In a battle between the two greatest sagas of all time, who would win? Would it be Dark Vador, his formidable Jedi powers and his Death Star, or would it be Lord Sauron, the once-oh-so-powerful demon who could not keep a damn ring? While it is evident who the winner would be, there are people (Halflings maybe) who would think I"m totally prejudiced against the Lord of the Strings. Ok, maybe it's not THAT bad .
Well, first of all, "LOTR" and "Star Wars" share a long list of structural and thematic similarities. They"re both mythical creature fantasies hell bent on rescuing good from the clutches of evil. Both feature circumstantial heroes who make Oz-like journeys and come of age in the process. For example, in Star Wars, you've got a protagonist living away from the troubles of the world and is pointed to adventure by an old man who has great power, and he must battle against a great evil by destroying his instrument of destructive force. LOTR has a protagonist living away from the troubles of the world and is pointed to adventure by an old man who has great power, and he must battle against a great evil by destroying his instrument of destructive force Now, for the differences:.
The Scenery:.
Okay, maybe the scenery's in LOTR is a notch better than that in Star Wars. But, of course you can't blame George Lucas for making a film in the 1980's, and if the majority of the film is set in space What could he do to change the scenery? Light up a few more stars? Add a wormhole in the background?.
The Book:.
"When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celbrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.".
That's the first sentence of what is supposed to be the greatest tale of all times. And it's supposed to be an epic adventure too I had the courage and free time (and folly) to read the whole book and can advise you to skip the first 500 pages of the book if ever you are mad enough to try reading that out.