Bored of "The Rings"

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I love HARRY POTTER. When I saw the first one I was so taken back. The movie was grand and beautiful. I then heard Lord of the Rings was coming out so I decided to read the books. I made it through the first book right before I saw The fellowhship in the theathre. I was completely and utterly speechless when i left. The movie was spetacular. I hadn’t seen anything made on such a grand scale since the old movie like 10 commandments and benhur. I went home and finished the Two Towers and The return of the Kings books that weekend.I love the fact that Jackson didn’t try to speed things up too much. He took the time in his camera work to make you feel and understand and give you time to process those feelings. Yes it made the movies long and a bit slow but that is how the books are. You have to read them and really remember alot of details and characters. Thats one of the things that makes the books so wonderful. You can lose yourself in them and the world of middle earth. These movies are wonderfully made. They are some of the best move adapations of the books that I have seen though there were will still changes made to the storyline. I am sorry you don’t enjoy these movies but I don’t think it is fair to say that they are horrible movies and don’t deserve Oscars. Alot of people around the world enjoyed them including those who never read the stories. I guess we will just have to agree to disagree since not all movie are liked by all.

GOD BLESS,
Beckers
 
The following were some suggestions for people going to see The Return of the King in theatres. While a little late for that now, you may enjoy trying some of these at home while watching the movie on video:
  1. Stand up halfway through the movie and yell loudly, “Wait… where the hell is Harry Potter?”
  2. Block the entrance to the theater while screaming: “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” - After the movie, say “Lucas could have done it better.”
  3. At some point during the movie, stand up and shout: “I must go! Middle Earth needs me!” and run and try to jump into the screen. After bouncing off, return quietly to your seat. *(I do not recommend trying this with your TV.)
  1. Play a drinking game where you have to take a sip every time someone says: “The Ring.”
  2. Point and laugh whenever someone dies.
  3. Ask the nearest ring-nut if he thinks Gandalf went to Hogwarts
  4. Finish off every one of Elrond’s lines with “Mr. Anderson.”
  5. When Aragorn is crowned king, stand up and at the top of your lungs sing, “And I did it… MY way…!”
  6. At the end, complain that Gollum was offensive to Ethiopians
  7. Talk like Gollum all through the movie. At the end, bite off someone’s finger and fall down the stairs.
  8. When Shelob appears, pinch the guy in front of you on the back of the neck.
  9. Dress up as old ladies and reenact “The Battle of Helms Deep” Monty Python style.
  10. When Denethor lights the fire, shout “Barbecue!”
  11. Ask people around you who they think is the next “Terminator” sent from the Middle Earth of the future to assassinate Frodo Baggins
  12. In TTT when the Ents decide to march to war, stand up and shout “RUN FOREST, RUN!”
  13. Every time someone kills an Orc, yell: “That’s what I’m Tolkien about!” See how long it takes before you get kicked out of the theatre.
  14. During a wide shot of a battle, inquire, “Where’s Waldo?”
  15. Talk loudly about how you heard that there is a single frame of an Elf experiencing a wardrobe malfunction hidden somewhere in the movie.
  16. Start an Orc sing-a-long.
  17. Come to the premiere dressed as Frankenfurter and wander around looking terribly confused.
 
::wiping soda from my screen::

That post needs a snark warning! 😃
(People can damage their expensive computer equipment with their drink shooting out of their nose after reading something like that!)
 
Joseph Bilodeau:
  1. Stand up halfway through the movie and yell loudly, “Wait… where the hell is Harry Potter?”
  2. Block the entrance to the theater while screaming: “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” - After the movie, say “Lucas could have done it better.”
  3. Play a drinking game where you have to take a sip every time someone says: “The Ring.”
  4. Finish off every one of Elrond’s lines with “Mr. Anderson.”
  5. In TTT when the Ents decide to march to war, stand up and shout “RUN FOREST, RUN!”
  6. Every time someone kills an Orc, yell: “That’s what I’m Tolkien about!” See how long it takes before you get kicked out of the theatre.
  7. During a wide shot of a battle, inquire, “Where’s Waldo?”
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👍 Way too funny-----------I am so going to have to starting doing that the next time I am watching them!!!:rotfl:

Beckers
 
You know, I just have to, in all honesty, come back and take back a bit of what I said.
I had only made it through the first two movies. And without rehashing the whole thing, I stand by my opinions on those first two.

