MGM has "The Hobbit" license..planning major movie(s)!

[DissidentRage]

Maybe if the LOTR movies weren't popular, people wouldn't bitch about them or their director.

[Delicieuxz]

Would make sense, that is to say that if nobody cares about something then people probably won't be giving that something attention.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by Roger

Maybe if the LOTR movies weren't popular, people wouldn't bitch about them or their director.

Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Captain Obvious!

[DissidentRage]

Open mouth, insert foot MM. Hating something based entirely on its popularity as opposed to its actual merits is a foolish approach.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by Roger

Open mouth, insert foot MM. Hating something based entirely on its popularity as opposed to its actual merits is a foolish approach.

And exactly when did I dispute that? "Insert foot" indeed.

But your point, that something popular will have more detractors, is so blindingly obvious that it's hardly worth mentioning.

[DissidentRage]

Do you purposefully post with an attitude if implied disagreement and/or contort the logic behind your postings only for the sake of disagreeing with me and trying to start an argument? If so, I'm sorry to disappoint.

Ignore.

[John]

I don't hate the LOTR movies because they are popular. I hate them because they suck. It's quite simple actually.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by Roger

Do you purposefully post with an attitude if implied disagreement and/or contort the logic behind your postings only for the sake of disagreeing with me and trying to start an argument?

No.

Originally Posted by Roger

If so, I'm sorry to disappoint.

O.K.

[Paroxysm]

Originally Posted by Roger

Do you purposefully post with an attitude if implied disagreement and/or contort the logic behind your postings only for the sake of disagreeing with me and trying to start an argument? If so, I'm sorry to disappoint.

Ignore.

All he did was point out that you made an inanely obvious observation.

[Daveman]

Originally Posted by John

I don't hate the LOTR movies because they are popular. I hate them because they suck. It's quite simple actually.

What do you base this on? Aside from being a huge LOTR nerd, I'm quite the film nerd. The LOTR Trilogy is quite the piece of cinematic work. It's got its share of flaws, sure, but it's definitely deserving of the recognition and credit it gets from critics and film academies.

[FullMetalJacket]

Originally Posted by Daveman

What do you base this on? Aside from being a huge LOTR nerd, I'm quite the film nerd. The LOTR Trilogy is quite the piece of cinematic work. It's got its share of flaws, sure, but it's definitely deserving of the recognition and credit it gets from critics and film academies.

Absolutely. They're beautifully photographed, well-acted, well-written, well-directed films. It's no challenge at all to accept the truths that PJ is presenting to you.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by Daveman

What do you base this on? Aside from being a huge LOTR nerd, I'm quite the film nerd. The LOTR Trilogy is quite the piece of cinematic work. It's got its share of flaws, sure, but it's definitely deserving of the recognition and credit it gets from critics and film academies.

I don't necessarily disagree, but there is an undeniable tendancy among some to overrate the films.

[FullMetalJacket]

You want to see an overrated movie, watch The Deer Hunter.

[kylemf88]

If you don't like these movies you simply don't like the type of film. If you aren't willing to watch a dark fairy tail you wont like it. If you go into knowing what it is you will love it. They are fantastic films and fantastic books. If you can't enjoy them you really don't know what a good movie is... these are as good as people seem to think star wars still is...(its not and I mean 4-6 also)

But I really don't think the hobit will be a good film. I enjoyed the book but it wasn't dark enough and had to many talking animals to make into a good film.

[DOSGuy]

Narnia has lots of talking animals. The Hobbit is more action, less atmosphere/backstory. It gets to the point. As much stuff happens, but in way less pages. I think it's well suited for a movie.

[kylemf88]

But Narnia was a family movie. (Which I didn't like) So this reallly wont have the same girtty feel...

[DOSGuy]

Yes, it would be a bit more family oriented. One of the major themes of the LOTR is the futility of war, played out in the rift between Rohan and Gondor. The final battle in the Hobbit makes that point, too, by showing the foolishness of the feud between the dwarves, elves and men, but for most of the story it's just pure adventure. I think that Bilbo eluding orcs in the mountains, battling wits with creepy Gollum, fighting giant spiders, eluding elves, going face to face with a huge dragon, the death of Smaug, and the dramatic final battle, combined with spectacular special effects of course, should be impressive enough to keep adults interested, but might well be appropriate for younger children than LOTR. Would that be such a bad thing?

[kylemf88]

It could be if its not done right... I always hated how Smaug died... not going to say anything but It felt very random.

[ZuljinRaynor]

Pssht... Bard better school Smaug the same way.

[kylemf88]

I had no attachment to the character and thought he was just another random name mentioned like the many characters. But out of no where he becomes a hero.

[Mountain Man]

The Hobbit is definitely more in the vein of fairy tales than the more grounded fantasy of The Lord of the Rings (is "grounded fantasy" an oxymoron?), but it's a fun story anyway.

