The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - A short review, a little perspective, and a few gripes.

12-26-2001, 10:18 AM

I agree with your assessment - probably the most accurate posted to date. Overall, the film was excelent, the characters all looked real, the scenery and music were great. Frodo's transition was superb. Animation was a little sub-par compared to what Lucas does but not enough to warrant criticism. The film could not have exceeded 3 hours and the intro (necessary for the mindless masses who will account for 95% of the film's gross income) forced PJ to make some hard choices. My guess (and hope) is that #2 and #3 will be better in terms of purism. Some thoughts:1. Arwen's expanded role was not too terrible. All she did was ride Frodo to the river. It saved time as the trek from Weathertop was actually a few days. After that, it was mostly by the book. 2. Tom Bombadil MIA. I missed his character as PJ did such a great job with everyone else but I think this was the most 'removable' piece of the plot. In the film, Aragorn gave the hobbits their weapons after leaving Bree - so the issue with Merry's sword vs the Nazgul king can be handled that way. 3. Merry & Pippin - some people complain that they were portrayed as bumbling fools but in essence that is what they were. In the book, they joined the Frodo and Sam mostly throught their naive sense of adventure - without any clue as to what they were getting into. Granted, their loyalty and friendship to Frodo was not depicted too well in the film. My guess films #2 and #3 will do them more justice as the books do, to a degree. 4. The growing banter and relationship between Gimli and Legolas was missing. A true shame. 5. Gimli's adoration for Galadriel and growing appreciation for Elven beauty was also sadly missing. 6. Galadriel & Co's gifts to Sam and the others, as well as Aragorn's reforged sword were missing. The elven cloaks and the lembas play important roles in the next books. Hopefully, PJ introduces them via a flashback in the next film. There are scenes in the trailers/ads that hint this - unless they were cut from the film altogther.

12-26-2001, 10:18 AM	#2
sbierig Guest Posts: n/a	I agree with your assessment - probably the most accurate posted to date. Overall, the film was excelent, the characters all looked real, the scenery and music were great. Frodo's transition was superb. Animation was a little sub-par compared to what Lucas does but not enough to warrant criticism. The film could not have exceeded 3 hours and the intro (necessary for the mindless masses who will account for 95% of the film's gross income) forced PJ to make some hard choices. My guess (and hope) is that #2 and #3 will be better in terms of purism. Some thoughts:<P>1. Arwen's expanded role was not too terrible. All she did was ride Frodo to the river. It saved time as the trek from Weathertop was actually a few days. After that, it was mostly by the book.<BR>2. Tom Bombadil MIA. I missed his character as PJ did such a great job with everyone else but I think this was the most 'removable' piece of the plot. In the film, Aragorn gave the hobbits their weapons after leaving Bree - so the issue with Merry's sword vs the Nazgul king can be handled that way.<BR>3. Merry & Pippin - some people complain that they were portrayed as bumbling fools but in essence that is what they were. In the book, they joined the Frodo and Sam mostly throught their naive sense of adventure - without any clue as to what they were getting into. Granted, their loyalty and friendship to Frodo was not depicted too well in the film. My guess films #2 and #3 will do them more justice as the books do, to a degree.<BR>4. The growing banter and relationship between Gimli and Legolas was missing. A true shame. <BR>5. Gimli's adoration for Galadriel and growing appreciation for Elven beauty was also sadly missing.<BR>6. Galadriel & Co's gifts to Sam and the others, as well as Aragorn's reforged sword were missing. The elven cloaks and the lembas play important roles in the next books. Hopefully, PJ introduces them via a flashback in the next film. There are scenes in the trailers/ads that hint this - unless they were cut from the film altogther.