I only found out the other day. Walter Jackson Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's first short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," first published in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and in book form in My World-and Welcome to It in 1942.
Loved this video, everything you talked about is exactly what I feel when I watch this movie. This is my favourite movie ever!!! I absolutely adore it's message, music, cinematography, acting, everything. Hope we can get a 4K release soon...
Thank you, I've been looking for a video like this, I watched another one while back that covered the same stuff but a bit deeper but can't find it... 😮💨
Its crazy i recently purchased and watched the movie for the first time. But like you i remember seeing movie posters of it and also seeing the trailers when younger and i just could never stop thinkin of it. Now having watched it, it still longs in my thoughts.
saw this at the cinema and wasnt all that enamoured first time round. 2nd time round its charm started to work its magic. now its one of my favourites. such a beautiful and magical film!
How much you like this film depends on how much you can relate do Walter Mitty. If you've always been a "throw caution to the wind" type of person, then this film probably won't move you. But if you're someone who feels that they play it safe in life and often times wonder how much potential you've left on the table by doing so, then this film will truly resonate with you. That's the case with me. It's one of my favorite films ever. It's the little things that are so real... like the long hesitation that Mitty makes trying to decide if he wants to press the Send button on the eHarmony "wink." I've done things like that so many times in life... like being afraid to press that last number on the phone to connect a call to someone.
Well done. This was a masterful retrospective on one of my favorite movies ever. I can't believe it's already been a decade since it came out. I was 25 at the time, and the connection I felt through the film has stayed with me since then. Your words captured my feelings, and attitude towards it perfectly. The tone, cinematography, soundtrack, acting, and flow all mix together remarkably. As someone who has had a habit of daydreaming on life a little bit too much sometimes, the movie has provided a sense of inspiration in my own life at various points. I actually feel like watching it again as I type this. Thanks for the spotlight.
I find it interesting you picked out Dung Defender, as for me, its the piece which fits the boss the least. Don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant piece of music and goes with the boss absolutely fine, I just feel a lot of his other works fit better.
I'd certainly add a key detail to the introduction of Elrond - we see him first at the very beginning o the movie in the Battle of the Last Alliance! He isn't introduced there but we recognise his face as an awesome Elven warrior and leader from over a thousand years ago. When his face appears talking in Frodo's dream, it's therefore an awesome callback, just as when we realise that Lady Galadriel (Elron'ds mother in law) is the mysterious narrator. Other amazing introductions: - Arwen, whose intro is created for the trilogy to replace Glorfindel and give her more characterisation - it makes cements the mystery and power of her and all elves, and helps counter a feeling that she's helpless later on the in the trilogy, as she finds the power to deny Elrond's false protective prophecy. - Lurtz, another original creation, cements the horrible depths (figuratively and literally) to which Saruman has fallen in his creation of an awful new breed of Orc, which proves pivotal to the menace he poses in The Two Towers. - Grima Wormtongue, maybe my favourite intro, cements a truly lost and poisonous person who turn his gift of speech towards sinister and cowardly ends. - At the same time as the above, we get the extremely impressive Theoden of Rohan - a deceptive intro that makes us think of Theoden as a senile old fossil and a pawn to evil, totally hopeless until Gandalf the White flips the whole room and suddenly the mighty and noble warrior Theoden emerges, ready to lead and fight. - Last but certainly not least - the very first introduction in the entire series is the most special. He's a character we never meet, yet undoubtedly the most important to the plot, so much so that the very name of the trilogy is synonymous with him: *Sauron*. The inhuman, foreboding, vicious and brutal iron giant, wearing a spike-crowned full-head helm of evil steel, the only being that could feel at home in the wastes of Mordor and the fires of Mt. Doom, truly sets the stakes for the entire series to come. There is no mercy or reasoning with such dreadful, hateful power - only brave defiance against nightmarish odds.
I am a fan of Ben Stiller's "Walter Mitty" and one day when I was in the town of Livingstone in Zambia, a picture appeared before me similar to the scenes at the end of the movie - where the characters were playing football at sunset in the Himalayas. African sunset, dusty field and people play rugby. And I shot these moments. And footage is really great! Now it would become a scenes in my documentary about rugby. It would be like a tribute to Ben Stiller beacuse his "Walter Mitty" is inspired my adventures. Best regards, Screeny42 from Siberia.
Thanks for the shout-out on my video essay Walter Mitty CHANGED ME. Loved your deep dive into this amazing film and it's always refreshing to find other fans of the movie that want to share more of how fantastic Walter Mitty truly is.
I loved this movie and I am still drawn to it. As for you, you are a very talented young man. Your video is very compelling, thanks to the richness of your voice and the quality of your delivery. I wish you a long and successful career in whatever you will endeavour.
