GUILLERMO DEL TORO just might be looking for you

Remember to thank THRALL WORLD in your Oscar acceptance speech.

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PETER JACKSON

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Listen. Since I’ve met you I’ve nearly been incinerated, drowned, shot at, and chopped into fish bait. We’re caught in the middle of something sinister here, my guess is dad found out more than he was looking for and until I’m sure, I’m going to continue to do things the way I think they should be done.

– Indiana Jones

I have no excuse for waiting twenty years to watch the #101 Movie of All Time on IMDb, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. After I enjoyed the first outing of America’s favorite archeologist, I wanted to visit the third film of the now quadrilology. This movie was a fitting end to series, but George Lucas wanted to bring Indy back.

At his college where he has become a celebrity is his own right, men of Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) approach Indie (Harrison Ford). Upon arriving at his place, Walter shows him a broken tablet from the 12th century. While translating the inscription, he learns about the location of the Holy Grail, the chalice that holds the blood of Jesus Christ and whoever drinks from it is issued eternal life.

Learning the lore about the Grail’s whereabouts, Dr. Jones learns that Donovan’s project manager of the expedition to find the missing piece of the tablet has gone missing. It’s his father, Professor Henry Jones (Sean Connery), scholar of medieval literature who tried to get a missing piece in Venice, Italy.

He remembers receiving a package from Venice containing his dad’s notes about all the evidence that he collected from his quest of the Holy Grail. Accompanying Indiana on his journey is Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) and Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody). They soon realize that other forces are preventing them to seek the Grail like The Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword or the Nazis.

In the greater scheme of things, this movie is better than my all time favorite installment, Temple of Doom. This is not as good as the first movie. This movie’s action felt limp. Wasn’t enough pizzazz in it. The dialogue was tepid at best. The trademark humor was still there.

Judgment: It makes you wonder why would there be a fourth movie.

Rating: ****

After a near seven year odyssey, visionary director Peter Jackson concludes his epic “tour-de-force” telling of “The Lord of the Rings”. His three part epic has brought audiences to their feet as each chapter pushed the envelope on how long a feature film presentation could be.

Probably the biggest box office gamble in Hollywood history finally concludes. But is the final installment worth waiting for or is it just some halfling dropping a ring into molten lava?

The third chapter picks up close to the conclusion of last winter’s “The Two Towers”. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are still being escorted by the waif and tormented Gollum (Andy Serkis) deep into enemy territory as the stranglehold of evil still threatens to overcome Frodo.

Meanwhile, Gandalf (Ian McKellan), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) come upon Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) after the defeat of Saruman. The heroes return to Rohan where they are welcomed by King Theoden (Bernard Hill) and Eowyn (Miranda Otto).

But rising ever so quickly, the evil forces of Sauron look towards the weakening kingdom of Gondor for an epic defeat. Gondor’s capital Minas Tirith, homeland of fallen comrade Boromir (Sean Bean), is a classic warrior based city which has seen its powerful leadership wean with Boromir’s father and the kingdom’s steward, Denethor (John Noble).

If Gondor falls, the whole of Middle Earth will fall beside it. The heroes, the hobbits and the people of Rohan must once more lock swords with the evil of Sauron in hopes of securing of regal destiny for one of the heroes and the freedom of Middle Earth.

Can one small insignificant hobbit finally achieve his destiny? Can the forces of Sauron finally be destroyed? It comes down to this free-for-all and may the best man, woman, elf, dwarf, orc or hobbit win.

Peter Jackson’s conclusion is as long and drawn out as his previous films. Jackson begins his third chapter with a lot of slow key story points and eventually emerges into the epic battle for Minas Tirith. This battle is probably the best battle of the trilogy and is utter magic. The problem with this sequence being so good is that overshadows a lot of the rest of the film.

The struggle between Sam and Gollum is brilliant as Astin shows range he hasn’t used since the under-appreciated “Rudy”. Sean Astin’s Sam is a crowning achievement in this film. He so deserves an Oscar nomination for his powerful performance. He brings that character to another level beyond that of any hobbit in the film.

The Andy Serkis-Gollum CGI creation keeps getting more and more precious. (Please, forgive the pun!) I also loved the CGI creation of the giant spider. It was seamless and the whole sequence was amazing.

I also really enjoyed the separation of Merry and Pippin. It really allowed for each actor to show a different side of the hobbits. Each of their individual storylines was fun and it made for a more interesting journey this time around. I always felt they were under used and were insignificant compared to Sam and Frodo.

My biggest concern with the film was the ending. The film reaches about 7 different conclusions before the end credits. Each ending felt longer than the next because there was no flow or cohesion as we see a lot more than was needed. We love these characters but did we really need that extra 30 minutes?

I love the world of Middle Earth and all that dwell there. Peter Jackson has done what no other filmmaker ever dreamed of accomplishing with this project. Thanks, Pete for a wonderful journey.

4.5 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer.

Written: December 2003

It’s always hardest to do the middle film in a proposed trilogy of films.

