Lord of the Rings / Dark Tower

[Vincent Gaines]

So I've recently decided to watch the LOTR trilogy again...

and as I'm watching I'm seeing some similarities to the 'feel & scope'
of The Dark Tower series...

If and when TDT becomes a motion picture I hope the vision is that of the author not the producers & director...

much as Orcs, Wizards & Hobbits come to life in LOTR...

I can visualize The Gunslinger, Rhea of the Coos & the Wolves of the Calla,
but the whole thing could end up dreadful since it's a fine line between good and great especially in Hollywood!


Anyone else?

[aptpupil]

There can be little doubt that, somewhere in the darkest recesses of SKs brilliant mind, the epic LOTR lurked while he wrote the DT series.

Indeed, it is interesting to note that LOTR was originally envisaged as a 7-book series by Tolkien. Coincidences abound!

[Bryan James]

I started reading back and forth through LOTR when I was a kid. (The four main books are the first things to be seen when coming through my front door). In my mid-20's I started to get the impression that "The One Ring" was a metaphor for alcohol, or some other popular drug in Tolkein's era. Haven't looked into it, been too drunk.

If anyone has a link about that idea, please post it.

[Matthew.Degnan]

I've noticed how similar LOTR is to DT as well, DT is a lot better though...

[K HjLL]

I found my first Dark Towers at a garage sale of an old womens house. Her husband past away. It was the First four larger soft cover novels. I bought the rest but they all got stolen or ruined by others. All that is left is THE WASTE LANDS . I saw parts at times and whole showings of The Fellwship of the Rings every day of it's release in the Parkwood cinemia in the Cloud. I picked up Gunslinger. Heard the J.J. news. 300 pages divided by 45minutes is 6.66666...........I have a Vision of it........Wonder if Stephen King could get Led Zepplin and or just Robert Plant to help with the Ennio Morricone score. Opened of course with a version or they version of Stairway to Heaven......with Ennio Morricones touch.......For the Shoot set them up and shoot them all with a director and a cast Three years with time to everyones self you could crank out 6 films. using a different Director for each another 9 monthes for 2 more. depending on how you write the screenplays. Or T.V. /films. 5 hours of THE GUNSLINGER........ Find a cast that wants to have a job and are grateful for a break......Thats something William Goldman help me understand in his first chapter......

[Vincent Gaines]

I started reading back and forth through LOTR when I was a kid. (The four main books are the first things to be seen when coming through my front door). In my mid-20's I started to get the impression that "The One Ring" was a metaphor for alcohol, or some other popular drug in Tolkein's era. Haven't looked into it, been too drunk.

If anyone has a link about that idea, please post it.

ha! maybe absinthe...

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

He writes about it in the superb essay 'On Being Nineteen' in DT.

I hope he gets as sympathetic a director as Peter Jackson.

Long days and pleasant nights

[ChristineB]

It has been written (although I don't remember which book about him it was in) that the DT series was inspired by both LoTR and the old Westerns of SK's time. So the similarties are expected, by me anyway.

[coolambindang]

Here is the mythological response:

The similarities between DT and LOTR are there and obvious because both stories are essentially just versions of the "Hero's Journey" The hero's journey takes on many forms but essentially is the same story told and retold. It is no wonder SK mentions so many other versions of the hero's journey in DT. I am talking about the inclusion or mention or stories like Star Wars and Harry Potter. These stories are also versions of the hero's journey. The hero begins a quest, the departure or call to adventure, sometimes alone sometimes not. He meets friends or enemies that might help further the story(the supernatural aid) and then you have the return, basically the ending but in the end the hero usually has a boon or reward. Anyways for a more detailed explanation check out Joesph Campbell.

[Turd Ferguson]

I'll add my 2 cents and say that Lord of the Rings and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly were two of the biggest inspirations for The Dark Tower.