12-17-2004, 09:09 PM | #1 |
The Intermittent One
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Good Adaptations? (Essay)
I promised certain people on the moot that I would post my essay on the Bakshi and Jackson adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. (Not sure if this is right place to post?!), so, here it is!
Opinions, thoughts, criticsms, etc. greatly welcomed! I shall post this in 4 Parts. 1st Post = Introduction 2nd Post = Part 1 - Animated Adaptation 3rd Post = Part 2 - Jackson's Adaptation 4th Post = Conclusion __________________________________________________ _______________ INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________ ______________ As part of my Key Skills Communication portfolio, I have been asked to write an essay on any of a list of topics produced by my lecturer. The topic which I have chosen is ‘The Film was good, but the Book was better’. The aim of this essay shall be to create an appraisal of the Lord of the Rings (animated Version), as directed by Ralph Bakshi, an appraisal of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, as directed by Peter Jackson, and an evaluation of how well they follow the story as written by J R R Tolkien. In addition to ‘The Lord of the Rings’, I have cited ‘The Hobbit’, ‘The Silmarillion’ and ‘Unfinished Tales’, all by J R R Tolkien, as they provide vital background information to the plot of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, and I will assess to what extent this background information has been transferred to the films. __________________________________________________ _______________ ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS’, BY J R R TOLKIEN __________________________________________________ _______________ ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is an epic tale of good versus evil, in which the Hobbit Frodo Baggins must achieve what seems like an impossible task: to destroy The Dark Lord Sauron’s master Ring, which was forged by Him in Oroduin, The Mountain of Doom, in the midst of the Land of Mordor, aided by a fellowship consisting of Gandalf the Wizard, Aragorn of the North, Boromir of Gondor, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, and Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took and Samwise Gamgee, three of Frodo’s Hobbit-companions, from the sleepy land of the Shire. Pursued by Orcs, Nâzgul and the mysterious ‘Gollum’, their task seems unachievable, yet they meet unlikely allies along the way, and take part in the War of the Ring, consisting of a number of battles fought across the realms of Middle-Earth. __________________________________________________ _______________ Last edited by Last Child of Ungoliant : 12-18-2004 at 12:05 AM. |
12-17-2004, 09:11 PM | #2 | ||||
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PART ONE: AN APPRAISAL OF RALPH BAKSHI’S ANIMATED ADAPTATION IN RELATION TO THE BOOKS
__________________________________________________ _______________ The adaptation of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, as directed by Ralph Bakshi, begins with an account of the forging of the Rings of Power, and the Battle of the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, from c.1200 – c.3441 of the Second Age of Middle Earth, although the account given in the film differs from the account in the books, in that the film states that The Last Alliance actually fell beneath the power of Sauron’s might. Quote:
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There are more sections of the film, which whilst keeping the general plot similar to the original, small parts, sometimes important, are either changed, or missed out completely. Later on, at the village of Bree, the Innkeeper, Barliman Butterbur, says to Frodo something along the lines of “Right you are Mr. Bagg … err … Underhill, is it?”, but as the filmmakers had not filmed the part of the story when Mr. Butterbur produces the letter from Gandalf, explaining that Frodo would be using the travelling name of ‘Underhill’, it appears as if the actor had just not bothered to read the script properly. A phrase used by the Flying Moose website is ‘Tolkien’s Greatest Hits’, and this seems to make sense, the film had taken the best parts of the story, and left out the bits in between, quite often taking out parts of the story which add background to the general plot. Another good example of ‘Tolkien’s Greatest Hits’ is at the Council of Elrond. Aragorn produces the ‘Sword that was broken’, and claims to be Elendil’s descendant, with the narrator hastily jumping in to state that this proved that Aragorn was Isildur’s heir. However, the filmmakers made no attempt to explain who Elendil was, or why the sword was broken, and what any of this had to do with Isildur, who we know only as the person that cut the ring from Sauron’s hand. Later on, at the Mines of Moria, Aragorn once again produces his sword, and, lo and behold! It is no longer broken. How or why it has now been reforged we are never told, and so we come away with the impression that the animators had made a mistake, and they had got their continuity wrong. Inside Moria, we find yet more instances of where the filmmakers had not bothered to read up on the basic material, on which the film is supposed to be based: Quote:
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My main criticism of this film has to be that it ends approximately halfway through the story, at the Battle of the Hornburg, and the fact that major characters and events were missed out, or completely changed. Although, in essence, this film is a fairly good adaptation, not only for the time at which it was made, but also for the fact that it can quite easily be viewed by children, we have to remember that even Tolkien began writing ‘The Lord of the Rings’ as a children’s book, a sequel to his earlier work, ‘The Hobbit’, it is only during the writing process that it became the epic that we now know it to be. __________________________________________________ _______________ Last edited by Last Child of Ungoliant : 12-18-2004 at 12:29 AM. |
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12-17-2004, 09:13 PM | #3 | |
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PART TWO: AN APPRAISAL OF PETER JACKSON’S THREE-PART ADAPTATION IN RELATION TO THE BOOKS
