[thefro]

Tolkien would have likely had a problem with how young they cast Frodo. That alone changes the character a lot, especially in his relationship with Sam.

Hobbits don't "come of age" until they turn 33, so Elijah Wood's casting was fine (particularly since they don't really mention the 17-year gap).

I always pictured 50 for Hobbits as being closer to 30 for humans.

[The Lamonster]

Love this BTS pic from TTT.

Viggo is such a badass. /swoon

[thefro]

Viggo is such a badass. /swoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvakFEr98qk

He bought his horse from the movie and bought Arwen's horse for her stunt rider in the movie (who couldn't afford to buy the horse).

[Gila]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvakFEr98qk He bought his horse from the movie and bought Arwen's horse for her stunt rider in the movie (who couldn't afford to buy the horse).

That's awesome, what a guy.

I remember seeing one interview and he said; while the crew was flying from location to location due to convenience - he would rather drive by himself just to admire the lovely New Zealand scenery.

[Edmond Dantès]

That's awesome, what a guy. I remember seeing one interview and he said; while the crew was flying from location to location due to convenience - he would rather drive by himself just to admire the lovely New Zealand scenery.

Boromir did something similar. He would walk instead of taking a helicopter up some of the great hills in New Zealand.

[LegendofJoe]

Boromir did something similar. He would walk instead of taking a helicopter up some of the great hills in New Zealand.

I would have too if I were him, they're lucky to be able to work in places as beautiful as New Zealand.

[Edmond Dantès]

I would have too if I were him, they're lucky to be able to work in places as beautiful as New Zealand.

Beautiful indeed.

This is where the Lake-town shore scenes were filmed.

[Edmond Dantès]

Off-topic question for fellow Tolkien enthusiasts, seeing as this thread is pretty much the default Tolkien OT.

How do think Morgoth would have fared in the Third Age against the Children of Iluvatar? Would he have conquered Middle-earth where Sauron failed to do so?

[Ixion]

Off-topic question for fellow Tolkien enthusiasts, seeing as this thread is pretty much the default Tolkien OT. How do think Morgoth would have fared in the Third Age against the Children of Iluvatar? Would he have conquered Middle-earth where Sauron failed to do so?

It basically comes down to whether Morgoth was smarter than Sauron, since Sauron ultimately lost because he never considered a stealth attempt at destroying the ring. Middle-Earth during the Third Age wasn't strong enough to defeat Sauron through strength of arms either, but they were smarter. If you think Morgoth wouldn't have let that happen, then he would have gotten the job done.

I've read The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin, but I've forgotten Morgoth's portrayal for the most part. You'll have to brush me up!

[Edmond Dantès]

It basically comes down to whether Morgoth was smarter than Sauron, since Sauron ultimately lost because he never considered a stealth attempt at destroying the ring. Middle-Earth during the Third Age wasn't strong enough to defeat Sauron through strength of arms either, but they were smarter. If you think Morgoth wouldn't have let that happen, then he would have gotten the job done. I've read The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin, but I've forgotten Morgoth's portrayal for the most part. You'll have to brush me up!

The most important aspect of Morgoth in his latter years was that he was a essentially a nihilist. He had no desire to rule Middle-earth or Arda as a whole. He just wanted to destroy it all and create a world of his own design. I think that would have made him a far more deadly enemy than Sauron.

He was inherently more powerful than Sauron even after squandering much of his power in the corruption of Arda. But was he more immune to destruction than Sauron? That's debatable. Sauron's spirit was tied to the One Ring and it seemed like an impossible task to destroy the One Ring. Morgoth in his latter years in the guise of a Dark Lord at the end of the First Age was just a hulking great mass of ruined flesh, but his ring was Arda itself.

[ascii42]

Boromir did something similar. He would walk instead of taking a helicopter up some of the great hills in New Zealand.

Wasn't that because he was afraid of flying in helicopters?

[Edmond Dantès]

Wasn't that because he was afraid of flying in helicopters?

Good excuse to take in the beauty of New Zealand. ;)

[Edmond Dantès]

Lovely interview with Smaug.

And “The Hobbit” was wonderful and might be ongoing, but I’ve just done my first bit on it. It’s brilliant. It’s really fun. But I can’t unfortunately say [anything more].

He's probably finished his Necromancer work and next up is Smaug or vice versa.

The rest of the interview.

[Cheebo]

I wonder how he will look on camera. A more Necromancer sort of dark wizard look or the traditional armored Sauron look from LOTR?

