Ross’s
Comments
(group member since May 08, 2013)
Ross’s
comments
from the Tolkien's T.C.B.S group.
Showing 1-17 of 17
Quite Stan, which is why I'm curious to know, how and where Aragorn, in the movie at least, got those short swords from. I forget, he does stab Angmar in the movie doesn't he?
The only slight issue the omission of Tom from the movies had was how Strider knew how many Hobbits there were. Either he, or his associates or even Gandalf had been keeping an eye on the quartet, or more likely 'two eyes, as often as (they) can spare them'. Sam and Frodo were a given, as Gandalf himself saw the pair ofthem onto the long road to Mordor. However he is a wizard after all, and like God he moves in mysterious ways, and so much cause and consequence might be attributed to this mystical implied omniscience perhaps.
Jenelle wrote: "I loved the movie. I loved the hints of Smaug. I loved the background on Thorin. I loved that nothing about the dwarves was "silly."I did (because I'm a bit of a purist) have issue with Azog chas..."
While I too chafed at the inclusion of Azog 'the defiler', I think it made sense in terms of moving the plot along, as we know, nothing much happens between the company leaving The Shire until they encounter the trolls, and then not much until they arrive willingly in Rivendell. Had that been accurately translated into the film it might have made for an opportunity fo some backstory,but limited to no action potential along the road. I think including the Azog chase plot made it that much more dangerous, although the Wargs chasing a hippie on a rabbit-drawn sled was rather jarringly out of context. And as for the enmity between Thorin and the wood elves, one must ask what they were doing, arriving to see Erebor entered by the dragon, and then just leaving; the fact that the attack differs greatly from the book, where the only dwarves to survive were those who were outside the mountain at the time of the attack, and Thrain and Thror managed to get out via the secret door. In the movie it seemed that after quashing a token dwarven resistance, Smaug just ambled on into the mountain, expunging the survivors out of the front door, rather generous of him!
As much as I love the books, I give the movies props for introducing doubt into the narrative to an extent that I felt it made the characters that much more relatable. Personally I very much disliked the elves in the book for their aloof divorcing of themselves from the rest of the denizens of Middle Earth, the fact that they had an escape route none of the others could take made them somewhat cowardly, and false upon my first reading; their roles seemed to be limited to that of judgmental advisers and doubt merchants, but in the movie you can see that they are actually afraid of their not being strong enough to hold back the tide of darkness swelling from Mordor. Indeed, I believe there is a quote that says something to the effect of 'Sauron cannot be defeated by strength of arms alone, and the crushing futility of fighting a seemingly endless stream of enemies could get to the best warrior.There were traces of the Elvish arrogance and disdain in the films, not least the blame for Sauron's continued existence being placed squarely upon the shoulders of man. I had always thought if Elrond had been the sort of 'greater good' person he was depicted as, mightn't he not have tussled with Isildur for the One Ring and sacrificed himself by hurling them both into the Cracks of Doom, thereby eliminating the otherworldly threat of Gorthaur the Cruel.
Elrond's doubt and Haldir's resolve to com to the aid of the defenders of the Hornburg were cinematic changes that I felt worked, and made the Elves more approachable, shame the Dwarves weren't given more depth other than coarse, hairy sources of physical humour.
Azella wrote: "Woolfie wrote: "http://allpoetry.com/poem/8499993-Tom...Tom Bombadil, potentially one of the most eccentric, unnecessary, irrelevant or underrated characters?"
Perhap..."
Yes of course, but I can see why he was omitted from the movie. Personally I don't think he's unnecessary at all, but as you say the reference fits better with Treebeard, given that it elaborates his tole as shepherd of the forest'.
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8499993-Tom...Tom Bombadil, potentially one of the most eccentric, unnecessary, irrelevant or underrated characters?
I have three versions of The Hobbit, the HarperCollins children's edition, the two book boxed edition released in conjunction with the movie, and the annotated Hobbit as well as Corey Olsen's Exploring J.R.R.Tolkien's The Hobbit.I also have the hardback editions of The Children of Hurin, and Sigurd and Gudrun, but ironically, I do not have currently in my possession, a copy of The Lord of the Rings itself!
If I remember correctly, the journey was rather more slow paced, as I think the only time when it picked up was after they made their escape from Moria (I'm assuming it is Moria, at least the 'Goblin town' part) Prior to that there were hints of danger along the ways, most notably the run in with the trolls, but that aside, I don't recall much action and certainly not cartoonish scenes of wolves chasing a hippie with bird crap in his hair riding a sleigh pulled by rabbits:p
Was pretty doable, until it came to questions like how many days there was in a 'yen', and when was the Hobbit published, I dunno those!
As noted, this is a bildungsroman, or 'formation novel' which charts the growth of a central character or characters as we see them progressing in a temporal, metaphorical, and emotional manner.
Although I wasn't initially enamoured by Freeman's less than polite rendition of Bilbo, I soon realised that while the quaint gentlemanly behaviour might work in the book, which I believe was tailored for kids, it would have seemed a little odd in the film, the tone and scope of which was set by the LOTR movies. It was entirely believable for the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit to exist in the same cultural context of the world created in the previous trilogy. I loved how it tied up with FOTOR, even if Bilbo and Frodo did look a little different from the way they appeared in the first movie!
I thought Jackson made the elves more believable by making them, not exactly afraid, but not the force they once were. The whole, we have to go, but can we leave the humans to struggle alone back and forth and the parental insecurity exhibited by Elrond, for me made the threat of Sauron that much more real than dangling Arwen like a carrot 'you become King of Gondor and Armor son and you get her otherwise no dice, we're moving house!' I have to admit, I found the elves insufferable in LOTR and a little in the Hobbit, they seemed somewhat detached, aloof from most of what was unfolding. Also Aragorn's doubts made him more human, so in terms of characters, I felt the movies improved on the stoic depictions in the book.
Thought it was a little ironic in the way the movie seemed to economise the scenes from the book; by collapsing Eomer and Erkenbrand he gives Eomer a bit more of a dramatic entrance. Also replacing Glorfindel with Arwen also modernised her character, and having her use the magic at the fords instead of Elrond served to develop her role more, given that she is nothing more than a prize for the would be King in the book. Wasn't that happy with Saruman's death being played out at Orthanc, but in terms of pacing in the movie the battle of Bywater would likely not have worked.
A beautiful and exhaustively researched work of art, I have the pleasure of owning a copy. That, allied with Tolkien's narrative, Alan Lee's illustrations, and Jackson's movies make it seem as if one was right there, witnessing events as they unfolded.
Personally I liked them, as an adaptation, not a 100% loyal screen rendering of the book, which would have I contend, been difficult to do since book conventions and film conventions are dissimilar. I would however have no qualms sitting through a faithful rendering, including both the Old Forest, Bombadil, and the Battle of Bywater which I thought central to the entire narrative.
Likewise, I'm an avid Tolkienian, LOTR and The Hobbit are first and second on my favourite books list (though I find the histories and The Children of Hurin extremely dessicating) Hail, and well met! And my thanks for the invitation.
