The stills look good, the website even better. Thanks for the link!
Ditto! I'm liking the website!
Oin and Gloin are my wallpaper. This will probably change if they release a photo of Thorin.
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Based off just this still I am liking Bombur and Oin the most, but I really like that Gloin is brandishing (what will someday become his son) Gimli's heirloom axe !
Also, some old school credit where old school credit is due.
So, the images of Peter Jackson's dwarves are generating a lot of criticism on the internet these days. I hope this newly released image of the dwarves in the midst of the Unexpected Party helps to put controversy to rest.
[copied from other thread]
I love most of the designs except for the spiky anime hair on Nori, Balin's hair and beard (looks like a Troll doll) and Kili is just silly. Who knew most of them would wield swords and not axes!
There's another thread I could cross post to? And you didn't link it for me?
Is it just me, or does Thorin look like a Klingon, minus the turtle on his head?
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I can live with this. Bofur's probably my favorite. He looks like a madman, which I rather like. Fili and Kili could pass for tall, bearded hobbits, but I guess they had to beefcake at least a couple of the dwarves so the ladies would have somebody to swoon over. I'd've liked to seen a longer beard on Thorin. A dwarf king needs an impressive beard.
Overall, I like them and see nice things for my game table if Games Workshop retains the rights to produce minis based on these movies like they did with LOTR. Whether you like the costuming or not, sometimes a player wants to play a dwarf whose mini doesn't look like every other dwarf mini on the table. A mini of Ori would make a great cleric, rogue or wizard-type dwarf.
I wonder if they'll keep Beorn in the movie version? Like Tom Bombadil, I think he's a character they could easily write out.
I wonder if they'll keep Beorn in the movie version? Like Tom Bombadil, I think he's a character they could easily write out.
Oh, I don't know. Tom Bombadil just took care of that magical willow and those barrow wights, which were completely irrelevant to the story (kind of like random encounters.) Beorn, on the other hand, took care of the goblins which were pursuing the dwarves, which were relevant. Also, seeing Gandalf's diplomatic handling of Beorn by sending the party in a few at a time may shed some light on why the dwarves went to Bag End a few at a time.
Of course, writing out Beorn is not out of the question. I'm just saying that I wouldn't rate Beorn down there with Tom Bombadil.
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There's another thread I could cross post to? And you didn't link it for me?[copied from other thread]
I love most of the designs except for the spiky anime hair on Nori, Balin's hair and beard (looks like a Troll doll) and Kili is just silly. Who knew most of them would wield swords and not axes!
I am not encouraging your spam. ;)
See my post above ... writing Beorn out of the movies kinda IS out of the question, since he has been cast and is in the script :)
Sorry, I didn't mean to disregard your post. I did, in fact, see your post. I just meant that writing Beorn out WOULD NOT BE out of the question, even in theory. (In fact, Beorn didn't appear in the animated movie.)
Of course, writing out Beorn is not out of the question.See my post above ... writing Beorn out of the movies kinda IS out of the question, since he has been cast and is in the script :)
A lot can happen before we get to release night!
The dwarves are looking really awesome! I have to laugh because they're so not what I pictured in my head the first time I read 'The Hobbit' but I think I like these guys better.
If I'd have to pick one, I think it'd probably be Gloin, because he reminds me of how I've always pictured my boyfriend's dwarf character in our Runelords game looks like :)
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I've always wondered if Beorn was meant to be in the animated movie since seeing this book. It was put out by Rankin-Bass to coincide with the movie and includes illustrations of Beorn speaking with Gandalf and Bilbo. Unfortunately, it's been many years since I owned a copy but I remember the pictures. They drew Beorn as a giant, shirtless mountain man with a shaggy beard.
I've always wondered if Beorn was meant to be in the animated movie since seeing this book. It was put out by Rankin-Bass to coincide with the movie and includes illustrations of Beorn speaking with Gandalf and Bilbo.
Interesting!
But of course, despite Doodlebug Anklebiter's implications that the Beorn scenes could get cut out, I'm sure that it won't happen, since there are TWO movies to fill up this time.
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I had that book when I was younger. I got it several years after the movie. If my memory is not too faulty, I remember the picture of Beorn was an added in just for the book. The artwork was totally different from the pictures taken from the movie. It also showed him by himself. Bilbo, Gandolf and the dwarves were not present.
I am not encouraging your spam. ;)There's another thread I could cross post to? And you didn't link it for me?[copied from other thread]
I love most of the designs except for the spiky anime hair on Nori, Balin's hair and beard (looks like a Troll doll) and Kili is just silly. Who knew most of them would wield swords and not axes!
