What did the movies do for you?

[Elladan and Elrohir]

The movies . . . well, it's difficult to say what they did. I think they put Tolkien's world onto the screen. Yes, there were lots of changes, some minor, some major, but in the final analysis, it's just Lord of the Rings. You know?

As far as what they did for me on an emotional level, Sam's "There's some good in this world" line totally inspired me. I'm not a person who cries, at movies or at most anything else, but I wanted to cry in ROTK when Aragorn and the Gondorians bow to the hobbits and Howard Shore has the Shire theme going. It was beautiful. For all the complaints we have about the dumb jokes and inappropriate humor in the movies, in the end I think watching them is an emotional experience. It's majestic, it's glorious, it's wrenching, it's epic. It doesn't touch the book, but it's still an unbelievable accomplishment.

It's also difficult to put into words what these films have been to the film industry. I mean, you've got Hollywood churning out dumb flick after dumb flick, and even most of the serious ones aren't great, and then you've got something like this. Three three-hour films, no language or sex, and they're all telling this incredible epic story. What PJ and Co. did was audacious, really. And as we all know, these are three of the most successful films ever. And even though Hollywood continues to pump up the same trash, there have been a few bright spots since then. People are realizing, hey, you can make a good film, with a good message, without all the immorality.

And, shameless plug. If you want to see the biggest beneficiary of the LOTR phenomenon, show up at the theater on December 9 for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Yeah baby. Movies based on books by Oxford dons are the hottest thing on the market right now.

[Ellewen]

Corny as this may sound it changed my life... It got me interested in fantasy, it got me into archery where I have met the best friends I could ever ask for. They also got me started on my own "carreer" as an author. It has done more for me than I can put into words, that is all I can really say.

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

For me, the movies were a completely new experience. I was nearly 14 when the first movie came out, and while I was an avid fantasy reader, LOTR was my first brush with this type of movie (and the only fantasy movie since that I have enjoyed).

I'd already read the books, so it was great to see them put onscreen. I did have a few problems here and there, but over all, I came away pleased from every single one.

There was something more important...At one point, I remember walking up the stairs at school, and just thinking about the movies when it hit me. I remember it so vividly because it was so important. I realized, That's what I want to do! . I wanted to be an actress. Not for fame or anything like that, but because I wanted to make people feel what I felt watching the movie. I'd known that I loved to act, but the realization that it was what I wanted to do with my life is something I attribute strongly to the LOTR movies. I'm 18 now, and still chasing that dream as I head towards college next year.

Originally Posted by Elladan and Elrohir

As far as what they did for me on an emotional level, Sam's "There's some good in this world" line totally inspired me. I'm not a person who cries, at movies or at most anything else, but I wanted to cry in ROTK when Aragorn and the Gondorians bow to the hobbits and Howard Shore has the Shire theme going. It was beautiful. For all the complaints we have about the dumb jokes and inappropriate humor in the movies, in the end I think watching them is an emotional experience. It's majestic, it's glorious, it's wrenching, it's epic. It doesn't touch the book, but it's still an unbelievable accomplishment.

That pretty much summed up what I felt, watching the movies (though I do tend to cry more frequently). It really is an achievement. Going into the theater for the first time, I had never felt the kind of sheer power that these movies have. Since then, I have seen precious few movies that have that special something. There is so much power and beauty and emotional truth in these movies that I think some people overlook because they focus on all the little things that might not be so perfect. I'm just incredibly happy with what we got: a truth to the spirit, if not to the letter, of the books.

[Nogrod]

As I have been aquinted with LotR something like 25 years, I surely had quite clear views & opinions about the whole stuff. So I was watching the films more from the perspective of "how have they seen it" or "what kind of choises have they made".

Even though I admit liking the films, I must regret, that for me, they were mainly visualizations of the story. Kind of illustrating certain parts of the whole, with some quite unhappy alterations and only a couple of good ones. As the whole LotR is so impossible to turn into a movie, I would have hoped for a little more daring or artistically more ambitious rendering of the story to a pic. But that would not have selled as well, and would not have been financed at all to begin with...

But what a visualization it was!!! I do think that PJ is right in saying, that New Zealand really is Middle Earth! And that truly has affected me, kind of taken over my mind and the visual imagination of the ME. Of course one can pick up particular cases of protest, and some casting, including a couple of very central roles, can be criticized. But really: my understanding about how the ME looks like and how it feels, has been heavily influenced by the films.

