"What's your favorite movie?"
"uhh... ummm... Star...Rings. Crap"
Whenever somebody asks me "What's your favorite movie?" It takes me a few minutes to answer them, because I am trying to decide which of these trilogies/ sagas is my favorite. Then once I realize there have been nearly 4 minutes of awkward silence with me starring at a random spot on the wall I will utter whatever comes to mind first. It can be either, and sometimes depends on my mood...
It's so difficult to choose a favorite. My early childhood was riddled with fake lightsabers and bathrobes being worn as Jedi robes. And when I say fake lightsabers, I mean broomsticks that I painted blue, green or even red depending on how evil I felt on that particular day...
When I was a kid Star Wars was this phenomenon that was simply unrivaled. I am discounting Star Trek in this conversation, not based on quality but more so that it didn't feel like fantasy to me. It was more like "What if the Navy was in pace?" I'm not saying there is no fantasy in Trek, because of course there is, but it doesn't have the same feel that Star Wars does... Anyway, let me get back on trek, I mean track.
Star Wars was huge when I was a kid, everyone had their favorite character, many of them wanted to BE Luke Skywalker. Not me, no way. I wanted to be the stuck up, scruffy looking nerf herder. I was a Han Solo fan all the way. He was the reluctant hero, Luke wanted to go into battle to save the princess, he wanted to defeat the empire. What did Han want? Reward, money, and to get Jabba off his back. But his heart was in the right place and he came through in the end. And his quick wit and smooth way with the ladies sealed the deal... yeah, that was my dude.
Then in 2001 something happened. A new saga was introduced into my life, The Lord of the Rings. J. R. R. Tolkien had written a series of books meant to be a sort of "mythology", chronologically starting with the Silmarillion followed by the Hobbit and finally the series of three Lord of the Rings books. This world of fantasy was so detailed and so well written that adapting them to movie was as simple as handing everyone a book and saying "Do that". Of course I have no idea what peter Jackson (director of the movies) did, but he did a damn good job with the Lord of the Rings. So through my late teen years into my twenties I was reading the books and eagerly waiting for the movies. There have been many "LOTR Marathons" in the Darling house since then.
So lets explore these two power house franchises, shall we...
Strengths:
Star Wars - This saga was ahead of its time, it hit theaters when the most technological thing out there was a massive mechanical shark that ate girls in bikinis (Jaws reference). The movie had a great story with a set of characters that America would fall in love with. Everyone rooted for Luke Skywalker when he was flying his X-Wing, and everyone laughed when Han Solo made some off hand remark about the force being stupid. The acting is certainly a part of it, What was nice about Star Wars is that the majority of the cast were unknowns. So it was easy to see them as the characters they were portraying as opposed to something they did in the past. But unfortunately, only one career would move forward with any kind of traction.
LOTR - The movies as I said earlier are so good partly because the books are so detailed. Each character has a solid back story, there are forces working nonstop for and against our chief characters and the acting in these movies was outstanding. The soundtrack had me standing in the living room cheering for the fellowship as they rode/ran across Middle Earth. Not to mention, the battles. Star Wars may have space battles but the battles fought in this trilogy were just BADASS. Cast, the Lord of the Ring trilogy had a cast that worked so well together that I no longer see them as their individual selves. If I see a picture on the internet of Viggo Mortensen, I am like "Hey, where's Legolas?" Because they go together. And No I don't say "Where's Gimli?", because I assume he is right next to him, just below the camera frame.
Weaknesses/Criticisms:
Star Wars - Prequels... Boy oh boy the prequels. First let me say that without a doubt these three movies belong in the weakness section. HOWEVER, each of the three has at least a scene or two worth watching. The first movie had the Darth Maul fight, the second had the arena battle, and the third and best of the three had the transformation of Anakin to Darth Vader. So there's that.. Star Wars also got silly at times, how many ridiculous aliens can you put in one scene? ask George Lucas, I am sure he has an answer. The technology of the era really shows when you watch the original series now. In addition, after the prequels came out I found the light saber battles in the originals to be boring. Also, some of the droids were just plain lazy.
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| This is a trash can George... A TRASH CAN! |
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| I find your lack of acting disturbing... |
LOTR - Now, I am a super fanatic abut Lord of the Rings and I don't agree with all the criticisms, but here are a few... People wanted to see some serious action. The books were filled with Uruk Hai blood and sweet axe wielding dwarfs. Some have argued that the first movie The Fellowship of the Ring was too slow, and took too long to get going. And while I agree that yes the intro was long, I loved the character development and dialogue anyway. Some people will also say that its just too far off... "Elves and Wizards, it's just silly". Lastly, and the major complaint that I have for these movies is that the third and final installment Return of the King ended like 5 times. 5 times I stood up thinking the credits were about to roll and then looked foolish when the screen faded from black back into a new scene. GOD DAMMIT Peter Jackson! PICK AN ENDING! or at least make it clear that when the movie is not going to end your movie goers know it.