But, after I kept hearing about how the third and final movie was the best one etc etc, I had to go rent it and watch it.

That was a very very good movie. I enjoyed it ten times more than the first two. It didn’t seem long, even though it was 3 hrs or so. (The first two felt excruciatingly long to me.)

Seems like they had to really focus a lot more to get the story finished. The battle scenes were excellent. The sets were fantastic. The whole thing had a good feel and pace to it–which is saying a lot for a three hour film.

Even though I was still a little mixed up re: the storyline, I here admit that I enjoyed this movie very much.
Now…to the book. 😉 (?)

P.S.–PLEASE tell me that this was the one that one the “Oscar”!
 
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bordertown:
I think that a lot of LOTR fans overestimate the quality of the movies because of their love for the books.
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Not true. My wife has tried to read the books, and was utterly unable. Her sister hasn’t even tried. They went into the first movie with great trepidation, and were hooked. My wife loved each movie more than the one that preceded it (and each was an improvement over the one before).

You are also forgetting that legions of fans read the books only after seeing the movie. That doesn’t happen if you think the movie wasn’t worth it to begin with.

I’m not going to argue that you’re wrong for not liking the films or give you suggestions for other reading material. If you didn’t like it to begin with, why would treating it like a find-the reference scavenger hunt make it enjoyable? There’s just no accounting for taste. There are film critics, even Catholic ones, who feel as you do.
 
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bordertown:
Finally got around to watching “LOTR”. What a big disappointment! I can’t believe all the hype and attention given to these movies—even an Academy Award for best pic!!!
…
I sincerely hope the LOTR books are better than these movies–although I am certainly not apt to pick them up after yawning through most of the DVDs.
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Wait… lemmee get this straight: you didn’t like them, but you nonetheless sat through nine (9!) hours of film anyway? Why waste your time after the first?
 
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bordertown:
You know, I just have to, in all honesty, come back and take back a bit of what I said.
I had only made it through the first two movies. And without rehashing the whole thing, I stand by my opinions on those first two.

But, after I kept hearing about how the third and final movie was the best one etc etc, I had to go rent it and watch it.

That was a very very good movie. I enjoyed it ten times more than the first two. It didn’t seem long, even though it was 3 hrs or so. (The first two felt excruciatingly long to me.)

Seems like they had to really focus a lot more to get the story finished. The battle scenes were excellent. The sets were fantastic. The whole thing had a good feel and pace to it–which is saying a lot for a three hour film.

Even though I was still a little mixed up re: the storyline, I here admit that I enjoyed this movie very much.
Now…to the book. 😉 (?)

P.S.–PLEASE tell me that this was the one that one the “Oscar”!
Click to expand...
Yes, even Jackson said the 3rd movie was the pay-off for watching the other 2. But, unlike you I liked the first 2 films but then I have read the books many, many times. For me it was like seeing them (at least a part of them–no one could ever film the whole thing as written) come alive before my eyes. I thought all the parts were cast well, except for Frodo. Elijah Wood was only 17 when filming began and the character was supposed to be 33 in hobbit years–about 21 in human years, and then 50 years old in hobbit years when he sets off on his adventure. You’ll understand why when you read the books. Although, EW did as good a job as he was able in a very hard part for such a young actor to take on.

The 3rd film is the one that won all the Oscars–11 of them in every catagory it was up for, which is the first time any film has done that. Of course, no one paid any attention to the director and cast at the parties that followed. Not even Entertainment Tonight interviewed them. It was all the glam boys and girls that got the attention, needless-to-say, even though none of them was in any film that anyone went to see.

Anyway, if you begin the books, remember that it starts out really slowly. Tolkien was writing to please himself not the general reading public. He was an amateur writer of fiction and his books aren’t modern novels. They are epic fantasy/mythology tales and have to read with that in mind in order to get anything out of them.

