I've loved Professor Tolkien's works for most of my whole life! It probably started when I saw the Rankin-Bass 'Hobbit' as a child. I deeply love Tom Bombadil and wished that Peter Jackson could've included him somewhere in his movies. That said, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is by far my favourite collection of movies, and Howard Shore's score is most definitely my favourite movie soundtrack of all time. To this day, I cannot hear the Shire theme without tearing up! And Aragorn singing at the coronation? Absolutely priceless!
I am re-reading (but actually listening to an audiobook of) the trilogy right now. One thing that I like about the books is how much more fleshed out Saruman is. While there isn't a full backstory, you get to see a lot more insight into how his pride corrupts and results in his downfall.
I love the Barrow-downs in the books. I'm endlessly fascinated by wraiths and ancient burial grounds and whatnot so I would've loved to see that on film. Also, book Faramir is a gigachad in comparison to the movie version and as a result I'm always a bit bummed out when watching the Ithilien sections of the Two Towers.
Book Faramir is indeed a gigachad. By far my favorite character. At least the Extended Edition of the movies do make him a bit more sympathetic and redeemable than the theatrical version. But I do wish that they'd kept in my favorite line of his, "I love not the bright sword for it's sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." (which _technically_ it is in the movie, but it's sung in elvish in the background during the scene Boromir dies in Fellowship)
I miss the Grey Company in the movies. One of my favorite parts of the books is when Aragorn leads them through the Paths of the Dead - and then to Erech, and then through Lamedon and Lebennin to Pelargir. I can appreciate the emotional impact of the scene where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli come out of the mountain, see the Corsair ships and think they've failed, but it relies on a compression of space that doesn't fit the map. Also, in the book the passage through the mountain and the meeting at Erech are spooky as all get out; but I always fast-forward through the Paths of the Dead scene in the movie because I find the brightly-lit hall and the green zombie-ghosts cheesy, and the popcorn skull eruption unbearably absurd. Again, when they get out of the mountain they're nowhere near Pelargir or even Linhir. I don't think they should even be able to see as far as Edhellond, and as far as I know that was not attacked. If Aragorn had somehow had a Dunadan's vision of the Corsairs and therefore had a moment to weep for his apparent failure, I could better allow Jackson's unnecessary moment of manufactured drama. If Jackson had put in the Dunedain and took out the popcorn skulls I would be even more forgiving. For the most part I still like the movies. There are some changes I really like: Strider at the Prancing Pony and the death of Boromir, for example. And I love how Cate Blanchett portrays Galadriel. I miss seeing her on the journey home (which would mean including the Scouring of the Shire and I understand that might have had to be a whole other movie - though maybe not, if they had shortened the battle scenes). I would love to see a portrayal of her throwing down Dol Guldur and laying bare its pits. I kind of like how the scene of her banishing Sauron in the Hobbit movies alludes to that, though I would see her more as shining like Gandalf leading the Rohirrim down the hill rather than that weird blue light effect.
I agree that the Paths of the Dead scene is better in the books, but I do still really like it in the film. The one thing I can't stand though, like you said, is that ridiculous wall of skulls part. That's like the one change from the theatrical to extended version I can't stand and wish they'd just left out and kept it the way it was in the theatricals. I thought it was a lot more cinematic, tension building, and all around interesting how in the theatricals it just ends with Aragorn asking the dead for help ("what say you?") and then it cutting abruptly with him not getting an answer, until we see them come off the corsair ships with the army of the dead and it's like, "ah, that's the answer!" The silly wall of skulls followed by the ghost king coming out and saying "we fight!" ruins that tension, in my opinion.
I watched the movies waay back in the day, when the second one came out. I remember I hadn't watched the first one but was intrigued by the second one, so my father rented it for me on VHS. Then we went to the cinema to watch The Two Towers and the next year, The Return of the King. And for years and years after that, I would play with my friends, pretending to be one of the characters from the films, and LOTR was a very important part of my life. But it wasn't until 2013 that I finally got to read the books, and also the Silmarillion and The Children of Urin (in Spanish, my native language). So it took me a while to actually read Tolkien's actual work, but by that point I had already done so much digging on my own on the internet, that I was just as knowledgeable on the matter as my other friends who had already read the books. So I understand what you're saying. And even though the movies are great and I love them to bits , the books are just on a different level. Théoden's death in the books (although I knew perfectly well that it was coming) actually made me cry. Oh, and if I had to pick a favourite quote, it would be from the Silmarillion: "Now when first Vingilot was set to sail in the seas of heaven, it rose unlooked for, glittering and bright; and the people of Middle-earth beheld it from afar and wondered, and they took it for a sign, and called it Gil-Estel, the Star of High Hope."
