The Hobbit
Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:48 am
Any other LOTR fans here? I had to wait an excruciating three months for the first LOTR movie to be released in Japan, which finally was released in time for my birthday in March, 2002. I had to wait just as long for the Avengers movie to be released this year. Fortunately, the Hobbit will be released in Japan the same time it's released in the USA.
Some people may scoff at Peter Jackson "milking it out" into two movies, but the scope of the book is large enough to fill up to movies. The extended versions of the LOTR trilogy movies are the only ones I will watch (I didn't even care for the 2nd movie until I saw the extended version (they removed too much from the book in the theatrical version), so it makes sense that if they split it into two movies, they can supply us with two great movies and make fans happy by not having to make the hard choices to cut stuff out.
I still say that The Hobbit was the best-written book of Tolkein's. It flows much better than the LOTR books and has a consistent tone. Fellowship of the Ring dragged a lot in the first part and it was as if Tolkein was reluctant to get the true story started. Moreover, it seemed that he couldn't decide to make it a whimsical tale or a dark, serious one (I'm very glad that Tom Bombadil's part was removed from the movie, however the Barrow Wights were cool, even though they were a bit similar to the Ring Wraiths).
So, I am avoiding spoilers about this movie as much as I can, and hope to be well-pleased with the movie since I thought Jackson did a great job making the LOTR movies. But looking at the cast of characters on the IMDB site raises some questions. It makes perfect sense to have Legolas in the movie, since he is a Wood Elf and was retconned in the LOTR books. But Galadriel? Did Cate Blanchett's manager insist on forcing her role into the movie? They don't travel south near Lothlorien Forest at all in the book. The same goes for Saruman. And the Radagast character? His part was cut from the Fellowship movie. OK, so I just checked out Wikipedia, and apparently he is mentioned by Gandalf in the Hobbit, and that Radagast is a friend of Beorn. I do not remember that at all. Perhaps this movie will show him being killed by Saruman?
I'm sure that as with the original LOTR movies, people will complain about stuff added, only because people did not bother to read the appendices for the retconned content.
Just a little more than a month away!
Some people may scoff at Peter Jackson "milking it out" into two movies, but the scope of the book is large enough to fill up to movies. The extended versions of the LOTR trilogy movies are the only ones I will watch (I didn't even care for the 2nd movie until I saw the extended version (they removed too much from the book in the theatrical version), so it makes sense that if they split it into two movies, they can supply us with two great movies and make fans happy by not having to make the hard choices to cut stuff out.
I still say that The Hobbit was the best-written book of Tolkein's. It flows much better than the LOTR books and has a consistent tone. Fellowship of the Ring dragged a lot in the first part and it was as if Tolkein was reluctant to get the true story started. Moreover, it seemed that he couldn't decide to make it a whimsical tale or a dark, serious one (I'm very glad that Tom Bombadil's part was removed from the movie, however the Barrow Wights were cool, even though they were a bit similar to the Ring Wraiths).
So, I am avoiding spoilers about this movie as much as I can, and hope to be well-pleased with the movie since I thought Jackson did a great job making the LOTR movies. But looking at the cast of characters on the IMDB site raises some questions. It makes perfect sense to have Legolas in the movie, since he is a Wood Elf and was retconned in the LOTR books. But Galadriel? Did Cate Blanchett's manager insist on forcing her role into the movie? They don't travel south near Lothlorien Forest at all in the book. The same goes for Saruman. And the Radagast character? His part was cut from the Fellowship movie. OK, so I just checked out Wikipedia, and apparently he is mentioned by Gandalf in the Hobbit, and that Radagast is a friend of Beorn. I do not remember that at all. Perhaps this movie will show him being killed by Saruman?
I'm sure that as with the original LOTR movies, people will complain about stuff added, only because people did not bother to read the appendices for the retconned content.
Just a little more than a month away!