A Modern Mythology

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2001)

This movie excels in every aspect--acting, special effects, music. Best of all, because it is based on a great collection of literature by J.R.R. Tolkien, it inherits great themes, characters, and an incredible plot. Tolkien spent a good deal of his life developing an alternate world in his books, borrowing heavily from earlier stories and mythologies. Because the movie taps into this rich work, it has a deepness and sense of reality to it that would be impossible to create in a movie put together from scratch.
Speaking as a Tolkien fan, I thought the movie did a good job staying faithful to the book. I would give the movie a 10 as a film and a 9 as an interpretation of Tolkien's works. I would have liked to see Tom Bombadil, but I can understand that some parts of the book had to be cut out if the movie was going to have a reasonable length. But my major gripe about the movie was that it never touches on the conspiracy Sam, Merry, and Pippin made to stick with Frodo no matter what. Although the movie gives the sense that these three really care about Frodo, it seems like they get caught up in Frodo's ordeal without really knowing what's going on. In the book, they may not have fully realized what they were up against when they first started out, but by the time they got to Rivendale they had a good idea of the danger they were facing by joining Frodo. This contrasts sharply with the movie, where they volunteer to join the fellowship before they even know what the mission is. But I'm nit-picking. Overall, I thought the movie did a great job recreating Tolkien's world.
One criticism I've seen by some devout Tolkien fans is that the movie makes a lot of minor changes from the book, and who is this Peter Jackson fellow to think he can do that. Although it's true that a lot of minor changes were made in the movie, I think Jackson captures the essence of Tolkien well. If minor changes are made to distill the essence, then has blasphemy occurred? I don't think so. Also, Tolkien himself stated that his purpose in writing the Lord of the Rings was to update the mythologies for modern man. He took what antiquity had to offer, he gleaned the best parts, added some ideas of his own, and weaved it together into a rich tapestry relevant to us today. Jackson has employed Tolkien's method on Tolkien's works. Tolkien's books and Jackson's movies present us with a modern mythology.