Roper" panned it, thumbs down all the way. He starts out saying "it's an epic in every sense of the word", but it progresses into a real slamfest from there. If you're interested in hearing a radically different opinion from ours, you can hear his review here, and judge its merits for yourself.

"Frodo the hobbit ain't Lawrence of Arabia!" says he.

 

[Welverin]

Re: Re: Re: [OT] LotR

Hong is on the right track here. But I don't think it is clear what happens to Dwarves when they die. When elves die their spirit goes to the Halls of Mandos there to meet the others that have died and to await the end of the world. Men simply die, period.

Actually the spirits of men immediately join Eru, where as elves have to wait for the end of the world before they can join him. That was man's gift, and it wouldn't be much of a gift if they just died.

 

[Dragongirl]

Re: Re: Re: Re: [OT] LotR

Actually the spirits of men immediately join Eru, where as elves have to wait for the end of the world before they can join him. That was man's gift, and it wouldn't be much of a gift if they just died.

Where do you get that? Never seen it say where men's souls go. Believe I read that not even Mandos knows.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Here's a possible answer:

From The Silmarillion, Chapter 12: Of Men:

What may befall their spirits after death the Elves know not. Some say that they too go to the halls of Mandos; but their place of waiting there is not that of the Elves, and Mandos under Iluvatar alone save Manwe knows whither they go after the time of recollection in those silent halls besides the Outer Sea. None have ever come back from the mansions of the dead, save only Beren son of Barahir, whose hand had touched a Silmaril; but he never spoke afterward to mortal Men. The fate of Men after death, maybe, is not in the hands of the Valar, nor was all foretold in the music of the Ainur.

Otherwise, all I've found is that Men go "beyond the world," and will participate in the making of the Second Music after the end of the world, something, it seems, even the Elves will not participate in.