__________________________________________________ _______________ This adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson, also starts with a version of the Forging of the Rings of Power, and the Last Alliance, but this time the film version more-or-less follows the account as written by Tolkien, with a few minor exceptions. One is that the Siege of Barad-dûr has been removed, but the film compensates by having the Second Age end at 3434, and so the time anomaly that would have existed is therefore erased. This film, for the most part, does seem to stick with Tolkien for most of the journey. This is one of the benefits of creating the movie in three parts, mirroring, though not exactly, the sections of the story. Some of the film ending points, however, are put in place at different points to the splits in the books, for instance, ‘The Two Towers’ finishes with Frodo having been taken to Cirith Ungol by the Orcs, after having been stung by Shelob, however the filmmakers decided to end the film much earlier than this, and have their ending before Frodo, Sam and Gollum had even entered the Imlad Morgul, or the Morgul Vale. In the general scheme of things, these changes do not matter as much, as it merely means a different starting point that would occur in the next film. This adaptation, like the animation, does take some points and change them. Sometimes these changes are drastic, and sometimes they do not change things a great deal. One major change for the film was the increased role of Arwen, the daughter of Elrond. In the books, we see little of Arwen until Aragorn has been made King in Gondor and Arnor, and her first appearance is at the House of Elrond, in Rivendell: Quote:
Another drastic change from the books is during the Battle of the Hornburg. A minor change being that the filmmakers renamed it the Battle of Helm’s Deep. The major change is that, before the 10,000 strong army of Orcs reaches Helm’s Deep, an Elven horn is heard, and a large contingent of Elven archers, from Lothlórien, come to the aid of the people of Rohan. Théoden, quite naturally, is astounded at this, and yet Aragorn seems to act as if armies of Elves go wandering through Middle-Earth as a normal occurrence. For the rest of the film, it does seem to follow the books for the most part, with a few minor exceptions, for instance the fact that Denethor of Gondor had not lit the Beacons, whereas in the book the beacons had of course been lit, at the first signs that Sauron was preparing to strike against Gondor. Another minor departure from the books is that Merry rides off with the host to the Black Gate, whilst, in the book, he had been much too injured after assaulting the Witch King of Angmar, in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. A rather major change in the film is that the Grey Company, Aragorn’s men from the North, do not feature in the films, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli then take The Paths of the Dead alone. Whilst this may not seem a very important feature, it is in fact rather decisive. In the books, Halbarad, the leader of the Grey Company, presents Aragorn with a banner made by Arwen for him, this banner he later uses as the standard on the ship which he captures from the Men of Umbar, who support Sauron in the War, and so when the Orcs and Men of the East and South see their enemy’s standard upon what they thought to be their ships, it disheartens them. Also, with the loss of the Grey Company, various Men of Gondor have been omitted from the film, and so this theoretically cuts the size of the National army of Gondor quite dramatically. Another consequence of the loss of the Gondorians and the Grey Company is that Aragorn now does not have the manpower to take over the ships, and so the Dead Army now travels with Aragorn up the River Anduin, and then they play a much more crucial role in the War of the Ring. A possible reason for the loss of these two bodies of Men is that the filmmakers may not have had sufficient resources to employ yet more extras, and so they made a decision to cut what they saw as a rather unimportant part of the film. __________________________________________________ _______________ Last edited by Last Child of Ungoliant : 12-18-2004 at 12:07 AM. |
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12-17-2004, 09:15 PM | #4 |
The Intermittent One
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CONCLUSION
__________________________________________________ _______________ In conclusion, I can say that, whilst both films had good and bad points to consider, it must be noted that committing the entire ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to film was an epic task, and both directors must be admired for their efforts, although, in my personal opinion, Peter Jackson and his team did a far better job at adapting ‘The Lord of the Rings’ into a modern movie. Overall, I have to say that I feel that the books were much better than the films. I am of this opinion because of a two main reasons, firstly, that both filmmakers had changed parts of the story, sometimes quite considerably. Also, that when you read any book, you finish off with your own impression of how things look, or how people speak, and the such like, whereas on a film, you are left with quite a clear view of how something looks, or how someone looks and acts, and so the original impression you might have had has been wiped away, and replaced with an idea from the director’s imagination. Last edited by Last Child of Ungoliant : 12-18-2004 at 12:08 AM. |
12-17-2004, 10:32 PM | #5 |
The Intermittent One
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Source Listing
Books: The Hobbit J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King J R R Tolkien The Silmarillion J R R Tolkien [Edited by Christopher Tolkien] Unfinished Tales J R R Tolkien [Edited by Christopher Tolkien] DVD Films: The Lord of the Rings Directed by Ralph Bakshi [Animation] The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Directed by Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Directed by Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Directed by Peter Jackson Websites: Entmoot: A Comprehensive website message board, for the discussion of J R R Tolkien’s works. An online critique of Ralph Bakshi’s animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. Last edited by Last Child of Ungoliant : 12-18-2004 at 12:10 AM. |
12-18-2004, 12:03 AM | #6 |
The Intermittent One
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I will also post here the mark/grade/comments that I
eventually get for this essay, so look out for that one!! |
12-18-2004, 02:32 AM | #7 |
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Hmm. Interesting.
