The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

[TripletDaddy]

Official trailer for next December :rockon1:

[YOUTUBE]T90Holdcrps[/YOUTUBE]

I have really high hopes for this movie and am so relieved that PJ took control before irreversible damage could be done. For as epic and wonderful as the LOTR trilogy has been, there is still a part of me that will permanently be scarred by the bulbous-headed cartoon Bilbo of my childhood. I am confident that this latest iteration will help salve some wounds.

Nerd roll call NOW!

[Soccermom]

Nerd roll call NOW!

Present!

[Commando]

Holla!!!

[pellegrino]

nerds and geeks, the lot of you.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

That entire Hobbit cartoon is on YouTube. I actually think parts of it are okay. The voice work is really good. John Huston as Gandalf was pretty cool.

[Commando]

That entire Hobbit cartoon is on YouTube. I actually think parts of it are okay. The voice work is really good. John Huston as Gandalf was pretty cool.

Ew. If I'm not mistaken it was rendered in the same creepymation as the Godmakers' animated segments...

[wuapinmon]

Present

[woot]

I'm totally onboard, but I'll admit that the very somber and serious mood of the LotR films showing up again in the Hobbit trailer takes some getting used to. I'm glad it's consistent, but there aren't a lot of popular movies that seem as deliberate and contemplative as these. In context, it totally works. But I can see why people make fun of them a lot.

[Green Lantern]

I have really high hopes for this movie and am so relieved that PJ took control before irreversible damage could be done. For as epic and wonderful as the LOTR trilogy has been, there is still a part of me that will permanently be scarred by the bulbous-headed cartoon Bilbo of my childhood. I am confident that this latest iteration will help salve some wounds.

Nerd roll call NOW!

Oh I'll be there, but is anyone else more than a little disappointed that Guillermo del Toro dropped out as director? I love Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I was also looking forward to seeing a different vision of Middle Earth in the Hobbit movies. I'm sure they'll still be good, but I'm afraid they will also feel a bit familiar.

[Commando]

Oh I'll be there, but is anyone else more than a little disappointed that Guillermo del Toro dropped out as director? I love Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I was also looking forward to seeing a different vision of Middle Earth in the Hobbit movies. I'm sure they'll still be good, but I'm afraid they will also feel a bit familiar.

I am a bit conflicted. I know I'm getting a good product w PJ and that he takes his art direction seriously, and also like that the Tolkein material will match aesthetically, but I was looking forward to the crazy insane visuals from GdT as well... Hellboy 2 and Pan's Labyrinth sold me on his competence as a master of fantasy cinema.

[TripletDaddy]

Oh I'll be there, but is anyone else more than a little disappointed that Guillermo del Toro dropped out as director? I love Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I was also looking forward to seeing a different vision of Middle Earth in the Hobbit movies. I'm sure they'll still be good, but I'm afraid they will also feel a bit familiar.

not only am I not "more than a little disappointed," I am extremely relieved. I'm not interested in Bill of the Bull's vision of Middle Earth. PJ's works, it is magical and it is critically acclaimed. Now there is continuity across the entire series.

[Green Lantern]

not only am I not "more than a little disappointed," I am extremely relieved. I'm not interested in Bill of the Bull's vision of Middle Earth. PJ's works, it is magical and it is critically acclaimed. Now there is continuity across the entire series.

That's a rather unadventurous perspective. It's easy to forget how off-the-wall the choice of Peter Jackson as director sounded when they began making the original trilogy. Part of the greatness of those movies was seeing this unique and unexpected vision up on the screen for the first time. Now he's made his statement and I'd rather see someone else's vision up there on screen. Unless Peter Jackson is dramatically rethinking his approach (and the trailer suggests he hasn't,) I already have a pretty good idea what his Hobbit is going to look like. Where's the fun in that? I'd like a little surprise.

Besides, Jackson was always going to be on board as the producer of the new films, so I think we could have had the best of both worlds with del Toro: a Middle Earth seen through the perspective of a different visionary director that still kept a strong continuity with the original films.

[wuapinmon]

I wonder how successful something with this kind of known-quantity reception might do if a studio gave the film to two different directors with the same cast and same budget, had them each make a film, and then see which one got better reception at the box office. Sort of like an Iron Director. I'd imagine it would make money.

[dabrockster]

:rockon2::rockon2::rockon2:

[TripletDaddy]

That's a rather unadventurous perspective. It's easy to forget how off-the-wall the choice of Peter Jackson as director sounded when they began making the original trilogy. Part of the greatness of those movies was seeing this unique and unexpected vision up on the screen for the first time. Now he's made his statement and I'd rather see someone else's vision up there on screen. Unless Peter Jackson is dramatically rethinking his approach (and the trailer suggests he hasn't,) I already have a pretty good idea what his Hobbit is going to look like. Where's the fun in that? I'd like a little surprise.

Besides, Jackson was always going to be on board as the producer of the new films, so I think we could have had the best of both worlds with del Toro: a Middle Earth seen through the perspective of a different visionary director that still kept a strong continuity with the original films.

His statement always included an attempt at the Hobbit. He wasn't finished after LOTR. But for financial squabbles between PJ and the studio, Bull would never have been given any sort of consideration because PJ was always the guy.

If someone else wants to re-interpret these on their own, be my guest. But this is still PJ's vehicle and I want to see him finish it. It is obvious that the studio does, as well and my guess is that the fans will not be turned away by the continuity between the LOTR series and the Hobbit. Why is it disappointing to see that Bag End looks the same in the Hobbit as it did in LOTR? It is the same house, it should look the same.

Another director can start clean and do it themselves, rather than jumping on at the very end with the Hobbit, gravy-training off the success of LOTR, which is largely what BDT or any other director would have been doing. If BDT really brings that much value to the table, he can raise dough and reboot LOTR in a couple of years. I doubt that would ever happen, though. Thank goodness.