The Hobbit - TTLG Forums

jtr7 on 21/12/2011 at 12:49

The principal shooting of Part 1 isn't done yet, as Bilbo is shooting his scenes between his TV Sherlock Holmes obligations. When he's done with the next round of his television work, he'll head back to New Zealand, so most of the story hasn't even been physically recorded, let alone the post-production and animation. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the scenes in the trailer were made specifically for the trailer, and not just as an early choice of takes.

Peter Jackson wasn't going to direct these, but Guillermo Del Toro had to leave the project.

Stitch on 21/12/2011 at 16:42

The trailer looks great and all, but we already have a good nine plus hours of this shit. Not that more won't be welcome, but not only was I hoping for something new with this movie--I was one of those who were disappointed with Del Toro's departure, after all--but I was hoping for something new from Peter Jackson by this point. Returning to the hottest shit of ten years ago seems like a step back for both him and the franchise.

but whatever, I'll show up on release day with boner in tow

nbohr1more on 29/12/2011 at 23:14

For the fanatical... a pre-production video:

[video]http://youtu.be/eWGFi6P-5Rk[/video]

Thirith on 2/1/2012 at 10:21

I wonder if/how they'll address the danger of putting on the ring. In the book, it's not an issue because it was written before Lord of the Rings, but people coming to the movies wil lbe curious why Bilbo can slip the thing on with impunity when it was shown to be dangerous as hell in the trilogy. I'm sure Tolkien had an explanation up his sleeve, but it doesn't figure into The Hobbit as such, IIRC.

Beleg Cúthalion on 2/1/2012 at 13:41

I don't see that as a problem since the threat posed by Sauron comes a bit later. Plus, it's only dangerous as hell if they put the big fiery eye back in...or show Bilbo's view in the first place. When he uses the ring in the first movie, there's hardly anything dangerous about it – since you see it from the outside.

The trailer looks good, I just hope it won't become too cuddly-fantasy-like, especially with the dwarves and talking birds. I know it's in the book, but... :erg:

nbohr1more on 2/1/2012 at 19:47

I really hope they touch on the fact that the birds' language was known and spoken at the time of this tale.

I also would like to see them bring in Tom Bombadil and perhaps some of the other Norse myth inspired sequences and characters.

SubJeff on 2/1/2012 at 20:18

The Ring isn't an issue in the Hobbit because no one knows it's the One Ring.

Gandalf reveals that he suspected it in The Fellowship and proves it by putting it in the fire.

So even if putting it on did cause Sauron to be aware that it was back "in circulation" no one knows nor cares at that point.

How quickly we forget :tsktsk:

Sombras on 2/1/2012 at 20:28

Quote Posted by nbohr1more

I also would like to see them bring in Tom Bombadil and perhaps some of the other Norse myth inspired sequences and characters.

Man, Tom Bombadil barely worked in LOTR--many think he didn't work at all. I'm happy that Jackson cut him out of the first film, and I seriously hope that he doesn't work him into The Hobbit. It's sketchy enough that Galadriel will be in it (HUH?), and Viggo Mortensen has made it sound like it's not out of the question that he could be worked into the story. I guess it could work...no, it won't. Wait, maybe. Nope. :p

nbohr1more on 2/1/2012 at 21:55

The "tree herders" born near the dawn of time "work".. yet Tom Bombadil the man born at the dawn of time doesn't "work"? :weird:

I agree that he doesn't fit stylistically into LOTR in the fashion that Peter Jackson portrayed the stories. If they had blurred the line more and made the Elf encounters (etc) seem more like dreams or hallucinations then his place in the tale would gel better.

I think this is why Tolkien said the books were "unfilmable". He wanted parts of his story and world to touch infinity. He wanted metaphysics and mythological events to mingle with the "real-world" the way they often do in legends. Just as Heracles can climb Mount Olympus and speak with the gods, so too can the hobbits land in a part of the world who's dominion is still part of lore and is tied to the beings of Valinor.

Such things could be done though... Allusions to mixed conscience states... You could, for example, show the Hobbits journey into Woodhall (where they encounter Elves before Rivendell ) and have the trees of Woody End extend way into the stratosphere (supernaturally tall)... and therefore signify the move from normal terrain to a folklore place.

Thirith on 2/1/2012 at 22:19

Quote Posted by Subjective Effect

The second Frodo puts on the ring, he enters another, scary reality. He immediately feels watched by the Eye. That's what audiences will remember, and if there isn't at least an element of this, those people who saw the films only will think, "Wasn't putting on the Ring supposedly this major bad thing?" Or do you think that Frodo's reaction to putting on the ring is only what it is because he knows it's the One Ring?

Edit: I'd go even further than that. Jackson went out of his way to make the Ring a character, practically. It has a voice, it tempts Frodo (and others). For those who watched the films, they are likely to have come away from them thinking that these things are inherent to the ring. Tolkien's The Hobbit doesn't address any of this because the book was written before Lord of the Rings; the film Hobbit will need to address (or, most likely, handwave) this in some way or many audience members will find this odd and inconsistent.