Crimes Against Tolkienity - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 12-13-2003, 04:04 AM

Its funny, after 'experiencing' the Bakshi monstrosity, i was distinctly wary about seeing Fellowship but it won me over (despite seeing it for the first time in a cinema where a party of schoolkids was out for a Christmas treat, & they COULD NOT keep quiet, or refrain from stupid comments, & even laughed while Boromir was dying - though they did cheer when Aragorn beheaded Lurtz. Iknow, you're asking yourselves how I can <I>still</I> be annoyed about it after two years!). Hence I was looking forward to Towers, but wass intensely disappointed. In fact I loathed it- though after seeing the SEE I now merely dislike it intensely. I'm now ambiguous about Return. I want it to work, but think it won't. Actually, though I've read virtually everything Tolkien wrote on ME (HoME once & LotR, Sil, Hobbit, letters & UT more times than I can remember) I'm not a 'purist' in the sense of being opposed to movies being made, & having been determined to hate them no matter what. I wanted them to be great, but, after Towers I've kind of lost interest. I have decided to make a final judgement after watching all 3 movies together in the SEE's.<P>My point, after all this waffle, is that those of us who feel hurt & disappointed by the movies are not a bunch of sad pedants who would have been up in arms if even a single line of Tolkien's had been changed. It goes deeper, & all the excuses & justifications by the filmakers, all the 'you couldn't do 'X' in a movie' or 'Y' wouldn't have worked' or 'you think about doing 'Z' differently to the way we've presented it & you'll see why we had to do it this way' just don't hold up for us. I'd just ask those who think we're being awkward & angry for trivial reasons to keep in mind that some of us did feel genuinely hurt by what we saw on screen.

12-13-2003, 04:04 AM	#1
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Its funny, after 'experiencing' the Bakshi monstrosity, i was distinctly wary about seeing Fellowship but it won me over (despite seeing it for the first time in a cinema where a party of schoolkids was out for a Christmas treat, & they COULD NOT keep quiet, or refrain from stupid comments, & even laughed while Boromir was dying - though they did cheer when Aragorn beheaded Lurtz. Iknow, you're asking yourselves how I can <I>still</I> be annoyed about it after two years!). Hence I was looking forward to Towers, but wass intensely disappointed. In fact I loathed it- though after seeing the SEE I now merely dislike it intensely. I'm now ambiguous about Return. I want it to work, but think it won't. Actually, though I've read virtually everything Tolkien wrote on ME (HoME once & LotR, Sil, Hobbit, letters & UT more times than I can remember) I'm not a 'purist' in the sense of being opposed to movies being made, & having been determined to hate them no matter what. I wanted them to be great, but, after Towers I've kind of lost interest. I have decided to make a final judgement after watching all 3 movies together in the SEE's.<P>My point, after all this waffle, is that those of us who feel hurt & disappointed by the movies are not a bunch of sad pedants who would have been up in arms if even a single line of Tolkien's had been changed. It goes deeper, & all the excuses & justifications by the filmakers, all the 'you couldn't do 'X' in a movie' or 'Y' wouldn't have worked' or 'you think about doing 'Z' differently to the way we've presented it & you'll see why we had to do it this way' just don't hold up for us. I'd just ask those who think we're being awkward & angry for trivial reasons to keep in mind that some of us did feel genuinely hurt by what we saw on screen. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."