Kevin's Watch

YAY drew!!!

Now, you need to read The Silmarillion, Lost Tales and Unfinished Tales. OH and The Hobbit too!!!

Well I read the Hobbit first...
The Sillmarion, I'm waiting until I can just emerce myself in it...

I'm glad you liked it! I agree about The Two Towers film. Even though I enjoyed it, it's my least favorite of the movies because it is furthest from the books. There were a few liberties and changes PJ made that I think worked better for film, but a lot of stuff he should have just left alone! Why mess with perfection!

Yeah, like what was the point of Eowyn going to Helms Deep, and Frodo sending Sam away?

drew wrote:Yeah, like what was the point of Eowyn going to Helms Deep, and Frodo sending Sam away?

And the raid of the Warg-riders, and Aragorn appearing to be killed by them, and Faramir behaving like a power-hungry jackass, and a Nazgûl coming within spitting distance of Frodo at Osgiliath of all places, yet somehow failing to grab the Ring while the grabbing was good. Oh, and let's not forget the literal cliffhanger at Mount Doom.

Orson Scott Card pegged it exactly right. These are the kind of cheap plot tricks they teach you in film school as a way of winding up the tension. Well, LOTR had all the tension it could stand without cheap plot tricks. Jackson monkeyed with the story, and not to its improvement.

What remains is still an amazing achievement in filmmaking. You don't improve Mona Lisa by adding mascara, lip gloss, and a big white porcelain grin. You don't improve Beethoven's Ninth by dubbing in some really hot modern guitar licks. And you don't improve The Lord of the Rings by juicing it up with sophomoric screenwriting tricks. It's a pity Mr. Jackson didn't have the penetration to see that.

I understood why PJ did some of the things-
The whole thing with Elrond not wanting Arwen to marry Aragorn, was just to add some father/daughter touching moments ---silly---but the extra screen time with Liv Tyler was greatly received !!

Yeah, I forgot about Farmir Bringing Frodo to Osgilath-I didn't see why that was needed.

Still though, does anyone have any idea why Frodo sent Sam away?
It took away from what Frodo and Sam meant to eachother

As a many time reader of Lord of the Rings, I will say I loved the film,but as drew asks, why did Frodo send Sam away?
And Sam actually leaving!

This had me hating the movie until Sam caught up with Frodo again.

It just didn't fit Sam to leave. I understand the need for Frodo to feel doubt and jealousy, and maybe lean towards Gollum's mutual feelings of despair, but Sam just wouldn't leave him and that is the only spot in the film I really wish they'd done differently. They had moments where they didn't understand each other, but...

(End of rant)

Loremaster,

It is a good book, but not a great book.

What makes you say that? Looking at fantasy as a whole, I would count Lord of the Rings as one of the "greatest," just not one of my personal favorites.