Rick's Cafe Americain

I finally saw The Return of the King and many who know me are probably surprised I waited more than a week to do so.  But this was a movie to share with my father, for he introduced me to The Lord of the Rings, and it has been a cherished and shared part of my childhood – and adulthood.  I am happy to report that The Return of the King continued the excellence put forth by Jackson in his first two installments.  But you don’t need me to tell you that, 97% of critics agree. Consequently, this is less a review and more a discussion of the interplay between book and movie and the continuing importance of the book.  Bottom line, if you have not already, read the book.

I have not seen ROTK yet, but we just watched the first two movies on DVD over the holidays. As enjoyable as they were, I could not agree more about the book being better, and especially with the assertion that the book is possibly the greatest fantasy story ever written. I also agree that the story’s message is universal, but I find its universality to be in conflict with the view that it is devoid of political and even religious allegory. Different people will come to different specific interpretations, but everyone can agree with the story’s central message: that absolute power corrupts, and even the pure and selfless hobbits must depend on Divine assistance to avoid falling to the ring’s power.

I also agree that the battle scenes are disproportionally frequent in the movies (and I haven’t even seen ROTK yet). To his credit, at least Jackson did not indulge in graphic violence for its own sake, but I did notice that my wife finally started leaving the room after the umpteenth orc battle. Unless it prominently featured Orlando Bloom, of course.

I have to add Planet of the Apes (the original of course) to the short list of great sci/fi books made into great movies.  I think there, the movie outstrips a very good (probably not great) book. 

I’ve never read Bridge on the River Kwai, but it would be hard to imagine that Pierre Boule’s other novel made into a great movie is not also outdone by the movie, which I find somewhat interesting.  If I ever bother to construct a top 20 movie list, Bridge on the River Kwai would certainly be on it and Planet of the Apes might make a run at the list.

You so mean the low budget Charleton Heston Planet of the Apes right?

The newest POS put the uck in suck.

Original would, yes, refer to the Charleton Heston movie.  I have no knowledge as to whether or not it was “low budget.” Certainly, its special effects do not match modern movies, but that does not determine if it is low budget or not.  If, however, it was filmed on a low budget for the times (which I doubt) that just further adds to its greatness as a movie).