Greetings Lana! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience with Lord of the Rings! I always enjoy hearing your voice, and the artwork is beautiful. I dabbled in charcoal and pencil sketching in my youth, I once did a sketch of Bilbo smoking his pipe sitting under a tree, which is almost exactly how Frodo was first introduced in the movies. I first read the Hobbit when I was 18, I was immediately drawn into Tolkien’s world, read and reread The LOTR trilogy books, and the Silmarillion. I loved Tolkien’s creation myth, how Arda was manifested by the singing of melodies (music is a big part of my life also). One of my favorite parts of the books was Tom Bombadil, which didn’t make it into the movies unfortunately. As far as the movies go, I love the battle of Pelennor fields, the charge of the Rohirrim was glorious, and when the warriors yelled “Death! Death! Death!” I get full bodied goosebumps. When King Aragorn told Frodo et al :”My friends, you bow to no one.” That scene makes me tear up every single time!
My older brother finally read LotR for the first time this year, and he complained so much about Tom Bombadil being kind of a waste of space and unnecessary to the story. I told my brother he could go jump in Mount Doom.
Good video. Two towers was my favorite of the trilogy because the intro sequence was great, Arwen's segment, and Aragorn convincing Theoden to trample the Uruks
One of my favorite movies when I was a little kid in the late '90s was the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit. We had recorded it on a vhs, and I watched and watched and rewatched it _all_ the time. Then when Fellowship came out, I remember seeing a trailer for it on TV, and them mentioning a hobbit named Baggins and a wizard named Gandalf, and my little 7 year old brain freaking out going "THERE'S MORE? THERE'S MORE TO THE STORY THAN JUST SMAUG AND THE DWARVES?!?!?!" My family went to go see Fellowship in theaters and I was just blown away. I will always remember being little and sitting there watching Gandalf's fireworks zooming across the screen. Then when I was 8, my Achievement Day leaders (a group for little girls in my church) gave me a $10 gift card to a bookstore, and I had my mom drive me there to buy my very first copy of The Hobbit so I could finally read it. Which I did. Over and over. I still have that copy from 20 years ago, it's absolutely thrashed now. Then when I was 12 I read LotR, and then when I was 13 I got badly burned on my stomach and couldn't do much else over summer vacation, so I read The Silmarillion for the first time. So... yeah. Tolkien's been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. Absolutely love it.
Now that you mention it, your experience in seeing the movie and having it change your life is freakishly similar to mine. Except I vividly recall the day my mother took me to see FotR in the cinema, I was 10yo, and it's weird details like seeing a giant hole in the ground where they were building tunnels for the subway that went into operation years later. lol But the prologue and Cate Blanchett's ethereal narration remains my favourite part of all the movies, I vividly recall the awe I felt at that, actually flinching into the seat as the sound shockwave washed through the theater at Sauron's little explosion, the people and orcs (and little me) falling over as a result of that. But honestly the sound of her voice is what I recall the most, and I love it to the point of obsession 😅 Oh yes, to say it changed my life is an understatement haha
One thing in the books that the movies left out (for very valid reasons, but it would have been cool nonetheless) was Tom Bombadil. The man literally held the ring and made it disappear like it was a toy and effortlessly handed it back to Frodo which added another layer to our perspective on Tolkien's universe that beings such as this are just hanging out in the world
In terms of a battle, I prefer Helms Deep, though considering the narrative pay off's present in Return of the King the siege of Gondor is pretty neat. In addition, I find the older I get, the more I understand what Christopher Tolkien meant when he said the films lacked the meditative nature of the books with a greater emphasis on spectacle, considering some of my favorite moments are found in the books. Particularly the interaction Aragorn had with his Ranger brethren in the Return of the King novel. Always wholesome listening to people talk about things they care about. :)
I agree as well, I love the movies but the books are definitely superior. However, I do wonder how on earth someone would actually tell the story of Lord of the Rings on film and be able to convey all the beautiful depth that Tolkien gave it? I'd love to see someone try... besides Amazon.
So good to hear your point of view. The Jackson films are a great benchmark of the Lords of the Rings. As in all films from books you have to decide what to leave in and what to remove. I read them first in the 1970's and then watched the cartoon film of The Lord of the Rings.
I think that the most important part of the books, missing in the films. is the Scouring of the Shire. It is a very dark and sad and beautiful and filled with hope chapter, that can probably be turned into a separete film. I know that the endings of the Return of the King are already long enough, so I do not mean that it would be better if this chapter was included, but it is a pity that so important chapter is missing.
