A list I've been meaning to compile
Before seeing the movie of The Fellowship of the Ring, I was, like most people, I guess, really worried that it was going to suck.
In fact, I'd pretty much convinced myself that no matter how good it turned out to be, it was just about guaranteed to suck moderate ass in some particulars. No way, I thought, could any movie realisation possibly match the richly layered mental images of Tolkien's world I'd been carrying with me since I was 9 years old.
As it turns out, I thought the movie was actually as close to flawless as I could possibly have wished it. Gob-smacked on leaving the theatre, I quickly exhausted my supply of superlatives.
But now the release of the Two Towers approaches. Much darker, more difficult book - even more layering of plotlines and power struggles. Will they manage to pull it off again?
Pondering this, I've started pulling together a mental list of:
The Top Ten Things I'm Most Worried Jackson/New Line Will Screw Up.
#1 Has to be - the Ents.
Pete was smart enough to cut all that superfluous and irritating Tom Bombadil bollocks out of the first film - but the Ents are kind of integral to the plot of the Two Towers - especially the downfall of Isengard and the last minute rescue at Helm's Deep. Yet if anything has the potential to be well and truly Jar Jar Binks-ed, it's those bloomin' Ents. Imagine Treebeard with the voice of ALF from the TV series. This one really troubles me.
#2 Orc dialogue. The Orcs don't get much script in the Fellowship. In 2T, though, we've got the whole Ugluk vs. Grishnakh thing going on. Potential for low, inappropriate comedy - v. high. Pitched wrong, this could easily end up a really bad "Gremlins" kind of thing. Just one of you breathe the words "Jim Henson" and I'll punch you on the nose.
#3 Return of Gandalf. New Line have already kind of blown this by having the spoiler in the trailer. Please, don't let them blow it any worse.
#4 The battle of Helm's Deep. Pivotal, crucially important, intense stuff. As my brother has pointed out, pretty much the whole of the second book is one lengthy extended ruck played out in various locales. Makes for good blood and glory big screen stuff. Can Jackson deliver the same level of quality realisation in massive scale rocky-fu kickbutt battle scenes as he's demonstrated so far in the smaller but still intense melee sequences of Fellowship?
#5 Er...still only half way through re-reading Two Towers, so that's all I can think of for now. Sure you can come up with more...
Before seeing the movie of The Fellowship of the Ring, I was, like most people, I guess, really worried that it was going to suck.
In fact, I'd pretty much convinced myself that no matter how good it turned out to be, it was just about guaranteed to suck moderate ass in some particulars. No way, I thought, could any movie realisation possibly match the richly layered mental images of Tolkien's world I'd been carrying with me since I was 9 years old.
As it turns out, I thought the movie was actually as close to flawless as I could possibly have wished it. Gob-smacked on leaving the theatre, I quickly exhausted my supply of superlatives.
But now the release of the Two Towers approaches. Much darker, more difficult book - even more layering of plotlines and power struggles. Will they manage to pull it off again?
Pondering this, I've started pulling together a mental list of:
The Top Ten Things I'm Most Worried Jackson/New Line Will Screw Up.
#1 Has to be - the Ents.
Pete was smart enough to cut all that superfluous and irritating Tom Bombadil bollocks out of the first film - but the Ents are kind of integral to the plot of the Two Towers - especially the downfall of Isengard and the last minute rescue at Helm's Deep. Yet if anything has the potential to be well and truly Jar Jar Binks-ed, it's those bloomin' Ents. Imagine Treebeard with the voice of ALF from the TV series. This one really troubles me.
#2 Orc dialogue. The Orcs don't get much script in the Fellowship. In 2T, though, we've got the whole Ugluk vs. Grishnakh thing going on. Potential for low, inappropriate comedy - v. high. Pitched wrong, this could easily end up a really bad "Gremlins" kind of thing. Just one of you breathe the words "Jim Henson" and I'll punch you on the nose.
#3 Return of Gandalf. New Line have already kind of blown this by having the spoiler in the trailer. Please, don't let them blow it any worse.
#4 The battle of Helm's Deep. Pivotal, crucially important, intense stuff. As my brother has pointed out, pretty much the whole of the second book is one lengthy extended ruck played out in various locales. Makes for good blood and glory big screen stuff. Can Jackson deliver the same level of quality realisation in massive scale rocky-fu kickbutt battle scenes as he's demonstrated so far in the smaller but still intense melee sequences of Fellowship?
#5 Er...still only half way through re-reading Two Towers, so that's all I can think of for now. Sure you can come up with more...
