Am I the only person who didn't like the LotR movies?

[jesse220]

It seems like there's fairly strong 'for' and 'against' camps for every film, show, book, game, etc, out there except The Lord of the Rings movies. Every person I've spoken to about this LOVES these movies and I'm justwondering if I'm the only person who doesn't. Let me be clear in saying that this is not about the movies as an adaption or comparing them in any way to the books, this is about the movies as stand alone movies because that's what they are to most people.

I can certainly appreciate a lot of things about the movies, they're incredibly detailed, visually stunning, etc. The one thing I don't like is that none of the characters seems the slightest bit relatable to me.

Frodo doesn't seem to have much of an opinion about anything except that this Golum character whom he barely knows is apparently more trustworthy than his best friend.

Gandalf is just an incredibly convenient character who has awesome magic and endless knowledge but only when the situation demands it of him.

Aragon's only motivation seems to be 'do what Gandalf tells me to do'

Legolas and Gimli are there to represent this racism that's eventually solved by them bonding over killing things together. But I never really care about their racial dispute because there are no other dwarfs and all the other elves are there to either fight battles or dispense plot information.

Sam seems to be the only guy with anything close to an actual personality and he's the least likable one.

And the climax of the 8 hour spectacular is them defeating a character who does and says nothing throughout the entirety of the trilogy AND it's one of the bad guys that does it!


I'm not trying to be inflammatory or insulting here I just want to know if anyone feels the same way about it, or failing that, have someone point out what I'm missing, why I should care about these characters.

 

[Strain42]

I don't really have anything against them, but if I never watch them again I'm not gonna be heartbroken about it.

 

[hazabaza1]

************ did you just say that Sam wasn't likeable?
Kidding, of course, but you've got an opinion, just like everyone else. Lots of people just like the movies, the minority isn't seen as much when they're not vocal.

 

[Images]

I LOVE Fellowship. Feels like an old school "Men on a mission" type of film. Like a DnD party heading out on their adventure. Apart from the mega battle in the prologue, most the actual combat is kept tight and within a small area. I care about these people.

The other two flicks do bore me a bit. They're gorgeous and there are striking pieces of imagery and the occasional bit of humour but they feel a bit empty to me.

Frankly I enjoyed The Hobbit more than Two Towers or Return of The King.

 

[DefunctTheory]

You're not alone in hating the movies (Though I very much enjoyed them).

As for your characterizations, some are correct ('Working as Intended,' so to speak), and some of them aren't (At least not as far as I read into the characters).

But yah, your not alone. Your never alone in an opinion.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I can't stand the first one, Fellowship of the Ring. It's too long for its own good, and the beginning is just so slow paced and boring I'm already half asleep by the time anything remotely interesting takes place. It's incredibly faithful to the book in that regard, since I also hated the first book in the trilogy just as much.

Two Towers is probably the most entertaining one of the series for me.

Return of the King is alright, but the ending just drags SOOO long (and they never showed what Saruman did to the Shire, which was basically the best part of the book).

So yeah, that's how I see them. If I ever rewatch the movies, I always skip ahead to the Mines of Moria in Fellowship, and always skip the ending of Return of the King.

 

[jesse220]

You're not alone in hating the movies (Though I very much enjoyed them).

As for your characterizations, some are correct ('Working as Intended,' so to speak), and some of them aren't (At least not as far as I read into the characters).

But yah, your not alone. Your never alone in an opinion.

I don't hate them so much as think they don't deserve the status they have. And yeah I was a bit general but I was just trying to highlight what I didn't like more than anything.

P.S. I only found this forum today and being able to post something negative about a movie on the internet and have fans of that movie respond with anything other than hate is pretty damn cool. So good job on being awesome people, I guess.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I thought they were fantastic as a whole and easily some of my favorite films. Yes, some scenes fell flat and I didn't think all of the changes from the book were for the better, but quite frankly it's hard for me to imagine a better film adaptation of perhaps the quintessential fantasy manuscript of modern times. There were just so many things they got right for me. The beautiful New Zealand setting that brought Middle-Earth to life, the care and detail into the practical effects, the casting, the score, the epic battles, the character interactions, the inspiring message of hope in the face of overwhelming adversity, etc.

But hey, different strokes for different folks. If you didn't like it, then that's okay.

To be fair, a number of your complaints (Gandalf showing up in the nick of time, Legolas and Gimli's friendship, Frodo's somewhat blank personality, Sauron being a mostly passive "Big Bad") are also present in the books. They are issues endemic with the way the story was written from the get-go. Tolkien was certainly a talented writer, but he wasn't perfect.

 

[Zhukov]

I loved the films the first time I saw them.

However, subsequent, more recent viewings left me feeling distinctly unimpressed. I certainly wouldn't say they're bad movies. Aside from some obnoxiously obvious green-screening they look great and have some awesome scenes.

In my case I suppose it's more a matter of taste. I prefer my entertainment, even that of fantastical sensibilities, to be more grounded and less fairly tale.

