I do not like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. There. I said it! I am a film buff living in Wellington, New Zealand, and I do not like our biggest cinematic export. I am a heathen! String me up by the neck and let’s be done with it!
I was introduced to LOTR at the age of eight when my Dad convinced me to hire the 1978 Ralph Bakshi animated version. I loved it! Although, I was befuddled by the fact that it seemed to end abruptly with so many loose story threads. You see, it was envisioned to be a two-parter, but due to some foolish marketing decisions it was never advertised as such and people walked out of the cinema confused, as I was, that the film did not tell the whole story. Part Two was never made.
After much confusion and question asking of my Dad, I spent three years working my way through the book. It took a few attempts, but I got there in the end!
I was in the throes of reading it for the fifth time when I heard that Peter Jackson was going to create a new film version of the classic book. I was devastated.
Why was I concerned about Peter Jackson directing it? Well, I had never seen anything in his previous work to suggest that he was capable. Heavenly Creatures was fantastic but his other work was mixed at best; Bad Taste was amazing for a weekend project but not exactly cinematic gold, Meet the Feebles was extremely hit and miss (mostly miss) and Braindead managed to turn-on a glorious third act after a so, so, first and second. And, his most recent film, The Frighteners, started with promise and then descended into an indulgent, dull, second half.
I could see one of two things happening. It would be a huge success and people would adopt it as the preferred version, cinematic or otherwise, of the J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece; or, it would be a huge flop. Either way, I was certain I would not like it and it would create a vacuum that prevented anyone else taking a punt on another version.
But, then a funny thing happened. I heard some of the choices Peter was making; the elves would speak in elvish with subtitles, his casting seemed to be spot on, he spoke of his extreme love of the books, and they were doing three films to fit in as much of the narrative as possible. Could it be that this would be the film I had waited to see since I was eight?
Come opening night I was worked into a frenzy of expectation. However, within 10 minutes of the film starting, all of my hopes and dreams were deflated. It felt like all of my initial thoughts were bang on the money. This was not the version I hoped for. I felt that it was neither a good adaptation of the novel, nor a good film.
It, like parts Two and Three, got good reviews. And, as I really wanted to like it, and thought I may have missed something, I saw each film in the cinemas twice (although I walked out halfway through the second viewing of The Two Towers) and also watched the, supposedly, superior extended versions on DVD. But, to no avail, I still found little pleasure in them.
Recently, I rewatched Ralph Bakshi’s animated version and was pleasantly surprised by how much I still enjoyed it. So, I thought it was time to revisit Peter Jackson’s opus for another look.
Over the next week or so I will post reviews of, first, the animated version, and then the three extended live action films. I still have hope that I was misguided. Stay tuned…
