The costumes and interpretations of the comic had a lot to do with what the “groovy” people were doing back then. I always felt that the t.v. show was more about trying to link into the “flower power” generation than honor the comic.

We were also dealing with censorship which included just how provocative costuming could be. Believe me, Cat Woman was one sexy babe back then. The show also played with a good deal of sexual innuendo that was just becoming a part of the social structure in the 60′s.

I guess that my point is that the television series had more to do with social change and the evolution of television as a whole than it did with an accurate leap from the page to the screen.

I just noticed that I wrote LOL instead of LOTR….. interesting. Anyone who remakes this movie in the future is going to have to give the book Lots Of Love (…and Luck, and Laughs)

As a side note, have you heard “American Psycho” by The Misfits?

1. I love Quickbeam. I feel pretty sure Lindsey only added that because of me (not that he, too, does not also love QB) but I appreciate him doing so all the same. We don’t see much of him in the book, but he is such a lovely character – full of laughter and *haste*- and really gives another layer of dimension to the Ents as he is the only other Ent, other than Treebeard, we see the hobbits interact with. And it’s mightily important that we do see that interaction, to understand just how different they all are from one another. I’m not completely unhappy with PJ’s portrayal of the Ents…seriously, who didn’t love the storming of Isengard? Booting orcs in the pit, stomping on some squealing goblins. If only they could have spent a wee more time on that and not all the swashbuckling and shield-surfing.

2. Oh, Denethor. This is another example of something I suspect Lindsey added for my benefit. I remember crying over him, especially the first time I read it, because it was just all so tragic. And then the movie comes around and he is some whiny, grimacing, drama queen? Really? Sure, Denethor is kind of an a-hole no matter how you look at it, but there are reasons for this that at the very least give his character some depth. Tolkien portrays him as a man of great strength, will, and intellect – equal in these things almost to Gandalf. And though he thinks of himself as stronger than Saruman and incapable of being controlled by Sauron through the palantir, it warps his mind into something dark and damaged. But he realizes his mistakes in the end. And his mistakes are so great, costing him his sons and his people. Was it a good idea for him to drag a living Faramir onto the flaming pyre with him? No. But it was his special way of saying “This is my son and we die in honor together”. Does he look ridiculous running out of the door engulfed in flames, across the hundreds of feet to and then off the precipice? Yes. That alone makes me shake my fist in anger each time I watch it – after I laugh-out-loud, of course. His death should not have been comic relief. Moving on…

3.Scouring of the Shire. What a damn shame. Enough said.

I could say more, of course, but I am finished for the moment. Thank you.

The screenwriters should have had more respect for the best selling novel of the 20th century. Tolkien had already made their lives easy with his great writing style – which, in my opinion, was easily adaptable to a screenplay, — buy they decided to change the story altogether! I think it was necessary to trim down the story to fit it all into three movies, but they certainly didn’t have to add so many new, poorly written parts. I don’t think the writers should have been given license to distort the coherence of this masterpiece. It bums me out that they are making so much money for this. I wonder how the Tolkien family feels about it.

Let me make one thing clear: This is no ordinary case of “the book is always better than the movie”. This is much, much worse.

Does Peter Jackson have a NON-fan club? I’d like to join. Why does he take masterpieces like LOL and King Kong, give them awesome special effects and costume design, and then throw the writing into the sewer? I feel for the actors.

Someday, someone will remake LOL much better.