Is The Lord of the Rings still relevant?

[Pixelspeech]

Exactly what the title says.

I used to watch LotR when I was a kid and I played many of the games, but I don't care about the universe anymore. Most of the once-groundbreaking ideas have become fantasy standards, so when I rewatch the old movies, I usually quit after about an hour; I haven't even bothered glancing at The Hobbit yet and have no intention of changing that.

Has the story grown stale after years of license-milking or has it simply being outdone by stuff like Warhammer and Dragon Age? What do you think?

 

[JoJo]

I don't really think that two trilogies of films based on the original books, a few cartoons from decades ago and a handful of video games are enough to count as 'licence-milking', especially when you compare it to the amount of material that's come out from other mass-appeal franchises (see Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter etc).

At-least Lord of the Rings 2: Electric Boogaloo by [insert random author who isn't Tolkien] isn't coming out in 2015.

 

[Dark Knifer]

Well considering the cultural impact is still clearly seen today as the definitive fantasy and the movies was one of the biggest risks any adaptation has ever made and it turned out to be a bunch of quality films, yes it's still relevant. If it wasn't it would have been sent into complete obscurity but many people still enjoy the books and movies and some people enjoy the hobbit. I don't really but yes I think lord of the rings is still quite relevant.

Though you are quite brave claiming of all things, dragon age and warhammer are greater then lord of the rings. Fine in their own merits but they need lord of the rings far more then lord of the rings ever did.

 

[sanquin]

The setting and back story is solid enough that i will never grow tired of the movies. Even if they make more movies in the setting outside of the books, as long as they use different characters.

As for the games...well, that's more a gameplay thing for me. Either the lotr games have gameplay that's not for me, or gameplay I've seen too often already. Then again there have been a lot of lotr games. I whopping 34 so far.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Well...it has serious problems in that about half of all fantasy is people rehashing it, and most of the other half is about people thinking they are clever for trying to do the opposite (which usually means there's lots of rape). It's become cliched by lots of crap imitators.

But that's not LotRs fault.

OTOH, a lot of it is very tedious, and doesn't seem to work, which is the norm for a new trendsetting thing.

 

[Esotera]

It's had a massive influence on the fantasy genre and the Hobbit movie is still pretty good. Although I would say its impact is decreasing, especially since Game of Thrones became popular.

 

[Pixelspeech]

Well considering the cultural impact is still clearly seen today as the definitive fantasy and the movies was one of the biggest risks any adaptation has ever made and it turned out to be a bunch of quality films, yes it's still relevant. If it wasn't it would have been sent into complete obscurity but many people still enjoy the books and movies and some people enjoy the hobbit. I don't really but yes I think lord of the rings is still quite relevant.

Though you are quite brave claiming of all things, dragon age and warhammer are greater then lord of the rings. Fine in their own merits but they need lord of the rings far more then lord of the rings ever did.

I am intrigued to see so many responses in favor of the series, since the people in my direct environment seemed to agree with me. As for Dragon Age and Warhammer they both took Lord of the Rings as a foundation and then build something else on top of it; paladins versus mages and giant-weapon-baddassary respectively.

 

[Dark Knifer]

Well considering the cultural impact is still clearly seen today as the definitive fantasy and the movies was one of the biggest risks any adaptation has ever made and it turned out to be a bunch of quality films, yes it's still relevant. If it wasn't it would have been sent into complete obscurity but many people still enjoy the books and movies and some people enjoy the hobbit. I don't really but yes I think lord of the rings is still quite relevant.

Though you are quite brave claiming of all things, dragon age and warhammer are greater then lord of the rings. Fine in their own merits but they need lord of the rings far more then lord of the rings ever did.

I am intrigued to see so many responses in favor of the series, since the people in my direct environment seemed to agree with me. As for Dragon Age and Warhammer they both took Lord of the Rings as a foundation and then build something else on top of it; paladins versus mages and giant-weapon-baddassary respectively.

And that's how pretty much everything is made these days. A solid foundation set by an older franchise given new life by various methods. Lord of the rings remains relevant as long as the fantasy genre around as it is the foundation, as is most forms of art. Sort of like in when making new laws you look back to your countries constitutions and founding for guidance.

It's a good way to get content to take aspects from older works and take them in new directions, which also help the original piece remain relevant when artist cite the older work as a positive example on their craft.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Lord of the Rings is more or less the cornerstone of modern-day fantasy settings. It will remain relevant for as long as the genre remains relevant. You might suffer from over-exposure in the video game realm, but moviewise there aren't that many fantasy settings going on. LOTR is more or less the major share holder in that area.

 

[RJ 17]

Really the only thing that makes LotR irrelevant is when you think how easy it would have been to break the story...namely the whole "Ummmmm...why didn't we just take the Eagles to Mordor?" But the counter-argument still remains just as valid in that the story isn't about the climax of tossing the ring into a volcano, it's about the adventure of the journey. A good ol' Epic Quest for the characters to progress through. Of course that, in turn, brings about the Clerks 2 argument of "It's three movies(and books) about a bunch of people walking to a god damn mountain!" Completely boiled down and stripped of detail, sure, but in the end that's all it is.