It's true. I mean, I love the films, and I get why they took it out from a film standpoint, but it really is missing out on how great that chapter is. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure Tolkien might be persuaded to forgive most of the other changes from the book (maybe..... _maybe_ ), but leaving out The Scouring of the Shire is probably where he would draw the line.
I enjoyed your talk and how much you became a fan of Tolkien. I am watching the Return of the King. Again 🙂 What's funny is, when the Trilogy came out, I didn't watch it (It was a difficult time in my life). I didn't like it. Then, I happened to see Fellowship of the Ring and became hooked. I watched them all in one sitting. This has happened several times. It happened a bit when I sat through the reviews of the Ruins of Putrid. Thank you!
For me, one thing that the movies (understandably) lack is the poetry. In the books there are several moving poems: the Song of Durin, the Lament for Boromir or the Song of the Mounds of Mundburg. They are a vivid part of the world and, as everything Tolkien wrote, incredibly detailed. They differ in style and tone and say so much about the world.
It was the same experience for me as well! I grew up with the movies (watching them at theater when i was barely 7-9). I only had the Third movie in my DVDs collection as I grew up so I watched the third movie way more than the others, and that's my favorite movie, mostly because there's a huge fantastic spider and I've always like giant spiders in fantasy. But at some point in my early adulthood I got even more fascinated about the lore, and for some reason I wanted to know what was Shelob origins and I ended up on the story of Ungoliant and discovered the existence of the Silmarillion. My mind was settle, I had to read that book and I was talking about it with my few friends and everyone was saying the same : this book is too hard to read, etc. To my surprise, I freaking loved it, I was so passionate by these stories. I had to study the characters and the map and it was such a fun and unique experience and it felt like discovering a massive fantastic serie in such a short time. Silmarillion became my favorite book, and I started reading it yearly. I then read the Hobbit (after watching the Hobbit trilogy) and I loved it as well. Then I decided to read the Lord of The Ring, again, I had attempted to read it when I was younger (in my early teenage hood and I had terrible memories because it was so hard to read back then for me). But I finally read the trilogy, in no time, and I loved it so bad. I kinda wondered why I had never gave it a new try until I was 25. This trilogy is so good, the dialogues is on point, the foreshadowing is awesome, the characters development are insane. Although I had watch the movies alot, some characters were portrayed a bit different than in the movies and I was not expecting it to be this way. Frodo, for instance, is such a wonderful character to see grow throughout the books, he's so much heroic, understandable and lovely (not that he's not in the movie, but in the movie (to me) he looked so frail. In the book he's so brave). The bromance between him and Sam, in the third book specially (going through Shelob's lair and at the Cirith Ungol) is beautiful, I dropped tears. There's a moment I really damped my book with tears and I had to stop reading for a moment because I could not see with my watery eyes, it was the chapter "The House of Healing" . God that chapter is so strong with something beautiful, Aragorn is shining, I have shivers just writing this. Or the reunion of Aragorn and Éomer on the Pelennor fields 🤩. I'm very sensitive when it comes to friendship (lol). After reading the Lord of The ring, It totally took the Silmarillion place and now I hold it dear to my heart as #1. I read the unfinished tales as well for more knowledge and it was very interesting, especially for the third age. The Appendice of the Lord of The Ring was surprisingly very interesting as well. I had so much fun reading and I'm now suggesting everyone who loves the movies to read the book. It opened my eyes and it helped me throughout my tougher times in life, thinking about this fantasy really brought me awesome feeling that I never had while reading a book. I'm surprised you haven't read the LotR books, you should really give it a try it's so *so* beautiful. I gave myself a challenge to read one chapter a day when I initially read it, and I was so attached to the story that I was actually reading 2-3 chapters a day and it was because I had to stop reading at some point 😅. My favorite Book is the Second book but my Favorite movie is the Third. By the way nice drawing and very interesting to know how you came to love the Lord of the Ring, I really connected to your personal story ☺. Also I'm wondering if english is your mother's tongue and you meant to learn like old english with the Silmarillion or you speak another language first (english isn't my mother's tongue, I'm actually french). Anyway interesting video as always :) Cheers!
