Comments on: Hobbit, the Movies

By: Tim Baron

Tim Baron — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:54:47 +0000

It brings me joy that Del Toro is working on this. His work on Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth was incredible. Other than Jackson, I can’t think of a better director who would be perfectly suited for this endeavor.

By: S. Bauer

S. Bauer — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:32:54 +0000

Is it a sin to wish the parousia might have to be delayed?

By: Veith

Veith — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:42:42 +0000

Anon, I KNOW what the Silmarilion covers. You don’t need to be snide and presuming my ignorance. I may be ignorant on some subjects, but not that! In the Silmarilion’s vast sweep, it does include the Hobbit/LOTR period, if only in a few paragraphs. I’m hoping the new movie builds on the scant material of those preceding 60 years, but I agree that it will probably be more like fan fiction.

By: SD Smith

SD Smith — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:24:18 +0000

I loved the films, but they fell short in a few significant ways, in my view.

I think Jackson excelled at the physical portrayal elements of the film (realistic looking fantastic images), and he understood and expressed the evil characters deeply and well. But he didn’t appear to understand the light, the good, the beautiful, the way Tolkien did. See Faramir. Maybe this is due to his heart which is not, to my knowledge, regenerated. Maybe he’s just comfortable in his zombie-film milieu (which he was established in).

Now Guillermo del Toro takes over, and he does not appear capable of improving that negative, since his background appears to be similar. But maybe it will improve.

I had hoped for some one with more imagination for light.

By: Anon

Anon — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:46:42 +0000

I have no ideas what they will be doing with those 60 years. I rather don’t like the idea of fanfic, but I fear that it must be that.

The Silmarillion, Dr. Veith, covers a period roughly 6,000-30,000 years prior to the Hobbit, not the 60s years between the Battle of the Five Armies and the War of the Ring.

Since it is now part of the Western Canon, it might be good to know things like that in the English Department.

Peter Jackson did horribly with LoTR. The references to the “J-Text” among scholars might clue people in. He can’t do suspense, he hated the Christianity in the substructure, and didn’t like the message, so he cut out key parts, created pointless bits, and was saved by the wonderful artists at WETA and the actors.

“Dust and ashes out of Elfland” eh, tODD?

By: Theresa K.

Theresa K. — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:15:25 +0000

tODD ROFL!!!

By: tODD

tODD — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:34:52 +0000

I'm still waiting for an announcement about the 20-part film prequel to The Hobbit based on the rest of The Silmarillion, especially part 4: Elves Doing Things, part 7: Elf Migration Patterns, part 12: Still Talking About Elves, and of course, part 20, which will just cover the basics of elven linguistics and naming conventions.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:55:03 +0000

Ooops…gotta watch the double clicks.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:54:13 +0000

“Plans to make a two-part precursor to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, based on Tolkien’s three-volume follow-up to his “Hobbit” story, were announced in December after settlement of a bitter legal dispute cleared the way for the project.”

Glad to hear about the project, but yikes, who writes for Reuters these days? Did anyone bother to edit this article?

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:51:04 +0000

Glad to hear about the project, but yikes, who is writing for Reuters these days. Did anyone bother to edit this article?