I just don't get it-

Lord of the Rings Trilogy Forum

Alright, I've seen the first two movies, and I just don't get all the hype. The special effects of these movies are very good, but the story seems really lame to me.

What am I missing? I understand that they have to trash that ring, but all it seems to do is make people dissappear?

And why are all the humans fighting?

Someone break it down for me, if you don't mind.

-HECK!

The ring gives you control and power. Sauron could use the ring to turn them all into his slaves. Once he regains the ring, nothing can stop him.
" One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."

Heck... I take it that you haven't read the books?
Oh man... someone call 9-1-1, quickly!!!!

Okay... whewie... they are here to assist you, Heck!!!
Now, I need you to go to the nearest bookstore, right now, and purchase a copy of the entire story. And then, sit down and read it all. This will help you to understand WHY... this will help you to "Get It"

I second that. Lord of the Rings is the best book ever. Really, you just have to run out and buy it. You will totally understand the films and enjoy them so much more.

Yeah, I keep hearing that I should read the books, but if I want to enjoy the movie, I shouldn't have to read the books ya know?

Plus, someone told me that there are a lot of weird songs and chants in the books. I wonder if Tolkein was on dope.

Can anyone just sum it up for me? Haha, give me the Cliff's Notes.

-HECK!

Heck, I can't sum up the whole thing for you. I do understand that some people just don't enjoy reading books. My husband is one. That being said, here are some points to keep in mind.

*the ring is evil and will turn whoever has it to evil-may take longer depending on the "person"
*the ring is trying to get back to Sauron
*the ringwraiths were once men, Kings in fact, who were given the 9 rings from Sauron. Sauron turned him into slaves.
*when you put the ring on, you become visible to Sauron and the ringwraiths.
*It is the ultimate ring of power

Heck, I hope this helped. If not, ask a more specific question.

The white pony rides fast so it'll kick your a$$. No, Tolkien wasn't doped with morphene/tylonol. If you listen to the narrator in the first one at all the parts they talk, it'll help you 10X. if you watch the FIRST (Fellowship of the Rings) that might help 40X. You you last the whole 3 hours watching the movie without leaving for a breif period & miss a second of the movie, that helps 44X, If you actually find the remote to press the Play Button, that helps 100X. It's my duty to help & serve for others. cause i'm 0788, so i gotta

Luigi is right. You should watch the first part of Lord of the Rings. It explains about the history of Middle Earth and the First War of the Rings.

If you already own the dvd, is it the "Extended Version" That will help even more. It has scene's actually in the movie, that weren't in the theatre. Little bits, here and there.

I can tell you from personal experience though, you will never truly grasp everything if you haven't read the book. There is so much in it. And, I like knowing their thoughts, etc... which you can only get from a book. Movies can provide a lot, but a book makes it complete.

It isn't "easy reading" but it's good. You just have to allow yourself to work through it, and really take it in.

Yea, that too

Well, I do love reading. I usually have one book or another. I can get through one in a few days or a few months, depending on how much I like it.

I see the point about reading the LOTR books, but from a movie standpoint, I don't think it should be mandatory to understand the movie. I have seen the first movie and I guess I should watch it again. I'll give it a chance since so many people I know love these flicks.

Oh well. Hopefully I'll get up to speed by the third one.

Any other thoughts would be appreciated, but in the meantime, thanks gang.

-HECK!

you're welcome HECK. My husband never read the book, and he understood the plot. So, I think you must have missed something in the first movie where they tell the history of the ring. Let us know if it helped.

i know what ur going through, i watched the first movie the matrix & didn't understand a single thing. After i watched it again, i caught what i missed & understood it all. U should like it. IF you like action/adventure movies

The Lord of the Rings book made a great impression on me when I was a wee lad, and I would imagine it would have done the same to many millions of children around the world for the past 40 years or so. In many ways, I still think the book is a wonderful piece of fantasy literature. The depth of the world Tolkien created was so astounding that he not only created intricate and detailed histories and backdrops to the major characters, their kingdoms and their culture, but managed to create a whole new language complete with letters and phonetics. In fact, Tolkien claimed that the inspiration to the book wasn't the story itself, but rather linguistic in nature. That the story only served to create a backdrop for his exploration of his linguistic aspirations shouldn't detract us from the sheer imagination, power and scope of his storytelling.

