Return to Fantasy

One week since last time, mostly due to being lazy. Hope no one thought of something else. I got a box of movies this week so I been busy going through them on my PS3. And boy, those movies are great. The extended Lord of the Ring box, the animated Lord of the Rings and Kelly's Heroes. All for 350 SEK which roughly is around € 35 or $ 38. Still got Return of the King left, but that must wait till tomorrow, they are so long. In a good way, and a bad way. The good thing is that they have many nice details and such, but it also shows that it filled with a lot of filler material. If we compare the animated with the Jackson movies I feel that the animated is better for those familiar with the books and the Jackson for everyone else. I like both, but the Jackson triggers my interest for the civilizations, the details in armors and structures, story-wise it gets bogged down to many times.

And what do I mean by that? Love scenes and scenes of crying peasants. Especially in the second one. I know the children is to call on our sympathy and the horrors if they losses, but as I am in a conservative mood at the moment I say:

"meh, don't care. I want blood."

I know I'm horrible. And the "love scenes" (in a very loose meaning). Arwen is promoted to an almost secondary character when she just was a statist in the first and third book. If we cut her from the movie and made it more closer to the book I think we even could have got Tom Bombadil into it. These parts feels even slower than the Dead Marches section when I read the book and those are the achilles heal of the series. But I like them overall.

The Animated movie is also good and I really liked it. Unfortunately it's too short. If you have read the book you get everything, but otherwise some sections is just like "what the...?". You should read the comic based on that movie. It's a bit closer to the book, have the same art style as the movie. Unfortunately it ends as the movie, after Helm's Deep. The only bigger fault (except the need for more time) is Boromir. Just look at this picture:

The greatest human civilization dress their greatest commander in fur garbs and a horned helmet? Good grief. I can take Rohan looking like that, hell, I even missed that they didn't but Boromir? NO. Of course there is also moments when it just feels stupid. Before Pippin and Merry runs in to Fangorn the Uruk-Hai and Rohirrim led by Éomer stands ready for battle. A rohirrim runs forward, fires an arrow and get back in line, another one follows with a sword, rides in and gets killed by the orcs. THEN the rohirrim charges and slaughter the orcs. Why? Why that pointless show of? These things also exist in Jackson's movies. In the Fellowship at the end Frodo hides behind a tree, Merry and Pippin sees him and stands up begin to shout at the orcs who follow them. None of the orcs got the thought

"Duh, I wonder if somethings wrong when the small people wants us to follow them!"

If just one had stopped and started looking they might have ended it already in the first movie. I know I shouldn't get upset by plot constructed idiocy, but they are supposed to be the smartest orcs out there. I know the orcs are stupid overall but common! Anyway have a great weekend.