Now I have finally written the first part of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Book Vs Movie. Sorry everyone for the delay it took longer than expected to get enough inspiration and ideas to actually write it. This is only part one of the long analysis comparing the book of The Two Towers to the film adaption. Because I watched the movie almost ten years before reading the book, I am a more neutral to any changes than completely roasting Peter Jackson for changing the book. Also I view many of the changes as a film maker, thus some changes are made to work better in the visual mediun of film, opposed to a book.
These are only a few of the changes from the book to movie. There will be another part most likely posted in the near future. For the changes to Faramir, Treebeard, and Shelob's Lair, which I consider the most significant, I am trying a more formal essay format and it is taking far longer than I originally expected. Also be sure to check back here Monday for my review of Back to the Future!
King of the Golden Hall
In the movie Theoden's mind and apparently body is basically possessed by Saruman. Gandalf essentially exorcised Theodan from Saruman's hold on Theoden's mind. However, in the book Theoden is I suppose decevied by Wormtongue not possessed by Saruman. I actually like this change because film is a visual medium were things need to be shown not told. It also gives Gandalf a chance to use his new powers in the form of Gandalf the White.
Warg Battle
In the book there is no Warg battle on the journey to Helms Deep and the journey its self feels rather short in the book compared to the movie. On the other hand, the Rohirrim are attacked by a company of Warg riders. After which Aragorn falls off a cliff and has a vision of Arwen. This serves to add an Arwen scene, which was probably the best way it could have added one without feeling out of place. Although I have yet to see anyone else mention this, the Warg battle in the Fellow of the Ring was removed and this could be the reasoning behind adding the battle to the Two Towers. Similar to how "Old Willow Man" was placed in Fangorn Forrest because Tom Bombadil was removed. Plus it was an awesome action and I definitely cannot complain about that.
Dialogue
As with most adaptations from book to film the dialogue is drastically altered to make it more suitable for film. However, there are a few lines of dialogue that are nearly the same from the book or a different character delivers the line. Although most dialogue works well in the book, it often sounds awkward if actually said and other lines of dialogue used are out dated and the words mean something entirely different today.
Do you agree or disagree? There is no real "right" answer to any of these questions so please comment below with your thoughts.
If you want to contact us or have any question please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.
I see what you mean. Considering how many long speeches there are in the books to explain things, I think the movies are done quite well after all except for the three elements you mentioned above. Those I can't forgive. I caught that about the warg battle last time I read it but there was no need to fall off a cliff.
ReplyDeleteI reserve the right to roast the hobbit movies though...
Check that the third part I find most significant is the elves at Helm's Deep. Remember all elves and dwarves live at least a week away with three days to get there and it was stated (in retrospect) that they were all too busy to come anyway.
ReplyDelete@JT: I agree he did not need to fall off the cliff, but it is better than an having Awren appear more directly. Looking forward to your roast of Hobbit. Yes the Elves is something I will be bringing up in part 2 of this post series.
ReplyDelete-James
Great analysis of the book and film- I agree, sometimes you have to change things when adapting a book to a film, especially dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI think the Lord of the Rings movies did really good in the adaption- it was definitely one of the best adaptions I've seen. :)
You did a great analysis of them! (: I liked the movie more, and I had a better time believe Theoden was possessed (:
ReplyDelete