Book VS Movie - the Hobbit

Yes, this is real!  In 1977 someone was actually crazy enough to make an animated Hobbit show for kids, in less than an hour and a half.  It wasn’t just any production company though.  It was a Raskin and Bass production that made it.  You know who they are, you watch their stuff every Christmas time.  That’s right, Raskin and Bass are the people that created the iconic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer claymation show, and other iconic claymation Christmas shows that we all know and for some reason watch with no explanation.  But we’re not talking about that today, we’re talking about the Hobbit.  BUT, not only is it an animated show, but it’s also a MUSICAL!  I am not kidding, it is a musical!  Now I am gonna be comparing this to the Jackson film, I’m gonna be comparing it to the book.  If I do mention the other film, it’ll most likely be because there might be some things that the Jackson film AND the book have in common that I liked that the cartoon didn’t have.  So wish me luck as we go into the ring again with this challenging topic.    

So let’s talk about the characters, well, they’re interesting.  Gandalf was portrayed well with the voice casting of John Huston, he managed to make you believe he was an all powerful wizard.  The dwarfs were … I guess you can say dwarves.  They took more of a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves look instead of the Jackson ones.  They looked old and just a little silly, not hot at all.  Thorin was ok, he seemed like more of a cranky old king than a leader till the very end.  Smaug was okay as well, although I don’t remember dragons having hair and looking like a giant fat cat with wings.  My only problem with the character portrayal was Bilbo.  Voiced by Orson Bean, this character basically drove me nuts, I hated him.  He seemed more like a jerk, and like he never really wanted to be there.  In the book he shows that it’s not easy just deciding to leave everything behind and go with these strangers across Middle Earth, and also have to pretend that he’s a skilled burglar on top of all of that.  In the cartoon, he brags WAY too much.  He also acted like he didn’t really care about the others, as long as he got out alive.  The whole time watching it I kept thinking, “Wow Bilbo, you’re kind of a jerk.  I hope you die!”  I was not a fan at all.

The movie did a really good job with making Middle Earth, look like what Middle Earth could be.  It’s hard to make a grand looking world with animation.  But they did very well with what they were working with, especially since this was made in 1977 where computer animation wasn’t really thought of just yet.  They even attempted to make the characters their own.  Although I wasn’t a fan of how the elves looked, they looked a little too weird for my taste.  Let’s just say, they weren’t no Legolas.  

The story was very close to the book, closer than the Jackson ones.  The only thing they didn’t put into the cartoon was the story plot of the Arkenstone, which was the real reason Thorin wanted to return to the Lonely Mountain.  But I think it was a good thing taking that out, cause they way the Arkenstone made Thorin while he was trying to find it, it isn’t really “kid friendly”.  But it does simplify the story of The Hobbit as best as Raskin and Bass could, which in my opinion is a very good thing.  But the book obviously has more of the good stuff, like more battle scenes, and all of that fun stuff,  time to tell the whole story and not having to worry about rushing through it.

My personal opinion, even though the book is pretty graphic and sometimes gets into some dark stuff that might not be for kids, the show is a little too kid friendly and is more like some over the top Disney Special where they don’t let the kids experience the serious stuff.  And let’s not forget, JRR Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a bedtime story for his son when he was little.  And eventually his son took over the Middle Earth franchise, and he turned out fine … I think.  I have to go with the book, because it has the fun and seriousness that makes a great adventure story.  But the cartoon is always a good way to show to your younger kids that  you think aren’t ready for the Jackson films.  The cool thing about something both films has is the songs.  They both have the Bilbo Baggins Hates song and the Misty Mountains songs in both films, even though they aren’t the same music, but they have the same lyrics.  It’s a great way to introduce your child to the world of Middle Earth movies and books.  Don’t think I just changed my mind right there, I still say the book won, by a landslide of course.  

