Viewing a restored version of The Fellowship of the Ring - Questions.

This forum could use more Tolkien and less Beatle threads.

 

But we can have both! Are you aware that The Beatles considered starring in a loose adaptation of LOTR as their third film? They even approached Stanley Kubrick to direct it! Obviously, it never got off the ground.

In the mid-1960s, the Beatles wanted to star in a "Lord of the Rings" film directed by Stanley Kubrick and featuring original songs

In 1963, the Beatles accepted a three-movie deal offered to them by the United Artists production company. However, due to their abrupt break-up, the band members starred in only two movies. A Hard Day’s Night, a mocumentary in which the band members play themselves, became an instant commercial success. Time magazine even listed it among the 100 greatest movies of all time. The second movie, Help!, is an adventurous James Bond parody in which the Beatles fight an evil cult. Although it received mixed reviews, the original soundtrack was inventive and enjoyable.

The Beatles never made their third movie, but they did make plans to create something quite ambitious. They were planning on starring in an adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. ... All four members of the Beatles, who were teenagers in the 1950s, were greatly influenced by Tolkien’s work. They wanted to honor it by creating an epic psychedelic adaptation that would feature their original songs. Paul McCartney would portray Frodo Baggins, and Ringo Starr would star as his affectionate sidekick, Sam Gamgee. George Harrison would portray the wise wizard Gandalf and John Lennon would appear as the unfortunate Gollum.

 

Sauron had the Nazgul riding pterodactyls.

 

I think that vulnerability to the influence of the ring is proportionate to the level of ambition that a person has. Hobbits, being by nature very humble and unassuming creatures, are the most resistant to it . They have no notion of personal power, and are concerned only with their own business. More powerful creatures, such as elven queens and kings of men, are very ambitious and mindful of power and dream of how they might wield it. The ring plays them like a fiddle, even if their intentions are good.

Aragorn, like Gandalf, knows way too much about the ring to risk its temptation. He KNOWS his own vulnerability and therefore is not deceived.

 

So Samwise Gamgee took you by supriiiiiise...

 

But, who even knew there flying Nazgul?

Maybe after protecting Gondolin for centuries only to have an elve betray it, they took up a "screw you guys" attitude.

And of course Gandalf couldn't take the ring to Mt Doom on an Eagle because he knew he couldn't take the ring in the first place. Frodo as it turns out would not have thrown it in either.

I suppose Gandalf could have taken Frodo and thrown him into Mt Doom.
"Hey Frodo, get up here on this Eagle and let us scout out the route to Mt Doom...."

but that's as ridiculous as having, say, Gollum get the ring and then fallin...

 

Why yes, yes I am.

 

How close would the eagle have gotten before Sauron figured out what they were doing and blasted it out of the sky? I'm thinking not very close. And there were probably many ways in which Sauron's forces could have taken out that eagle, and many miles with which to do it.

(Of course, the more simple answer is that if they'd have done that, there would have been no story, but I still think that sometimes the "too easy" solutions simply are "too easy.")

 

Really? We must not have seen the same movies.

The idea was that Aragon would be conflicted because of how he does not want to carry the guilt of being the one responsible for her to give up eternal life for him. It worked as, while great in battle, his leadership qualities and ability to rise above the history of his ancestors' actions with the ring were in major doubt... mostly by himself. His ability to plow through and rise above it all was more rewarding, IMHO. Sure, there are some scenes which repeat the theme of previous ones and could therefore be cut (referring to the DC versions) but it elevated his character, in my view.

I can't recall any chick flick featuring that much violence, blood, and guts.

 

I guess a follow-up question would be how Aragon was able to wield the ball showing the eye without suffering the same consequences as Pippin.

 

The argument I see is that Gandalf could have been the Eagle's "driver" with Frodo riding with him. But I know there was a reason why that wasn't possible. I just forget what it is.

All about context. It's only at the very end that he didn't have the willpower to fight it anymore. In the beginning, he wouldn't have wrestled with it much, if at all.

