Re: CHAT: Best/Worst/Missing Scenes in LotR

Aiya! At last I've found a kindred spirit! Having seen the film recently, I
have mixed feelings. Certainly the daftest bit was the wizards' duel which
wouldn't have looked out of place in a WWF bout or ur-Bakshi animation. But
on the other hand the scenes in the Shire were excellent. I especially
appreciated Merry's Scottish accent - he was supposed to be vaguely "Celtic"
after all - and Sir Ian McKellen was a better Gandalf than Gandalf! I think
your reaction will be largely conditioned by whether you've read the book.
If you haven't, I fear you'll come away with the impression that LOTR is
just another fantasy about the cliched "battle between good and evil" which
features monsters and battles and is excellent base material for D&D. On the
other hand, my son (who is 13, and has read The Hobbit but not LOTR) was
especially taken with the beauty of Elvish - trying to get on my good side,
obviously! :-)
In summary, given the restraints of the medium and the need to appeal to a
mass audience, I don't think it could have been done better. However, in an
ideal world...
Mike
----- Original Message ----- >   These things I cannot forgive because they
unnecessarily lower Tolkien
> to the justly-contemned travesty of him beloved of treehuggers and the
> dungeons and dragons brigade. They are also going to make the film seem
> dated in 10 years or so, which is a crying shame, because the book won't
> ever be, and nor will great films. -- Alas!
>
> -- elegiacally,
>
> --And.