So that is my final Hobbit theme review … Until next week when I take on The Lord of the Rings series with The Fellowship of the Ring.  And I’d like to give you a heads up, the next couple of months will be a LOTR theme.  Lots of Book reviews, and Book VS Movie review, INCLUDING the Ralph Bashki film.  So stay tuned for a couple of months of fun.  If you have a particular book you’d like for me to take on, please leave a comment below, OR tweet me @BorenNerdy.  I will see you next week, and until then, read a book why don’t you!

- BorenNerdy

Book VS Movie - The Hobbit

In 1937, a simple novel came out that changed the world of fantasy literature forever.  In 2012, a film series came out that kind of changed the world of fantasy film forever.  So when I thought I could put these 2 things into the boxing ring, I didn’t know how hard this was going to be.  This week, I am talking about The Hobbit or There and Back Again VS The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of Five Armies.  Now if you remember before I stopped doing reviews, I actually reviewed the book, and thought it was great, and I still do.  And recently I bought and watched all 3 Hobbit movies, which took me 3 days to manage to watch.  I still can’t believe someone would make 3 movies, a total of about 9 hours of film, based on a book that would probably take less than 9 hours to read.  So wish me luck and please bear with me.  

Now, let’s start off with the character portrayals, I LOVE MARTIN FREEMAN!!!!  I think he made an excellent Bilbo Baggins, especially since he looked like a young Sir Ian Holm, who played the older Bilbo in the LOTR movies, and also in the beginning and end of the Hobbit series.  Sir Ian McKellen, came back as Gandalf the Grey, pre Gandalf the White, and of course he was wonderful as well.  Richard Armitage was amazing as Thorin, and really handle the good and ugly side of Thorin, from a kingly leader to a power hungry man who wanted his gold.  I also liked the guys that played, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Dwalin, Fili, Gloin, Kili, Nori, Oin, and Ori.  Radagast the Brown, who was played by the 7th Doctor himself, Sylvester McCoy, did a great job … even though he wasn’t in the book!  I will say, it was weird seeing Saruman being a bad guy, since we all clearly know that he goes over to Team Bad Guys.  Everyone else was very good, even Bill Connolly’s CGI cameo.  Everyone’s portrayal was pretty spot on, even Bennedict Cumberbatch as Smaug.  I probably wouldn’t change a thing. 

The look of the film is spot on as well.  It looks just like I came back to the same Middle Earth from the LOTR movies.  The books are really hard to envision how grand and beautiful Middle Earth is, but when I see the movies, Peter Jackson really used New Zealand’s amazing sceneries and made you believe that this place was real, and really grand.  Guilliermo del Toro did a great job designing the look and feel of the movie, although he only did the 1st 2 films, and then there was some disagreement with Jackson, and he was only credited with co-writing the 3rd one, which you can totally tell in the 3rd film that he wasn’t apart of the look design.  But besides of that, it looks great.

Now … the story!  About 1/4th of the story is accurate from the book.  The rest was made up.  There was no Radagast bunny chase with the creepy wolf things, no fight with the 9 mortal men vs the good guys and Saruman.  And, there was NO LEGOLAS!  I know he was a popular character in the LOTR movies, but trust me when I say this, he wasn’t in the book.   I’m sorry to break your hearts ladies.  Speaking of hearts, there was no love story between Tauriel and the brother dwarf, I forgot his name, I just know it was either Kili or Fili.  Although, there was one moment in the end of the 3rd one when I did get emotional over the love story, I won’t spoil it for those that haven’t seen it, but it’s pretty sad.    

Before I end this I have one thing I have to say.  In the end of the Battle of the Five Armies, the Elf King jerk tells Legolas to go north to meet a young ranger named Strider, obviously Aragorn who is in the LOTR movies.  But here’s one thing about this that doesn’t make sense, well to me at least.  The events of the Battle of the Five Armies happened over 60 years before the Fellowship of the Ring was formed, in the movies.  In the books, it’s WAY longer than that.  If we’re talking movie wise, that would mean that Aragorn should be an old man in his mid to late 80’s in the LOTR movies.  Not a young hot guy in most likely his late 30’s.  It doesn’t make sense to me at all.  Apparently I wasn’t the only one that noticed this either, a coworker of mine also noticed it.  Another coworker of mine also noticed it and tried to explain it to us how it’s possible that he’s still young and gorgeous, but I forgot because we tend to change conversation topics very easily.  So if you know why, good for you, it still doesn’t make sense to me.