I hope you enjoy LOTR. You have to be patient with it and let it unfold as it does. It’s like taking a long walk in a woodland not like riding a rocket to the moon, if you follow me. And it’s set in a time and place in which dreams take place not the reality we know, although it has its own reality. Anyway, if you stick with it, and let it speak to you, I think you might come away moved by its themes of love and hope, goodness and beauty, truth and ineffable sacrifice.
 
If you read the books TAKE YOUR TIME! It was hard for me the first time to get through all the suff in the Shire. It’s like the first 100 pages or so. After that it starts to get action and everything flows a little better. Now the second time i read the books i loved the first part but that was because i had grown to appericated what the shire was and how it effected the rest of the novel.

Enjoy!!!

Beckers
 
The Harry Potter movies don’t have a whole mythology and historical background behind them, so they are probably easier to understand for those that have never read the series. If my first exposure to THe Lords Of the RIngs had been the movies, I think that I would have been confused. If you read the books, you might want to start with the Hobbit. It isn’t one of the Lord Of The Rings Books that was portrayed in the movies. THe Hobbit does explain how the hobbits got the ring in the first place and is, I think, a faster read. The HObbit comes before the LORTR series.
 
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bordertown:
Finally got around to watching “LOTR”. What a big disappointment! I can’t believe all the hype and attention given to these movies—even an Academy Award for best pic!!!

Sure, sure–some great special effects–big whoop these days.
Great scenery—thanks to N.Z.
But the story was just plain boring. I was literally falling asleep during yet another “rousing” battle. The kid who played Frodo looked at all times as if he was about to burst into tears—probably because he knew he would again soon be at the very brink of peril :eek: ! only to be literally pulled to safety again and again and again. After too many of these episodes, you cease to care about the weepy little fella.

I am very glad they cast Ian McKellen as Gandalf—I could watch him all day. He does more with one eyebrow than all the humanly effort of most actors.

I’m not saying these were bad movies–just not at all as good as they have been portrayed by everyone. What would they do without the great N.Z. scenery and swooping helicopter shots?!?

The first two Harry Potter movies are much better in every way except for scenery.

I sincerely hope the LOTR books are better than these movies–although I am certainly not apt to pick them up after yawning through most of the DVDs.
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Sorry you didn’t see the depth in the films. It is there. After reading the Tolkien series I understood it much better. Really, you can’t expect the films to tell you everything, else they’d be three times longer.

I, for one, thought LOTR was the best fantasy ever put on the big screen. Bar none. It leaves Star Wars in the dust. It leaves me crying every time I watch it, even every time I listen to the soundtrack! But, as I said, you have to understand what’s going on. The great J.R.R. Tolkien made much of this a Catholic allegory, and it’s worth studying the thought behind the stories.

If you are a reader and able to stick with a book in somewhat higher language, start with The Hobbit, which is by far the simplest and - conveniently - also the first. When you finish that, pick up the Fellowship.

I warn you, however,.that reading these books is something akin to taking a two-part course in a university! It requires careful, studious attention, some backtracking, and possibly even note-taking. But oh, how worth the effort!!
 
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marcadam:
Wait… lemmee get this straight: you didn’t like them, but you nonetheless sat through nine (9!) hours of film anyway? Why waste your time after the first?
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What I said was that they were a huge disappointment. After all the hype and hearing about them for so long I had a lot of anticipation about the movies. So I watched the first–which was “okay”–just kinda boring. Then I watched the second spread out over two nights, hoping that it would start to come together.
Yawn.

Then I kept hearing about how good the third was compared to the first two. So I broke down and rented it–ready to abandon ship if it was as average as the first two. Obviously, I never had to abandon ship.

I will stick by what I said earlier. The first two are fairly boring, predictable, and, yes, not as well made as the first two Harry Potter movies.
The last installment was much superior to the first two LOTR films by far.
 
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bordertown:
I will stick by what I said earlier. The first two are fairly boring, predictable, and, yes, not as well made as the first two Harry Potter movies.
The last installment was much superior to the first two LOTR films by far.
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Well, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion. You might be interested to know, however, that I watched the first one having never read any of the books (and therefore unbiased), and found it to be enthralling. I did the same for the first Harry Potter, and found it to be cute. The second LOTR film I enjoyed as much as the first, though after reading the book.
 
surf(name removed by moderator)ure:
Well, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion. You might be interested to know, however, that I watched the first one having never read any of the books (and therefore unbiased), and found it to be enthralling. I did the same for the first Harry Potter, and found it to be cute. The second LOTR film I enjoyed as much as the first, though after reading the book.
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I second that :yup:… I have read all the books before watching the movies and still enjoyed all of them, both HP and LOTR!
 
