I think it would be a shame for them to dispose of the intricately and masterfully crafted weapons and costumes from LOTR. PLUS It'd be something I would SO love to see if I go to New Zealand one day. They are just pissed off cause they said the movies couldn't be done and Peter Jackson and the cast and crew have proved them wrong a hundred times over. AND Royd Tolkien, Professor Tolkien's great-grandson and Christopher Tolkien's grandson is actually IN "The Return of the King" as a Gondorian soldier!
Andrew
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
EXACTLY! And why should they care if there is an exhibit displaying swords, armor and costumes from the films - of which they are receiving a cut from!?! PLUS it continues promoting Tolkien and thus more books are sold. Or movies are bought/watched which means more bucks for them. If it was a bad adaptation - then maybe they would have some basis for their 'no-go' for the exhibit, but they should be proud at what has been created!
Registered: Mar 1999
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Twenty years ago, you read the books. "Man, what did you think of that part where [insert scene from book]?"
Twenty years from now, you watch the movies. "Man, what did you think of that part where [insert scene from book]."
The problem is that in twenty years, the answer will be: "That wasn't in the movie!"
Maybe the Tolkien estate is a little pissed at itself for having sold the film rights. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the films, but maybe ... just maybe ... not everything should be done as a movie, and maybe the Tolkien estate regrets having allowed the books be turned into films.
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
But the books have already been made into films. Granted, not on this scale or in any version that will endure as long as these films will, but they've already gone down that road.
My rather cynical view is that they're being pissy because someone else managed to actually do something amazing with the story while all the estate has done is sit on it and say "Hi, I'm related to JRR Tolkien."
Registered: Oct 1999
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Cartman
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posted
...they're being pissy because someone else managed to actually do something amazing with the story while all the estate has done is sit on it and say "Hi, I'm related to JRR Tolkien."
Well, that, and because they feel Jackson committed literary rape to make the films a success, while Bakshi's version was closer to the story but ended up being utter shite. I'd wager there's some lingering resentment over that.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
I can understand how it would feel wrong for the estate to have someone showcase the elvish armor and swords in that museum and put a sign next to them, basically saying "THIS IS WHAT ELVES WORE DURING THE WAR OF THE LAST ALLIANCE", and in this way endorse the creative liberties that should be kept within the framework of the movies alone.
I would of course like the props to remain, but I also think it's wrong to canonize gear belonging to an interpretation of the books.
I don't agree at all with the weird leaf-armor and Katana-like swords, I wish they'd have stuck with the medieval theme.
Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
Well, it's really no different than publishing the scads of books and calendars full of artistic interpretations of the stories. "This book is what a bunch of artists think the world of Middle Earth looks like." "This museum is what a bunch of artists think the world of Middle Earth looks like."
Same, same.
If they feel Jackson did a crap job of interpreting the books, thaz kew. But the artistry involved in making the movies and the props is no less significant and it deserves to be preserved. He should just open the "Films That Peter Jackson Has Made Containing the Words 'Lord' and 'Rings' in Them Museum of Art" and side step the liscensing issue.
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
I'm sure it comes down to cash. Perhaps even something seemingly unrelated like how much money the estate gets for the Hobbit film or merchandise....
-------------------- Twee bieren tevreden, zullen mijn vriend betalen.
Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
As I understand it, the film rights sold for diddily. I feel it's likely just a money-ploy by the Tolkein estate. I think maybe they ought to just open a Weta-Workshop/Wingut Films Museum and display all those incredible pieces as fine examples of carefully crafted props and just screw the Tolkein estate if they're going to be all stick-in-the-mud greedy about it. The movies are a separate entity from the books, and certainly deserve to be celebrated as the monumental achievement they are. Chris Tolkein can take a piss.
Registered: Sep 2000
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If this was greenlighted tomorrow, we still would have to wait four or five years for The Hobbit and who knows is Ian McKellen could be Gandalf that far in the future? He's no spring chicken, and I cant imagine anyone else doing as good a job of it.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I think I read on Ian McKellen's site that he's all for playing the Grey Pilgrim again. Although I think he believes a mini-series would be a more suitable format for faithfully adapting the book. I tend to agree.
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I'd be all for a Hobbit mini-series, as long as it was done with movie-quality effects and story telling. I don't want to see an NBC movie of the week-quality Hobbit.
But you're right... it'll be quite a few years until we get it, one way or the other. And I think Iam Hom has said he's not interested in being Bilbo, which will be hard for me to get past.
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
I'm not denying that there could be a motive in all this for more money, but I think there are some other possibilities too. Without trying to deconstruct the actions of the estate and the museum's promoters, I will simply make the comment that perhaps there might be a parallel between the motives of Christopher Tolkein and Bill Watterson when asked a million times to expand Calvin & Hobbes beyond the comic strip. I'll leave my comment that that.
-------------------- "Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the Tao to survivial or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed."
"...attaining one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence."
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 6th century B.C.E.
Registered: May 1999
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