[ Green Books ] [ Horizontal Rule ]
 Search:
[ Horizontal Rule ]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[ Green Books ]
[ Green Books - Exploring the Words and Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien ] [ Green Books ]
<- PREVIOUS HOME NEXT ->

TURGON'S BOOKSHELF:
Report Card on Film One

Thumbs-up or thumbs-down is not a good way to review a film, unless it’s either so poor or so brilliant that no comments are necessary. Better to look at some of the various aspects and grade them, American-classroom style, A to D (with plusses or minuses), or F. (An "E" grade doesn’t exist, though proverbially some will occasionally suggest an E for Effort, but that in the end means nothing.) A = superior; B= above average; C= average; D= below average; F=failure.

Music: C

Howard Shore’s score seemed mostly fine, but didn’t really have any high spots. Much better than another variation of John Williams. (Too much of his work sounds like a watered down version of his own Star Wars score, which I admit was brilliant). Enya. Well, it was Enya, and it sounded just like every other Enya song I’ve ever heard. Pleasant and not irritating, but nothing more.

Visuals and Special Effects: B+

Some of the sets were like Alan Lee paintings come to life, which isn’t always a good thing. The result was a somewhat washed out look, frequently too dark. Costuming was excellent. Props, excellent. Weta did for the most part a superb job. The brief glimpse of Gollum, however, was unconvincing. And while the Balrog was an interesting conception, its screen-presence was not up to the level of many of the other effects. The effect of the ring-world, a kind of wind-burn when Frodo puts on the Ring, was not entirely successful–or at the least, it was done too frequently.

Casting: B

Some of the casting was excellent: McKellen especially, as well as Viggo Mortenson and Sean Bean. Most other selections were pretty good, but Elrond was, for me, a complete failure, and Saruman, questionable. (Neither comment is meant to reflect poorly on the actor involved, but on their applicability for the part.)

Conception of Characters: C

Pippin and Merry were reduced to comic relief. Their roles were embarrassing. Saruman and Gandalf’s battle scenes were silly. Gimli is completely one dimensional. The Ring speaking was corny, and the shrieking of the Nazgul was overdone. (Newt, Newt? How did you get to Middle-earth?). Arwen was mostly fine, but I didn’t like the fact that the screenplay diminished Frodo’s own resolve in escaping the Black Riders, and made it necessary for Arwen to save him.

Execution of actors: B+

Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Galadriel were the best. No award-quality performances, but good solid work.

Script: C+

Mostly better than I had been expecting. The prologue was well done to set up the whole story, but some of the expository scenes later on weren’t up to the same standard. Still some real clunkers of dialogue remained: "No one tosses a dwarf." "Let’s go hunt some orc." Some of the added material seemed completely unnecessary. For instance, why on earth add a second bridge scene in Moria? The screen-time could have been better utilized in Lorien or in Rivendell.

Camera work and editing: C-

Here, for me, was one of the bigger problems. At times I felt like I was watching a rough cut, before the film has shaped itself into a film. The pacing was erratic. The cave troll scene in Moria seemed to go on for ever. Some of the scenes were played excruciatingly slowly (the Mirror of Galadriel for one, and Sam’s near drowning), while others rushed by almost too quickly. Some transitions were simply missing (one moment the Company is under an avalanche, the next they are by a dark lake with no snow in sight). The editing of battle scenes was very choppy, with the clips too short for the viewer to gain perspective.

Faithfulness to Tolkien: D

The simple truth: it caught some of the spirit of the book, but too many details were needlessly changed.

Overall: B-

Not the film of the year, or the film of the century. Not nearly as bad as I had feared, but not nearly as good as I’d hoped.

* *

--Turgon



<- PREVIOUS HOME NEXT ->
[ Email this Page to a Friend ] Email this page to a friend!

Email Turgon
turgon@theonering.net

Featured Reading
The Tolkien Fan's Medieval Reader
click to purchase

By Turgon of Theonering.net
[Buy It]


Current Article(s)
09/05
 • Checking in with Anne Petty
 • Checking in with Verlyn Flieger

Past Bookshelf
Listing by Date
"The Prince of All Dragons": A Tolkien Fan's Medieval Reader Extra
01/20/05
Q&A with Henry Gee
11/18/04
Q&A with Anne C. Petty
06/13/04
The Tolkien Fan's Medieval Reader Extras: Selections from The Poetic Edda
06/04/04
More Brief Takes on Recent Books
06/04/04
What is The Tolkien Fan's Medieval Reader?
03/25/04
The Cream of the Crop--Recent Tolkienian Books
02/24/04
Tolkien in Good Company
09/15/03
Q&A with Douglas A. Anderson
09/15/03
An Updated Look at Fall 2003 Tolkien Publications
08/15/03
Q&A with Jane Chance
07/15/03
TTT: The Film Books
06/15/03
Recent and Forthcoming Tolkien-Related Publications 2003
05/27/03
Brief Take on Recent Books
02/01/03
Reading Tolkien beyond The Lord of the Rings
02/01/03
Bilbo’s Last Song
10/01/02
Ted Nasmith’s Two Towers Calendars
10/01/02
A Roundup of Recent and Forthcoming Books by and about J. R. R. Tolkien: Spring and Fall 2002
08/01/02
Revisiting The Marvellous Land of Snergs
05/01/02
Report Card on Film One
12/01/01
Fears II: The Sequel
11/01/01
'Just When You Thought It Was Safe . . .':
What I Fear Most about Peter Jackson's Films

10/01/01
Ted Nasmith’s 2002 Tolkien Calendar
09/01/01
New Tolkien Publications Roundup–Fall 2001
08/01/01
How to Express Your Tolkien Ignorance: A Guide for the Media
07/01/01
An Interview with Tom Shippey
06/01/01
Responses to Critical Errancies
05/01/01
Critical Errancies
04/21/01
New Tolkien Publications, Spring 2001 and Beyond
04/01/01
New Technology Comes to Tolkien
02/01/01
Tolkien as Artist and Illustrator
11/01/00
The 2001 Tolkien Calendar
10/02/00
Tolkienian Publications: Fall 2000 and Beyond
10/01/00
How Not to Study Tolkien
08/23/00
There and Back Again, with Gorbo the Snerg
07/01/00
Tolkien: Life and Letters
06/01/00
Literary Sacrilege
05/01/00
Publications 2000
03/01/00
Millennium Edition
01/11/00
The Best New Tolkien for Christmas
12/19/99
50th Anniversary of Farmer Giles
12/07/99
The Tolkien 2000 Calendar
11/15/99
Hobbitiana
10/24/99
Books - Fall 99
10/24/99
Roverandom
08/22/99
Bookshelf Home

RETURN TO GREEN BOOKS

In Association with Amazon.com

home | contact us | back to top | site map |search | join list | review this site

This site is maintained and updated by fans of The Lord of the Rings. We in no way claim the artwork displayed to be our own. Copyrights and trademarks for the books, films, and related properties mentioned herein are held by their respective owners and are used solely for promotional purposes of said properties. Design and original photography however are copyright © 2000 TheOneRing.net ™.