Don't bother with the hobbit films. I have yet to read lotr, but have promised Mrs J I will do. Loved the films, she thought they were OK.
I should have had more faith....he won the first set, but lost the 2nd and I went to bed thinking he would inevitably lose. Konta also through to the 4th round. Edmund now faces Djokovic who because of injuries to his opponent has only played 4 sets to get there. Murray and Evans play today. It is amazing how several GB players have stepped up their game and not by a little....Konta, Edmund, Evans and Broady are seriously impressive.
I made the mistake of reading the LOTR before The Hobbit, so was disappointed as the latter was directed at children. It was a good book, but I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it first.
Question for you people .......Was the Hobbit written before LOTR or after...........I'm guessing after................... Edit ok found out for myself.........Hobbit 1937....LOTR 1954
I'm with you on that. Red Dwarf had some very funny moments. As for Goodnight sweetheart, I'd rather fall naked into a bed of nettles. Sorry No 7.
The Hobbit films I thought had a few moments, but everyone knows it was ridiculously stretched out. Too much CGI, quite cartoonish for large parts. LOTR however is a different story (albeit connected) Brilliant trilogy and in large part very faithful to the books. Much darker too. The Two Towers is a great piece of cinema.
If you read LOTR don't read the prologue (many people did and were put off the book). Start with the birthday party - you can always read the history of hobbits etc later .....) Magnificent book in my opinion. Read it dozens of times since I was 15 and still find new things in it!
LOTR is littered with references that seem strangely familiar....almost as if the countries of LOTR were real and lingering somewhere on the fringes of our folk memory. Marvellous book.
I'm with you on that. I love the gentility of the comedy and the way it highlights the difference in what is acceptable behaviour, depending on the era being enacted. I also enjoy the reruns of Heartbeat for the same reason. Would really like this to be developed into a new series.
Although Tolkein denied this: he said that if the books were allegorical the Ring (atom bomb) would have been used against Sauron. The references are more about the advance of industry into the countryside (Saruman) and the loss of innocence (hobbits = children).
And, at the risk of something of a spoiler, all the Hobbit sex is racy enough to keep anyone interested even if they don't see all the allegories hidden in the plotline. Vin
Hmm new version of "Where is the Love" from Black Eyed Peas. I don't know if this one feels a little forced.
1978 Ralph Bakshi animation is an interesting take on lotr...I think they ran out of money to complete the tale though
Mentioned earlier, the BBC Radio series of both The Hobbit and LOTR were impressive. The Hobbit came too early for my then newly formed passion for recording great radio drama, as it was broadcast in the late 1960's, but I bought the audio cassettes for that one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit_(radio_series) The LOTR was broadcast in March 1981 [an earlier one from 1955 was done but hasn't survived] in 26 half-hour episodes, and I recorded every last one of them. Often I'd miss it on the Sunday and had to be around for the following Wednesday night for the repeat. Think that clashed with getting home after a few Saints games, though I can't remember. It was donkey's years later that they came out on audio cassette [or so it seemed] and by then I'd listened to it loads of times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1981_radio_series)
Incidentally, whenever the LOTR films and radio series have been discussed, eventually the subject of Tom Bombadil's absence pops up. Jackson didn't put it in his films because he'd grown up with the BBC Radio series and realised Bombadil wasn't 100% essential to the story. But Bombadil is a brilliant character, perhaps even the most important character. Well the Beeb did right their wrong eventually and did a radio play called The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, which includes the event where the hobbits walk into the woods and get caught by the trees and Bombadil rescues them and takes them home. There they discover that the One Ring has no effect on him at all and he can even see Frodo when he pops the thing on his finger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bombadil
Yes, I remember listening to LOTR every Sun evening and thinking it a very magical thing. Lived out in the Forest (Beaulieu Rd Hotel) for much of that time with FM reception a little hissy, just added to the experience though. Also great to go for a spooky walk afterwards with the Fawley flames doing a good Mt Doom impression on the horizon!
I still have my cassette box set of LOTR somewhere, I must get round to putting them on CD sometime as they are brilliant listening for long car journeys. Even more than Ian McKellen, Michael Hordern is still the voice of Gandalf to me. Frodo, of course was played by Ian Holm, who played Bilbo in the LOTR movies, but how many people remember that Sam Gamgee was played in that series by none other than a very young Bill Nighy?
