Brian Earl Spilner said:

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You disagree with Aragorn's decision, which is totally fine. That's a different topic of discussion than what my point was, which was countering the argument that Peter Jackson had some fundamental misunderstanding of Tolkien's work by having Aragorn execute him.

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A few pages ago you mentioned how one of the themes of the movies is men coming into their own and rising up to save themselves... which is then undermined by men having to be constantly bailed out by the supernatural (magical trees, magical army of the dead, Sauron's defeat causing an earthquake to swallow his armies, etc). That's not even a theme of the books, but even so, Jackson manages to undermine his own theme that he was trying to include in the movies!

Now in the case of Aragorn executing, yes executing, the Mouth we have a clear cut example of Jackson choosing to ignore one of the overriding themes of his work: The Power of Mercy. Through Bilbo and Frodo's mercy, Gollum was spared and the quest was able to be completed. Through mercy to Wormtongue, Saruman was able to be eliminated in way that would not lay a curse on the Shire. Through the practice of mercy, one of Tolkiens other key themes is able to come through: "Oft Evil Shall Evil Mar".

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Aragorn is a flawed man just like anybody else in Middle Earth.

In fact, book Aragorn threatened to kill anyone who touched his sword when arriving at Edoras...

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But he didn't kill anyone.

While I'm not a fan of that threat, that sword is more than just a hump of metal forged into a weapon. It represents his lineage and his own internal power.

The point still stands: The Mouth of Sauron, while insolent, was not a threat. His sword was not drawn. He was murdered in cold blood.

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A few pages ago you mentioned how one of the themes of the movies is men coming into their own and rising up to save themselves... which is then undermined by men having to be constantly bailed out by the supernatural (magical trees, magical army of the dead, Sauron's defeat causing an earthquake to swallow his armies, etc). That's not even a theme of the books, but even so, Jackson manages to undermine his own theme that he was trying to include in the movies!

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And this I disagree with completely. What I said was that men had to rise up for the world to be saved, but not that they alone could do it.

Well I for one am happy with Jackson's interpretation of things cause frankly, I found the books incredibly boring. And truthfully I finally gave up about a 1/3 in to the Two Towers.

shaynew1 said:

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Urban Ag said:

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Well I for one am happy with Jackson's interpretation of things cause frankly, I found the books incredibly boring. And truthfully I finally gave up about a 1/3 in to the Two Towers.

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Now you're really trolling the readers

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Payback for years of Game of Thrones threads.

I somehow or another have never purchased the extended edition blu-ray boxset. (I just have my old DVD's.)

Next time I rewatch it, I'm purchasing that bad boy and watching the full extended trilogy in HD.

I got them with digital copies which worked when we went all digital a few years ago, but I think the digital copies are only SD. I may have to rebuy them so I can actually have the HD. Most of our TVs don't have a Blu-ray player attached at this point.

aggietony2010 said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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I somehow or another have never purchased the extended edition blu-ray boxset. (I just have my old DVD's.)

Next time I rewatch it, I'm purchasing that bad boy and watching the full extended trilogy in HD.

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There are rumors that it'll be coming in 4k this summer. Which is actually a big deal, as all the VFX were rendered in 2k, as was the original film scan. They'll likely be getting my money again.

That's one guaranteed good thing coming from the Amazon series (who knows if the series itself will be good), as it brings the material back until the public eye, and the demand for the films as a result of that is likely why they decided to finally do this.

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That's the question, isn't it? There are plenty of massive events and storylines they could adapt, but there is very little in the way of actual complete narratives. Tolkien has a number of abandoned and incomplete stories set during the period which they can pull from, though they are usually not consistent with one another or the "finalized" greater history of Arda that we have now.

So I have been watching the blu ray version, a small amount of the cgi with the ents and Gollum seems slightly aged but movies still look beautiful on my LG oled

This is great. (Comments section.)

https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157690884851070&id=137302061069

Urban Ag said:

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Well I for one am happy with Jackson's interpretation of things cause frankly, I found the books incredibly boring. And truthfully I finally gave up about a 1/3 in to the Two Towers.

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Agreed. I appreciate Tolkien's achievement, but his prose and storytelling leave a lot to be desired.

And I prefer Viggo's performance. All the little touches he does makes him so human. When Gandalf the White appears, Gimli and Legolas supplicate themselves, but Aragorn is so human in his reaction. "It cannot be. You fell" It's logic trying to process something other. Then Viggo accidentally breaks his toe, and channels that pain into frustration. The little things he does makes the character so relatable.

I also cannot read Tolkien. He is not my cup of tea.

Solo Tetherball Champ said:

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Render said:

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Urban Ag said:

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Well I for one am happy with Jackson's interpretation of things cause frankly, I found the books incredibly boring. And truthfully I finally gave up about a 1/3 in to the Two Towers.

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Agreed. I appreciate Tolkien's achievement, but his prose and storytelling leave a lot to be desired.

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Well, we now know the people who should stick with coloring books :P

In all fairness, it isn't for everyone. My wife is a voracious reader and can't handle it. For me, I've probably read the books more than I've seen the movies. The films are to me at best superficial fascmiles of the real thing, like going to chili's and getting a steak when you've eaten a $100 sirloin the night before. It looks the part, but you bite into it and you can tell it is not the same thing.

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I agree that the books have way more depth and weight than the movies. I recently re-read Fellowship and Tolkien can certainly create beautiful imagery, turn a phrase, and the themes are much more evident than in the movies. But overall, his writing is a bit too dry for me. It's like with Bladerunner. I appreciate that movie, but it's boring to me. But it's a good boring.

redline248 said:

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I appreciate Tolkien's achievement, but his prose and storytelling leave a lot to be desired.

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I think you are in the vast minority with this opinion..and I don't mean texags.

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Yeah, my post sounds harsher than I intended. I like his prose a lot sometimes, but overall his writing isn't quite my thing. Meanwhile, George RR Martin's writing tends to be too workmanlike. Maybe I'm just too picky.

Beautiful.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Beautiful.

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It's like you're inside my reddit feed or something.

Chase McGuire said:

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Something the movie makers probably don't get enough credit for is nailing the aesthetic of Middle-earth. All the cultures and places feel distinct but also mesh so well visually. Rivendell, Minas Tirith, Cirith Ungol, Isengard. Gondorians, Rohirrim, elves, dwarves, hobbits. All of these and more are so immediately recognizable due to outstanding production design, costuming and art. And, of course, inspiration from Tolkein himself. I love the movies as much for bringing this world to life in the way they did as for the adapted story.

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Yes and no. Is it all outstanding design? Yep. does some direction of the design feel lazy to me? Yep. Key example: Elves and Dwarves. They made them polar opposites of each other. Does it make identifying either of them simple? Sure. But those designs owe far more to modern fantasy tropes than anything Tolkien wrote.