Tolkien movies and fan "stuff"

[YJ02]

Today, I watched The Hobbit.

Not bad, compared to LOTR, not as good

compared to the book? pretty close but I think Jackson and Co are really stretching when they have the "party" being pursued by Azog- an orc barely mentioned in the mythos. Also, the inclusion of Radagast-though the things we see him doing are "correct" -in the books we never "see him" we only hear of him and his exploits-if memory serves-in the 3rd person. In the book, Rad never came across the misty mountains with his jack rabbit sled to speak with Gandalf.

Also, the "white council" meeting-though it did take place during the time of the journey, it took place elsewhere and not in Rivendale. IMO, the inclusion of this-aside from giving backstory to the Sauron "rebirth" issue-was mainly to give an "in" to Blanchett and Lee.

This council mtg did take place but was described in the LOTR appendices and not in the Hobbit.

I am interested to see how they make out with the other two parts of the film-should be enjoyable. With all of the "license" taken by Jackson I expect to see Beorn-the "shapeshifter" and actually in the Hobbit book make an appearance.

Speaking of "artistic license" and Tolkien's work, here is,IMO (and it seems to have gotten a good rep from many other 'real' critics as well) a pretty good fan fic-The Hunt for Gollum. another appendices story from LOTR.

The story as written, takes place before the FOTR, and has Aragorn and other rangers looking for Gollum. This, s ordered by Gandalf, was to try and locate the ring. They chae given though, flushes out Gollum and leads to his capture by orcs and his questioning at Dol Guldor by Sauron's peeps.

The film is about 30mns and not bad--apparently it had many professional film makers who were involved at no cost for salary and has been given a "blind blessing" by Jackson, the Tolkien estate and the other "big wigs".

Of course you have to be a Tolkien and LOTR fan or else you will be "wtf" is this about

I am just waiting to see if anyone-pro or fan-ever tackles The Silmarillion

http://www.thehuntforgollum.com/player_film-hd.htm

 

[mzzz]

You weren't bothered by the heavy cgi?

 

[YJ02]

You weren't bothered by the heavy cgi?

yes it was a bit distracting-- for example, i liked the look of the human actor orcs in LOTR vs the ones in Hobbit

they did a good job in LOTR with balancing tech and "makeup"-when any one goes to far into the tech side i think it takes away from things and makes it a bit too "comic bookish"

they need the cgi and other effects for say-big battle scenes -so as to preclude hiring "a cast of thousands" and to make things like giant eagles and trolls--it is not needed in places where a "rubber mask", fake teeth and paint will suffice.

my biggest thing with tolkien's work is accuracy to the words, plot and intent of the books

example--when they had the elves show up at the battle of helm's deep in TTT it takes away from the intent of the plot--the elves of this time had both little care or the manpower to be involved in the "wars of men". The use of them in the battle takes away from that original idea in the book. it was only the occasional elf that had interest in the wars and then, only those with personal connections (ex: Elrond being half human and his daughter being in love with Aragorn)

but in the end, IMO they are still good movies

 

[mzzz]

Yeah, I didn't like the video game look, the set pieces and models in LOTR were superior to me. I can't say much on the content since I've read about two books in lotr and read in full the hobbit but a long time ago.

 

[YJ02]

Yeah, I didn't like the video game look, the set pieces and models in LOTR were superior to me. I can't say much on the content since I've read about two books in lotr and read in full the hobbit but a long time ago.

well if you read 2 then your'e almost there

In the LOTR movies, jackson got things pretty good and fairly in keeping with the "word pictures" tolkien painted in the books. with the hobbit he seems to have taken a few steps backward.

as for content-the LOTR (particularly the extended dvd's) is pretty accurate. they leave out some stuff like Tom Bombadil and the "shire invasion" after the War of the Ring is over. I few other small things also. In the hobbit though, they just flat out hyper extended some stuff from the hobbit and the addition of the LOTR appendices (like the White Council and the rise of Dol Goldur/darkening of Mirkwood, Radagast). That's ok, but i get the feeling it was done more for reasons of including certain actors and stretching it to a trilogy.

because of this and if The Silmarillion is ever "tackled" I kind of hope it is not by Jackson. The tolkien family/estate has not yet sold the rights to the Silmarillion or "lost tales" to anyone yet, so it may never happen.

 

[YJ02]

More of the Jackson "actor net" and the making up of characters that don't exist in the book

This time, he got a familiar face from a familiar and popular show. a woman who some consider "hot"

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/the-hobbit/characters/tauriel/

 

[mzzz]

Yeah but you gotta admit what a sausage fest Tolkein's works are, I kinda liked the inclusion/extension of Arwen in lotr.

 

[YJ02]

Yeah but you gotta admit what a sausage fest Tolkein's works are, I kinda liked the inclusion/extension of Arwen in lotr.

yes there are quite a few characters in the books. that's what makes them-some feel-so interesting, and it is not just about one character doing it all. Read, or wiki The Silmarillion, and see the character-poolooza in there.

there are plenty of characters in the Hobbit already. I can only see a few reasons to "make up" characters-one-to add on just to include some bigger name actors. 2-to balance the work gender wise. one of tolkien's "flaws" was his lack of female characters-arwen and some characters in the Silmarillion excepted.

Some viewers of the hobbit--like hard core blog about LOTR/HOBBIT everyday ones--have criticized Jackson for his inclusion of female dwarves in the film. Tolkien never made mention of female dwarves or how dwarves reproduced. In the film, you can see them at the beginning when the dwarves are running out of Erebor to escape Smaug. Apparently, we will see a picture of one in a locket one of the dwarves are carrying also.

I have seen elsewhere that the character of Beorn and the interaction he has with Bilbo and the dwarves will be in the film.

 

[YJ02]

Well ,so THIS thread is pretty dusty!!

found something to park here

really really bizarre-- a book written back in 1999 i believe it stated? a statement on how a 'long game' is played

i will leave it at that per forum rules

just purely Tolkien related otherwise and how his work is being/has been distorted

Obviously, this extends to literature as well. Interpretations have been made that Tolkien’s books are in fact an example of how the West tries to demonize Russia (formerly, the Soviet Union).

In this sense, Mordor is the USSR, elves are the Western countries, and orcs are then the Russians. It is of no consequence at all whether Tolkien would agree with such an interpretation.

There is an entire genre dedicated to the interpretation of Tolkien’s books, and Russian writers make significant contributions to its development. One of the most popular books on the subject is Russian writer and publicist Kirill Yeskov’s The Last Ringsman. In this, he claims that The Lord of the Rings is Western propaganda written to justify the orc genocide, and Mordor is, in fact, a tolerant state with advanced science forced to defend itself from barbaric neighbors. The West, i.e. elves, treats Russians, i.e. orcs, as an inferior race, illustrating their contempt for them.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10329770-the-last-ringbearer