 

It's been several years since I watched the movie, but did Aragorn actually touch the seeing stone, or did he grab it with a cloak or something? My faulty memory seems to suggest he avoided directly touching it, like a hot plate.

 

Aragorn was not a halfling. He was of the race of Numinor. The palintier could not hurt him.

 

Works for me.

 

Jim beat me to it. I would love a sound answer to this, since I love LOTR and it is brought up a lot.

 

So, here's my take on Sam, Aragorn, and Faramir in relation to their temptation, or not, of the One Ring.

THE one virtue Tolkien valued above others was love. Love was 'rewarded' in his mythos. So Sam's love for his master, Frodo, enabled him to carry the One Ring without being tempted (too much) and can surrender it back to Frodo after he rescues him.

Aragorn's love for Arwen was his motivation to keep true to his quest to become King and refuse the One Ring (Frodo never offered it Aragorn in the book, but it could be implied I suppose).

Was Faramir tempted? I say yes - a tiny bit. Boromir and Faramir were brothers, but different in temperament and character. Within Tolkien's story they were meant as counterpoints because THE one virtue that Tolkien despised was pride. Pride was severely punished with no forgiveness.

So, Boromir was a proud captain of the guard in Gondor, next in line for the Stewardship. He greatly desired to be all those things a great warrior aspired to - so he was very much tempted by the One Ring because of his pride. And he suffered the consequences.

Tolkien intended 'book' Faramir to be a counterpoint to pride, yet still I think he was in a small way tempted by the One Ring. We can all plainly see that 'movie' Faramir is tempted by the One Ring.

The scene/passage at Henneth Annun (Window on the West) when Sam blurts out about The One and Boromir we read:

There is a tense moment of silence in that passage before Faramir says, finally, “Alas for Boromir! It was too sore a trial”.

So yes, I think ‘book’ Faramir was tempted by the One Ring, but unlike his prideful brother, Faramir did not desire glory or power.

There’s a whole lot of on-line discussions about how PJ & Co changed Boromir and Faramir –so that can be hashed over at one’s own interest. As well as the whole Elrond thing about "Men are weak", Aragorn as reluctant king and refusing Arwen, etc et all.

 

I answered it earlier - if they had gone that route, it would have been discovered log before the eagle reached Mount Doom, and Sauron would have had soldiers firing at that eagle for hundreds of miles. If they had all missed, an army would have met Frodo at the entrance to the cave where he would have needed to toss the ring. Either way the plan fails.

 

I actually thought they did a fine job with it. It was no elf/hobbit love triangle (looking at you Hobbit abomination).

 

The palantir were made by the Elves and given to the Kings of Numenor, whom Aragorn is descended from.

Therefore he was the 'rightful heir' of the palantir due to his lineage and because of the strength of his will he was able wrestle control of it away from Sauron (who had his own palantir, captured from Minas Morgul).

 

So the answer is that Sauron expected a full frontal assault, and his defenses were set up to stop that? But he did not expect an unlikely band of rebels, which included an unassuming youth from a primitive backwater village with special powers (led by a wise mentor) to exploit an unlikely and small weakness in his powerful war machine?

Works for me. And I had never thought of it before.

 

I think that all these images of The Beatles are fitting, except John's. I especially like Ringo's expression as Samwise, and George's all-knowing as Gandalf. But I don't think John's is good at all. Perhaps a John face where he is doing his spastic routine would have been much more fitting?

 

In pretty much any situation, the surest way to penetrate a known vulnerability is by stealth. The "Send in the eagle!" method, although not entirely a full frontal assault, still would have been discovered and understood long before victory was certain.

Sauron certainly did not expect a pair of hobbits to enter Mordor with the ring.

 

He deliberately used the Palantir to reveal himself as Isildur's heir to Sauron. Until that point, Sauron had only heard rumors that an heir survived. This insured that Sauron would focus all his efforts on him and overlook Frodo and Sam's infiltration.