Junesong
Rohan
May 9, 7:06pm
Views: 34442
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So I thought I'd take a stab at answering your rhetoricals: Will the same writers and producers do better than "Go home, Sam" or whatever "dramatic reversal" they invent to "improve" Tolkien's word choices? No. Probably not. Is this invented fan fiction a la Rings of Power or is it Tolkien? Like all adaptation, it will have to be a combination of the two. Especially if the story really does focus on Gandalf searching for Gollum and getting help from Aragorn and the elves. The info we get about this in Fellowship isn't nearly enough to pad a theatrical film. It's not about IF they combine Tolkien and their own imaginations - they will - it's about HOW they do it. It could be really cool. Will they continue the decimation of "Hollywood" by inserting a political message/agenda? Will they precede the release with a defensive posture against fans? It's certainly not Jackson's style, but times have changed. If you're looking for stuff like this you'll probably find it in whatever Jackson and co/Warner Brothers do with the film's promotion. Another good question could be - will fans hate on this from a long way off for silly, superficial culture war reasons? Probably. Will any casting/crew diversity be immediately attacked by SOME fans as being pandering or politically motivate? Sure. Will contemporary identity politics dictate story and wag the dog to age the movie? Or will story prevail and become ageless? Quite a cynical binary you have here - so I'm not sure how to answer this, even rhetorically. I'm guessing no. But it depends on how they try to "fill out" the story. It's possible they'll try to add their own thing like a strong woman character, or a character of colour in a prominent role, or even a non-traditional relationship that Tolkien maybe would never have included. I don't think would necessarily date or cheapen the movie. It totally depends on what it is and how it's done. Similarly, avoiding these "identity politics" or "wag the dog" additions won't necessarily ensure that story will prevail or become ageless. I don't think these things are as related as your question implies. A good story can prevail and be timeless, sure - but no one knows how or why. There is no ingredient list to guarantee it. Conversely, I see no reason to make a list of ingredients that would definitely prevent this either. Will Jackson's steep slide into CGI hell continue on from The Hobbit? Most definitely. Although it will still be Serkis's call. He strikes me as a fantastic director who loves CGI as a tool - but only a tool to sharpen the story. He's never struck me as someone who's fallen off the CGI cliff. But as you say a few times in your post - times have changed. Will there be orange/green color grading? If there is - I'll probably only notice or care if the internet tells me to. And even then... it's not something that's ever been a dealbreaker. I still can't see the problem with any of the LOTR movies - and I have the "green" version of Fellowship on blu-ray. It's a big shrug from me. Will they stretch it into a trilogy? Safe to say this is just the beginning of what I describe a few posts above this as "wringing Tolkien's stories out like a dirty washcloth" - I think they'll keep making movies about Middle Earth in varying (likely descending) quality until people stop paying for tickets. (See the DCU, MCU, Star Wars, etc for the precedent here) Go ahead - restore my faith with good story, good writing, and escapism from "what the world looks like today." We may be surprised. Let's call it a fool's hope. But I'm with you - not excited. Taking it as both good and bad news. Excited to revisit ME with Serkis and Jackson and the crew - but also feeling like everytime these guys have touched Tolkien since 2003 they've made things worse. I've never wanted to be wrong more than now. But I think there's a better chance of the fandom eventually loving the five seasons of ROP than there is of any of us loving whatever MEU content WB throws at us. We had our moment in the late nineties when an obscure Tolkien lover/filmmaker got a chance to make a passion project with a bunch of people who all loved Tolkiens words and creations and set out to bring them to screen. Reading about the making of LOTR is like looking at pictures of a unicorn -they weren't chasing boxoffice succes, or ciritical appreciation, or awards, or cash, or a better job for the resume. They were chasing their love of Tolkien - and it blew the whole world away. That doesn't exist now. Every single person involved in Middle Earth media now has dollar signs for eyes. It would be impossible not to. The genie is out of the bottle. The studios know the IP is valuable. Return on investment is the god that's worshipped now.
"So which story do you prefer?" "The one with the tiger. That's the better story." "Thank you. And so it goes with God."
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