So are the books about the first World War? Sure, they are obviously influenced by Tolkien's life experiences. But it is a measure of Tolkien's success in obscuring the details that the movies work so well as an explanation of our current climate. Certainly many will see pro-war sentiment in the film, and take heart in lines such as "What can men do in the face of such reckless evil?" But how do you choose sides in a film which is as much pro-environment and anti-technology as it seems to be pro-war?
Like many today, I wouldn't even characterize most of the "good guys" in the movie as "pro-war." Some, like Theodyn, are unequivocally against war, but as Aragorn puts it, "Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not." Even the "evil" armies who set out and attack first are twisted and manipulated by Saruman, who inflames their sense of displacement and injustice and convinces them that wholesale slaughter of humans will make things right again.
Does that sound like anything in the world today? Of course it does. It fits every generation at one level or another. Keep in mind that the movies are still based pretty well on books written many years ago, and the movies themselves were all written and filmed before 9-11-2001. Some choices in editing might have been influenced by current political events, but that's about it.
All of this discussion misses the point, however. While the movie may serve to help simplify the debate for some who have over-complicated the issues, it's just a movie. They're just books. Every situation is unique, though all of life repeats itself.
All In All
So which movie is better? I feel pretty safe in saying that it doesn't matter, and that they can't be compared. Most trilogies are filmed separately and written separately and tell three different related stories. Even when written as three acts to one story, each movie has a clear beginning, middle, and end. These movies don't. This is quite literally a nine-hour film released over three years. Anyone who had not seen the first film would have been completely lost during this one, I suspect, since it does not stand well on its own.
So which third of your favorite movie do you like the best? Which half of The Shawshank Redemption was better? Which half-hour of The Matrix did you like best? Hard to choose, right? Doesn't matter, does it? That's how I feel about these movies. Short of roughly ten seconds of recapping part of the first film in a dream sequence, this movie simply picks up right where the other one left off, and ends as abruptly as the first. The scene is set. Sauron's army will march out to wage war for all of Middle Earth, the two towers are down to one, and Frodo, Sam, and Smeagol are now on their way to encounter "her."
Article comments