After watching the first two films in the trilogy, it was apparent in my mind that Peter Jackson was going to take artistic licence in his adaptation of the novel, but that in itself shouldn't be a criticism. It is merely his way of telling the story in a different format, and inevitably certain plot elements and narratives had to be changed or left out. Still, in my opinion, Jackson's works thus far compare quite favourably to the vision and imagination of the novel. I am optimistic that the final film will do justice to his two earlier films and bring to his masterpiece of a trilogy a satisfying and appropriate close.

B.

Has anyone else noticed this... in the movie Gandalf says that the ring says:
"one ring to rule them all,
one ring to find them,
one ring to bring them all,
and in th darkness bind them."
when really it is:
"Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky,
seven for the Dwarfs lords in their halls of stone,
nine for mortal men doomed to die,
one for the dark lord on his dark throne,
in the land of Mordor where shadows lie.
one ring to rule them all,
one ring to find them,
one ring to bring them all,
and in the darkness bind them,
in the land of mordor where shadows lie."

Yes I noticed. I am sure it was done to save time, but it drove me nuts. I love those lines and believed they would have helped people who never read the book understand the significance of the ring.

well, they said the first part about the elves, dwarfs, & stuff in the beginning when the lady is just being the narrator (so to speak) & then gandalf FINALLY finishes it when he gives the ring to Frodo. So they actually did say ALL OF IT...

True Luigi. I had forgotten about that. Thanks.

You really need to pay attention in the first fifteen minutes of Fellowship. That tells the whole story. Or visit www.theonering.com That website will help you understand some things too. Reading the book helps but is not necessary

no problem Fuscia, always trying to help out others

Alright, what do the rings that were given to the Elves, Dwarfs, and Men do? And where are they now?


Who gave them the rings?

-HECK!

Sauron gave them the rings. The three rings of the elves were never made by Sauron. They were kept a secret. They do good works in the world. The men that had the rings soon fell under Sauron's command and became the ringwaiths. The dwarves rings were all lost or taken by dragons or Sauron.

Stainless...we all now how the real poem goes....sigh.

The books are definitely the best books I have read...I say this because I judge books with this: If I can read them over and over and never get bored, they are good. I do this constantly with the Lord of the Rings. Now, since I did read the books, the Silmarillion, and the 15-ish other books put together by Christopher Tolkien, I was dissappointed in Peter Jackson's take on the trilogy. I mean come on-- he left out the scouring of the Shire, just because he didn't like that part...Overall-great movies...better books.

hey i have a bunch of them. i like the ones he has that talk about the process tolkien went through in putting his books together. its very interesting.

HECK--This should answer your question about all the Rings, bar the One Ring, which I assume you pretty much know what that one does.

As far as power goes, the Seven Rings of the Dwarves and the Nine Rings for Men have no real power, just gifts that Sauron used to seduce them. The Elven Rings have some mystical and subtle power, mainly to help the Elves maintain their kingdoms...Read on.


THE THREE RINGS of the Elves were made by Celebrimbor in the middle of the Second Age. They really have no distinct power, like Frodo turning invisible when he puts on the One Ring, but the Three Rings help the Elves (barring Gandalf) maintain their domains against evil. The Rings power die out when the One Ring is destroyed.

Narya - Ring of Fire(Ruby) Originally held by Cirdan the Shipwright, but when Gandalf came to Middle Earth from Aman, Cirdan saw that Gandalf would need the Ring to help him with his future quests
Vilya - Ring of Air(Sapphire) Was originally given to Gil-Galad, the Elven King, but he passed it on to Elrond at the founding of Rivendell
Nenya - Ring of Water(Adamant) Given to Galadriel, who used its power to help maintain Lothlorien

THE SEVEN RINGS of the Dwarves were made by Sauron in order to seduce the Dwarves to his side, but the Dwarves proved to be too strong and hardy to be corrupted, and the Seven Rings did little more than increase their lust to acquire gold. Sauron regained three of the Seven, and four were consumed by dragons by the end of the Third Age.

THE NINE RINGS were also crafted by Sauron and given to the "Nine mortal men, doomed to die", in order for Sauron to seduce them to his side. Those who took the Nine Rings became the Nazgul.

Hope this helps, and sorry if I confused you even moreso....

--LOKIM

Fuscia...I have them all...They are excellent! If you can tell by my above post, you can assume that I like discussing LOTR! Don't we all...they are very useful for the history and backstory of many of the goings-on in LOTR, as J.R.R. Tolkien was so meticulous to leave nothing unaddressed.

Ah, someday I will have all the books. You did an excellent job on the 3 rings by the way.

yes indeed you did.

read the books trust me it'll help
the story is NOT lame!!!

lokim said this