I've always thought of these two film trilogies as a sort of twin pairing:
The Matrix trilogy - Masterpieces of science fiction cinema.
LOTR trilogy - Masterpieces of high fantasy cinema.
Since I'm going to delve into the Matrix films in depth later on I won't waste text talking about them here.
Like any true Tolkien fan, I read the books long before the Peter Jackson films started development. And as a fan, I must say that Jackson did an excellent job with the material. Too often you get film adaptations that are mediocre at best. "The book was better" is a common mantra when it comes to dealing with those types of films. In this case I was supremely pleased to see that they weren't just some cash grab endeavour. I mean, look at that! Three books => three movies. You remember when The Fellowship of the Ring [2001] came out and everyone noted that it was a whopping three hours long? But then you went and saw it and didn't even notice? You came out of the theater and the sky was black and you thought to yourself, "Whoa, its been three hours?" That was me.
I have no doubt that if it were to be released today the studio would have decided to cut it in half and double their ticket sales.
That's not a dig at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by the way. Sometimes its beneficial to have two movies rather than try to cram everything into one package.
I love The Matrix for making me think. The LOTR series doesn't have all those metaphysics and ontology issues. What it did was make me feel and make me love these characters. The movies did the same.
Sometimes I feel a sadness for Tolkien fans who died before they ever saw these movies. They missed out on something beautiful.
That movie was three hours long? I've seen it several times and I really never noticed. I'm still yet to read the books actually (please don't attack me for that) but I do know of some differences. Or at least I've heard of some and don't know if they're true. The books though also give you a better understanding, or I just never picked things up in the movie. But to talk about them could potentially ruin the movies for people that haven't seen them. Even after all this time. My best bet is to just read the books.
ReplyDeleteLemme take some deep breaths first.
DeleteI think spoiler alerts for things generally have at most a 1-2 year grace period. After that its fair game. i.e. Talking about the twist in The Crying Game [1992] (chick has a dick) is totally fine because everyone has had a fair chance to see it after two decades. Something that's still in theaters, that's still off limits.
I didn't like matrix 2 and 3 But oh man I love lord of the rings I got all 3 in blu ray extended editions :)
ReplyDeleteGood on you mate! I'll have to disagree with you on Matrix though.
DeleteWait, that makes no sense. You can't disagree on someone's opinion. I liked them and I'll explain why later.
Yeah.. I remember that feeling after LotR. Got back outside and wow, silence. It was great.
ReplyDeleteYep. Now I have to watch it again.
DeleteThe first Matrix movie changed my life! Dark City was the same, any kind of caged reality movie really gets me thinking.
ReplyDeleteGood. Good. Haven't seen Dark City myself.
DeleteGreat movies both Matrix (haven't seen 2 and 3 but the first one is amazing) and LOTR. Can't wait for 'The Hobbit'.
ReplyDeleteOh man, The Hobbit. This should be good. Until it goes 3D.
DeleteLOTR is an awesome trilogy indeed. I need to find the time to do a marathon watch of the extended blu-rays I got for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteBlu-Rays. Someday...someday.
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