FOTR - AFI #50 best of all time

[Elmo]

I like to think that Lord of the Rings was an international film.

[Sauron the White]

from Morthoron

Personally, I'd like to see A Man for all Seasons or The Lion in the Winter added. Superb dialogue, intellectually stimulating and droll as all get out. Add The Elephant Man to that list as well.

A big AMEN from my corner on that. I love Kate Hepburns speech on the nature of war and how it comes from our own faults rather than political and economic causes. Saw LION again recently and was struck at the very high level of the script allowing actors to say more than a couple of lines at a time. That is almost unheard of today with short lines by almost everyone.

ELEPHANT MAN should be on the list - its an outstanding film in every possible way. Great how Lynch captured the feel of an early 30's film while at the same time pushing some boundaries to give it a new feel.

I realize that many here prefer FOTR because it has less PJ changes than the other two movies --- BUT --- I am 100% sure that the AFI gives that no consideration at all. The AFI is notorious for downgrading any type of sequel as evidenced by both STAR WARS and the GODFATHER. EMPIRE is almost universally considered by film critics to be a far superior film to the original but is not even on the list while SW gets a ridicoulously high rating. Sure its a pop culture phenom - but great film? Please. GODFATHER II is also generally considered to have eclipsed its original but is further down on the list. AFI simply does not want to consider that sequels may be better.

[MatthewM]

I'm not surprised it was The Fellowship either, it is the best of the trilogy! Congrats to FotR!

[Beanamir of Gondor]

Originally Posted by Finduilas

I will never understand why Citizen Kane is so well liked.

Neither will I ever understand why Casablanca (#3 on the list) is so well-liked. The Big Sleep was a much better Bogart film, plus it had Ingrid Bergman.

*cough* Anyway. Despite the fact that RotK got all the Oscars, I've always felt that FotR was much closer to the books, and that's why it's the best of the three, to me.
I feel like a traitor saying that, because Book!Faramir was my favorite character, but yet again... the arguments about Gallant Captain Faramir apply to TTT, and there was too much of his personality left out of RotK.

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Originally Posted by Beanamir of Gondor

Neither will I ever understand why Casablanca (#3 on the list) is so well-liked. The Big Sleep was a much better Bogart film, plus it had Ingrid Bergman.

ummm....Bergman was in Casablanca. Perhaps you meant somebody else?

Transparent Attempt To Keep This Post On-Topic: she's pretty hot too.

[Brinniel]

I am extremely happy to see FotR on the list, as it's also my favourite of the three. I'm still surprised that RotK didn't make it instead considering the amount of attention it received. And I really don't consider TTT and RotK to be sequels; they're more like continuing parts to the story. After all, a sequel is an extra edition to a story that's already been concluded, and is usually not planned when the first film is made (at least that's how I define it in my book ).

Sauron, is there a direct link to this list that you could give us? It would be much appreciated.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

ummm....Bergman was in Casablanca. Perhaps you meant somebody else?

Transparent Attempt To Keep This Post On-Topic: she's pretty hot too.

Possibly, although she does come second to a horse in one of the latter movie. I think the real reason FotR was the best was becauseshe is hot enough to churn butter just by looking at it. Wanna know why Sam was able to recover from the ordeal of the Quest? Just look at those thirteen lil hobbits. Maybe Frodo would have been healed if he had had his Rosie.

[Sauron the White]

from Brinniel

Sauron, is there a direct link to this list that you could give us? It would be much appreciated

If you go to afi.com there is a section there for their lists. You have to download the All Time 100 list -- it only takes a minute and is well worth it because they have pages of analysis and a great chart which shows which films went up or down from ten years ago.

Hope that helps.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Possibly, although she does come second to a horse in one of the latter movie. I think the real reason FotR was the best was becauseshe is hot enough to churn butter just by looking at it. Wanna know why Sam was able to recover from the ordeal of the Quest? Just look at those thirteen lil hobbits. Maybe Frodo would have been healed if he had had his Rosie.

You mean fourteen!

[Beanamir of Gondor]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

ummm....Bergman was in Casablanca. Perhaps you meant somebody else?

Whoops. Er... I swear I said Lauren Bacall.

[Elladan and Elrohir]

It makes very little sense to me to exclude TTT and ROTK from the list. I realize that FOTR is often the most popular of the three on this board because it supposedly has less deviation from the book, but from my experience, the other two films (particularly ROTK) exceeded it in popularity and critical acclaim. I personally think they at least match FOTR's quality, if not exceed it.

The sequel rule is stupid if it excludes them. As others have said, TTT and ROTK are not sequels in the traditional Hollywood sense; one might as well have said that FOTR was a prequel.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

A big AMEN from my corner on that. I love Kate Hepburns speech on the nature of war and how it comes from our own faults rather than political and economic causes. Saw LION again recently and was struck at the very high level of the script allowing actors to say more than a couple of lines at a time. That is almost unheard of today with short lines by almost everyone.

StW, it may please you to know that the movie Becket (1964, starring Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton and John Gielgud) has finally been released on DVD. It's a superb bookend to The Lion in Winter, with O'Toole playing a much younger (and feistier) Henry II and Burton as Archbishop Becket. They just don't make movies like that anymore (FotR included).

[davem]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

StW, it may please you to know that the movie Becket (1964, starring Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton and John Gielgud) has finally been released on DVD. It's a superb bookend to The Lion in Winter, with O'Toole playing a much younger (and feistier) Henry II and Burton as Archbishop Becket. They just don't make movies like that anymore (FotR included).

Well, haven't checked yet if one of my favourites is on there, but here's some good news about it>

Olivier's Henry V http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../nhenry120.xml

Now that's a cavalry charge! Watch & weep PJ!

[Sir Kohran]

I'd like to see how FOTR counts as an American movie. The American author? The American director? The American writers? The American filming locations? The American production and design companies? I've got nothing against the US but this seems a bit forced.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Sir Kohran

I'd like to see how FOTR counts as an American movie. The American author? The American director? The American writers? The American filming locations? The American production and design companies? I've got nothing against the US but this seems a bit forced.

American money?

[Sir Kohran]

Originally Posted by davem

American money?

The definition given above cites 'significant creative and/or production elements from the United States'. I suppose money counts as a production element but that still seems rather thin.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by davem

Well, haven't checked yet if one of my favourites is on there, but here's some good news about it>

Olivier's Henry V http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../nhenry120.xml

Now that's a cavalry charge! Watch & weep PJ!

That is great news. Unfortunately, it will probably take forever to get over to the States, and even longer still to reach DVD format. Did you like the Kenneth Brannagh version? Totally different in viewpoint than the Olivier masterpiece, but quite good in its own right. To put a LotR spin on this post, I still consider Sir Ian McKellan's portrayal of Richard III one of the best Shakespeare adaptations I've ever seen. The look of utter malevolence on McKellan's face in the film's final scene is horrifying.