The second film is always the maker or breaker of a franchise. In some of the most successful franchises of all time, the second film has gone on to eclipse its predecessor. Examples of these stellar sequels are series like “Aliens”, “Star Trek”, “Star Wars” and even James Bond.

The hurdle that director and Tolkien visionary Peter Jackson had to endure was making a middle film in his epic trilogy that has neither a beginning or ending. It is like filming a middle chapter of an unfinished novel. In some ways that is exactly what it is.

People expecting a recap of “Fellowship” will be disappointed since Jackson dives straight into the story almost with out pause. The story picks up within seconds of where “Fellowship” left off.

The Fellowship has been split. Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) are off to Mordor to deliver the ring into Mount Doom. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) are off to save hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) who have been captured by a troop of Orcs.

In the sequel, we find Frodo and Samwise lost in the Misty Mountains as they find themselves striking up a symbiotic friendship and alliance with the waif, Gollum (Andy Serkis). Gollum was driven insane when he possessed the “ring of power” now all he wants is to reclaim his “precious”. Can this creature be trusted or will this creature be the death of Frodo and Sam?

On the other front of the story, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli track their comrades to the kingdom of Mohan where they find a besieged kingdom that is about to overrun by the armies of the evil Saruman (Christopher Lee). A resurrected Gandalf (Ian McKellan) encourages the trio to join with King Theoden (Bernard Hill) to defend Rohan. Theoden leads his people and the trio to the legendary fortress Helm’s Deep where the final confrontation will be waged. Who will survive this battle? Will the fortress of Helm’s Deep fall? What did happen to Merry and Pippin and how will they figure into this chapter?

“Two Towers” is essentially three stories bridging the gap between the beginning and final confrontation with evil.

Jackson understands the scope of Tolkien’s Middle Earth as he finds a unique look for each of the kingdoms seen in this second Tolkien film. Tolkien and his master craftsmen built the castle of Rohan from scratch and etched out the fortress of Helm’s Deep from the walls of a rock quarry. They are truly amazing structures and Jackson uses them with passion and finesse.

The key performance of this film is the wonderful fully-digital Gollum. For once a computerized character seems to have a soul. The performance of the actor beneath the pixels shines through and he is amazing to watch in every frame. There is some humor in Gollum’s madness as he struggles with his loyalties but it’s the scenes where Gollum reacts and does things on his own that are more remarkable than his obvious psychological struggle. You can’t but feel for this misplaced creature.

I always thought that the first film took way to long to build momentum. I also felt the same about the novel. In the second film, Jackson continues the momentum he built in the third act of Fellowship. There are definitely lulls in a film of this length but Jackson never allows his audience to be bored as he delivers new and exciting things to look at in awe. The shame is that there are a lot of these spectacles that take away from the actors.

I continue to sing Viggo Mortensen’s praises in this film as I did the previous one. I also really started to enjoy John Rhys-Davies performances as Gimli the dwarf. I also have always loved the forever creepy actor Brad Dourif and I am positive there is no one out there who could have been as oozy as Brad was playing Grima Wormtongue. I liked Miranda Otto’s damsel Eowyn but I wish there were more meat in the role for this capable actress.

The biggest fault of this part of the epic trilogy is that it is the middle film. There are a lot of signs where the film could have gotten lost but Jackson stayed his course. I am sure that when we finally see the end of this epic journey the middle film will be looked on as a great bridge. There is a lot to be celebrated in this film but for people who aren’t familiar with the material they will be lost.

4.25 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer.

Written: December 2002

New Zealand director and visionary Peter Jackson spent over two years of filming time to bring forth the vision created by fantasy guru J.R.R Tolkien. His epic masterpiece was deemed unfilmable in its whole but Jackson’s passion helped him begin an epic quest of his own. The first of three books of Tolkien’s masterpiece is the “Fellowship of the Ring”.

Young Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) is a hobbit. Hobbits are curious little people who live the simple life in a far off pocket known as the Shire in the world known as Middle Earth. Frodo welcomes the wise wizard Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellan) to his town of Hobbiton on the eve of his Uncle Bilbo’s (Ian Holm) 118th birthday. Uncle Bilbo is an adventurer and the most curious of all the hobbits in Hobbiton. But Bilbo hides a secret that could undo the very fabric of Middle Earth itself.

3000 years previous, an evil sorcerer Sauron wielded a “ring” that could destroy armies and bring Middle Earth to its knees. In the wake of that victory, a desperate human general slices off Sauron’s fingers and the ring falls into his hands. The ring is pure evil and it can bring even the strongest man to his knees. The elves plead with the general to destroy the ring but to no avail. Eventually the ring is lost and thought destroyed after the general is killed and over the course of time it falls into Bilbo’s hands. It is this ring that could destroy all of Middle Earth.

Gandalf confronts Bilbo after his birthday party about the ring and Bilbo reluctantly gives it up. Gandalf begins to realize which ring it is and isn’t sure what he must do to destroy it. All he knows is that the powers of darkness are building to reclaim the ring and bring the Dark Lord Sauron back to power.

