It was only yesterday that my wingies came back from Kolkata, having watched Avatar in 3D. Needless to say, they were mesmerized and ready to rate it as the best they had ever seen. This sparked off a mild albeit spicy discussion on which is a better "Adventure/Fantasy" movie : LOTR or Avatar. Not a violent arguer, unlike 5 years ago, I decided to write this down.
Both Avatar and LOTR are great movies of the new millenium. Simply looking from an "adrenalinic entertainment" point of view, Avatar scores over LOTR. The magical world of Pandora, with its floating mountains and the enigmatic Na'vis, makes for an experience worth remembering. Yes, James Cameron really captures the imagination with the superslick and aerodynamic pa'li(direhorse), looking like a race car with racing stripes. Add to that a multi-coloured aerial fight, between the humans and the Navi, surely your blood's pumping. A gentle love affair running in the backdrop adds its own charm to the movie. The huge choppers with those big guns really make you feel like being in the battlefield. (so did Independence Day btw) The whole of Avatar feels like a high octane adventure, but with a very familiar storyline. Avatar does not have a strong script and therein lies the rub. There is only one way the movie was heading after Jake became a Na'vi Avatar.
It lacked good actors, plus the movie revolves only around 3 characters: Jake, Neytiri and Colonel Quaritch. The ensemble of Na'vis isn't powerful enough to raise the movie's acting levels. The dialogue delivery wasn't very strong either. Those who have seen LOTR will appreciate what effect a strong dialogue has in the movie... when Gandalf tells : "There is only one Lord of the Ring, only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power", or when Elrond tells Aragorn: "Put aside the ranger. Become who you were born to be" : it simply lends a different thrill to the movie.
LOTR has a much better story. Let's face it: JRR Tolkien has written a masterpiece and Peter Jackson has delivered almost every aspect of it quite stunningly. Lady Galadriel starts of the movie in a chilling description of the ring: "Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it". When Aragorn puts the Blade that cut the ring to the King of the Dead in the Dimholt mountains, I can bet that nerves tingle. The scenic mountains of New Zealand provide a picture-perfect backdrop for the Fellowship's journey, a journey that sees a never ending sequence of adventures, with several threads intertwining, before culminating at Mount Doom. The lighting of the beacons, calling Rohan for aid, raises hopes in the viewers heart.
The Middle Earth of LOTR is simply amazing. The Hobbits have a charm of their own. As Gandalf sums it up beautifully, "Hobbits really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you." The trustworthy trio of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are excellently potrayed by Viggo, Orlando and John Rhyes. The strong will of Theoden of Rohan too adds a pinch of spice to the mix. The friendship between Samwise "the brave" and Frodo goes a long way in depicting everything that one wishes for in a friend in this god-forsaken world.
Avatar lacks a strong comic side, while the arguments between Legolas and Gimli keep bringing on those smiles in LOTR. Counting 'frags' in the Battle for Helms Deep is simply hilarious. And who can forget the scene when Legolas brings down a Mumak and Gimli says "That still only counts as one". Avatar lacks those shining moments. Perhaps the only moment that sparks in Avatar is of Jake landing on Toruk. Avatar has the best CGI ever seen, but LOTR's Gollum was without doubt the most innovative character in a long long time. Avatar also lacks a good score. LOTR's music by Howard Shore is heart touching and lets call it "very apt". Annie Lennox's "Into the West" is a classic and it ends the trilogy on a legendary note.
There is no questioning the box office success of Avatar : $2 billion and counting. But LOTR delivers a much more complete package, so a better movie, hands down. Even though the movie trilogy as a whole is close to 11 hours, it hooks you on, without a shadow of a doubt. 30 Oscar nominations, 17 wins, 3 movies : there's something special about LOTR.
5 comments:
for sure both r great movies of the millenium...but LOTR was different, it hooked me up for the wholeday....
great work by Peter Jackson...
nice one about the movies. i also second the thought that LOTR is in a different league altogether - somehow I think that the most defining scene in the trilogy is the final march of the ents - for it represents the real shifting in the balance of power - from the Uruk Hai to the real right forces as is portrayed in the book or for that matter in the movie. Avatar has technology but if you want to know and see and experience human emotions and human failings and humans going beyond everything to achieve that which lies beyond their reach, LOTR is the movie for you .
I don't think its fair to compare these two movies. Avatar scores on the effects and experience, LOTR on story-telling.
But just the right thing for a wing discussion. :P
Btw, if you ask me, LOTR is highly overrated!
the story of avatar is trivial and totally predictable from the beginning..the message of the movie is very general in nature..u can't judge the movie by only the effects ...the fantasy,the thrill, the suspense of LOTR is beyond comparision
Its true, LOTR got the best score and best action sequences ever.
Its the best trilogy after Coppola's master-piece "The Godfather".
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