Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon in HD
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To the delight of Lord of the Rings fans, movie goers and book enthusiasts alike, Peter Jackson has just signed on to direct the prequel, The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings franchise, so far, has raked in a total of 18 Oscars, including Best Picture for the final installment, The Return of the King, in 2003. Given the huge success of the first three films and Jackson's direction of them, there is a lot of hype and anticipation surrounding the prequel. So how are Lord of the Rings fanatics dealing with the wait? By searching out and watching the first three films, special extended editions, in high definition. Watching all of the extended versions of the films consecutively is a total of almost 12 hours!
So three questions come to mind here. What's so epic about these films? Why the extended versions? And why in high definition? To tackle the first question, Tolkien's books are timeless and continue to be loved by children and adults alike. His writing is captivating and pulls the reader into the realms of Middle Earth and the epic battles between good and evil. The story is action packed enough for children, and emotionally complex enough for adults to also enjoy. Also, Tolkien's background as a linguist at Oxford University allowed him to literally invent languages of Middle Earth, making the scene of his beloved tales a place the children could believe in and adults could be awed by. The story itself that Jackson had to work with was already epic. His direction of the films, however, as shown by the countless accolades, was exceptional. Historically, book to screen adaptations have a difficult time living up to reader expectations. Jackson's attention to the detail of Tolkien's trilogy is clear in his films and helped make his on screen adaptation so successful. His character casting and costume design was precise, the filming location of his native New Zealand made for a dramatic and otherworldly backdrop, and finally his manipulation of the latest in special effects technology is seamless while not being overdone.
This brings us back to questions two and three: why the extended versions? And why HD? Watching the extended versions is best because they follow the books even more closely. This is something Tolkien fans absolutely appreciate in the extended versions. All of the extra scenes refer to pieces of Tolkien's trilogy that perhaps are not central to the storyline, but embellish and help to create the larger picture of Middle Earth. It's as though in creating these extended versions, Jackson is giving a nod to all those who grew up loving the books and raise their own children to love them as well. This way the whole family can sit at home and really enjoy the authenticity of the films. Additionally, the whole family can also appreciate the masterful special effects by watching in high definition form the comfort of their own homes. HD allows the viewers to really experience the movies and be drawn in to the sharp attention to detail, just like Tolkien's masterful style of writing drew in its readers.
So if you're as excited for The Hobbit as the rest of the world is: check your satellite tv listings, or go to the movie rental store, and set yourself up for an epic Lord of the Rings movie marathon in anticipation of the prequel.
To the delight of Lord of the Rings fans, movie goers and book enthusiasts alike, Peter Jackson has just signed on to direct the prequel, The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings franchise, so far, has raked in a total of 18 Oscars, including Best Picture for the final installment, The Return of the King, in 2003. Given the huge success of the first three films and Jackson's direction of them, there is a lot of hype and anticipation surrounding the prequel. So how are Lord of the Rings fanatics dealing with the wait? By searching out and watching the first three films, special extended editions, in high definition. Watching all of the extended versions of the films consecutively is a total of almost 12 hours!
So three questions come to mind here. What's so epic about these films? Why the extended versions? And why in high definition? To tackle the first question, Tolkien's books are timeless and continue to be loved by children and adults alike. His writing is captivating and pulls the reader into the realms of Middle Earth and the epic battles between good and evil. The story is action packed enough for children, and emotionally complex enough for adults to also enjoy. Also, Tolkien's background as a linguist at Oxford University allowed him to literally invent languages of Middle Earth, making the scene of his beloved tales a place the children could believe in and adults could be awed by. The story itself that Jackson had to work with was already epic. His direction of the films, however, as shown by the countless accolades, was exceptional. Historically, book to screen adaptations have a difficult time living up to reader expectations. Jackson's attention to the detail of Tolkien's trilogy is clear in his films and helped make his on screen adaptation so successful. His character casting and costume design was precise, the filming location of his native New Zealand made for a dramatic and otherworldly backdrop, and finally his manipulation of the latest in special effects technology is seamless while not being overdone.
This brings us back to questions two and three: why the extended versions? And why HD? Watching the extended versions is best because they follow the books even more closely. This is something Tolkien fans absolutely appreciate in the extended versions. All of the extra scenes refer to pieces of Tolkien's trilogy that perhaps are not central to the storyline, but embellish and help to create the larger picture of Middle Earth. It's as though in creating these extended versions, Jackson is giving a nod to all those who grew up loving the books and raise their own children to love them as well. This way the whole family can sit at home and really enjoy the authenticity of the films. Additionally, the whole family can also appreciate the masterful special effects by watching in high definition form the comfort of their own homes. HD allows the viewers to really experience the movies and be drawn in to the sharp attention to detail, just like Tolkien's masterful style of writing drew in its readers.
So if you're as excited for The Hobbit as the rest of the world is: check your satellite tv listings, or go to the movie rental store, and set yourself up for an epic Lord of the Rings movie marathon in anticipation of the prequel.
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