Jackson's "The Fellowship of the Ring" - Eric's Thoughts

So here I am again! Surprise!

Now, I didn't actually watch the Fellowship of the Ring again, because I've seen the movie quite a few times, and to be frank, I'm sick of it. I have seen the extended special edition, as well as the regular edition.**

**When I was younger, I thought special extended versions were cool because it meant more movie. Now I know special extended versions are a bad idea. Let's take George Lucas's edits, for example, to his classic trilogy.  A really bad idea.

Anyway. Let's talk about the Fellowship. The movie stays pretty true to the books except for a few parts.

• Namely, the Hobbits trek through the old forest is cut, Tom Bombadil is cut, and the Wights are cut. The Hobbits go straight to Bree. Much better.
• Frodo waiting around in the Shire for awhile after Gandalf's warning is cut in the movie.
• Aragon's love interest in Steven Tyler's daughter is intensified in the movie. While the scenes are cheesy and melodramatic, what do you expect. It's a Hollywood movie, and Jackson has producers to please.
• The Fellowship waiting around in Rivendell is cut, as are the smoking scenes.
• The final change is the ending, where the Hobbits get captured and Boromir dies to the orcs, which in the books doesn't happen until Two Towers. I think this was a good decision, because it completes the arc of Boromir, and shows that he really isn't all that bad. Just the ring is.
• Minor changes like where the Watcher in the Water comes from, etc.

Those are the major changes. So the movie stays pretty true.

The Fellowship is by far the best movie. I jumped the first time I saw Bilbo reach for the Ring, and his face becomes distorted. In the book, it's more of a shadow, but the movie version of an evil face works too.

I had a weird-ed out / embarrassed to be in the theater moment when Galadriel shows Frodo the mirror, and then when Frodo offers her the ring, she turns gray and speaks in that weird voice. Rather than scare me, it just made me feel riiiighhhhtttt, this is really weird. I think it was the weird voice that should have been changed.

Of course, to someone who hasn't read the books, the movie is incredibly confusing. There's a huge cast of characters, and the movie without explanation jumps to Mordor where you hear a voice screaming Shire, Baggins, and then these Riders come out. People were scratching their heads. Why was that necessary? Wouldn't it have been better for Gandalf to warn Frodo, and then these creepy Riders show up? The way they look tells you immediately that they are not friends.

Ok. So that's the bad stuff. There's some very good stuff too. Moria of course is excellent, and the high point of the movie. The opening scenes in the Shire are great too, because Jackson takes his time. And, the movie opens with an epic battle scene so you know that stuff will be happening. The party allows you to identify and care about Frodo. The movie is in no rush to begin action, and when it does begin, you hope Frodo doesn't die.

My biggest gripe about those movies is how much CGI there is. People in Hollywood are learning that CGI just doesn't look real, and it takes the viewer out of a movie. Some directors are moving back towards stunts. In the Fellowship, the CGI really looks dated.

But, of course, it's never as bad as this --

No surprise that Pierce Brosnan's contract wasn't renewed.