The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Do you think Tolkien would be insulted by the LOTR movies?

Lyta_Underhill · 01-12-2004, 11:30 PM

Some more gems from Letter 210: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>A scene of gloom lit by a small red fire, with the Wraiths slowly approaching as darker shadows--until the moment when Frodo puts on the Ring, and the King steps forward revealed--would seem to me far more impressive than yet one more scene of screams and rather meaningless slashings.... (refers to the screenplay's inclusion of Sam stabbing the Witch King in the thigh at Weathertop)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Rivendell was not 'a shimmering forest'. This is an unhappy anticipation of Lorien (which it in no way resembled). It could not be seen from Weathertop: (!) it was 200 miles away and hidden in a ravine. I can see no pictorial or story-making gain in needlessly contracting the geography.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>I deeply regret this handling of the 'Treebeard' chapter, whether necessary or not. I have already suspected Z (writer) of not being interested in tree: unfortunate, since the story is so largely concerned with them.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Why on earth should Z say that the hobbits 'were munching ridiculously long sandwiches'? Ridiculous indeed. I do not see how any author could be expected to be 'pleased' by such silly alterations. One hobbit was sleeping, the other smoking.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>From these opinions, we can guess that Tolkien would have had a LOT to say about the filming of his masterpiece, and rightly so! I, for one, am glad that the screenplay he is lambasting in this letter never made it to the screen! Cheers! Lyta[ 12:32 AM January 13, 2004: Message edited by: Lyta_Underhill ]

01-12-2004, 11:30 PM	#36
Lyta_Underhill Haunted Halfling Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: an uncounted length of steps--floating between air molecules Posts: 841	Some more gems from Letter 210:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>A scene of gloom lit by a small red fire, with the Wraiths slowly approaching as darker shadows--until the moment when Frodo puts on the Ring, and the King steps forward revealed--would seem to me far more impressive than yet one more scene of screams and rather meaningless slashings.... (refers to the screenplay's inclusion of <I>Sam</I> stabbing the Witch King in the thigh at Weathertop)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Rivendell was not 'a shimmering forest'. This is an unhappy anticipation of Lorien (which it in no way resembled). It could not be seen from Weathertop: (!) it was 200 miles away and hidden in a ravine. I can see no pictorial or story-making gain in needlessly contracting the geography.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>I deeply regret this handling of the 'Treebeard' chapter, whether necessary or not. I have already suspected Z (writer) of not being interested in tree: unfortunate, since the story is so largely concerned with them.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Why on earth should Z say that the hobbits 'were munching ridiculously long sandwiches'? Ridiculous indeed. I do not see how any author could be expected to be 'pleased' by such silly alterations. One hobbit was sleeping, the other smoking.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>From these opinions, we can guess that Tolkien would have had a LOT to say about the filming of his masterpiece, and rightly so! I, for one, am glad that the screenplay he is lambasting in this letter never made it to the screen! <P>Cheers!<BR>Lyta<p>[ 12:32 AM January 13, 2004: Message edited by: Lyta_Underhill ] __________________ “…she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth; and there is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that come after, and elanor and niphredil bloom no more east of the Sea.”