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Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together
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Amazon has obtained the rights to *all* of Tolkien's LoTR writings, including material not included in the actual trilogy. The idea is to produce the material for its Prime streaming service. Peter Jackson will most assuredly not be involved (that's one reason why material like that from The Silmarillion was never licensed).

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/arts/television/lord-of-the-rings-series-amazon.html


How about Taylor Swift for Luthien? :-)

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [ThisIsIt] [ In reply to ]
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I quite enjoyed the Jackson Lord of the Rings movies. The excesses weren't so bad as to ruin them. The hobbit movies were truly terrible though

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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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The article just says they bought the rights to make a TV series based on LOTR. Including material not in the trilogy. I would be surprised if the Tolkein trust would give up custody of his oeuvre in its entirety. If they did I am sad. :(

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Last edited by: len: Nov 13, 17 15:10
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [ThisIsIt] [ In reply to ]
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ThisIsIt wrote:
Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.

Agree. I really liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy when it came out but over the years I have become less and less enamored. Jackson is a poor director. There has been a steady progression. The more control he has over a movie, the worse it turns out. Not helping matters is use of his partner and their friend as his screenwriters.

The actors in LotR are a perfect match for the books. The costumes and props look great. Still frames from the movies could be book covers. But when played, the films are so by the numbers. They were a hack job done by a director who the most he could manage was to get the films finished. In the bazillion hours of the trilogy there are barely any memorable scenes. The action sequences are repetitive and trite. The movies drag on and on.

The Hobbit stank out loud. But everything that made those so terrible can be seen in LotR. The flaws started at volume three or four in LotR and were steadily amped up to eleven by the Battle of the Five Armies.
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [Arch Stanton] [ In reply to ]
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Arch Stanton wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.

Agree. I really liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy when it came out but over the years I have become less and less enamored. Jackson is a poor director. There has been a steady progression. The more control he has over a movie, the worse it turns out. Not helping matters is use of his partner and their friend as his screenwriters.

The actors in LotR are a perfect match for the books. The costumes and props look great. Still frames from the movies could be book covers. But when played, the films are so by the numbers. They were a hack job done by a director who the most he could manage was to get the films finished. In the bazillion hours of the trilogy there are barely any memorable scenes. The action sequences are repetitive and trite. The movies drag on and on.

The Hobbit stank out loud. But everything that made those so terrible can be seen in LotR. The flaws started at volume three or four in LotR and were steadily amped up to eleven by the Battle of the Five Armies.

The six movies made almost $1 Billion each in worldwide box office sales...so while no doubt important, I’m sure your critique will be less memorable than some of those scenes you mentioned.
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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klehner wrote:
Amazon has obtained the rights to *all* of Tolkien's LoTR writings, including material not included in the actual trilogy. The idea is to produce the material for its Prime streaming service. Peter Jackson will most assuredly not be involved (that's one reason why material like that from The Silmarillion was never licensed).

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/arts/television/lord-of-the-rings-series-amazon.html


How about Taylor Swift for Luthien? :-)

Well, there are those here that believe TS doesn't have the curves to be an attractive woman. But that's a stupid conversation.

I would love for several key elements of the Silmarillion to get their own blockbuster movie rights. There would be no way to do it without adding to the official cannon. Amazon would need to find a way to do that in a high quality manner. That would be an interesting career change -- writer for the Tolkien Cinematic Universe.
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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Proving you know nothing about Luthien Tinuviel (with that TS BS)

Ostensibly Christopher Tolkien is on board with this so it's likely a go.

Should Amazon focus on the period between the Hobbit and LoTRs timeline wise it would be very interesting. Aragorn and Gandalf's long search for Smeagol.... Aragorn's service among the Rohirrim and within the forces of Gondor where he served anonymously but with great renown as Thorongil. Had Aragorn gone to Minas Tirith, Denethor would have recognized him instantly as the great captain who was his father's (Ecthelion) favorite.

With rights to the Silmarillion body of work they could go into Elrond's brother's story Elros and the Numenoreans--and Sauron's corruption of them. Good stuff

Steve
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [Steve Hawley] [ In reply to ]
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Steve Hawley wrote:
Proving you know nothing about Luthien Tinuviel (with that TS BS)

Lighten up, Francis. I got The Silmarillion on pre-order when it was published.

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [Arch Stanton] [ In reply to ]
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Arch Stanton wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.