 

[Not Matt]

No. No your not. I. Myself never managed to care for them. Wizards and elves and dragons and stuff like that in general. Never managed to capture my interest. While I will say though that it is amazingly well made and pretty cool to look at, it's not for me

 

[Strazdas]

Your not alone, but the amount of people like this are quite few.

 

[JayRPG]

I have a weird pull towards elves and they are the only reason I liked any of the movies.

Haldir especially, which is why two towers is my favourite.

I watched the hobbit and didn't like it very much because I despise both hobbits and dwarves, I have a feeling I'll like the next one where elves take a larger part.

So while I don't dislike the movies per say, I do dislike a lot of things about them.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Spoiler: Erin says no

Legolas and Gimli are there to represent this racism that's eventually solved by them bonding over killing things together. But I never really care about their racial dispute because there are no other dwarfs and all the other elves are there to either fight battles or dispense plot information.

Not to mention that everyone is white, except for a bunch of evil mooks to kill off. Huh.

 

[Auron225]

I sat through them all once, and that is enough for a lifetime. They weren't exceedingly painful or anything, they're just so damn long that I couldn't bear to do it again.

However, I actually liked Sam the most - after being through the exact same ordeal he carries his friend (who for some unknown reason is seen as the main one) up a damn volcano when he himself is practically dying and his friend has been an ass to him for almost the entire thing. I mean, what a guy... I wanna be friends with him!

As a whole, I enjoyed them but they're far too long for their own good. And yes I know the books are longer and if the films had been finished to the last detail then they'd be an awful lot longer again but we are just talking about the movies here and 3 - 3.5 hours is pushing it big-time for me!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Not to mention that everyone is white, except for a bunch of evil mooks to kill off. Huh.

Well, it IS based on Anglo Saxon / Arthurian legend, where everybody is white.
Except for that one green dude.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Not to mention that everyone is white, except for a bunch of evil mooks to kill off. Huh.

Well, it IS based on Anglo Saxon / Arthurian legend, where everybody is white.
Except for that one green dude.

Anglo Saxon legend, certainly (didn't think Arthurian), but why would that make everyone white?

Especially when he's gone and added various other not-quite-humans, which were noticeably different to previous ideas.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Not to mention that everyone is white, except for a bunch of evil mooks to kill off. Huh.

Well, it IS based on Anglo Saxon / Arthurian legend, where everybody is white.
Except for that one green dude.

Anglo Saxon legend, certainly (didn't think Arthurian), but why would that make everyone white?

Especially when he's gone and added various other not-quite-humans, which were noticeably different to previous ideas.

I think it's mostly a tradition thing. Anglo Saxon sagas come in white, Tolkien repeats the formula.

Another obvious answer is that Middle Earth is an allegory for Europe. Notice the two peoples described "off the map", the Haradrim to the South and the Easterlings to the East. Haradrim are said to be of black skin, riding elephant-like creatures (mumakil) and coming fom the South (i.e. Africa) whereas Easterlings are shown in the movies wielding scimitars and Persian-style armor (early concept art gave them turbans, too). Within the Easterlings, there's also the Variags - who are based off real-life "varyags" (or varangians) - Vikings who formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard.
Both these races are depicted as such in both books and movies (I don't recall the literary description of Easterlings though).

My guess is that, in modelling his stories off Anglo Saxon sagas, he also withdrew the (real-life) geography of such stories and did little to shake up "the race thing": European Middle Earthers remained white, whereas everybody else fit the cardinal profile. Even if they don't feature that much in the books in the first place.

 

[Jacques Joseph]

I think a lot of the love for the LoTR movies is due to the fact that at the time, it was an all geeks´ dream come true. As MovieBob would say, it was a milestone that hugely contributed to the geek culture becoming mainstream. So yeah, at the time everyone loved it because even with its flaws, just the fact that it got made was absolutely awesome.
On the other hand, I think the movies didn´t age that well. In a way, it´s just as stereotypical a fantasy epic as can be. Which is okay, obviously, as Tolkien´s books were basically what created that stereotype in the first place, but still.
Personally, I totally loved the first movie when it came out but as years went by, I grew more and more critical of the whole trilogy so that now, I´d side with you in the group of those who didn´t like the movies that much. I realized that when I saw the Hobbit and was disappointed with the fact that they turned that cute, small, fairy-tale-like and light-hearted story into just another LoTR trilogy.

 

[Thaluikhain]

My guess is that, in modelling his stories off Anglo Saxon sagas, he also withdrew the (real-life) geography of such stories and did little to shake up "the race thing": European Middle Earthers remained white, whereas everybody else fit the cardinal profile. Even if they don't feature that much in the books in the first place.

Most likely, however historical Europe wasn't so purely white. People had been moving around for millenia, Egyptian copper was mixed with British tin to make bronze in pre-historic times, for example.

You would expect more ethnic diversity than "none at all".

EDIT: In any case, my point was simultaneously having all-white heroes while all dark skinned people are evil AND trying to say racism is bad by having two white humanoids become friends wasn't the best idea.