To those that do not like LotR

Rating: 10/10 (26 September 2002)

There are three kinds of people who do not like the movie and/or the books of Lord of the Rings. Those who cannot appreciate it, those that will not, and those who have not had the patience to do so yet.
There are people who go to movies simply for the thrill factor. Or the romance. Or some other canned emotion. I don't have anything against that; I am a big fan of animated children's movies for that very reason. You can use movies as a tool to manipulate your own mood. The Fellowship movie provides the thrills and pretty girls necessary for this, but anyone who can only absorb this superficial layer of the story will feel there is something missing, because they are unable comprehend the true depth of the story being brought to life. Not to mention the fact that the movie is not an entire story. Anyone seeking emotional stimulus will leave very frustrated because this movie is merely the beginning of the story.

Then there are those who claim to be able to appreciate a movie on many levels and assert this one does not hold up for varied reasons. They claim the story was flat, the acting was cheap, or the world unbelievable. Criticisms of the story must be held off until all the films can be viewed in succession. Unlike Harry Potter or Star Wars, each segment of the trilogy does not have a beginning middle and end that tie together into one big picture. The three Lord of the Rings movies ARE the beginning, middle, and end. The story was not written in volumes, intended each to be taken as a whole. This was not a three-hour movie; it was the first third of a nine-hour movie. As for criticisms of the acting, I'm tempted to say they are just preposterous. Perhaps you have to have read the novel in order to really understand how well the characters were brought to life. Ian McKellen's portrayal of Gandalf seems to be the best acting in history. If the hobbits seem too simple and childlike, it is what hobbits are. And no one but hobbits, desiring nothing but to return to their fat and everyday life in the Shire, could have both the will to do anything to protect that life and the unconcern necessary to avoid being tempted by the Ring. Sean Bean's Boromir is more believable even, I think, than Tolkien's. He takes the MAN character from the book and makes Boromir a man we all are very much aware that we could become. The absolute worst thing that could be said about the acting is that once you see the movie for the fifth or sixth time, you start to see the actor's own opinions of the story as they react to events, rather than only the character's. As for the world being unbelievable, IT IS A FANTASY STORY!!!!! If you want realism read anything from Shakespeare to Tom Clancy. If you read Tolkien, you will get elves and trolls and magic rings.
And finally, there are people who just don't appreciate the story YET. I must admit, I did not like the movie the first time I saw it in the theater. It is simply too much to assimilate in one sitting. You walk away with deafened ears, a torn heart and glorious images of landscapes and battles flashing behind your eyes. If you leave it at that, this rushed and overwhelmed impression is all you will ever have. But if you take the time to read the book (more than once) and watch the movie enough times to not be swept away by the action, you can relax into the story and realize what a complete and rich world it really is. Middle Earth is not created with the Prologue and does not end with the credits. Life has existed long before Froddo and will continue long after Aragorn. In the book, you even get a sense of life going on in Middle Earth having little to do with the War of the Rings. The book is like taking a vacation in another country. You'll catch as many of the highlights as you can, but looking at the architecture and talking to a few of the natives is a sadly narrow glimpse into the richness of any culture. The movie tells one of the most important stories of this culture, but does not give you as deep a sense of it as the book, mainly through the omissions of Tom Bombadil and lyrical references to the world's own mythology and legends.
All in all, the movie adaptation is as glorious a representation of the novel as the novel is a sumptuous experience of the world of Middle Earth.