Lord of the Rings

[Michael B-C]

I had forgotten that this film existed, thanks for the reminder, I will be adding it to my list of to watch.

I doubt you'll be disappointed Alejo. The dark irony is that the producer's who were immense Tolkien fans bent over backwards to try and make the film as respectful and true to the spirit of Tolkien as they could on a measly $20 million budget, (as well as hiring a highly accomplished Finish director, Dome Karukoski, who brought a distinctively magical poetry to the way he filmed it which he layered with a beautiful, stirring soundtrack by the accomplished Thomas Newman), but this wasn't enough for the Tolkien estate which refused to take part in the film's preparations and then waited to just prior to its opening before releasing a film killing statement:

The family of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Tolkien Estate are aware of the Fox Searchlight motion picture entitled Tolkien that is due for release in May 2019. The family and the Estate wish to make clear that they did not approve of, authorize, or participate in the making of the film.

Having read several Tolkien biography's I think this film is highly respectful and serves the spirit and heart of what Tolkien stood for on a very limited budget (and is essentially true to his life story). It doesn't attempt to do a Peter Jackson because it hasn't the budget to pull it off but rather instead focuses in on the inner world and poetic spirit. It's a film not a biography and as such must make a film not spend its time exactingly going through biographical data. But once the estate stepped in that gave cart blanche and most reviews damned it with the faintest of condescending praise, meaning that the audience it was aimed at stayed away in droves. Because the estate had spoken...

This is the same estate who whilst claiming they were seeking to protect the legacy of JRT had by then sold the rights to the appendices of LOR to of all parasitic corporations Amazon, for the tidy sum of $250 million, knowing full well when they did that they would have no power to approve or participate in the making of the series. But they sure as hell authorized it, in effect prostituting their inherited legacy for a immense dump of cash.

As the old saying goes, what do you expect from a pig but a grunt, so I looked for nothing less than what we've got from from Amazon. But the estate should roast in Helheim for this betrayal.

 

[Nienna]

I think Jackson got burnt up with making the hobbit. He had creative freedom and time in the making of the lord of the ring, but for the hobbit (which was bad) he got a lot of pressure from the studios etc.

The Hobbit was supposed to be directed by someone Guillermo del Toro. But because of the financial problems MGM was having, the waiting for a go-ahead was too long for that him and he moved on. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens decided, at the last minute, to go ahead and direct. This gave Jackson only months to come up with the plan; during which, he was hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer. So instead of the years he had for the planning of LOTR, he had only a few months to do so for The Hobbit.

And, as much as so many people say that The Hobbit was bad, I liked it! Especially, all of the appendices.

fwiw

 

[genero81]

Having read several Tolkien biography's I think this film is highly respectful and serves the spirit and heart of what Tolkien stood for on a very limited budget (and is essentially true to his life story). It doesn't attempt to do a Peter Jackson because it hasn't the budget to pull it off but rather instead focuses in on the inner world and poetic spirit. It's a film not a biography and as such must make a film not spend its time exactingly going through biographical data. But once the estate stepped in that gave cart blanche and most reviews damned it with the faintest of condescending praise, meaning that the audience it was aimed at stayed away in droves. Because the estate had spoken...

I saw it in the movie theater when it came out. It was very good. Definitely worth a watch.

 

[MK Scarlett]

I had forgotten that this film existed, thanks for the reminder, I will be adding it to my list of to watch.

Me too! On my watch list for sure.
Thanks Michael B-C, and thank you as well for the recall of The Silmarillion that I've read some years ago. I will read it again!

 

[Turgon]

Excellent synopsis of the Silmarillion, Michael. And I'd just add that from what I understand, Amazon bought the rights to the appendices and are covering the second age of Middle Earth, which was the era of Numenor, Elendil and Elrond, the latter being born at the end of the first age and during the eventual fall of Morgoth. A majority of the Silmarillion takes place in the first age and only briefly goes into depth as to what happened in the second age and mostly highlighted the main events, but a creative team could take that and create an incredible adaptation.

