LOTR movies

[pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:
> Someone said (sorry, old thread and I can't find who):

It was I, actually

> > > It was made by Ralph Bakshi, and covered the sotry 
> > > of the first two thirds of the book, as the producers somehow 
> > > didn't secure, or lost, the rights to the rest.  
> 
> Joanne wrote:
> 
> > Okay. So these people made a movie and didn't get the rights
> > to all of a book...is it me or does that sound very strange?
> > Although, who knows, maybe that explains some of the book-to-
> > movie disasters?
> 
> My understanding was that Bakshi basically ran out of money,
> not that he couldn't get the rights.
> 
> I actually look fondly upon the Bakshi version, but that's
> partly because it's so vastly preferable to the oh-so-cute
> animated version that also got done.  

There's been an animated version as well?  I seem to recall that 
there is one done of The Hobbit, which may be described as cute (and 
has been published as a comic-book, which I own - the style generally 
suits the story), but not one of LOTR.  I have seen a comic-book 
version of LOTR, though, which may or may not be derived from some 
animated movie, and well...  Bakshi's version *is* preferable to the 
comic-book version.  I mean: The Great Black Gate of Mordor being 
shown as a ten-foot tall wall with a small door in it, guarded by an 
orc on either side!  I seem to recall the book describing it as a 
rather large wall, with actually three large gates in it.

The comic-book version did not include all of the story, either, but 
that may just be a matter of separating the story in two volumes (to 
squeeze more money out of buyers).

[snip]

> I'll go to the LOTR movie because I love the books--my dh is
> even more passionate about them--but we're both kind of
> dreading the experience.

I am more dreading Chris Columbus' _Harry Potter_ than Peter 
Jackson's _Lord of the Rings_.

> Ian McKellen I will go see in anything, so putting together him
> and Gandalf is mindblowing as far as I'm concerned.  On the other
> hand, I don't recall who they've cast as Frodo, but I recall
> being really disappointed when I heard it.  The BBC audio
> version (complete) had Ian Holm as Frodo, and you're just not
> going to top that, IMO . . . I know, I know, he's a bit old
> nowadays!

Ian Holm is going to play Bilbo, actually.  Elijah Wood is playing 
Frodo, and I don't mind that at all.  He is about the right age, and 
the images I have seen so far do not contrast too much with my own 
image of Frodo.  

> Just tell me, did they make the elves wee and adorable, or tall
> like they're supposed to be?

Tall and tall...  As I recall it, men are supposed to be of taller 
stature than elves nowadays; I am absolutely positive one of 
Tolkien's writings (either in the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales or 
one of the History of Middle-Earth-books) has a reference going on 
the order of "in the old times, when the Elves were young and strong, 
and as tall as Men are now".  It's all part of the elves growing 
weary of this world, I think.  I picture the height-relationship 
between men and elves as generally being 9:10.

I have seen a picture of Legolas (a still from the new trailer), and 
from what I can see, he does have the long hair, but they have 
completely avoided making him feminine, a far as I can tell (the 
above-mentioned comic-book had less luck in that regard; you'd have 
had to read the books beforehand to realise that those were in fact 
male characters).

I note also that they have given Arwen a more active role in the 
movie, apparently replacing Glorfindel in rescuing Harry at the fords.

Best regards
Christian Stubø
who has read the Silmarillion and loves it (even if my mind does 
wander in that one chapter describing the geography of Beleriand).