Still, LotR gave us many of the fantasy archetypes that was still see today. Elves are fair, magical beings who live in enchanted forests, are nimble and quick, and have a penchant for being good at archery. Dwarves are sturdy little buggers who prefer to live underground, digging out mountains and caves, they tend to be aggressive and hard-headed and their preferred weapon is a strong axe. Humans hold great power but are easily corrupted due to pride and greed and are by far the most wide-spread of the races.

That's why when/if I finally get off my lazy ass and actually write a book, I intend to mix things up a bit. Humans are going to be the minority, Dwarves the majority, and I'm going to go with the "Christmas elf" definition of elves...meaning they're going to be more like gnomes in that they're going to be really small and wear goofy outfits. :3

But back to the question of "Is it still relevant?" I'd imagine so long as people immediately think of Tolkien-esque themes, characters, and archetypes whenever they think about the fantasy genre then yes, LotR is most definitely still relevant.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

It's still relevant and I still enjoy Tolkien mythology. It's practically the progenitor of modern fantasy. Though, the many broad tropes established by it and imitated in the fantasy genre can get annoying. Elves should be a race of perfect Mary Sues who love nature, Dwarves should be a bunch of good-natured, comic relief chaps who love beer and mining, Orcs and Trolls should be a bunch of vicious monsters for the good guys to kill, that sort of thing.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Though, the many broad tropes established by it and imitated in the fantasy genre can get annoying. Elves should be a race of perfect Mary Sues who love nature, Dwarves should be a bunch of good-natured, comic relief chaps who love beer and mining, Orcs and Trolls should be a bunch of vicious monsters for the good guys to kill, that sort of thing.

Agreed. I love me some LOTR and fantasy but seeing the same thing over and over can really begin to turn a guy off of the genre for a while. Maybe I want to see a morally ambiguous Orc instead of just a simple savage?

OT: I have to point out that if LOTR wasn't relevant, The Hobbit wouldn't have been split into three movies. Hollywood wouldn't have funded such a massive undertaking if it didn't have a high degree of faith in the audience they're selling it to. It's relevant.

 

[Heronblade]

Exactly what the title says.

I used to watch LotR when I was a kid and I played many of the games, but I don't care about the universe anymore. Most of the once-groundbreaking ideas have become fantasy standards, so when I rewatch the old movies, I usually quit after about an hour; I haven't even bothered glancing at The Hobbit yet and have no intention of changing that.

Has the story grown stale after years of license-milking or has it simply being outdone by stuff like Warhammer and Dragon Age? What do you think?

Tolkien's work has arguably had the single greatest impact on fiction since Gutenberg, and the IP has seen far less milking than most IPs with a similar level of influence, Star Wars for example. I'd be disappointed and surprised if it took anything less than another couple of centuries to truly fade into obscurity.

Given that both Warhammer and Dragon Age depend heavily on Tolkien's mythology. I'd say that the works in question are still relevant from your point of view as well, even if you don't recognize it.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I still enjoy them and i will probably always enjoy them because they are solid movies. The Hobbit feels a lot like Phantom Menace though :/. I don't see them losing relevance anytime soon cause the quality of the filmmaking involved is never going to dissapear.

 

[laide234]

Well, there's another Hobbit movie coming out in a couple of weeks that will make millions of dollars. On the strength of that alone, I'd say LOTR is still relevant.

I wouldn't be surprised if, in a couple of years, Hollywood also decides to make a Silmarillion movie/trilogy for even more money.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Of course LotR is still relevant, even if it's just because of its enormous influence on fantasy. The simplest definition of a High Fantasy setting is "like Lord of the Rings."

You should definitely see The Hobbit too.

Really the only thing that makes LotR irrelevant is when you think how easy it would have been to break the story...namely the whole "Ummmmm...why didn't we just take the Eagles to Mordor?"

There's many counter-arguments to that.

The one I like most is that they couldn't possible hope to destroy the Ring if Sauron saw them coming, which he obviously would have if they just flew to Mount Doom.

There's also the fact that the Eagles are servants of Manwë who exist to observe the mortal realm, not alter its history. This is lost in the films but even rescuing Gandalf from Isengard was an uncomfortable grey area to them. In the book the Eagle complains that he "came to bear tidings, not burdens."

 

[Psychobabble]

Well It's certainly still profitable. I'm personally sick of the sight of it however. Not due to any dislike of the fantasy universe itself or the books it came from, but due to the mostly hamfisted efforts to adapt it to other forms of media.

 

[Heronblade]

I wouldn't be surprised if, in a couple of years, Hollywood also decides to make a Silmarillion movie/trilogy for even more money.

I actually hope they do not, The Silmarillion was written as a fairly dry history. There's no way in hell it will make for decent movie material without giving the writers a free hand to flesh out what's there. Given Hollywood's track record in such cases...