The Lord of the Rings has had a long history of screen adaptations. But long before Amazon, Peter Jackson, Rankin-Bass or even Ralph Bakshi, there were a number of attempted adaptations that never ultimately materialized.
Perhaps the most fascinating of those was an aborted attempt by John Boorman (who would later go on to create a fantasy epic of his own with Excalibur). Like the later films by Peter Jackson, it would have been done in live-action; unlike Jackson, Boorman's 1970 script, clocking in at roughly 170 pages, would have attempted to film the entirety of "Rings" in one long movie. Perhaps as an inevitable result, the script becomes very rushed compared to the novel, with entire characters and subplots excised or heavily truncated. What the script is most famous for, however, is that it is very, very strange and surreal, sometimes bordering on In Name Only (though occasionally it is surprisingly faithful). The full script may be found here
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The basic story remains largely unchanged in Boorman's version compared to the original novel. After his uncle Bilbo vanishes on his 111th birthday, Frodo Baggins comes into possession of his magic ring of invisibility. He soon learns, however, that dark forces are seeking this very ring and he must flee with his friends, first to keep it safe, and then to undertake a quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom to prevent its maker, Sauron, from recovering it and using it to enslave all of Middle-earth. Boorman, however, introduces a number of wrinkles of his own.
Boorman's script was rejected for its costly effects, and the project was ultimately given to Ralph Bakshi who made the animated 1978 Lord of the Rings film. Boorman tried getting it back off of the ground in 1980 before proceeding with Excalibur. He has since realized the folly of his attempt and much admires the films Sir Peter Jackson made in his stead. Jackson himself enjoyed Excalibur, but agrees its "gaudy."
John Boorman's Script of The Lord of the Rings provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptational Badass: Frodo is made into a more conventional "action hero" in some ways, actively using the Ring to fight off hordes of orcs (in Barad-dur itself, no less!) and scoring with Galadriel, in a scene where the script explicitly describes him as her superior. He also self-references several times as "The Lord of the Ring," which in the original book is Sauron and Gandalf quickly corrects Pippin when he calls Frodo that as a joke.
- Adaptational Comic Relief: Merry, The Smart Guy of the four main hobbits in the original book and most adaptations, becomes a gluttonous bumbler here.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Gandalf goes well beyond his novel self's irascibility and becomes an outright jerkass, frequently berating people, lying to them, manipulating them, and outright beating Gimli while hurling racial abuse at him in one scene (to force him to recover ancestral memories needed to open the gate to Moria, admittedly, but no, he didn't get Gimli's consent first).
- Adaptational Nonsapience: Rather than being intelligent but unconcerned with anything but her appetite, this version of Shelob has the mentality of a mere animal.
- Adaptational Wimp:
- Saruman goes from being The Starscream in command of his own faction distinct from, albeit aligned with, Mordor and having his own agenda to being a rather pitiful toady of Sauron who only appears in a couple of scenes, is barely mentioned elsewhere, and is easily cowed by Gandalf when they meet. He's also never depicted as having been the head of the White Council here, as it isn't featured.
- Denethor is presented as a complete Cloud Cuckoo Lander from his introduction and is completely useless in his role as Steward of Gondor, having none of his book counterpart's intelligence or pathos.
- Adaptation Explanation Extrication:
- The Paths of the Dead don't appear in this script, and no mention is made of the Oathbreakers and their curse. Nonetheless, Aragorn summons an army of the dead to fight for him... somehow.
- The prophecy that the Witch-king will not die by the hands of man is left unmentioned, so we have no idea why Eowyn, and only Eowyn, is particularly effective against "the Nazgul."
- It's never mentioned that Gollum has been to Mordor, which raises the question of why Frodo assumes he would be able to guide them there.
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole:
- Gandalf is never captured by Saruman in this version; he simply vanishes from the story in the Shire and then appears again at Rivendell with no explanation of where he was in the meantime.
- Rather than sailing on Corsair ships like in the book, the reinforcements led by Aragorn to Minas Tirith move in a formation that makes them resemble a gigantic snake from a distance. This raises the question of why Mordor's forces would have their morale boosted by the sight of it, since they would have no reason to expect such a sight or assume the "snake" was on their side, unlike with ships clearly built by allies of theirs.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In this script, Aragorn marries Eowyn and he and Arwen (who is thirteen here) have no romantic relationship whatsoever.
- Frodo and Galadriel did not have any sort of sexual relationship in the original novel; here, they do.
- In the books, though Sauron finds Shelob useful and profits from her existence in various ways, she isn't a servant of his and explicitly feels no loyalty to him. In this script, "the" Shelob literally lives in Barad-dur and seems to be some sort of pet. Similarly, Gollum and Shelob have no stated relationship in this version at all.
- As opposed to the ambitious Starscream he is in the novel, Saruman here is Sauron's loyal Dragon and never implied to be anything else.