[Edmond Dantès]

I wonder how he will look on camera. A more Necromancer sort of dark wizard look or the traditional armored Sauron look from LOTR?

Might look something this piece of LOTR related merchandise but in black and slightly less armour. A pretty good depiction of The Necromancer, although his helmet is a little too Morgoth for my tastes.

[Edmond Dantès]

There's always the Annatar route that PJ is so fond of.



"Mairon" in his prime.

His Valarin name. Source = Parma Eldalamberon

[Kak.efes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvakFEr98qk He bought his horse from the movie and bought Arwen's horse for her stunt rider in the movie (who couldn't afford to buy the horse).

Undisputedly the coolest mother fucker in all of hollywood.

Boromir did something similar. He would walk instead of taking a helicopter up some of the great hills in New Zealand.

I remember reading Sean Bean and Viggo became great friends during filming.

[Edmond Dantès]

Undisputedly the coolest mother fucker in all of hollywood. I remember reading Sean Bean and Viggo became great friends during filming.

I wouldn't be surprised if many of the cast created lifelong bonds and friendships with each other.

In other news:

Battle of the Five Armies confirmed to be part of the duology

Source

[Retro]

I wonder how he will look on camera.

My mind always goes back to the advertisements for the LotR CCG ("Middle Earth: The Wizards") that show Sauron as a gnarled, robed figure clinging to a chair.

Sorry, best image of it I could find.



Remember, he was soundly defeated and driven from Middle Earth at the end of the second age. In Jackson's vision, he's unable to even take physical form (whether because they drove him from Dol Guldur or because he was never a physical form even then, I can't say). So I imagine if we see him at all (is it confirmed that we will?) he will be no where near as impressive as he was in the opening of FotR.

I picture him as looking somewhat like a Nazgul, but less sturdy.

[Edmond Dantès]

My mind always goes back to the advertisements for the LotR CCG ("Middle Earth: The Wizards") that show Sauron as a gnarled, robed figure clinging to a chair. Sorry, best image of it I could find. Remember, he was soundly defeated and driven from Middle Earth at the end of the second age. In Jackson's vision, he's unable to even take physical form (whether because they drove him from Dol Guldur or because he was never a physical form even then, I can't say). So I imagine if we see him at all (is it confirmed that we will?) he will be no where near as impressive as he was in the opening of FotR. I picture him as looking somewhat like a Nazgul, but less sturdy.

Benedict's had this to say regarding The Necromancer.

"I'm in it and I’m playing a dragon and I’m also playing the Necromancer. And I’m not – repeat not – doing the voiceover,”

"I'm playing Smaug through motion-capture and voicing the Necromancer, which is a character in the Five Legions War or something which I'm meant to understand," and "He's not actually in the original Hobbit. It's something [Peter Jackson]'s taken from Lord of the Rings that he wants to put in there."

Pretty contradictory.

These are a few months old though, so he probably knows a lot more about what he's actually doing for The Necromancer.

[bengraven]

Yeah, his second quote is way way off.

"five legions war" is not the correct term and the Necromancer is mentioned quite a few times in the Hobbit book.

I remember one of the dwarves saying "we should go take the mother fucker OUT" and Gandalf snarling, "Shiiiiiit, he's more than enough foe for any one of us...now smoke a tug and get back to dragon plotting".

Of course, I paraphrase greatly.

Wasn't that because he was afraid of flying in helicopters?

lol yeah. He wasn't walking up the verdant greens to admire the scenery.

He was fucking terrified of helicopters.

They would look down on the mountain top from the sky and see Sean Bean in full armor huffing up steep hills. hahaha

[Gila]

All those songs Edmond Dantès posted in that Avengers score thread made me miss the LOTR music, listening to it now just made me in excitement of what Shore has for us come December!

[Edmond Dantès]

All those songs Edmond Dantès posted in that Avengers score thread made me miss the LOTR music, listening to it now just made me in excitement of what Shore has for us come December!

Yes, it's one of the aspects I'm most looking forward to.

I do wonder if he'll reuse some of his old cues, especially 'Concerning Hobbits'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1cTuUwZILg

Or even Bilbo's song, the final piece of music from the trilogy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJQmsKgqF0A

[Edmond Dantès]

Luke Evans via Twitter

Sorry for silence tweeps. Incredibly busy with film. Bear with me. I can tell you It's a huge amount of brilliant though!

