Michael Emrys Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 How many times have you read "Bored of the Rings"? Once or twice, and the last time was years ago. It was cute in its National Lampoon way, but rather crude and shallow compared to what it was satirizing. In other words, juvenile and not really worth more than a brief acquaintance. The Trilogy on the other hand has incredible depth which is why I have returned to it again and again. It resonates on so many levels. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 The book was brilliant satire. The book was amusing but far from brilliant. NL's humor was generally callow and often stunted, and it shows here. Nevertheless, it is worth reading, especially if you are a Tolkien fan. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerMike Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Thanks for the thanks, and a reminder I need to put the latest Hobbit movie on my Netflix queue. The last one convinced me I'm not going to spend money seeing the next two. Steve Big Tolkien fan. Loved the LOTR trilogy (despite Legolas and his skateboard and other stupid stuff). The Hobbit movie on the other hand...what a HUGE dissapointment that one was. I had Phantom Menace flashbacks watching that one :eek: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenomorph Posted November 8, 2013 Author Share Posted November 8, 2013 Bit off topic there, old boy, and I have to say your post was a bit jarring - didn't actually expect to find someone actually talking about the game in a thread mainly about Tolkein's books. Hahahaha!! OK, on topic: you know what really bugs me about almost all game review sites? They are not about the games - they're about the graphics. I played Company of Heroes briefly and, gawd, it was horrible! But the games have great graphics. Thus it got an "editor's choice" or some such from Gamespot and most others. Example: I build 4 Sherman tanks (in that game that's a megaforce) and have them all ready to sweep across the battlefield - game over. But then I get some sort of emergency on the other side of the field and spend a minute or two dealing with it. I return to my glorious Shermans just in time to see the last one just sitting there as it's blasted to smithereens by an AT gun. Apparently 1) the AT gun rolled up the millisecond after I left, 2) the AT gun had a range about a millimeter longer than the Sherman's and so 3) the Shermans in no way reacted as the AT gun banged away at them. This same thing happened constantly in the game. And it gets a top rating from Gamespot?!? Come on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db_zero Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Ugg the Hobbit...never could get into it. I read other authors like Bruce Canton and Paul Carrell in HS. I rented LotR when it came out on DVD. Fell asleep about half way through it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collingwood Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 off topic: I recall reading that the Hobbit and maybe LOTR books were written by Tolkien originally to be read to his children. I read the Hobbit to my son many years ago, each night for weeks. I did different voices and it was great fun, and one of our favourite memories. It worked really well as a bedtime story. On topic: agree about the metacritic reviews, and the thanks for a great game. Is it perfect - no. Is CMx2 the best wargame(s) I've ever played - yes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 off topic: I recall reading that the Hobbit and maybe LOTR books were written by Tolkien originally to be read to his children. The Hobbit was. LotR was written for the same child after he became an adult and for for the literary circle at Oxford (the Inklings) who were all middle aged, I'm pretty sure. As a personal note, I only read The Hobbit once, and that was over 46 years ago. The fact that it was written for a young child put me off with its "cutesy-poo" language, and I am so grateful that Tolkien took on something far more challenging in the Trilogy. I was actually hoping that Jackson would cut loose and make something more mature of the story, and in places he has and I like it. But then, there are all those endless chases and fight scenes. Win some, lose some. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerMike Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Jackson just seems to have troubles making up his mind. Sometimes the movie feels like a kiddy movie (like the Hobbit was a kiddy book), at other times it's quite dark. This (among many other things that bother me to no end, racing rabbits really...) kills the movie for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heirloom_Tomato Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 I read the LOTR in grade 8 and loved it. I had a hard time putting down the books. The Hobbit I enjoyed just not as much. I was then given The Eye of The World, the first book of "The Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan. That series has occupied a huge portion of my free time for the last number of years and I would highly recommend it to anyone. As for reviews of the CM games, I read one. In 2000. By PC Gamer and downloaded the demo afterward. I have not needed to read another review of the games since. CMBO, CMBB, CMAK, CMBN/CW/MG, and CMFI/GL have all been purchased based on playing the demo of CMBO back in 2000. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 BTW, the first hobbit movie has it's extended version DVDBluray out. I like it quite a bit better than the original cut. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 The DVD version via Netflix is the one I watched a couple months ago. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Jackson just seems to have troubles making up his mind. Sometimes the movie feels like a kiddy movie (like the Hobbit was a kiddy book), at other times it's quite dark. This (among many other things that bother me to no end, racing rabbits really...) kills the movie for me. Well at heart Tolkien's world is dark. The Hobbit was a very brief moment in time from the LoTR, The LoTR warranted all of maybe 5 pages in the Silmarillion. The Silmarillion is a story of greed, arrogance and betrayal that spans thousands of years and is mostly a story of tragedy. Tolkien began work on the stories that would make up the Silmarillion as early as 1914, 23 years before publication of the Hobbit. Trying to make an adult movie version of the Hobbit is hard to do with out accounting for the fact that it is essentially part of the closing act of the demise of the Elves in Middle Earth. There is only so much they can include without thoroughly confusing the reader however. Even in LoTR, Elrond can only discuss the cost of choosing to be mortal with Arwen. What is not said is Elrond himself is the grandchild of a union between Human and Elf (Beren and Luthien) and that Elrond himself had to make the choice between Elven immortality or a human life. His brother Elros chose to be Human and is an ancestor of Aragorn. Yeah there is a bit on incest here as well, this was far from the only example. