The Tolkien Mega-Thread

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Lord of the Dongs, more like. Come on.


This cover is so cool.

I have always loved Eastern European and Mediterranean editions of LotR. Such great artistic representations of things we thought we knew.
I found it cool as well. And the hobbit is both plucky and plumpy:shade:!
 
I found it cool as well. And the hobbit is both plucky and plumpy:shade:!

People like to shit on those old depictions, but a lot of them were so good. As someone from a Slavic nation, many of these images ring more true to me than Western interpretations.
 
Growing up I used to buy the Tolkien calendar every year, which had different artists each month depicting a scene, and it was great having all those different interpretations - I encountered a lot of artists for the first time in those calendars: The Bros. Hildebrant, Michael Kaluta, Charles Vess, etc. I really dislike how unexperimental they've been since the films. I mean, I like Alan Lee's stuff as much as the next guy, but it seems like since Peter Jackson the choices in North American have been images from the film or Alan Lee.
 
My favourite artists for Middle Earth are Alan Lee and John Howe, and it was great that they joined their vision for the Peter Jackson films. I definately think this was the way to go, and I'm happy with the visualisation of Middle Earth that we see in these films.

However I lament the homogenisation of Middle Earth that we now have as a result of the over-exposure and commercial presentation of Middle Earth.
I used to collect the Hilderbrandt calendars, I also loved the Angus McBride artwork on the MERP books, and I loved the fable-influenced art on earlier editons of Tolkien's books, not to mention some trippy interpretations in other media .

These different interpretations appear to be lost these days, it's as if the artists now feel constrained by the film portrayal of the setting, and no longer dream of anything different to this.
I think it is the same in music, as Howard Shore's recognisable symphonic film soundtrack dominates everything
Will we never hear another rock band throwing Middle Earth references around, like some of the lyrics of Led Zepplin?
Will there ever be concept albums like the trippy electronic/prog rock of Bo Hanssen?

Yeah I totally dig the vibe on those book covers posted earlier in this thread. It doesn't feel how I envisoned Middle Earth, and that is actually refreshing to see. Those covers feel much more in keeping with something out of Eastern European folklore, it looks very Brothers Grimm. You could half expect Hansel & Gretel to be lost in The Old Forest, or Baba Yaga harressing Merry & Pippin in Fangorn. All of which is pretty cool by today's standards, as it skirts the 'grimdark' flavour that has become popular again in recent years.

It's refreshing to see Middle Earth thru eyes not exposed to Hollywood :thumbsup:
 
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I was amused that his father didn't realize that a movie rated R might not be something he should take his 12 year old son to see.
One of my cousins had the same problem with Excalibur, but with a son half the age. Took a six-year-old to see an R-rated movie because the kid was obsessed with knights and agitated at length to see the King Arthur movie. Much, much egg on face.
 
One of my cousins had the same problem with Excalibur, but with a son half the age. Took a six-year-old to see an R-rated movie because the kid was obsessed with knights and agitated at length to see the King Arthur movie. Much, much egg on face.

The showed Excalibur uncut on afternoon TV all the time when I was kid in Canada in the 80s. Seems much ado about nothing.
 
The showed Excalibur uncut on afternoon TV all the time when I was kid in Canada in the 80s. Seems much ado about nothing.

The bit at the beginning where the film cuts back and forth between Gorlois' death-throes on the cheval-de-frise and Uther humping Igraine filled my cousin's son with questions that his father wasn't prepared to answer. He wasn't really ready to talk to his kid about sex in terms of grunting, moans, and hip thrusts; the artistic significance of juxtaposing sex and death was something I think he had intended to leave to the lecturers in freshman Literature courses.

I suppose that a lot depends on how much you shelter your six-year-olds. This was 1981, and the cousins in question were effete urbanites. The kid hadn't ever even seen a chicken killed for the pot, let alone a bull earning his hay.
 
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People like to shit on those old depictions, but a lot of them were so good. As someone from a Slavic nation, many of these images ring more true to me than Western interpretations.
And given that I'm Bulgarian (and so is the artist, AFAIK)...why do you think I'm "shitting on them":shock:? I can't even follow that line of reasoning, sorry:thumbsdown:.


Not to mention, that's the cover of one of my first fantasy books. The odds of me "shitting on it" are...minuscule.

"Both plucky and plumpy" was simply an alliteration - and a compliment, given that Bilbo in the book does his best to remain plumpy, and has to show some pluck:shade:.
 
And given that I'm Bulgarian (and so is the artist, AFAIK)...why do you think I'm "shitting on them":shock:? I can't even follow that line of reasoning, sorry:thumbsdown:.


Not to mention, that's the cover of one of my first fantasy books. The odds of me "shitting on it" are...minuscule.

"Both plucky and plumpy" was simply an alliteration - and a compliment, given that Bilbo in the book does his best to remain plumpy, and has to show some pluck:shade:.
No, no, no. I didn't mean that. I was saying in general. I can tell you liked it.
 
The showed Excalibur uncut on afternoon TV all the time when I was kid in Canada in the 80s. Seems much ado about nothing.

I couldn't have been older than 5 first time I saw it.

