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Author
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Comment
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Midori
Unregistered User
(12/28/01 10:02:58 am)
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Legolas
Jane,
I absolutely agree with you about Legolas. My husband found his character utterly compelling both visually but also martially--the smooth effortless use of the bow--elegant and very much like watching the Japanese archers. (perhaps because he also practicises archery himself with a long bow he was struck with--like everything else in this film--the accuracy of the details.)
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(12/28/01 11:59:17 am)
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Re: Legolas
How funny, my John was enchanted with Legolas and his skill, too. Legolas was not the character I expected him to mention first, but he did. And we both thought Ian McKellan was stellar as Gandalf. Oh, everyone was wonderful from cast to crew to New Zeland's portrayal of Middleearth.
Heidi
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CoryEllen
Registered User
(12/30/01 2:39:42 am)
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connexions
Like everyone else, I adored this film. I may be the biggest geek in the world for asking, but did anyone else get excited over Saruman being played by the same actor who did the voice for King Haggard in The Last Unicorn? Christopher Lee is truly amazing. And scary.
C-E
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Helen
Registered User
(12/30/01 10:55:35 am)
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Re: connexions
Yay! I love that movie! What a nifty fact ... I though that his intonations seemed reminiscent of something else from the genre, but I just couldn't place it. Thanks, CoryEllen!
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NancyMe
Registered User
(1/1/02 8:53:14 am)
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Elves
I just saw the film and was stunned. I read the books years ago but they've always stayed with me. This film really does justice. I have to agree that Legolas hypnotized me. I thought all of the elves were wonderful down to their glowing skin (when everyone else was grubby). I need to see this film again and re-read the books.
Nancy
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tlchang37
Registered User
(1/1/02 1:48:42 pm)
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movie and "Meditations"
I loved the movie as well. The biggest difference to me fin *feeling* from the book was the emphasis on the "sword and sorcery" parts - lots of fight scenes. But I don't see how they could have done that much differently with how much had to be condensed from the novel... (a.k.a. all the songs and poetry and travelogue...)
Did Christopher Lee's nose look bigger as a bearded wizard than it does in real life?....
I also recently finished reading "Meditations on Middle Earth". There were many interesting impressions, commentary and experiences discussed. Most of the essays were enjoyable. Terri - I found yours especially to be so personal and moving... It is amazing to me how profound an effect this story and written world has had on so many people. I first read the "Hobbit" when I was 11 and read the trilogy for the first time a year or two later. My world-view was fundamentally altered.
Who says *tales* are un-important!
Tara
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Storyman
Registered User
(1/2/02 6:55:45 am)
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Re: movie and "Meditations"
Absolutely delicious!!!!!!!!!! And I didn't even notice that it's almost 3 hrs. long.
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Robin
Unregistered User
(1/2/02 9:51:08 am)
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to Jane re Dialects
Jane, Sam's accent was Irish (at least I think that's what they were going for). Maybe you misread my post?
I was just confused as to why the hobbits all had different accents. But that's just me nitpicking!
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janeyolen
Unregistered User
(1/2/02 10:04:36 am)
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dialects
I still think Sam's accent was northern British. And perhaps the different accents have to do with the different families of Hobbits. They were all quite adamant about their differences as I recall.
Jane
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eearth
Registered User
(1/2/02 10:28:22 am)
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Re D&D Imagery
Jess asked a while ago about D&D imagery, and though he may have by now seen the film himself, I wanted to comment. While I never played paper D&D, our whole family plays the computer versions of the games (Baldur's Gate, Might & Magic, etc.), and at one point during the film I leaned over to my husband and said, "It's like all our games come to life!" I really had to ponder the fact that D&D games must owe a *huge* debt to Tolkien -- I don't know all the history, but I do know that so many images and little bits of the film were so familiar to me. I wonder how much is Tolkien and how much is the filmmakers' D&D experience??
Elise
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Karen
Unregistered User
(1/3/02 5:46:27 pm)
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accent
This isn't too important- but just on the accent question- the hobbits did have different accents, mostly because a lot of them were antipodean actors and were keeping their natural voices. From my observation, the more prominent hobbits tended to have British accents, while the less prominent hobbits used New Zealand/ Australian accents.
K.
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bardichaun
Registered User
(1/5/02 4:46:53 am)
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Re: Dialects
twas Pippin who had the burr.
And I agree with everyone about the visuals. It is as if the landscape is a part of the story itself. And,as mentioned in the review that started this thread, it is highly unusual to see a movie with such grand visuals that does not lose touch of the humans (or in this case hobbits,etc). And the soundtrack is almost seamless in the way it serves as a counterpoint to everything.Which is unusual in this day and age where music seems to try and overpower so often.
In a major way I think that LOTR is not a movie about the trilogy so much as a retelling of the tale. Which could help explain the absence of Tom, who I will admit was one of my favourite characters in the books themselves. In this version he would have been slightly out of place. I think he would prefer to stay home with his lady.
