After three years of waiting, 18 months of shooting, months of post production and several long agonising Decmeber days, the Fellowship of the Ring has finally arrived, and for the majority of those that have witnessed it, it is for them the finest movie they have ever seen. For every five hundred reviews there appears to be one bad one, which in itself speaks volumes about what Peter Jackson has created. This weekend the Hall of Fire finally gets the long-awaited chance to discuss The Fellowship Of The Ring: The Motion Picture.
From the beginning to end, the Fellowship of the Ring is a cinematic experience unlike all else, a film that revels in it’s own individuality and unique style. The characters we have grown to love from the books seems more real than ever before, and actors like Sir Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee and Viggo Mortensen seem to give the characters a new depth, a new life. Everyone’s favourite scenes from the books are there, and the representation of Middle-Earth is simply breathtaking in places, a fantastic advertising for New Zealand itself.
However, the film is not perfect. This has been said by many people who have watched, and there are some occasions when a fan of the books may be forced to bite their tongue and grin and bear as they watch Peter Jackson deviate from the books somewhat. Also, the way in which the story jumps from point A and point B and the route it takes to get there has also been to the disappointment of some fans: the cutting down of the film to three hours seems to be one of the main reasons for this. The changes to the portrayal of some other characters has also raised some eyebrows amongst Tolkien fans.
There is no doubt that in the most part, the Fellowship of the Ring is a great success for Peter Jackson and all else involved. But what do you think of it? Do you like it/love it/loath it? Did you feel the film strayed too much from the books, and if so was that a good thing or a bad thing? Did every character the get the time they deserved? Was the editing too quick? Did Howard Shore’s soundtrack add to the atmosphere of the film, or take away from it? All these questions and more will be answered this weekend as we discuss Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring!
Upcoming Discussions:
Dec 29 & 30: Fellowship of the Ring Movie Discussion 2
Place:
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.nets chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 7:00 pm ET (19:00) [also 12:00 am Sunday (01:00) CET and 10:00 am Sunday (10:00) AET]
Sunday Chat: 5:00 pm (17:00) AET [also 07:00 am (08:00) CET and 2:00 am (02:00) ET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USAs East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian Eastern Time, Australias East Coast
Questions? Topics? Send em here.