Source

Hmmm... I wonder what they're currently filming? ;)

I wish I was there to see it in person.

[Edmond Dantès]

Another Twitter titbit.

Our filming schedule has changed so Gandalf and Bard the Bowman will spend tomorrow acting with each other instead of visiting "Hobbiton."

Gandalf the Grey

[DirtRiver]

"five legions war" is not the correct term and the Necromancer is mentioned quite a few times in the Hobbit book.

I don't remember the Necromancer appearing in the book, just mentioned by Gandalf at some points so what I understood from the quotes is that we'll be seeing the Necromancer, don't know why, but we will.

[Edmond Dantès]

I don't remember the Necromancer appearing in the book, just mentioned by Gandalf at some points so what I understood from the quotes is that we'll be seeing the Necromancer, don't know why, but we will.

He'll be the main focus of the greatly expanded White Council sub-plot, here's my guess at the likely scenario:

Residents of Middle-earth suspecting one of the Nazgul to be the Necromancer,
The great powers of Middle-earth becoming aware of his increasing presence in Mirkwood,
Gandalf suspecting his true identity and wanting action,
Saruman trying to play down the perceived threat, but the audience not knowing his true intentions until LOTR,
Gandalf exploring Dol Guldur and finding someone he didn't expect,

Fast forward to the present and:

Gandalf leaving Bilbo and co,
The Necromancer's origins been explored by the Council back to his orgins and corruption at the hands of Satan,
The White Council acting,
The Necromancer leaving or been forced out of Dol Guldur,
Maybe a brief confrontation between Gandalf and the Necromancer,
A brief allusion to the Necromancer returning to his old obode in the second film.

Add some Radagast mischief and sillyness and you have a pretty fleshed out sub-plot and a good reason for Gandalf's disappearance a third of the way through the narrative.

[Loxley]

Slightly OT, but it looks like our assumptions about a forthcoming LEGO Lord of the Rings game are pretty much confirmed:

In preparation for a product review, I found myself last night eagerly unboxing one of two upcoming The Lord of the Rings LEGO® Sets. I was pleasantly surprised to find this mini-teaser in the back of the instruction pack for the ‘Shelob Attacks’ Set and thought I should share it quickly…so I posted it on our official TheOneRing.net Facebook. Well, it has gotten quite a stir over there, so I figured I should share it with you this morning. The ad confirms the long assumed notion that we would see a The Lord of the Rings LEGO® Video Game from long-time LEGO game producers Traveler’s Tales. So let this been 100% confirmation of the games existence, and I’d be willing to bet we’ll see a The Hobbit game in the future as well. As for my quickie review of the ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO Set: Building a gigantic realistic LEGO spider, complete with shooting string and eight extremely posable legs, was one of the most fun activities I’ve had in years! (Full review with pics will be coming soon!)

[Platy]

Awesome !
Hope it includes at least the 3 movies/books

And ... anyone knows for sure what is Stephen Fry's role in this ?
Everywhere I see a diferent role ....

[Winnie the Pimp]

holy shit, LEGO Lord of the Rings will be a MUST have!!

[bengraven]

Awesome ! Hope it includes at least the 3 movies/books And ... anyone knows for sure what is Stephen Fry's role in this ? Everywhere I see a diferent role ....

He's the mayor of Laketown. We won't see him until 2013 in part 2.

Probably only get a glimpse of Billy Connelly, as well. :(

Two of my favorite acto---nay, PEOPLE, in the world.

[Edmond Dantès]

Slightly OT, but it looks like our assumptions about a forthcoming LEGO Lord of the Rings game are pretty much confirmed:

Look forward to it.

Also looking forward to getting my hands on these figures:






The lack of Saruman, Sauron, Theoden, Eowyn, Elrond, Arwen and Galadriel is a bit disappointing though.

[bengraven]

First Legos I buy as an adult.

[Erigu]

All those "TM"s...

[ascii42]

Look forward to it. Also looking forward to getting my hands on these figures:

I like the little hobbit lego legs.

[Winnie the Pimp]

I like the little hobbit lego legs.

probably the same ones as the Dwarves legs...

[strafer]

Just got The Complete Recordings of LOTR and wooow, It's like having the movie in music form.

Howard Shore is boss.

[Edmond Dantès]

Just got The Complete Recordings of LOTR and wooow, It's like having the movie in music form. Howard Shore is boss.

Another one converted to the Complete Recordings. Lovely.