Thank you for your comment and for sharing! Really cool how so many people have similar and yet varied experience with Tolkien's works :) oh and btw no, english is not my first language either, i'm slovenian :)
@@LanaMarie Thank you for your answer, means alot. I could never guess your first language was not english, you have such a perfect accent. And yes I do realize alot of people have the same experience with tolkien universe, maybe that's why we are so united. We are the Fellowship of Tolkien. 😁
Yeah sounds familiar I spend a lot of time in my room painting lotr miniatures as a teen instead of going out and all that. I find it impressive tho that English isnt your first language really fooled me :)
Enjoyable video! Faramir is way hotter in the books. I recommend from Book 4 the chapters 4 "of herbs and stewed rabbit" and ch 5 "the window on the west." They're easy to read and the action moves fairly quickly. Then Book 5 ch 1 "Minas Tirith" , ch 4 "The siege of Gondor" and "The houses of healing". Book 6 ch 5 "The steward and the king" - this is the romance between É and F. What Peter Jackson improved on: the death scenes of Boromir and Théoden. It really bugged me that Tolkien wrote that Théoden never knew Éowyn was there. Battle of Pelennor Fields. Battles are difficult to describe in books which you may have also felt while reading the battle of Hogwarts. What is better described in the books: Boromir, relationship between Éomer and Éowyn, Théoden, Aragorn's Dunedain "Grey Company," Faramir, Denethor, Gondor/Minas Tirith as a culture of living people with amazing ancestors. For Rohan, all of Book 2 starting with Ch 2!
Here is a juicy sample of Faramir’s character from the book! This is after the fell beast attacks Faramir and his men on horseback as they charge from Osgiliath to Minas Tirith, and Gandalf rides out to help them. This is a very exciting passage in the chapter “the siege of Gondor.” “Pippin pressed forward as they passed under the lamp beneath the gate-arch, and when he saw the pale face of Faramir he caught his breath. It was the face of one who has been assailed by a great fear or anguish, but has mastered it and now is quiet. Proud and grave he stood for a moment as he spoke to the guard, and Pippin gazing at him saw how closely he resembled his brother Boromir - whom Pippin had liked from the first, admiring the great man’s lordly but kindly manner. Yet suddenly for him his heart was strangely moved with a feeling that he had not known before. Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Elder Race. He knew now why Beregond [a soldier of the Citadel who had been assigned to teach Pippin his duties after Pippin offered his service to Lord Denethor] spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings.”
Intriguing and insightful as usual... OK, longish reply (my apologies in advance) The movies are great but why are they great? Jackson 'stuck to the lore' and more importantly, filled the script with as much direct Tolkien dialogue as possible. Reading Tolkien is a masterclass in literature, it's sublime reading. That's why he has passed the test of time and has been translated into nearly as many languages as the Bible (the original masterpiece of literature). "A time may come soon when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised." "All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death." "What do you fear, lady?" he asked. "A cage," she said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire." -Aragorn conversation with Eowyn, Return of the King JRR Tolkien (Brief analysis; Eowyn moves away from the grander words of Aragorn. She focuses internally on her desire to be more than she is, she feels restrained by her lot. But Aragorn speaks for the ages. Most struggles are unheralded yet struggle we do and must. We remember Patton smashing the German lines but we don’t know the names of the thousands who died at Normandy who if they didn’t fight, Patton’s glory would be meaningless. Tolkien's brief snippets of dialogue are filled with such grand deep wisdom and eloquence) I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. -Faramir, LOTR A masterclass in writing, evocative of some of the great classics of Western Civilization: Then out spoke brave Horatius the Captain of the Gate: “To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late; And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods -Horatius, by Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay A king sate on the rocky brow Which looks o’er sea-born Salamis; And ships, by thousands, lay below, And men in nations;-all were his! He counted them at break of day- And when the sun set, where were they? -The Isles of Greece, Lord Byron That which hath been is what will be, That which is done is what shall be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. -Ecclesiastes 1:9 Reading Tolkien provides an almost never ender reserve of brilliance. Even the 'lesser' hobbit is filled with Gandalf espousing wisdom overtime he speaks. Yes the movies are great but their greatest gift is introducing the books to readers. Thanks for listening.
Thank you for this! Man, it makes me miss what we might have had instead of ROP... indeed, jackson's respect for the source material was vital, but as it seems respect of the source text has become a rare thing in the movie industry nowadays where other things prevail.
I've loved Professor Tolkien's works for most of my whole life! It probably started when I saw the Rankin-Bass 'Hobbit' as a child. I deeply love Tom Bombadil and wished that Peter Jackson could've included him somewhere in his movies. That said, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is by far my favourite collection of movies, and Howard Shore's score is most definitely my favourite movie soundtrack of all time. To this day, I cannot hear the Shire theme without tearing up! And Aragorn singing at the coronation? Absolutely priceless!
I am re-reading (but actually listening to an audiobook of) the trilogy right now. One thing that I like about the books is how much more fleshed out Saruman is. While there isn't a full backstory, you get to see a lot more insight into how his pride corrupts and results in his downfall.
That sounds really cool!
I love the Barrow-downs in the books. I'm endlessly fascinated by wraiths and ancient burial grounds and whatnot so I would've loved to see that on film. Also, book Faramir is a gigachad in comparison to the movie version and as a result I'm always a bit bummed out when watching the Ithilien sections of the Two Towers.
