Grex Cinema Conference

View Responses

Grex Cinema Item 28: The Lord of the Rings in production
Entered by larsn on Fri Mar 26 14:48:21 UTC 1999:

There is currently a project underway to produce three movies based on 
JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, each movie roughly 
corresponding to one of the books. Releases are expected in summer 2000 
Christmas 2000, and summer 2001. Curious to find out how other people 
feel about this undertaking.

Pop quiz: Which category do you fall in? [I'm in category B]

A: Movies would spoil my imagined world of Middle Earth
B: Movies would not spoil my imagined world of Middle Earth
C: Didn't like the books anyway
D: Haven't read the book(s)
E: [This space intentionally left blank]

Some relevant URLs:
http://www.xenite.org/faqs/lotr_movie.htm
http://lotrmovie.tolkien.nu/

14 responses total.

#1 of 14 by larsn on Fri Mar 26 14:50:51 1999:

Correction of release dates: Christmas 2000, summer 2001 and Christmas 
2001. (they are pretty much up in the air anyway)

#2 of 14 by tpryan on Sat Apr 3 04:50:19 1999:

        When I read Lord of the Rings, Gandolf sounds like John Houston
and Bilbo sounds like Orson Bean.
        I like hearing the distinct voices in my head when I read.

#3 of 14 by md on Mon Apr 5 13:29:35 1999:

E: My mind is open.

A great trilogy of LoTR movies could be produced without being
especially faithful to Tolkien.  I'd love to see something great made
from a literal reading of the books, though.

#4 of 14 by md on Mon Jul 19 15:57:33 1999:

I'm hearing that Sean Connery is Gandalf.

#5 of 14 by md on Mon Jul 19 16:36:05 1999:

How would you cast LOtR if money were no object?
Here are some names that come to mind:

Aragorn -- Kevin Costner, Liam Neeson, Mel Gibson
Arwen -- Geena Davis
Theoden -- Paul Newman
Boromir -- Arnold Schwarzenegger
Saruman -- Al Pacino
Elrond -- Anthony Hopkins
Galadriel -- Helen Mirren
Gollum -- F. Murray Abraham, Samuel L. Jackson
Tom Bombadil -- Roberto Benigni, Tom Conti
Goldberry -- Drew Barrymore
Sauron -- Marlon Brando, James Earl Jones
Frodo -- Michael J. Fox
Samwise -- Dustin Hoffman

#6 of 14 by md on Mon Jul 19 16:39:59 1999:

Here's an actual list from the website:

Eowyn:-Mira Sorvino
Frodo:-Elijah Wood
Gandalf:-Sir Ian McKellen
Gimli:-Brian Kline
Gollum:-CG (Peter Woodthorpe)
Legolas:-Jude Law
Pippen:-Billy Boyd
Sam:-Sean Astin
Wormtongue:-Jeffrey Combs

#7 of 14 by md on Mon Jul 19 16:41:27 1999:

(I think when I said "Arwen" in #5 I meant Eowyn.)

#8 of 14 by hobbes on Tue Jan 25 19:14:32 2000:

Answer B.
That's good news. Reading a great book like this one, then seeing the movie
results (in my case) in 2 visions of the work, while seeing the movie first
prevents from making my own vision. I would advice anyone who didn't read it to
do it before :).

#9 of 14 by md on Tue May 9 11:35:09 2000:

This made me laugh out loud.
(From http://www.eonline.com/)

"Sources say [Liv] Tyler [who plays Arwen] is showing 
signs of strain after two months of strenuous, nearly 
continuous filming on the Helm's Deep set. She reportedly 
freaked out when Orc armies charged her. 'She just sat on 
her horse and screamed,' the source said."

#10 of 14 by snib on Wed Aug 2 22:30:07 2000:

Aagh.  how can they do this?  I love the books and have read them all about
4 times. There was a cartoon/live-action film made of about the first half
of LoTR about 15 years ago by Ralph Bakshi, and it was great, but it still
didn't quite capture the essence of the books.  Turning into a fully
live-action film with well-known actors will IMHO totally ruin the experience
of LoTR for anyone who's not read the books yet.  Plus, I can't stand Elijah
Wood - and Frodo isn't a kid, he's meant to be about 51 when he sets out from
Hobbiton!  Why can't they just leave good books as they are?

#11 of 14 by chemicus on Sat Oct 13 16:32:49 2001:

Is this stil an actual topic? .

#12 of 14 by remmers on Sat Oct 13 18:08:46 2001:

Sure, if anybody wants to talk about it.  "The Fellowship of the
Ring" comes out in a couple of months.

#13 of 14 by remmers on Sat Oct 13 18:26:08 2001:

I read and enjoyed the Ring trilogy (the first volume not long
after it was published in the 1950s) but wouldn't characterize
myself as obsessive about Tolkien stuff.  So it wouldn't hurt
my feelings if the movies turned out to be crappy.  There's
reason to hope that they won't be, though.  The trailer for
"Fellowship of the Ring" looks pretty good, and the director
of the trilogy is talented New Zealander Peter Jackson
("Heavenly Creatures", "Dead Alive").

#14 of 14 by jvmv on Sat Jun 26 07:36:51 2004:

     The one thing I can say good about this movie is that
     does follow the book well, and creates a world of its own.
     And what makes it all even more ridiculous is how
     serious this is all taken, like it's real or something.
     The story is so full of plot holes that, when the
     actors take it so seriously it compounds the absurdity.
     The book is sexist and racist and embodies an ethos
     and morality that aretruly objectionable. Jackson has
     captured all of this and added an uniquely New 
     Zealand stupidity.
     Conclusion: this trilogy is an useless pastime except
     to enjoy the special effects and action scenes which
     are particularly spetacular and best of all time (if
     you don't fall asleep waiting).

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.