- Adapted Out: Numerous people, places and events from the original books didn't make the cut here:
- As usual, the entire Old Forest / Tom Bombadil / Barrow-downs sequence is omitted.
- Bree is also axed; the hobbits simply meet Aragorn on the road. Glorfindel (unsurprisingly) doesn't make an appearance either, with company making it to Rivendell on their own.
- All of Lothlorien is gone; Galadriel simply lives in a tent by a lake, where the Fellowship meets her (though she does mention having had her own realm, past tense).
- The Ents are omitted completely; Merry and Pippin meet Gandalf in Fangorn Forest, an no one else, though in a nod to their absence a number of (usually) helpful trees are sprinkled through the script.
- Boromir is presented as Denethor's only son; Faramir is entirely absent.
- Isengard and its war with Rohan is missing; Saruman is instead situated in Mordor, and the Rohirrim ride straight to the battle at Minas Tirith with no delay.
- Many aspects of Sauron's forces, including Minas Morgul, the Haradrim, the Easterlings, and the Corsairs are absent, and Sauron's army consists entirely of orcs and other monsters with no humans.
- As in the later Jackson movies, the Scouring of the Shire is cut; here, however, Frodo goes straight from Mordor to the Grey Havens without even trying to return to the Shire.
- Gandalf and Saruman are explicitly said to be the only two wizards in Middle-earth, with Radagast and the Blue Wizards being cut.
- Galadriel's husband, Celeborn, is not present in this script, and she seems to have a reputation for seducing passing travelers, if the Fellowship's attempts to win her favors are any indication.
- All flying creatures, including the Eagles (Frodo and Sam escape Mount Doom on foot) and fell beasts (the Nazgul rides a demonic horse instead of a pterosaur-like creature) are entirely absent, apparently for budget reasons.
- The Crack of Doom is also absent; instead, the climax takes place at the top of Mt. Doom and the ring is dropped from the mountain's crater.
- Age Lift: In the original novel, Arwen is almost three thousand years old. In this script, she's thirteen.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted. After the Ring is destroyed and Sauron is defeated, the orcs quite happily throw down their weapons and join the Free Peoples.
- Artifact of Attraction: Played inconsistently; sometimes, the Ring, as depicted in the novel, actively exerts a fascination on those around it that draws them to want to claim and use it. At other times the script's version of the Ring actively resists being worn or used, for reasons that aren't made clear.
- Artistic License – Geography: Well, fictional geography, anyway, but Boorman's Mordor is much smaller than Tolkien's. In this script, Frodo can literally see events at both the Black Gate and Minas Tirith from Mount Doom, and after the Ring is destroyed walk from the Mountain to the gate in minutes. In the book, Mount Doom is roughly forty miles from the Black Gate, and Minas Tirith is even farther!
- Co-Dragons: "The Nazgul" (aka the combined form of the Ringwraiths, taking the role of the Witch-King in the book) and Saruman (here composited with the Mouth of Sauron) take this role for the unseen Sauron.
- Composite Character: A couple of examples:
- Saruman and the Mouth of Sauron are made the same person.
- Theodred is adapted out, but Eomer and Eowyn take some aspects of his role in becoming Théoden's biological children, rather than his niece and nephew who he raised.
- A rather literal case; while the Witch-King was merely the most powerful of the Ringwraiths in the book, in this script his equivalent is "the Nazgul" (singular) an entity born of the combined essence of all nine Ringwraiths after their physical bodies were destroyed at the Ford of Bruinen.
- More of a composite location, but instead of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, Frodo is captured and held prisoner in Barad-dur itself.
- Compressed Adaptation: Inevitable in reducing the entirety of Lord of the Rings down to a single script that would have likely made a roughly three-hour movie; significant chunks of the narrative end up glossed over or cut entirely, and the story is still left feeling rushed.
- Court Jester: After Pippin swears loyalty to Denethor, Denethor forces him to become one of these, complete with a ridiculous outfit and belled hat. Pippin seemingly continues to wear the outfit for the rest of the script, even after Denethor dies and Aragorn becomes king.
- Creator Cameo: Tolkien himself was still alive when this script was written, and he is given a brief cameo (as himself) at the very beginning before the story proper starts.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Because of Faramir's absence, Denethor's suicide is completely different; instead of immolating himself on a funeral pyre, he instead embraces Aragorn while secretly holding a knife point-first against his chest, so that the pressure of Aragorn's body drives it in. Nobody seems to notice that, from a distance, Aragorn could easily be mistaken for Denethor's murderer.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: Wormtongue, who has no notable disability or infirmity in the original novel, is made into a hunchback in this script. Strangely, the novel's description of Wormtongue is quoted almost verbatim... as a description of Theoden.
- Dual Wielding: Aragorn dual wields both halves of Narsil, having attached a makeshift hilt to the shard that doesn't have the actual hilt on it. Later, he gives this piece to Boromir, who dual wields it along with his own sword during his last stand.
