h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

ive also seen it 3 times & will have 2 buy the 3 films on DVD (+ directors cuts!) & player + large screen TV & surround sound 2 view it on!
My main gripe was the elves (in general) & esp Lothlorien. It was wrong. Where were the rope ladders & platforms? Why were the leaves falling when it was still winter? diasappointing section that.
You seen to have forgotten that its Elrond who can raise the waters of the river to protect Rivendell. Arwen being the daughter of Elrond may have some skill at this but what happened in the book was that the river rose as soon as the riders entered it by the will of Elrond. Gandalf added the effects of the white horses in the waves. Glorfindel, Strider & the other hobbits were on the far bank to drive the horses into the stream & prevent the last ones backing out. they could do this as Glorfindel was a High-Elven lord (?), & he revealed his true power (very great incase u were wonderin)
& this film is waaay better than the animated version...BUT i think Galadriel was better in the cartoon!

omy
official Tolkien

"You seen to have forgotten that its Elrond who can raise the waters of the river to protect Rivendell. Arwen being the daughter of Elrond may have some skill at this but what happened in the book was that the river rose as soon as the riders entered it by the will of Elrond."

Really? Maybe it's my selective memory but I'll re-read the passage.
Not that I doubt you in any way, shape or form BUT seeing IS believing.

well i thought i was right.... will have 2 go check 2 now!

*s 2 check*

umm... confesion...i 4got 2 check.....dont spose any1 else did?

omy

I didn't check, but I seem to remember from the book that it was indeed Elrond who created the flood as soon as the nazgul entered the water. And Gandalf added in the white horses.(Gandalf tell this to Frodo at the biginning of the second book, just after he wakes up).

And I also thought that the scene in Lorien was the least good part of the film. It was all wrong and to short. Another thing that didn't realy become clear in the film was the growing friendship between Gimli and Legolas. Although this isn't to important a thing it is metioned a couple of times that their friendship was exeptional. And I think that friendship is one of the important themes in the book/film. Therefore...

Anyway that's my thought.

Rod

i agree Gimli & Legolas' friendship was a VERY important part of the story. it shows how even the strongest racial divides can be conqured by friendship. on a less deep level it makes the story less 2D & more realistic as a sideplot (as it were) & a bl**dy good read!

omy

I completely agree that missing out on the Gimli/Legolas relationship hurts the film, but I don't think it's the biggest problem. That would have to be Jackson's treatment of magic. Tolkien usually didn't make it very flashy (with exceptions, i.e. Gandalf's fireworks), and usually had it going on behind the scenes, as with Galadriel's use of her Ring to preserve the beauty of Lothlorien or Sauron's subtle influencing of the weather over the Redhorn Pass. The only scene in the whole film that I truly couldn't stand was the 'wizard's duel' between Sauruman and Gandalf - it was completely cheesy, and rather unconvincing. I'd have been quite satisfied if we'd simply seen Sauruman slam the doors in Gandalf's face and then cut to Gandalf imprisoned on top of Orthanc, which is more-or-less how Tolkien described it.

JBY

PS - I actually quite liked the film's Galadriel; she's a great mix of ethereal beauty and just a little bit of creepiness, which I think captures the way most of the Fellowship would have percieved her. I agree, though, that Lothlorien should've been done more accurately.

The magic in the movie, I think was done in the more flashy way because that is what a lot of people think of when they think magic. And it would have been very hard to show it in the subtle way Tolkien told about and still have 'normal' people understand who has what influence, or even what is going on. And it wasn't to overdone. The wizard duel a bit dramatic, but I think important to show the relation(at the begining of the book/film) between Gandalf and Sauruman. It would be unconvincing to people who didn't know this is Gandalf would go down without a fight. And also, remember that in films you can't realy look inside a persons head as you can in a book.

And no, the missing out of the Legolas/Gimli relationship doen't hurt the film(most people wouldn't even have noticed it)but it is a bit a shame. It's what the book is(in part)about, friendships despite diffenrences and how they concer evil and help you achive goals. And it wouldn't have been that hard tio show at least some of it.

Galadriel herself was good. not just beautifull and creepy, but also a bit sad because of the doom that lies before her no matter what. Lothlorien was just confusing and didn't add anything to the film, quite the opposit

Rod

You're quite right, of course. Incorrigible bibliophile (and Bilbophile) that I am, I'm needlessly frustrated when a film adaptation fails to match the grandeur of the original showing - the one projected on the back of my eyelids. Actually I really liked the film; I thought that it did a far better job of compressing a very complicated plot than it might have, and it captured the look and feel of Middle Earth almost exactly as I'd imagined it.

JBY

i agree bout the magic being OTT. & dint like the wizard duel either. & no Galadriel wasnt at all how id pictured her. i also disagree that leaving Gimli&Legolas' friendshiop out was ok. it wasnt in my opinion.
but am splittin hairs here really. was v v v good on whole & cant wait til nxt 1 out

omy

The film wasn't that bad I suppose, all things considered, naturally there'll be bits that don't fit with what I personally think is right but unfortunately we don't all get to direct our own version. It will be fascinating to see what they do with the second volume as both in terms of condensing the plot an portraying the characters it will be far more demanding. Oh, and just a thought wouldn't it be cool if they made a film of 'narn i hin hurin' (those who have not read the Silmarillion please ignore, those who have and still don't know what I'm talking about read it again, those who known exactly what I'm talking about read unfinished tales to see more of why it's a good idea, those who have just read unfinished tales go back and re-read the Silmarillion, those who disagree with me continue this process until you do agree)

'narn i hin hurin'....dat rings a bell.... *rushes to dig out copy of silmarillion*
never finished unfinished tales (ironically) cuz boyfriend stole it & has taken it away to the dark corners of his room where who knows what book-eating monsters* may live!

omy

*most likely shona

guess @ narn i hin hurin (jus 4 sake of it).... children of Hurin? or summin similar?

Think it is(don't have my silmarillion on me...). Or it's the story of Hurin's desendants(also his kids kids)
(actualy just bookmarking here, had to say something, right?)

Rod

technically it translates to 'the tale of the children of hurin' but i was near enuff!

omy

Cheers, thanx for that. Have a on me.

Rod

ooh, lovely jubbly!

omy