My personal thoughts, I think the book sticks to the main story plot very well, but the movie has more to show off it’s grandness, and also show the sides of emotion that a book can’t show.  Like right after Thorin dies in Bilbo’s arms and the dwarves are having there moment, Bilbo is just sitting there when out of nowhere Gandalf pulls out his pipe and is trying to get his smoke on, and it’s just a couple of minutes of awkwardness of how they are both reacting to what had just occurred.  Not only did they just go through a freaking brutal battle, but one of their good friends just died.  Yes, he was a jerk towards the end, but he was still their friend, and they both are trying to find a way for them to mourn in their own way, in Gandalfs case, smoking, as if he’s had this happen before.  But for Bilbo, it hasn’t, he’s spent a majority of his life living in a quiet hole on the side of a hill, and then out of nowhere he goes through a journey that not only shows him the joy and wonder of adventure, but the sacrifice and torment it can also bring.  For some reason that one 2 minute scene really hit me, and I hope it made sense to you guys.  It made sense to me at the time when writing this in the middle of the night.  But stuff like that you can’t really grasp in a book.

So who wins, definitely the movies.  Even though they added a ton of nonsense, it’s still full of epicness that will make you want to read the book, and not only that one, but the sequel books and movies as well.  Peter Jackson really knows how to visually tell you a story, and it works here for sure.  I’m pretty sad that he’s done with the Hobbit/LOTR books, but maybe he’ll go onto the other Middle Earth books that JRR Tolkien wrote.  Maybe he will, maybe he won’t.    Although, just because I’m going with the movies, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read the book, it’s a great book.  So go to a store and buy both, I know you won’t regret it.

So that is the end of a very long Book VS Movie, just like the movies!  Next week I will be taking on another Book VS Movie, The Hobbit VS The Animated Hobbit.  If there is a particular book you’d like to see me take on, please comment down below or tweet me @BorenNerdy.  Make sure if you like it to share with everyone you know.  And for goodness sakes, read a book why don’t you!  I will see you next week my preciouses!

- BorenNerdy

The Jedi Doth Return

We have to end off the Star Wars review trilogy with The Jedi Doth Return.  The last book to end the original trilogy and the Star Wars Saga, until December of 2015 when JJ Abram’s Star Wars film comes out, which I’m super stoked about seeing!  But we’re not here to talk about that, we’re here to talk about the films, we’re here to talk about William Shakespeares The Jedi Doth Return.  Now I spent most of last weeks review praising its amazing awesomeness and it’s cleverness to bring Star Wars a whole new fan base, so I’ll will try to keep my fangasm to a minimum, but I can’t promise you anything.  So let this review begin.

So here is the story:  We return to the planet of Tattooine, home of our main character, Luke Skywalker.  He and his friends have been searching for the palace of Jabba the Hutt who has been holding Han Solo, who is still frozen, hostage and used as his … living room decoration?  Weird!  Any-who, Luke and his friends managed to get captured by Jabba the Hutt, ON PURPOSE!  And rescue Han from his cold prison, and kill Jabba, thanks to Slave Leia, and fly off to rejoin the Rebellion.  While the others return to the Rebel Base, Luke goes back to finish his training with Master Yoda.  But alas, Yoda has reached the end of his life, and is not able to help Luke finish his training.  Before he goes on to the next life, Master Yoda informs Luke something very important:

YODA These final words now

With my last breath I utter:

O hear well, brave Luke

This is our hope: there

Is another Skywalker.

The rest silence is.

