Guest commentary by Daikaiju Hubbard
Recently I asked Daikaiju Hubbard what he thought of the film version of Lord of the Rings. Here is his response:
Oh man, what a question! I went to the midnight showing on Wednesday. I plan on seeing it again on Xmas Day... think of it as another Xmas present.
I've been delaying writing a long review, for some reason. Part of it is all this holiday crap. Most likely, because it is probably the best movie I've ever seen. No, that's not hyperbole, I've loved the books since elementary school, had tons of expectations, and they were SURPASSED! I honestly don't know where to begin. I honestly cannot think of another movie that's had such an impression on me (okay, maybe seeing Heisei Godzilla movies).
So I'll try to give some impressions, rather than try to review the movie. I'll assume you've seen the movies and read the books before I continue.
I liked how true it stayed to the book. No huge departures (other than the fact they missed something on page 348). Many of the quotes were there: "I will take the ring, though I don't know the way" and "You fool of a Took!" Even the chapter titles were worked in: "an unexpected party", "shortcut through the mushroom fields". And the little things: leaf brooches on the cloaks, the stone trolls from "the Hobbit", the maps from the books, the writing on Balin's tomb and the Moria door drawing (copied from book illustrations), Bilbo's "There and back again", Sting glowing, Legolas walking on TOP of the snow.
I jumped when Bilbo turned into a freak wanting the ring. I thought it was just a special effect to startle the audience. But I looked in Chapter I of Book II at Rivendell: "But Frodo quicky withdrew the ring (from Bilbo)... as though he found himself eyeing a little wrinkled creature with a hungry face and bony groping hands." The orcs scared off by the Balrog screamed "deus ex machina", but in Chapter V of Book II: "The ranks of orcs had opened, and they crowded away, as if they themselves were afraid"
The scenery: it was just how I imagined it when reading. Plus I could see many similarities with Alan Lee's artwork from this book I have. I loved the sweeps of Saruman's Orthanc and Isengard. Moria was better than I imagines it (I always pictured a bunch of dark tunnels). Shire and Rivendell and Lorien were exactly correct. A special treat was seeing Barad-Dur and Sauron.
I cannot say Ian McKellan did a good job as Gandalf. As far as I was concerned, I was watching Gandalf!!! (not some guy named Ian). Except for Frodo's eyes becoming a bit tiresome, he played Frodo just as I imagined it. Merry and Pippin become Moxie and Pepsi from the "Bored of the Rings" parody, but I know they'll be different in the next two. Astin, however, hit Sam dead on, especially at the end scene. Lee made a great Saruman, and it looks like he'll do fine for AOTC. With Elrond, however, I was unable to shake Agent Smith: "Hobbitsss are a virusss, Mr Baggins". Galadriel was a bit freaky, and I wish they showed Gimli's crush on her (perhaps in the DVD?). I could plainly see Legolas was there to give the female audience a heart-throb. Still, he was too cool with that bow & arrow.
I knew the movies would not match the books exactly. I really didn't care that Tom Bombadil was in it (didn't like him in the book), nor that Arwen was given a larger role (it wasn't *that* much larger...). But they coud've played up the Gimli/Legolas relationship better, rivals now friends. Other than Sam's devotion to Frodo, it was Gimli and Legolas that I found most interesting in the books. My guess is since the Two Towers will have 3 storylines (Frodo/Sam, Merry/Pippen, Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli), we'll be able to learn about each character more, as they won't be among 8 others each scene.
I think they saved Gimli and Legolas for the next movie, and chose to stress on Aragorn and Boromir. I was kind of wary when they showed Boromir to be the suspicious one at Rivendell, it made his betrayal more predictible. Tolkien, OTOH, only gave hints until he actually tried to seize the ring. But I did find it touching when he was teaching Merry and Pippin swordfighting. It was like: no matter what this guy does, he was still a good person.
On the other hand, there were some things in the movie, but not included in the book, that I did like:
* Seeing Saruman's fall live and the destruction of Isengard. I especially liked the part where the orcs complain about how strong the trees were. Boys, you ain't seen nothing yet!
* Splitting many of the explanation scenes into the movie. It would've been boring to see all of Gandalf's explanations to Frodo at the fireplace, and the Council of Elrond around the table in its entirety.
* Lurtz. Thank you for giving us one orc to identify with. So we know the orcs aren't just anonymous cannon-fodder for the good guys.
* The fight with the cave troll. I liked this much better than the Balrog fight. While the Balrog looked cooler and had a terrific set-up (you KNOW all fans were waiting to see it!), the cave troll did more.
* The intro battle scene with Sauron. Nuff said.
If there was one thing I didn't like, it was the Orcs becoming like Imperial Stormtroopers. Here is this fearsome race, hating everything good, armed with horrible weapons, practically bred to fight, yet they can't hit anything with arrows and fall like tenpins in swordfights.
But what can you do? I knew the 9 (later 8) would kick orc ass. Tolkien says so in his books. I can buy that Boromir, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas were exceptional fighters and the hobbits had pluck. And that Sauron and Saruman considered the orcs expendible, so didn't gear their tactics toward casualty conservation (see Pelennor Fields). I know that doesn't totally excuse the fearsome warrior-race orcs from looking so inept. But what could the movie have done to make them more powerful, short of killing all the limited number of good guys?
The coolest thing is this movie is only 1/3 over. There are many more exciting things to happen in the next two movies. If anything, Fellowship is probably the most boring of the three books. All the movies have been made at once, so we won't have the 3rd movie bowing to market pressures (like the Ewoks). I have very high hopes for the scenes with:
* Gollum. Nice teaser, btw.
* Shelob and the Nazgul's winged steeds
* The Witch King when he puts down his hood
* The Ents destroying Isengard
* The Hruon trees (sp?) at Helm's Deep
* The orcs swarming out of the Black Gate
* And finally: The Grond ram attacking Minas Tirith. I loved how they incorporated many of the familiar artwork into the movies. There's this one painting in a book I have of Grond getting ready to ram the walls, very dark and fiery. If the movie's scene is anything like that painting, it will be tremendous!
Thanks for response! If you would like me to cobble a column out of your e-mail drop me a line at gleep9@hotmail.com. Ride on out of here to either the Third Movie or Main page.