Sad or Elated now the Movies are at an End?

[alatar]

Guessing that my complete apathy speaks to how much this second trilogy touched me.

My only interest has been in the analysis of why they are so bad. Sometimes you don't know why you feel the way you do, upon further analysis you then see it.

Was it too little Bilbo? Never settling in for a moment for the viewer to attach his or herself to the movie (always rushing to the next CG splatacular)? Too much of the same thing time and time again (e.g. last minute saves)?

[Galadriel55]

I'll be devastated! By the third Hobbit movie, I've finally acquired a taste for comedy!

[Kuruharan]

Firstly, disappointment at how the whole thing was such a waste when it did not have to be. I'm not one of those who believes Tolkien's work to be unfilmable. In fact, I would very much like to see it done well. However, in order to be done well there has to be a level of respect for the work that Jackson was obviously lacking.

Secondly, I've already kind of moved on from it. Hopefully as time passes The Hobbit trilogy will largely be forgotten in the general consciousness.

[Thinlómien]

I am glad Peter Jackson is done with Middle-Earth. (Knock on wood.) The LotR movies are far from perfect, but The Fellowship of the Ring is actually a pretty good movie (and even a pretty good adaptation) and even the rest have great moments, not to mention the beautiful sets, props, costumes, music, cinematography, acting... they *almost* make up for the shoddy direction and the even shoddier scripts.

I have stopped grudging the LotR movies (even though it's still a little sad that with such an amazing crew they could have made so much better films). But to be honest how many people have fallen in love with Tolkien because of the movies? How many of us have friends we'd never have bonded with if they hadn't seen those movies and decided to read the book? I'm happy the movies got made - I definitely don't grudge LotR and fantasy as a genre becoming more popular.

I do grudge the mess PJ made of The Hobbit though. Fortunately, I believe the movies will be fairly quickly be forgotten by all but the die hard PJ fans and quite frankly, the Hobbit movies deserve to be forgotten.

I don't have anything against movie adaptations in general, quite the contrary. Actually, the idea that someone is going to make another movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings in twenty or thirty years makes me happy, because I will be intrigued to see it, and I'm craving for somebody to challenge PJ's vision of Middle-Earth. I am even morbidly curious if anyone will ever try to film (parts of) The Silmarillion and what it will be like.

So, here's to the LotR movies and the phenomenon they became, and to future adaptations of the Professor's work that will have nothing to do with Peter Jackson. Cheers!

[Lalwendë]

I'm neither sad nor happy. There are much more important things to get sad about than films. Besides, it's not as though the stories were left unfinished, as happens when a TV series is cancelled (thinking of Firefly in particular), and the books will always exist, where the real story is found.

But I'm not 'happy' either, as they weren't offensive, they were just films. I suppose it leaves more room for other blockbusters in the cinemas, which is a good thing as long as there are Marvel and Star Wars films.

I will miss the Lego though

[Formendacil]

"Relieved."

I saw the first and felt quite crotchety about them, every bit as irritated as the worst of my teenaged gripes about the LotR movies (towards which I have softened considerably in my "old" age). Then, in the space of a year and expecting far worse from the second movie, I saw it, enjoyed it, and forgot it.

I still haven't seen the third.

But I'm glad the hype is over and look forward to things settling back to "normal" in the fandom. It is a perversion of the natural order to have people taking more interest in The Hobbit than The Lord of the Rings.

[Zigûr]

I'd describe myself as "desensitized" at this stage. I didn't like them but I can't bring myself to really care too much.

I'm fairly convinced that for all the weaknesses of Jackson and his team as filmmakers I'd argue that the production seems to have been badly compromised by heavy executive interference - surprisingly, seemingly much heavier than with "The Lord of the Rings" when Jackson was a far less established director. That kind of interference rarely makes for a successful composition in my view.

The "trilogy" is still a massively wasted opportunity, but it hasn't had enough of a cultural impact to engender much of an emotional response from me.