On the plus side, the simplier story will be more easily translatable to film meaning that whoever makes this won't be forced to the make the kind of (not always successful) compromises that Peter Jackson introduced into The Lord of the Rings (I like to joke that the true title of the film series is "Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, based in part on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings". ). However, for the sake of completeness, I hope Jackson does direct it just so we can have stylistic continuity, and he's already proven himself with the earlier films so it's a pretty safe bet that he'd do a good job with this one.

[DOSGuy]

Yes, I'd like them to go together as a four movie set. Same director, same locale, same Gandalf, same everything. Not sure if Bilbo could be the same, though. Obviously same Gollum.

[Kalki]

Originally Posted by kylemf88

I had no attachment to the character and thought he was just another random name mentioned like the many characters. But out of no where he becomes a hero.

Isn't that the point of the book? To find the spirit of adventure and heroic nobility where you least expect it. Bard with his lineage, represented the greatness still present in his people.

[DOSGuy]

Also excellent foreshadowing for the greatness that man was about to reveal when Rohan and Gondor merged forces against Mordor and finally became a great race, and Strider's transformation into Aragorn, the heroic king.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by DOSGuy

...and Strider's transformation into Aragorn, the heroic king.

That was one of the changes in characterization that I really didn't care for. In the books, Strider was mysterious but confident, not openly reluctant. He was waiting to claim the kingship not because he didn't want it but because he knew the people weren't ready to accept him as king. I thought Jackson turning him into a teary-eyed reluctant hero took a lot of the strength away from his character.

[Phait]

Jackson is out
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061121/...ure_jackson_dc

[Kalki]

Stupid unresolved lawsuit.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by Phait

Jackson is out
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061121/...ure_jackson_dc

That has to be one of the dumbest decisions Newline could have made. "Hey, let's not hire the proven director who made us billions of dollars with our previous three films!"

I wonder if Ian McKellen is still be interested in playing Gandalf in light of this development?

[avatar_58]

Boy, I wonder how crappy the art/costume direction will be without WETA workshop? Gollum just won't be the same.

[wayskobfssae]

I think the Battle of Five Armies alone is reason enough to see a Hobbit film.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by wayskobfssae

I think the Battle of Five Armies alone is reason enough to see a Hobbit film.

Unfortunately, without Jackson's focus on the narrative (and despite my criticisms, I do appreciate the job he did in LOTR) I fear that all we're going to see is some poor schlub's attempt to "one up" the Battle of Pelonir Fields from the climax of The Return of the King without giving it any solid root in the story or characters. Think of X-Men 3 without Brian Singer at the helm which was entertaining enough in its own way but didn't have the spark and energy of the previous films.

[wayskobfssae]

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

Unfortunately, without Jackson's focus on the narrative (and despite my criticisms, I do appreciate the job he did in LOTR) I fear that all we're going to see is some poor schlub's attempt to "one up" the Battle of Pelonir Fields from the climax of The Return of the King without giving it any solid root in the story or characters. Think of X-Men 3 without Brian Singer at the helm which was entertaining enough in its own way but didn't have the spark and energy of the previous films.

Maybe so, thought we could get lucky. I'd even be happy with a lower budget film as long as it's in the hands of someone who actually cares about LOTR. IMO there's enough that happens in the Hobbit that we haven't ever seen on film before that will allow it to stand out on its own without trying to out-do what the other films have already done. If not that battle, the epic scene in the Hobbit will have to go to Smaug vs. Lake Town.

Honestly, as far as army battles go, I really wasn't too impressed by Pelonir Fields. I thought Helm's Keep was 10x better. The only thing Pelonir Fields added that Helm's Keep didn't have were over-the-top cartoon moments like Legolas taking down a war elephant and then sliding down the trunk of the thing Fred Flintstone-style (can't remember if it was in the book or not, and if it was.. was it presented THAT comically?). The action of the fight itself though was lacking somewhere.

[Mountain Man]

The humor in the books was very understated. They were pretty melancholy for the most part.

[ZuljinRaynor]

The Hobbit has to be in the same art style as LOTR movies or else it will feel out of place really... kinda like the Hobbit cartoon and the LOTR and ROTK cartoons. All too different.

[Daveman]

Yeah, it would really be awesome to have all four movies be consistent in style and direction, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

[Mountain Man]

Even worse is if Jackson's replacement tries to mimic Jackson. Of course, since The Hobbit will almost certainly be a studio project, I imagine the suits will demand exactly that, with predictable results.

[Daveman]

At this point I just hope it never gets made.

Of course with all the money they could make with this being associated with LOTR, it'll be made for sure.

[wayskobfssae]

Considering how poorly Hollywood does things these days, I guess we should consider ourselves EXTREMELY lucky that we even got 3 films made by the same team.

[Llama Gibbz]

TEH EVIL HOBBIT DEAD!!!11!!!!1

clicky clicky

[Mountain Man]

Hmmm...Sam Raimi just might be able to pull it off, assuming there's any truth to the rumor.