[bengraven]

Not the actual mountain, but the location, yes. Tongariro National Park. Some random images:

Perfection. Just increase the mountain's size a bit, leave off some of the snow, darken the sky. The valleys are perfect. Love it.



Also, as for those beautiful stained glass windows, I'm glad to see the meeting with Gildor was included - that was one of the most under-rated, forgotten moments from the books, but one of my favorites.

[Edmond Dantès]

Nice! Why aren't they using Howard Shore for the second trailer? Didn't he do the music for the first one? I know he's probably not done all the music yet but he must have some for a 2 and a bit minute trailer.. just seems odd to use someone else.

Probably don't want to spoil too much of Howard's score and they have done it before with some of the LOTR trailers.

They're going for something a little bit more epic, so as to appeal to the general public, non-Tolkien fans.

[Edmond Dantès]

[Demoncarnotaur]

Hobbit figures plus Tauriel pic.

Im still not really feeling the change of design for the Wargs.

Yes. =)

I wonder if they will have some teaser clips like they did for Prometheus.

[strafer]

Can't wait. :)

[Edmond Dantès]

Im still not really feeling the change of design for the Wargs. Yes. =) I wonder if they will have some teaser clips like they did for Prometheus.

I doubt it. Just the full trailer on Wednesday and something else (special content) according to Peter.

Could be a new vlog or maybe, just maybe an excerpt from the score.

[Edmond Dantès]

Pretty interesting review of The Fellowship of the Ring from 1954.

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1124990.ece

Also, An unknown vision of Middle-earth.

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1124297.ece

[bengraven]

I can't WAIT three more days.

Also, "visions" article was interesting. I can see where he was critical of fairy tale illustrations, but my god, his time, the late 19th century and early 20th was the absolute pinnacle of children's book illustration.

Also interesting because his illustrations was iconic and simple and beautiful, like early wood prints.

Still haven't finished the article yet, though.

[Starsunder]

Omg can't wait for the trailer!

[maquiladora]

Fimbul the Hunter. Inspired by or connected with Golfimbul maybe?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...Orcs#Golfimbul

[Loxley]

New photos from USA Today, including (I believe) the first official photo of Radagast:














I think younger-Gollum looks great, but I think some people may be thrown off by the intensity of the blue in his eyes. He almost looks like a Disney character in that shot. Really want to see him in motion (likely will in the trailer).

Also, I love the lighting/colors in that photo of the dwarves sitting at the table, beautiful.

[Altazor]

great pics! can't wait for this.

[HomerSimpson-Man]

OMFG, YES!

[Nazgul11]

YES. My calender has been marked, SO HARD.

[Secret_Riddle]

I would say all six star wars films are some of the best pieces of filmmaking I ever seen. ^^ I am looking forward to The Hobbit movies, even though it should be two, and also I haven't liked any Peter Jackson movie yet. I'll watch it and keep an open mind. I do love The Hobbit book though :)

[TheLaughingMan]

I still think the phantom menace is an awesome movie. Also, the Frodo and Sam parts are the worst parts in the lord of the ring trilogy. ^^

[TheLaughingMan]

You can call it bad taste all you want, but it's still my opinion. I didn't like Lord of the Rings movies and books. :P

[strafer]

I hope they show Evie in the new trailer.

[FliXFantatier]

You can call it bad taste all you want, but it's still my opinion. I didn't like Lord of the Rings movies and books. :P

bad taste is a movie by peter jackson :p

[Dmax3901]

Those pics look crisp.

[TheLaughingMan]

I mean it's fine to disagree with my opinion. But just because I like films that aren't that well liked, doesn't mean I have bad taste. It's my own opinion. I know what I like, and what I don't like.

[Scullibundo]

I have a feeling Serkis is finally going to get his Oscar this time around. Whether he will deserve it or not won't matter. The Academy will give it to him to make up for all the bullshit snubs it's given to perf-cap performances over the years - the last of which (PotA) caused a lot of conversation.

He'll get it for one of The Hobbit films.

