In a hole in the ground, there lived A HOBBIT etc

Fafhrd on 14/9/2006 at 05:13

Quote Posted by ilweran

Plenty of Tolkien fans can't stand the films and don't have a single nice thing to say about them- the scenery is wrong, costumes and music are no good etc.

There are people who think the MUSIC is bad? I can totally ignore the knobs who think the scenery is wrong and the costumes suck, but the music is absolutely beyond reproach. Other than the Original Star Wars Trilogy I can't think of another example of film where the melding of music and on-screen imagery is as perfect as it was in LotR.

Scots Taffer on 14/9/2006 at 05:26

I'm with you all the way until ROTK. That was one hammed up, manipulative score and my least listened to out of the trilogy, save for a few of the closing pieces.

aguywhoplaysthief on 14/9/2006 at 05:41

Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man

Representing those who liked the films just fine but who think the books are stupefyingly dull, poorly-written, and in general a waste of ink, paper, and the energy it took to produce them.

I agree. I liked the Hobbit when I was twelve, but when I picked up the LotR a couple years ago I got bored, and stopped reading at the "beloved" Tom Bombadildo's intro.

Quote Posted by ilweran

the scenery is wrong, costumes and music are no good etc.

Cranks. The scenery, costumes, and music were pretty much the best parts of the films.

SubJeff on 14/9/2006 at 07:58

I think the Hobbit will be well off the mark, just like the 3 LoTRs films are.

It's not that they aren't well made and don't have a lot going for them - they do. It's that, no matter what you think of the books (and for the record I think they are pretty poorly written), the films mess up so much of the character motivation it's silly.

And the story is aaaaaaall about character motivation. Bilbo will be cast as some incredibly greedy loot seeking coward or something.

ilweran on 14/9/2006 at 11:44

Quote Posted by Mingan

A few years ago, I was looking for more Tolkien in my local bookstore (which is most aweful, they got more new-age psycho-babble than real books). I quickly shuffled through the pages and found out that it's mostly the same thing as the Silmarillion, plus comments from Tolkien's son. So I ditched the whole thing. Wading through the Silmarillion was hard enough once.

I'm on my second reading of the 12 volume 'History of Middle Earth' books, which is mostly all slight variations of the same story over and over again with commentary by Christopher Tolkien.

I kept wanting it not to end. That's what drove me to read the appendices to the LotR, then the Silmarillion, then 'Unfinished Tales' and 'Letters', and so on. The Silmarillion being probably my favourite.

There is only one thing I'd really change about the films, and that's the whole Sauron as flaming eye thing. He wasn't, and if they'd bothered to read 'Letters' they'd know.

And I'm all for a film being made of 'The Hobbit'.

Paz on 14/9/2006 at 11:57

Quote Posted by Fafhrd

the music is absolutely beyond reproach.

It was rather good (and certainly suitable), but it still featured Enya.

~s:a:n:i:t:y~ on 14/9/2006 at 13:52

Quote Posted by Spitter

Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer

Gollum

Ironically that was the only good thing in the movie. :(

yes, yessss!

music is definitely the second

Martin Karne on 14/9/2006 at 18:28

Yay more 3 - 4 hours movies for me to sleep on!!!
:ebil:

DaBeast on 15/9/2006 at 00:01

I have a few very vague memories of an animated film of "The Hobbit" or at least I think that's what it was. I remember in the intro there was a song called "The great adventure" or something similar.

Anyway, from what very little I can remember it was pretty cool. But then I also thought the animated atrocity that was the Bakshi version was awesome until I watched it just before the Peter Jackson version came out.

God that was just awful. Makes the new one look fantastic. And for all it's bad bits, they could have done alot worse.

BEAR on 15/9/2006 at 00:07

Quote Posted by oudeis

I have to say first that I am amazed at the indifference I've read in this thread. How can anybody not be excited about "The Hobbit" coming to the big screen? Have you all completely forgotten how much fun you had reading it when you were younger?

I have to say first that I am amazed that anyone that could spend as much time writing that post could have managed to do so without having read a single post in the thread. Nobody is saying that they dont want to see a movie on the sole point that nobody cares about it, in fact its the total oppisite (for those who are anti the movie at least).

Quote Posted by Fafhrd

I dont know of anyone who thought the music was bad or poorly done, but once again it didnt fit the tone of the books (in some parts, I wasnt bothered by it other than the constant barrage of EPICNESS). Im more afraid of what they would do in the hobbit, most likely mountains of HEAPING EPIC scores when the book was a lighthearted tale with lots of sappy little songs that made it fun, which they will not be able to do because most people wont get it, surprise surprise and will be turned off by them.

I would LOVE nothing more than to see a good hobbit movie, but at this point Im basically a cynical bastard. I got excited about lotr only to be dissapointed, excited about game sequels like t: ds and tribes vengence, shit both. I dont want to assume everything that I liked that gets remade or made into movies or games or whatever is going to suck, but I cant say I've ever been pleasantly surprised either, maybe this time I will be and it would totally rock but I doubt it. As long as there are slathering fans that will love anything to do with somthing they know about and people who know nothing about the original material who will pay tons of money to see it, why bother with people who like the thing for what it was.

btw, the old hobbit cartoon kicked ass (the lotr movies were fucked up and gave me nightmares).