I'm going to give sort of a long post, in the interest of discussion. Feel free to post on whatever topic interests you.
When I found out that Peter Jackson was adapting the novels to the screen, I figured I should probably sit down and read the books. I've been reading fantasy/sci-fi since I was young, but for some reason I could never make it through Fellowship of the Ring. It just bored the hell out of me. But I'm sort of a stickler for taking in something's source material before I look at a derivative. So I sat down and read FOTR before the movie came out.
I was still bored by it. I pinned on the fact that every time something interesting would happen, Tolkien would follow it up with all sorts of Middle-Earth history and Elvish poetry, things I cared nothing about.
But I finished the book.
Then I watched the movie. I was not prepared for the breadth of feeling and emotion in the movie. Frodo goes through some actual agony, and Bilbo was made into such a tragic figure that it actually caused me pain to watch him. I know this must have been all in the book, but I never connected.
Fellowship of the Ring is undoubtedly my best picture of that year.
So afterward I read The Two Towers and Return of the King, and I found both books absolutely amazing. Seriously, if my jaw could drop while reading a book it would have. How I could not have read these books earlier?
Well I think it's because I've never had any sort of emotional attachment. And I believe that the emotional attachment was provided by my viewing of Peter Jackson's first movie. That is, if i hadn't watched the movie I don't think I would've cared so much.
But, now that I had read the books and had such an interesting time of it, I went back to watch The Two Towers. Yes, it was a really good movie, but it didn't live up to the book. I still picked it as my second best film of the year, but compared to my reaction to the book, there was no comparison. It wasn't the changes to the script the movie made, I expected that. It was just that the cinematic version didn't compare to the vistas in my head that Tolkien had evoked.
Here's the interesting part, I don't think I would have had that reaction without the first movie.
As an addition to the above topic, I'm going to add my main complaint about the original Tolkien novels (which I'm willing to overlook to take them as they are). One of the central ideas in the novel is the idea of "high blood". That is, the race of Numenor who came from across the sea and colonized the land were somehow debased as the years past. Ridiculous. It may have fit the ethnocentrism of the time, but in real world applications it's stupid, and occasionally monstruous in its applications. But Middle-Earth is a fantasy realm, and I'm willing to overlook it as a fantasy construction. Especially since the trilogy was so incredible.
So, discussion, I guess. What do you have to say?
I've not read the books but found the movies on their own merits disappointing, particularly The Two Towers.
The battle of Helm's Deep was such a letdown. Technically, it's an amazing achievement and I believe those involved in its production deserve every award they can get.
As far as excitement goes, however, it just wasn't there. There was no sense that Aragorn and Co. would die or even be injured. Hell, they were having fun. I didn't even care about Theodin since he was mostly off in his own world, obsessed with glory.
Throw in surprisingly slow pacing, Frodo whining, a far too cute Gollum, mostly harmless villains, and Viggo Mortensen's gadawful acting and it all adds up to one of the most disappointing movie experiences I've ever had.
(Incidentally, my favorite part is at the beginning when the Orcs and Uruk-hai are arguing over what to eat. That's the only scene in which any characters show personality.)
I like Fellowship of the Ring more but I didn't find it to be a totally amazing movie. It is bolstered by quick pacing that moves the band of heroes from one peril to the next in quick succession.
>"Throw in surprisingly slow pacing, Frodo whining, a far too cute Gollum"
I named Gollum "Jar Jar Gollum" after seeing the Two Towers ( The Big Letdown)
I read the Hobbit and loved it, and then I read the whole FOTR and I couldnt stand it. It was a terribly boring book. Everybody tells me that the next two are vastly better, more like the Hobbit, But I just cant bring myself to read it.
As for the movies, I thought the FOTR was amazing. It was well acted and had a lot of depth.
I thought the Two Towers was disappointing. I really thought the Helm's Deep battle was so boring, while fun to look at. The only character to die was some elf that I didnt really know.
The best things were
Those tree monsters who fought Sauroman (who they NEED to use more, Christopher Lee rocks).
The battle and rebirth of Gandalf in the first few minutes.
The elves leaving for another land was very touching.
I hope Spider Man 2 and the last LOTR movie are better and arent let downs.
One of the problems with Two Towers and Return of the King is that now we know what to expect. Fellowship was an unknown quantity, and so when it was up on the screen we were all amazed. But we can't have that same "gawd this is spectacular scenery" feeling again because we go into the movie knowing that the scenery is gorgeous and Jackson has captured the look and feel of Middle Earth, even if there's been some alteration to the storyline. (It took me a half hour to accept the necessity of that in FOTR, and enjoyed the series from then on.)
As for some scenes being disappointing (as some have said), that's always going to happen when you've got nine hours of movie. I think it is almost needed, you can't sustain a high for 3 hours.
"The Two Towers" , like "The Empire Strikes Back" in a way, suffers from being the middle act of a two act play, so to speak. It's very hard to judge until seen in hindsight with all three together. And I agree that the 'gee whiz' factor from FOTR is not there so the visuals are not as easy to get lost. I enjoyed the movie but I think it suffered from it's source material in having a lot of characters to introduce
I read the story when I was pretty young. I didn't find it boring at all, but then, I didn't expect it to be "Conan" or "Fahrad" or something by Moorcock.