(avg. read time: 3–7 mins.)
Based on what we have reviewed in Part 1, what can we discern of what Tolkien would have thought of Peter Jackson’s films? First, he might have thought of them as riskier business than the animated film that was proposed to him. I doubt that he could have imagined what CGI technology could achieve to make a live-action adaptation possible. I do not doubt that he would have shared the general initial skepticism about it. We know that any inclination he might have had against a film adaptation altogether was worn down not only by the financial possibilities, but also by the poor BBC adaptation. Considering the other attempts that had been made between his own time and the time Jackson’s films were released, perhaps this might have made him open to the possibility, as it would at least be trying something different after the previous attempts.
Second, the issues Tolkien had regarding the treatment’s excessive compression would not be a problem for the Jackson films. The films had to cut out much from the story, but they still ended up totaling around twelve hours between them. More importantly, for all the omissions and changes made, one does not get the impression from the Jackson films that Tolkien got from the treatment in terms of the degradation of the story into a more conventional “fairy story.” Much of the story, and especially of the central plot, was maintained, and thus much of the distinctive character of the story was maintained. Tolkien would most likely have problems with certain things being omitted, though we cannot be sure what omissions he would find unacceptable (there may be a good chance that he would take issue with the omission of the Scouring of the Shire).
Third, from his letter first mentioning Ackerman, I think we have perhaps the strongest indicators that Tolkien’s overall evaluation of the films could have been favorable. His praise of the pictures and color photographs that were to serve as the basis for the animated film would probably have only been amplified in seeing the concept art and photographs of Jackson’s films. The artwork of Alan Lee and John Howe may or may not have agreed with Tolkien’s imagination, but they most likely would not have had him worried. And the landscape shots of New Zealand may have truly astonished Tolkien, particularly with settings like Mount Sunday being exactly what was needed for Edoras. One also wonders what he would have thought of the artistic quality of all the “bigatures” produced for the film. Most likely, he would have been quite pleased with the appearance of the Ents looking properly tree-like. But in any case, his policy of “Art or Cash” certainly plays favorably for the Jackson films. Quite apart from the fantastic box office returns (nearly $3 billion on a $281 million budget) and DVD sales, the movies generated a massive new wave of interest in LOTR and Tolkien’s other works. I know personally, because I was one of the many caught in that wave. Then there are the residuals from all the licenses that came as a result of interest generated by the movies. And, of course, this applies to what the Tolkien estate has made in relation to the Amazon series, which likely never would have been made (and most certainly would not have been made with as much of a budget) if not for the impact of the Jackson films.
Fourth, if there is one criticism of Zimmerman’s work that is absolutely not transferrable to the Jackson films it is carelessness and complete lack of respect for the original. So much of the books has been preserved and it was a constant reference point for much of the cast and crew, as well as (most importantly) the writers (including Jackson himself). The makers of the film trilogy could not be accused of not actually reading the books. There is too much attention to detail, both in the dialogue preserved and in the production in general for Tolkien to fairly think such a thing.
Fifth, based on the precedent of Letter #210, Tolkien probably would have many details that he would have problems with, whether or not he approved of the whole. As he was critical of the scene at Weathertop in the treatment, he would probably have similar problems with the presentation in The Fellowship of the Ring, since the Nazgûl scream is also featured there, and the setting is changed. However, it is something of an in-between of the scene in the book and the treatment, combining a little more focus on combat with the tense atmosphere and build-up of the book. Although his concern about cutting things would not be as pronounced in this case, his comment about the place of the Battle of the Hornburg would be shown wrong by the movie:
If both the Ents and the Hornburg cannot be treated at sufficient length to make sense, then one should go. It should be the Hornburg, which is incidental to the main story; and there would be this additional gain that we are going to have a big battle (of which as much should be made as possible), but battles tend to be too similar: the big one would gain by having no competitor.
I say that he would be “shown wrong” here, because the presentations of the battles in The Two Towers and The Return of the King are rather different for all that they are big battles involving fortresses. Still, based on comments like this, it is possible that he would think like Christopher in thinking that the movies had too much focus on action.
Of course, I have no reason to doubt that he would share Christopher Lee’s antipathy towards the theatrical version of ROTK for omitting the death of Saruman (though there it is not even implied, as in the film treatment). As noted before, it would be unsurprising if he disapproved of the omission of the Scouring of the Shire, and perhaps he might have taken issue with removing Tom Bombadil altogether, though perhaps he might have understood, given how he wrote Bombadil out of the rest of the story. Of the changes in general, it is difficult to know in many cases what he might have thought, but I think it is safe to say that he would have disapproved of what I regard as the worst change Jackson and co. made to the trilogy in the scene with Frodo, Sam, and Gollum on the stairs to Cirith Ungol, the book version of which is the only scene Tolkien referenced on multiple occasions as being especially moving to him. However, I am inclined to think that he would approve of the film-only scene of Aragorn and everyone in Minas Tirith bowing before the Hobbits for how it captures in a climactic moment the ennoblement of the ignoble, which he mentioned on multiple occasions as something that was especially moving to him (Letters #163, #165, #180), but maybe that is just me. I also think it is likely that he would have found the Ride of the Rohirrim that stirred him so much from the book to have been well adapted by Jackson and co.
Where things get even hazier is with how Tolkien would have judged the work on the characters, given how important that was to him. The major characters have generally been adapted quite faithfully, although some, like Gimli, have been oversimplified, and Aragorn’s character arc has changed. I don’t doubt that he would have problems with the adaptation of characters like Faramir and Denethor compared to their book counterparts. But one wonders if he would have been hung up on those changes or if he would have been pleased that so many characters were written and portrayed so well (I am inclined to think there would have been a degree of the former, given his attention to detail). One also wonders what he would have thought about the fact that the man he gave his blessing to play Gandalf ended up playing Saruman.
The matter is not so straightforward as is often presented. On balance, it seems likely that Tolkien would have shared his son’s general view of the Jackson films. At the same time, there is good reason to think he would have had a favorable opinion of the Jackson films due to the makers’ attention to detail, their general preservation of his story, their attentiveness to the canons of narrative even where they make changes to Tolkien’s work, and, of course, the massive profitability of the movies to the benefit of his family.