LucianG
December 19th, 2002, 04:40 AM
The much anticipated second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy premiered yesterday. From what I have seen in the press, reviews have been very good to excellent. Elvis Mitchell of the New York Times said, ""The director Peter Jackson's scrupulous devotion to the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy manifests itself in a gripping, intense fashion." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, film critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, gave it an A- and said, "That said, Jackson totally gets Tolkien."
In the case of a director adapting the work of another, it is so good to see someone who understands his or her subject and has the vision to bring the work to the screen in manner that is reasonably faithful to the original work. While Sam Raimi made minor changes in his adaptation of Spiderman, overall, his movie was easily recognizable as Spiderman. Roger Ebert even has minor complaints on Jackson's work, but concludes, "To do what he has done in this film must have been awesomely difficult, and he deserves applause, but to remain true to Tolkien would have been more difficult, and braver." Even in Ebert's complaints, there still is praise.
I sincerely hope that any adaptation of Battlestar Galactica, whether remake or continuation, is well written, well acted, and recognizable as Battlestar Galactica. In addition, I hope that those adapting Battlestar Galactica receive accolades similar to those above from critics and fans alike. From what I have read about Mr. Moore's efforts so far, including from his own responses, I have little confidence that either will be the case.
In the case of a director adapting the work of another, it is so good to see someone who understands his or her subject and has the vision to bring the work to the screen in manner that is reasonably faithful to the original work. While Sam Raimi made minor changes in his adaptation of Spiderman, overall, his movie was easily recognizable as Spiderman. Roger Ebert even has minor complaints on Jackson's work, but concludes, "To do what he has done in this film must have been awesomely difficult, and he deserves applause, but to remain true to Tolkien would have been more difficult, and braver." Even in Ebert's complaints, there still is praise.
I sincerely hope that any adaptation of Battlestar Galactica, whether remake or continuation, is well written, well acted, and recognizable as Battlestar Galactica. In addition, I hope that those adapting Battlestar Galactica receive accolades similar to those above from critics and fans alike. From what I have read about Mr. Moore's efforts so far, including from his own responses, I have little confidence that either will be the case.