[Edmond Dantès]

New photos from USA Today, including (I believe) the first official photo of Radagast: I think younger-Gollum looks great, but I think some people may be thrown off by the intensity of the blue in his eyes. He almost looks like a Disney character in that shot. Really want to see him in motion (likely will in the trailer). Also, I love the lighting/colors in that photo of the dwarves sitting at the table, beautiful.

Great shots. They may well be from the trailer.

[Gila]

Man, Gandalf hasn't aged a day.

[FliXFantatier]

Man, Gandalf hasn't aged a day.

he should be younger ;p

[C4Lukins]

I think I am alone here but this movie is going to be terrible.


The Hobbit as a novel is fast paced. Maybe two films, but there is not a good ending for the first half unless you are going... Ok there is a good ending for the first half. But a third film? They just have to make shit up. No spoilers, but they have to make shit up after the second film, they have to invent a complete third film. We are wasting the particular director and we are over exstineding a film. I would spell check but it is not worth the effort.

[maquiladora]

2 more days!

[FliXFantatier]

I think I am alone here but this movie is going to be terrible. The Hobbit as a novel is fast paced. Maybe two films, but there is not a good ending for the first half unless you are going... Ok there is a good ending for the first half. But a third film? They just have to make shit up. No spoilers, but they have to make shit up after the second film, they have to invent a complete third film. We are wasting the particular director and we are over exstineding a film. I would spell check but it is not worth the effort.

you clearly have not been following the developments, the trilogy will contain lots of stuff from other JRR short stories set in middle earth.

[C4Lukins]

you clearly have not been following the developments, the trilogy will contain lots of stuff from other JRR short stories set in middle earth.

Yeah, but... The Hobbit is barely two films, they need to invent a lot of shit to make it so. And now it is three. I am still excited by the prospect of it all, but damn they are having to create a whole lotta of story to make this work. I hope it is awesome.

[Cheebo]

Yeah, but... The Hobbit is barely two films, they need to invent a lot of shit to make it so. And now it is three. I am still excited by the prospect of it all, but damn they are having to create a whole lotta of story to make this work. I hope it is awesome.

They aren't making stuff up. It's all from other Tolkien material.

[xenist]

I have noticed a curious thing about Tolkien nerddom and how it reacts to this movie.

Usually it's two parts. The nerds who complain. "OMG organic webshooters! Burn the witch Raimi!" And the casual fans who couldn't give a shit. "Organic what?"

Tolkien stuff is much more layered. There are the casual fans who only know the movies. "Three more movies? Cool!" There are the fans of the movies and the books who complain. "How is a little story like The Hobbit gonna be three films?" There are the weirdos that have actually read the books multiple times including Sil (guilty), the appendices multiple times including Tolkien's correspondence (guilty), whose end game is a Silmarillion HBO show (guilty) and have probably learned a bit of Quenya at some time (guilty) who go "Actually there are a ton more stuff to be added that Tolkien wrote!I wish they made everything into a movie!" And then there's the Cristopher Tolkien crowd who just wants to shut down everything.

[DieH@rd]

New photos from USA Today, including (I believe) the first official photo of Radagast:

Here he is in the official trading card game:

[Dmax3901]

Yeah, but... The Hobbit is barely two films, they need to invent a lot of shit to make it so. And now it is three. I am still excited by the prospect of it all, but damn they are having to create a whole lotta of story to make this work. I hope it is awesome.

They cut Shelob from The Two Towers and still managed to make rotk a 3+ hour film. It'll be fine. Or I'll cry.

[Napalm_Frank]

Even with 3 long movies I still think some dwarves get hardly any screentime or good moments :(. Out of all the ''lesser dwarves'' I think Bombur will get the best share since he will most likely be the comic relief guy.

[jaxword]

Yeah, but... The Hobbit is barely two films, they need to invent a lot of shit to make it so. And now it is three. I am still excited by the prospect of it all, but damn they are having to create a whole lotta of story to make this work. I hope it is awesome.