Eventually Gandalf and the elves develop a nine member fellowship to bring the ring deep into Sauron’s domain and destroy it the fires of Mount Doom. Among that fellowship is Frodo, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Boromir (Sean Bean), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) the dwarf, Legolas (Orlando Bloom) the elf, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) the hobbit, Pippin (Billy Boyd) the hobbit and Samwise (Sean Astin), Frodo’s ever reliable friend. For the next three years we will follow these adventurers through Middle Earth as they embark on their epic quest.

Peter Jackson’s epic storytelling deserves the hype the Hollywood machine has been able to push behind it. From the truly evil monsters to the brilliant sets, “Fellowship” embraces the Tolkien vision with passion. You can tell that this film was created by people who loved the books. There is richness and eye-candy in this film like none seen this year.

The first amazing thing I noticed was how cleverly the film depicts the differences in heights of the hobbits, humans, dwarves and elves. I was always a curious to see if they could pull that feat off. They do it with flawless brilliance. The almost giant Gandalf stumbling around Bilbo’s house and thrilling battles involving a lot of different sized people.

I did love Jackson’s craftsmanship of the creatures in the film. They are utterly brilliant. I liked how each one is something we have never seen before. I loved the Black Riders and the Cave Troll. This troll is the way a troll is supposed to be and he is so more believable than say the troll in “Harry Potter”. I loved the whole troll sequence.

Jackson’s epic beginning isn’t without its faults. It truly is a site to behold if you can handle the enormous running time of 178 minutes. Theatres should acquire “lazy-boys” for this theatric experience. Tolkien’s epic masterpiece was deemed unfilmable because of the tome of content housed in the trilogy. The running time is what deemed it that. For any filmmaker it is truly hard to overcome that challenge. What makes the film’s epic running time bearable at times is the powerful score by Howard Shore. This truly is an amazing piece of filmmaking but even the most brilliant and beautiful can wear out their welcome.

Having heard the books read by my mother and having fond memories of the Ralph Bakshi version of the books, I was puzzled with the film’s depiction of Boromir. For me, Boromir was a valiant, courageous and honorable warrior who dreamed of bringing honor back to his homeland of Gondor. It isn’t until he touches the ring that his honor begins to subside and he begins a conflict of honor and desire. In the books, as I remember, Boromir was the fiercest of the Fellowship and did all he could to protect the ring and the hobbits.

Jackson’s vision of Boromir comes off as a twisted, scheming warrior who has an ulterior motive throughout. Where is the Boromir I knew? I won’t hold this factor against the film because Tolkien characters can be interpreted in different ways. I also had problems with the depiction of Elrond but that could be just me as well.

Jackson’s “Fellowship” is an utterly beautiful beginning and should be commended on a film that delivers on the hype surrounding it. “Fellowship” is all I wanted in the epic telling of the classic quest-story but being so close to the trilogy it wasn’t any more or less than I thought it would be. That truly is a compliment in these days of over-hyped extravaganzas.

4.5 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer.

Final Note: I would like to make a short statement on how this film is being handled for its release. Some of us in the press core have had a hard time seeing this film and thus the reason for my narrowly early review. I am not laying any blame. In fact I would like to commend the people who worked on the project because of the hype surrounding it has been insane. No vision this extraordinaire should be held back. My question mainly lies in will we be going through this for the next two installments? Tolkien’s vision is about honor and overcoming overwhelming odds shouldn’t we as humans aspire to this vision.

Written: December 2001

MAGIA, ESPADA Y FANTASÍA (VI)

La segunda parte de la monumental adaptación a la pantalla de la obra de J.R.R. Tolkien por Peter Jackson y su equipo da comienzo en el punto en que la Comunidad del Anillo se disuelve: Frodo y Sam siguen su camino hacia Mordor, Merry y Pipin han caído prisioneros de los orcos de Sauron, y Aragorn, Legolas y Gimli, dejando a los pequeños portadores del anillo que encuentren su propio destino, van tras los cautivos para liberarlos, mientras Sauron y su aliado Saruman siguen acumulando fuerzas con las que aplastar a las razas libres de la Tierra Media, desunidas y parapetadas tras sus débiles defensas…

