ROTK - Ultimate Best Film winner - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Kitanna · 02-20-2009, 08:50 AM

Quote:

The victims of Round One included such favorites as "Gladiator," which was barely bested by finalist "The Godfather," along with others like "Casablanca," "Silence of the Lambs," "Lawrence of Arabia," and "Gone with the Wind."

Really? ROTK beat out some of those movies listed? ROTK is a good movie (as long as you look at it as a movie not as an adaptation), but it's not better than Casablanca, Lawrence of Arabia, or Gone with the Wind.

William Cloud Hicklin · 02-20-2009, 09:20 AM

And by the same token, the Big Mac Combo Meal is the best comestible ever.

skip spence · 02-20-2009, 09:49 AM

Could hardly sit through RotK to be honest. I enjoyed FotR though.

The other finalist, The Godfather, would have been a worthy winner.

Sauron the White · 02-20-2009, 10:28 AM

WCH - can you point to a similar poll where the Bic Mac combo meal was pitted against other foods and was judged by 700,000 people to be the best?

Even those who partake of such meals do not necessarilly believe it is the best. Cost and availability have much to do with the success of McDonalds. Speed and access also play a role.

I seriously doubt that even if you interviewed customers right in a McDonalds they would tell you that their meal is the absolute best beating out all other meals.

It must really smoke your shorts that the public loves these films when you have the opposite opinion.

William Cloud Hicklin · 02-20-2009, 11:51 AM

Sauron, a poll is not reality. It's merely a measure of people's perception of reality: people, fifty percent of whom are of below-average intelligence.

No plebiscite or election can make 2 + 2 = 5, or make the Keynesian Multiplier other than a myth.

Sauron the White · 02-20-2009, 12:15 PM

WCH - one could say the same of any beliefs. The beliefs of the people who participated in this film poll. Your political or social beliefs. My beliefs about what shoes to buy.

So what?

This is a Tolkien site and I thought people would like to hear the great news.

What does addition have to do with anything?

Sounds to me like you just don't like the movies and you are displeased to see that so many people do. This is hardly news that they are going to stop the presses for.

Mnemosyne · 02-20-2009, 02:13 PM

My issue with the poll is not so much that the will of the masses may be right or wrong, but that the masses themselves are automatically limited by the nature of the poll.

This is not a representative sample of the population; it's a sample of people who were online (specifically on Yahoo), knew about the poll and cared enough to vote in it. Which automatically skews the population such that it's younger. Plus there are a lot more people active online who care about Lord of the Rings than, say, Casablanca (I can't even think of an equivalent of a Balrog-wings debate in that universe!).

Now, I'm sure that there were plenty of people in the poll who were simply movie afficionados in general and had some really tough decisions to make when casting their vote--and voted for RotK. But we have a still-active fanbase out there, including Yahoo groups, and they could very well have influenced the voting--it doesn't take that large of a margin if things are close.

Call me again when the poll seems to be statistically valid and then I'll celebrate.

Also, what release of RotK are we talking about? The theatrical release for me felt as if it was depending too much on the EE and so had a lot more plotholes than, say, Fellowship.

02-20-2009, 09:20 AM	#2
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	And by the same token, the Big Mac Combo Meal is the best comestible ever. __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.

02-20-2009, 09:49 AM	#3
skip spence shadow of a doubt Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Back on the streets Posts: 1,125	Could hardly sit through RotK to be honest. I enjoyed FotR though. The other finalist, The Godfather, would have been a worthy winner. __________________ "You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way" ~ Bob Dylan

02-20-2009, 11:51 AM	#5
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	Sauron, a poll is not reality. It's merely a measure of people's perception of reality: people, fifty percent of whom are of below-average intelligence. No plebiscite or election can make 2 + 2 = 5, or make the Keynesian Multiplier other than a myth. __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.

02-20-2009, 02:13 PM	#7
Mnemosyne Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Between the past and the future Posts: 1,159	My issue with the poll is not so much that the will of the masses may be right or wrong, but that the masses themselves are automatically limited by the nature of the poll. This is not a representative sample of the population; it's a sample of people who were online (specifically on Yahoo), knew about the poll and cared enough to vote in it. Which automatically skews the population such that it's younger. Plus there are a lot more people active online who care about Lord of the Rings than, say, Casablanca (I can't even think of an equivalent of a Balrog-wings debate in that universe!). Now, I'm sure that there were plenty of people in the poll who were simply movie afficionados in general and had some really tough decisions to make when casting their vote--and voted for RotK. But we have a still-active fanbase out there, including Yahoo groups, and they could very well have influenced the voting--it doesn't take that large of a margin if things are close. Call me again when the poll seems to be statistically valid and then I'll celebrate. Also, what release of RotK are we talking about? The theatrical release for me felt as if it was depending too much on the EE and so had a lot more plotholes than, say, Fellowship. __________________ Got corsets? Last edited by Mnemosyne; 02-20-2009 at 02:53 PM.

02-20-2009, 10:28 AM	#4
Sauron the White Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 903	WCH - can you point to a similar poll where the Bic Mac combo meal was pitted against other foods and was judged by 700,000 people to be the best? Even those who partake of such meals do not necessarilly believe it is the best. Cost and availability have much to do with the success of McDonalds. Speed and access also play a role. I seriously doubt that even if you interviewed customers right in a McDonalds they would tell you that their meal is the absolute best beating out all other meals. It must really smoke your shorts that the public loves these films when you have the opposite opinion.

02-20-2009, 12:15 PM	#6
Sauron the White Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 903	WCH - one could say the same of any beliefs. The beliefs of the people who participated in this film poll. Your political or social beliefs. My beliefs about what shoes to buy. So what? This is a Tolkien site and I thought people would like to hear the great news. What does addition have to do with anything? Sounds to me like you just don't like the movies and you are displeased to see that so many people do. This is hardly news that they are going to stop the presses for.