Book Faramir is indeed a gigachad. By far my favorite character. At least the Extended Edition of the movies do make him a bit more sympathetic and redeemable than the theatrical version. But I do wish that they'd kept in my favorite line of his, "I love not the bright sword for it's sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." (which _technically_ it is in the movie, but it's sung in elvish in the background during the scene Boromir dies in Fellowship)
@@jaceyking5015 That's a really cool tidbit, seems like there's always something more to learn about these movies (and books)
I miss the Grey Company in the movies. One of my favorite parts of the books is when Aragorn leads them through the Paths of the Dead - and then to Erech, and then through Lamedon and Lebennin to Pelargir. I can appreciate the emotional impact of the scene where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli come out of the mountain, see the Corsair ships and think they've failed, but it relies on a compression of space that doesn't fit the map. Also, in the book the passage through the mountain and the meeting at Erech are spooky as all get out; but I always fast-forward through the Paths of the Dead scene in the movie because I find the brightly-lit hall and the green zombie-ghosts cheesy, and the popcorn skull eruption unbearably absurd.
Again, when they get out of the mountain they're nowhere near Pelargir or even Linhir. I don't think they should even be able to see as far as Edhellond, and as far as I know that was not attacked. If Aragorn had somehow had a Dunadan's vision of the Corsairs and therefore had a moment to weep for his apparent failure, I could better allow Jackson's unnecessary moment of manufactured drama. If Jackson had put in the Dunedain and took out the popcorn skulls I would be even more forgiving.
For the most part I still like the movies. There are some changes I really like: Strider at the Prancing Pony and the death of Boromir, for example.
And I love how Cate Blanchett portrays Galadriel. I miss seeing her on the journey home (which would mean including the Scouring of the Shire and I understand that might have had to be a whole other movie - though maybe not, if they had shortened the battle scenes). I would love to see a portrayal of her throwing down Dol Guldur and laying bare its pits. I kind of like how the scene of her banishing Sauron in the Hobbit movies alludes to that, though I would see her more as shining like Gandalf leading the Rohirrim down the hill rather than that weird blue light effect.
I agree that the Paths of the Dead scene is better in the books, but I do still really like it in the film. The one thing I can't stand though, like you said, is that ridiculous wall of skulls part. That's like the one change from the theatrical to extended version I can't stand and wish they'd just left out and kept it the way it was in the theatricals. I thought it was a lot more cinematic, tension building, and all around interesting how in the theatricals it just ends with Aragorn asking the dead for help ("what say you?") and then it cutting abruptly with him not getting an answer, until we see them come off the corsair ships with the army of the dead and it's like, "ah, that's the answer!" The silly wall of skulls followed by the ghost king coming out and saying "we fight!" ruins that tension, in my opinion.
This was a very interesting read, thanks so much for sharing!
I watched the movies waay back in the day, when the second one came out. I remember I hadn't watched the first one but was intrigued by the second one, so my father rented it for me on VHS. Then we went to the cinema to watch The Two Towers and the next year, The Return of the King. And for years and years after that, I would play with my friends, pretending to be one of the characters from the films, and LOTR was a very important part of my life. But it wasn't until 2013 that I finally got to read the books, and also the Silmarillion and The Children of Urin (in Spanish, my native language). So it took me a while to actually read Tolkien's actual work, but by that point I had already done so much digging on my own on the internet, that I was just as knowledgeable on the matter as my other friends who had already read the books.
So I understand what you're saying. And even though the movies are great and I love them to bits , the books are just on a different level. Théoden's death in the books (although I knew perfectly well that it was coming) actually made me cry.
Oh, and if I had to pick a favourite quote, it would be from the Silmarillion: "Now when first Vingilot was set to sail in the seas of heaven, it rose unlooked for, glittering and bright; and the people of Middle-earth beheld it from afar and wondered, and they took it for a sign, and called it Gil-Estel, the Star of High Hope."
Beautiful! Thanks for your comment and for sharing :)
Greetings Lana! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience with Lord of the Rings! I always enjoy hearing your voice, and the artwork is beautiful. I dabbled in charcoal and pencil sketching in my youth, I once did a sketch of Bilbo smoking his pipe sitting under a tree, which is almost exactly how Frodo was first introduced in the movies. I first read the Hobbit when I was 18, I was immediately drawn into Tolkien’s world, read and reread The LOTR trilogy books, and the Silmarillion. I loved Tolkien’s creation myth, how Arda was manifested by the singing of melodies (music is a big part of my life also). One of my favorite parts of the books was Tom Bombadil, which didn’t make it into the movies unfortunately. As far as the movies go, I love the battle of Pelennor fields, the charge of the Rohirrim was glorious, and when the warriors yelled “Death! Death! Death!” I get full bodied goosebumps. When King Aragorn told Frodo et al :”My friends, you bow to no one.” That scene makes me tear up every single time!