Tras el impactante efecto sorpresa de la primera entrega, Las dos torres ofrece más de lo mismo (pero peor) en la forma, aunque empieza la decadencia en cuanto al fondo. Como dijimos en su momento en esta misma sección, a medida que la trilogía avanza, sus grandes virtudes se van poco a poco diluyendo y los pequeños inconvenientes del primer capítulo, minimizados ante la grandiosidad del conjunto, van creciendo hasta poco a poco adueñarse de este puente hacia la conclusión. El problema, precisamente, es la entrega incondicional a la espectacularidad de las formas y el paulatino descuido de unas, ya de por sí, demasiado elementales, lineales, esquemáticas cuestiones de fondo (personajes, psicología, motivaciones, reacciones ante los hechos…) siguiendo, obviamente, las pautas marcadas por Tolkien pero haciendo que la película, exactamente igual que su antecesora y su continuación, dependa en exclusiva de los conocimientos previos del espectador sobre la obra literaria a fin de que pueda entender la lógica de acontecimientos y personajes, sin que se trate de un producto cinematográfico autónomo. A ello no es ajena la introducción de las grandes batallas y de las escenas de acción propias de la historia en las que la entrega a la espectacularidad es total, y en las que se desvirtúan algunos logros de la primera parte. Por ejemplo, donde hay un ingente esfuerzo por utilizar el maquillaje y la caracterización para la construcción de las diversas criaturas “no humanas” y de ambientación y dirección artística para los espacios, comienza a haber demasiada labor de computadora a fin de recrear enormes ejércitos en movimiento, espacios abiertos o decorados en los que transcurran los combates, auténticamente de videojuego por más espectaculares que sean, y también en el momento de provocar un buen número de efectos de la violencia sobre individuos y objetos. La batalla principal es tan grandiosa como artificiosa, con algún que otro guiño que supera lo humorístico para adentrarse en lo ridículo, completamente fuera del tono general de la historia, y las múltiples y complejas tramas paralelas que como un mosaico van salpicando la narración y cambiando el punto de interés y de tensión a cada momento, unidas a la excesiva duración del film, hacen que el ritmo vaya desde la lentitud más extrema al servicio del crecimiento de una tensión no siempre lograda (porque hay que entender que al igual que se depende del libro para presuponer aspectos de los personajes el espectador ya conoce el desenlace de los hechos sobre los que se pretende cargar emoción) hasta la vertiginosa sucesión de acontecimientos acelerados que siembran la película de altibajos y lagunas de emoción.

El problema es que la ingenuidad y expectación del discurso de la primera parte se torna aquí en una oda a las imágenes animadas desprovistas de discurso de cualquier tipo o, lo que es peor, intentando alcanzar la sublimidad de ciertos mensajes a través de la mera repetición de frases y situaciones pretendidamente trascendentes y decisivas (cuando, insistimos, el lector de Tolkien, espectador a quien va dirigida la película, no como intención, pero sí como construcción, ya sabe qué va a pasar y qué no) pero que, a través de ese culto a lo entendido como modernidad e innovación visuales, son en el fondo de una emotividad vacía, de una emoción nula, sin una aventura real, sin un riesgo o un peligro que realmente cruce al otro lado de la pantalla, sin unos personajes vivos por los que podamos sentir una empatía que vaya más allá de lo que los personajes dicen representar, sin llegar a sentir algo por los personajes en sí.

La película acumula historias que transcurren de manera paralela pero no por ello gana en solidez, muy al contrario, es una forma de perder pulso, de deshilvanar un puzzle que en la primera entrega había quedado ensamblado de manera aceptable. Se vuelve facilona, vulgar, reiterativa, simple y lineal, por más que visualmente pretenda todo lo contrario, resultar majestuosa, abigarrada, rica, espectacular; busca enganchar por la belleza y el impacto de imágenes grandilocuentes, olvidándose de atraparnos por el cariz de los acontecimientos que cuenta, y es ahí donde, a pesar de que engancha y obliga a seguirla, apuesta por explotar los elementos más pobres y simplones del lenguaje cinematográfico y busca convencer a través de algo, en el fondo, tan fácil como es apabullar, embaucar por aplastamiento.

Habiendo alcanzado así la trilogía la cúspide de lo que podía ofrecer, buena parte de esta segunda entrega y toda la tercera parte son un lento caer hacia la superficialidad en el discurso y el tributo a las formas animadas por ordenador en detrimento de la historia misma, al metraje excesivo en la creencia de que la mejor adaptación es la que cuenta todo (ya dijo Voltaire que el secreto de aburrir consiste en decirlo todo), de que a más, siempre es mejor. Y el cine nos ha dado gran cantidad de muestras, seguramente las mejores, de que lo mejor suele ser siempre lo contrario.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO

New interview with PAN’S LABYRINTHE, HELLBOY, and upcoming THE HOBBIT director, GUILLERMO DEL TORO.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO on what source material is being used for the two The Hobbit movies:

“We are respecting the structure established by Professor Tolkien…

…but we will be integrating Gandalf’s comings and goings because he does disappear in the book quite often.

So, as opposed to the book, we see where he goes and what happens to him…”

On interpreting characters such as; the dragon Smaug, the Spiders of Mirkwood, the Wargs, and Beorn the bear-man:

“Smaug has beautiful lines of dialogue; the Great Goblin has beautiful lines of dialogue; many creatures do. So we had to design them with a different approach because you are not just designing things that are scary.”

THE HOBBIT: The Dragon SMAUG

On Smaug specifically:

“I think one of the designs I’m the proudest of is Smaug.

Early in production I came up with a very strong idea that would separate Smaug from every other dragon ever made. The problem was implementing that idea. But I think we’ve nailed it.”

Read the entire interview HERE.

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Gimli interpretado por John Rhys-Davies

Lamentablemente la página de Empire platicó recientemente con el actor John Rhys-Davies, quien fuera Gimli en “El señor de los anillos” y se confirmó el detalle de que no lo veremos en esta nueva cinta.

