# Post-LOTR depression: All will love them and despair **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** middle-earth\ **Created:** [August 5, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403 "2004-08-05T03:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/1 "2004-08-05T03:57:23Z")
Not really worthy of the Cafe. And no, I’m not really depressed. 😛 But I need someone to convince me that fantasy cinema has not peaked. It’s like I’ve gorged and eaten an entire cheesecake…and I’ve now realized that it was the last cheesecake that will be made…ever…anywhere. Or maybe I just need someone to give me a recipe for creme brulee that is good enough to make me forget about The Last Cheesecake for a while. Mmmmm…dessert… What was I posting about again? Damn run-on analogies… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/2 "2004-08-05T04:20:01Z")
I know the feeling. After seeing ROTK (on the first day, natch) as I sat there, watching the credits roll it was definitely with mixed feelings. I mean, I was glad the story was over, especially since I saw at long last the scene I’de been waiting three years for (Eowyn’s defiance), but now it was . . . it was _done_. Nothing to look forward to for next Christmas, no more wondering if PJ would totally screw things up, nuthin’ (well, the extended DVD release, but that somehow it just isn’t the same). I’ve never had children, but I think I had a small taste of what watching your youngling drive off to college must be like. Satisfaction, perhaps some pride of a job well-done, and deep down inside, a small bit of sadness. DD ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/3 "2004-08-05T04:41:28Z")
Sending fantasy back “underground” (as in smaller budgets, niche audiences) isn’t necesssarily a bad thing. The “fantasy boom” of the 1980’s gave us some incredible films (“legend”, “labyrinth”, “the dark crystal”, “ladyhawke”, “excalibur”, etc.) that were relatively low budget (compared to something like LOTR) and only played to niche audiences. It can happen again. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/4 "2004-08-05T04:52:01Z")
I’m with the OP on this one. I’ve tried to watch other movies since the whole triology started. It’s hard to get into them. A review of \*Trainspotting \* proved good for the soul, and I’m kinda into _Mysts of Avalon_ (something familiar about Igraine…) But largely other films now seem too short & rushed. Star Wars is even more unbearable–if only they’d taken their time to develop the characters & plot like PJ did. Underground/lower budget films would be refreshing. Like that huge class of ice water at 2:30 am after you’ve gorged yourself on cheesecake 6 hours earlier. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/5 "2004-08-05T06:17:59Z")
Now you see why Frodo couldn’t be happy in the Shire after it was all over. You can’t go back home and pretend it all didn’t happen, but where else can you go? StG ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/6 "2004-08-05T11:14:27Z")
Have you seen the new Harry Potter movie? Fantasy is not dead. ---
**Author:** ![Sassafras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@Sassafras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassafras)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/7 "2004-08-05T13:03:24Z")
OMG :eek: I will be sitting at work, typing away, and get hit with this feeling. No more LOTR films. ☹ I think I am an absolute freak for getting depressed about it. Then I come to the SDMB and find I may be a freak, but I am not the only one. WHEN is the extended version of ROTK coming out? ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/8 "2004-08-05T13:04:40Z")
I do indeed enjoy the Harry Potter flicks but I’m not their target audience. They don’t score a direct hit but instead deliver a glancing blow that makes me wish I could revert to my 12 year old self when watching them. There are certainly other works of literary fantasy that I hope have more of a chance to see the silver screen, thanks in part to the LOTR effort (honorable mention to the Harry Potter series, the sci-fi channel’s Dune and Children of Dune…basically all of the folks who don’t feel limited to only 2 hour storylines and are passionate about staying as true as possible to the original work. ) Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Saga and Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant come to mind. And of course, if \* The Hobbit \* comes to pass, I will be more than thrilled. In the meantime, I suppose I will just have to placate myself with periodic 12 hour indulgences in the LOTR extended dvds, and cling to the hope that my days of giddy goosebumps at the hands of filmmakers are not over just yet. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/9 "2004-08-05T13:08:42Z")
I’m sad too. Christmas doesn’t seem like Christmas anymore with no LOTR films. And isn’t old PJ (does anyone else think of the Disney Robin Hood movie at this? “PJ!” (Prince John)) doing King Kong next anyway? People are bound to disagree with me on this…but what a waste of talent. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/10 "2004-08-05T13:32:48Z")
Have you _seen_ PJ’s other works? He’s going home. King Kong is the movie he was born to make. Hell, after LOTR, it’s the movie he’s always wanted to make. Yeah, he’ll never top LOTR, but Coppolla never topped the first two Godfather movies, and Lucas should’ve stopped after Jedi, if not Empire. Frankly, I’d rather he move on to other things rather than cheapen what he has done with pale imitations and sequels. OK, may an adaptation of _The Hobbit_ would be cool, but after that, giant mokeys and zombies all the way! ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/11 "2004-08-05T14:24:02Z")
