Why do some people LOVE the Lord of the Rings movies?

[LSdemocrat]

Prompted by the best trilogy poll, I need to ask, why do people love the LotR movies?

To me, these movies are a couple of decent to good action movies and nothing more. I find the movies to be quite slow moving and boring at times. During the first movie did we really need to see EVERYONE get enamored with the ring? During the second movie nothing really happened until the last 30 minutes of the movie. Anyone could have easily cut about 45 minutes from both movies and nothing would have been lost. The first thing to go could easily be that inane love story between Liv Tyler's character and that one guy.

Granted, I generally find mythology pretty boring, but I do like action/dramas, and to me the LotR movies are nothing special.

[Uzybone]

1. Youve answered your question:

I generally find mythology pretty boring


you dont like the genre, so why do you wonder why other people who like the genre find LOTR great? Its like me asking why anyone likes the Godfather when I dont like Mafia/ gangster movies. Or why anyone likes Star wars when I dont like Sci-fi/fantasy.

[LSdemocrat]

5. Great movies transcend personal preference

If a movie is truly great, I believe it transcends personal preference.

For example, I don't particularly care for romances, but I thought Love Story was a very good movie.

I don't care much for westerns, but I LOVED Unforgiven.

I'm just saying that the LotR movies are at best good, but nothing special.

[Guaranteed]

18. "My people are very powerful!"

(Repeat line over and over)

The End.

That's LOTR 1 in a nutshell.

[DrWeird]

24. Where in the movie is that actually said?

Because I've seen the movie several times and it's not ringing a bell.

[Boudicea]

2. Did you like the books?

I love the movies, although the first one is much better to me. I think the second one has too much fighting, while my male friends tell me that's what made it so great. Since my first reading of The Hobbit at age 14 or so, I've loved that world. The movies recreate it better than I could have hoped. :)

[LSdemocrat]

9. I never read the books

[Zero Gravitas]

13. Of course not

I've read the books many times over the years and I cannot seperate the books from the movies. I love the movies and think there are (reasonably) faithful to the spirit of the books. There are plenty of people who never read the books but like the movies, but I cannot put myself in their shoes (or of those who don't care for the movies) because of the books.

[bowens43]

3. Actually, I found them to be

WAY to short. To be faithful to the books the moves would need to be MUCH longer. Have you read the books?

BTW, what do these movies have to do with mythology?

[LSdemocrat]

6. elves, orcs, you know MYTHOLOGICAL creatures

do I really need to explain?

[Cat Atomic]

4. Because they are fantabulous, you heretic.

:p

Really- I just don't know where to start. It's like being asked why I like puppies. Because I have to! I'm a human being and we're sort of programmed to like wonderful things.

:p

[LSdemocrat]

what do you find wonderful about it?

It's a movie, I named some aspects I didn't like about them. What are the reasons you like about it?

[Aristus]

Anyone who loves books and loves movies

enjoys seeing their paper-and-ink heroes become living, breathing characters on the screen. Even in bad movies. And the LOTR movies are very good! I'm quite pleased with the interpretation of the books.

[MaineDem]

7. I haven't been able to get into the movies

I've tried and tried. I figured it was just me but I can't seem to get involved in the plot. I want to but I can't.

Disclaimer: I've never read the books either so that might have something to do with it.

[chemenger]

8. Beautifully filmed

I love the settings, the scenery, the "dark" mood that the filming conveys. And the movies are also holding to the story line well. Actually, I never read the trilogy completely, just skimmed the books but the movies have pretty much captured the books, IMHO.

[idaholeft]

10. LOTR

Well, I'm a hobbit freak. I've read LOTR over 20 times (easily). I know that makes me a little on the compulsive side, but, whaterver. Reading Tolkein got me though adolesence in spite of a dad in the throws of nasty alcoholism. (He later recovered and we healed our wounds).

The first one was an emotional experience for me. It was masterful, and the characters I grew up with were (mostly) faithfully and expertly rendered.

The second one infuriated me. It was a horrible failure (IMHO), in spite of the fabulous cinematography. He change the plot so that there are logical inconsistencies (I'll never forgive the Faraimir in Osgiliath scene).

I'm not sure I'll go the third (who am I kidding?).

I just wish Jackson could have done this without throwing all those bones to teens who've never read the books.

[Bok_Tukalo]

14. Great Movies

Although I was disappointed that what I thought was the best scene in the trilogy, the re-uniting of Merry and Pippin with Gimli, Legolas, and Strider, was cut from the "Twin Towers."

Also disappointed that more of the interaction between Merry and Pippin with Treebeard wasn't shown even though the Ents were fantastic in the film.

I am afraid that a lot of "Return of the King" will be cut.

[Khephra]

11. I'm one of the heretics who are bored by the books

and yet I'm a big fan of the genre, so I sympathize a bit.