My usual kicker to get people to see it. I am,(ducking as he admits it)a smoker. A chain smoker often. But I sat through the entire movie without the slightest urge. The same,btw, can be said about Harry Potter.
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DonnaQ
Registered User
(1/5/02 11:47:34 pm)
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Whew...
Spent the afternoon in Middle Earth and didn't want to leave!
It's been years since I've read the books and I'm glad I resisted the urge to go back to them just before the movie. This way, I wasn't tempted to get nit-picky about details, instead I remembered just enough to have that deja-vu feeling as each new place and character came onto the screen. What an entirely grand romp! My favorite character, hands down, was Legolas - completely and utterly enthralling!
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BranwynElf
Registered User
(1/7/02 6:06:04 am)
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Re: seeing the movie
For those of you who have seen the movie once, but not a second time, go see it again!
I've seen it twice so far, and the second time was better than the first (and the movie seemed shorter the second time, not longer). Since I already had seen the action the first time through, I was able to enjoy the little touches. For instance, how many noticed that when Arwen takes Frodo away on her horse, she leaves Strider and the rest of the hobbits in the clearing where the trolls from Bilbo's story (the one he told to the children during his birthday party) turned to stone? You only see the full backdrop twice, once before Strider tells Sam to find the herb, and once after Arwen shows up.
There are many other little things you'll notice ... the movie really is packed full of little details that noone draws attention to, but which make the whole thing so incredibly realistic. Oh, and bring extra tissues ... the emotional stuff is more dramatic the second time because you start reacting to it sooner than the first time through.
I'm looking forward to seeing it a third time ... this time I plan to close my eyes during all the elfspeak and just enjoy the sound of the language :) After that I'll try to wait until before the next installment comes out, I'm sure they'll re-release this one a month or so beforehand! :)
~ Ailsa
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Posey
Registered User
(1/7/02 11:16:31 am)
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Re: to all re Dialects
Pippin's accent certainly sounded Scottish to me, but I'm a UK transplant & sometimes still get confused by the accents in "oop north"... so I checked it out on the LOTR website, and Billy Boyd, the actor who played Pippin, is indeed Scottish.
Perhaps it's because he's from Glasgow - a Glaswegian accent is different from the stereotypical "Highland" accent!
Now if I could just source Elvish! It sounds so Manx...
Posey
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omarmorales
Registered User
(1/8/02 2:49:15 am)
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Re: to all re Dialects
Hi there.
I was under the thought that Manx died in the 60's.
Although Tolkien could have heard it first hand during his lifetime. I wanted to know what prompet you to say that.
I would guess a lot of Tolkien's pronounciations came from Anglo-Saxon as well.
Omar
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Posey
Registered User
(1/8/02 3:59:53 am)
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Manx
Hi there - from what I can tell, it is a dead language but a friend of mine is Manx & can still speak it in bits & pieces - she's only 35, but thinks she is the last generation to have been taught it.
The Isle of Man is a wild place - I highly recommend it to all fairy enthusiasts!
Posey
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omarmorales
Registered User
(1/8/02 11:36:01 am)
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Re: Manx
Is there anyway you can have your friend record some manx words? and there english equivalent.. (its a stretch)
-Omar
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Nova
Unregistered User
(4/16/02 10:36:41 am)
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Re: Noses
I can't comment on the accents, really, but I definitely felt it had to do with the familial differences.
Just want to say: Both Christopher Lee (Sauroman the White) and Sir Ian McKellan (Gandalf the Grey) wore prothsetic noses for the film. The makeup artists and Peter jackson felt that the massive amounts of facial hair the both sported 'drowned out' their noses, so they both more gelatins to make them more prominent. But I feel that the artist did a magnificent job of making both noses look like the actors' own.
Ahh, the joys of having access to Theatre Makeup magazines...
Nova
P.S. I saw the movie eight times. It was fantastic, and just kept drawing me back. The last time I went, my friend and I had the theater to ourselves. If you have never had the chance to have your own private veiwing of something, by all means, go when you KNOW there won't be anyone else there. It's worth the experience.
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catja1
Registered User
(4/16/02 9:25:29 pm)
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Eight times?
Now I don't feel like such a nerd, for seeing it five times. *sheepish grin*
I'd just like to add my voice to the chorus of adoration for this movie -- it was everything I dreamed about while reading the books, and more. The casting was uniformly brilliant: Sir Ian, magnificent as always; Elijah Wood, eerie and martyred; Sean Astin (my first movie-star crush!) solid and so heartbreakingly honest and loyal; and, I confess to having a *wee* crush on Dominic Monaghan, who played Merry, for making the character both silly and mischievous, but clearly the smartest of the hobbits (in the books, Merry becomes a great scholar after returning from the War). Oh, and. um. Legolas was lovely. yes. shutting up now. And I'm thoroughly looking forward to Eowyn.
BTW, whoever thought the hobbits should have Manchester accents, Monaghan is a Mancunian!
Catja
who has embraced her inner geek
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