I claim a geek heritage, but it should be pointed out that I’m almost exclusively a tech geek. I love computers, I love science, I love electronics. When it comes to movies and reading, I prefer Star Wars and Arthur C. Clarke over Legend and Piers Anthony.
In light of this, it shouldn’t come as a shock to you that I just finished reading The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring about a week ago and only started The Two Towers last night. However, I think my opinion of Fantasy may change: I saw The Fellowship of the Ring in the theater Sunday. I don’t think I’ll look at any other movie the same way again.
A review at Salon, which is often home to critics who trash the movies I enjoy while praising lame art films that are often little more than pseudo-intellectual garbage, declared that LOTR will redefine movie-making. That kind of praise made me somewhat wary of the movie. Needless to say, I am now in full agreement.
LOTR is not a perfect adaptation from the book — I’d say it’s about 90% true to the original, which is slightly better than Harry Potter was. The changes made, however, move the story along and make it a more enjoyable theater experience. Tolkien’s beautiful writing is long on exposition and flowery in dialogue. That doesn’t always translate well to the screen. Peter Jackson and his team, however, have done an amazing job of adaptation maintaining the true idea of the story even through some seemingly major changes.
The cinematography is gorgeous. You are surrounded by the beauty of the elf lands and haunted by the darkness of Morder and Isengard. CG was used extensively throughout the movie, but it’s apparent in only a few short scenes, and only when you look for it. the computer was used to enhance the story and the visuals rather than make up for a poor story.
Galadriel, queen of the wood elves, tells the fellowship that their journey lies along the edge of a sword: a single mis-step can spell disaster for all of them. I think this is a perfect metaphor for what the film crew was up against. The Tolkien family has already decried that the story was brought to the big screen, even before its release. Nitpickers are already looking for mistakes in the filming and I’m sure it won’t be long before the Tolkien fanatics, whose numbers are surely equal or exceeding to those of the Star Wars fanatics, complain about where the film departs from the book.
In all, though, it is a movie that should please everyone. My girlfriend, who falls asleep through most movies that I drag her too, remained alert and upright in her seat throughout the three hour run time.
As I said, I was never a huge Tolkien fan. I always felt his stories were best left to the D&D geeks whose obsession with the fantasy realms I could never quite grasp, no matter how I tried. Now that I have finished the first book and am working my way into the second, I understand the desire to role play in this world. And now that I have seen it played out on the big screen, all other movies pale in comparison. I am suddenly far more excited about the Two Towers coming out next December than Episode II in May. And coming from a Star Wars fan — the only thing I’m truly a fanboy about — that says a lot.
Go see Lord of the Rings. It’s not just for D&D geeks anymore.