They don't have to invent anything; Tolkien LITERALLY (yes literally) wrote a dictionary of events and religion and mythology for the LOTR universe. They have enough material for 10 films if they wanted.

"The Hobbit" is just the most famous and well-read. The Simarillion is unreadable to most because it is the aforementioned dictionary.

[Edmond Dantès]

They don't have to invent anything; Tolkien LITERALLY (yes literally) wrote a dictionary of events and religion and mythology for the LOTR universe. They have enough material for 10 films if they wanted. "The Hobbit" is just the most famous and well-read. The Simarillion is unreadable to most because it is the aforementioned dictionary.

'Dictionary' is not how I'd describe The Silmarillion. It's actually an injustice to refer to it in such a manner. Descriptive in parts, yes. Slightly archaic in its prose at times, yes. Does it read like The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid and certain Norse sagas such as the Völsunga Saga? Most certainly. Is that a bad thing? That's debatable. But a mere dictionary it is not. It's a retelling of the history of Arda from its creation to the final fall of Sauron via a grand narrative.

[jaxword]

'Dictionary' is not how I'd describe The Silmarillion. It's actually an injustice to refer to it in such a manner. Descriptive in parts, yes. Slightly archaic in its prose at times, yes. Does it read like The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid and certain Norse sagas such as the Völsunga Saga? Most certainly. Is that a bad thing? That's debatable. But a mere dictionary it is not. It's a retelling of the history of Arda from its creation to the final fall of Sauron via a grand narrative.

"Historical documentation", then.

It's definitely not written as a typical storyline narrative, like a Bible, for more like a recording of events.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing.

[Bregor]

Thats because he never really got around to writing the Silmarillion. He had been working on many of the stories since before the time of the Hobbit, but he never actually got around to actually putting it into a finished form.. The published version is what Christopher Tolkien has been able to produce based upon the little he did write and his notes.

[C4Lukins]

They cut Shelob from The Two Towers and still managed to make rotk a 3+ hour film. It'll be fine. Or I'll cry.

I am hoping it works out.

[Genesis Knight]

Here he is in the official trading card game:

So...what's the story on this? I've seen the photo before...why did they have Radagast costumed up for the LOTR trilogy? A deleted scene?

[DieH@rd]

So...what's the story on this? I've seen the photo before...why did they have Radagast costumed up for the LOTR trilogy? A deleted scene?

They had tests even for Tom Bombardil. Look that TCG card up.

[xenist]

'Dictionary' is not how I'd describe The Silmarillion. It's actually an injustice to refer to it in such a manner. Descriptive in parts, yes. Slightly archaic in its prose at times, yes. Does it read like The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid and certain Norse sagas such as the Völsunga Saga? Most certainly. Is that a bad thing? That's debatable. But a mere dictionary it is not. It's a retelling of the history of Arda from its creation to the final fall of Sauron via a grand narrative.

Silmarillion is my favorite thing that Tolkien has ever done. Not the best but my favorite. You have standard heroic stories like Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin. You have really, really messed up shit like Turin's story. You have medieval romances like Beren and Luthien. Not to mention that with the War Of Wrath Tolkien pretty much assured that no one coule ever top a battle in scale and insanity. The thought of being able to see the armies of Morgoth fight against the full hosts of the Valar is one of the few things that keep me going through life. A film maker could make a fine career out of making stories from Sil.

[Edmond Dantès]

"Historical documentation", then. It's definitely not written as a typical storyline narrative, like a Bible, for more like a recording of events. I'm not saying this is a bad thing.

That's certainly a more fitting way to put it. The Bible comparisons are an inevitability considering the scope of the narrative and the inspirations of Tolkien.

Thats because he never really got around to writing the Silmarillion. He had been working on many of the stories since before the time of the Hobbit, but he never actually got around to actually putting it into a finished form.. The published version is what Christopher Tolkien has been able to produce based upon the little he did write and his notes.