You don't want me to share posts that are like delicious spiced ham? Does our past Jackelian Fraternity mean nothing to you? Sometimes, CJ, after your long messageboard sabbatical, it's like I don't even know you any more. What's next? No booze?
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Here they all are!
this is absolutely awesome... [random] during the LOTR movies the economy was doing good... i think when this movie comes out, it will lift up the currently crappy economy back on its feet! [/random]
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... I'm just saying that I wouldn't rate Beorn down there with Tom Bombadil.
?
A bit harsh considering even Gandalf called Tom Bombadil "Master," he was nameed by the Elves Iarwain Ben-adar (Oldest and Fatherless), that The One Ring held NO power over Tom Bombadil, and had The Dark Lord been victorious in Middle Earth, Tom Bombadil would be the very last to be overcome.
I'm sorry, baron arem heshvaun. I tried to keep an open mind. Honestly, I did. But I'm afraid that essay to which you linked only cemented all the more my opinion of Tom Bombadil being an extraneous element in the book. Right away, the essay thoroughly convinced me of this.
Many readers of the Lord of the Rings consider Tom's presence in the first book to be an unnecessary intrusion into the narrative, which could be omitted without loss. Tolkien was aware of their feelings, and in part their judgment was correct. As Tolkien wrote in a letter in 1954, ". . . many have found him an odd and indeed discordant ingredient. In historical fact I put him in because I had already invented him. . . and wanted an 'adventure' on the way. But I kept him in, and as he was, because he represents certain things otherwise left out" (Ibid., p. 192). Judging by these remarks, critical readers are correct about the arbitrariness of Tom's introduction into the story; however, as Tolkien continues, he deliberately (nonarbitrary) kept Tom in to fulfill a particular role, to provide an additional dimension.
In a letter written to the original proofreader of the trilogy in 1954, Tolkien reveals a little about what Tom's literary role or function might be. Early in the letter he writes that "even in a mythological Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)" (Ibid., p. 174). Later he adds that "Tom is not an important person - to the narrative. I suppose he has some importance as a 'comment'." He then goes on to explain that each side in the War of the Ring is struggling for power and control. Tom in contrast, though very powerful, has renounced power in a kind of "vow of poverty," "a natural pacifist view." In this sense, Tolkien says, Tom's presence reveals that there are people and things in the world for whom the war is largely irrelevant or at least unimportant, and who cannot be easily disturbed or interfered with in terms of it (Ibid., pp. 178-79).
After that, the essay interprets various passages to extrapolate Bombadil's role in Middle-Earth. He's there to show that there are things above and beyond the sweeping changes going on because of the war. As I quoted above, Tom provided an "additional dimension." That is, Tom provided an additional dimension to Middle-Earth. Well, that's great. But the book in question isn't titled "The Ecology of Middle-Earth." It's titled "The Lord of the Rings." The essay only seems, to my mind, to emphasize all the more Bombadil's disregard for the war, and for that reason, his irrelevance to it.
I'm not saying that the passages of LotR with Tom Bombadil are BAD, by any means. I just think - as I said yesterday and now more feel more strongly than ever - that Tom is analogous to a random encounter in an RPG. Tolkien only, in his own words, "wanted an 'adventure' on the way."
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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The dwarves look great in action - I wasn't too sure just looking at the stills, but in character I think it all works.
Andy Serkis as second unit director? F'reals? That is awesome.
But really, it comes down to two and a half words:
CHRISTOPHER M-F-ING LEE!!!
Ummm... winning! Rhymes with winning! Yeah.
My opinion, expressed below, comes from the perspective of being a purist when it comes to presenting books as movies or TV shows. I discovered that this is especially true in regard to what I see as the greatest works of fantasy ever presented. Fortunately The Hobbit and previously LotR were not done by the Pan's Labrynth guy (horrible movie) or the Raimi boob that f@#%ed up the Sword of Truth series with Legend of the Seeker.
I can see by the Peter Jackson additions to the cast, that once again, no matter how well he is able to bring Middle-Earth to life, there are going to be elements that are going to piss me off. It happened with LotR, so I'm not all that surprised - the contest of wills between Gandalf and Saruman in the movie for one. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. Gandalf told Theoden King to stand up from his throne for it had been too long since he had walked among his own people...and he did...and it was as though Theoden through off the pall of Saruman...WITHOUT THE NONSENSE OF THAT SCENE IN THE MOVIE. ALL OF THE RIDERS OF ROHAN WERE AT HELM'S DEEP for the battle. When Theoden decided to make a charge out of the keep, the orcs starting freaking out because TREES appeared and all you could here were orcs screaming, presumably dying. There wasn't a huge calvary charge down into Helm's Deep lead by Eomer and Gandalf. There are more. It was those creative license bits that Jackson made that ticked me off. Sadly, he's doing it again.