Such a beautiful review, you made me want to see walter in action once more. I'm curious, what do you think about yesman? It's another film that I hold dear, that reminds me of walter mitty in many regards. Btw, if you haven't, check out the yesman book (the film is loosely based on a silly but very entertaining real story).
I think this movie has such a cult following because of how young people now feel like they were sold a life in their childhood only to 'sell out' when they became an adult, me included. Life just wasnt what we thought it would be when we were younger and this film shows that there is indeed another way of going through life.
I watched this movie with a group of friends at one of their houses in 2013 and nobody got it. I didn't say anything but I absolutely related to the story and the main character's challenges and felt so seen. 10 years later I met my partner and it turns out we both feel the same way, having discovered our neurodivergence since then!
Aw, you neglected the best! Jackson's decision to replace Glorfindel with Arwen is the only change Tolkien himself might grudgingly nod at and say, "well, you win this round."
Tolkien's second biggest weakness as a writer was his characters. He was just terrible at writing interesting characters. His biggest weakness was editing. Someone should've taken a massive red pen to LotR. The trilogy could've easily been edited down to a 150,000 word novel and it would've lost nothing storywise.
I don't really think Tolkien introduced too many characters in the book tbh. If you only stuck with the main cast and the people they interacted with, it would feel like a tale of kings and princes. The fellowship is made up of the long lost king of Gondor, the heir to the stewardship of Gondor, an elf prince, the son of one of Thorin's company, one of the five wizards and then the hobbits, two of them being from old and respected clans with a lot of wealth and high positions in the Shire, Frodo being the son of Bilbo Barrelrider and Ringwinner and in company like that, Sam the gardener ends up being remarkable in how unremarkable he is. To make matters worse, since it's such a high stakes story, it's logical our characters will be interacting mainly with rulers, like the ones in Rohan and Gondor, as well as their heirs. So it's nice when the book takes a bit of time to slow down and bring in people like Butterbur and Beregond, to show the story also involves and affects average people without a grand title or storied heritage. I understand movies can't do that, or they'd end up being 20 hours long each, but in a big epic like this, you can't really fault the story when it does it.
The goofy “o” sound is killing me 😂 I know it’s just the accent, but the “R” sound in “no” “Frodo” etc is hilarious. Also, what does “the introduction of Sam is a little cheeky” even mean?
Great video, very thoughtful presentation of your feelings about the movie and I obviously agree, because I clicked on this video. Love the way you're able to put your passion and feelings into words with a wide vocabulary, and very evocative use of movie clips to illustrate your points. Just a thought, some of the other youtube movie commenters end their movies with a sign-off, and I could totally picture you doing this too, to the point where I was momentarily surprised when you didn't. Ever thought about adding a signature sign-off to your videos? I wish you all the best with your channel, and I will be watching with interest.😄
Proud to say that I watched Fellowship in theaters when it came out with my best friend. We were awestruck-it was a landmark day in my young adult life. I had grown up reading Tolkien’s works-my dad bought me my first hobbit book when I was just a boy and I read Fellowship for the first time on the way down to visit him in the hospital when he died. When we were driving in the foggy morning, I was reading about the barrow downs and Frodo confronting death for the first time out of the shire. The whole series has captivated me during my life and I’m so glad to be able to see the legacy continued by Peter Jackson and company.
Read the books Sam, Merry and Pippin are much more on the Ball than even Frodo Suspects. Aragorn and Gandalf had been guarding the Shire for Years. Aragorn had Fought for both Thengel of Rohan and Ecthelion of Gondor before Borimir was born. Faramir had a Dream about halflings and Isildur’s Bane Denethor sent Borimir instead of Faramir. That’s why he was at the Council. Gimli was there because his Father Gloin was Sent by the King under the Mountain because the Black Riders wanted to know where Bilbo and the Ring was. Legolas was there because Thranduil was holding Gollum as prisoner for Gandalf and he was set free by a band of Orcs, His Father sent Legolas to let Gandalf know Gollum had escaped. In the Book Bilbo offered to take the Ring to Mordor. Gandalf and Glorfindal were at the Council because they had been sent by the Valar to help Men defeat Sauron. Glorfindal was killed killing a Balrog in Gondolin, he was re-embodied in Valinor. It was decided by Elrond that a Small party would arouse less suspicion than a host of warriors. Gandalf told Bilbo the Ring had passed on that he could not take it back, while Bilbo was rather diminutive he was held as one of the Greatest of immortal Elf friends by the Elves. Elrond is Half Elf his twin brother Elros chose Mortality to be King of Numenor. Aragorn is a nephew to Elrond, and Beren and Luthien are among his kin. Arwen is Aragorns first cousin many times removed and Galadriel is Arwens Grandmother and Elronds Mother In-law.