Technically, he did finish The Silmarillion to a publishable level. In fact he was very keen to have The Silmarillion published alongside The Lord of the Rings. It was his intention to have the two books as companion pieces. The publishers thought differently though much to Tolkien's annoyance. But he couldn't delay the publication of The Lord of the Rings any further. He carried on trying to have The Silmarillion published in his lifetime, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Also, The Lost Tales, which form much of the foundations of The Silmarillion are very much developed in terms of actual storytelling. The Fall of Gondolin for example is quite a fleshed out narrative, certainly in comparison to its retelling in the The Silmarillion as are the other well known tales; The Tale of Tinúviel and the Narn i Chîn Húrin. The most dramatic difference is the detail found in The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor. The segments in The Silmarillion pertaining to this part of Arda's history are scant at best.

The Silmarillion in general seems bare boned in comparison to The Lost Tales, but the stories of the Eldar days are pretty much complete when taken as a whole and there was much for Christopher Tolkien to work from.

So...what's the story on this? I've seen the photo before...why did they have Radagast costumed up for the LOTR trilogy? A deleted scene?

That's from the Lord of the Rings reflections trading card game. Merchandise to go along with the films at the time of their respective releases. There's also a Glorfindel one as well the Tom Bombadil card mentioned by DieH@rd above.

Silmarillion is my favorite thing that Tolkien has ever done. Not the best but my favorite. You have standard heroic stories like Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin. You have really, really messed up shit like Turin's story. You have medieval romances like Beren and Luthien. Not to mention that with the War Of Wrath Tolkien pretty much assured that no one coule ever top a battle in scale and insanity. The thought of being able to see the armies of Morgoth fight against the full hosts of the Valar is one of the few things that keep me going through life. A film maker could make a fine career out of making stories from Sil.

A kindred spirit indeed. :)

[Edmond Dantès]

Slightly larger versions of the images posted by Loxley.



http://i.minus.com/ibammzhCAAf1kr.jpg
http://i.minus.com/ibqU8veBThj8TW.jpg
http://i.minus.com/iXQXzwQUGvGuH.jpg
http://i.minus.com/itCD7eOV3XZbb.jpg
http://i.minus.com/ijE6J8cjepcfL.jpg

[Unorthodox]

Wow, thanks! These movies are gonna look amazing.. shot in 4K, new 3D cameras... can't wait!

[maquiladora]

Gollum looks amazing.

[Genesis Knight]

That's from the Lord of the Rings reflections trading card game. Merchandise to go along with the films at the time of their respective releases. There's also a Glorfindel one as well the Tom Bombadil card mentioned by DieH@rd above.

Right, right...but it was like costume tests or proof-of-concept stuff or early script material? That's what I'm wondering.

[Edmond Dantès]

Right, right...but it was like costume tests or proof-of-concept stuff or early script material? That's what I'm wondering.

Just promotional material. Nothing to do with the trilogy itself.

Maybe there was a point early on in development when the likes of Tom, Radagast and Glorfindel were considered, but these characters didn't make it to pre-production. Proof-of-concept images by John Howe and Alan Lee may exist, but have never been released to the general public.

[Number45]

'Dictionary' is not how I'd describe The Silmarillion. It's actually an injustice to refer to it in such a manner. Descriptive in parts, yes. Slightly archaic in its prose at times, yes. Does it read like The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid and certain Norse sagas such as the Völsunga Saga? Most certainly. Is that a bad thing? That's debatable. But a mere dictionary it is not. It's a retelling of the history of Arda from its creation to the final fall of Sauron via a grand narrative.

Silmarillion is my favorite thing that Tolkien has ever done. Not the best but my favorite. You have standard heroic stories like Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin. You have really, really messed up shit like Turin's story. You have medieval romances like Beren and Luthien. Not to mention that with the War Of Wrath Tolkien pretty much assured that no one coule ever top a battle in scale and insanity. The thought of being able to see the armies of Morgoth fight against the full hosts of the Valar is one of the few things that keep me going through life. A film maker could make a fine career out of making stories from Sil.

Feels like I'm reading Lord of the Rings: Genesis. :p

[Wiggum2007]

I don't like gollum's eyes. Too big! Always have been