As far as the cast goes, Fili and Kili look like elves, not dwarves. Also, I really don't like that Richard Armitage was cast for the role of Thorin. He was mediocre at best as Guy of Guisborne. And yes, the stunning physical similarity between how they have him done up as Thorin and the klingon Gowron is just bad.
I'll still go see the movie and watch Jackson butcher and throw in his own tweaks to my much beloved and favorite childhood novel.
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Please let the dwarves be badass in action please let the dwarves be badass in action please let the dwarves be badass in action please let the dwarves be badass in action please let the dwarves be badass in action please let the dwarves be badass in action
I love John Rhys-Davies, but Gimli did fall short in terms of dwarf action.
Excuse me could someone explain to me what Hugh Jackman is doing dressed as a dwarf?
...Gimli did fall short in terms of dwarf action.
How so? I thought Gimli was pretty badass.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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My opinion, expressed below, comes from the perspective of being a purist when it comes to presenting books as movies or TV shows. I discovered that this is especially true in regard to what I see as the greatest works of fantasy ever presented. Fortunately The Hobbit and previously LotR were not done by the Pan's Labrynth guy (horrible movie) or the Raimi boob that f@#%ed up the Sword of Truth series with Legend of the Seeker.
I can see by the Peter Jackson additions to the cast, that once again, no matter how well he is able to bring Middle-Earth to life, there are going to be elements that are going to piss me off.
It always surprises me when "purists" get upset about changes to the books that AREN'T changes. They really ARE in there.
It happened with LotR, so I'm not all that surprised - the contest of wills between Gandalf and Saruman in the movie for one. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. Gandalf told Theoden King to stand up from his throne for it had been too long since he had walked among his own people...and he did...and it was as though Theoden through off the pall of Saruman...WITHOUT THE NONSENSE OF THAT SCENE IN THE MOVIE. ALL OF THE RIDERS OF ROHAN WERE AT HELM'S DEEP for the battle.
Despite your capital letters, no, they weren't. That's why Gandalf left: To round up the surviving men of the Westfold, the followers of Erkenbrand who had been routed at the Fords of Isen.
When Theoden decided to make a charge out of the keep, the orcs starting freaking out because TREES appeared and all you could here were orcs screaming, presumably dying.
You have the timeline reversed. Theoden and the surviving Rohirrim inside the Hornburg (and those who retreated to the Glittering Caves of Aglarond, including Eomer and Gimli) made their charge first. The battle line of the orcs and Dunlendings was broken, but they still vastly outnumbered the riders.
As dawn rose around them, however, then both armies noticed the Huorns had appeared overnight in the mouth of the Deeping Coombe. That is when Gandalf, Erkenbrand, and the remaining Rohirrim make their surprise appearance (see below). The orcs panicked and fled into the woods and most of the Dunlendings surrendered.
The orcs didn't notice the trees until after the charge of Theoden; they were not pre-routed for his convenience.
There wasn't a huge calvary charge down into Helm's Deep lead by Eomer and Gandalf.
You're only slightly correct.
There was a huge charge by a thousand Rohirrim led by Erkenbrand and Gandalf. It's not 100% clear in the book whether Erkenbrand's soldiers are mounted or not.
Erkenbrand as a character was eliminated in filming and his role in this event transferred to Eomer, just as Glorfindel's ride out to meet the hobbits and Strider was replaced with Arwen.
Erkenbrand and Glorfindel are characters that have significance within the world of Middle Earth, but within the narrative context of the story of Frodo & Co. are one-scene wonders. They appear, play their role, and then disappear again. In a book, that works fine, because your cast of characters is unlimited; in a play or movie, it's not.
There are more. It was those creative license bits that Jackson made that ticked me off. Sadly, he's doing it again.
Most of the examples you gave were not Jackson's invention at all, save rolling Eomer and Erkenbrand together; the charge of Eomer/Erkenbrand and Gandalf *DID* happen in the book. I didn't have time to go back and read up on the confrontation in Theoden's hall, so at the moment I make no comment on that claim.
I re-read LotR a few months ago, for the first time in quite a while, and besides enjoying them quite a bit I will admit to a bit of surprise that some bits and scenes I had thought were inventions for the movie were actually in there, word for word (the only ones that come to mind at the moment are some Denethor scenes, and the fact that Isengard *did* employ warg/wolf riders and send them out as raiders, which I pooh-poohed as an invention of the filmmakers when I first saw Two Towers but is actually right there in the book).