Agree. I really liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy when it came out but over the years I have become less and less enamored. Jackson is a poor director. There has been a steady progression. The more control he has over a movie, the worse it turns out. Not helping matters is use of his partner and their friend as his screenwriters.

The actors in LotR are a perfect match for the books. The costumes and props look great. Still frames from the movies could be book covers. But when played, the films are so by the numbers. They were a hack job done by a director who the most he could manage was to get the films finished. In the bazillion hours of the trilogy there are barely any memorable scenes. The action sequences are repetitive and trite. The movies drag on and on.

The Hobbit stank out loud. But everything that made those so terrible can be seen in LotR. The flaws started at volume three or four in LotR and were steadily amped up to eleven by the Battle of the Five Armies.

All you really need to know about Jackson as a movie maker is the fact he turned the dwarf and elf into a comic relief team. Like you said it was a hack job, so formulaic.
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [ThisIsIt] [ In reply to ]
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ThisIsIt wrote:
Arch Stanton wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.


Agree. I really liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy when it came out but over the years I have become less and less enamored. Jackson is a poor director. There has been a steady progression. The more control he has over a movie, the worse it turns out. Not helping matters is use of his partner and their friend as his screenwriters.

The actors in LotR are a perfect match for the books. The costumes and props look great. Still frames from the movies could be book covers. But when played, the films are so by the numbers. They were a hack job done by a director who the most he could manage was to get the films finished. In the bazillion hours of the trilogy there are barely any memorable scenes. The action sequences are repetitive and trite. The movies drag on and on.

The Hobbit stank out loud. But everything that made those so terrible can be seen in LotR. The flaws started at volume three or four in LotR and were steadily amped up to eleven by the Battle of the Five Armies.


All you really need to know about Jackson as a movie maker is the fact he turned the dwarf and elf into a comic relief team. Like you said it was a hack job, so formulaic.

One of the most glaring deficiencies of the movies when I think about them. That, and inserting doubt into Aragorn's mind where there was absolutely none.

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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klehner wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Arch Stanton wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.


Agree. I really liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy when it came out but over the years I have become less and less enamored. Jackson is a poor director. There has been a steady progression. The more control he has over a movie, the worse it turns out. Not helping matters is use of his partner and their friend as his screenwriters.

The actors in LotR are a perfect match for the books. The costumes and props look great. Still frames from the movies could be book covers. But when played, the films are so by the numbers. They were a hack job done by a director who the most he could manage was to get the films finished. In the bazillion hours of the trilogy there are barely any memorable scenes. The action sequences are repetitive and trite. The movies drag on and on.

The Hobbit stank out loud. But everything that made those so terrible can be seen in LotR. The flaws started at volume three or four in LotR and were steadily amped up to eleven by the Battle of the Five Armies.


All you really need to know about Jackson as a movie maker is the fact he turned the dwarf and elf into a comic relief team. Like you said it was a hack job, so formulaic.


One of the most glaring deficiencies of the movies when I think about them. That, and inserting doubt into Aragorn's mind where there was absolutely none.

For me he also completely failed to capture the feeling of the books that this was a dying world or at least a transitioning world and more importantly that, really it was all to play for with Sauron. It felt more like a fun action/adventure romp. It was like a D&D geek was allowed to make Tolkien movies rather than having them made by a serious director.
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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klehner wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Arch Stanton wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.


Agree. I really liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy when it came out but over the years I have become less and less enamored. Jackson is a poor director. There has been a steady progression. The more control he has over a movie, the worse it turns out. Not helping matters is use of his partner and their friend as his screenwriters.

The actors in LotR are a perfect match for the books. The costumes and props look great. Still frames from the movies could be book covers. But when played, the films are so by the numbers. They were a hack job done by a director who the most he could manage was to get the films finished. In the bazillion hours of the trilogy there are barely any memorable scenes. The action sequences are repetitive and trite. The movies drag on and on.

The Hobbit stank out loud. But everything that made those so terrible can be seen in LotR. The flaws started at volume three or four in LotR and were steadily amped up to eleven by the Battle of the Five Armies.


All you really need to know about Jackson as a movie maker is the fact he turned the dwarf and elf into a comic relief team. Like you said it was a hack job, so formulaic.

One of the most glaring deficiencies of the movies when I think about them. That, and inserting doubt into Aragorn's mind where there was absolutely none.

