All Things Middle Earth

[GoktimusPrime]

All Hobbit/LotR (etc.) related discussions can be posted here.

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Best in flight safety video -- ever!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzft3...eature=g-all-u

[Kazza]

I have aquired a replica narsil sword thanks to Towers_Spy and also sat down and did a marathon with 2 friends of the directors cut version of LOTR trilogy... ~12 hrs on a sofa, felt so sore afterwards.

[5FDP]

Can't wait until the Hobbit is released! My wife and I are huge fans of the LOTR trilogy and went to see them every Boxing Day when they were released. For three years it became a tradition. We'll continue that tradition with the Hobbit.

[Decepticon]

I only like that Gollum thing. The rest of it sends me to sleep.

[Sam]

We are also looking forward to the Hobbit, should be good!

[GoktimusPrime]

I saw some Hobbit toys today (well, I first saw them last week - I think they look a lot worse than Toy Biz's LOTR toys) and I noticed that Legolas is in it. It's been nearly 5 years since I last read The Hobbit, but I don't recall Legolas being in it. (o_O) Have I missed something, or is Peter Jackson just sticking him into his version of The Hobbit? I'm not necessarily objecting per se (depends on what Legolas does and how he affects the story I suppose), but I just want to clear this up... did Legolas appear in the original book of The Hobbit?

I know it should come as no surprise that Jackson would do something like this... after all he omitted and included a few characters in Lord of the Rings that deviated from the books, such as replacing Glorfindel with Arwen and having that cadre of Elves march to reinforce the Rohirrim at Helm's Deep in Two Towers (which strategically makes no sense -- if the Elves, unlike in the book, decided to honour the old Alliance, then wouldn't it be more logical to reinforce Gondor instead of Rohan?), the omission of Tom Bombadil (which I'm glad for... I never liked him), the omission of the entire Scouring of the Shire (which was a shame, I was really looking forward to that) etc etc.

So yeah, it'll be interesting to see what Jackson changes. I would assume that he'll be omitting a lot less with the Hobbit, since he's taking a single book and expanding into three movies. That should give him a lot more "breathing space" than when he made LOTR and tried to compact complex books into three films. The Hobbit isn't quite as complicated as the Lord of the Rings (it's written at a younger age group than LOTR - I first read The Hobbit in primary school, whereas LOTR is better suited for teenagers).

[Trent]

You're right Gok, Legolas was never in the hobbit. And for that matter, neither was Galadriel, yet Cate Blanchett is in the hobbit as well. When you are stretching what is essentially a kids book out to 3 movies, I suppose you have to create a few extra characters and plot lines to fill the space.

The other reason for them that I just thought of might be to expand along the Necromancer plot line from the book. The only reference in the book was Gandalf telling the others about events with him and saying to stay the hell away and at the end of the book to say he was driven out of the wood. Peter Jackson may expand upon this idea and turn it into a major story line in the movies.

We'll see…

[i_amtrunks]

The other reason for them that I just thought of might be to expand along the Necromancer plot line from the book. The only reference in the book was Gandalf telling the others about events with him and saying to stay the hell away and at the end of the book to say he was driven out of the wood. Peter Jackson may expand upon this idea and turn it into a major story line in the movies.

We'll see…

Pretty much on the money. The White Council takes a much larger role in the Hobbit trilogy, means there can be a big battle in all three films, and may even lead to a bridging of sorts in the third film, maybe where a young Aragorn tracks Gollum?

[GoktimusPrime]

IMDb reviewer accuses Lord of the Rings of being a "rip off" of Harry Potter


Ego mibo orch, dôl gîn lost pe-channas!! (that's Sindarin-Elvish for "Go kiss an Orc, empty-headed dumbass!"

[i_amtrunks]

For those who have only seen LotR, but never read a page of any of Tolkien's work, they'll probably like the Hobbit. Those who did not like LotR will not like the Hobbit, and those that love the Hobbit book will not like many segments of the Hobbit film.

I won't say too much or add any spoilers, but there was far too much unnecessary fanservice from LotR (Why Weathertop???) and many will be thinking that the Hobbit just steals and reuses ideas from the trilogy.

The parts of the film that are actually from the book are pretty good and the changes are mostly acceptable, but some are a little "why bother" while the new substory was terrible. Absolute garbage that was added to pad out the story, give some minor conflict and add a really hurried pace to the film.

I loved the White council stuff, but I am someone who has read through everything I can find in the appendixes to Silmarillion, LotR and Unfinished tales relating to the third age. Others who have not may find this boring, but I am really interested to see how/what they do with the Dol Guldor/Necromancer subplot.

Also great to see Christopher Lee back!