Posted by HasekX at pppoe64-91-122-209.vcr.centurytel.net on December 04, 2002 at 14:35:23:
In Reply to: Anyone else looking forward to Two Towers? posted by The Bastard on December 04, 2002 at 13:38:50:
Generally I don't think it's a good idea to adopt a long novel to a film becasue the world of the novel has to be abridged so much due to time constraints that it's very difficult to maintain the same rich quality of storytelling found in the book. In fact, I don't ever remember seeing a case where it's been done in a way that does the original work of art justice.
Even settting that aside, I was disapointed in how in the first movie they felt it necessary to rework many of the characters even when they didn't have to, like making all the hobbits younger than they really were and cutting most of their scenes so that they were reduced to mere baggage for the big people to lug around, making Boromir's lust for the ring so obvious that a blind person could see what was coming, and the complete transformation of the Arwen character, among other things.
If they had wanted to, they could have made something truer to the original story within the same time limits imposed on them by the medium of film, but instead they have the arrogance to think that they can improve on Tolkien.
I shudder to think of what the next two movies hold for us, but there will surely be lots of cool fight scenes and stunning visuals, so yay! ;)