Happy Birthday, J. R. R. Tolkien

[filkertom]

On this date in 1892.

Been awhile since we discussed it, so: What are some of your favorite scenes from any of the books, or any of the various media adaptations? Yeah, I know, I know. I could just say "pretty much everything" and not be far off. But:

• In The Hobbit, I really love:
  • the dwarven-song at The Unexpected Party, especially in Nicol Williamson's incredible reading
  • Gandalf tricking the trolls
  • Every version of the Riddle Game
  • The goblin attack, with "Fifteen Birds In Five Bird-Trees", in the Rankin-Bass animated adaptation
  • Bilbo rescuing the dwarves from the Mirkwood spiders
  • the death of Thorin and the aftermath of the Battle of the Five Armies
  • And I've always had a very specific welcome party scene in my head when they get to Rivendell "and [find] its doors flung wide."
• And in The Lord of the Rings:
  • That one beautiful, beautiful shot in the movie, the first time we see Bag End -- I was holding my breath for that one, the same way we all did in The Princess Bride hoping they didn't screw up the fight on the Cliffs of Insanity, and when I saw that lovely hill with the beautiful bright green door, I started crying with relief and pleasure
  • The one plot point I truly feel the Peter Jackson movies seriously improved -- Gandalf didn't wait seventeen years before figuring out that Bilbo's ring, now given to Frodo, was indeed Sauron's Ring of Power -- he hied his ass to Minas Tirith, pulled an all-nighter, and got back to Frodo as quickly as possible
  • Again, in the movie, the reunion of Frodo and Bilbo in Rivendell touched my heart
  • The Moria sequence, book and movie
  • The betrayal and redemption of Boromir
  • the Dead Marshes
  • Grima seducing/menacing Eowyn in the movie
  • Gandalf freeing Theoden from Wormtongue's influence
  • the lighting of the beacons -- it hardly registers in the book, but it's a huge, dramatic, way cool thing in the movie
  • And I'm leaving out so many scenes that it really does come down to "pretty much everything", including my absolute favorite, "The Scouring of the Shire".

So maybe I'll just go watch the Rankin-Bass Hobbit and the LOTR Trilogy once more.

Comments

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Several scenes come right to mind -- from the book, since they were changed or omitted on film:

The Prancing Pony scene, where the hobbits meet Strider. (I really hate the omission of almost all of the music from the books in the movie, and Frodo dancing on the table is a sore lack.)

Yeah, I'll admit it: Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. I understand why they were left out of the flick. That doesn't mean I don't miss them, or love them in the book.

The Ents, in both the books and Jackson's version. I cry for the Ents, and mourn the loss of the Entwives.

I love the Paths of the Dead scenes, in both written and visual versions, but, again, I think Tolkien told it better. (Tolkien was a terrific storyteller. Not so great as a writer, per se, but his tale is compelling, and many of the adaptations to film, though understandable, are weaker than the original.)

I'll leave the rest for the gang to come that will surely name the entire plot, among them :-)

[sveethot.livejournal.com]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

These words sucked me into the Tolkien universe. There am I yet content to abide.

[skunktaur.livejournal.com]

I've always liked Beorn, and the way that the party had to be introduced to him in The Hobbit. I've heard the rumors that there will be an adaptation and I am REALLY curious to see the longhouse and the beehives... and Beorn.

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

The lighting of the beacons -- it hardly registers in the book, but it's a huge, dramatic, way cool thing in the movie.

I love that part. I always look forward to it.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

The charge of the Rohirrim at the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Jackson managed to one of the few directors ever to convoy the sheer shock of a disciplined force of trained horsemen hitting a line at full charge.

Pretty much every scene with Sam. Frodo really doesn't develop as a character, while Sam goes from a rather shy gardener to the real hero of the piece (IMHO.)

I'l amost ashamed to say I've never finished reading the books. Tolkien's writing style leaves me utterly cold. I've tried several times, and never gotten much farther than the first few chapters of The Two Towers before giving up. The movies, however, were epic.

[sveethot.livejournal.com]

This makes me think of the first time I read it. I got about 1/2 way through the final volume and started skipping huge chunks. I had to go back when I got to Frodo & Sam waking up in bed in Minas Tirith, having passed over the eventful scene in Mount Doom.

Although I can see where it wasn't necessary to the movie, I really missed the part in which Aragorn uses athelas to heal his friends. It really develops him as a nurturing character.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

From the Rankin-Bass:

"Where there's a whip, there's a way!
Where there's a whip, there's a way!
We don't want to go to war today (where there's a whip)
But the lord of the whip says nay, nay, nay (there's a way)
And we will march all day, all day, all day -
where there's a whip, there's a way!"

[lariss.livejournal.com]

From the Silmarillion - the Lay of Beren and Luthien. It makes me happy-cry every time.

Love Tom Bombadil and Goldberry from LOTR.

Love the idea of the Ent houses - love the Ents in general.

Love the Lost Tales - all of 'em.

Love Tolkien in general.

[old-fortissimo.livejournal.com]

Trivia: although the Rankin-Bass credits screw up his name, Gollum was voiced by a family friend: actor/singer/activist Theodore Bikel - who also has SF credits of being Worf's foster father(ST/TNG), Ivanova's rabbi(B5), and Minbari Lennon(B5: In The Beginning).

(I wonder whether there was a Minbari M'Kartni...?)
:)

[rivkaesque.livejournal.com]

My favorite bits from the trilogy:
Sam gamgee getting caught and then getting permission to go with Frodo
Merry and Pippin insisting on accompanying Frodo
Fatty Bolger's moment of heroism
Tom Bombadil - the whole mini-story
The Prancing Pony scene where they make Strider prove who he is.
Bilbo's sleepy semi-willingnesss to take up the quest
Bilbo passing on his mithril to Frodo
Sam's tearful parting from his donkey
Legolas and Gimli's slowly developing friendship
Galadriel's gifts and how appropriate they are
Sam refusing to let Frodo go haring off on his own.
The Entmoot.
The passage through the Paths of the Dead, and the redemption of the oathbreakers.
Frodo telling Sam to be with Rosie.
Sam's final departure over the sea.

I stopped watching the movies after the first one. they turned my beloved books into a hollywood movie.

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

"Well", he said, "I'm home".