RETURN: of the King, or the Jedi?

[Tames D]

Hmmm... Star Wars I guess.

Especially that one character, what was his name? oh yeah Qui-Gon. lol.

 

[Lisa]

Especially that one character, what was his name? oh yeah Qui-Gon. lol.

I am sensing you have a special affiliation with this character...hhhmmmm what could it be?

 

[Kacey]

Lord of the Rings - no question! I always wanted to be an elf!

Actually, I just find it easier to get lost in LoTR. Star Wars is good, no question - but I get lost in books much more easily than in movies, and there is no question in my mind that LoTR is much better written.

 

[exile]

Lord of the Rings - no question! I always wanted to be an elf!

Actually, I just find it easier to get lost in LoTR. Star Wars is good, no question - but I get lost in books much more easily than in movies, and there is no question in my mind that LoTR is much better written.

Yes, this is the heart of Tolkien's greatness... you can start anywhere in LoTR and suddenly `come to', six hours later, in shock that it's night now and you've been sitting there all that time, oblivious. Very few writiers can do that. It's happened to me plenty of times... `Lost in a book' is exactly the right idea. Very few authors can do that the way JRRT can... with Lucas, it's much more of an adrenaline rush--but the sense of the mysteriousness of the the world, magical things just out of sight... no (at least for me).

 

[Blotan Hunka]

LOTR just seemed "real" to me. Moreso than Star Wars..which I loved dont get me worng..but I read and internalized Tolkien SW was just eye candy.

 

[dubljay]

I never could get in the the LOTR books, and as a result I didn't have much of an apprecation for the movies. As far as Star Wars, I got sucked into that when they re-released the originals in theater. Episodes IV V and VI were the best. The subsequent newer ones didnt impress me a whole lot, in fact I was quite dissapointed in some regards. I did get into the star wars book universe, having read many books, the ones by Timothy Zahn were by far the best.


So if I had to choose one or the other it would be Star Wars.


(though given a third option I would say Orson Scott Card's Ender's Series and it's parallel Bean series. However there has yet to be a movie)

 

[MA-Caver]

Yes, this is the heart of Tolkien's greatness... you can start anywhere in LoTR and suddenly `come to', six hours later, in shock that it's night now and you've been sitting there all that time, oblivious.

You mean if I start at the very last page (omitting the indexes) of the Return Of the King ... I'd be lost for six hours??? Dang... probably read one letter at a time from each word ... taking a 10 minute break from each letter I reckon. (hee hee )

Yeah, I used to make reading the entire trilogy (including "The Hobbit") an annual affair, but since the movies it's a lot better sitting for 9 hours instead of 9 days to go through the story... but then again... dispite the expanded edition the movies still left out a HELLVA lot of stuff that went on "in-between pages". Still for a film translation of such a great (and long) literary work... it's probably one of the best.

Funny how you can actually see the love Jackson had for the books through his work of LOTR...But he said he was inspired to be a film maker from King Kong (RCO's 1933 original) but it doesn't shine through... the FX oh my hell yes... but the story just flat out... flattened out. Sigh... mebbe he should've taken a longer break.
Still Jackson still fully deserves the honors he got for his LOTR's films. I'm excited to see his translation of "The Hobbit"

 

[exile]

You mean if I start at the very last page (omitting the indexes) of the Return Of the King ... I'd be lost for six hours??? Dang... probably read one letter at a time from each word ... taking a 10 minute break from each letter I reckon. (hee hee )

Sure!---as long as you read backwards, mentally computed all the words forward back into sentences, and kept going backward-then-forward in that same way... hell, that would only get you three or four pages an hour... are you sure you wouldn't rather just start somewhere and read forwards toward the end?

Yeah, I used to make reading the entire trilogy (including "The Hobbit") an annual affair, but since the movies it's a lot better sitting for 9 hours instead of 9 days to go through the story... but then again... dispite the expanded edition the movies still left out a HELLVA lot of stuff that went on "in-between pages". Still for a film translation of such a great (and long) literary work... it's probably one of the best.

No question, one of the greatest film epics ever... hard to imagine anything better coming along. And the cinematography---that long line of beacons sending the Minas Tirith's urgent plea for help to the Rohirrim, against Denethor's wishes.... has to be one of the greates scene-sequences ever conceived.