My older brother finally read LotR for the first time this year, and he complained so much about Tom Bombadil being kind of a waste of space and unnecessary to the story. I told my brother he could go jump in Mount Doom.
@@jaceyking5015 👍😄
Thank you for sharing and for watching! Oh nice, we have quite a few interests in common then :)
@@LanaMarie I love the arts, they lift my spirits, especially during this global pandemic. I appreciate you, your videos always brighten my day. 😊
Good video. Two towers was my favorite of the trilogy because the intro sequence was great, Arwen's segment, and Aragorn convincing Theoden to trample the Uruks
One of my favorite movies when I was a little kid in the late '90s was the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit. We had recorded it on a vhs, and I watched and watched and rewatched it _all_ the time. Then when Fellowship came out, I remember seeing a trailer for it on TV, and them mentioning a hobbit named Baggins and a wizard named Gandalf, and my little 7 year old brain freaking out going "THERE'S MORE? THERE'S MORE TO THE STORY THAN JUST SMAUG AND THE DWARVES?!?!?!" My family went to go see Fellowship in theaters and I was just blown away. I will always remember being little and sitting there watching Gandalf's fireworks zooming across the screen. Then when I was 8, my Achievement Day leaders (a group for little girls in my church) gave me a $10 gift card to a bookstore, and I had my mom drive me there to buy my very first copy of The Hobbit so I could finally read it. Which I did. Over and over. I still have that copy from 20 years ago, it's absolutely thrashed now. Then when I was 12 I read LotR, and then when I was 13 I got badly burned on my stomach and couldn't do much else over summer vacation, so I read The Silmarillion for the first time. So... yeah. Tolkien's been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. Absolutely love it.
This is a really cool story, it's amazing to hear how Tolkien's work has shaped so many people's lives :) thank you for sharing!
Now that you mention it, your experience in seeing the movie and having it change your life is freakishly similar to mine.
Except I vividly recall the day my mother took me to see FotR in the cinema, I was 10yo, and it's weird details like seeing a giant hole in the ground where they were building tunnels for the subway that went into operation years later. lol
But the prologue and Cate Blanchett's ethereal narration remains my favourite part of all the movies, I vividly recall the awe I felt at that, actually flinching into the seat as the sound shockwave washed through the theater at Sauron's little explosion, the people and orcs (and little me) falling over as a result of that. But honestly the sound of her voice is what I recall the most, and I love it to the point of obsession 😅
Oh yes, to say it changed my life is an understatement haha
Arwens fate always hit me in the feels. Both in the movie when Elrond speaks to her and both what is written in the appendix
One thing in the books that the movies left out (for very valid reasons, but it would have been cool nonetheless) was Tom Bombadil. The man literally held the ring and made it disappear like it was a toy and effortlessly handed it back to Frodo which added another layer to our perspective on Tolkien's universe that beings such as this are just hanging out in the world
In terms of a battle, I prefer Helms Deep, though considering the narrative pay off's present in Return of the King the siege of Gondor is pretty neat. In addition, I find the older I get, the more I understand what Christopher Tolkien meant when he said the films lacked the meditative nature of the books with a greater emphasis on spectacle, considering some of my favorite moments are found in the books. Particularly the interaction Aragorn had with his Ranger brethren in the Return of the King novel. Always wholesome listening to people talk about things they care about. :)
I agree as well, I love the movies but the books are definitely superior. However, I do wonder how on earth someone would actually tell the story of Lord of the Rings on film and be able to convey all the beautiful depth that Tolkien gave it? I'd love to see someone try... besides Amazon.
So good to hear your point of view. The Jackson films are a great benchmark of the Lords of the Rings. As in all films from books you have to decide what to leave in and what to remove. I read them first in the 1970's and then watched the cartoon film of The Lord of the Rings.
I think that the most important part of the books, missing in the films. is the Scouring of the Shire. It is a very dark and sad and beautiful and filled with hope chapter, that can probably be turned into a separete film. I know that the endings of the Return of the King are already long enough, so I do not mean that it would be better if this chapter was included, but it is a pity that so important chapter is missing.
It's true. I mean, I love the films, and I get why they took it out from a film standpoint, but it really is missing out on how great that chapter is. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure Tolkien might be persuaded to forgive most of the other changes from the book (maybe..... _maybe_ ), but leaving out The Scouring of the Shire is probably where he would draw the line.
