I disagree - the whole set of Donald Swann settings have wonderfully captured the spirit of Tolkien and English folk music.
Yes, the Road that Goes Ever On, does work. Few others do.
To be fair, he was going to clone himself 200 times and have a mystical Kung Fu battle against Sauron in Mordor, but it’s kinda hard to do that against this big flaming eye thing on a tower.
There is a huge difference between inserting new materiel which blatantly contradicts Tolkien’s text, which is what the LOTR films did, and inserting new material which speculates on what Tolkien left vague. So even though I’m a fanatical purist who vomits at the sight of Elves at Helm’s Deep, I have no problem with seeing Radagast in the Hobbit films. At least I have no problem with in principle… I’m sure Peter will find some way to ruin it.
It was a great line, I don’t remember it in entirety.
“Elves and men once fought together. That time has come again.”
Why did he do that?
Seems like you were filming Hamlet, “Gee, it would be really cool if Hamlet lived, married Opelia and lived happily ever after!”
The Elves at Helm’s Deep was pretty disconcerting but this and most of the other story changes were necessary in order to make a set of epic films. There just isn’t a lot of romance in the original tales and you don’t get to make expensive flicks anymore without being able to explain to the studio how you are going to put chicks in the seats. Jackson’s idea was to have Arwen come south and fight at Helm’s Deep. When he dropped that idea the scenes had already been filmed. He could eliminate her but not all of the other elves. It’s unfortunate but luckily all of the elves seem to die in the siege (not lucky for them) and the change doesn’t infect the rest of the film.
As has been alluded to, Jackson was never going to make a movie/movies based just on the Hobbit. The Quest of Erebor (Some Dwarves with a Hobbit and occasionally a Wizard go to reclaim their homeland) is only half of the story. The more important story for the history of Middle Earth is the Siege of Dol Guldur (Sauron being exposed and driven from his fortress in Southern Mirkwood by the Wizards and the High Elves along with some miscellaneous heros - Legolas, the elf maid Jackson invented, Beorn - the most kickass character in Middle Earth) It’s an open question how they will balance the light hearted approach of the Hobbit story with the hardcore tone of the LotR movies you expect on the fighting the dark lord side. But that has nothing to do with dividing the story into three movies instead of 2. ISTM that the difference is going to be of depth and pacing. The feature length LotR movies work better as movies. They are fast paced without losing any essential plot points. But personally I vastly prefer the extra storytelling of the extended versions.
So for me, I was excited by the news of a third movie. YMMV. The longer the better. I would watch a three hour version of just the Battle of Five Armies. I can’t wait to experience the thrill of the explosive impact of Beorn’s arrival. Now that is some druid tanking! It should be called the Battle of Six Armies.
You should seek help from your Clergyman or Physician.
I always saw that in my imagination something like the Tasmanian Devil’s entrance into any given WB short…
I think fewer people would enjoy watching the purists’ version of the movies they want, than saw and enjoyed PJ’s versions. Say what you like, but those compromises made for more accessible films.
“We interrupt this 3 hour movie with a 4 hour Quenya lesson. Please refer to your coursebooks included in your seats or DVDs to compare and contrast with Sindarin.”
I’m looking forward to seeing Radagast and Ace battle Kandy Man and the Happiness Patrol.
How did Aragorn being a jerk and decapitating the messenger make them more accessible?
How did Gandalf being an idiot and thinking that defending themselves in Helms deep was a bad idea make them more accessible?
How did Treebeard being an ignoramus and not knowing anything about his forest make them more accessible?
More Liv Tyler I can sort of live with, as an element that producers (perhaps truthfully) think is a necessary element of succesful movies. But a lot of the changes didn’t have anything to with such mass appeal, they were just dumb failures to understand the world.
I don’t remember that.
Aragorn falling off the cliff seemed rather dumb, and Legolas climbing around elephants was silly. But they are good movies. I guess I could be just as angry with a Ring der Niebelungen film if they changed things up.
You know, if we get Peter Jackson to film Anna Russell’s version of the Ring Cycle, all will be forgiven…
Now I’m feeling a little sad that this won’t actually happen. 
Yes, all purists have to make compromises with the demands of blockbuster marketability, but we don’t have to be totally stoical about the pain it can cause. (The two things that really nagged at me were the dwarf toss and the smooching and clapping at Aragorn’s coronation.)
I was going to try to get through the whole thread, but when it devolved into a list of what people hated about the LOTR movies I gave up.
Getting back to the Hobbit, I suspect I’d love the guy playing Bilbo & there can never be too much of McKellan’s Gandalf the Grey. However, I’m a Tolkien fan & I just can’t get excited over this bloated version of the Hobbit that Jackson is putting out. Wish he’d stuck with the simple story in the book.
I’m kinda bummed & agree it comes off looking and sounding in the previews like elaborate fanfic. Prefer my Tolkien straight. That’s why Fellowship is my fave of the 3 LOTR movies (which I managed to enjoy despite all their problems). FOTR had fewest egregious changes to source material, and was most successful, as a film and as an adaptation.
I plan on fretting, second guessing and generally enduring a long period of foreboding as I see the simple story stretched like taffy.
Then I plan on going to see it.
I watched the new trailer last night. I can watch 10 hours of this movie if they do it.
That freak was just a mouth with some very gnarly teeth. It was a moment of triumph for Aragorn to not take his shit and strike back directly at a servant of the dark lord. Kind of a putting him in his place moment to rally the troops
It made for tension. Helms Deep was a fortress, but there was no way out. Barricading yourself in a castle at the corner end of a valley with a 100000 strong siege outside is suicidal. It created tension and anticipation for the eventual arrival of Gandalf
It made Treebeard seem more aloof and lonely. It lets you sympathize with these Ents who are likely the last of their kind, holed up in their little forest awaiting the day when the Orcs and Saruman sweep them from the earth. It also shows Pippin and Merry being useful and builds them up a bit instead of being almost useless background characters that don’t really do anything