After some council with Obi-Wan, Luke discovers that Leia is his sister.  It would’ve been better if he found that out before they made out in The Empire Striketh Back.  And he also realizes that he must destroy the Empire and bring the force back into balance.  So he returns to his friends at the Rebel Base with his own plan.  They find out that the Empire has started making ANOTHER Death Star, and that the Emperor is on board overseeing the final installments of the station.  May the Bothans Rest in Peace for their bravery!  They head to the Forest Moon of Endor, where they destroy shield protecting the Death Star.  Long story short, they destroy the Death Star, Darth Vader is brought back from the Dark Side and destroys the Emperor by taking his own life in the process, and they all lived Happily Ever After … Until December 18, 2015!

What is there to say that I haven’t said for the past 3 weeks.  This is a great series!  It’s in my top 10 favorite series of all time.  It’s written great, knows how to bring the Shakespeare writing and still make sense to the common person.  If you are a true Star Wars fan, you have to read this series.  The last thing I have to say is … WHAT ARE YOU DOING STILL READING THIS?!  GO GET THE BOOKS AND READ THEM, DO IT NOW!!!

So that is the end of another great book series.  There is another William Shakespeares Star Wars trilogy of the first 3 films, and I’ll probably wont review those until the end of this year since the last one, The Tragedy of the Siths Revenge, won’t be out until September.  Make sure you stick around until then.  If you like what you had just read, share and tweet this to all of your friends, family, and neighborhood hobos.  Well, I don’t know how a hobo would be able to read this, so just your family and friends.  If you’d like to see me review a certain book, please leave a comment below OR tweet me @BorenNerdy.  Next week I’ll be back with another Book VS Movie from a book I reviewed a while back, The Hobbit, and it’s going to be a fun one!  Until then, may the force be with you!

- BorenNerdy

The Empire Striketh Back

After the 1st Star Wars film came out in 1977, everyone was obsessed and wanted more.  When  Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars came out, a lot of people were obsessed and wanted to see more, hence, The Empire Striketh Back, a sequel to the popular book, based on the popular movie.  Oddly enough, people love the idea of making a Star Wars book with the same story, but as if William Shakespeare came up with the idea.  If you don’t understand what I mean here’s an example.  In 1994, the famous movie The Lion King came out, everyone said it was the most original idea ever written.  Sadly it’s not, the film was inspired by the story of Hamlet, which if you remember way back in High School English, it was written by Shakespeare.  See, you get another Star Wars themed review AND a little history lesson.  So let the review begin!

So what’s the story … A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, we return to the story of Luke Skywalker, who has joined the Rebel Alliance with his friends Han Solo, and Chewbacca.  After their secret base was … well, no longer a secret, and attacked by the Galactic Empire, Han, Leia, Chewy, and C3P0 manage to escape and head to the Cloud City to repair their ship.  Until suddenly they are captured by Darth Vader.  Luckily they manage to escape, except Han who now is frozen and taken to Jabba the Hutt.  While that whole shenanigan is going on, Luke goes to find Master Yoda, a powerful Jedi Master to help him complete his training in the power of the force.  But, he then leaves before finishing his training to go help his friends.  Once he gets to the City of the Clouds he realizes that Darth Vader is there ready to capture him as well as his friends.  Some awesome sword fighting happens, and then Luke learns the most important thing in his life that will change everything.  This is the best part of the whole story, so I’m just gonna post the quote on here so you can see it’s pure awesomeness:

VADER [aside:] The boy doth admirably keep his head, 

But now I shall unleash the final blow.

[To Luke:] If thou but newest all the power of 

The dark side.  Obi-Wan hath never told 

Thee of what happen’d to thy father, Luke.

LUKE O, he hath spoken much.  And he hath told

Me of the truth – that thou didst slay hm, aye,

And without cause or mercy, murderer 

Most vile and wretched!

VADER - No, I am thy father!

LUKE Nay, ‘tis not true!  It is impossible!

VADER Pray, search thy feelings, Luke.  Thou knowest it 

Is true.

LUKE -Nay!