- Elite Mooks: As usual, the Uruk-hai - or rather, Uruk-Orcsnote - take this role, being a more powerful form of the standard orcs.
- Evil Cripple: Wormtongue is an Evil Chancellor, as usual, who is made a hunchback in this script.
- Evil Sorcerer: Saruman; at one point he's even rather bluntly called "the bad wizard" by Merry and Pippin.
- Fallen Hero: Saruman, as in the books, was once a good wizard who was seduced by the lure of power and allied with Sauron; unlike the books, his fall seems to have taken place some time ago and is a matter of general knowledge, rather than a recent and shocking betrayal.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Aragorn and Eowyn decide to get married immediately after meeting each other, to the cheers of the gathered Gondorian and Rohirrim armies.
- Fusion Dance: Following the destruction of their physical forms at the Fords of Bruinen, the spirits of the Ringwraiths merge together to form a single, more powerful entity, which takes the role of the Witch-king in the novel and is simply referred to as "the Nazgul."
- Genetic Memory: In this script, the password for the Gates of Moria is in Khuzdul rather than Sindarin, and in the script Khuzdul is a lost language. Gandalf has to recover Gimli's ancestral memories so he can open the door... by forcing him to dig a hole and crawl into it while beating him and yelling racist abuse at him. Yes, really.
- The Ghost: Sauron, as usual, does not appear in person in this script (though an actor portraying him is present in the Council of Elrond).
- The Great Wall: Rather than being surrounded by mountains, Mordor is protected by a massive wall.
- Harmless Freezing: In order to escape attacking Wargs at Caradhras, Gandalf freezes the Fellowship solid in ice and lets them get washed down a nearby river back to the bottom of the pass. Nobody seems particularly bothered by this.
- Heel–Race Turn: After Sauron's defeat, all of his Orc minions cheerfully join up with the Free Peoples.
- Hellish Horse: The Nazgul rides a horse that's described as looking like it's been flayed.
- Hotter and Sexier: There is much more sexual content here than in the novel; most obviously, the entire Fellowship (sans Gandalf) compete for Galadriel's sexual favors, which she ultimately bestows on Frodo. Also, Aragorn's healing of Eowyn - notably, before they've even met properly, as Aragorn didn't go to Edoras in this version - is a sex scene in all but name.
- In Name Only: Arwen is the standout, bearing absolutely no resemblance to the novel's character beyond name, gender and relationship to Elrond. Instead of Aragorn's betrothed and future queen, and an adult elf who is already several millennia old possessed of her own store of wisdom and power, she instead becomes a mystical thirteen-year-old who serves as a sort of spirit guide to the Fellowship (albeit inconsistently) and leaves Middle-earth at the end with her father, while Aragorn marries Eowyn.
- Mouth of Sauron: The Trope Namer is not present; rather his role (and title) are here taken by Saruman.
- Mushroom Samba: One episode has Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin trip out on some magic mushrooms.
- Mythology Gag: Gandalf asks Saruman if he's fallen so deep into Sauron's thrall that he's forgotten his own name; a reference to the books, where the Mouth of Sauron (whom Saruman has been combined with) canonically had forgotten his own name.
- Noble Savage: Legolas is presented in ways that give this vibe, being dressed in feathers and leaves and behaving in "primitive"-coded ways, but being solidly heroic.
- No Name Given: The name "Strider" is never used in the script. Aragorn is simply referred to as "the Ranger" until his identity is revealed at the Council of Elrond.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Gandalf invokes this on himself after his return as Gandalf the White, claiming that his resurrection has made him more like Sauron. This is never really followed up on, however.
- Our Orcs Are Different: They're rather different than those in the books or most other adaptations, being humanoids mixed with avian and reptilian features that apparently spend much of their time in suspended animation; notably, they're not Always Chaotic Evil here, as once Sauron is defeated they happily throw down their weapons (and literally shed their skin) and join Aragorn's kingdom.
- Additionally, once they are shed of their scales, the redeemed orcs are described as humanoids with glistening white, slug-like skin.
- Red Baron: Gimli becomes the "Lord of the Axe" in this script, repeated often enough it's clearly either a nickname or a title.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: Theoden isn't Eomer and Eowyn's uncle in this version; rather, he's their father.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Saruman survives this version, albeit de-powered and reduced to making a living as a con-man.
- Spell My Name with a "The": Shelob is always referred to as "the" Shelob.
- Sworn Brothers: Aragorn and Boromir swear an oath to become blood brothers partway through the script... which apparently involves licking each other's blood off Arwen's thighs.
- Unexplained Recovery: Gollum seemingly drowns in the swamp, saving a sleeping Frodo and Sam from quicksand, only to appear at the top of Mt. Doom none the worse for wear.
- Wizard Duel: Gandalf and Saruman have one before the Black Gate at the climax... though it's really more of a word duel with little obvious magic involved.
