Petty's Purist LotR Edits [3]

Sent you a PM

Thanks for sorting that Ringdrotten,now I dont suppose I ever told you the password did I?

Have gotten the three first books down at least.  

I'll try to give them a go this weekend Petty.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on them Blue.

Can't help you out with the password, I'm afraid

Its ok, I have it written down- on my computer, which Im not bloody well on!

It's a little while since I saw Jacksons versions, so don't know how enlightened my opinion will be, but I'll tell you how i get along.  

Any thoughts good and bad are welcome Blue as I tweak the edits based on feedback (if it seems like a good idea!)

That you havent seen PJ version for a while is probably a good thing, gives you a fresher eye on it- I always advise just viewing them as an alternative EE.

How you getting on with the edits Blue?- now Im back online Ill sort out the link to the rest for you- and purist TH edit is on there too.
So expect an email any time soon.

Great!

I've gotten going, halfway through book 2 at the moment.

And I'll admit I really like it.   It certainly shows you off as having better taste when putting together a thing like this than Jackson and co.

I have some creative criticism points, but I would have to put them in some coherent form. I'll try to get round to it.

Glad you got them fine Blue.

Constructive criticism. Constructive criticism.


Sorry about that Petty. Not really sure what creative criticism is. It's ... creative, I guess.

Doing the second skydrive now. Looking forward to the Hobbit without Jackson nonesense in particular. Was there anything you had to leave in?

You'll be surprised by how much he managed to leave out

Sounds great, Ringo!  

I've had the Jackson version on my computer for ages but not managed to get through the whole thing yet.

Hopefully you will find my cut more palatable, though still far from perfect sadly.

Yeah I noticed that in the Lord of the rings too.

There are just some things that have been so muddled up by Jackson and co that they just can't be fixed. Like Gandalf dragging Frodo and Sam from Bag End and then riding straight past the black riders on his way out out of the Shire to Isengard.

Just makes no sense.

I hated entirely how PJ introduced the Riders.
The viewer knows everything about them before they show up and when the characters still know nothing. Its poor story telling, but Pj does it all the time, tells the viewer way to much up front instead of letting it come out at its natural moment in the telling where it has the correct impact.

Yeah, the whole leaving the Shire part didn't make much sense in Jacksons version.

And I hated that they made Frodo a complete passenger from Weathertop to Rivendell. Being a coward when the riders attack.

I don't really mind them giving Arwen a bigger role, though I did at the time. But that they let here do all the work of getting Frodo to the ford hurts Frodos character so much.

Also I just realised her appearing in shining light to Frodos eyes doesn't really make sense with relation to the story. The reason Glorfindell appeared that way was that he had been in the Blessed Realm and seen the Two Trees. Arwen had done neither of those two things.

It's just one of many things like that that shines through showing how well constructed Tolkiens story is, and how little Jackson and co knew what they were dealing with.

I liked the way they filmed from the Shire to Weathertop, I just wished they could have had enough time to fit everything in.

I don't begrudge you liking it, Figg. Actually if you get real enjoyment out of it I'm glad.  

I do like parts of the journey between Bree and Rivendell. My biggest problem as I said is how they treat Frodo. Both at weathertop and then by having Arwen save him from the riders they take away so much of the hardness and resilience of his character.

And as for the rewrite of the Weathertop part I don't really understand the reason. Why not have him try to stand up to the Black Riders?

At least their Frodo is consistent I suppose- he's a coward whose main trait in times of trouble is to fall over and he sends Sam way to effectively die alone on the edges of Mordor so he can spend more quality time with his new best mate- he's a tosser start to finish- but he is consistently a tosser throughout at least.

I hate the Bree section- its not got any of the feel of that section of the book, Butterbur is relegated to shady barman role, there is no encounter by Merry of the Riders, there is none of the stuff with Strider and Frodo (in PJ's the hobbits dont even ask anything about him, it makes no sense, they settle down for a good long sleep solely in his care without a thought in the world- it doesnt occur to any of them to ask any questions of him until the next day  ) and there is no song, and then there is the ludicrous throwing the Ring up in the air for everyone to see and it landing right on Frodo's finger  
No, for an old crabbit there is nothing good about the Bree section at all in those films

They picked out good faces for the extras in common room of the Prancing Pony.

I think the Whole of Fellowship is pretty perfect. Frodo was perfect, just fey enough and vulnerable enough to be a very sympathetic character, Sam was the strong one, but it says a lot about Frodo's inner strength that he saw it through to the bitter end. My only critizism of FOTR is it was 3 hours too short. I could have lingered over every detail.

"My only critizism of FOTR is it was 3 hours too short. I could have lingered over every detail." - Mrs Figg

Agree 100%

Sam was the strong one- Mrs Figg

But he shouldn't be, not in FotR- book Sam is still finding out about himself, he is only at the beginning of his journey and doesnt know his own strengths yet as they have not been put to the test yet.
One of my major problems with the changes PJ made to the Sam/Frodo dynamic is there is no arc for them, no progression- Sam starts the hero, Frodo the pacifist and they see each other as equals and friends- but thats how their relationship should end,not start- if you start there where do you go with it- nowhere is the answer, which is exactly where Pj does go with it