Unfortunately, Amazon needed some really good writers who were familiar with Tolkien lore in order to make RoP work, but they instead chose to fire one of the Tolkien scholars who was associated with the project and who also worked with Peter Jackson on his adaptations. If ever you watch the special features, it was remarkable the amount of time and effort that went into the LotR movies. Hundreds of people dedicated their lives for years to make them what they were.

For anyone interested, Unfinished Tales adds additional dimensions to some of the stories and characters brought up in the Silmarillion.

 

[Mikkael]

I doubt you'll be disappointed Alejo. The dark irony is that the producer's who were immense Tolkien fans bent over backwards to try and make the film as respectful and true to the spirit of Tolkien as they could on a measly $20 million budget, (as well as hiring a highly accomplished Finish director, Dome Karukoski, who brought a distinctively magical poetry to the way he filmed it which he layered with a beautiful, stirring soundtrack by the accomplished Thomas Newman), but this wasn't enough for the Tolkien estate which refused to take part in the film's preparations and then waited to just prior to its opening before releasing a film killing statement:



Having read several Tolkien biography's I think this film is highly respectful and serves the spirit and heart of what Tolkien stood for on a very limited budget (and is essentially true to his life story). It doesn't attempt to do a Peter Jackson because it hasn't the budget to pull it off but rather instead focuses in on the inner world and poetic spirit. It's a film not a biography and as such must make a film not spend its time exactingly going through biographical data. But once the estate stepped in that gave cart blanche and most reviews damned it with the faintest of condescending praise, meaning that the audience it was aimed at stayed away in droves. Because the estate had spoken...

This is the same estate who whilst claiming they were seeking to protect the legacy of JRT had by then sold the rights to the appendices of LOR to of all parasitic corporations Amazon, for the tidy sum of $250 million, knowing full well when they did that they would have no power to approve or participate in the making of the series. But they sure as hell authorized it, in effect prostituting their inherited legacy for a immense dump of cash.

As the old saying goes, what do you expect from a pig but a grunt, so I looked for nothing less than what we've got from from Amazon. But the estate should roast in Helheim for this betrayal.

Thank you for recommendation! I just finished watching Tolkien and the movie is pure delight and inspired my evening. I'm still feeling an echo of what I felt during the scene when they made their promise to each other. And this is what is so nourishing, this connecting of minds and resonating souls who are like fireflies lighting the night, reminding the world is also beautiful.

 

[Alejo]

Unfortunately, Amazon needed some really good writers who were familiar with Tolkien lore in order to make RoP work, but they instead chose to fire one of the Tolkien scholars who was associated with the project and who also worked with Peter Jackson on his adaptations. If ever you watch the special features, it was remarkable the amount of time and effort that went into the LotR movies. Hundreds of people dedicated their lives for years to make them what they were.

Yes, I watched some of these special features and there's another very interesting aspect to the approach they took with the LoTR, Peter Jackson apparently wanted to film it as if it was history, not as a fictional work. And that shows I believe, those movies do have that solidity about them that stays with you.

Which is interesting because from what I know, Tolkien wanted to write a fiction to serve as a mythical history of Britain, much like other cultures had fantastic tales that were the foundation of their culture. The fact that Tolkien wrote it thusly, and Jackson filmed it with that in mind, is one of the reasons the films work so well IMO.

It's a fictional tale that seeks to create a connection to the past, while the RoP, seeks to destroy it.

 

[hiker]

The dark irony is that the producer's who were immense Tolkien fans bent over backwards to try and make the film as respectful and true to the spirit of Tolkien as they could on a measly $20 million budget, (as well as hiring a highly accomplished Finish director, Dome Karukoski, who brought a distinctively magical poetry to the way he filmed it which he layered with a beautiful, stirring soundtrack by the accomplished Thomas Newman), but this wasn't enough for the Tolkien estate which refused to take part in the film's preparations and then waited to just prior to its opening before releasing a film killing statement:

The family of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Tolkien Estate are aware of the Fox Searchlight motion picture entitled Tolkien that is due for release in May 2019. The family and the Estate wish to make clear that they did not approve of, authorize, or participate in the making of the film.

When the movie premiered, I noticed that the Tolkien estate published that damning statement, and as the reviews were pretty lukewarm, I thought I'd watch it later.

