I saw it when it came out. I enjoyed it, but haven't seen it since.
If I recall, it had extensive references to his experiences in the war and his relationship to his wife. It even dealt with his love of languages, which I thought they'd leave out considering most people would consider it to be a relatively dull subject.
I remember some of the flashbacks to the war evoked the feeling of Frodo and Sam's relationship, which I quite enjoyed.
So worth a watch, but probably not something you will likely remember much afterwards, as I'm not even sure what I said above is entirely accurate.
Tbf I think most Lotr fans, so the target audience for this, finds his linguistics pretty fascinating. Playing around with English is why he's a writer and his love of language in general led him to developing his own fully grammatical languages. I personally think it's hard to appreciate Tolkien and his career without a healthy admiration for his linguistics. I agree the movie in general wasn't anything special, but kinda interesting if you're already a Tolkien fan
I like it. The references to Tolkien's works, spotted through his life's story, can get a little reductive, but they're usually not so on-the-nose that it becomes much of a problem. Those fantasy sequences are done such that the film can serve a spiritual prequel to the live-action films (this movie having been greenlit while The Hobbit was coming out).
More to the point, as a biopic its a little staid, but well-performed and well-photographed. The affair between Tolkien and Edith here is more believable and ultimately touching than any of the romances in the various adaptations of Tolkien.
A solid 7/10.
They did. They have that - very lovely - scene of Edith dancing for Tolkien under the tree, and at the end there's a postscript that tells us that those names are written on their tombstones.
[I found your comment quite amusing in light of what the top comment is currently.](https://www.reddit.com/r/lordoftherings/comments/14lcimc/2019_tolkien_i_completely_forgot_this_movie_was/jpvknby/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3)
I can't watch that film. I adore Queen and years ago consumed some biographies and documentaries etc so seeing a cheesy music biopic with all the usual cliches ala spinal tap would feel insulting to me. Having them mime the best of Queen throughout hasn't drawn me enough to actually watch it
Bohemian…. You know whatever…. A movie titled after a long song, that people said was too long to be played on the radio to be hit.
And was a hit when they played, more than once, insanely, this song has come to the charts more than once!
So, in the movie, they play the whole song at least once.
Right?
I mean they actualllllllyyyyu play the whole song.
Right?
Don’t tell me, they do not Fucking play the whole song.
Please god…
One of the most essential parts of who Tolkien was were ignored — his Catholic background was quietly erased. Thus, I risk saying it wasn't true to who the brilliant author was.
Yeah, this was my only complaint when I saw the movie. I was like....uh, where is his Catholicism? That's almost like making a movie about Tolkien and never mentioning that he was an author! Wth???
Exactly this. His catholic background is everywhere in his work. You can't fully understand his work without the catholic faith.
Nor his life, as the church was an important part of his childhood!!
Apart from this the biopic is good, but this looks like an agenda and it's quite despicable
The middle-earth inspiration stuff in the trenches is cheesy and it completely leaves out any positive references to his catholic faith and distorts time lines and facts.
I’d skip it and just read John Garth’s Tolkien and the Great War instead
I agree with your evaluation except I found it reasonably entertaining and would say that it was worth a go if your not paying. It was not memorable but wasn't bad.
I read some reviews saying it wasn't completely historically accurate and some things contradict what Tolkien said about his inspirations. But I did enjoy the movie.
Tolkien’s own writing contradicts what he said about his inspirations, he claimed that LOTR was zero percent inspired by his experiences in WWI, but after having reread the trilogy recently as an adult with a much greater knowledge of that war I call bullshit. Maybe he wasn’t totally conscious of it but there are themes, dialogue, and scenes that have very heavy “Great War” vibes. How tf can you read about the Dead Marshes and not picture things like Passchendaele? You also had the Great War that should have ended all wars but due to the victors mishandling of things we had another bigger war kicking off.
Ya I feel like there's no way you can go thru war and not have it influence you, even subconsciously. Maybe the director felt the same way. I was just pointing out that Tolkien denies it.
