# The Hobbit movie(s) anticipation thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969 "2010-10-22T02:44:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/481 "2012-12-07T20:25:54Z")
No - when Númenor sank, his body was destroyed, and could no longer re-embody a form “pleasing to the eye” but he could still make a body. Remember that Gollum specifically referred to the touch of his hand. edited to add: maybe you’re thinking of the movies with the “spotlight of doom” thing going? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/482 "2012-12-07T20:33:34Z")
Some minor spoilers, but someone has edited all the trailers and commercials and online clips into a single 7-minute preview. [I have to admit, it is amazing how much we’ve gotten glimpses of.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hy6O682OGI&feature=player_embedded) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/483 "2012-12-07T20:36:52Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’ve gone through most of this thread looking for a discussion of this point, so forgive me and just point me to it if it’s already here. > > The Necromancer is Sauron, right? And in this incarnation (i.e. in the 3rd age), Sauron is unable to assume solid (let alone pleasing) form, right? I mean, after he was mostly destroyed at the end of the 2nd age, he is a bodiless spirit of some kind. > > So why do they have a human (Sherlock Holmes, no less) to play this part? > > Has anyone seen photos of what he is going to look like? I’ve seen a couple of concept drawings, they just look like men with peculiar costumes. > > What am I missing? > Roddy Man - talk about spoliers galore! sheesh! now I don’t know if I want to see this movie or not… j/k ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/484 "2012-12-07T20:50:54Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Man - talk about spoliers galore! sheesh! now I don’t know if I want to see this movie or not… > > j/k Really? This is all standard Tolkien stuff, except for the casting. I didn’t think the identify of the Necromancer was a secret to anyone… Sorry. **Unpronounceable** - In LOTR, I believe, when Gandalf is talking to Frodo, maybe, I thought there was an exchange something like this, after Gandalf had told the story about how the great ring came to be lost: Frodo: So Sauron is dead? Gandalf: No, his physical body was destroyed, but his spirit remains and it is gaining power. I’m sure something like this happens somewhere in those movies. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/485 "2012-12-07T20:54:08Z")
I think you are confusing Smaug (dragon) voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch with Sauron. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/486 "2012-12-07T20:59:23Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Frodo: So Sauron is dead? > Gandalf: No, his physical body was destroyed, but his spirit remains and it is gaining power. > > I’m sure something like this happens somewhere in those movies. It did occur in the movies, and was a significant variation from the book. Purists such as myself gnashed our teeth upon hearing it. Per the book, Sauron was indeed embodied again by the time the events of The Hobbit took place. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/487 "2012-12-07T21:00:49Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Really? This is all standard Tolkien stuff, except for the casting. I didn’t think the identify of the Necromancer was a secret to anyone… Well… some people have never read any of the books, you know. Anything that wasn’t explicated on-screen in the first trilogy is a spoiler to them. ( **simster** was joking, though.) ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/488 "2012-12-07T21:32:15Z")
[This is why](http://i50.tinypic.com/10ncfmf.jpg) I’m looking forward to seeing The Hobbit. As long as [John Howe](http://alan-and-john.tumblr.com/tagged/John-Howe%27s-art) and [Alan Lee](http://alan-and-john.tumblr.com/tagged/Alan-Lee%27s-art) continue to be involved in the films, I’ll continue to watch. Yeah, I’m sure I’ll have gripes about any changes to the story but mostly I simply want to be immersed in Middle Earth for a few hours and long before Jackson came along these two were my favorite illustrators. I guess I’m a glass half full sort of person. Look at it this way. Jackson could have hired the [Brothers Hildebrandt](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Complete_Guide_to_Middle-earth_Hildebrandt.jpg) and then where would be? /shudder ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/489 "2012-12-07T21:35:28Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > I think you are confusing Smaug (dragon) voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch with Sauron. My mistake - apparently he’s also doing the necromancer through motion capture. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/490 "2012-12-07T21:51:23Z")
