Why did these movies have to get made, and why does everyone love them and seem compelled to own the special edition DVD sets? I’m just talking about the movies here, the books are a different subject. I saw both Fellowship and Towers. They were fun and enjoyable, but I have absolutely no interest in seeing them again. I grew up on D&D and computer games like Ultima, Final Fantasy, Wizardry, etc, so the whole concept of the party of stout warriors (the old mage, the ranger elf, the grizzled dwarven axe swinger) who go off adventuring to find/return a special treasure that will help rid the world of an ultimate evil is so old hat and cliched for me now. I fully understand how Tolkien helped forge many of those very concepts that gave birth to D&D and modern role playing games today, and I really respect him for that, but if I wanted to return to the roots I’d read Tolkien’s books again. Did we really need an episodic big budget special effects masturbation that is the LOTR movies? They just seem like one big RPG video game cutscene to me that I’ve seen thousands of times already.
What appeals most to me is the enthusiasm and effort which has been put into the films. Practically every film technique in existance has been used to bring them to us, and each time they have used the most apropriate technique to get the most seamless and accurate effect. I appreciate the amount of thought and work that has gone into making some incredibly entertaining films.
Firstly, they’re fun and enjoyable. The concept of a party of stout warriors going adventuring to find/return a special treasure that will help rid the world of an ultimate evil may seem old hat and cliched to people who grew up on D&D and fantasy games and movies, but Tolkien helped forge many of those very concepts that gave birth to D&D and modern role playing games today. You have to respect him for that. In addition, the movies are episodic big budget special effects masturbation, which is popular with movie viewers. Finally, they are like one big RPG video game cutscene, and a lot of people play video games.
Seriously, they’re excellently made: they don’t rape the spirit of the books, the acting is good, the cinematrography is splendid, the plot is simple and deals with issues that are very relevant to our time…how can you go wrong? But quality aside, they are only the cultural force that they are because they represent the liberation of the fantasy geeks, who have seen goths, computer geeks, and star wars geeks become mainstream while they lingered in dark hallways with expensive card collections. (By Reorx’s beard, I really hate the word geek.) Comic book geeks are on the rise, too. I can only imagine that progressive rock is about to make a comeback (come on Tool, make me proud).
In a word, pretty much everything.
Peter Jackson took arguably the worlds best fantasy/sci-fi book and turned it into arguably the worlds best fantasy/sc-fi film. That itself is a pretty good reason as too why they are so great.
The acting is pretty much flawless.
It has been written for the screen brilliantly.
The battle scenes are beyond belief.
The CG graphics are amazing!
Im going to stop now…
Also the reason why people own these films and want to spend money on them is because a major part of the LOTR audience are people like me, who have waited for years too see this thing in live action.
Least thats what Ive read, my reasons? I just think they are brilliant!
I have read the books many times, and probably will read them many more times. The movies, however, help me to visualize scenes in the books (at least the way Peter Jackson sees it, I don’t always agree with the visualization). The movies are simply an adjunct to the books which will remain canon.
At the same time, I miss those scenes in the books which were not filmed. The whole Tom Bombadil sequence, for instance. Of course, no one would sit through a 12 hour movie and some things just didn’t advance the plot enough to be filmed.
It is interesting to find, though, that many scenes were filmed but not in the release version. This is the reason for the expanded versions. For instance, the gift giving (elves to Fellowship) was mostly left out of the released version, but added back in the expanded version. Although not terribly important to the movie, they provided more substance, and, in one case, provide an important item which will not be used until ROTK.
In TTT, I much missed the appearance of the trees at Helm’s Deep, but
I see that it was, in fact, filmed, and appears in the expanded edition
Bob
You’re not going to see much if you view it as D&D on film. Trying to figure out how man HP Aragorn is far less illuminating than thinking about the themes and meanings inherent in the work. There’s a lot more in the movies (and of course the books) than “party of stout warriors goes off adventuring.”
Of course, you could say, “Why bother making a movie when they book is already great?” – but you could say that about any of the thousand other movie adaptations of literary classics.
Also, the graphics are way better than any RPG cutscene I’ve seen. 
Er, make that, “how many HP Aragron has is…”
I’m probably in a minority for saying this -
Because the movies are better than the books.
