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

Does anyone know when the Lord of the Rings film is due to be released?

The Fellowship of the Rings will premier just about everywhere on 19th of december 2001 and the next two films, Two Towers and The Return of the King will be released near Christmas 2002 and 2003 respectively.

Does anyone know what certificate it is going to be given in the UK?

Internet Movie Database seems to indicate that it has gotten 12.

19th of december is when it starts. But you probably have to wait about two weeks before you can get tickets. Then all the Tolkien fanatics will have seen it the first 5 times.

If it's a Cert. 12, my 11 yr old son is going to be devastated. He has read Lord of the Rings several times and has been eagerly awaiting the release of the film (as have his 3 elder brothers).

I cannot understand the thinking behind the certificate laws in the UK. A few weeks ago, my 11 yr old (accompanied by myself) was unable to get into a 12 certificate at the cinema (he is small for his age, so they were instantly suspicious). And yet the following day (a Sunday) there were two 12 cert. films on the television, one at 11.30 a.m. and another at 5.20 p.m. How come the rules at the cinema are so strick that, even with a parent present they will not allow a child a few months below the cert age to go in, and yet they show the same cert films on TV during the daytime at weekends when children of all ages will be watching?

It is such a shame to have made what is going to be a fantastic film about an amazing book and yet bar children who are old enough to have read the book several times over from seeing it.

Have you had a look at the website, just type lord of the rings on the address bar.

I'll be going to see it as late at night as possible. Same with the Harry Potter film. Watching The Phantom Menace in an audience full of mewling brats ruined what little enjoyment there was in that film. If I had my way, all the films I wanted to see would have a '22' certificate, which would increase by one annually... One good thing about the rating system here is that an 18 cert doesn't mean commercial death, unlike X in the US, so it allows filmmakers a lot more freedom.

I saw a trailer for LOTR yesterday, just before The Pledge (which was a very good film, btw - reminded me of Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter), and it looks ace. Great music, great visuals, no obvious ham acting. Mind you, the last time a trailer made me go 'WOW!', it was Mission Impossible 2

I can't comment on the logic of showing 12's films on TV, but I presume the reason for a 12's certificate in the cinema is because of the violence in the film. The book featured a fair amount of killing of orcs and other baddies. If the film is anyway true to this, there should be a certificate on it to prevent over-sensitive children from being affected by all this violence. But I think parental guidance should always be available on such matters, because some children are genuinely not bothered by such violence.

Exactly, the whole idea of PG is for parents to make the final decision as to whether the film is suitable for sensitive children. There is plenty of violence etc. on the TV early in the evenings - take Buffy for example. It is strange that the censors are happy to rely totally on parental responsiblity within the home, but will overrule parental decisions within the cinema.

Ireland has only just introduced the 12PG (under 12's only when accompanied by an adult) certificate recently. It appears to be the way forward.

12 cerificate films on TV may well be 'edited' to remove bits 'unsuitable' for those under 12.

Mind you, they often seem to edit them to make them fit into the advertising breaks more conveniently.

I saw an edited version of "Midnight Run" with Robert de Niro and Charles Grodin. All the "strong" language had been toned-down. Since most of de Niro's lines consisted of a string of expletives, the film lost much of its impact. One of the best lines in the film became: "I have only two words to say to you, Shut the heck up!". The original was better.

That's not as bad as in the old TV version of Robocop...

"You're gonna be one baaaad Mutha Chucker!"

and

"You blaggard"



Intruigingly, all the swearing was reduced to this but almost all the violence was left in which says something about the censors really.
Mind you, with robocop, if you took the violence out it would be a 10 minute short.

Well, I think that with Tolkien they will be bound to let children in. Juts for fear of a lynch-mob.

I think as 12PG would be the way forward. However, the policing of the cinemas is so arbitrary - my second son could easily get into 15's on his own when he was 13 because he was tall for his age. If my 11 yr old wasn't small for his age there'd be no problem. - He'll just have to do a lot of growing between now and 19th December!!

Buy him some pumps, or get him to grow an afro

We've tried putting him in a large puffa jackets and big trainers with clumpy soles - next time we might try drawing on a beard on him and pretend he's a small man!!

Hurrah for DVD

So when you take your 11 year old to the cinema they ask you for ID? I can't imagine that ever happening! Surely you just say, yes he's twelve, and they go 'are you sure' and you say 'yes i just don't feed him properly' and in you go? What kind of Nazi cinema are you going to? Hell, just go to a different one. Or claim he's a Hobbit and is aged 127.