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Originally Posted by dalem
1) The basic nobility of Man.
PJs portrayal of Men is largely brutish and squalid and weak. In the Third Age there are still strains of Men who have blood lineages traceable to the Elder Days and the Valar. The vast majority are not of this strain, but many of the main characters are - Aragorn, Faramir, Denethor, Boromir, Theoden, Eomer - all should have been played with the nobility and gravitas turned up a notch.
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Agree, for the most part, although I do think Boromir was done remarkably well. That was made up for by ruining Faramir, of course. And the whole absolutely ridiculous thing with Theoden changing from a sick white haired weenie to a middle aged warrior king- just way overdone, IMO.
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2) Decisions.
Every single one of JRRT's major characters chooses which side to be on, but PJ has some few of them being tricked or cornered or otherwise avoiding the choice to fight Sauron or not.
The above two points combine to lead me to believe that PJ can't conceive of a truly noble and great man, either in fiction or real life. In the commentary he explains why he changes Faramir's rejection of the Ring into a seedy and whiney Daddy issue. He says that the idea of the Ring being so evil is unsustainable if someone can just leave it, but the real point is that Faramir CAN reject it, and does, and THAT'S how strong and wise he is. The act of rejection doesn't diminish the Ring, it elevates Faramir.
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Interesting. I'm not sure about this- Jackson has a point here. I really need to read the books again to see how Tolkien really portrays this. Jackson really missed the boat on the Ents, though. If anyone is wise enough to resist Sauron and the Ring, it's the Ents. And they certainly would never be tricked by the two silliest hobbits in the Shire.
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3) The ethereality of the Elves.
PJ brought the Elves to Helm's Deep in part because he wanted the Elves to be perceived as "doing something". Well, the "reality" is that the Elves were DONE doing things and that was part of the point. The abandonment of action in the physical world by the Elves makes the plight of Middle Earth that much more stark - if Men don't act there is no one left.
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The funny thing is that I agree with you, but at the same time he made the Elves too ethereal in some ways, such as screwing up Lothlorien and Galadriel, and making Legolas certifiably gay. The Elves don't do too much, but they are real people, and somehow I think Jackson failed to show that.
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But after all that I still think he did a great job - considering how weird and huge LOTR is as a book - of translating it to the screen at all. And here I disagree with you greatly - I think the visuals were superb and I feel totally immersed in Middle Earth when I watch it - it just feels right.
-dale
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Visuals, yes. Unfortunately, he does visuals
too well- and visuals can't carry a movie, especially if it's so crammed with grand vistas and CGI battles that you barely get to know the characters. Tolkien's genius was in creating a world that you can get lost in, and a large part of that is due to the characters, and, understandably I think, Jackson didn't quite get them right. I think if he had been in charge of the cinematography and special effects alone, and a director with better empathy for the characters and the story were brought in, it could have been quite good. As it was, I dunno, they just pissed me off a little. When I'm a billionaire, maybe I'll finance a remake, done RIGHT.