[Glirdan]

Ahh, the movies. I was first introduced to Tolkien through the books, so, you might say that it did quite a lot for me.

I was about ( I think) twelve years old, my great grandmother passed away and my aunt, uncle and cousins were up for the wake from Toronto. I don't remember why or how they were doing it, but, when we went to visit them at their hotel when they first arrived, my cousins were watching FotR and it was close to the end (when Frodo had the flash-back of the conversation with Gandalf in Moria) and I was suddenly deeply immersed in the moive. I watched with fascination at all that unfolded (even though it wasn't a lot) and I loved it. So, I have the movies to thank for my obsession of LotR and Tolkien.

As for the movies themselves, considering I watched LotR and TTT first, it didn't really do anything for me. After I read the books, however, it really made me think about everything that was added and taken out and what they changed. The Elves at Helm's Deep for instance. I must say that it was a good battle scene, but after I read the books, I was all "That didn't happen!! What the heck did they do that for!?"

So, I guess for the first two, you could say that it was purely for entertainment, until I read the books which was shortly before RotK came out. After I read RotK, I really wanted to watch the movie to see the difference. So, I guess the last movie was purely to see the content and difference of betweent the book and the movie.

Wow, I never knew that my interest started that bizzarely!! Oh well. Anyway, I guess you could say that the movies did a variety of things for me.

Originally Posted by Elladan and Elrohir

The movies . . . well, it's difficult to say what they did. I think they put Tolkien's world onto the screen. Yes, there were lots of changes, some minor, some major, but in the final analysis, it's just Lord of the Rings. You know?

As far as what they did for me on an emotional level, Sam's "There's some good in this world" line totally inspired me. I'm not a person who cries, at movies or at most anything else, but I wanted to cry in ROTK when Aragorn and the Gondorians bow to the hobbits and Howard Shore has the Shire theme going. It was beautiful. For all the complaints we have about the dumb jokes and inappropriate humor in the movies, in the end I think watching them is an emotional experience. It's majestic, it's glorious, it's wrenching, it's epic. It doesn't touch the book, but it's still an unbelievable accomplishment.

It's also difficult to put into words what these films have been to the film industry. I mean, you've got Hollywood churning out dumb flick after dumb flick, and even most of the serious ones aren't great, and then you've got something like this. Three three-hour films, no language or sex, and they're all telling this incredible epic story. What PJ and Co. did was audacious, really. And as we all know, these are three of the most successful films ever. And even though Hollywood continues to pump up the same trash, there have been a few bright spots since then. People are realizing, hey, you can make a good film, with a good message, without all the immorality.

And, shameless plug. If you want to see the biggest beneficiary of the LOTR phenomenon, show up at the theater on December 9 for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Yeah baby. Movies based on books by Oxford dons are the hottest thing on the market right now.

Spot on; especially the bit about Hollywood churning out dumb flick after dumb flick. Their most 'original' ideas right now are to create re-makes of old movies or of comic classics, and like Poseidon, most of them are pure shyte.

LOTR was as close to movie perfection as can be (and few others touch it - A Beautiful Mind is another movie that was very touching).

Also, for example, comparing Poseidon or Superman to Lord of the Rings - LOTR generally only uses CGI when it needs to, and doesn't over do it.

It gave me some hope in Hollywood again, but that's again diminished after they kept churning out crap after crap yet again.

The movies were touching though - especially Howard Shore's soundtrack, something that obviously isn't in the book - but it's as fitting a music track as I've ever seen for a movie.

[Alchisiel]

I came late in life to LOTR, I think I was 29 or 30. I didn't even know about the books until I first saw FotR. I was talking to some co-workers about the movie and they told me about the books, so I went to Barnes and Noble that same day and bought the Hobbit, a co-worker lent me her LOTR book and I now own my own set of LOTR and Hobbit books, The Silm, and Unfinished Tales. So I guess you could say that the movies brought me into the wonderful world of the books and to you great people!

I remember when I first saw Theoden's death scene-I cried my eyes out!! I've only cried at two other death scenes-Greta Garbo's death scene in Camille, and Bette Davis' death scene in Dark Victory (I'm an old movie buff). They were such good death scenes that I could feel the emotions that the actors were trying to portray. Now when I read the books, I always cry at Theoden's death even though it's different in the movie. It also made me realize that I am a Hobbit!!! I sleep late, like to eat, I enjoy a good pint, and I too have a tendancy to be round in the middle!!