Speaking of scores. Does anyone else think that there will be many tracks reminiscent of Khazud-dum in the two Hobbit films? The dwarves will be more prominent and far more important to the narrative than in the LOTR. I'm expecting a lot more gregorian type chanting and male choirs and less ethereal female voices.

Two of the best examples:

Khazad-dum
Glamdring

[Edmond Dantès]

Bard the Bowman speaks

Are you tinkering around with the character of Bard the Bowman? “There’s slightly more Bard in the movie than is in the novel. Everything in the book is definitely in the film but… [whispers] I’ll have my tongue cut out if I say anything else. Let’s put it this way – I shoot a lot of arrows…” What’s it like, walking onto that set for the first time? “I can’t really describe it. When I first arrived I went straight to Bilbo’s house. I saw it on the big screen when I was 21 and there I was, walking around it in costume – a very special moment. I’ll look back on that in 20 years and hopefully be as proud as I am now.”

Source

[Sirius]

Another one converted to the Complete Recordings. Lovely. Speaking of scores. Does anyone else think that there will be many tracks reminiscent of Khazud-dum in the two Hobbit films? The dwarves will be more prominent and far more important to the narrative than in the LOTR. I'm expecting a lot more gregorian type chanting and male choirs and less ethereal female voices. Two of the best examples: Khazad-dum Glamdring

Most powerful opening for a film, ever.

I am definitely expecting a more male-dominated choir for this one; one fit for a more dwarf-oriented adventure - the part of the elves is not as pivitol as in LoTR (although there will be a female elf in the company for this one), I think we can expect a greater dwarvish influence.

If the trailer is any indication of the quality of music we'll be hearing, especially regarding songs and vocal performances - I'm bringing an extra pair of pants.

[Dmax3901]

Another one converted to the Complete Recordings. Lovely. Speaking of scores. Does anyone else think that there will be many tracks reminiscent of Khazud-dum in the two Hobbit films? The dwarves will be more prominent and far more important to the narrative than in the LOTR. I'm expecting a lot more gregorian type chanting and male choirs and less ethereal female voices. Two of the best examples: Khazad-dum Glamdring

Currently blasting the soundtrack at ridiculous volumes. Fuck the police.

[Zio]

Another one converted to the Complete Recordings. Lovely. Speaking of scores. Does anyone else think that there will be many tracks reminiscent of Khazud-dum in the two Hobbit films? The dwarves will be more prominent and far more important to the narrative than in the LOTR. I'm expecting a lot more gregorian type chanting and male choirs and less ethereal female voices. Two of the best examples: Khazad-dum Glamdring

You're probably right about there being more male vocal stuff in the music. I absolutely love the song that is in the trailer. I find myself singing that song all the time. I hope there is more of that.

I've always loved the dark chanting from the Khazad-dum scene. I always thought though that it was meant to represent the Balrog, the more ancient evil that came from below. I remember seeing a behind the scenes thing with the choir and Shore was giving them some direction somewhere along the lines of "you are a thousand souls crying in torment". What a guy.

I know whatever the music ends up being, it will be awesome and perfect. I'm wondering now what Smaug's themes would be like. damn, this is exciting!

[Edmond Dantès]

Any idea when the second trailer will hit the theatres? Maybe attached to The Dark Knight Rises?

[Scullibundo]

Any idea when the second trailer will hit the theatres? Maybe attached to The Dark Knight Rises?

TDKR is a good chance.

Hell, Jack the Giant Killer even has a chance since it's a big budget 3D fantasy. More likely TDKR though.

[Expendable.]

TDKR is a good chance. Hell, Jack the Giant Killer even has a chance since it's a big budget 3D fantasy. More likely TDKR though.

But Jack the Giant Killer opens three months AFTER The Hobbit gets released.

[Scullibundo]

But Jack the Giant Killer opens three months AFTER The Hobbit gets released.

Horry shit I forgot about the move.

[Edmond Dantès]

What looks like the set of Erebor in this article.

http://www.herr-der-ringe-film.de/v3...news_87360.php

[bengraven]

What looks like the set of Erebor in this article. http://www.herr-der-ringe-film.de/v3...news_87360.php

Can't not unsee this while looking at the link.



That said, I wish we could get a better picture of the Lonely Mountain set.

[Edmond Dantès]

8-bit Lord of the Rings by artist fitz-fitzpatrick.



http://fitz-fitzpatrick.deviantart.com/

[Edmond Dantès]

Sir Ian on the first cut of The Hobbit

3 minutes onwards