Are the movies literal shot-for-shot translations of the books? Obviously not, from Black Riders that actually talk to hobbits to the Old Forest to Farmer Maggot to the Scouring of the Shire, things were skipped over. However, if you go back and re-read them you may find a fair number of things you are fussing about have been there all along.
I mean, if you want to make sure your credentials as a purist are in good standing, don't you owe it to yourself to make sure that you're not getting mad at something that's "pure" Tolkien?
As far as the cast goes, Fili and Kili look like elves, not dwarves. Also, I really don't like that Richard Armitage was cast for the role of Thorin. He was mediocre at best as Guy of Guisborne. And yes, the stunning physical similarity between how they have him done up as Thorin and the klingon Gowron is just bad.
I'll still go see the movie and watch Jackson butcher and throw in his own tweaks to my much beloved and favorite childhood novel.
You are, of course, free to like or dislike the movies as much as you like, but rather than go see Jackson butcher and tweak, why not go see Jackson bring to life and honor both the spirit and the literal word of the books? Seems silly to go watch something you think is butchery, but maybe that's just me.
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I know some folks were upset that he was made into comic relief while Legolas was super powerful like in the Mumakil scene....Gimli did fall short in terms of dwarf action.How so? I thought Gimli was pretty badass.
I was more upset in ROTK EE when Legolas out drank Gimli.
It will be a cold day in hell when an elf can out drink a dwarf at my game table.
If there was one area where P.J. made a mistake changing the story, it was the character of Faramir and his taking Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath. I've heard his reasoning for it, and have to disagree.
Beyond making Faramir nothing more than a younger Boromir with a little more self control (which I take issue with, but I won't hash that out here), it messes with the continuity of the story. For starters, when the force at Osgiliath is attacked, Frodo reveals both himself and the Ring to one of the Nazgul. The Riders should have been hounding that poor hobbit all the way to the slopes of Mount Doom at that point. And it would have been a long trip, because Osgiliath is way out of Frodo's way.
Better to have it done smoothly the way it is in the books: Faramir lets them go; Faramir tells Aragorn he's seen two hobbits; Aragorn reveals himself and the reforged sword to Sauron through Saruman's palantir so that Sauron commits his forces to attacking Minas Tirith, thus making it easier for Frodo and Sam to succeed.
Whew... That said, I thought Peter Jackson did a brilliant job bringing Tolkien's Middle Earth to the screen and I'm eagerly awaiting the Hobbit movies.
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If there was one area where P.J. made a mistake changing the story, it was the character of Faramir and his taking Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath. I've heard his reasoning for it, and have to disagree.
Beyond making Faramir nothing more than a younger Boromir with a little more self control (which I take issue with, but I won't hash that out here), it messes with the continuity of the story. For starters, when the force at Osgiliath is attacked, Frodo reveals both himself and the Ring to one of the Nazgul. The Riders should have been hounding that poor hobbit all the way to the slopes of Mount Doom at that point. And it would have been a long trip, because Osgiliath is way out of Frodo's way.
Better to have it done smoothly the way it is in the books: Faramir lets them go; Faramir tells Aragorn he's seen two hobbits; Aragorn reveals himself and the reforged sword to Sauron through Saruman's palantir so that Sauron commits his forces to attacking Minas Tirith, thus making it easier for Frodo and Sam to succeed.
Whew... That said, I thought Peter Jackson did a brilliant job bringing Tolkien's Middle Earth to the screen and I'm eagerly awaiting the Hobbit movies.
Actually, Osgiliath is directly between Minas Tirith and Minas Mortal. Since he was going to the Stairs of Kirith Ungal, which were by the entrance to Minas Morgal, going to Osgiliath only added a few miles to Frodo's trip.
Actually, Osgiliath is directly between Minas Tirith and Minas Mortal. Since he was going to the Stairs of Kirith Ungal, which were by the entrance to Minas Morgal, going to Osgiliath only added a few miles to Frodo's trip.
Well, if you go by the scale on Christopher Tolkien's Map, which is about as "official" as I can get for purposes of distance, it's at least 50 miles from Minas Tirith to the Morgul Vale. Half that isn't exactly a short jaunt for one with a hobbit's stride.
Latest composite photo, from the man himself.
No matter how they're being perceived thank you for this link, its going immediately as a desktop background and i much appreciate the opportunity to do so!
I'm amazed I didn't recognise James Nesbit!
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More of the Dwarves. And something for Bond fans.
I am already a fan. I love the end of this video.
@ hopeless: That composite was released by Peter Jackson himself.
My friends at Comic Con said he and Steven Spielberg got a thurderous applause walking through the convetion ceter yesterday while they were promoting Tin Tin.
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Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown!!!