LOTR -DVD Info

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by steveh11:
Steve.
What's this got to do with SEIV?

Not a thing. But this is a community. Our central point of commonality is SEIV, but we all have other interests.

Although there has been talk of a "fantasy mod" for SEIV, but that's out there a bit IMHO.

Geo

EDIT: Maybe I could make some sort of quest type scenario for SEIV. Call it "The Fellowship". Along the lines of my Voyager scenario, but for multiplayers. Where each player controls a single ship and you have to get across the galaxy or somesuch to win.

[ August 13, 2002, 19:37: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[Singollo]

Actually, I am of the opinion that LotR cannot be properly (read: entirely, accurately) appreciated without a solid knowledge of The Silmarillion and the other material. LotR is an amazing story in and of itself, one of the finest fantasy tales ever spun, without a doubt. But it is only the tip, the very tip, of the iceberg that is Tolkien's extended mythology, and like an iceberg, you cannot possibly imagine the grandeur and size and power of the whole if you've only seen the tip. Things like Aragorn's relationship with Arwen, the nature of Gandalf and Saruman, the true stature of the Elves, and the overall point of the story are revealed only by the larger context in which it is set.

Oh, and I agree that the movie is fabulous, a work of art. Too bad it should never, ever have been made in the first place.

[Growltigga]

Geo, take it from a man who knows, the movie is excellent and beinga complete tolkien nutter, I think it probably the best a mortal film director can do...

read the Hobbit, and then read LOTR and thene x-pand your mind with the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales...

and then read 'em and weep

[Trajan]

Gentlemen,

My wife has forbidden me to watch the LOTR unless she is out of the house, or away on travel. Having seent he movie 4 times in the theater, she is not interested in seeing it anymore.

I of course could watch it over and over and over and over ad infinitum.

Cheers!
Trajan

[Fyron]

The Silmarillion was mostly written long before LotR and The Hobbit.

[Singollo]

The Silmarillion was mostly written long before LotR and The Hobbit.

Actually, that's not technically true. The most basic forms of the legends found in The Silmarillion (and Unfinished Tales) existed before LotR, yes, but the final Versions of the stories were not created until after LotR (long after, in most cases). Those final Versions differed considerably from the pre-LotR Versions, too.

The pre-LotR Versions of the stories are available, in the History of Middle-earth series of academic/historical novels written by Christopher Tolkien. They make for very interesting reading, too. In fact, some of the more fleshed-out Versions of tales only exist in the HoME; Tolkien died before he finished the final detailed Version of the fall of Gondolin, for example, and Unfinished Tales only brings the story as far as Tuor's emergence from the Gates. A complete Version of the Fall is found in The Book of Lost Tales, Volume II (I think it's volume 2), and although it is much earlier and very different from what the final Version of the story would have been, it does offer some insights into where Tolkien was going with the story.

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by Singollo:
Actually, I am of the opinion that LotR cannot be properly (read: entirely, accurately) appreciated without a solid knowledge of The Silmarillion and the other material. LotR is an amazing story in and of itself, one of the finest fantasy tales ever spun, without a doubt. But it is only the tip, the very tip, of the iceberg that is Tolkien's extended mythology, and like an iceberg, you cannot possibly imagine the grandeur and size and power of the whole if you've only seen the tip. Things like Aragorn's relationship with Arwen, the nature of Gandalf and Saruman, the true stature of the Elves, and the overall point of the story are revealed only by the larger context in which it is set.

Oh, and I agree that the movie is fabulous, a work of art. Too bad it should never, ever have been made in the first place.

LOL... isn't that the truth? It's impossible to talk about the movie(s) without contradiction. Yes, it's great to see so many things from Tolkien's work made into cinematic images. But it's also impossible to make proper images of many of them, and also impossible to tell the whole story without making at least six movies, not three. The hack & slash approach to the story line is really jarring, even if he did manage to include the gist of it in the plot. And WTF is that "Lurtz^H^Hch" character for? Given how much he had to cut, why did he have to add something so cheesy? So watching the movie when you know the original story is both exciting and wrenching at the same time.

And yes, knowledge of the Silmarillion is essential to understanding the story and even the characters. The remote and formal Elrond is a very different person if you know his background. His personal experience with 'oaths' makes it quite understandable when he is so insistent in opposing with Gimli's wish to swear some sort of oath about their quest, for example.

[ August 13, 2002, 22:29: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[Fyron]

Singollo, that is why I said "mostly written".

[geoschmo]

Although there is something to be said for an author leaving some things to the imagination. Knowing only bits and pieces of the history can add to the mystery and discovery of reading the books. Of course this is just a guess, since I haven't actually read the books.

[Gandalph]

All the afore mentioned stuff is cool, as is this phenominal epic recreated on the screen, but I will wait until it is a complete set. I can picture myself already, a rainy Saturday in Olympia (which happens often in the Northwest) sitting on the couch and watching all three movies in order. PARADISE!!!