Mythical Oscar Vote: PotC vs RotK

[raidermatt]

Just a fun one, which I hope the Mods will let us indulge in...

If PotC and RotK were the only two films nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, and you had a vote, who would you vote for?

 

[KNWVIKING]

I voted for RotK and I haven't even seen it yet. I think PotC is a great movie, but somehow it just doesn't feel like Best Picture quality. I do believe it should have won for special effects though.

 

[daannzzz]

I voted for Pirates. Not because I think it is a great film (it was really fun and enjoyable) but because I am one of the few that found the LOtR to be tedious and just so so. After all these years of watching the Oscars and wanting a Sci-fi or Fantasy to win a slew of awards including best picture all I can say is...not that one!

 

[BRERALEX]

I voted for ROTK. great acting, with a huge cast, alot of elements to put together and Jackson had to follow closely to an already laid out story with a huge fan base. Hobbiton had to have a certian look. Minas tirith had to have its own look. Rohan had to have its own special look. Jackson had to create alot of details

While POC had to follow no laid out story with a huge fan base. Depp was incredible and he vs. anyone in ROTK would win

POC had alot of story problems just like ROTK.

I think POC is a good movie but not great. And its sequal will ruin what could have been a classic.

 

[renknt]

RotK great film great actors great story. The FX only enhanced the story not overshadowed like some other films of this type.
any bets that P. Jackson will not go back to the film in a fewyears to add enhanced FX?

 

[Funkyzeit mit Bruno]

Is the Academy composed entirely of 13 yr. old boys? RotK is juvenile and pretentious. I would have loved it when I was 13. PotC is a pretty good flick, with a clever script and a few laughs. If I had to choose between RotK and PotC, I'd pick Mystic River.

 

[ArcticWildMan]

Juvenile and pretentious?? Appealing only to 13 year olds?

That's being pretty harsh don't you think? Tolkien's trilogy is only one of the best selling works in literary history. Judging by the numbers from the movies, either there is a HUGE uncounted population of 13 year olds in this country or grownups do indeed like the movies as well.

 

[punkin]

Best Picture: ROTK (not only on the merits of that movie, but the whole trilogy)
Best Actor: Johnny Depp
Best Supporting Actor: This is the hard one. I liked Sean Astin, but Geoffrey Rush's lline "I feel...cold" is desrving of an oscar all by itself.
Special Effects: POTC. I did however, like the death marshes in the second Ring movie.

 

[punkin]

The Professor did not write for 13 year old boys. The Hobbit was a childrens' book, one of the best ever written IMO, but Lord Of the Rings is a serious work with deep undercurrents on the nature of good and evil, as well as the corruptive influence of power.

 

[Peter Pirate]

At least I'm not alone.

I agree with dannzz & Funkyzeit...Obviously.

Punkin, I agree with your last post as well...But it's not the original material that is under scrutiny, IMO. The deep undercurrents and hidden values of the original seemed totally transparent and preachy in the movie. This doesn't take away from the good telling of a great story, the good acting or amazing special effects, but it doesn't end up being awe inspiring (to me) either...I do question the "knighting" of the director that has taken place, though. What did this man among men choose as his next endeavor? LOL.

 

[raidermatt]

Of course you aren't alone. I'm sure the Oscar vote wasn't unanimous.

I just can't reconcile how some can elevate PotC, and at the same time call RotK transparent.

And Pete, your criticisms of RotK do not seem consistent with your statement that you have no problem with it being named best picture... especially when you agree with it being called juvenile and pretentious.

What a difference the name on the package makes...

 

[Peter Pirate]

I take back the juvenile part...Pretentious I concur with.

But even at juvenile, I think some great flicks have been...Animal House, Caddyshack, Young Frankenstein...Best picture winners? No, but if I were voting they would have been!

Pirates can be allowed to be taken at face value. It has no pretentious ideals of saving humanity or teaching us right from wrong. It was designed to be an exciting romp. It delivered. Therefore Pirates, as a comedy, gets a freer highway, if you will. Of course these are probably the very same reasons comedies DON'T win Oscars...

 

[Bob O]

ROTK rocks!!!!
And that is why one movie wins 11 Oscars and another one doesnt win any(except of course among those disney obessed members of this board).
Now if ROTK was a disney film they would ALL be singing its praise.

 

[Peter Pirate]

I wouldn't. Just like you don't hear me creaming over Nemo or Pearl Harbor nor am I anticipating The Alamo in the least. I merely thought LOTR was good while I loved what POC gave to me. Read every word here folks, I said "gave to me", thus making this comment entirely personal and not relevent to my thoughts on what deserves to be a "Best Picture."

 

[grinningghost]

My heart says POTC, but my head says ROTK.

 

[jmminarik]

I went with Pirates. I'm morally offended when any screenwriter/director dumbs down a movie either because it's easier to film or because it's easier for the illiterate to understand. I admire JK Rowling for demanding control over the scripts of her movies. But that's just me.

-joe

 

[ShadowWind]

Pirates is a movie that was an amazing action adventure that did as it promised, took us on quite a voyage with ole' Captain jack Sparrow on a trip through our imagination and with the ride as a foundation. In it's almost 3 hours, I sat glued to my chair, wondering what was going to happen next. Barbosa just fascinated me to death, as he was the epitomy of what we would believe such a captain to be. I agree that Rush should have got an Oscar for his role, and maybe even Depp. As far as Best Picture though, as grand as it is, it's just not what the academy votes for. They pretend to be noble and pick a film that is full of rich undertones, moral statements about life, overcoming disease, etc. I would think that most of the academy members saw Pirates as more of a guilty pleasure, taking them back to the lighthearted days of the ride, when we all wanted to be a buccaneer and bring the horizon to us. That is what endears us to the ride and the movie. But it's not deep and meaningful, two things that the Academy tends to put above all else, because that is what art is percieved to be.

I didn't see RotK, because honestly, I can't stand anymore LotR. I found the first two films to be incredible long winded and boring as all out. At the end, I didn't care who won or lost and was hoping that Sauron's men would just find Smeagol, and throw him off one of those cliffs before he could say Preciousss one more time. And I thought JarJar was bad. So I had little interest in seeing another 3 hours of the saga.

ShadowWind

 

[VintageKnight]

simply put i enjoyed the movie better, and to me the acting was a somthing new and fresh we havent seen in a long time, it wasnt original, a lot of what we saw was just good character acting ( depp/rush GREAT character acting) but as an ensamble it was awsome... thats why we liked it....

ROTK, i saw the first 6 hrs.....and wished i was sleeping through the last 3....it was enjoyable, but i'd seen it before.

I might be a little swayed, since living in oklahoma my entire life and being able to have ridden POTC 20+ times in my short life as a child, i have a back ground....LOTR, i have non, never read the books tho have heard a lot in the last few years, just cant bring myself to spend that much to get the backstory to understand 9 hrs of film..... i will eventually, but i tend not to like book/movies. they just never deliver... the original writing is always better...

POTC didnt have original writing except for the screen play....1 up for them...


DisneyVK

 

[cooldisneymom]

I'll have to vote POTC. (or my 13 year old Johnny Depp lovin' daughter will dis-own me!)