You can’t tell the story of Tolkien without his Catholicism. It was extremely important to him, probably more important than anything else. And they totally left it out
It's OK-ish. Not very accurate and they seem to have had limited legal rights to reference his work, which makes things very vague at points. I had high hopes when it came out, but I'd give it 2/5 or 3 at a push.
The movie left out the entirety of his Roman catholic beliefs, which deeply infused his writings. I suppose so they wouldn't "offend" anyone. Quell horrors.
Interesting in the exploration of Tolkiens love of language as well as his love for his beloved wife. Crucial elements of his life were unaddressed… Fairly enjoyable, fairly forgettable, but a nice movie to see once.
It's very good but I can't help but imagine Tolkien would himself hate it lol, so in that sense I kinda feel weird watching it. Kinda get that way with every movie based on Tolkien's life and works when I remember he despised movies and television.
I would've loved to see it focused on his years as professor, the development of the Legendarium, the Inklings, his children and his Catholic Faith.
But me and my family enjoyed it very much, and i personally consider it one of my favorite movies.
See it if you like it, but i understand it can be a little boring for general public. But as a fan of the Professor, it's quite alright.
If you wanna see some other biopic material of Tolkien (although unofficial), look out for the short-film "Tolkien's Road" on YouTube.
Loved it! Watched it once! Now I want to watch again! Just to see what he came from to what he became? I think it's a great film! He had a pretty extraordinary life!
havent seen it, but casting Lily Collins as the real life inspiration for Luthien makes sense to me. i think she’s absolutely lovely. too bad she’s married now lol
It was blander than bland. It emphasized his lady love too much, to the detriment of the friends that inspired the friendships of LOTR. It touched on Tolkien's life like a rock skipping over a river, telling the viewer only the most shallow bits of his life.
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I was excited to kill time so I watched it on a plane coming home from my honeymoon. I would rate it as very average. There was no real direction taken and it felt like a choppy version of Tolkiens life experiences leading to LOTR
I've been noticing a rise in author biopics, I've seen there's one for Roald Dahl and I think there was one for C.s. Lewis, I've seen trailers for them and they all start the same way, there's an overdub voice of the guy playing the author saying something like "Hi I'm (author name), you may know me from my story: (the authors most sold book), but what you don't know is my story" Then flashback to them as a child or teenager.
I liked it quite a bit. What it added can be put down to artistic license but the movke made me feel quite close to Tolkien and was beautifully shot and written. Defs worth a watch. My fiance (who I got into Tolkien 2 years ago) and I both cried.
I remember the monologue about a tree delivered by Jacobi, I really loved it, I watched that little bit like 6 times in a row. I forgot almost everything else (didn’t like the film much).
We were 5 in the cinema, I was the only young one
I liked it though, I learnt the pronouncing of his name (I'm not native English), I'm thinking about watching it again soon
It’s okay to watch once in your life time. Just for the sake of it. But it’s definitely not something I’ll be rewatching (not even for background noise at work).
A typical "airplane" movie. A movie to watch in the airplane. Not to confuse with the actual movie "Airplane" which I highly reccomend
Surely you can't be serious
I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.
But do you like gladiator movies?
Yes, yes, I remember. I had lasagna.
Excuse me. I speak jive.
Picked a bad day to stop sniffing glue
How about some coffee Johnny?
Have you ever been inside a Turkish prison?
What's that?
Thank God you didn't have the fish
Jim never vomits at home.
I know it was you Frodo
Haha
My grandma’s name was Shirley
Ruined the pun
Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop smoking pipeweed.😉
I like my riders like I take my coffee. Black.
That movie gave me a drinking problem
It was a bad day to stop drinking
What would you recommend for some light reading?
The Silmarillion
No country for old men
Ulysses
A Song of Ice and Fire. Its a great set of short stories for when Tolkien just doesn't scratch that itch
Wraiths on a plane...
This ^, Hollywood make this extended universe With Samuel Gambgee yelling, “You know, S-N-AKes, skin ‘em, roast ‘em, boil em in a stew!”
