Posted on 12/19/2001 5:52:04 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
Movie ReviewThe Lord of the Rings (Opens Today)
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12/19/01 |
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There can be no more fitting tribute to Peter Jacksons The Fellowship of the Ring than to apply to it the words with which C. S. Lewis acclaimed the original book when Tolkien first wrote it: Here are beauties that pierce like swords or burn like cold iron; here is a [film] that will break your heart. |
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Review ping.
Several reasons...
We do not have a TV (going on 5 years now) so I have not seen any reviews. I knew it was pg13, but I was not aware how brutally evil the orcs/trolls/Nazgul would be presented.
I just finished reading Fellowship of the Ring to my oldest. I simply couldn't tell him no. I just learned it was pg 13(not pg) last week. By that time I had been telling him we would go on opening day for several weeks. Originally I was going to go alone first to decide if it was appropriate. I should have stuck to my guns.
Wishful thinking?
It was definitely a mistake to take the younger two. Poor judgement, imprudent, and again, wishful thinking on my part.
Ack! You should have studied Free Republic on the topic. Literally dozens of reviews have been posted here. This is of course offered on the theory that 20/20 hindsight is better than no sight at all.
BTW... I would have taken a 9 year old under the same circumstance. For good or ill.
Of course, this is nit picking...
It is a superb film nonetheless.
Were there pre-release reviews posted here? By writers who saw it before last night? I missed them, unfortunately. I've read discussions of Tolkien (and Tolkien vs Rawlings ad nauseum) but nothing specific treating of the actual violence of the film version.
If I had it to do over again, I would take my 9 yr old again. He just closed his eyes if the scene was too brutal. We were looking forward to it too much to not take him.
Of course, now he wants to increase our nightly reading time so he knows the rest of the Trilogy's story line.
What a painful, beloved quest Jackson undertook.
We're taking our 9-year-old next week. These kids have to handle things I never had to handle. They watched the Towers and the Pentagon get hit. They have anthrax scares at school. They have Columbine-preparedness drills. I hope the moral truths in the story help her cope. Maybe she can draw some parallels that will help her deal with reality--at least on a subconcious level.
"Starship Trooper was a lot better."
Starship Troopers was the movie that even Denise Richards' boobs couldn't save. So, ipso facto, Starship could be better than no other movie in the known universe . . . and it's a shameful waste of female curvage.
Otherwise, this is truly a movie to see multiple times. Probably will go back tomorrow. I have no idea how much was spent on this film, but I guarantee -- every dollar was well-spent. New Zealand's tourism bureau should be hugging itself. The exteriors are perfectly glorious!!!
I give this film an A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++! After all the dreck Hollywood has been putting out for years, finally a real MOVIE in the grand tradition that is true to the source material.
We got rid of TV 5 years ago. My children only saw the TV coverage later at their grandparents homes, and it was minimal exposure, at most.
We home school. The only guns in our home school are the ones I own. There will never be a Columbine here.
The only ones here that would know if a threatening letter arrives would be my wife and I. The children would never know, and anthrax is not on their radar screens.
Kids can still be kids. They deserve it. Our kids don't have to handle anything we as parents decide they don't need to handle. I know, that's easy for me to say. But we make incredible sacrifices to home school, and we ignore a lot of harsh criticism for not having a TV.
How many parents have ever taken the time to read their child a several hundred page novel? I never would have or could have read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Rings to my son if I had to compete with TV.
Please don't take my post #35 as criticizing you, samwise. It is a criticism of the entire culture/society, and my own frustration at seeing the incredible blessing of homeschooling and wishing all children shared in it (dittos for getting rid of TV).
God intended children to be innocent. The pop culture robs their innocence prematurely, to their immense detriment.
There is an incredible fundamental truth to the cliche, "You're only young once."
Are you NUTS!!!??? "Starship Troopers" was a HORRIBLE movie. Not only that, it completely MISSED the spirit and theme of the Robert Heinlein novel.I would go so far as to say that it was a parody of Heinlein. Too bad. I would like to see the following Heinlein books done with the same care as LoTR: The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and/or The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and/or Glory Road. And a bunch of other stuff also, now that the bar is raised. I hope LoTR is a big success and proves there is a market for quality SF and fantasy films.
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