HOBBIT CASTING

[TordelBack]

Um, sorry, I never checked the picture of Narsil and now that I have.....it's only shown as broken.

Not sure about the film (although they definitely have the same hilt), but as per the books the main differences are the designs placed on the blade after it is reforged.

Should get a photo of both fully intact swords if they're allow you to.

Went to the LotR exhibition yesterday. There was an annoying lack of documentation which left me with the sneaking suspicion that a lot of what was on display were replicas or reference pieces rather than on-screen props/costumes, but even so the collection was pretty cool. 

The version of Elendil's sword on display was the broken Narsil from Rivendell (and presumably Gorgoroth), with what was billed as 'Aragorn's sword' actually being Strider's, if you catch my meaning.

Particular treats for me were Bilbo and Sam's feet, and a massive maquette of Lurtz, everyone's favourite fighting Uruk-Hai.  The Witch-king's helm and crown were pretty cool to see up close too. Your Gandalf staff was present and correct too, Thryllseekyr!

Incidentally, for Leinster-based folk the Newbridge Silver 'Museum of Style Icons' is well worth a visit even without the LotR temporary exhibition.  Without necessarily wanting to call my boring heterosexuality into further question, it was quite a thrill seeing Audrey Hepburn costumes from Breakfast at Tiffany's, Julie Andrew's wedding dress from Sound of Music, a full set of Rat Pack jackets, and best of all some dresses from my first and most enduring crush the divine Marilyn herself.  Well worth a trip, and free to boot.

[The Doctor Alt 8]

Is that the Necromancer getting the jump on Gandalf

I read on another forum, that could be Thain and he could very well be leaping to Gandalf's defence.

Hmmm.... REALLY? You know where I come from it's the height of bad manners to squish the person you are attempting to rescue by jumping on them from a great height.

[TordelBack]

Hmmm.... REALLY? You know where I come from it's the height of bad manners to squish the person you are attempting to rescue by jumping on them from a great height.

I think it's well established by now that the gravitational constant in Peter Jackson's Middle-Earth is appreciably weaker than in our world, allowing bearded chums to greet each other in all sorts of new non-lethal ways.  While this is primarily a conclusion drawn from watching 13 dwarves and a hobbit falling hundreds of feet, repeatedly, with nary a scratch, it also allows for the functional flight dynamics of giant eagles, fell beasts, dragons etc. 

Although it does fail to explain why a Jackson Balrog has wings but can't use 'em.

[JOE SOAP]

Peter Jackson says he was "Winging it" on THe Hobbit.

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/11/19/this-is-why-the-hobbit-movies-were-so-bad

[ThryllSeekyr]

Didn't mind the films being the way they were so much. At least they are still fun....

Just didn't like it that the dwarves were presented as such a motley bunch.

I thought the twins, (We all know from the picture of Gloin as a young child with a more impressive beard than they had been given. Really, they are just short men like their leader!) the scribe, (Deformed with that oversized head of his!) maybe even Bofur, and their leader who is really just a short man given his un-dwarfish proportions. It might have been a shorter human posing as dwarf after offing the real one or something similar.

At least, we see some resolution about that one with the axe blade wedged in his forehead after seeing all the undeleted material. Otherwise this idea was just something to make him a more interesting persona.

The scene where it finally pops out without any geyser of blood, but might have just shown that he is one of the survivors of that battle at least.

Regarding a scene where Elrond inspects Glamdring before giving it back without any issue. A sword forged for and wielded by one of his direct ancestors, Turgon as I read about it here.

I guess this is just shows great respect for the wizard and the importance of his work or maybe he really is a part of their family or Elrond's might not be the true inheritor at all.

[Mardroid]

Peter Jackson says he was "Winging it" on THe Hobbit.

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/11/19/this-is-why-the-hobbit-movies-were-so-bad

Hmm.

I haven't watched the video yet, but I disagree with the artical that the films were bad.

They had issues, sure. And they certainly were not as good as The Lord of the Rings films. But I thought they were pretty good.

Granted, these things are subjective.

[radiator]

Peter Jackson says he was "Winging it" on THe Hobbit.

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/11/19/this-is-why-the-hobbit-movies-were-so-bad

No surprises here.

I've long speculated that Jackson had no interest in making the Hobbit films - and only did so out of weary obligation because Del Toro bailed, he was left in the lurch and had no choice but to do so to keep the entire industry he created for LotR in work for a few more years. You can just tell his heart wasn't in it.

This also kind of answers the question of why the Hobbit movies were such comparatively ugly-looking films and so needlessly drenched in cgi - they simply didn't have the time to make enough practical sets, costumes, or even do much in the way of location shooting.

I haven't watched the video yet, but I disagree with the artical that the films were bad.

They had issues, sure. And they certainly were not as good as The Lord of the Rings films. But I thought they were pretty good.

Whereas I actually think they're if anything overrated and people are way too easy on them because of the affection they have for the LotR films. I honestly consider them as a bit of a travesty. The first one had major problems but a flicker of that old LotR charm, but I thought the second one was so bad I didn't bother with seeing the third.

[Tiplodocus]

That was an interesting watch.

I like 'em. Not great and really annoying in places but there's enough in there to carry me through. And I thought Desolation was the best one. All the character bits from one mean it just rocks straight into the action.

[radiator]

I actually think the action is the single worst thing about them.

It's not an original take, but it really does just all look like a videogame to me, all the more uninvolving because of how weak the character work is. Everything looks so ridiculously over the top and plasticky I never feel like I'm buying the reality of any of it. It's impressive on a purely technical level, but never looks tangible, and to me actually works against the storytelling.

The LotR films had the occasional dodgy effects shot that would jolt me out of the story for a second or two. The Hobbit movies make me feel like that for the entire running time.

An Unexpected Journey had (many) moments that felt really cartoonish and over the top, but the point in Desolation when the dwarves started surfing on lava and dancing around on Smaug's snout is when I completely checked out. It's the exact same problem the Star Wars prequels and Matrix sequels had - even in the context of a fantasy film, if you bend the rules of reality and physics too far - say if characters can survive falling hundreds of feet onto rock - you lose all sense of weight and peril.

Even the makeup, which was so wonderful in LotR - is really overdone and looks so fake in the Hobbit films, especially on the dwarves. I honestly don't know what they were thinking when they came up with the look of the dwarves.