There are a lot of the ‘greats’ in literature, being great on literary merit, or being great for starting a trend, introducing a concept, turning around the way stories are told.
We’re supposed to read El Quijote, Vanity Fair, Grapes of Wrath and a whole lot of other books, because they’re milestones. One such milestone is (arguably) the birth of modern fantasy - LoTR. Most people seem to get hooked in their teens and start a lifelong fandom. I did too. I read them when I was 14 and I really, really believed that it was more or less true.
Then, at 30, I thought I should re-read them. Sorry. They’re terrible. Stilted language, cartoonish charters, droning descriptions.
Peter Jackson has destilled what was good about the books, so I’ll never have to plough through them again. Tighter, better storytelling. The characters more compelling, and pointless exposition left out.
why did they have to be made? they didn’t. no movie does. no book has to be written, no picture painted. but someone said, ‘this is a fantastic story. let’s try it, shall we?’ not everyone likes lotr, in literary or cinematic form. but what’s the problem? plenty of movies come out every year that i have no desire to see, and so i don’t. it’s pretty easy.
the appeal for me is seeing what i’ve been reading for a long time brought to life, and having it be good. most books that get turned into hollywood productions lose their souls (harry potter, for one, imho). but i see the amount of work and care and detail that went into this film, in the weaponry and costumes and yes, special effects, because you do need those to film a story like the lord of the rings, and it mirrors the amount of work tolkein put into these books, the amount of detail he put in. i love the way it looks, sounds, i love the realism and the beauty of everything. it’s got heart.
but if you don’t like the films, that’s fine with me. i don’t really care. i like them, and that’s enough for me, i dont need the world to agree with me.
I’m going to be uncharacteristically brief and answer the OP in one sentence: The Lord of the Rings movies are so great because they are, quite simply, the best fantasy films ever put on screen.
Do you have a better one in mind?
Oh yeah, and all that other stuff that’s already been said.
I agree that the acting, directing, and special effects in the LOTR are impressively done, but what I can’t get over is how BORING the two movies were. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen to justify the ~3 hour viewing times on each one, and quite frankly, I was left shaking my head … “what’s the big deal”
I’ve never read the books, so I am judging the plot and storyline purely from my exposure to FOTR and Two Towers. Nothing interesting seems to happen, just random events that lead up to one sanitized, epic battle after another. And why are the enemy hordes so incompetent in combat? The main characters never seem to be in much danger due to their godlike fighting skills.
HeadCoat, many things happened in LOTR FOTR & TT that were of interest as Peter Jackson says :
“The first film was entirely expostion, everythig had to be built around explaining who the different characters were what they were doing and why it was important”*
“The second movie was adding complication. In a way it as still just exposition”*
This is the interest in these films, we find out who every one is, and what there story is and why they should be involved on this quest. Would you not agree that if the movie was condensed into a 3 hour package we would miss out on a lot of vitally important information?
As for the Boring comments, we were watching the same film right? FOTR didnt have a whole lot of action, as in battles, but it made up for it in the character development and the fact that were shown so many sides to Middle Earth. TTT has action literaly from the word go, if its not talk of war its preparation for it. How exactly is that boring?
I could go on and explain as to why the events that happen arent random but I think you dont want to hear that and Id only bore everyone else who knows them anyway.
As for leading up to one battle after another, theres been one battle, and maybe two or three smaller fights.
Regards main characters not dying, you do remember what happened Boromir right? and to the Elf at helms deep, I think his name is Haldir or Hallis, hes not central to LOTR but we have met him before, he is a leader amongst the elves, and he dies.
The enemies arent incompetent either, if it wasnt for Gandalf at helms deep the Rohirrim would certainly have lost the battle at Helms Deep.
Maybe I can justify your negative points because Ive read the books and understand where each part of the plot comes from.
Also if your dislike for each movie is that they have no ‘real’ ending, then read on! FOTR, ends with the breaking of the fellowship, TTT ends with the survival of the world of men, ROTK ends it all. Ive heard that complaint soo many times it bothers me hence its inclusion in here
*Quotes taken from October 2003 issue of Empire Magazine.
Because once upon a time, we were promised a great LOTR movie, animated, that turned out to be a big pile of shit.
We were disappointed.
And then, some twenty-odd years later, we were promised a great LOTR movie, again.