I’d actually like to amend something I said earlier. Not all of the Harry Potter movies are on the same level. I just finished re-watching “Prisoner of Azkaban” and was reminded of how much more I enjoyed this one. This movie was what made me decide to read the books. It was well-made, retaining much of the character of the books without cramming in every nitpicky detail. There was a greater sense of maturity and depth than the previous movies.
 
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TeriGator:
I’d actually like to amend something I said earlier. Not all of the Harry Potter movies are on the same level. I just finished re-watching “Prisoner of Azkaban” and was reminded of how much more I enjoyed this one. This movie was what made me decide to read the books. It was well-made, retaining much of the character of the books without cramming in every nitpicky detail. There was a greater sense of maturity and depth than the previous movies.
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I have to agree with you on the 3rd movie. I enjoyed it the most out of any of the movies because it followed the book the closest.I just saw the preview for the 4th movie “the Goblet of Fire” and it looks awesome!!! Can’t wait to see it but going to have re-read the book again!!!

Beckers
 
Harry Potter is tripe and rubbish. LOTRs is a much better movie, more in depth characters. LOTR doesn’t glorify magic use either not like Potter.
 
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bordertown:
Finally got around to watching “LOTR”. What a big disappointment! I can’t believe all the hype and attention given to these movies—even an Academy Award for best pic!!!

Sure, sure–some great special effects–big whoop these days.
Great scenery—thanks to N.Z.
But the story was just plain boring. I was literally falling asleep during yet another “rousing” battle. The kid who played Frodo looked at all times as if he was about to burst into tears—probably because he knew he would again soon be at the very brink of peril :eek: ! only to be literally pulled to safety again and again and again. After too many of these episodes, you cease to care about the weepy little fella.
Click to expand...
Sure you wern’t watching the cartoon version? Cause I saw an entirely different movie.
I am very glad they cast Ian McKellen as Gandalf—I could watch him all day. He does more with one eyebrow than all the humanly effort of most actors.
Click to expand...
I thought all of the casting was brilliant.
I’m not saying these were bad movies–just not at all as good as they have been portrayed by everyone. What would they do without the great N.Z. scenery and swooping helicopter shots?!?
Click to expand...
I don’t what you’re seeing but personally I liked the LOTR trillogy so much that it has replaced Star Wars as my favourite trilogy.
The first two Harry Potter movies are much better in every way except for scenery.
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I am a Harry Potter Fan, but there is no contest between the movies. LOTR hands down.
I sincerely hope the LOTR books are better than these movies–although I am certainly not apt to pick them up after yawning through most of the DVDs.
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There is always books on tape!!
 
Its disappointing to hear that Bordertown didn’t enjoy LOTR. Perhaps he should try reading the books and allow a little more genuine catholic thought to go into his critique. LOTR by J.R.R. Tolkien (who was a very devout and faithful Roman Catholic, as well as an Oxford Scholar) is the most profound single Epic story I have ever read!

It moves on so many different levels, from dealing with issues of good vs evil, the sacramental mysteries of salvation, mythology, etymology (even much of the meanings of the book are rooted in ancient mythological stories and meanings of ancient words), hope vs. despair, the problems of the industrial revolution and the destruction of the Natural Order which God (Illuvatar) created, the Atomic Bomb, the misuse of science, aspects from history, mysticism, spirituality, the theological vitures, character development, the platonic themes of the Real and the Really Real, etc, etc., etc, etc, etc, etc,etc, etc., etc, etc, etc, etc,etc, etc., etc, etc, etc, etc,etc, etc., etc, etc, etc, etc,etc, etc., etc, etc, etc, etc,…

The movie version cannot, of course, compare to the book. But, they did a smashing good job of condensing the trilogy plus the background of Middle Earth into such a short movie series (relative to the overall depth of the books).

Sincerely,

Fr. Aidan+
A Hobbit at Heart!
 
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