“Si me lo pidieron pero para ser honestos, no la voy a hacer. Ya me salí completamente. Hay una parte sentimental que le encantaría estar de nuevo involucrado pero realmente no estoy seguro de que mi cara pueda aguantar ese tipo de castigo una vez más”.

El actor reveló de que podría hacer un papel totalmente diferente en la cinta.

“Yo preferiría mejor interpretar a alguien completamente diferente, tal vez un elfo. Ellos tienen ahora el paquetote bien diferente con “The Hobbit” porque tienes a 13 enanos, toda una banda, pero estás intentando representar a toda una raza…. están intentando hacer por los enanos lo que el “Señor de los anillos” hizo por los hobbits”.

John Rhys Davies, who played Gimli from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy will not be appearing in “The Hobbit”, which is being directed by Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) and produced by Peter Jackson.Gimli does not appear in “The Hobbit”, however, it was rumored he would play Gimli’s father or another dwarf. “The Hobbit” and its sequel is based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. What do you think?

Lukas Eggen

GIMLI and his Real Earth counter-part JOHN RHYS DAVIES

Other LOTR alumni who have been confirmed to be making a return in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘THE HOBBIT’ include; Andy Serkis (Gollum), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), and Hugo Weaving (Elrond). More info on that can be found HERE.

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Today’s picture is yet another from that same Cannes film festival but this time it is the whole Lord of the Rings cast all together.

MAGIA, ESPADA Y FANTASÍA (III)

Un icono instantáneo en la Historia del cine. Ése es el primer y más importante tanto a favor de Peter Jackson y su amplio equipo tras asumir la titánica tarea de adaptar a la pantalla la monumental obra de J. R. R. Tolkien, superando por fin el complejo de una industria cinematográfica incapaz durante décadas de afrontar el reto de poner en imágenes el único libro que se le resistía. Habiendo adaptado en varias ocasiones con más o menos fortuna narraciones ricas y complicadas como El Quijote, Las mil y una noches o incluso La Biblia, de El señor de los anillos solamente había podido hacerse una cinta de animación de algo más de dos horas de duración y una continuación televisiva con el segundo de los libros de la trilogía, también de dibujos animados. El gran obstáculo para que el cine hubiera salido airoso antes de tan ingente esfuerzo era sin duda la enorme complicación que suponía reflejar en la pantalla el mundo imaginario diseñado por Tolkien, esa Tierra Media instalada en una eterno medievo, poblada por seres humanos y criaturas fabulosas de atributos fantásticos, poseedora de casi todos los ecosistemas existentes en el planeta Tierra y nutrida de centenares de referencias y trasvases culturales, históricos, mitológicos y legendarios procedentes del mundo real y de los que Tolkien era amplio conocedor gracias a su profunda erudición, a su dominio de las lenguas antiguas y al desempeño de sus tareas académicas. En los albores del siglo XXI, en cambio, a través de las nuevas tecnologías y con una encomiable actitud por parte de Jackson y compañía para utilizar los efectos especiales de manera respetuosa y no abusiva, usándolos para cubrir las lagunas que el maquillaje y la dirección artística no pueden satisfacer, la adaptación consigue una maestría formal absoluta.

Con un acertado planteamiento que incluía como medida indispensable (para la lógica narrativa y las necesidades de la taquilla) la realización de una película para cada una de las partes de la obra, esta primera entrega cubre el primer volumen de la trilogía literaria, la historia desde que Frodo (Elijah Wood) y Gandalf (Ian McKellen) tienen conocimiento de que el Anillo del Poder forjado tiempo atrás por Sauron, el Señor Oscuro, con objeto de controlar los anillos entregados a todas las razas de La Tierra Media, está en manos de Bilbo (Ian Holm) tras habérselo arrebatado años atrás a la criatura Gollum, hasta que la compañía creada por las razas de la Tierra Media para escoltar a Frodo en su arduo camino hasta el Monte del Destino, lugar donde el anillo debe ser arrojado para ser destruido, queda disuelta con la desaparición de Gandalf, la muerte de Boromir (Sean Bean), la marcha de Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) y Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) a la caza de orcos y la dispersión de los hobbits Frodo y Sam (Sean Astin), por un lado, y Merry y Pippin (Dominic Monahan y Billy Boyd), por otro. Entretanto, por su periplo han desfilado personajes como Elrond (Hugo Weaving), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Arwen (Lyv Tyler) o el ambiguo Saruman (Christopher Lee).

La tercera gran virtud de la cinta la constituyen los exteriores escogidos como localizaciones para la filmación, los impresionantes paisajes de los Alpes Neozelandeses, todo un descubrimiento para quienes nunca habían tenido oportunidad de ver, ni siquiera en los documentales de La2, las maravillosas y bellísimas riquezas naturales de nuestras antípodas. Esta elección viene sustentada por un soberbio trabajo de dirección artística y maquillaje, así como de vestuario y caracterización, aspectos para los cuales los efectos especiales, contra lo que suele ser habitual, son meramente accesorios aunque tremendamente efectivos y decisivos. Todos los aspectos relacionados, pues, con el escenario en el que transcurre la acción, desde el aparente cuento infanfil inicial en los deliciosos parajes de La Comarca hasta el inquietante cuento de horror y tinieblas en que se convierte la aventura de los hobbits, son sobresalientes, disminuyendo un tanto la magnificencia del espectáculo, por ejemplo, en ciertos momentos, escasos pero algo chirriantes, en que las Minas de Moria o la ciudad de Rivendel son recreadas al modo y manera de los videojuegos, muñequitos incluidos.

