Thats only in the extended version. As for Gandalf, all he does is shine a friggin torch throughout the films, oh what powerful wizardy magic.
Film Lord of the Rings
- Thread starter Livvie
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Well you just can't get the staff these days.
He doesn't display Magic in the Harry Potter sense... but he is on the front line of battle. Defeating Balrogs and shit, scaring off the Nazgul, making a mockery of Saramun, and just allround general awesomeness.
i love all three films, got the EE's and rate em as one of the best trilogy's ever made, especially given the number of book-to-film conversions that are utter shite.
and yes, it stayed true to the spirit of the book - you dont see Gandalf shooting fireballs out of his ass and lightning from his eyes because magic in the LOTR universe (middle earth) is meant to be more subtle and manipulative. if you want fancy fireworks go watch harry potter.
Gandalf the White wasn't really allowed to use 'magic' anyway in effect he had died and had only returned due to his immense powers to guide those who needed the most help.
Balrog with a sword and his everready torch. Saruman, with his torch and removing his powers pretty much the same way the witch king does to him. In fact the fire of arnor isn't even his power it's from the ring of fire he was given by the elf lord Cirdan.
He had power, his return wasn't of his doing though. Gandalf wasn't even human, none of the Istari were.
There was only one thing I didn't like about any of the films: Legolas' amazing powers to state the obvious.
I didn't say he didn't have power, he did have, he just wasn't technically allowed to use lots of magic in his role as 'Gandalf the White' hence why he only uses blinding light rather than fireballs of great flamey firey feck-uppery.
Aye but I'm pretty sure he wasn't allowed to use his power. He was a Maia and wasn't supposed to use his power on the inhabitants of middle earth. Saruman, the Balrog etc were Maia spirits as well so he could use his magic against them. I'm not sure where the Witch King comes into it, though he used his staff when the Naz'gul were attacking Boromir and co who were retreating to Minas Tirith so he probably could have used it against the Witch King. I can't really remember to be honest, it's been so long since I read the book so I could be wrong. Magic is one thing I think they changed quite a bit from the books though
Excellent movies. Brilliant story.
Aragorn's Temptation was a bit ambiguous in the film. Not many people realized what was going on.
Witch King of Angmar was one of the men turned into the Nazgul by the rings when Sauron made the one ring and the one who stabbed Frodo on top of Weathertop with Angmar being one of the regions of Middle Earth. The books didn't have too much magic in them either so the film stayed true to that at least.
This thread has brought all the geeks in....excellent.
I also answer to nerd, anorak and sad old git in the corner
That's a metaphor for shite nowadays?
Ah... the mention of Maia spirits suggests that someone has read up about the books! I only know because I have as well, so don't think I'm calling you a nerd or anything.
And you're right, Gandalf is not supposed to use his powers as a Maia on the inhabitants of Middle-earth, but Saruman and the Balrogs are both members of the Maiar as well so he's allowed to pop a cap in their ass.
Gandalf is Jesus.
Indeed. My Mumsie and I have come to the conclusion that PJ managed to absolutly nail all the visual elements of the story and managed to succeed with Rohan and the Shire. But the Rangers of the North and Gondor seemed to get a raw deal. Aragorn's portrayal through the films became pretty diluted which is a shame because he had far more depth in the books.
Personally, I can't ever get enough of the Fellowship. I think the balance, pacing and general exploration through Middle Earth was breathtaking. It's a perfect film in my eyes, I just love it.
No. Synonym.
Erm I thought Gandalf was the leader of the Valar come down to Middle Earth temporarily in a humanoid form....or something
The Maia were the underlings of the Ainur, the Ainur were immensely powerful. Valar is the name of their race. Ainur were the main Valar and the Maia were the underling Valar. Morgoth who was the original big bad, (Sauron was his general) was really bad arse. I wish someone would re write the Silmarrilion so it's not like reading the bible, as the stories int that are so epic they make the lord of the rings look like a skirmish outside the pub on a Saturday night. The Ainur sent several Maia (the Wizards) called the Istari to contest against Sauron. Their leader was Saruman the white.
God I love beng a nerd.
Ive read Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales and have to agree - its not exactly easy reading. Someone should definitely take over the reigns and do Tolkein's work justice.
I cant remember a great deal of it all frankly - but isnt Gandalf's type (and Saruman and Radagast etc) called Istari?
I read all three books before the movies were released and The LOR series is the only book to movie that has really worked. They captured it so well. The way Minas Tirith is depicted is exactly the way I pictured it in my head. Brilliant set of films they were.
Absolutely. I know there's a few minor differences that the hardcore fans hated (Faramir) but I think even most of them would actually agree that the movies actually help enrich the experience the books provide if you read before you watched.