I think something that is really worth considering whenever discussing the transition from books to films (actually I just thought of this as I was reading your report, but hey ) Is that, as you said, neither Bakashi nor Jackson was just making a film adaptation of the story - they were attempting to make a modern adaptation. It's interesting when you notice how much they attempted to do different in order to fit the films more to their respective viewpoints (which were, in my opinion, much different from each other, and from Tolkien).
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12-18-2004, 06:44 PM | #8 | ||
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I bet you'll get top marks for the Spidey! It's extremely well-written and thouroughlly researched (probably the most enjoyable research you've ever done eh? )
I love the Tolkien Sarcasm page, and I've read their discussion of Bakshi's movie. I think it's hilarious! I'm quite impressed at your essay. Full Moot Marks!
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12-18-2004, 06:48 PM | #9 |
The Intermittent One
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Thanks wayfarer and nurvi,
true, twas the , most enjoyable research project done in some time, and when i get the essay back after xmas, i will let everyone know what my lecturer thinks |
12-19-2004, 01:16 AM | #10 |
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LCoU,
Excellent! Most excellent! Good summations and comparisons with salient notes of differences and problems of each in relation to the * uhhh * text. So sorry you had to read the WHOLE thing and watch ALL those movies . What some people will do for a grade! Maybe you could do a follow up comparing the extras on the LOTR DVDs versus the Bakshi number? But what inquiring minds really wish to know is, would you have used the word anomaly if you hadn't been exposed to Entmoot? Congratulations on a job WELL DONE!
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12-28-2004, 11:30 AM | #11 |
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Well done, LCoU! I enjoyed your essay. Very concise and to the point (not an easy thing to do regarding a subject you are passionate about). I particularly liked your reference to literary subtleties being lost and how you pictured the characters vs. the director's vision of them. I thought both directors did a great job picturing Gandalf and the hobbits (easy) as well as the female characters, but in both movies I thought the male characters (with the exception of the Wizards) were way off.
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01-09-2005, 10:02 PM | #12 |
The Intermittent One
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Well, I have KS Comms tomorrow (after sociology exam ) so should
get essay back then. I will post my marks/grade/whatever if I do! |
01-16-2005, 09:27 PM | #13 |
The Intermittent One
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on a subsequent note, if anyone would like the original document, email me, and i would be happy to send it as an attchment or what-have-you
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01-17-2005, 03:10 PM | #14 |
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I'd like one please, never know when it will come in handy, and it is extremely well written by the way LCoU
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03-12-2005, 03:57 PM | #15 |
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Great essay, LCOU. Finally read it, and I fully agree. I'll post more when I feel like posting long posts.
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03-12-2005, 06:34 PM | #16 |
Elven Warrior
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A very interesting essay!
I wonder why you left out the change of Saruman in Peter Jackson |
03-12-2005, 06:37 PM | #17 | |
The Intermittent One
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Quote:
it had to be 1500 words, and as i was nearing 2000, i thought i ought to wrap it up somewhat, also, i did this at 12:00 am before it had to be given in |
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03-12-2005, 08:22 PM | #18 | |
Elven Warrior
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03-12-2005, 09:42 PM | #19 | |||
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Quote:
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"I can add some more, if you'd like it. Calling your Chief Names, Wishing to Punch his Pimply Face, and Thinking you Shirriffs look a lot of Tom-fools." - Sam Gamgee, p. 340, Return of the King Quote:
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03-13-2005, 07:43 AM | #20 | |
The Intermittent One
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erm, i had 3 corrections to make, otherwise it was an A i kept not going to KS Communications!! |
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