I was also very sad at the end of ROTK. I’m trying to cheer up by thinking of lovely 12-hour EE marathons come November, and of watching all the ROTK extras, but I’m still sad. It was so beautiful seeing one of my favourite series brought to life, and done so well. I’m not a Harry Potter fan, so I can’t look forward to the new movies. I guess I’m going to wait for _The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe_. And _The Hobbit_, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Haniver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/12 "2004-08-05T14:33:32Z")
> [@Elenia28](#): > > Christmas doesn’t seem like Christmas anymore with no LOTR films. This is exactly what I was going to post. I’ve thought about forcing myself not to watch the extended edition of RotK until the third week of December, just to retain that Christmas:Lord of the Rings connection. I know I won’t be able to wait, but not having any new LotR this December makes me sad. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/13 "2004-08-05T14:46:30Z")
I prefer to place my faith in the moviemakers, and believe that more fantastic movies will be made, even if they are remakes of previous fantastic movies (Eddie Murphy not withstanding…). I thought Bakshi’s work was wonderful, when I first saw it years ago. PJ’s work has topped that in many ways; somebody may, within my lifetime, make a third version of Tolkien’s work, and, with PJ’s LOTR to use as a yardstick, I believe that it will be worth seeing. In the meantime, in the short run, I’m looking forward to _Firefly, Star Wars 3,_ and\* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.\* ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/14 "2004-08-05T15:04:37Z")
I don’t feel like it’s over yet. When I have my big LOTR marathon party this winter, and my friends and I come to the end of the 12-hour epic, and the door to Sam’s Hobbit-hole closes, I will cry. Even though I’ll be able to stretch out the LOTR experience for months afterwards by watching all the special features, it’s the viewing of ROTK:EE that will mark the end of the journey for me. The extras will be like flipping through the photo albums after that once-in-a-lifetime trip. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/15 "2004-08-05T15:55:19Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I don’t feel like it’s over yet. > > When I have my big LOTR marathon party this winter, and my friends and I come to the end of the 12-hour epic, and the door to Sam’s Hobbit-hole closes, I will cry. > > Even though I’ll be able to stretch out the LOTR experience for months afterwards by watching all the special features, it’s the viewing of ROTK:EE that will mark the end of the journey for me. The extras will be like flipping through the photo albums after that once-in-a-lifetime trip. My sentiments exactly. I cannot wait for the winter EE marathon…Make sure to have plenty of beer, jerky, beef stew and homemade bread on hand. And a clay pipe if you can 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/16 "2004-08-05T15:59:26Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > **beef stew** Well, now, shouldn’t it be stewed rabbit with fresh herbs? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/17 "2004-08-05T16:07:45Z")
I also think the saddness wont really hit me until Christmas. But, I’m having so much fun watching the DVD’s on my new widescreen TV that I haven’t really thought about the end too much. I’m anxious for The Hobbit since it’s my favorite book of all time. If that doesn’t come to pass, that’s when I’ll be really sad. I really want to have a 12 hour marathon but I don’t have many friends who like the movies and my fiancee has a bad back so he can’t sit that long. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/18 "2004-08-05T16:13:32Z")
I’m bummed, too. No other film will top these three movies for me. But I’m ready to see King Kong - did you know Andy Serkis will be the big ape himself, and he will be doing it via his acting/CGI thing again? Also, Jack Black will play Denham the filmmaker and Tom Hanks’s son, Colin Hanks, will be acting in it as well. I hear the film’s going to be on the gruesome side, but I hope that won’t keep me away. Still, there’s no place like Middle Earth. At least we all have these spectacularly produced DVDs, and the ROTK:EE will have about 45 minutes of extra footage in it. Something to look forward to this December. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/19 "2004-08-05T16:14:05Z")
> [@Elenia28](#): > > And isn’t old PJ (does anyone else think of the Disney Robin Hood movie at this? “PJ!” (Prince John)) doing King Kong next anyway? “PJ! I like that! You know I do! Go put that on all my luggage! PJ! A ha ha!” ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/20 "2004-08-05T16:18:33Z")
My first date (sort of; we went as friends) with Pricegal was going to see _Fellowship of the Ring_ on January 1st. Eleven days later, we were together. We went to see the other two films on January 1st of each year. It’s going to feel really strange to wake up New Year’s Day and not have Lord of the Rings tickets for that evening. This must be the geekiest message board in existence. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403.md?page=2)