En cuanto a la trama, la casi imposible adaptabilidad de una obra tan compleja, abundante y rica impone limitaciones, cortes y refritos tan comprensibles como inevitables. En esta primera parte, de ciento ochenta minutos de duración, al menos las labores de cortado y pegado no perjudican en modo alguno al conjunto más allá de lo habitual en una película de tres horas que alterna pasajes de enorme tensión y emoción con pausas de ritmo y escenas más contemplativas o largas (probablemente demasiado) transiciones. Sin embargo, lo que en entregas siguientes se convertirá en un problema (el ritmo y la excesiva duración, no digamos ya en las versiones extendidas que circulan en las ediciones de lujo en DVD), aquí queda meramente apuntado y es perdonable una vez que se juzga la majestuosidad de todo el metraje, convirtiéndose en virtud lo que a priori sería un defecto, la supresión de buena parte de lo superfluo y más farragoso del libro de Tolkien, aunque las tijeras de Jackson bien pudieran haber hecho algún que otro corte más y, por otro lado, el resultado final adolezca en algunos momentos de ciertas imprecisiones en la continuidad.

Todos estos aspectos técnicos, recompensados con cuatro premios Oscar de la Academia de Hollywood, hacen que la película sea toda una experiencia visual. Entrando, eso sí, en los aspectos dramáticos, la cosa cambia. En este punto tanto Jackson como los guionistas parten de un principio: el espectador conoce la obra de Tolkien y tiene una clara imagen de los personajes, por lo que no se molestan en introducirnos en la “realidad” de La Tierra Media ni en presentar los protagonistas al espectador más que en breves pinceladas arquetípicas que, si bien es cierto que permiten hacerse una idea del carácter de cada uno de una manera directa y rápida, hacen de todos ellos, exceptuando al Boromir de Sean Bean, unos personajes planos, previsibles, sin fuerza. Si a ello sumamos la ausencia de escenas en que la tensión o la emoción la pongan los personajes y no el entorno, la música, los paisajes o la violencia, nos encontramos con que la mayor parte de los actores no aportan a sus personajes más que la percha (excepción hecha quizá de McKellen, Holm, Bean o Wood) y que se limitan a cubrir etapas de su viaje como el muñeco escogido en un videojuego. Todo ello contribuye a que la película no sea una obra autónoma, sino que sea tributaria, quizá en demasía, de la información aportada por el libro que un espectador que sea desconocedor del mismo tendrá que completar de su propia cosecha si no quiere ver reducido lo que sucede en la pantalla a las escasas notas con que el director caracteriza personajes y fenómenos.

Con todo, y a pesar de los inconvenientes citados, la irrupción en la pantalla con la sala sala del cine a oscuras de las doradas letras del título de la cinta acompañadas por la estimable composición de Howard Shore (su música es quizá una de las mayores virtudes de la trilogía), supone una de las puertas abiertas a la fantasía más logradas del cine actual, un estallido de épica y magia, de grandilocuencia formal y profunda emotividad, de factura impecable y sutil majestuosidad, en la que triunfa claramente la forma sobre el fondo y cuyo desarrollo en las dos películas siguientes conservará, aunque no en la misma medida, las virtudes formales, y poco a poco acrecentará de manera ostensible los defectos apuntados.

You want to talk to God? Let’s go see him together, I’ve got nothing better to do.

– Indiana

Don’t hate me, but I have never seen the first installment in the Indiana Jones quadrilogy in its entirety. I have seen the classic scenes of the giant boulder, the room filled with the snakes and the melting Nazis. This is the first time that I saw Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I am so glad that I did. It’s #18 of the Top 25o Films of All Time on IMDb.

I am more of a Temple of Doom person. Some people don’t like that flick. I enjoy that it was campy and completely implausible.

In 1936, the famous archaeologist, Dr. Jones (Harrison Ford) is sent out on a mission to recover the Ark of the Covenant that once contained the Ten Commandants. He has to get it before Hitler and the Third Reich gain trouble control of it and have his army become invincible.

The first stop in Jones’ trip is Nepal where he meets an old love interest of his, Marion (Karen Allen). He tries to regain of the pieces of a magical staff that would guide the way to find the ark.

During the time there, a mysterious man in a black trench, Toht (Ronald Lacey) also seeks the artifact in Marion’s possession. There is a struggle. The duo escapes but not for long.

Hearing that the ark was moved to Cairo, they meet up with a famous digger, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) to help with the effort.

The Nazis are not far behind in their quest to find the Ark with Jones’ French counterpart Bellroq (Paul Freeman), the Nazi officer, Colonel Dietrich (Wolf Kahler) and Toht.