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Even in LoTR, Elrond can only discuss the cost of choosing to be mortal with Arwen. What is not said is Elrond himself is the grandchild of a union between Human and Elf (Beren and Luthien) and that Elrond himself had to make the choice between Elven immortality or a human life. His brother Elros chose to be Human and is an ancestor of Aragorn. You kept all this information under wraps when dating you wife-to-be, right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 You kept all this information under wraps when dating you wife-to-be, right? Ha my wife is Japanese. What makes me like Tolkien also has led me to follow Japanese history particularly the Sengoku period. There are many similarities in term of tragedy, rivalries that span generations etc. So she doesn't mind. Lucky me that she didn't just look at me askance and politely decline my invitation for a date. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfhand Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 The book was amusing but far from brilliant. NL's humor was generally callow and often stunted, and it shows here. Nevertheless, it is worth reading, especially if you are a Tolkien fan. Michael Brilliant in a callow and often stunted way then... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfhand Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Ha my wife is Japanese. What makes me like Tolkien also has led me to follow Japanese history particularly the Sengoku period. There are many similarities in term of tragedy, rivalries that span generations etc. So she doesn't mind. Lucky me that she didn't just look at me askance and politely decline my invitation for a date. Or that she didn't run from the room screaming? (I guess I, too, am often callow and stunted) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerMike Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Ow, my wife knows I love Tolkien. She married me despite that... I must have read LOTR at least 7 times, first time I was something like 14 years old. I sort of dragged her to the movies at the time. Gawd, I was so excited when the trilogy hit the theaters. And, grosso modo, I really liked the movies a lot. Still do ten years on. Not so with the Hobbit. When I heard Jackson was going to weave all the other stories into the Hobbit and make 3 movies out of it I was excited. I liked that idea a lot. So many interesting stuff that is hardly touched upon in the book itself. If done right, it would make a great new trilogy. But Jackson botched it IMHO. Perhaps he can redeem himself in part 2 and 3. Or even with the extended edition of part 1 (which I have not seen). I hope so, but that remains to be seen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Brilliant in a callow and often stunted way then... Well, I suppose so...if one is oneself callow and stunted. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 The DVD version via Netflix is the one I watched a couple months ago. Michael The extended version was released this week. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 The extended version was released this week. Rats! I don't think I am ready to sit through another viewing so soon. :mad: Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The book was amusing but far from brilliant. NL's humor was generally callow and often stunted, and it shows here. Nevertheless, it is worth reading, especially if you are a Tolkien fan. Michael Well, it was targeted to late teen-, early 20's-aged males, which I was at the time. So, I disagree, it was in fact brilliant...back then! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freyberg Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Love everything by Tolkein - especially the Silmarillion and LoTR - though the movies were a disappointing bore, despite their stunning New Zealand scenery. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanir Ausf B Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I'm going to make myself very unpopular here and say that I liked the movies more than the books. Axing Tom Bombadil improved things immensely all by itself. I did not like the first Hobbit movie as much as the 3 LOTR films. Too much dwarf slapstick in the beginning. Plus the source material is weaker, as previously noted. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iMolestCats Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I'm going to make myself very unpopular here and say that I liked the movies more than the books. Axing Tom Bombadil improved things immensely all by itself. I did not like the first Hobbit movie as much as the 3 LOTR films. Too much dwarf slapstick in the beginning. Plus the source material is weaker, as previously noted. +100000000000 I hated The Hobbit so much i just couldn't stand it but the 3 LOTR films were just amazing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Hobbit was too much of a repeat attempt. Weak material to stretch into 3 movies set it off on shaky ground, but beyond that I felt like I was watching a clone. I think of it like sitting down to an incredible 5 course meal. As I'm eating it I don't want it to stop. But by the time I get to the desert I'm ready for it to be over because, like it or not, I've had about all I can stand. That's the way I felt with LOTR movies, with the end of the third one being like a double heaping desert I didn't really want or need. The Hobbit is like getting home from this wonderful meal, still a glow with all it's wonder, and then having a friend call up and say "hey, let's go back to the same restaurant tomorrow night!", getting there and finding myself sitting at the same table (but a different chair), having the same waitress (different dress), and the same fixed menu from the night before. Sure, it's probably still going to be an awesome meal... but a shadow of the one the night before. And I probably would have been happier with pizza and beer. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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