So thank you for the recommendation/reminder Michael B-C, I finally watched it last evening and indeed it was very good. The references to the Middle-Earth related topics and themes were quite eloquently done, for example.

Tolkien didn't perform as well as expected at the box office, and it is speculated, that as Avengers Endgame premiered just a week earlier to Tolkien, it perhaps "sucked the air from the room" regarding public's interest in other fantasy/sci-fi movies, and for sure that statement from the estate just prior to the premiere didn't help matters.

Simon Tolkien, the grandson of J.R.R., "complained" about Peter Jackson's movies, how he would have liked him to be less faithful to the story. Well, if he wanted "unfaithfulness", he got what he wished for when the estate sold the rights to Amazon!
(2:13 - 2:42 in the below video.)

About Rings of Power (I haven't and won't watch it), I had to chuckle despite myself when seeing this somewhat mean meme: it takes dig at the looks of the actors, who of course could be very competent in their profession, but are perhaps sligthly miscast if the intention was to get elvish looking actors.

 

[Tauriel]

About Rings of Power (I haven't and won't watch it), I had to chuckle despite myself when seeing this somewhat mean meme: it takes dig at the looks of the actors, who of course could be very competent in their profession, but are perhaps sligthly miscast if the intention was to get elvish looking actors.

At my son's request we watched the first 3 parts yesterday after a lengthy internal struggle on my side.
Shocked after the first 20 min I felt inclined to stop the experiment and probably would have done so if it wasn't for the sake of a 'recreational family evening' spend together.
I relaxed a bit into part 2. Until then I realized that if I'd let go of the idea that I'm watching a Tolkien adaption I could get through somehow.
So I did...
Part 3 was not so hard to watch probably due to human adaptive capacity and blunted affect. Also some story line seems to emerge by then.

Most of the actors are not living up to the characters they enact.
Galadriel is an antidote bereft of grace giving a very wooden performance as some sort of warrior queen.
Elrond seems to be still in his diapers.
The actor of the mysterious Halbrand seems to imitate Viggo Mortenson in style and mannerism.
I liked very much the actor playing Elendil. Lloyd Owen is definitely saving the day here for the guild of actors and for the viewers.

Khazad-dûm is just awsome to look at, so is Numenor and some of the cgi landscapes.

Woke-ism is all around. A lot of coloured personnel which is not as hard to look over for a story playing in middle earth inhabited by a very broad range of entities as it is (at least for me) in, for example, the netflix adaption of 'The Bridgertons'.
Black elves were never mentioned by Tolkien as far as I know who described the elven people as 'fair skinned'. Amazon might be forgiven by many though because Arondir (Ismael cruz Cordova) is more sexy than the fair skinned elves.

The hairstyles of some male elves are at the edge of being ridiculous. I suspected some ad for styling products at any moment.

The harefoots are amusing and somehow cute in their strict naivity but also look like an insert to pepper the story with some humour and feeling of familiar cosiness a la hollyweird.

Altogether the production obviously uses Tolkien as a hook without conveying the depth, grace and meaning of one of the greatest stories ever told.

 

[wilfried]

As a "chef d'oeuvre" Mr Tolkien perhaps receive the story in one shot by inspiration from the Divine Cosmic Mind,like Mozart said he heard some of his piece already create and simply work as a master mate to retranscript it in the physical world.

Each chapter, word and even punctuation is placed perfectly in order with the global vision.

As a reader, i understand something new each time i open the book, last time for example i notice the number 111, that is the age of Bilbo anniversery, and the number 144 that is the number of the guest, wich number in the hobbit tradition represent a wholeness.
I noticed it because i was reading Gnosis in the same moment.

In all the marvelous adventure and character here, i will like to note three moments particulary, wich i judge most important for the forces in presence in our reality.

The fact that ( spoling here) Tom Bombadil is not under the power of the ring. Because he is the first to be, he's the father of everything that is naming.
So he teach us something about how to be free from the manifestation by being the namer of the creation, by staying in awareness not identify with.
And his love with her wife is perhaps the meaning of his ability.
Peter Jacsson missed it and for me it's a strong mystake to complete the understanding of the story.