It’s common knowledge by now it that producers wanted Tom Selleck in the role of Dr. Jones. I can only imagine about Selleck in the movie. It would have been cool if you wasn’t working on Magnum PI at the time. Harrison Ford is not a bad choice for Indy. He is damn sexy in the movie. You gotta love a man that can handle a whip. Mmm-hmm.

The action sequences and the jokes in the movie were great. The ending of the movie was anti-climatic and borderline silly, but other than that, a good time all around.

Judgment: A worthy installment in the Indiana Jones mythology.

Rating: ****1/2

I’m playing with my format a little. Not sure if I want to keep the change – let me know what you think.

Data
Title: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Year: 1989
Length: 127 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Jeffrey Boam; story by George Lucas & Menno Meyjes; characters by Lucas & Philip Kaufman
Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover
Music: John Williams
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Sound Effects Editing; currently #106 on IMDb’s Top 250

My reaction
How I saw it: on video several times (have on DVD), most recently yesterday
Synopsis: Indiana Jones’ father disappears while searching for the holy grail.
Concept: Good. Old-school adventure story, drawing on elements that made Raiders of the Lost Ark great.
Story: Good. The plot is largely just an excuse for action sequences, but it’s tightly written and delivers everything the audience wants.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Good.
Pacing: Okay. A few scenes have a kind of weird rhythm, but the movie as a whole moves quickly.
Cinematography: Okay.
Special effects/design: Good.  The creature effects at the end are pretty lame, but the movie has a great look to it in general.
Acting: Great.
Music: Okay. There are some bits I like, but Williams doesn’t really take advantage of his classic theme music.
Subjective Rating: 8/10. Always good for an entertaining couple of hours.
Objective Rating: 10/10 3/4 (Good).

When it was announced that Peter Jackson, a small time and rather unknown Kiwi director, was going to be taking over the reigns of one of the most sought after and daunting film tasks in the history of cinema many didn’t expect a whole lot. But one came out of this man’s mind is an adaptation that Tolkien couldn’t have supervised much better himself and will go down as not only one of the greatest fantasy films, but flat out best films ever to grace our silver screens.

Now, let’s set the record straight right off, The Lord of the Rings is one film, broken up into three volumes for our butts and studio execs pockets pleasure. You will also note that my dates for the film is from 2001-2004, and that is because we didn’t have the full film experience in our hands until the release of the extended edition of Return of the King on DVD in 2004. (Though, don’t count out Jackson on making a couple changes and maybe even extending further on Blu-ray to coincide with The Hobbit)