I enjoyed your talk and how much you became a fan of Tolkien. I am watching the Return of the King. Again 🙂 What's funny is, when the Trilogy came out, I didn't watch it (It was a difficult time in my life). I didn't like it. Then, I happened to see Fellowship of the Ring and became hooked. I watched them all in one sitting. This has happened several times. It happened a bit when I sat through the reviews of the Ruins of Putrid. Thank you!
Ahhh yes... We are blessed once more! A good ending to a day!
For me, one thing that the movies (understandably) lack is the poetry. In the books there are several moving poems: the Song of Durin, the Lament for Boromir or the Song of the Mounds of Mundburg. They are a vivid part of the world and, as everything Tolkien wrote, incredibly detailed. They differ in style and tone and say so much about the world.
It was the same experience for me as well!
I grew up with the movies (watching them at theater when i was barely 7-9). I only had the Third movie in my DVDs collection as I grew up so I watched the third movie way more than the others, and that's my favorite movie, mostly because there's a huge fantastic spider and I've always like giant spiders in fantasy.
But at some point in my early adulthood I got even more fascinated about the lore, and for some reason I wanted to know what was Shelob origins and I ended up on the story of Ungoliant and discovered the existence of the Silmarillion. My mind was settle, I had to read that book and I was talking about it with my few friends and everyone was saying the same : this book is too hard to read, etc.
To my surprise, I freaking loved it, I was so passionate by these stories. I had to study the characters and the map and it was such a fun and unique experience and it felt like discovering a massive fantastic serie in such a short time. Silmarillion became my favorite book, and I started reading it yearly.
I then read the Hobbit (after watching the Hobbit trilogy) and I loved it as well. Then I decided to read the Lord of The Ring, again, I had attempted to read it when I was younger (in my early teenage hood and I had terrible memories because it was so hard to read back then for me).
But I finally read the trilogy, in no time, and I loved it so bad. I kinda wondered why I had never gave it a new try until I was 25. This trilogy is so good, the dialogues is on point, the foreshadowing is awesome, the characters development are insane. Although I had watch the movies alot, some characters were portrayed a bit different than in the movies and I was not expecting it to be this way.
Frodo, for instance, is such a wonderful character to see grow throughout the books, he's so much heroic, understandable and lovely (not that he's not in the movie, but in the movie (to me) he looked so frail. In the book he's so brave). The bromance between him and Sam, in the third book specially (going through Shelob's lair and at the Cirith Ungol) is beautiful, I dropped tears. There's a moment I really damped my book with tears and I had to stop reading for a moment because I could not see with my watery eyes, it was the chapter "The House of Healing" . God that chapter is so strong with something beautiful, Aragorn is shining, I have shivers just writing this. Or the reunion of Aragorn and Éomer on the Pelennor fields 🤩. I'm very sensitive when it comes to friendship (lol).
After reading the Lord of The ring, It totally took the Silmarillion place and now I hold it dear to my heart as #1.
I read the unfinished tales as well for more knowledge and it was very interesting, especially for the third age. The Appendice of the Lord of The Ring was surprisingly very interesting as well. I had so much fun reading and I'm now suggesting everyone who loves the movies to read the book. It opened my eyes and it helped me throughout my tougher times in life, thinking about this fantasy really brought me awesome feeling that I never had while reading a book.
I'm surprised you haven't read the LotR books, you should really give it a try it's so *so* beautiful. I gave myself a challenge to read one chapter a day when I initially read it, and I was so attached to the story that I was actually reading 2-3 chapters a day and it was because I had to stop reading at some point 😅.
My favorite Book is the Second book but my Favorite movie is the Third.
By the way nice drawing and very interesting to know how you came to love the Lord of the Ring, I really connected to your personal story ☺. Also I'm wondering if english is your mother's tongue and you meant to learn like old english with the Silmarillion or you speak another language first (english isn't my mother's tongue, I'm actually french).
Anyway interesting video as always :)
Cheers!
Thank you for your comment and for sharing! Really cool how so many people have similar and yet varied experience with Tolkien's works :) oh and btw no, english is not my first language either, i'm slovenian :)
@@LanaMarie Thank you for your answer, means alot. I could never guess your first language was not english, you have such a perfect accent. And yes I do realize alot of people have the same experience with tolkien universe, maybe that's why we are so united. We are the Fellowship of Tolkien. 😁
I think the ROTK is the best overall of the three, but the battle at helms deep is the greatest fantasy/medieval battle ever filmed.
Please make a painting of Arwen too! Love your videos
that's a great idea! i might do it at one point :) thanks!
I would watch a painting of Arwen
u can listen to the books - they are on youtube...
