Movie Review: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

» The_Benji - Adaptation?

I disagree with Debbie when she describes the changes from book to film as, "a few minor revisions that can be lived with." The changes were many and radical. I feel that the entire tone of the film was at times precisely contrary to Tolkien's books.

My concerns about how this film was adapted prompted me to start the thread: On Film Adaptations of Literature. Perhaps I should have put LOTR in the tag line. I am interested in precisely what standards folks have for judging adaptations like LOTR. What specific changes were made to the book to make the adaptation easier? What do the decisions mean in the context of the book's rhetorical structure?

For more detail on this, you can read my post in the Reading and Literature community. Respond here or there, I'll read em' both.

Benji Hebner
Poet

-- posted by The_Benji

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» Freedomstar - Re: Adaptation?

In response to message posted by The_Benji:

Benji,

Thank you for starting an interesting discussion thread.

I agree with you about some of the changes in the LOTR movie. They were egregious. Some of the changes I didn’t like were:

• Frodo taking Gollum’s side and telling Sam to leave.

• Gandalf knocking Denethor out with his staff.

• Denethor running while on fire to jump over the parapet.
  

For readers and lovers of the book, this does ruin it for us. It changes Tolkien’s original intent. My comment that they “can be lived with” was because I was taking the role of a general movie viewer in writing my review.

When director Peter Jackson was adapting the book for film, he was doing it with a general audience as a target. Movie makers must try to appeal to the widest possible audience as possible because, let’s face it, the bottom line is to make money for them. Film makers are not interested in pleasing the readers of the book. They use the tried and true formulas that will draw a large audience.

In response to your questions about film adaptation in general, it’s very hard to say what standard everyone has. Each reader possesses their own unique images and responses to a book in their mind. No movie maker can ever please everyone in adapting a book. I personally don’t try to read a book before seeing a movie made from it. I’ve been disappointed too many times by the changes made by a director to a book I enjoyed. Also, when seeing a movie adapted from a book, I separate them in my mind, realizing that these are too different mediums. All we can really hope for is that the movie makers don’t change the book too much in the adaptation process.

-- posted by Freedomstar

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