Tolkien & the Films

[Legolas]

i still hate her, however many other threads she has ;D ;D ;D

[Boromir]

Hey, are we talking about Liv Tyler or Arwen here?

[Legolas]

liv tyler isn't that bad, even though she slurs her elvish. ::)pj put arwen too prominently.

so i guess i hate them both

[Ilúvatar]

Hey - Arwen's a whole other thread - oh wait it is another thread - lol

My last post (see above) was a subtle hint to take the Arwen conversation over to the Arwen thread and leave this one open to discuss how Tolkien would have felt about the films.

[Kitoky]

I couldn't say how Tolkien would react to the films, because I don't know him in person, and know how he thinks of things.

But if looking upon Christopher Tolkien as a sorta signalization...I'd say he wouldn't like it.

Because well Christopher Tolkien was just totally against the idea of making a film of Lord of the Rings.

[Aislinn]

I can understand why a author might cringe at the thought of his/her book being turned into movie. the history of booked based movies is well not good if you asked me. Movie leave things out add things. But with the finished product Of the LOTR movies I think Tolkien would of been happy. I think PJ did a good job getting the scenery to look as beutiful, along with the character fitting there races. To watch the movie to me really adds to the book. as far though as the family being upset now they have to share the fame.. LOTR books and now PJS LOTR movie.. I am glad they made the movie cause I for one never heard of him before them and Now i am reading the book and so in several of my friends cause of the movies..

[Elanor]

I think!....Professor Tolkien wouldn't have reacted the way he did back then. He would be a Man of the 4th Age, that is, people change with the times around them. I don't think it's in my power to know what he would have thought of the finished product of PJ, only one man who dwells in the house of God knows that, but from my humble opinion, I think ofcourse he would have missed Tom and I also think he would have missed the point when Aragorn "grows kingly" in front of his friends. I don't think at all that PJ's moment of Elrond handing over the sword(well that part of it was mega cool)but Aragorns reaction......maybe nobody agrees with me. I just think that in so many places in the book it is beautifully written how Aragorn seemed to those around him to be becoming more and more kingly, and I didn't get that at all from the movies. The only! time Aragorn felt to me like a true king was at his crowning ceremony, and I KNOW that's not the fault of the actor.
So, in summary, I don't think JRRT would have liked these two bits, no Tom and Aragorn's road to kingly looks.

[AragornII]

Ilúvatar said:

I seem to have read somewhere that Tolkien didn't think (or want) LotR made into a movie. He said (totally paraphrasing from memory) that he didn't think the book would translate well onto the big screen. I'll have to look it up - now to remember where.

i think i may have been that he didn't mind it being made into a film - he just didn't want it to be animated - as he was concerned about the realism - in that he wrote it as supposed history and a cartoon would make it more like fantasy than reality.

in general:

personally i think he wouldn't be that keen on the films - although he would have to conceed it would be a very hard thing to translate onto film and although many of the central themes have been captured- many things have been changed - and one of the things most changed from the book is the language ie dialogue and songs/poems being changed and omitted - as a professor of languages i feel tolkien would have thought these fundamental to the books - although i feel he would have given credit for the inclusion of sindarin in the film and the overall effort to do justice to the depth of the races and cultures of middle earth - i think he would have maybe be annoyed at the changes made and the almost complete removal of his dialogue.


- this of course is just my best guess - and my opinion - he may have loved it!