I have to admit that I found LOR unreadable. But I was impressed by the films, I think they captured the Norse saga genre perfectly, better than the written word could. I hasten to add that all the English Lit graduates I listened to disagreed with me.
Plenty of material for amazon to work with but they need to nail it from episode 1. However i think Amazon need something big to compete with Netflix. Amazon prime is still behind Netflix when it comes to shows.
An important part of the book was missed in the film version - ''The scouring of the shire' right at the end of book 3. Important for me because Tolkein himself explained that it reflected his view of the changes made to England after the First world war. The fact that the heroes return home and find their homeland ruined and changed. Probably too dark for the film version.
Thank goodness. yeold! Always thought it was a weak part (more suited to the Hobbit, in some ways. Also, though, thinking about it .... some elements of that section of the book could be material for the 'prequels')
re, Scouring of the Shire, billy, I think they just cut 'extraneous' plot lines. I don't think they were worried abut 'darkness' as such, given the themes in the rest of the trilogy? There's probably an interview with the director somewhere that would explain it.
I always thought it a shame it was missed out ... and I think it isn't the only part that have overtones of WW1 (I think the Frodo-Sam relationship does too). It (scouring of the shire) also offers a strongly anti-industrial perspective that appears elsewhere (Saruman destroying Fangorn, for example) that is a bit simplistic imo (bucolic = good; industrial = bad).
Tolkein said that it reflected his childhood, growing up in Sarehole, a village in Warwickshire (that had a water mill),that was slowly overtaken by the growth of Birmingham's suburbs after WW1.
I loved reading the Hobbit, but I couldn't get past the first 100 pages of Ringlord. I enjoyed the films, though. Although this video does have a point, concerning the plot:
Finished watching 13 Reasons Why the other evening. Not for the faint hearted, but I really liked it, powerful stuff and brilliantly acted. If you`ve not seen it I would highly recommend, but it won`t be everyones cup of tea. ;ok
Porgs are the latest marketing gimmick from Lucasfilms, Ewok-type cute aliens that are available as soft toys between £10 and £50 which kids will be pestering their parents to buy this Christmas
Missed the QF with Arsenal this evening (no bad thing by the sounds of it) and saw The Last Jedi. Won't give away any spoilers, really liked certain aspects of it, but, overall, was a bit disappointed. Not as good as A Force Awakens or Rogue 1 imo. Probably only about 6.5/10 for me.
Comments
re, Scouring of the Shire, billy, I think they just cut 'extraneous' plot lines. I don't think they were worried abut 'darkness' as such, given the themes in the rest of the trilogy? There's probably an interview with the director somewhere that would explain it.
I always thought it a shame it was missed out ... and I think it isn't the only part that have overtones of WW1 (I think the Frodo-Sam relationship does too). It (scouring of the shire) also offers a strongly anti-industrial perspective that appears elsewhere (Saruman destroying Fangorn, for example) that is a bit simplistic imo (bucolic = good; industrial = bad).
I thought everything after chucking the ring into Mount Doom could have been left out of the film, it just dragged.
I enjoyed the films, though. Although this video does have a point, concerning the plot:
Like the LOTR films and after first watch could never sit through the hobbit again...
Go figure....
As horror it wasn't very scary, as comedy it wasn't laugh-out-loud funny and I enjoyed every minute of it.
And I think that everyone involved with the film would admit that the plot owes more than a little to Groundhog Day.
Next up this weekend Ingrid Goes West.
Doing the double bill Force Awakens into the Last Jedi for a midnight showing. ;wahoo
;run
But I cried a bit every time I saw Carrie Fisher.
Ker-ching