Yes the wizards are called the Istari, it's just the name for their group, like the Balrogs are called balrogs but they were Maiar also. I'm going to get The children of Hurin as it's meant to be the first book to address this.. The Silmarrilion and Unfinished tales were exactly that, unfinished notes. Stories though like the fall of the lamps, destruction of the trees, the siege of Angband, The silmarils, The war of wrath, The rise and destruction of Numenorians. The list is endless and each one is far greater in scope than LOTR.
What about Faramir? The films were brilliantly done and I'm very glad they didn't include a lot of the stuff in the books. Tom Bombadil, the endless songs and poetry.
In the book he basically let Frodo and Sam go without trying to take the ring to Gondor. The slightly corrupted version in the movie was a plot device used to delay Frodo and Sam to create a climax at the end of The Two Towers since the battle with Shelob was moved to the third movie.
Hardcore fans didn't like it because it minimized the contrast between Faramir and Boromir and paints Faramir out to be somewhat of a bad guy. The movie writers felt like to not do it the way they did drastically cheapens the ring's corrupting powers. Fans did feel like the extended version, where a lot of the reasoning for Faramir's actions were portrayed as a result of Denethor's treatment of him, painted him in a better light.
Personally I think they did a great job of keeping to the canon as much as possible but making the right minor changes when it made a little more sense to.
Faramir - Bookamir - was my favourite LOTR character, but the hardcore fans were completely OTT in their condemnation of Filmamir.
Tolkien's perfect man, who was in no way tempted by the ring, worked in the book but wouldn't have worked on screen. For starters, a Faramir who was never tempted would have undermined the character of Aragorn, who was. The film makers were right.
Also, for a touch of the soap opera, it worked to have Faramir trying to do something to please his mad father, who had always favoured his elder son.
Faramir was never a bad guy, just one under pressure and under-appreciated. The fact that he finally resisted the temptation at great personal risk to himself, made him as great a hero as anyone else in the movie.
Tom Bombadil > Gandalf True Ting.
Tom Bombadil's gangsta!
Tom Bombadil>Sauron>Gandalf>Balrog. He was the most powerful creature on middle earth.
Tom Bombadil was like a metaphor for God. A God who smokes alot of fecking weed.
I've read the Silmarillion and my god it was difficult (nigh on impossible) to read, but I loved it. You're right, it's so much more epic than LOTR, and so much more happens (it takes Sam and Frodo 100 pages to walk over a hill in Fellowship of the Ring ffs!).
You're pretty much right about the Maiar too, but actually the Ainur are the Valar and the Maiar. Then the Valar are the greater beings and the Maiar are like their servants (but still amongst the Ainur). Sauron, Gandalf, Saruman and the Balrogs are Maiar spirits so they're amongst the Ainur but they're not in the Valar.
Indeed, he's the only being that is not affected by the ring. Tolkein fans (nerds) are undecided on what he is exactly. Some say he's a Maia like Gandalf, Sauron, Saruman and the Balrog, some say he's a Vala, and some say he's actually Eru Iluvatar himself (which is the Elven name for God).
You know, I don't think you've ever been sexier...
Agreed about the Fellowship especially being longwinded. Waiting for Frodo to cross a hill or fall asleep seemed to take up about 3/4's of the book! I'm pretty sure I coul dhave crossed Middle Earth myself in the time it took for Frodo to traverse a hill.
I bought my brother the Silmarillion for Christmas once. I think my parents still blame me for single handedly putting him off books for life.
I'm not entirely sure Tolkein knew what Bombadil was. I know he was based on a Dutch doll his kids used to play with. I think he just added Bombadil for himself to be honest, and the opportunity to display his literary prowess. In all honesty the story didn't really need Bombadil, but he was a great character nontheless.
Well, it's good to see that at least someone appreciates my nerdiness!
I've read the Children of Hurin too, which I really liked because I like the character of Turin Turambar, but the Simarillion despite it's ridiculous amount of names has to be the best because of the brilliance of the epic tales in it.
I've read the Children of Hurin too, which I really liked because I like the character of Turin Turambar, but the Simarillion despite it's ridiculous amount of names has to be the best because of the brilliance of the epic tales in it.
You know, I don't think you've ever been sexier...
Agreed about the Fellowship especially being longwinded. Waiting for Frodo to cross a hill or fall asleep seemed to take up about 3/4's of the book! I'm pretty sure I coul dhave crossed Middle Earth myself in the time it took for Frodo to traverse a hill.
I bought my brother the Silmarillion for Christmas once. I think my parents still blame me for single handedly putting him off books for life.
I read all the books after watching the first movie (It's the only books I've ever really read). I haven't read a single book since I gave Silmarillion a shot, when I was halfway in I couldn't remember anything of what had happened and just gave it up.
I saw the movies a few weeks ago after not having seen them since they came out, they were still as good as I remembered them.