On today's interview, I interview JT/King Valun at
JT's Tales and at
The Window on the South . His
JT's Tales is were he posts the stories he writes and his
The Window on the South is were he posts some general random thoughts. He is also a fan of The Lord of the Rings books and movies. I recommend that you check out his blogs. especially if you like literature.
1)What is the most questionable change in The Lord of the Rings books compared to the movies?
There are several questionable changes in both The Two Towers and The Return of the King, as compared to almost none in 'the Fellowship' . Of the changes, I have to say that Faramir's attitude adjustment was by far the most frustrating. In the book, Faramir is able to defeat the temptation to bring The Ring to Denethor (and risk capital punishment for letting Frodo and Sam go) so fast you hardly notice (albeit with some help from Sam that was less obvious than the film version). In the film, well, that's not what happens.
2)What is the most accurate movie to book adaptation and why?
The most accurate film of the LOTR is The Fellowship of the Ring. The action leading up to the arrival at Bree is greatly compressed and slightly altered, but on the whole FOTR is best because it contains little to no invented dialogue or action between Merry and Pippin's surprise arrival and Borimir's last words.
3)What is the least accurate movie to book adaptation and why? The least accurate (theatrical release) film of the set is actually The Return of the King. Yes, I know it won 11 Oscars including best picture, but here we're focusing on 'Does it follow the book'. ROTK contains the worst of the 'artistic license' Listing all of it here would take too many words. Of the Also, not filming the scouring of the Shire emphasizes Frodo's personal sacrifice ("The Shire has been saved, but not for me, Sam"), but it also takes a lot away from the larger depth of the book and it's satisfyingly slow close and abrupt end, which emphasize the intended idea (I do not say actual belief) that Middle-Earth exists and LOTR is just an 'authorized history'
4) What book series do you most want adapted to a movie and why do you think would make a good movie?
The book series I would probably most enjoy as films after LOTR is Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy. These books have the most abrupt plot twists I've ever read. I can't explain it any more in case there's someone out there who decides to read them. They should stick to the original 3 though; the other 4 actually dilute the story a bit.
5) What is the purpose of JT's Tales?
The original purpose of JT's Tales was to enable friends who now live out of town to have access to a story I was writing for them (with the bonus of being able to give me their reactions in real time; I mean(t) to use people's comments to identify what elements of my writing needs work, in order to write more interesting and readable stories. Writing is my easiest hobby, and I was writing, but didn't really want to think about getting published. So I decided that the easiest way to spread my stories was to start a blog. It contains a very fictional historical fiction titled Reunions & Destinies, a somewhat satirical short story titled "The Elevator to Mars", and the current feature, which has been running for the past nine months, The Price of a Throne: A Tale of Four Kings, which could use a bit of explaining. 'Price' is a story in which four kings face the consequences of kingship. Each deals with some great loss, and in the end all become better men for their struggles. There are actually six kings in the story: three kings of the title are obvious; it is up to the reader's discretion to decide which of the other three is the fourth of the title. So long as I have chapters finished, I post one every Friday, but it just so happens that I just ran out of chapters last week...The story may be incomprehensible at first, in part because I've reached the 40th chapter, so the prominent characters have their own labels on the sidebar. In short, if you don't mind critiquing someone's writing, please follow and read JT's Tales. Who know's, you just might like the story! :D.
6) What was the most disappointing book to movie adaptation?
The most disappointing book-to-movie transition I've seen is Prince Caspian. For those who don't know or remember, the old Narnians were being heavily persecuted, so their numbers were already absurdly low for the purpose fighting any battles. But instead of accepting that and having it explained to Caspian like it originally was, the filmmakers caught battle fever and seem to think "No story's good without over-the-top battles that result in later stupidly long odds in which the good guys prevail anyway. The whole Castle Raid sequence was, in addition, on Caspian's part, laughably cliche. There's also the destruction of the bridge at the Ford of Beruna, which, in bringing in a 'spirit' that rivals an mental image of
Poseidon or Ulmo, degrades Aslan's powers to the level of Elrond's, instead of respecting the Jesus/Aslan comparison which is obvious to anyone who has read the books, and having AslanAslan is the supreme being being of Narnia (barring the Emperor over the Sea, who never appears directly) and needs no help.
7) Do I think there's a chance of The Hobbit being a disappointment?
No. On The Hobbit, I prefer to adopt the stance that the main reason people are having a problem with the way Gandalf and Galadriel seem to be interacting is that, by nature of being an angelic being, Gandalf is far more powerful than Galadriel, and so considering him to need any help from anyone else is the complete opposite of what any readers ought to accept from anybody who tries to interpret Tolkien's world. Yes, the wizards can be killed by treachery and they do eat and sleep like mortals, but when it really matters, nobody can stop the wizards (and Sauron) from doing what they need/want to do. Except, for some reason, Balrogs, and the act of throwing a ring into a volcano)
The previous 'no' was just my rabid pro-Tolkien bias talking. In reality, there's an unbearably high chance that it may very well be a disappointment. Why? BECAUSE OF THE BIKER GANG KNOWN AS THORIN & CO.! The book is full of sight gags brought on by the dwarfs' unique and contrasting apparel and their propensity for chanting 'At your service' while bowing. You can tell just by how they look that they won't be doing any of that. Memo to Mr. Jackson: The Hobbit doesn't need any more darkness! It's a comedy with a dark quest thrown in! LOTR fans! Read The Hobbit, then swamp the theaters on 12/14! Hopefully, you will not be disappointed!
Thanks to James for reposting such long-winded answers....
The votes are in for The Lord of the Rings post yesterday and I there were four votes to write Lord of the Rings posts, which means that starting Wednesday or Tuesday I will have fours days of LOTR post starting with reviews of the extended editions.
Happy Resurrection Day/Easter!
The most important day of the year.