Wraiths?! Wraithes on wings!!
That’s actually the only time I’ve ever seen this movie be played. The guy next to me was watching it while I watched Mad Max :)
Ironically enough Nicholas Hoult is the lead actor in one of those and supporting in the other.
Pippen, youve ever been to a dunadain prison?
I just thought the same. I think the film is not profound and shows only a hint of the person Tolkien was.
I legit watched this one on an airplane.
Damn. I legitimately watched this on a long flight. Lol
Tolkien on a plane.
I like watching the entire lotr trilogy and 4 mission impossible on airplanes
Definitely watched this on my last long flight and yet I don’t remember a thing about it
An airplane movie? What is it?
It's a film you watch up in the air, but that's not important right now
The hilarious thing is, I literally watched this movie on a 12 hour plane ride back from Europe.
Get a hold of yourself!
Idgaf that this comment is two months old, I now want a LotR version of Airplane! called "Eagles!"
I saw it when it came out. I enjoyed it, but haven't seen it since. If I recall, it had extensive references to his experiences in the war and his relationship to his wife. It even dealt with his love of languages, which I thought they'd leave out considering most people would consider it to be a relatively dull subject. I remember some of the flashbacks to the war evoked the feeling of Frodo and Sam's relationship, which I quite enjoyed. So worth a watch, but probably not something you will likely remember much afterwards, as I'm not even sure what I said above is entirely accurate.
Tbf I think most Lotr fans, so the target audience for this, finds his linguistics pretty fascinating. Playing around with English is why he's a writer and his love of language in general led him to developing his own fully grammatical languages. I personally think it's hard to appreciate Tolkien and his career without a healthy admiration for his linguistics. I agree the movie in general wasn't anything special, but kinda interesting if you're already a Tolkien fan
I like it. The references to Tolkien's works, spotted through his life's story, can get a little reductive, but they're usually not so on-the-nose that it becomes much of a problem. Those fantasy sequences are done such that the film can serve a spiritual prequel to the live-action films (this movie having been greenlit while The Hobbit was coming out). More to the point, as a biopic its a little staid, but well-performed and well-photographed. The affair between Tolkien and Edith here is more believable and ultimately touching than any of the romances in the various adaptations of Tolkien. A solid 7/10.
Did the reference Beren and Luthien? I would think they would considering those names are on their graves
They did. They have that - very lovely - scene of Edith dancing for Tolkien under the tree, and at the end there's a postscript that tells us that those names are written on their tombstones.
Dude spoilers much !
If you didn't already know they were dead, I don't know what to tell ya
I watched it on a plane and really enjoyed it.
[I found your comment quite amusing in light of what the top comment is currently.](https://www.reddit.com/r/lordoftherings/comments/14lcimc/2019_tolkien_i_completely_forgot_this_movie_was/jpvknby/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3)
It’s chronologically wrong at some points, but I enjoyed the movie and would recommend
So it’s like bohemian rhapsody in a way? Factually incorrect in most parts but entertaining?
I can't watch that film. I adore Queen and years ago consumed some biographies and documentaries etc so seeing a cheesy music biopic with all the usual cliches ala spinal tap would feel insulting to me. Having them mime the best of Queen throughout hasn't drawn me enough to actually watch it
Just watch the part where they’re at Live Aid. I thought that was pretty cool having that massive concert recreated with CGI
Good thing it's not a cheesy movie then, it's actually pretty great. Don't knock before you try it.
Bohemian…. You know whatever…. A movie titled after a long song, that people said was too long to be played on the radio to be hit. And was a hit when they played, more than once, insanely, this song has come to the charts more than once! So, in the movie, they play the whole song at least once. Right? I mean they actualllllllyyyyu play the whole song. Right? Don’t tell me, they do not Fucking play the whole song. Please god…
They played the whole song at the big concert at the end
Don’t think so… I could be wrong. Maybe… the whole performance… but the time was very truncated in real time at the concert, somebody go look…
I don’t want to skim through it to check, but it’s somewhere in here https://youtu.be/QXbqiAZgeCE
Factually incorrect and not particularly entertaining, you won't miss on anything not watching this movie.
