Lord of the Rings - the Paradox of Childrens Novel to Film Adaptation - Essay Example

Lord of the Rings: The Paradox of Children’s Novel to Film Adaptation At first, it seems that J.R.R Tolkien’s novel, Lord of the Rings, is a book designed for young readers. If a reader will read the novel, which deals with elves, white wizard, giants, and a magical ring, one will definitely say it is indeed a book meant for children, particularly with the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring. However, the movie adaptation of the novels instantly revealed that there’s more than magical ring in it but aggressive war scenes, heavy themes, and scary disfigured creatures. About the Book. An encyclopedia dedicated to J.R.R Tolkien’s novel called “Tolkien Gateway” had described the book, Lord of the Ring, and corrected about the misconception of its being a trilogy: J.R.R. Tolkiens epic high-fantasy work The Lord of the Rings. Although widely mistaken as a trilogy or series, it is only one book, although usually published in three separate volumes. The original publishers split it into three parts because they felt that no-one would want, or be able to afford, to purchase a volume as large as the one Tolkien had written. However, some editions have since een published as a single book, the way the author intended. Picking up a few decades after The Hobbit left off, The Lord of the Rings seems to presuppose that the reader is already familiar with the previous book – its opening sentence leaps straight into a description of Bilbo Baggins 111th birthday party preparations, without bothering to introduce the character (Bilbo was the main character for The Hobbit). However, it is quite easy to get into the swing of the books, as they introduce all the other characters well. The sequel picks up on what was only a minor prop, Gollums Ring, in The Hobbit, and reveals it to be an object of enormous power and evil, the One Ring itself, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron. Although the book has many plot threads, the primary one follows the journey of Frodo Baggins, Bilbos nephew, as he and his companions attempt to destroy the Ring. (Tolkien Gateway 2011) About the movie adaptations: Fellowship of the Ring. Karl Williams of All Movie.com had described the movie as this: Director, Peter Jackson fulfills his lifelong dream of transforming author J.R.R. Tolkiens best-selling fantasy epic into a three-part motion picture that begins with this holiday 2001 release. Elijah Wood stars as Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit resident of the medieval "Middle-earth" who discovers that a ring bequeathed to him by beloved relative and benefactor Bilbo (Ian Holm) is in fact the "One Ring," a device that will allow its master to manipulate dark powers and enslave the world. Frodo is charged by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to return the ring to Mount Doom, the evil site where it was forged millennia ago and the only place where it can be destroyed. Accompanying Frodo is a fellowship of eight others: his Hobbit friends Sam (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd); plus Gandalf; the human warriors Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean); Elf archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom); and Dwarf soldier Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). The bands odyssey to the dreaded land of Mordor, where Mount Doom lies, takes them through the Elfish domain of Rivendell and the forest of Lothlorien, where they receive aid and comfort from the Elf princess Arwen (Liv Tyler), her father, Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett). In pursuit of the travelers and their ring are Saruman (Christopher Lee) -- a traitorous wizard and kin, of sorts, to Gandalf -- and the Dark Riders, under the control of the evil, mysterious Sauron (Sala Baker). The Fellowship must also do battle with a troll, flying spies, Orcs, and other deadly obstacles both natural and otherwise as they draw closer to Mordor. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was filmed in Jacksons native New Zealand, closely followed by its pair of sequels, The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). (Williams 2010) The Two Towers. Box Office Mojo was able to come up with description of the movie that is the 2nd installment of the Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, as this: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings. It is the second film in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy that was preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and concluded with The Return of the King (2003). Continuing the plot of The Fellowship of the Ring, it intercuts three storylines, as Frodo and Sam continue their quest to destroy the One Ring, they meet Gollum, its former owner and continue their journey towards Mordor. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli come across the war-torn nation of Rohan as well as the resurrected Gandalf, before fighting at the Battle of Helms Deep, whilst Merry and Pippin escape capture, meet Treebeard the Ent, and plan an attack on Isengard. Meeting high critical acclaim, It was an enormous box-office success, earning over $900 million worldwide, outgrossing its predecessor, and is currently the 13th highest-grossing film of all time (inflation-adjusted, it is the 60th most successful film in North America[2]). The film won two Academy Awards. (Box Office Mojo 2011) Lord of the Rings: PG-13. It was impossible to do a Christian History issue on J.R.R Tolkien without paying some notice to the flourishing genre of fantasy writing. Essentially, Tolkien created the genre with his The Lord of the Rings. When the movie adaptation of the novels, Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers, were released in cinemas it was labeled PG-13. This means that viewers can only be teen-agers to adult. This is paradoxical for a children’s book to be labeled PG13 when turned into a movie. Even though the movies had no foul language nor contain any sexual content that were common to PG-13 movies, the regulatory board had considered the violence, the heavy themes of political power and obsession, and the gruesome characters as some of the obvious items that made this film qualify for PG13. Works Cited "All Time Box Office Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation". Boxofficemojo.com. 24 Mar 2010 "Main Page." Tolkien Gateway. Updated 2011 Belz, Aaron. “Grateful to the dead.” Grateful to the dead. 19 Dec 2009 < http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9Ye1Yj4oOCAJ:gratefultothedead.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/j-r-r-tolkiens-lord-of-the-rings-what-harvest/+lord+of+the+rings+two+towers+are+for+mature+readers&cd=3&hl=tl&ct=clnk&gl=ph&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com.ph> Willams, Karl. All Movie.com. 28 Nov 2010 Read More