If tolkien had seen Peter Jackson's Movies, would he have puked, and wailed, and stuck a needle in his eyes?

Question

Before you answer, can you also say if you had read the books first before seeing the films, or if you saw the films first before you read the boooks.

Answer 1

Yes, I have read the books, and the Silmilarion also.
Movies are never exactly like the book. They are separate entities.
This being said, I think the movies did a decent job of rendering the Middle Earth trilogy in three three-or-so hour films. To be quite frank with you, I thought the old films (the ones mostly done in cartoon) were a more accurate depiction of the original story. The latest movies banked a lot on special effect. That disease is all over Hollywood, unfortunately - too little storytelling, too many explosions.
However, quite a lot of footage is also given to attempting to deliver the faeric imagery of Tolkien's vision. I don't think it fails as completely as you state. As for Tolkien turning in his grave, I think like most authors, he was modest about his work and what he could hope to accomplish with it. If you truly reach one reader, you've done your job. Anything to do with the movie is the producer's problem.

Answer 2

I saw the first movie and immediately read all three books before I went to see the second movie.

While the book is almost always better than the movie based on it, I think that Peter Jackson did a very good job. Making a movie from the Lord of the Rings is a difficult thing to do, especially when you want to stay true to the books. I feel that the characters were all treated very well, and that the actors were pretty much able to capture Tolkien's vision of them. I think he woud be very pleased, not only because his beloved characters were in the movies, but because the movies triggered an immense serge in interest for his books. Movies are another way to share his legacy with people, some of whom wouldn't want to read through the three massive novels.

Answer 3

Read the books years ago and again just before the release of the movies.
I think Tolkien would have been impressed by how well his story was translated to film considering the time constraints inherent in the process. Given the length of the books, I don't see how it could have been done much better.

Answer 4

I saw the films and then read the books and I don't think Tolkein would have hated it. Personally I don't think that we should compare movies with books anyway, they are two completely different arts. A director should know what works for a film and an author should know what works for a book. The books and the films were both amazing and great, I think Tolkein would have liked them.

Answer 5

Having read the Trilogy at least twice, once in a big fat book that weighed a ton and contained all three novels, and.. from what I heard about the Tolkien family's reaction to the Jackson films, I'd say that your perjorative take on the LotR is skewed for reasons that are unclear to me.

To see the characters come to life, including Ian Holm's wonderful Bilbo Baggins was a treat for me. Lothlorien was real to me, as was Cate Blanchett's Galadriel. Gollum in his CG self contained the pathos and conflict that I saw in the books.

Whatever your objection to Jackson's vision is may rest in your naivte or lack of imagination when reading the books. In any case, your question, skewed as it is prompts me to apprciate both the visions of my imagination and Jackson's as well.

FYI, no cg was used in most of the film for the size of the characters. For instance, in Bilbo's house, one was built for Gandalf to stand in and a duplicate was constructed for the hobbits. In the Inn, depth of field was manipulated to get the Men in proper proportion to the hobbits.

Jackson's vision would have made JRR smile big and if you wait a few years, beyond your perjorative criticism to read again and then watch the films again, you may find that whatever makes you so angry may have mellowed.

Meanwhile, the films are glorious as are the books for those with few limits to their imaginations.

Of course, to me. And, I don't have to make you wrong, as you are entitled to your views.. to feel that my take is a good one.

Answer 6

For the film industry, it was a pretty good try.

Making Frodo such a weepy little wimp was a mistake. The Dwarf tossing jokes were gratiutous. Denethor was a hell of a lot more nobel in the book. Where was Bombadil? There were a number of omissions and compressions that I cringed at...Of course you could easily have made six movies and still have had to leave things out.

But yes, JRR would've been horrified.

Answer 7

I think either he would have been proud for the fact that his books were made to movies or he would not have given permission to make those movies in the first place if he was alive.

Answer 8

i read all of the books and watched all of the movies and i think jackson did a fantastic job of portraying the books

Answer 9

surely i'm hoping the movie includes each and every personality from the e book...even Beorn the vast hermit such as his impressive secret...or perhaps the invention of the Arkenstone interior Smaug's hoard of treasure....and so on.

Answer 10

I don't think Tolkien thought much of the cinema, but would have been pleased by Jackson-and-company's faithfulness to his vision of Middle Earth. He certainly would have appreciated the effort.