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Old 01-19-2003, 01:02 AM   #39
Bill Ferny
Shade of Carn Dûm
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bree
Posts: 390
Bill Ferny has just left Hobbiton.
The Eye

WHAT? <P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>On that basis, I think the LotR movies so far are far superior as cinema to, say, <I>Star Wars</I>, or <I>Dragonheart</I>, and so on. Better comparisons might be made with epics such as <I>Ben Hur</I> or <I>Spartacus</I>.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Alright Kalessin, now you really have me <I><B>ANGRY</B></I>!!! Far superior to <I>Dragonheart</I>? Maybe “a bit superior”, or just plain “superior”, but “far superior” sounds like an insult, especially since you placed it right next to <I>Star Wars</I>. Sean Connery, Pete Postlewait and Denis Quaid in the same movie, along with a dragon, swords, a red-headed Saxon babe, and guys with horns jutting out of their hats - not every trip to the theatre is that enjoyable! So far LotR edges out <I>Ben Hur</I> and <I>Braveheart</I>, but barely, and <I>Spartacus</I> doesn’t even come close as epic/adventure/action flicks go.<P>I’m not angry. LotR rules! (Who is this Tolkien guy you guys keep talking about?)<P>Naw, seriously, I like what Saucepan Man says about separating the movie experience from the reading experience. There will always be things in the movies that I’ll scoff at, especially this Hollywood thing for Errol Flynn sword fights; despite the thousands of re-enactors out there who could show them in a few hours a much more exciting, historically accurate, fight style, Hollywood just can’t get it right. Directors, producers, etc., etc. are, like Frank Herbert says, people “that pretend to creativity and shy away from risks.” (Thanks for posting that Kel; in light of that I forgive you for what you said about <I>Dragonheart</I>.)<P>I already have a low opinion of Hollywood, and its so-called intelligencia, so I take everything at the theatre with a grain of salt. That’s how I can sit there and watch fencing with Norman swords, and William Wallace have an affair with Isabella, even if the real William Wallace had ever had sex with the real Isabella he would be a pedophile (she was like, what? 6 years old when the guy died). Producers and directors will always make movies for the mob, just like the Caesars always made the circus for the mob. I’m sure the real Roman generals sat around scoffing at the gladiators, but the mob expected antics and drama, not the mundane mud and dysentery of the legions. So, like the Caesars, Hollywood lives by the rule: keep the mob happy, and the mob will keep you happy.
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