Personally, I like the movies and I'd see them again, but reading the books once was enough for me.

Give me something more like George R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series where it feels realistic, yet still is fantastic. (Eg. people are tortured, killed, raped, and maimed. Heck, these stories are supposed to take place during wars, yet I never feel like there's really a war going on. It's too Disneyish for me.)

[MUAD_DIB]

12. If you've haven't read LoTR then you are missing out

on the fact that Peter Jackson could have made five movies and still not covered everything in the LoTR.

Much of the 3 books had to do with the struggle of good and evil, excellent dialog and of solid character development. It is very hard to bring this kind of material into movie form without some movie executive-hack trying to fill every scene with friggin ewoks (sp?) to satisfy the 3-10 year old crowd, but the screenplay is pretty true to the story and the without that extra 45 minutes you want to cut the movies would lose their essence.

It's hard to explain without you having read the story.

I actually commend Peter Jackson for making a fairly decent series and for not perverting it into a cookie-cutter action clone to satisfy the marketing executives and bean counters.

[flamingyouth]

15. I love the books

And I thought the movies were wonderfully made and true to the series.

[T Wolf]

16. After reading the trilogy a looong time ago,

seeing the first movie was an amazing experience. It was as close to what I saw in my mind's eye while I read as I could hope for (the only failing was that the ringwraiths were not terrifying enough, IMO). The "feel" of the movie was right on.

I do not feel that the second was as good. As someone mentioned, I also think it emphasized the "action" sequences too much. In the book, the battle at Helm's Deep was not the major event The Two Towers made it out to be. When I saw it, I had to think, "How enormous are the battles in Return of the King going to be?"

Part of the enjoyment of reading the book(s) is living in Middle Earth for the weeks I take to read it. I don't want it to end. So, I also feel that the movies were too short. Note - the expanded versions on DVD are great because they add to the experience of the theater.

Peter Jackson has done a fantastic job (IMO) of bringing to the screen the feel and experience of one of the great (and my favorite) works of literature. How many of us were crushed by that crappy cartoon of the Hobbit with Orson Bean? Nits can be picked, but these three movies will be watched many times before I head off over the sea.

[Az]

17. LOTR is not just a fantasy flick, it is an alagory as well

It has an undercurrent flowing through it that is as timely now as it was when Tolkien wrote it. That is we find ourselves arrayed against a force that uses tools and means to achieve power that steals our hearts away from us. It may be a path to power but it is a destructive means to power. Tolkien's story is about the potential disaster that a mechanized society presents.

The characters in the movie are fully developed and each has their own motivations and reasons for reacting to the ring. Each represent a part of our own inner turmoil. LOTR is not just some sword and sorcery fantasy flick. If that is all you are getting from the story you are missing a vast part of it.

Even seen as a simple fantasy it is the single story which established many of the things which we consider to define such stories. It is a fully realised universe with its own backstory that creeps into the storyline as it progresses.

Not everyone sees the same thing when they go to the movies. Sometimes the film speaks to experiences that the viewer may not have had yet. In this case they cannot see what the movie is driving at. For some LOTR is the realization of an aching desire to see Tolkien's universe brought to life. This is part of what the audience brings to the movie.

[MUAD_DIB]

19. Tolkien hated allegory and when asked whether his work

was based in part on his experiences in WWI he had said that he hated allegory in all of its forms.

[commander bunnypants]

20. Great literature

Horrible movies. Never even bothered with the second


DDQM

[wyldwolf]

21. They help me sleep...

I've never made it through either of them without a 20 minute or so doze.

[Iverson]

22. visually, they are stunning

They also do a decent job of representing the storyline. For those who already love the books, there's enough there to transfer some of that love to the film representation.

If you do not already love the books, chances are against your loving the films.

[Kolesar]

23. Excellent cinematography, great acting

The battle scene in LOTR-2 Towers was thrilling. However...I cannot follow the story and get bored, actually.

[forgethell]

25. the Lord of the Rings

was great classic Anglo-Saxon literature in the heroic mold. tolkien consciously set out to produce an English mythology. Practically a direct descendent of "Beowulf". Good & Evil are clear-cut. The romantic interest is present but low key. Explicit sex is totally absent. There are no psychological or sociological messages.The message is simple, yet also complex. People must make moral decisions and take the consequences. It's a good read, although, in my opinion it bogs down about the end of Volume 1 till about 1/3 of the way through volume 2.

[proud patriot]

26. For some of us , We've been waiting our whole lives for these movies

I know I was . I own the cartoon series ,
and grew up dreaming of middle earth .

To serve for something greater; a purpose .
Power , Greed , and Destruction must be stopped .
and only if all races are united will it be
achieved .

Magic , Faith , Trust .