That is how awesome this book is!  You take an iconic and quotable scene in the history of everything, and make it into something awesome … Well, I think it’s awesome.  And I bet all of those Shakespeare nerds think its awesome too, I hope so at least.  

Now my thoughts on the book, GO BUY IT.  Not just buy it, but read it over and over again.  Read it until your eyes start bleeding!!!!  Ok, I know that’s a little extreme, I currently reading the Lord of the Rings books right now, and my mind has gotten a little medieval and violent, thanks JRR Tolkien!  Anyway, if you wanna be a true Star Wars fan, definitely read this masterpiece, it’s totally worth it.

So that is my book review for this week, I hope you enjoyed my extreme nerd out.  If you enjoyed this please share this with all of your friends and family, even your father!  If you’d like for me to read a book, please leave a comment below, or tweet me @BorenNerdy.  I look forward to seeing you next week when I take on the last of this wonderful series, The Jedi Doth Return.  Until then, may the force be with you!

- BorenNerdy

Book VS Movie - Star Wars VS William Shakespeare's Star Wars

In this corner, the king of pop culture, the only hope for all nerd kind … STAR WARS!  And in this corner we have the father of English and Literature, the man that made grown men dress up like women instead of having actual women be in the plays, which is pretty messed up.  The one the only WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE … Well actually, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, but you know what I meant.  Now you’re probably all thinking that I have gone crazy since the movie is clearly better, which you are wrong.  The movie is always better!  But why can’t I have some fun … and some time to get some extra reading time for upcoming reviews.  So let the battle begin!

Now usually I review movies that are based on books, and since this is the complete opposite, I’m gonna talk about which side does a better job.  With the characters, the movie does a great job showing the emotions of each person.  You know when they’re sad, happy, scared, while in the book, the characters  ramble on and on about how they feel.  It’s nice knowing how they feel,  but I don’t need to know about some sun fading in the distance, when basically you could just say, “I’m sad.”  But each character is portrayed very well in the book, Han Solo as the scruffy looking nerf herder pirate, Luke as the bright eyed boy eager to learn his true potential, Leia as the princess that can kick butt, and R2D2 as the droid that no one understands.  That’s right, R2D2 has speaking parts, but only when he is monologuing to himself, then he is beeping and squeaking … He has a really bad potty mouth if you think about it.  

Also something positive about the movie that the book lacks is the setting.  When you’re sitting there and watching the movie, you can experience all the amazement of this one mans imagination.  In the book, it doesn’t really explain the setting very well.  I think because the movie came out first, Ian Doescher (the author) didn’t really need to explain the setting, because the only people that would read it are the same people that have seen the movie over and over again, to the point that they remember every single second and detail of the movie and don’t need an explanation of the setting or scenes.  So the book kind of had a win on that part.

My personal opinion, if you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, do it!  It’s so worth doing both.  And if you think about it, the story of Star Wars sounds like it could be from Shakespeare.  It has great characters, great villains, great setting, and it’s just plain great.  I heard a rumor that there is going to be a staged play of the book coming out sometime in the near future.  I really hope its true, cause I’d enjoy spending every penny to see that!  Better yet, let’s make it into a movie … James Earl Jones is still alive, he could use some more Star Wars fan love before he dies.

So that is my Book VS Movie, I had fun doing it.  I was planning on doing a Book VS Movie with the rest of the book trilogy, but then I realized that I would be saying the exact same thing two more times, but with a different story.  Oh well, but I promise I’ll do another review when the next Star Wars Trilogy comes out, which probably won’t be till the end of the year when I get to those.  Anywho, please leave a comment below if there is a book you’d like to see me tackle, and also, please share with your book loving friends.  I’ve missed doing these and I can’t wait to do more of these to come.  I will see you next week when I review the next William Shakespeare Star Wars book, The Empire Striketh Back.  Until then, may the force be with you!

- BorenNerdy

P.S.  HAPPY STAR WARS DAY!  May the 4th Be With You!