Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the rings is the best thing that evercame to the screen, the books and the movies all rock, that's all I have to say.

Don't tell my sister (a big Elijah fan,) but I found both Frodo and Sam a bit unconvincing at times. Of course, it's easy to pick at Lord of the Rings, but for my money the most striking err...blemish, shall we say, was the gap in 'acting ability' (for wont of a better phrase,) between the older actors (McKellen, Lee, Rhys-Davies, Mortensen, Weaving) and the younger ones. Particularly Orlando Bloom, who has single handedly dispelled all the respect I had for Legolas before the trilogy.

I thought Hugo Weaving was excellent in the first Matrix film but i wasn't so impressed here.Cate Blanchett can be superb or awful, superb in 'Elizabeth' awful in 'Victoria Guerin.' Here she was excellent. I think some weak casting choices were made for example Bernard Hill,Miranda Otto and Sean Astin. The third film was an immense disappointment, God knows what they did with the ending. I hope the extended DVD in November will iron the problems. Worth noting that extended DVD version of the two towers has 45 extra minutes of film, and this did tidy up some of the holes the cinema version had.

Bah. You miserable sods. Think about the ending in terms of ten or eleven hours of cinema! If they had a little five minute tie up ending after that length of time it would suck. These films were made as a trilogy. As for the younger actors being rubbish. I think you've been watching too many good films Hen - Frodo and Sam may not be Ian McKellan but they are still fantastic. If you didnt feel like crying then you're heartless. I don't even understand anyone who seperates this third film in quality from the first two. They've all been brilliant. And any quibbles (the ending, things missing from the book etc) will be ironed out in the dvds. Peter Jackson deserves to be given every award that exists. Even ones that are nothing to do with film making!

Sods, SODS, miserable SODS! How dare you mark me SOD? I have not one blood of the SOD in me, and even if it was thus, I would not be marked a miserable SOD. Wherefore SOD, althought methinks I may be Sad, being thus marked a SOD. Ian McKellan is a fine actor and so is Derek Jacoby and despite its epic themes, the Lord of the Rings trilogy has a Shakespearean tone to it. I thought the disjuction between form (epic) and semantics (Shakespearean language) was something that made the film rather heavy, loaded, and even turgid (not in the sense that Thomas Pynchon can be turgid but in the sense that Tolstoy could be turgid).

It may appear that I am contradicting myself but I did find the first two films a bit too heavy and loaded. The third one achieved a disjunctive synthesis that was appropriately epic and yet playfully dramatic... and the spinoff was the marvelous lightness of being, as of angels striving toward the face of God.

I never made it through the books (abandoned it around the Shelob incident in the last book) but it did strike me that they had about five different endings going on.. but maybe that was similar to the book, dunno. I was disappointed that Frodo didn't get laid tho.. I thought that he'd at least see SOME action over the nine hours or so.. don't remember him even getting so much as a peck on the cheek.. poor b*stard. Maybe someone should ghost-write a book of the movie and throw in a bit of nookie for us heathens. [%sig%]

Frodo got a love bite from Shelob, who's probably the most interesting female in the whole book. And Sam and Rosie Cotton ended up producing little hobbits like catholics on speed. But no details of how, of course. [%sig%]

Neil, did Sam leave his kids behind? It's just that I thought that everyone (who survived) that had been a ring-bearer was eventually shipped off to the West. I know that Sam only had the ring for a short while after Shelob's encounter with Frodo but I thought he went West later.

I think the possibility's left hanging in Frodo's "prophetic" mood at the end of the book. In the logic of the book, Sam may have outlived his kids as longevity was a dubious "gift" bestowed by the ring. But how would he have got their in the absence of elven ships? Concorde? I dunno.

When Frodo announces that he is going "West", Sam says, "And I can't come" "No Sam. Not yet anyway, not further than the havens. Though you too were a Ring-bearer, if only for a little while. Your time may come. - - - -" Frodo goes on to predict that Sam (and Rosie) will have 7 (he names them all ) children and "perhaps more that I cannot see. - - - - You will be the Mayor of course - - - - - and the most famous gardener in history," but the implication is that Sam will have a full and happy Hobbit life. As Neil says it is a bit open ended, but as for the longevity bit, I can't immediately find the reference ( in one of Gandalf's monologues - in the Council of Elrond?) but I'm sure that longevity is connected to the length of time the individual possessed the ring. Smeagol had had it for long number's of years and had used (worn) it a lot in the beginning. Bilbo less so and Frodo less again. Sam only had possession of the ring for a matter of a few hours at the top of Cirith Ungol, so he would probably be very little effected. [%sig%]

Thanks both for the clarification - almost all my Tolkien books seem to have disappeared. I remember I started with the all-in-one trilogy, lent it out, learned my lesson and started buying it as seperate books because you only lose one at a time: people never seem to return Tolkien books. I think I'm finally left with The Fellowship and a first edition of the Silmarillion (which I can't find). Really looking forward to the extended DVD edition of Return Of The King!

Am I alone in finding the last film a bit disappointing? A damn fine movie no doubt, but I did find myself trying to read the dial on my watch, something I didn't do in the first two. And the ending just draaaaaged with me thinking 'just get on the f*cking boat!'.

Don't say that, Choose, I've been living for the final episode! I always thought that Gollum didn't really die and actually saved the day but realising he would never be accepted as a hero left Frodo to take the credit and lived with the eagles ;o)

Steve, you seem not a little obsessed with magical Lord Of The Rings type stuff. Also you seem to be the main contributor to this site. Is everyone else asleep?