*Sigh*

[qos]

I was disappointed with the Extended Edition of Return of the King.

I might post something more complete later on, behind an LJ cut because of spoilers -- but the bottom line is that most of the material that was added did not, in my opinion, enhance the effectiveness of the movie.

I felt this way about the EE of Fellowship. When I watch that movie now, I watch the theatrical release to the point where they arrive at Rivendell, and the EE for the rest of the movie. I prefer the entirety of the Two Towers EE. When I watch ROTK in the future, I will probably watch the EE for the first half, and the original version for the second half. Or I might just watch only the original version.

The decision to make Gimli a comic character was one of PJ's few missteps, I believe -- and I have thought so from the beginning. A bit of humor here and there is good, but I think John Rhys-Davies takes it too far. The actor has said that because Gimli is taller than hobbits but smaller than men and elves, he forms a bridge between the two groups, and Rhys-Davies uses humor to make that bridge. Sorry, John, it doesn't work. And Gimli's comedic moments detract even more in the EE of ROTK.

But the behind-the-scenes material is wonderful. I have always been fascinated by movie-making, and the "making-of" materials from LOTR fascinate and move me. I still feel a physical ache of jealousy when I watch. To have been there, and been part of that. . . to have worked beside those people, to create such a magnificent film. . .

*sigh*

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The friendship between Gimli and Legolas should be quietly moving. It's about the bridging over of an ancient racial emnity. I thought the films largely missed the point.

I might have warmed more to the comedy if it had actually been funny. As it is, Rhys-Davies is so stiff-necked with prosthetics that his character scarcely has a chance to register.

[qos.livejournal.com]

I think you are right on all counts. The first movie showed a little bit of that. . . more on the part of what Orlando Bloom did with Legolas than anything I could really detect in Gimli.

I might have warmed more to the comedy if it had actually been funny.

Yes, indeed. . .

[saskia139.livejournal.com]

There's something in Jackson's trilogy that bothers me *more* than the comickization of Gimli, and that's Aragorn's hesitancy, his feeling that he is unworthy of the kingship. I don't see that in Aragorn at all. What I see is a man who has waited so long and so patiently to make his move that it takes him a while to get up to speed at last--but a man who is confident that he is worthy of winning his goal.

That said, I think the trilogy is splendid just as I saw it in the cinema, and the book is still splendid, too.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Aragorn's hesitancy, his feeling that he is unworthy of the kingship

This is something athenian_abroad brought to my attention when he visited recently. Since the books never made much of an impression on me, it was new information to me. I can see how it works as a dramatic choice by Jackson and the other screenwriters, but that's a huge change to the character.

Lovely icon -- but I can't read what's written on it.

[saskia139.livejournal.com]

It says "Martin"--I stole Mortensen's personality face for my character Martin Tolkien, architect and artist and Founder of Nouveau Montmartre. *g*

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

On Sunday I finally watched Fellowship. It was interesting. It doesn't suck me in like the Matrix movies do, but I can see the draw. I'm looking forward to watching the next two, to see how the story ends.

[qos.livejournal.com]

The LOTR movies really cry for a large screen viewing, so it's too bad you missed that, but I still think they are worthwhile to see. Do try to get the extended edition of The Two Towers, if you can. I think it is much more effective than the original version.

The Matrix never grabbed me. Funny how some movies move some people powerfully and leave others relatively untouched.

[saskia139.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about The Matrix.

I'm watching the extended editions.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

labyrinthnight has both movies in extended edition, and she plans to get the third this weekend. So the extended edition will be all I see of each movie.

[toesontheground.livejournal.com]

I think you could be part of a team that makes a most excellent epic movie - stories write themselves within you! Plus you have obviously some directorial/theatrical experience and skill...

[qos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Barry.
:-)

the humor thing

[athenian-abroad.livejournal.com]

The decision to make Gimli a comic character was one of PJ's few missteps, I believe -- and I have thought so from the beginning.

I think that this, like a lot of the changes Jackson made, was an effort to remedy a defect in the original novels -- at least, a defect from the perspective of what makes a watchable 21st century movie.

LOTRTB ("Lord of the Rings: The Books") has very little humor. The emotional tone of the novels is almost unrelievedly serious, usually beset by peril and exhaustion. Jackson's choices to make Pippin and Merry into cute little scamps, and to make Gimli into the comic relief, may just have been an effort to save the audience from twelve hours of pure, leaden ponderousness.

Not that I'm disagreeing! I think these were both poor choices. But to make a modern film out of the novels, Jackson did have to do something, and I'm not certain that the alternatives would have been better.

Re: the humor thing

[qos.livejournal.com]

It was interesting, reading Sean Astin's There and Back Again: An Actor's Journey, to find out how hard he fought against attempts to make Sam more comic, and how he was torn between admiration for Boyd and Monaghan's comic gifts and his frustration at their buying into the "let's make the hobbits cute and silly" choice. Although Merry and Pippin do mature as the story continues and their innocence wears away.

One of my very favorite scenes in the film trilogy is the pause just before Caradhas, when Boromir is giving Pippin and Merry fighting lessons and it degenerates into a laughing wrestling match. It took me a while to realize that it is one of the very few scenes in which the characters are simply relaxing and having fun with each other.