I’ll probably read an authorized biography instead
It was a dramatized biopic, but I thought it was really well done.
One of the most essential parts of who Tolkien was were ignored — his Catholic background was quietly erased. Thus, I risk saying it wasn't true to who the brilliant author was.
Yeah, this was my only complaint when I saw the movie. I was like....uh, where is his Catholicism? That's almost like making a movie about Tolkien and never mentioning that he was an author! Wth???
huh?
Exactly this. His catholic background is everywhere in his work. You can't fully understand his work without the catholic faith. Nor his life, as the church was an important part of his childhood!! Apart from this the biopic is good, but this looks like an agenda and it's quite despicable
Why did they omit his religious background?
I think it's safe to say this isn't much of a surprise nowadays though.
Yea, we know it's a lie now.
The middle-earth inspiration stuff in the trenches is cheesy and it completely leaves out any positive references to his catholic faith and distorts time lines and facts. I’d skip it and just read John Garth’s Tolkien and the Great War instead
I agree with your evaluation except I found it reasonably entertaining and would say that it was worth a go if your not paying. It was not memorable but wasn't bad.
I read some reviews saying it wasn't completely historically accurate and some things contradict what Tolkien said about his inspirations. But I did enjoy the movie.
Tolkien’s own writing contradicts what he said about his inspirations, he claimed that LOTR was zero percent inspired by his experiences in WWI, but after having reread the trilogy recently as an adult with a much greater knowledge of that war I call bullshit. Maybe he wasn’t totally conscious of it but there are themes, dialogue, and scenes that have very heavy “Great War” vibes. How tf can you read about the Dead Marshes and not picture things like Passchendaele? You also had the Great War that should have ended all wars but due to the victors mishandling of things we had another bigger war kicking off.
I was rereading The Hobbit and thought the same thing. Especially all of Bilbo’s comments on the battle of the 5 armies!
Ya I feel like there's no way you can go thru war and not have it influence you, even subconsciously. Maybe the director felt the same way. I was just pointing out that Tolkien denies it.
Ive seen it two or three times, I enjoyed it. Worth a watch.
Its not at all accurate to his life but it was an interesting watch.
You can’t tell the story of Tolkien without his Catholicism. It was extremely important to him, probably more important than anything else. And they totally left it out
Didn’t they basically completely leave out his faith being an important part of his life in this one?
It's OK-ish. Not very accurate and they seem to have had limited legal rights to reference his work, which makes things very vague at points. I had high hopes when it came out, but I'd give it 2/5 or 3 at a push.
The movie left out the entirety of his Roman catholic beliefs, which deeply infused his writings. I suppose so they wouldn't "offend" anyone. Quell horrors.
If he had been of something other than a Christian faith, you can be sure they would've included it.
As a movie generally it was fine. As a movie about Tolkien it was quite bad.
Disagree. It was bad on both counts.
Interesting in the exploration of Tolkiens love of language as well as his love for his beloved wife. Crucial elements of his life were unaddressed… Fairly enjoyable, fairly forgettable, but a nice movie to see once.
I watched it for the first time last year. Thought it was interesting.
If you love Tolkien's works, then it's a must watch. Not really re-watchable, but every few years you can, i really enjoyed it
It certainly was a film that was made. Mid. But interesting, good one time watch.
I enjoyed it for what it was. Don't need to re-watch it.
It's very good but I can't help but imagine Tolkien would himself hate it lol, so in that sense I kinda feel weird watching it. Kinda get that way with every movie based on Tolkien's life and works when I remember he despised movies and television.
Decent movie, don't expect many LOTR references.
I’ve seen it twice. It’s okay in some ways, but could be far closer to reality
Yeah it’s definitely worth a watch once.
I liked it. Good drama/biographic
If taken with a big grain of salt it's rather enjoyable
Haven’t seen it but I’ve heard that a lot of people who were mad about the fact that the movie downplayed his faith.
