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The whole LOTRs debate has too many variables that can't accurately be accounted for.
Such as...
Did they give Best Picture to ROTK... Or the entire trilogy?
Are the films, in their own right, good works of fictional storytelling regardless if the books were recieved well or not?
In other words, is the core story(ies) anything special without the special effects?
Etc, etc.
I've said it before and I will say it again: I think the main reason ROTK won (as well as the popularity pf the triology) is because psychologically, these films came out at the right time and people desperately NEEDED an escape of this scope and magnitude.
First we had 9-11 and now War in Iraq, not to mention the general deteriroration of what's going on in this country from a political and socialeconomic perspective. That's a "perfect" formula for a fantasy trilogy to have when it's released in theaters.
Does that mean if none of these things happened that LOTRs series would be a flop?
No... BUT, I seriously have to ask LOTRs fans if the world was more "cheery" would the films have as much impact as they did/do now given the CONTEXT of what's going on in the real world?
You can argue either way, but I personally don't think the trilogy would have been latched onto by so many AS MUCH as they have because people are still desperate to escape what's really going on "out there" and these films provide an extra degree of escape that normally wouldn't have been added in times of prosperity.
The fact is the stories also mirror what's going on in the real world to a certain degree (the corrpution of power) and again, I think people subconsciously respond to that because a film is a "safe" thing where you can leave all the "bad guys" in the theater when you go home whereas when you turn on the nightly news not only is it IN your home -- literally -- but in your real, everyday lives as well.
And to be honest, I hated FOTR and liked TT and ROTK much better because these had more structure to them...
Which brings us to the whole adaptation debate.
TT and ROTK adhere to classic three act movie structure moreso than FOTR for the simple fact that FOTR is a long, meanadering introduction and again, I think, subconsciously, even if you don't study film... People respond to these things -- tighter structure that keeps the flow and pace moving FORWARD -- even if they don't know it.
This is relevant to the adaptation debate because the books are all written with classic three act structure, but FOTR (the film) is not which is why I and others probably found it to be the most boring of the three and perfer TT and ROTK best of all.
If you haven't noticed, I am a "neutral" LOTRs fan.
I don't hate the series and actually like two of the three films... But I also don't think they are the greatest series ever to be put on celluloid either.
RE: Past Oscar Snubs...
Should Saving Private Ryan REALLY have won?
Again, take away all the blood and gore -- Shock value stuff -- And the story is just another cliched war drama complete with stereotypical characters (the Brooklyn guy; the Jewish guy; the Tough-Guy; The grizzled commander; etc.) that really isn't anything special.
However, in the CONTEXT of being put along side Shakespeare in Love, it does deserve to win because it tackled a subject that few films did up until that point and that was portray WWII as a real war and not the romanticized version most everyone -- even our parents generation -- Had in their minds.
A Beautiful Mind probably shouldn't have won either on its own merits... But again, put it in the CONTEXT of the other films it was up against and like SPR, you can see why it won overall (theme and execution of the subject matter).
Basically, for Oscars past and present, I think the big thing that people need to understand is that HW has a double standard in what they produce and how works are judged.
HW loves to produce the big, summer blockbuster multimillion dollar movies like Independence Day and uses the profits to fund more "artsy, high class" films like "The Hours".
This is the system in the nutshell.
Fantasy and action films do NOT get the respect they deserve... BUT again, on the other hand, a lot of the fantasy films are nothing BUT escapist fair that DON'T deserve the big awards -- Do you really think ID4 should win BP? BA for Will Smith? Hell no, but that doesn't validate LOTRs either because the same argument can be made -- So we have a Catch22 going on here. Once you understand that, you can put the Oscars into perspective.
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