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'Fraid I weigh in with Rich on this one

P.J. & his staff repeatedly announce their intention to adapt the books as accurately as possible, then point out that you can't cover everyone/everything & that some deletion & compression is inevitable.

While this is certainly true (we'd have 30 hour films instead of 3 hours LOL), what bothers me is how they add characters/scenes, few of which fit properly into the context. Tolkien lovingly crafted his books & there is a ripple effect - if you disrupt someone/something at one point, it will bite you on down the road

His son Christopher summarized it well for a French interview (I won't cite the source): "They eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people..."

Mim wrote:'Fraid I weigh in with Rich on this one

Don't be afraid, bask in the glory of it!

Mim wrote:P.J. & his staff repeatedly announce their intention to adapt the books as accurately as possible, then point out that you can't cover everyone/everything & that some deletion & compression is inevitable.

While this is certainly true (we'd have 30 hour films instead of 3 hours LOL), what bothers me is how they add characters/scenes, few of which fit properly into the context. Tolkien lovingly crafted his books & there is a ripple effect - if you disrupt someone/something at one point, it will bite you on down the road

They are very poor adaptions of the book, and I agree with your comments about the crappy additions and alterations of the characters which cause knock-on problems further down the line to the story. PJ has an ego to massage like most other filmmakers so the changes that they made didn't surprise me - but they really didn't need to make the vast majority of them, so the reasons that they gave were laughable for me to hear. Some of them were pure hogwash. The best thing he [PJ] got right was getting Howe and Lee as the conceptual artists. By and large the look of the LotR trilogy is truly excellent; not sure I could say the same for some of The Hobbit, although much of it was.

However, I didn't like the Hobbit solely on the grounds that it isn't a particularly good film never mind consideration and comparison to its source material. The acting is poor, pacing is choppy, action scenes are very dull and video-gamey, etc. For me it fails as a film and those terms alone.

Mim wrote:His son Christopher summarized it well for a French interview (I won't cite the source): "They eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people..."

That really doesn't surprise me.

Beran wrote:Can't agree with GoT (books or series)...though the story is an entertaining one I totally disagree with the ascertain that Martin is the American Tolkien.

Not a fan of his books but the series is mostly excellent and of an extremely high standard - the Rains of Castamere episode was just insane, horrid, and awesome; vastly surpassing anything I've seen in some time on the big or small screen.

Beran wrote:The Hobbit was a little boring, I agree. However, I feel that the other movie (still don't know how PJ is going to effectively make a trilogy out of this) will be more exciting.

... Like butter spread over too much bread.

Beran wrote:... In Ottawa the full version (3d and 48 fps) was over $20 CDN just for the ticket.

Went to see Man of Steel yesterday in 2d. £9 a ticket. Just ridiculous prices. I think IMAX 3D was £18 a ticket. Good film by the way - at last a Superman film that had the scale right (ie, global and cosmic but still focussing on him and the people he cares for).

Me going to see a movie in the theatre has become a far less frequent event due to insane ticket prices.

I do think it is a pity that PJs adaptations of Tolkien are probably the last onscreen adaptations we will see. Now that we have the technology to really show Middle Earth I would like to see what others might do with it. PJ gets a bit too bombastic for Tolkien.

Beran wrote:The Hobbit was a little boring, I agree. However, I feel that the other movie (still don't know how PJ is going to effectively make a trilogy out of this) will be more exciting.

... Like butter spread over too much bread.

Yeah, I try to be an optimist...But, I fully expect to get kicked in the teeth for my efforts. The Hobbit really wasn't up to the same standard as the LoTRs movies as a film. I haven't read the book myself and I am confident I could pick out most of where the book was gutted.

Theater prices are outrageous & one reason that I also seldom attend first-run films anymore. Some of the international prices you all quote are even more shocking than those I'm use to here in the U.S.

In addition, I also fear that the current movies will quash any future attempts - because of their popularity, cost, etc. It's a crying shame, because I'd love to see the books done right, but I suspect that it's now, alas, a dream.

I dread the day that The Wheel of Time movie is announced.

adunephel wrote:I dread the day that The Wheel of Time movie is announced.

Don't you mean you'll clench your jaw?

Mim wrote:

His son Christopher summarized it well for a French interview (I won't cite the source): "They eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people..."

http://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-soci ... Tj-InjmBF/


A lengthy article, to say the least.

Tolwen wrote:My personal guess is that many of the things that bother me the most are leftovers from Del Toro ideas, though that needs a check later when we know more

Cheers
Tolwen

Duude, don't knock Del Toro, he rocks!!!

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