And he completely butchered Faramir, one of the most noble characters. However, I still get chills during,the Ride of the Rohirrim
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [bluemonkeytri] [ In reply to ]
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bluemonkeytri wrote:
klehner wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Arch Stanton wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.


Agree. I really liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy when it came out but over the years I have become less and less enamored. Jackson is a poor director. There has been a steady progression. The more control he has over a movie, the worse it turns out. Not helping matters is use of his partner and their friend as his screenwriters.

The actors in LotR are a perfect match for the books. The costumes and props look great. Still frames from the movies could be book covers. But when played, the films are so by the numbers. They were a hack job done by a director who the most he could manage was to get the films finished. In the bazillion hours of the trilogy there are barely any memorable scenes. The action sequences are repetitive and trite. The movies drag on and on.

The Hobbit stank out loud. But everything that made those so terrible can be seen in LotR. The flaws started at volume three or four in LotR and were steadily amped up to eleven by the Battle of the Five Armies.


All you really need to know about Jackson as a movie maker is the fact he turned the dwarf and elf into a comic relief team. Like you said it was a hack job, so formulaic.


One of the most glaring deficiencies of the movies when I think about them. That, and inserting doubt into Aragorn's mind where there was absolutely none.


And he completely butchered Faramir, one of the most noble characters. However, I still get chills during,the Ride of the Rohirrim

Bottom line for Jackson is that he converted the books into popular film entertainment. You simply can't make LOTR or even The Hobbit into passable modern film entertainment without compromising and changing significant portions. American audiences (which were a large part of the target) simply wouldn't have bought it.

For what he was asked to do, I think Jackson was hugely successful. Like most adaptations, you just have to consciously separate the films from the books.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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slowguy wrote:
bluemonkeytri wrote:
klehner wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Arch Stanton wrote:
ThisIsIt wrote:
Good, I know it's not a popular opinion but I thought Jackson did a hack job on the movies. And the CGI was just stupid in parts. And it got worse over time, which didn't bode well for him making any more movies.


Agree. I really liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy when it came out but over the years I have become less and less enamored. Jackson is a poor director. There has been a steady progression. The more control he has over a movie, the worse it turns out. Not helping matters is use of his partner and their friend as his screenwriters.

The actors in LotR are a perfect match for the books. The costumes and props look great. Still frames from the movies could be book covers. But when played, the films are so by the numbers. They were a hack job done by a director who the most he could manage was to get the films finished. In the bazillion hours of the trilogy there are barely any memorable scenes. The action sequences are repetitive and trite. The movies drag on and on.

The Hobbit stank out loud. But everything that made those so terrible can be seen in LotR. The flaws started at volume three or four in LotR and were steadily amped up to eleven by the Battle of the Five Armies.


All you really need to know about Jackson as a movie maker is the fact he turned the dwarf and elf into a comic relief team. Like you said it was a hack job, so formulaic.


One of the most glaring deficiencies of the movies when I think about them. That, and inserting doubt into Aragorn's mind where there was absolutely none.


And he completely butchered Faramir, one of the most noble characters. However, I still get chills during,the Ride of the Rohirrim


Bottom line for Jackson is that he converted the books into popular film entertainment. You simply can't make LOTR or even The Hobbit into passable modern film entertainment without compromising and changing significant portions. American audiences (which were a large part of the target) simply wouldn't have bought it.

For what he was asked to do, I think Jackson was hugely successful. Like most adaptations, you just have to consciously separate the films from the books.

That is no doubt true.
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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"You simply can't make LOTR or even The Hobbit into passable modern film entertainment without compromising and changing significant portions".

Cutting and/or adding scenes, maybe, but not changing the entire nature of a character. I was fine with having Arwen save Frodo instead of Glorfindel. But Faramir's reluctance to take the Ring (unlike his brother) was key to that character and the relationship between him, Boromir, and Denethor. It's like making Sam whiny and lazy, easily giving up.
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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The LOTR impetus is spent. It was already done and done fairly well. The Simarilion and other stuff is too weird of general public consumption.

There are better books to turn into TV series. Off the top of my head:
Frank Herbert's Dune
Asimov's Foundation
Lewis' Narnia

Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's
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Re: Amazon and Tolkien: Perfect Together [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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The nerd wood is strong in here. I too will gladly perch myself in front of the TV for an Amazon produced series based on Tolkien's works.

--------------------------
The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody
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