Being incurable nerds we spent one (or two or three…) evenings in our extremely comfy log cabin at Levi arguing about the merits of Peter Jackson’s LotR movies. Most of us, that is. Taru just watched our nitpicking baffled, Lauri was too young to be yet indoctrinated and the dogs did not really care one way or the other as long as there were cardboard wraps for them to destroy. The rest of us threw ourselves into the discussion wholeheartedly, aided with all sorts of alcholic beverages.
Numerous opinions were presented and their merits debated in friendly but extremely professional manner, nobody was physically assaulted and a consensus emerged that the movies, though flawed and different from our visions, were all-in-all a valid, lovingly crafted interpretation of Prof. Tolkien’s saga.
But as at present during these discussions were a former chairperson, former vice-chairperson, two former treasurers, one former secretary and a former general éminence grise of the Finnish Tolkien Society, we each had pet peeves about the movies, some minor some major. Inspired by this here is a mission for you: name one thing you think the movies failed with abysmally and one thing they succeeded triumphantly.
Be specific, not something like "actors" or "battles", but specific characters, interpretations, scenes, sets etc. And yes you can only pick one of each. Be as silly and irrelevant and fanboyish as you wish. This is not about being fair and balanced, this is about being FOX-news: get on the barricades for your insignificant detail or major reinterpretation that for some stupid reason just annoys your fanboy/fangirl sensibilities and screw reasonability. It does not matter that that the movie logic might have demanded the change or that the new interpretation works well enough or in a way better; if you don’t like it you don’t like it.
Me first.
Abysmal failure: Aragorn. Yes really. The Aragorn of the books was not an angsty modern man who went through character-forming changes and grew up to be a king during the events depicted in the books. What he was, was a an almost hundred years old king-in-waiting abiding his time, he had learned what he needed and made the choices he had long before the narrative begins. He was a hero in the mold of Beowulf, not Henry V.
triumphant success: Mines of Moria. From the moment they enter the mines to the moment Boromir says "They’ve got a cavetroll", they do not put foot wrong. The sets, the dialogue, the music, the pacing. It just works like a dream.
Okay, your turn.
Eating Muffins 