[Ar-Pharazon]

For me the movies introduced me to the books, as it did for many young readers of the late teens early 20's at the time of the FOTR's release. When I read the books, and it was like the movies opened the door for me while the books were the actual stepping through into the world of middle earth and Tolkien.

The movies also gave me a lot of heroic imagery, which I just love (Especially in the men characters), makes me ponder about the lack of nobility that has been lost in this day and age.

+ Boromir's last defense of the hobbits as he continues to fight on while pierced by many arrows.
+ Aragorn stepping out from the Elvish Archers on the Helm's Deep Battlements, for the first time being the leader of the defense against the shadow, in the rain (gotta love the rebirth symbolism).
+ Gandalf's arrival with Eomer and his Rohirrim and their charge against those Uruks(this made me and a lot of people cheer in the movie theatre on opening night)
+Theoden's last charge as the King of Rohan.

Now I gotta watch them again, plus I have this nagging addiction to the Silm.

[MatthewM]

I owe my life long dedication to LotR to the movies. I've always loved fantasy. Wizards, dragons, superheroes...etc. When I was around 8-10 years old I saw Ralph Baksi's animated LotR and loved it (now it's a different story) but since then I always had an interest in LotR. When I heard that the movies were coming out, my anticipation grew. When I saw The Fellowship in theatres, I was forever hooked. I went to theatres numerous times to see the same LotR movie. Since then I have read the books (I am currently re-reading them) and have seen each movie from the trilogy countless times. My interest for The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien is here to stay. Everyday is a journey to Middle-earth in my mind!

Like Boromir88, Boromir wasn't my favorite character right away. It wasn't until after I read the books and saw the movies that Boromir really started to grow on me. Now he's the definite favorite. For many reasons, but that's going off topic. Actually, I'm going to start a new topic about this right now in the Books section.

[Parmawen]

Unfortunately, being a younger fan...I was in fifth grade when the first movie came out, and was absolutely horrified when I found out how the first movie ended. It frustrated me so much that I went home and read all three books within the next few weeks.

Thus the movies were the start of it all...and so I have a much closer affinity to them. Probably because reading the books when I was ten, I didn't fully grasp the magic of the world, while sadly when it was presented on screen it was a bit able to compute. But really, I appreciate the movies so much because at the time I'd never seen anything like it...for one there were actually girls as IMPORTANT figures in the movie, and it was a gigantic introduction to a world I had no clue existed.

Ohhh, now I feel all sappy. I think I'll have to go back and rewatch the movies for the gazillionth time.

[the.landlord]

Originally Posted by Elladan and Elrohir

As far as what they did for me on an emotional level, Sam's "There's some good in this world" line totally inspired me.

i loved that line, too... but one the other hand i hated the scene. i will later explain why.

and i loved something which was written on the german movie posters. i hope i can translate that right:

"despite despair people always went on... because there was something they believed in."
"but what do we believe in? what do we hold on?"
"each other"

that was so beautiful! but i think it was said neither in the book nor in the movies, just on the posters.

i also liked the fact that there was more room for the realtionship sam/rosie in the movie... reading the book i always thought: "eh? why is sam gonna marry rosie? he hardly knows her!"

the were also scenes in the movie i really disdained... for example frodo offering the ring to the nazgul. frodo (book frodo) never would have done that.... and by the way it is not really logical. if frodo allready offered the ring to the nazgul... why the heck does sauron still not know where it is?

... and i do not like the fact that frodo and sam never touch in the movies. still the same scene. frodo wants to kill sam... after that he lies on the ground and is devasted... and what does sam do? does he hug him or try to comfort him? no, he holds a speach! to my mind book sam would not have done that.

[the.landlord]

i just saw, that i sort of missed the point. you were talking about moralic lessons.
well, i learned my moralic lessons allready from the books. i learned about the worth of friendship and about love for nature.
i valued friendship before and loved nature before... but because of the book those things may have become even a little bit more important for me.

[ArathorofBarahir]

I think that the movies served as an added experience. They were just another way to enjoy Tolkien's work. The movies were a visual interpretation of the books and were amazing.