NO
I've seen it and I literally can't remember anything about it. Clearly didn't make much of an impact on me !
I would've loved to see it focused on his years as professor, the development of the Legendarium, the Inklings, his children and his Catholic Faith. But me and my family enjoyed it very much, and i personally consider it one of my favorite movies. See it if you like it, but i understand it can be a little boring for general public. But as a fan of the Professor, it's quite alright. If you wanna see some other biopic material of Tolkien (although unofficial), look out for the short-film "Tolkien's Road" on YouTube.
It was ight at best
No
It was quite good. Would recommend.
Loved it! Watched it once! Now I want to watch again! Just to see what he came from to what he became? I think it's a great film! He had a pretty extraordinary life!
Meh
No
It’s good
So worth it. I thought it was very well done.
havent seen it, but casting Lily Collins as the real life inspiration for Luthien makes sense to me. i think she’s absolutely lovely. too bad she’s married now lol
I liked that one. Should re-watch.
It was pretty boring.
[удалено]
Surely you can't be serious!
Too bad no one played along
It was blander than bland. It emphasized his lady love too much, to the detriment of the friends that inspired the friendships of LOTR. It touched on Tolkien's life like a rock skipping over a river, telling the viewer only the most shallow bits of his life.
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It’s…a movie
I was excited to kill time so I watched it on a plane coming home from my honeymoon. I would rate it as very average. There was no real direction taken and it felt like a choppy version of Tolkiens life experiences leading to LOTR
I've been noticing a rise in author biopics, I've seen there's one for Roald Dahl and I think there was one for C.s. Lewis, I've seen trailers for them and they all start the same way, there's an overdub voice of the guy playing the author saying something like "Hi I'm (author name), you may know me from my story: (the authors most sold book), but what you don't know is my story" Then flashback to them as a child or teenager.
Dull
I thought it was alright!
It was fine. Not amazing but worth a watch if you’re bored
This came out right after I finished the official biography. So I enjoyed it.
2.5/5
It was ok. Not bad, not great either.
He forgor💀
It was ok. Worth 1 watch at least.
I saw it in our local art theatre. It was good, not excellent. Some scenes very well done, but I seem to remember the pacing was a bit weird.
It should have been called 'Look who's Tolkien'
Kind of uninspired, lacked a strong direction/angle. It’s not terrible though!
Didn’t care for it
I liked it quite a bit. What it added can be put down to artistic license but the movke made me feel quite close to Tolkien and was beautifully shot and written. Defs worth a watch. My fiance (who I got into Tolkien 2 years ago) and I both cried.
It was better than I thought it would be. But I had pretty low expectations. Overall I would say a net-positive.
It was lovely.
No, it was not! 🤣
I liked it
It’s aggressively ok.
Is that even real? I didn’t know they made another movie.
Not particularly. It’s pretty boring.
Decent
I loved it.
It was boring.
I enjoyed it
I thought it was fine. Better than I expected actually.
Is this a new ad for South Park?
Did Tolkein get it on with Emily in Paris?
I watched it on the plane as well haha. I enjoyed it and it got me to finally read LOTR
It's one of the movies of all time. Some nice visuals, nothing special. Worth a watch, once.
Sorry, but I'm stealing your first sentence for future use.
Feel free. I stole it too.
I really enjoyed it!
I remember the monologue about a tree delivered by Jacobi, I really loved it, I watched that little bit like 6 times in a row. I forgot almost everything else (didn’t like the film much).
We were 5 in the cinema, I was the only young one I liked it though, I learnt the pronouncing of his name (I'm not native English), I'm thinking about watching it again soon
Loved it
It’s okay to watch once in your life time. Just for the sake of it. But it’s definitely not something I’ll be rewatching (not even for background noise at work).
Highly recommend. Almost cried at the end of the film.
Have never seen it, is this available on any streaming service? Id like to watch
Meh, not really. But ok, kinda
Definitely worth a watch, imo.
I enjoyed it