I was rewatching FOTR after rereading LOTR... Big mistake, because it made some of the bad dialogue even more noticeable. And not just in terms of style, but overall meaning and character development. As a friend of mine put it, the biggest problem with these adaptations is that Jacksons, Boyens and Walsh think that they can write better than Tolkien (and they actually say in the DVD commentaries that Tolkien got this and that wrong and they know better. And this is coming from the fans of the books, presumably ). The best scenes are the ones that stay closest to the books (mostly conversations between Gandalf and hobbits), but it's getting inferior once they start to deviate significantly or add their own, supposedly superior, stuff (it's getting progressively worse in the other two films, as they diverge from the books even more, but I haven't watched them again yet).
Some random examples from the top of my head:
Arwen: What's that? A ranger caught off guard?
Nazgul: Give up the halfling, she-elf!
Arwen: If you want him, come and claim him!
I guess this is supposed to be a B-movie version of Arwen the Barbarian princess.
(Boromir) Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no King!
This is so wrong on so many levels, but even forgetting the books... We've been told that Aragorn has "chosen exile" and then, thanks to the rude and interfering movie version of Legolas that "he's the heir to the throne of Gondor". So what does that make Boromir? An usurper? A son of the usurper? Additionally, Viggo's Aragorn appears the weakling because he's afraid to unite the people of Middle-earth even thought he's the only that can. And the talks about "same blood" and "same weaknesses" makes me gag. Tolkien's Aragorn may have his self-doubts but he's never weak. Aragorn is both humble and dignified but the screenwriters fail (or don't want to) convey it. But hey, Tolkien got it wrong, you know.
Gimli: Nobody tosses a dwarf!
The beginning of Gimli the buffoon.
Aragorn: Let's hunt some orc.
And this must be the B-movie version of Aragorn the Commando.
Compare it with the text:
With hope or without hope, we will follow the trail of our enemies. And woe to them, if we prove the swifter! We will make such a chase as shall be accounted a marvel among the Three Kindreds: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Forth the Three Hunters!
Even if this line might be too long for a movie, it's still possible to come up with a shortened and maybe even more modern version that still doesn't sound cheesy.
For the record, I'm not into any kind of writing, and English is not even my first language, but you don't have to be a chef to know when the food is, well, rotten
Some random examples from the top of my head:
Arwen: What's that? A ranger caught off guard?
Nazgul: Give up the halfling, she-elf!
Arwen: If you want him, come and claim him!
I guess this is supposed to be a B-movie version of Arwen the Barbarian princess.
(Boromir) Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no King!
This is so wrong on so many levels, but even forgetting the books... We've been told that Aragorn has "chosen exile" and then, thanks to the rude and interfering movie version of Legolas that "he's the heir to the throne of Gondor". So what does that make Boromir? An usurper? A son of the usurper? Additionally, Viggo's Aragorn appears the weakling because he's afraid to unite the people of Middle-earth even thought he's the only that can. And the talks about "same blood" and "same weaknesses" makes me gag. Tolkien's Aragorn may have his self-doubts but he's never weak. Aragorn is both humble and dignified but the screenwriters fail (or don't want to) convey it. But hey, Tolkien got it wrong, you know.
Gimli: Nobody tosses a dwarf!
The beginning of Gimli the buffoon.
Aragorn: Let's hunt some orc.
And this must be the B-movie version of Aragorn the Commando.
Compare it with the text:
With hope or without hope, we will follow the trail of our enemies. And woe to them, if we prove the swifter! We will make such a chase as shall be accounted a marvel among the Three Kindreds: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Forth the Three Hunters!
Even if this line might be too long for a movie, it's still possible to come up with a shortened and maybe even more modern version that still doesn't sound cheesy.
For the record, I'm not into any kind of writing, and English is not even my first language, but you don't have to be a chef to know when the food is, well, rotten