So y'all know I LOVE the Lord of the Rings books but I've never really shared my feelings about the movies... apart from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I was quite young when the first movie came out... seven to be exact. However, I had to read them before I got to see the movies... my Dad's rule. So I was just seven years old when I read the Lord of the Rings because there was NO WAY I wasn't going to miss out on seeing those! I absolutely loved them as a kid. It has now been several years since the movies were released. I've matured a lot in how I view the movies and though I still really enjoy them, I now see the errors that were made, some of which were just in my opinion UNFORGIVABLE!!!! Let's review them shall we?
Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.
Aragorn and Arwen Scenes
You know what I'm talking about. The million and one romantic scenes of them together that never ever EVER existed in the book. The whole Aragorn and Arwen relationship was really blown out of proportion in the movie. Besides my disliking this change because it wasn't in the book, I also just disliked them because (you know me) they were icky romancy gag me stupidity! I can't believe that far more important scenes from the BOOK were left out and THOSE were put in.
Sam, Frodo, and the stairs of Cirith Ungol
I think you know what scene I'm talking about here too... the scene that once again, was NOT IN THE BOOK but somehow made it into the movie. I really dislike this scene because it completely goes against the character of all of the characters involved... except Gollum I suppose. Frodo would not have believed Gollum over Sam and he most definitely would not have told Sam to go back! Sam would assuredly have NEVER left Frodo. And, as mentioned afore, IT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!
Faramir
Like they REALLY messed him up. You know, in the book he's supposed to be DIFFERENT than Boromir but in the movie they have him make the SAME mistake Boromir did, though granted in the end he makes the right decision. I really liked Faramir in the book, he's one of my favorite characters. There are certain qualities about him that caused him to make the right choice when Sam reveals that Frodo has the ring. It completely went against his character to have him do what he did. And, once again, IT WASN'T IN THE BOOK!!!
Those are my three main aggravations with them movies that really irk me to no end (as you may have noticed). You'll probably get the idea from what I wrote that I am a stringent "movie has to be like the book" kind of a person but I'm really not. Normally I'll be fairly lenient when it comes to movies staying true to the book. However, when movies add in scenes that aren't in the book (so they have NO reason to add them in) that are just stupid and don't help the movie at all, then I get very unhappy.
There are a few other complaints I have about the movies that I have learned to partially forgive Peter Jackson for so I will spare you form those rants. Those listed above are most definitely my top ones though. What are your thoughts on the changes the Lord of the Rings movies made from the books? Do you have other parts of the movies that you find unforgivable? Share your thoughts in the comments section!
Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.
Those are some of the things I dislike most about the movies, as well. While I wouldn't say that the romance was blown out of proportion (giving up immortality for someone is arguably very romantic), I thought it was ridiculous that Arwen was communicating in dreams and had some physical attachment to the Ring that apparently affected her but no one else. I also was sad that she replaced Glorfindel. Elrond is being portrayed as a highly overprotective father in these films--there is no way he is going to allow his only daughter to go riding around with the Nazgul abroad.
ReplyDeleteThe Cirith Ungol scene doesn't make sense, either, because, as you said, it's simply not in character for Frodo to doubt Sam or to trust Gollum over Sam. Frodo is merciful to Gollum, but he's not stupid. He knows Gollum is treacherous. He also knows Sam is loyal to a fault.
The Faramir change bothers me on a lot of levels. For one, it's pretty obvious Faramir and Boromir are supposed to comment on each other, so changing them to make them both the same doesn't make sense for the story. I also find it insulting that Jackson seems to think audiences can't believe in noble characters who just do the right thing--hence he make Aragorn a reluctant king, Faramir a guy with daddy issues, and Treebeard a self-absorbed Ent who can't be bothered to save his forest until he sees the damage with his own eyes. But it's his forest. He already knows Saruman has been cutting it down.
I agree, it was romantic... I just feel like it went went on and on and ON!
DeleteI'm glad that someone else sees these things. I forgot about Treebeard but yes, good point.