I think it was about as faithful as one could be in the book to film translation. Some portions were cut and some characters were mashed together to aid in pacing, but I think a great number of the fundamental lessons and morals still transfer over, and do so in an incredibly potent way.
In general, I agree with Tazzurit that it captured the essence excellently. I also would point out that for a great many involved it wasn't just another movie; this is evident in the amount of significant injuries received by cast members throughout filming.
Just take the actor for Aragorn, for example. There is a scene in which he arrives at a pile of burning orc corpses (the ones that had abducted Merry and Pippin) and is supposed to kick a helmet across the camera in his frustration; a cool cinematic blip. PJ was consistently not happy with the take, so they kept running it through time after time until ultimately the actor broke his foot mid kick; instead of ruining the scene, however, he channeled the immense pain into his performance of frustration and lets out this loud yell before collapsing to his knees. That's the take they kept in the film.
That same actor supposedly used his full-weight sword as much as possible (most of the swords had a "full weight" versions for the few scenes where that was required and a "lighter weight" version where it was just a standard prop) to not only improve his performance with it in action scenes but also to further "embody" the character while acting. This of course turned out to be deeply beneficial to him. There was a scene in which he is battling an orc whom was intended to throw a knife safely past Aragorn's head, but in the filming of the scene, the orc guy got makeup in his eyes during the throw and accidentally threw it at the actor for Aragorn's head. With his skills with the blade he had been taught for fight scenes and so on, he managed to deflect the oncoming knife and they continued the scene.
He also almost drowned due to sketchy rigging at another scene.
It's abundantly clear there was a deep passion in the project to try and capture the essence of the original as much as possible. It's definitely not perfect, but it is fantastic.
Particularly of worth note is the massive work they invested in creating distinct cultural styles and integrity to all the sets, costumes, etc. Levels of consistency that really honor the dedication to integrity and consistency that Tolkien's work itself reveals. imo.
Well caught, I don't often make this mistake but I was dancing around not remembering how to spell various actors' names and lacking the motivation to look it up!
I think you should definitely give it a shot.
I think it was about as faithful as one could be in the book to film translation. Some portions were cut and some characters were mashed together to aid in pacing, but I think a great number of the fundamental lessons and morals still transfer over, and do so in an incredibly potent way.
In general, I agree with Tazzurit that it captured the essence excellently. I also would point out that for a great many involved it wasn't just another movie; this is evident in the amount of significant injuries received by cast members throughout filming.
Just take the actor for Aragorn, for example. There is a scene in which he arrives at a pile of burning orc corpses (the ones that had abducted Merry and Pippin) and is supposed to kick a helmet across the camera in his frustration; a cool cinematic blip. PJ was consistently not happy with the take, so they kept running it through time after time until ultimately the actor broke his foot mid kick; instead of ruining the scene, however, he channeled the immense pain into his performance of frustration and lets out this loud yell before collapsing to his knees. That's the take they kept in the film.
That same actor supposedly used his full-weight sword as much as possible (most of the swords had a "full weight" versions for the few scenes where that was required and a "lighter weight" version where it was just a standard prop) to not only improve his performance with it in action scenes but also to further "embody" the character while acting. This of course turned out to be deeply beneficial to him. There was a scene in which he is battling an orc whom was intended to throw a knife safely past Aragorn's head, but in the filming of the scene, the orc guy got makeup in his eyes during the throw and accidentally threw it at the actor for Aragorn's head. With his skills with the blade he had been taught for fight scenes and so on, he managed to deflect the oncoming knife and they continued the scene.
He also almost drowned due to sketchy rigging at another scene.
It's abundantly clear there was a deep passion in the project to try and capture the essence of the original as much as possible. It's definitely not perfect, but it is fantastic.
Heheh. Well stated. And all true.
Particularly of worth note is the massive work they invested in creating distinct cultural styles and integrity to all the sets, costumes, etc. Levels of consistency that really honor the dedication to integrity and consistency that Tolkien's work itself reveals. imo.
...you guys have convinced me...
...thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts...
...doggy winks....
an orc WHO (because it's the subject of the sentence, not the object).
Well caught, I don't often make this mistake but I was dancing around not remembering how to spell various actors' names and lacking the motivation to look it up!