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ThisISDesert t1_it6s3si wrote

unpopular opinion (maybe?) but LotR films are better than the books

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Doobiemoto t1_it79pks wrote

I wouldn’t say better but they are each unique.

It really bothers me when lotr fans shit on the movies. They are literal cinematic masterpieces.

Both the books and the movies are amazing in what they are trying to achieve.

And I can see someone saying they like either better than the other.

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flyover_liberal t1_it7apy8 wrote

> LotR films are better than the books

They're MUCH shallower. I love them both, but my brother can't stand the movies because they take Gimli, one of the greatest warriors in literature, and reduce him to comedy relief.

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throwaway-clonewars OP t1_it7anld wrote

Oh really? Definitely unpopular, or at least quiet since that's the first time I'd heard anyone say that.

I'm definitely a huge movie fan, trying to read the books. My mistake was attempting to start with Silimarian and not like the hobbit, cause that one I got partway and then put it down for something a bit easier cause I was like 12 at the time I tried to read and had 0 clue what was being said

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OverseerDarthOak t1_it7dbtr wrote

I have read the books a few times and I fall asleep every time I put one of the movies on lol

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ComicsNBigBooks t1_itafwcz wrote

I used to think this, but as much as I love the LOTR films, I wouldn't call them better. I think they're masterful films which make the most of telling the story in a cinematic medium (albeit with many changes). My biggest problem with them is something that another person mentioned, that they fall into the trap of reducing certain characters (like Gimli) to comic relief. I also thought Faramir's movie characterization suffered in comparison to the book, and I remember the Shelob sequence being far scarier in the book than in the film. The movies are still excellent, with terrific casting, production value, and a clear love for the story. And Howard Shore's music.

The book, meanwhile, makes the most of being essentially an epic myth. It's been several years since I've read it, but thinking back on it, I think the book gives a sense of just how much time passes over the course of the story, making Middle Earth feel that much more like a real world in which these people inhabit, real people whose lives were disrupted by the One Ring.

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