The Lord of the Rings
Ok..
So I finished rereading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy last week. Since I hadn't read the books in years, I never saw what people were bitching about in terms of the movie straying from the book. I thought I'd share my thoughts here.
First of all, fuck Tom Bombadil. I'm glad they canned his ass. His presence would have been completely silly in a modern motion picture. I really don't take issue with a lot of the stuff they cut, I do wish they'd left the ending in, with the hobbits struggling against Sauramon and eventual murder at the hands of Wormtounge. Aside from that and the Ent drafts, I was cool. My issue is the complete hack job they did on some of the characters.
Pippin - The movies actually made me dislike Pippin. He was a complete and total bumbling ass in the movie. In the book, it's nothing like that. Sure he grabs the stone, but aside from that, he isn't anywhere near the fuck up they made him in the movie.
Gimli - Gimli was made out to be Comic relief in the movies, brash and clumsy. In the books, his politeness was commented on several times, his friendship with Legolas came quicker, and he actually beat Legolas in the orc death counts.
Legolas - Lord. Ok. In he book he was badass yes, but in the movie he was a whirling arrow twanging death machine. I guess they really wanted to play up the badass pretty boy thing.
Arwen - Umm.. alright. In the book she was practically a non character. They mention her standing there and Aragorn looking at her longingly when the hobbits are in Rivendale.. other then that she doesn't show up until the end when they get hitched, and gives Frodo the Evenstar, not Aragorn. I've heard this explained as a girl power thing.. Jackson wanted to make sure that the movie didn't just appeal to nerds. Honestly I thought Eowyn had that base covered in the books, they didn't really need more.
King Theoden - The movie made Theoden out to be a tool as well, after Gandalf saves him he tells him to go play hide and go fuck yourself when they advise the King to go to war. He didn't do this at all in the books. Helms deep wasn't them hiding, it was the point chosen for a standoff when they met up with the Orcish armies of Sarumon.
Aragorn - That whole deal where he was afraid of falling like Isildor did was kind of.. well, pointless. Also in the books he didn't charge right in and say 'I'm king deal with it'. He proved he had the healing hands of the King and even then waited until he had support and tragedy had passed.
Sarumon - Take away the potent charms, his dealing with the shire, and let him keep his staff. They cut way too much of him.
Denethor - Not too far from the mark here, but they should have kept the seeing stone in. The movie lessened his role as a noble leader and turned him into a sniveling brat.
Faramir - This one probably pissed me off the most. Faramir kicked ass in the books, he was a wise warrior, who respected and listened to Gandalf. The only one not in the fellowship itself who seemed not overly concerned with great power. They changed that in the movie. He was just as much of a tool as his brother was.
The Wild People - Completely Cut.. too bad really.
Leaving out the Hasty Ent, having the sword still broken, and the scene at Mordor where the Luietanant of Sauron who offers the terms for surrender was a mistake in my mind as well.
Cinematically, the movies were beautiful, and very good. I am tired of hearing how well they stuck to the books. They didn't, and while some (ie Tom and the overabundance of crappy songs in the books)were worthwhile, the majority of the changes were unnecessary fluff. Some to market jewelry, and others for no discernable reason other then to make the classic seem a little bit more like a soap opera. It seemed to me like they made each of the characters a little more stupid, but then, given the times, they probably needed to make sure the majority could relate.
So I finished rereading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy last week. Since I hadn't read the books in years, I never saw what people were bitching about in terms of the movie straying from the book. I thought I'd share my thoughts here.
First of all, fuck Tom Bombadil. I'm glad they canned his ass. His presence would have been completely silly in a modern motion picture. I really don't take issue with a lot of the stuff they cut, I do wish they'd left the ending in, with the hobbits struggling against Sauramon and eventual murder at the hands of Wormtounge. Aside from that and the Ent drafts, I was cool. My issue is the complete hack job they did on some of the characters.
Pippin - The movies actually made me dislike Pippin. He was a complete and total bumbling ass in the movie. In the book, it's nothing like that. Sure he grabs the stone, but aside from that, he isn't anywhere near the fuck up they made him in the movie.
Gimli - Gimli was made out to be Comic relief in the movies, brash and clumsy. In the books, his politeness was commented on several times, his friendship with Legolas came quicker, and he actually beat Legolas in the orc death counts.
Legolas - Lord. Ok. In he book he was badass yes, but in the movie he was a whirling arrow twanging death machine. I guess they really wanted to play up the badass pretty boy thing.
Arwen - Umm.. alright. In the book she was practically a non character. They mention her standing there and Aragorn looking at her longingly when the hobbits are in Rivendale.. other then that she doesn't show up until the end when they get hitched, and gives Frodo the Evenstar, not Aragorn. I've heard this explained as a girl power thing.. Jackson wanted to make sure that the movie didn't just appeal to nerds. Honestly I thought Eowyn had that base covered in the books, they didn't really need more.
King Theoden - The movie made Theoden out to be a tool as well, after Gandalf saves him he tells him to go play hide and go fuck yourself when they advise the King to go to war. He didn't do this at all in the books. Helms deep wasn't them hiding, it was the point chosen for a standoff when they met up with the Orcish armies of Sarumon.
Aragorn - That whole deal where he was afraid of falling like Isildor did was kind of.. well, pointless. Also in the books he didn't charge right in and say 'I'm king deal with it'. He proved he had the healing hands of the King and even then waited until he had support and tragedy had passed.
Sarumon - Take away the potent charms, his dealing with the shire, and let him keep his staff. They cut way too much of him.
Denethor - Not too far from the mark here, but they should have kept the seeing stone in. The movie lessened his role as a noble leader and turned him into a sniveling brat.
Faramir - This one probably pissed me off the most. Faramir kicked ass in the books, he was a wise warrior, who respected and listened to Gandalf. The only one not in the fellowship itself who seemed not overly concerned with great power. They changed that in the movie. He was just as much of a tool as his brother was.
The Wild People - Completely Cut.. too bad really.
Leaving out the Hasty Ent, having the sword still broken, and the scene at Mordor where the Luietanant of Sauron who offers the terms for surrender was a mistake in my mind as well.
Cinematically, the movies were beautiful, and very good. I am tired of hearing how well they stuck to the books. They didn't, and while some (ie Tom and the overabundance of crappy songs in the books)were worthwhile, the majority of the changes were unnecessary fluff. Some to market jewelry, and others for no discernable reason other then to make the classic seem a little bit more like a soap opera. It seemed to me like they made each of the characters a little more stupid, but then, given the times, they probably needed to make sure the majority could relate.