LOTR - IMHO

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the best epic movies of our time. It’s so grand and it just takes you in with the aura of the story, the characters, the cinematography, the special effects, the war scenes etc. It’s a visual treat. The book was a great read too. I read the book back when I had freshly joined college and I would carry it around with me everywhere to my aunt’s place and my granny’s place. (What I carried was huge. It was the complete trilogy with maps and additional fictional historical data about Hobbits and Men etc. My cousin very aptly called it “Lord of the Books”.)

Peter Jackson has the book come alive on the big screen like J.R.R Tolkien may have never imagined (and even I for that matter). I can also see quite a few similarities between Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series – the orphan raised by a relative, is ‘chosen’ in a way, is courageous to the point of being foolhardy, has loyal friends who are there for him, has a caring and guiding ,old and powerful wizard. It sure is inspiring. I don’t remember if I watched the Fellowship at the theatre but I do remember that we had an LOTR marathon running at one of the multiplexes; twice in 2 years. They would show all the 3 movies in one day or on 3 different days. And I so wanted to attend that! To see the magnificence and glory of all the LOTR movies on the big screen as I already missed them when they were individually released. But I was unfortunate enough to not be able to attend for some reason or another on both occasions. I still regret that. It’s not the same watching it on your laptop’s widescreen. (no offence, lappy)

But, there are things about the book/movie, that I find not so great too. I’ll list down a couple:

1. Frodo – Yes Frodo, our diminutive, cute protagonist; keeps insisting throughout that “This is my Task”, “I have to do this alone”, “ I can do this on my own. I have to “ etc etc. And right after that, Gollum tells him Not to go in X direction and that’s exactly where he goes. He gets saved just in the nick of time. Another instance that I can remember – Faramir takes Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath and then they are attacked by Orcs. Faramir tells Frodo to stay in hiding and not come out. What does Frodo do? Walk right out and straight towards the Ringwraith and also almost puts on the ring in a trance. Who saves him? Sam Gamgee(at the cost of almost getting killed by Frodo!). The real Hero of the story is actually Sam Gamgee, sticking with idiotic Frodo right till the end. If it weren’t for him, the goddamn ring would never have been destroyed and the book/movie wouldn’t get over. (One of my close friends just fast forwards All of Frodo’s dialogues. I think I will try that too next time.)

2. Sauron and Saruman – I always get confused between the two. When Tolkien wrote the book, he could have chosen two distinct names for the two distinct characters. But no. He chose these specific similar sounding names which does not help lay-people like me. Half the time, I’m trying to figure out who Gandalf is talking about – Sauron or Saruman – and the movie progresses and then I’m lost and have to rewind. So the extended 4 and a half hour version becomes at least 5 and a half hour long. (Saruman sounds like a Pokemon character)

3. Gandalf and Saruman (Saruman? yes, I’m right!) – Gandalf the Grey becomes Gandalf the White. And now Saruman and Gandalf look exactly alike with the long flowing white robe and long white hair and beard and the white staff, that I again don’t know who is who.

4. Treebeard – Or as my aforementioned friend very eloquently put it, Tree Bored. I would have fallen asleep sooner if I were in Pippin and Merry’s situation. First he took forever to get from one side of the forest to the other for the Ent meet. Then they take more than half the day to say Good-morning. But. All the Ents reached Saruman’s place pretty goddamn quickly to give tit for tat!