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| It's over with a toast and a clink.... Just kidding. |
Similarities:
So I actually found LOTS of similarities in both Trilogies. Both currently made up of 6 movies (although the 7th Star Wars is only weeks away) 3 of which are solid movies. Both create their own world with very little ties to the "Earth" and a reality we know, i.e. pure fantasy. Both have a force of good and force of evil. Both series have the "good guys" set out to destroy something. In Star Wars, Luke and company are trying to destroy the Death Star and The Empire, In LOTR, Frodo is set on a quest to destroy the One Ring, which in turn will destroy Sauron (really bad guy).
Here's another one, both main characters in these trilogies (Luke and Frodo) were set on their path from an older and wiser "mystical" type (Obi-Wan and Gandalf). And in accordance with what I wrote about 3 movies being good, there are also 3 movies that were not so good (for different reasons). Both trilogies over reached when making their prequels. Star Wars made three movies with sub par stories and terrible acting. In no other franchise will you find fans actively revolting over the making of any number of movies. Star Wars fans are some of the most dedicated fans on the planet, and they HATE George Lucas's decision to make the first 3 movies.
As for Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson decided to make the Hobbit, which was not at all a bad book, and not a bad idea. However, he made one book into 3 movies. Initially I was excited, "I don't care if he makes it 5..." I would say to my friends, it just means more awesome middle earth battles and more of the world Tolkien envisioned. However, after seeing the movies I changed my mind. No, they are not bad movies, but they are not great either. Jackson had to stretch the material and add characters that were never in the book. he had to create villains whom were never suppose to fight Bilbo and gang. And unfortunately the audience wasn't entirely thrilled.
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| I'm having a difficult time finding you on all these pages of the Hobbit... |
Differences:
Now for the differences... the one pretty obvious difference is Space vs well... New Zealand I guess. Star Wars is set not just in one particular part of a Country or even planet, but an entire galaxy, they cover light years and several planets throughout the series. They have species native to many planets. Whereas LOTR exists in what is called "Middle Earth" middle earth is basically the continent where the story takes place, its the "Midgard" of Norse mythology. The idea that Star Wars took place in the past is hard to grip for most people, because of the technology. I guess you need to think of a planet/ series of planets that all developed MUCH earlier than earth did. They must have had humans discovering fusion reactors while our planet was still full of building sized murder animals we call dinosaurs. So while they both appear to exist in the past, Star Wars has the Technology edge over Lord of the Rings. Bows and Swords are nice.... but to quote my buddy Han "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid"
Ok lets talk characters...
Luke vs Frodo - Luke wins by a landslide because Frodo not only doesn't actually succeed but continually fucks up. And even though I hate that Luke went and got his Light Saber from Jedi day camp, he still succeeds and can be proud of himself. Frodo sucks.
Han vs Aragorn - This one is VERY difficult, I want to give the edge to Han for his cocky attitude but I also really like that Aragorn is so freaking Badass that he willingly risks death for kicks. I have to give this one to Han though, because seriously... Han Solo.
Obi-Wan vs Gandalf - I give this one to Gandalf for a few reasons. 1) he always seems to have a plan and know that the outcome is going to be favorable... 2) Obi-Wan knows that Luke needs to be trained in the ways of the force but waits till he is 17, which as we all know is a BAD idea. ... 3) Gandalf smokes some of that long bottom leaf and seems like he'd be a good guy to hang with.
Chewie vs Legolas/Gimli - So I am going to lump both Gimli and Legolas together only in the sense that they are the companions to the "Han vs Aragorn" Debate. This is also tough, because a wookie is nobody to fuck with... they are known for tearing limbs off when they lose... do you know that? But then theres our dynamic duo... alone each one of them has merit, they are good characters, put them together and they are dynamite. They compete for kills, which sounds crass, but they were bad guys so... its ok. We are going with Legolas/Gimli on this one.
Merry and Pippin vs C3PO and R2D2 - Ok, here is another fun one. These two are great because both sets add some sort of comic relief/ mischief to the movies. I once again have to give the edge to LOTR because Merry and Pippin are both hysterical and have hearts made of steel considering their size and willingness to go into battle against creatures 5 times their size.
Leia vs Galadriel - Both are badasses and neither is to be fucked with. Galadriel shows that time and time again as an immortal elf, While the very mortal Princess Leia continually puts herself in harms way to fight for the rebellion and her people. I am giving this one to Leia because only she can put Han Solo in his place... No easy task.
Darth Vader vs Saruman - These are two very similar characters also if you think about it, both started out good, both wanted to educate themselves about the power they didn't quite understand, both fell to it's power and became villains. Both also died.. I give this one to Vader because if you ask anyone on the street who the most famous/badass movie villain is, its very likely they say Darth Vader.
The Emperor vs Sauron - Both of these characters are considered the "chief" villains of their series also, they hold all the true power. Darth Sidious was once apprentice to Darth Plagueis, and Sauron was once an agent of Morgoth, a fallen Ainur (don't pay any attention to that, I could write an entire post on the world that Tolkien created). So both of these powerful beings battled the forces of good for many years. It's not an easy task to determine which of these two wins the contest, I think that Sauron is more powerful, and because he was of he Ainur he is hard as hell to kill. I also have to take points away from the Emperor because he was part of a thousand year old plan to overthrow the Jedi, and in the end... A Jedi kills him (sort of).
Conclusion:
I have to go with Lord of the Rings.
Do you disagree? do you have a movie that you think beats both of these? let me know.
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