Telescope in Lord Of The Rings: ROTK!

"J. Cartolano" wrote in message
om...

All the nitpicking makes simply no sense enjoy the movies for what
they are an oral retelling of classic literature.

My only complaints are the intensity and duration of on-screen violence, and
the ridiculous depiction of the Orcs. Jackson must have been influenced by
Burton, whose dark outlook totally sucks visually. Batman is another example
of that genre of heavily Goth visual crap.

I'm not that familiar with the books. Although I have read them in bits and
pieces here and there over the years, I don't have an intimate knowledge of
the characters or the details of their personal involvements in the story. I
was hoping to.

Interestingly, a segment that aired on PBS discussing the author and the
story, gave a wonderful synopsis, as well as a biography that indicated the
author's motivations, and underlying themes. I have no doubt that in the
minds of many, these movies are classics, and there was more in them that I
enjoyed than there was that I didn't. I'm just not sure I'd be willing to
sit through them again, unlike others which I am content to see over and
over. I can only attribute that to my dislike for long battle scenes with
hideous creatures, and crude weapons.

I would however give the director a cinematography award just for the last
scene of Frodo forcing himself to his feet on Mount Doom to face his
ultimate personal challenge of destroying the ring. I just wish the rest of
the movie had more of those scenes. Since in essence, it is that level of
personal internal conflict that makes a great character.

Just like Luke Skywalker when confronted with the Emperor, and Lara Croft in
Tomb Raider II, where she _almost_ opens Pandora's box at the end. Talk
about taking temptation and strength to the edge! I guess I wanted the LOTR
movies to be an inspiration for us to persist in our personal struggles, not
in our struggles as a race. I am more impressed with the guy who takes
control of himself and gives up smoking cigarettes than I am with the guy
who studies hard, and finds a cure for the cancer that would have killed the
smoker if he hadn't quit.

It was a great adventure though. No doubt about it.

-Stephen Paul

On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 04:47:15 GMT, in sci.astro.amateur you wrote:

In article om,
(Stuart Levy) wrote:



I'll see it again for more of those details, even with regret.
But if Middle-earth isn't a familiar world, I'm not sure what the
movies will do for you except being a high-powered action film and an
impressive demonstration of computer graphics.

Stuart Levy

[Massive snip of which I agree with almost every word.]

Bravo. I love the books, which I have read at least a half dozen times
though not once in the past half dozen years or so. I loved the
movies. They're not totally faithful to the books, but the overall
vision, IMHO, is and they are more faithful to the books than I
actually expected them to be.

I could pick a few nits myself as most everyone who is a fan of the
books could, but ROTK had to be one of the best if not the best movies
I have ever seen.

Personally I rather like longish battle scenes with brutish enemies
swinging crude weapons. ;-) (Mainly joke for those that didn't catch
it.)

My daughter had not read the books before the movies came out. Now her
and almost all of her friends are reading them, and she is reading it
for her second time. My wife is considering reading them herself. If
there is no other outcome from Peter Jackson's effort than these two
results, I am more than satisfied by the outcome. Especially if my wife
actually does read it. I assume my situation is not unique, I suspect
that at this very minute across the world a whole new generation is
reading these books and telling themselves, "Wow, Frodo rocks!".

-sdg

And that may be the best thing of all about the movies. Just as Harry
Potter has kids who wouldn't normally sit still long enough to read a
chapter enthralled enough to read and re-read the entire series, the
last a pretty massive volume only available for now, AFAIK, in
hardback, the LOTR movies will have folks of all ages discovering
Tolkien who otherwise would not have. And that will lead them to other
fantasy, maybe to sci-fi and...the impact could be enormous.

Roger "Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated" Cole
--
Remove "SPAMPRUF" to email me.

On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 04:47:15 GMT, in sci.astro.amateur you wrote:

In article om,
(Stuart Levy) wrote:



I'll see it again for more of those details, even with regret.
But if Middle-earth isn't a familiar world, I'm not sure what the
movies will do for you except being a high-powered action film and an
impressive demonstration of computer graphics.

Stuart Levy

[Massive snip of which I agree with almost every word.]

Bravo. I love the books, which I have read at least a half dozen times
though not once in the past half dozen years or so. I loved the
movies. They're not totally faithful to the books, but the overall
vision, IMHO, is and they are more faithful to the books than I
actually expected them to be.

I could pick a few nits myself as most everyone who is a fan of the
books could, but ROTK had to be one of the best if not the best movies
I have ever seen.

Personally I rather like longish battle scenes with brutish enemies
swinging crude weapons. ;-) (Mainly joke for those that didn't catch
it.)

My daughter had not read the books before the movies came out. Now her
and almost all of her friends are reading them, and she is reading it
for her second time. My wife is considering reading them herself. If
there is no other outcome from Peter Jackson's effort than these two
results, I am more than satisfied by the outcome. Especially if my wife
actually does read it. I assume my situation is not unique, I suspect
that at this very minute across the world a whole new generation is
reading these books and telling themselves, "Wow, Frodo rocks!".

-sdg

And that may be the best thing of all about the movies. Just as Harry
Potter has kids who wouldn't normally sit still long enough to read a
chapter enthralled enough to read and re-read the entire series, the
last a pretty massive volume only available for now, AFAIK, in
hardback, the LOTR movies will have folks of all ages discovering
Tolkien who otherwise would not have. And that will lead them to other
fantasy, maybe to sci-fi and...the impact could be enormous.

Roger "Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated" Cole
--
Remove "SPAMPRUF" to email me.

On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 04:47:15 GMT, in sci.astro.amateur you wrote:

In article om,
(Stuart Levy) wrote:



I'll see it again for more of those details, even with regret.
But if Middle-earth isn't a familiar world, I'm not sure what the
movies will do for you except being a high-powered action film and an
impressive demonstration of computer graphics.

Stuart Levy

[Massive snip of which I agree with almost every word.]

Bravo. I love the books, which I have read at least a half dozen times
though not once in the past half dozen years or so. I loved the
movies. They're not totally faithful to the books, but the overall
vision, IMHO, is and they are more faithful to the books than I
actually expected them to be.

I could pick a few nits myself as most everyone who is a fan of the
books could, but ROTK had to be one of the best if not the best movies
I have ever seen.

Personally I rather like longish battle scenes with brutish enemies
swinging crude weapons. ;-) (Mainly joke for those that didn't catch
it.)

My daughter had not read the books before the movies came out. Now her
and almost all of her friends are reading them, and she is reading it
for her second time. My wife is considering reading them herself. If
there is no other outcome from Peter Jackson's effort than these two
results, I am more than satisfied by the outcome. Especially if my wife
actually does read it. I assume my situation is not unique, I suspect
that at this very minute across the world a whole new generation is
reading these books and telling themselves, "Wow, Frodo rocks!".

-sdg

And that may be the best thing of all about the movies. Just as Harry
Potter has kids who wouldn't normally sit still long enough to read a
chapter enthralled enough to read and re-read the entire series, the
last a pretty massive volume only available for now, AFAIK, in
hardback, the LOTR movies will have folks of all ages discovering
Tolkien who otherwise would not have. And that will lead them to other
fantasy, maybe to sci-fi and...the impact could be enormous.

Roger "Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated" Cole
--
Remove "SPAMPRUF" to email me.