But I think Tolkien's evocative powers of description trump even Jackson's inspired camera work. I'm always on the verge of starting the trilogy again---only thing which keeps me from it is knowing that it'll take me a week or so to shake the hangover of melancholy that always hits me (and that a bunch of other people have also experienced who posted to the Tolkien thread during the past week). Still, every couple of years the temptation proves too great...

Funny how you can actually see the love Jackson had for the books through his work of LOTR...But he said he was inspired to be a film maker from King Kong (RCO's 1933 original) but it doesn't shine through... the FX oh my hell yes... but the story just flat out... flattened out. Sigh... mebbe he should've taken a longer break.
Still Jackson still fully deserves the honors he got for his LOTR's films. I'm excited to see his translation of "The Hobbit"

He's probably going be able to parley the experience he got from LoTR into something really extraordinary now. His problem is the ultra expectations fans of the trilogy are now harboring... gonna be hard to live up to.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

put me down for LOTR. not because SW sucks or anything, just LOTR is better.

kinda like being the tallest basketball player on the team, though.

 

[MA-Caver]

He's probably going be able to parley the experience he got from LoTR into something really extraordinary now. His problem is the ultra expectations fans of the trilogy are now harboring... gonna be hard to live up to.

This is true, but so long as he (and the rest of the crew/cast) puts their heart into the story as well as they did with LOTR then it should be just as spectacular.
The Battle of Five Armies should be a great one to see as well as the rendering of Smaug and that mysterious woodsman character the 13 met along the way.
At least Andy Serkis will be comfortable doing Gollum again and his performance should be just as great as it was for the latter two of the trilogy.

Yes, my precious, yes. We wants the oscar we does precious!

 

[exile]

This is true, but so long as he (and the rest of the crew/cast) puts their heart into the story as well as they did with LOTR then it should be just as spectacular.
The Battle of Five Armies should be a great one to see as well as the rendering of Smaug and that mysterious woodsman character the 13 met along the way.

But I think there are maybe some pitfalls that Jackson may be facing. Compared with LoTR, The Hobbit is really quite a... lighthearted tale, without the kind of epic sadness and stoic resignation that so many people have noted in LoTR. I just hope that Jackson is able to maintain that quality in this movie, because it's important, I think---the storyline of The Hobbit really doesn't have the mythic grandeur of LoTR's narrative, and doesn't want it; it's quite happy being a kind schoolboy lark, and too much gravitas isn't gonna be good for it, I suspect. I do think Jackson is enough of a Tolkien devotee and a careful enough reader to `get' the difference, the trick is what kind of marketing pressure will be driving the adaptation.

At least Andy Serkis will be comfortable doing Gollum again and his performance should be just as great as it was for the latter two of the trilogy.

Yes, my precious, yes. We wants the oscar we does precious!

Yeah, I agree completely---it's great that we get more Gollum. And Jackson could well score another Oscar with this one---as long as he handles the difference in tone between the two stories with the necessary deftness, and doesn't give in to the urge to heroify everything...

 

[Big Don]

OK, I'm a little late to the party... I finally watched Return of the King. It should have been called Frodo is a little Beyotch. 20 minutes in I wanted to slap him silly.

 

[billc]

Well, to be practical, Return of the Jedi, because I agree with Cohen the Barbarian of the Terry Pratchett universe, you can't beat good dentistry and soft toilet paper. Something tells me both might be lacking in middle earth.

 

[Archangel M]

Tolkien far and away for me. Not that SW doesn't have a special place in my heart. The literary depth of Tolkien's work is unmatched.

If we are talking about movies though....I do have some issues with Jackson's tweaking of the storylines and characters.

 

[MaxiMe]

Dwarves vs Wookies..hmm
I'll take the axe and being dangerous over short distances for a close fight and a Death star for a longer range/lasting effect.

 

[Big Don]

Dwarves vs Wookies..hmm
I'll take the axe and being dangerous over short distances for a close fight and a Death star for a longer range/lasting effect.

Lasers and Ion Cannons and X Wings vs Axes, swords and Eagles? Gimme a break...

I'll take the Star Wars universe, the wizards (Jedi/sith/other) actually use magic (the force). There isn't nearly as much of a focus on walking, to steal Kevin Smith's rant... The decision by Lucas to rent his name to everyone with a story idea was brilliant, financially for him and for the universe he created.