The story takes place in the land of Middle Earth, populated by races of men, elves, orcs, goblins, dwarves, wizards, and most important to our quest hobbits. Hobbits are smaller people, not entirely different from men aside from their stature, state of leisure, and fascination with pipe weed.  We are introduced to there world when Gandalf the Grey, a wizard of Middle Earth comes to visit his old friend Bilbo who possesses a ring that might be more powerful than they could ever imagine. This ring is the bane of an ancient lord of Middle Earth, Sauron, who is regaining his power lost since this ring was cut from his hand. If he were to regain the ring he could march across the lands of Middle Earth and put it permanently into darkness, but Gandalf has other plans for it. Putting the ring in the hands of the hobbit Frodo, the nephew of Bilbo who found the one ring on his travels with Gandalf (see The Hobbit in 2011 & 2012), he sends him out towards Mordor where the ring can be destroyed only where it was forged. Gandalf bands together a fellowship to assist Frodo on his quest consisting of an elf, a dwarf, and two men, one of which is the heir to the throne of Gondor and the leader of men, Aragorn. Once all joined together, the fellowship, which also includes three of Frodo’s hobbit friends, sets off to Mordor to destroy the ring of power and destroy the greatest threat to Middle Earth.
This film, once finally seen by the public, quickly displayed that the time was right then to finally make this adaptation and that we didn’t have the abilities to do so as effectively until then. Jackson uses every trick in the book to bring Middle Earth to life. From superb make-up work, groundbreaking CGI rivaled only by ILM at the time, beautiful and detailed miniatures (or bigatures) that gave the epic buildings and sets a real life feel, beautiful costume design, and above all a concise sense of scope and vision that allows you to just fall into it with ease and buy into everything you are seeing.
The three volumes themselves slowly build up to the next, ramping up the scale and grandeur of the proceedings, and make you wishing the first two films didn’t end. When I walked out of The Fellowship of the Ring I had rarely ever been blown away by a film. As the credits rolled, I was ready to go for another three hours and couldn’t believe I had to wait another year to see the next part of the story. Few films have that affect on people and that is a testament to how magnificent these films are.
Now, I will say this, theatrically these films are by no means perfect, especially the final two releases, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. With that said, FOTR theatrically was an amazing experience and I had about zero complaints with the film, but that was until Jackson released the Extended Edition of the FOTR before the release of TT in theaters. The movie somehow got better, way better, and at three and a half hours the film felt even faster and better paced than the theatrical edition. Bringing the film even closer to the book and had me eagerly awaiting the next volume of the story.
Unfortunately, The Two Towers, theatrically, was a bit of a mess. Feeling rushed, truncated, and missing whole scenes, the story was just too much for a three hour film. So when it was announced that the extended edition of that film was going to be forty minutes longer, I was ecstatic. And the results were not disappointing in the least bit as the release stood toe to toe with Fellowship now which was a laughable claim after seeing the theatrical version. The extended edition fleshes out all the characters, allows everyone their moment to shine, and doesn’t short change Merry and Pippin like the theatrical release. The extended cut even feels like a shorter and faster film at forty minutes longer as the film builds a flow that works impeccably and never lets you go from start to finish.
The Return of the King was now being released only a month or so later and the anticipation couldn’t have been higher and the film met the expectations on a number of levels. The Battle of Pelennor Fields was unlike anything I have ever seen in a film and on such an epic scale it has yet to be even remotely duplicated since. The affects were wonderful and the acting as good as ever, but again it felt like we were missing some things and the film could have moved along a bit better. With that said, this theatrical release was far more successful than The Two Towers but I would hold out judgment until the extended editions was released. The results were fifty more minutes of great footage and again a better and pacing and flow for the film even at its extended length. Aragorn gets the most help from the extended cut, as do the pair of misfit hobbits, and Jackson made the Battle of Pelennor even more grand and phenomenal. The Return of the King might be my least favorite of the three volumes, but it is still better than most films released every year, it had to meet an almost impossible standard set by the first two films and it’s amazing it almost hit said standard.
Jackson was able sell us on the world of Middle Earth pretty much from the get go but his actors made the story work as they molded these memorable characters we would care for over the eleven plus hours of the film and make us wish we could spend even more time with them. Elijah Wood becomes Frodo and does a great job with the character as the weight of the ring slowly becomes heavier and heavier of a burden on him. Sean Astin plays his sidekick of sorts Sam, and while his accent can be a bit iffy at times, he slowly molds himself into quite the hero as they get closer and closer to the end. The other hobbits are played by Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd who start off as great comic relief and then discover their true purpose in Middle Earth as they both shine in their character arcs. Ian Holm also shines in his brief scenes as Bilbo Baggins and is both charming and a tad bit heart breaking as he digresses after giving up the ring. Orlando Bloom made his break out turn here as Legolas the elf but is more of an action superstar in the film than anything else, luckily he is very convincing as the bad ass of the group. Ian McKellen owns the role of Gandalf and no one else could possibly even be conceived as playing this role better than him, he is Gandalf. John Rhys-Davies has a blast as Gimli the dwarf, but I always wished his character remained more serious rather than becoming the bit of comic relief he evolved into in the later parts of the film. Viggo Mortensen shines as the reluctant leader and is great as the quiet leader who can bust out of his shell when he has to lead like the man he was meant to be. Sean Bean is regulated to mainly just the first volume of this tale, but his Boromir might be my favorite character in the film. He is so good with the temptation of the ring and carries himself with such confidence and spite it really is a marvel to watch, and he is also the shining spot of one of the best scenes of The Two Towers that reveals so much about his characters torment and mindset. David Wenham and John Noble both do fine jobs as the men from Gondor that get the most focus but I think their characters were to of the least well written, especially compared to their roles in the books, so I don’t think they are to blame for their characters not standing out like others. The characters from Rohan are all over shadowed by Bernard Hill’s King Theoden who gets your blood going and absolutely shines on the Fields of Pelennor. The elves are also represented by a nice trio of actors, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, and Hugo Weaving with all doing very fine jobs in their more limited screen time. Christopher Lee is also menacing as the dark wizard Saruman and Brad Dourif is slimy as the advisor to Rohan. The most impressive work in the film though has to go to Andy Serkis who played the role of Gollum and was digitally rotoscoped out with the cinema changing CGI character. When you see footage of the work he was putting in on set, he is Gollum, they mimic his performance in the CGI character and I still don’t think he has achieved the full appreciation he deserves for that role.
In the end, The Lord of the Rings is an amazing feat of cinema unlike almost anything we have ever seen. An epic eleven plus hour film that is not only endlessly engaging, but leaves you feeling that you could go on for eleven hours more. I can’t say enough that if you have not seen the extended edition of this film than you have not experienced The Lord of the Rings in its entirety as they completely flesh out the story and really improves upon ever aspect of the story. I am sure many of you have seen the film, but I urge you to go back now almost ten years after the first volume was released and experience just how well this thing holds up. And when you do decide to dive back in, make sure you get the full experience with the extended editions as it is Peter Jackson’s epic in its absolute best form and will be remembered for years to come as a landmark feat in filmmaking.

The film, a psychological political thriller tells the story of a British Prime Minister who gives up the position of an elite special forces (SAS) unit in Afghanistan to ensure a UK £80 billion arms deal goes through – thus assuring his re-election. All soldiers in the SAS unit are thought to have died, until 2 months later, when one of them (a female Captain) is found by Italian special forces and returns to the UK to investigate matters.