Secondly, Galadriel's way of power and strength. In the Silmarillon, we learn that she was one of the first elf, so she lived all the three ages, she fight against the maker of Sauron, ectc...
She is the feminine guardian of Life and she fight in spirit, her land is the last land of the ancient realm, she saw the mind of the evil, but he could'nt see her. Standing in her Lothlorien garden to restore the strenght after the moria tragedy, take a view in her mirror to see what may be, or not be in the future... like a deep breath for the fellowship before the separation.
And the gift of the Light to Frodon, that he shall remember when every other help seems to fail. o Elbereth.

For one who watch the movie first, she seems to be no other than a powerfull magician queen but for me she represent the feminine Divine side and without Her nothing is possible for if we hope to be delivered from the evil.

And the art of war. Aragorn, by looking inside the palantir and claiming his property turns the following strategy of Sauron, he is rushing and so he abandon situationnal intelligence because of the Aragorn act.
Lot of similitude in Putin strategy i see.

i'd read the news that Soros is the owner of palantir surveillance system. brr, wtf?

Bonne soirée and thank you all for your shares

 

[Tauriel]

The fact that ( spoling here) Tom Bombadil is not under the power of the ring. Because he is the first to be, he's the father of everything that is naming.

Peter Jacsson missed it and for me it's a strong mystake to complete the understanding of the story.

Yes, he's not only not under the influence but also free not to feel involved at all.
He's from a far away place directly right here, very distant from where we are.

I always thought it to be a good thing that Jackson didn't let him appear in the movies. This way he must be seen in the individual reader's mind.

 

[wilfried]

Yes, he's not only not under the influence but also free not to feel involved at all.
He's from a far away place directly right here, very distant from where we are.

I always thought it to be a good thing that Jackson didn't let him appear in the movies. This way he must be seen in the individual reader's mind.

thank you Tauriel, by the time i learn to appreciate the Jackson's movies in the way that he put a little of his own personnal view, understanding of some elements that are not in the words of Tolkien, so it enrichs my "reader's mind" by showing that my imagination could do the same.

Your post on Tom made me thought on freewil, like " if i am Tom" or, what part of my mind is the place where Bombadil is.

An other chapter i forget to mention that is missing in the movie and that i thought really important is the liberation of the county.

From the beginning of the cov. plot, i have been flabbergasted by the locally elected, i've learn since then that we may do our own local liberation at the end of the global war.

Last summer, some of the resistance people in my country side stood for election and they continue their circus-music-ectc festival during the summer. During an evening event, we have seen ( promise i don't lie) there were military snipper around the concert.
it is to say that the deputy here is the son of the past one,

so the charcou'types are very deep installed here and there is ,to my as deep sadness, not a lot of friends here who are aware of the situation.

But we have the chance to share a crystal connexion, as the Galadriel one i hope.

 

[Tauriel]

to my as deep sadness, not a lot of friends here who are aware of the situation.

But we have the chance to share a crystal connexion, as the Galadriel one i hope

Yes, another thing we find in Tolkien's work that can bring great solace:
Whenever one fellow faces the darkness seemingly alone the scattered fellowship is networking to support the cause- they're of ONE MIND even when separated.
They share the same goal and whatever they struggle with on a personal level is of no importance compared to this goal.
So they are a bit ahead of most of us having already understood sacrifice and suffering as they went along but they show us a way how we too can achieve this.
The people in this forum usually don't meet in person. We cannot share burned tomatoes, nor do we fight nazguls or orcs together but very often we're of ONE MIND which affects the field.
And even if we're not of ONE MIND yet in any masterful way we're connected in our suffering by what we see.
I think Tolkien would appreciate our endeavour. I do.

 

[Nienna]

Jackson explained, in the appendices, why he did not put Tom Bombadil in the movie. The movie was already going to be very, very long so they all decided to just follow the ring; that's the main theme of the story. Yes, the ring did appear for a very short time in the Bombadil adventure, but it did not really add anything to getting the ring to Mordor. Bombadil was a stop-over and a brief rest from getting the ring to Mordor. Yes, it's sad that he wasn't in the movie, but I can certainly understand why that section wasn't in the movie.

 

[Benjamin]

Everyone's a critic? Not if you're getting paid, I guess.