Yeah sounds familiar I spend a lot of time in my room painting lotr miniatures as a teen instead of going out and all that.
I find it impressive tho that English isnt your first language really fooled me :)
I love elf women 😛 and great video Mortal 👋
Enjoyable video! Faramir is way hotter in the books. I recommend from Book 4 the chapters 4 "of herbs and stewed rabbit" and ch 5 "the window on the west." They're easy to read and the action moves fairly quickly.
Then Book 5 ch 1 "Minas Tirith" , ch 4 "The siege of Gondor" and "The houses of healing".
Book 6 ch 5 "The steward and the king" - this is the romance between É and F.
What Peter Jackson improved on: the death scenes of Boromir and Théoden. It really bugged me that Tolkien wrote that Théoden never knew Éowyn was there. Battle of Pelennor Fields. Battles are difficult to describe in books which you may have also felt while reading the battle of Hogwarts.
What is better described in the books: Boromir, relationship between Éomer and Éowyn, Théoden, Aragorn's Dunedain "Grey Company," Faramir, Denethor, Gondor/Minas Tirith as a culture of living people with amazing ancestors.
For Rohan, all of Book 2 starting with Ch 2!
Here is a juicy sample of Faramir’s character from the book! This is after the fell beast attacks Faramir and his men on horseback as they charge from Osgiliath to Minas Tirith, and Gandalf rides out to help them. This is a very exciting passage in the chapter “the siege of Gondor.”
“Pippin pressed forward as they passed under the lamp beneath the gate-arch, and when he saw the pale face of Faramir he caught his breath. It was the face of one who has been assailed by a great fear or anguish, but has mastered it and now is quiet. Proud and grave he stood for a moment as he spoke to the guard, and Pippin gazing at him saw how closely he resembled his brother Boromir - whom Pippin had liked from the first, admiring the great man’s lordly but kindly manner. Yet suddenly for him his heart was strangely moved with a feeling that he had not known before. Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Elder Race. He knew now why Beregond [a soldier of the Citadel who had been assigned to teach Pippin his duties after Pippin offered his service to Lord Denethor] spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings.”
Intriguing and insightful as usual... OK, longish reply (my apologies in advance)
The movies are great but why are they great? Jackson 'stuck to the lore' and more importantly, filled the script with as much direct Tolkien dialogue as possible.
Reading Tolkien is a masterclass in literature, it's sublime reading. That's why he has passed the test of time and has been translated into nearly as many languages as the Bible (the original masterpiece of literature).
"A time may come soon when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised."
"All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death."
"What do you fear, lady?" he asked.
"A cage," she said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire."
-Aragorn conversation with Eowyn, Return of the King JRR Tolkien
(Brief analysis; Eowyn moves away from the grander words of Aragorn. She focuses internally on her desire to be more than she is, she feels restrained by her lot. But Aragorn speaks for the ages. Most struggles are unheralded yet struggle we do and must.
We remember Patton smashing the German lines but we don’t know the names of the thousands who died at Normandy who if they didn’t fight, Patton’s glory would be meaningless. Tolkien's brief snippets of dialogue are filled with such grand deep wisdom and eloquence)
I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.
-Faramir, LOTR
A masterclass in writing, evocative of some of the great classics of Western Civilization:
Then out spoke brave Horatius
the Captain of the Gate:
“To every man upon this earth,
death cometh soon or late;
And how can man die better
than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
and the temples of his Gods
-Horatius, by Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay
A king sate on the rocky brow
Which looks o’er sea-born Salamis;
And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations;-all were his!
He counted them at break of day-
And when the sun set, where were they?
-The Isles of Greece, Lord Byron
That which hath been is what will be,
That which is done is what shall be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
-Ecclesiastes 1:9
Reading Tolkien provides an almost never ender reserve of brilliance. Even the 'lesser' hobbit is filled with Gandalf espousing wisdom overtime he speaks. Yes the movies are great but their greatest gift is introducing the books to readers.
Thanks for listening.
Thank you for this! Man, it makes me miss what we might have had instead of ROP... indeed, jackson's respect for the source material was vital, but as it seems respect of the source text has become a rare thing in the movie industry nowadays where other things prevail.
Nope, sorry. I'll take olliphant-climbing Legolas over shield-surfing. That bit also fuels Gimli's indignation, "That still only counts as one!"
Where are you from?
A small european chicken shaped country 😅
@@LanaMarie Cool. Trying to figure out what country that is. I myself am from a fish-shaped european coutry.
Me from not so small lady shaped european country🤭
@@HK23783 Finland barely looks like a lady
@@paulastalas8691 Barely, I couldn't find a better word for it😅
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