Do NOT be dissing the Hildebrandts! They basically were the look of Middle-Earth for decades. Even the Rankin-Bass style (which I am sentimentally partial to…) didn’t have as much of an influence. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/491 "2012-12-07T21:54:09Z")
Frank Frazetta Tolkien [drawings.](http://frankfrazetta.org/tolkien0001.php) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/492 "2012-12-07T22:12:39Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It did occur in the movies, and was a significant variation from the book. Purists such as myself gnashed our teeth upon hearing it. > > Per the book, Sauron was indeed embodied again by the time the events of The Hobbit took place. Thank you, that’s what I wanted to know. So what happened to Sauron between the off-stage events in The Hobbit and LOTR such that he became the great eye thingie? (Really, I didn’t think I was spoiling anything, but I can see how it might be for non-Tolkien-readers. If that was a joke post, all the better. ) Roddy ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/493 "2012-12-07T22:26:27Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Frank Frazetta Tolkien [drawings.](http://frankfrazetta.org/tolkien0001.php) Hey, I had never seen those before. Thanks. Um, Frazetta, wasn’t Eowyn supposed to be disguising the fact that she was a woman? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/494 "2012-12-07T22:30:07Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Hey, I had never seen those before. Thanks. > > Um, Frazetta, wasn’t Eowyn supposed to be disguising the fact that she was a woman? Not to mention that her armour seems a trifle … impractical. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/495 "2012-12-07T22:52:00Z")
So what happened to Sauron between the off-stage events in The Hobbit and LOTR such that he became the great eye thingie? Sauron rebuilds the Barad-dûr! : [Sauron rebuilds the Barad-dûr - Events - Henneth Annûn](http://www.henneth-annun.net/resources/events_view.cfm?EVID=830) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/496 "2012-12-07T23:13:58Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Not to mention that her armour seems a trifle … impractical. 😃 It wouldn’t be Frazetta otherwise… ETA: Oh, yeah…orc butt was just what I needed… ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/497 "2012-12-07T23:17:55Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Do NOT be dissing the Hildebrandts! They basically were the look of Middle-Earth for decades. Even the Rankin-Bass style (which I am sentimentally partial to…) didn’t have as much of an influence. YMMV, of course and if I’m disrespecting them it’s only by comparing them to Howe and Lee. I’m aware of the Hildebrandts’ legacy. I bought the calendars each year and I still have a copy of [The Guide](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Complete_Guide_to_Middle-earth) with their cover art around here somewhere but even thirty years ago I thought that their interpretation was oftentimes silly. Honestly, who would you rather have working on the films, the Hildebrandts or Howe and Lee? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/498 "2012-12-07T23:19:36Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Not to mention that her armour seems a trifle … impractical. 😃 Well, yeah, but…Yes, it is. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/499 "2012-12-07T23:20:04Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > ETA: Oh, yeah…orc butt was just what I needed… Hey, at least he’s equal-opportunity. Hott babes and orcs alike go into battle bare-assed. 😃 Hey, maybe flashing the enemy distracts (or horrifies) 'em. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/500 "2012-12-08T00:10:47Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Thank you, that’s what I wanted to know. > > So what happened to Sauron between the off-stage events in The Hobbit and LOTR such that he became the great eye thingie? > > (Really, I didn’t think I was spoiling anything, but I can see how it might be for non-Tolkien-readers. If that was a joke post, all the better. ) > Roddy It was primarily a joke - but I guess there was a ring of truth to it if someone were reading this thread taht had not, in fact, been aware of that detail. I’m actually very curious as to how that is handled in the movie(s) - as in the Hobbit it’s not readily apparent what/who the Necromancer is - as much as I want the simplified Hobbit to be available as a single film - I am really anctious to see how they decide to incorporate these other parts that were alluded to in the books. And I really do hope they put out the “Just the Hobbit” cut. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969.md?page=26)