But, my parents were, for all their faults, very liberal with letting me watch R-rated films growing up. I saw The Thing and Alien around the same time I first saw Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
 
 
I'm not exactly happy with everything about the Tolkien Society being in charge, but then again, these should have been in the public domain by this point anyways, so I guess I can't really complain about them letting Amazon turn the stories into a weird hyper-inclusive softcore porn series
Well, if the fall of Numenor is going to be in the series, then you can't get around Ar-Pharazon taking his niece, the rightful Queen, to wife against her will and usurping the throne. I'm getting Sansa Stark vibes (ie. young actress in rape scenes).

Besides we all know Galadriel rode Celebrimbor like he was a prize rodeo bull.
 
Well, if the fall of Numenor is going to be in the series, then you can't get around Ar-Pharazon taking his niece, the rightful Queen, to wife against her will and usurping the throne. I'm getting Sansa Stark vibes (ie. young actress in rape scenes).

Besides we all know Galadriel rode Celebrimbor like he was a prize rodeo bull.
Celeborn? My memory was that Galadriel wasn't very fond of anyone from the house of Feanor. (Celebrimbor being of that House)
 
Some people think the Game of Thrones vibe is wrong for Middle Earth
It's certainly wrong for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but not necessarily for some of the other Middle Earth stories
Not that it's sexually charged, but there are some pretty grim tragic stories in the Histories of Middle Earth and other books
Being true to those won't fit many of the expectations of people who have not read from The Silmarillion onward
So whichever way Amazon goes with the series, it's bound to distance some fans
I can see the endless ranting over the interwebs now...
 
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How fortunate I am that I have already accepted that any attempt to adapt any property I like will inevitably not be made for me.
Yep, it's so great having ascended beyond petty concerns like happiness and joy and fandom. You should all join me in the apathy nirvana.
 
Some people think the Game of Thrones vibe is wrong for Middle Earth
It's certainly wrong for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but not necessarily for some of the other Middle Earth stories
Not that it's sexually charged, but there are some pretty grim tragic stories in the Histories of Middle Earth and other books
Being true to those won't fit many of the expectations of people who have not read from The Silmarillion onward
So whichever way Amazon goes with the series, it's bound to distance some fans
I can see the endless ranting over the interwebs now...

For The Silmarillion and stories of that ilk I think the best tone would be something closer to the Sagas that Tolkien is drawing upon. Few examples of that in English-language film, but in Iceland there is a tradition of the 'viking film' genre that are based on the sagas, like Outlaw: The Saga of Gisli but those can be hard to find (I saw Outlaw at a special campus screening with the director present).
 
I couldn't have been older than 5 first time I saw it.

But, my parents were, for all their faults, very liberal with letting me watch R-rated films growing up. I saw The Thing and Alien around the same time I first saw Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Do you happen to know whether you saw the 119-minute TV version or the 140-minute theatrical version? They cut 15% of the running time for explicit sex and violence.
 
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Do you happen to know whether you swa the 119-minute TV version or the 140-minute theatrical version? They cut 15% of the running time for explicit sex and violence.
Allen: “I don't get it, what's the point of this scene?”
Spielberg: “Ermmmm… umm… wossname… er… ‘character development’.”
Allen: “All twenty minutes of it?”
Crew: “Yes! Yes!”
 
Do you happen to know whether you saw the 119-minute TV version or the 140-minute theatrical version? They cut 15% of the running time for explicit sex and violence.

Rented from the video store.

I didn't see any TV versions of films at that age. We got like three channels (one of them French) & no cable until years later.
 
Can one's childhood be ruined retroactively?

Meesa think so, okee-day
Won't be long until the 25th anniversary of that. Old men shouting at clouds next to their kids who grew up thinking that Jar Jar and excessive CGI is what Star Wars was all about. While grandkids watch The Mandalorian and think that's what Star Wars is all about.
 
Won't be long until the 25th anniversary of that. Old men shouting at clouds next to their kids who grew up thinking that Jar Jar and excessive CGI is what Star Wars was all about. While grandkids watch The Mandalorian and think that's what Star Wars is all about.

I agree with the grandkids. Mandalorian is only Star Wars I've enjoyed since the 1980's
 
Won't be long until the 25th anniversary of that. Old men shouting at clouds next to their kids who grew up thinking that Jar Jar and excessive CGI is what Star Wars was all about. While grandkids watch The Mandalorian and think that's what Star Wars is all about.
If I survive another 20 years, I'm pretty sure I'll see the original trilogy come around again — reimagined.
 
If I survive another 20 years, I'm pretty sure I'll see the original trilogy come around again — reimagined.

Don;t know why Disney is even waiting to pull the trigger on that. For as much wailing & gnashing of teeth there would be, we all know it would make -illions.
 
I agree with the grandkids. Mandalorian is only Star Wars I've enjoyed since the 1980's
Even Droids? Wow that was shittty. Fun, but shitty in the way only 80s toy ad cartoons can manage.

The only Star Wars movies I haven't enjoyed were Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker. The rest have been fun. Varying quality, but almost never not fun.
 
Even Droids? Wow that was shittty. Fun, but shitty in the way only 80s toy ad cartoons can manage.

I said it was the only Star Wars that Ive enjoyed since the 80's, not that I loved everything that came out in the 80s.
 
I’m also sure that most of the guys begging George Lucas to come back were the same ones who said he ruined everything twenty years ago. Meanwhile, I’m fine with Lucas being happily retired and I’ve never said anything bad about him.
 
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