Matt’s Comments (group member since Apr 05, 2012)

Matt’s comments from the J.R.R. Tolkien group.

I prefer the books, largely because in many ways the movies depart from the books in theme and spirit.

Where the movies are good is where they draw on Tolkien fandom for their visual and musical effects. Most of the visuals are fairly true to some vision of the books and the music is often wonderful. But like many of the scenes, the movies actually inherited this and did not create them itself. You can go to an John Howe or Alan Lee painting and see the movie before there was a movie, or hear the music of the movie in the many fan choral groups that are out there.

Where the movies fall down is when they try to be smarter than the author. When the dialogue is faithful to the book, as in Théoden's speech to the riders of Rohan before they charge the fields of Pelannor, it's powerful. Where they decide to change that language because it's too grown up and complex and alien to the modern ear, I feel it sounds pretty stupid and loses all of its mythic power. It's particularly jarring when the dialogue is surrounded by people speaking like medieval lords and then they make some anachronistic comment.

The other problem with the movies is that the director hates the books. Sure, he loves the fighting in the books and the action in the books, but he would I think rather prefer that Frodo goes alone to Baradur with only his squire and defeats Sauron in personal combat, and that Aragorn takes the Ring and with its power smites his enemies. The themes of the book are mercy, humility, and providence, and the director would rather (in his own words) that there was more "violence and T&A". The movies reflect this opinion, adding more Hollywood action sequences at the expense of the deep exploration of the characters and themes.