And we held our breath.
And it was not a big pile of shit.
Never fear. Deaths of major characters are coming. I’ll spoilerbox for those who haven’t read the books. Let’s see, there’s…
[spoiler]Denethor and Theoden. And for the evil guys, we’ll see the deaths of Saruman and Wormtongue (not sure what they’re going to do with those two, since I very much doubt that the Scouring of the Shire will be included in ROTK), the unseen demise of Sauron, and of course Gollum.
And if we include sailing off to the Gray Havens, then Gandalf, Frodo, and Elrond will “pass away”.
Who did I miss?[/spoiler]
It depends. I find a long journey to the ends of the earth, danger every step of the way(Several characters die, or semi-die), and huge epic battle scenes to be very interesting, particulary in a fantasy Epic. If that’s not your cup of tea, it’s not your cup of tea. I do wonder what you want them to do that would be considered “Interesting”.
As to why the enemy hordes so inept? Ummm, I don’t think they go through 8 weeks of boot camp and they aren’t being issued simple yet deadly automatic weapons. They are just recruited(or perhaps, enslaved) and used for “Arrow Fodder”. Give them a sword/spear and tell them where to go. Conscripts in the old days(Bronze age) were more useful in numbers and with proper leadership rather then though indiviual fighting skill. That and they are goblins, who aren’t smart to begin with.
Answer one. They are filmed in New Zealand. I visit places like those in the movie on a regular basis. It really is that beautiful. This is home to me.
Answer two. The books are an epic tale. But IMO not that well written. I think the story reads like a first draft. So to have it well told in a very accessible format is just great.
Answer three. The movies are well made. Lots of you have spoken abouty this, but I’ll add another dinmesion that no-one has stated thus far. There is an incredible amount of fine detail in all of the sets, costumes, props, characters and languages. Tolkien wove these into the story. PJ makes it visible. Real moviemaking professionalism. the idea was to make everything authentic whether or not it ever actually appeared on the screen. The classic on this point has to be King Theoden’s embroided undergarments which were obviously never seen. The reason? To make the actor feel like a king. A lot of the detail is given in the DVDs which helps to explain their popularuty. As one who has been to Wellington and seen some of the props and costumes, the incredible detail is fantastic. Put it alongside Harry Potter and the latter looks like a junior high school production.
I did not like the first movie that much. Nor did I like the first book though (and they missed my favorite part…Tom Bombadil!).
The second one though…LOVED IT! It was really exciting and fun. I saw it twice and now that it is coming back I am considering seeing it again.
And the last one…I just can’t wait.
I think it has something to do with the way the story become more and more epic and exciting. On top of that the movies are very well made, well acted, and almost as epic as the tale they tell. The fact the Peter Jackson, who used to be my favorite horror movie director of all time, got to make these amazing movies, managed to make them at home and not in Hollywood, AND managed to make them without screwing up the story is AMAZING! Besides, if you compare these movies to what else has been coming out lately it becomes very obvious why people are so excited about a quality set of films.
I don’t see the big deal behind the books or movies. I tried reading the books a while back, and they just seemed to drag on. I keep thinking that I should like the books, but can’t get in to them.
The movies are just as bad. I watched the first movie at my mother’s house, and was not impressed. It was much too long, and it just…sucked. The second movie was just as bad, if not worse. At least the first movie had some interesting points, but the second movie had none. It seemed to drag on and on much longer than needed, there weren’t any interesting points at all, and again, it just sucked. Do I want to see the third one? No, but if a group of friends are going and I get invited, I’ll probably go along.
I can understand why people like these movies. It’s the same appeal of the Star Wars or Star Trek movies, and to some extent, the James Bond series. The LOTR movies just don’t have any appeal to me.
They do pay attention to details in the movies, and from what I’ve heard, they stick relatively close to the books, which is more than most movies do.
Yep, that sums it up for me.
Final Fantasy, for god’s sake? They made a move of that and it was about the lamest, most boring thing I ever saw, full of wooden characters with no expression.
What others said about LOTR. First rate book, absolutely top drawer. The movies are the same, except that in the case of The Two Towers, I think there is far too much intercutting between the varioius threads of the story, and I can only imagine it must be quite confusing to anyone who hasn’t read the book.