tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post1806904480478073451..comments2024-02-20T10:12:20.623+00:00Comments on The Blog That Time Forgot: Legolas IS in The Hobbit, to the surprise of absolutely everyone for some unfathomable reasonTaranaichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-42449144133616931922011-06-18T19:43:58.366+01:002011-06-18T19:43:58.366+01:00don't know if anyone mentioned this...but they...don't know if anyone mentioned this...but they kinna f*é?)d up in a way many years ago...when the fellowship film was out ,in the intro when we see bilbo finding the ring..<br /><br />upon finding the ring and putting it in his pocket, gollum is heard from deep in the cave ,screaming about his precioussssss being lost ..<br /><br />i just hope they just fake it never happened and don't try to "correct" it for internal-cohesion -continuity ,cause the riddle-game is one of the key elements of the storyΚLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07262994874350425721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-40914179992177744162011-06-03T23:37:30.886+01:002011-06-03T23:37:30.886+01:00I aim to please, Al.I aim to please, Al.Lagomorph Rexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06385231158384929598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-24612237801843754882011-06-03T04:40:21.122+01:002011-06-03T04:40:21.122+01:00Well, there's some truth to it, since apparent...<i>Well, there's some truth to it, since apparently some people objected to Frodo putting the One Ring on a plinth. But in my experience most so-called purists had "integrity" of the original story in mind rather than little details. Stuff like Théoden flip-flopping over helping Gondor - that hurt integrity.</i><br /><br />Heh, now that you bring it up, putting the ring on a plinth does kind of bother me. I guess I was so blinded by the other changes I didn't even notice it! Still, though I don't like it, it's not a change I consider particularly profound, like Theoden's foreign policy.<br /><br /><i>On that note, my favorite site of LOTR film criticism back in the day - http://oddlots.flyingship.net/arthedain/ - is offline. WHYYYYYY? I even saved those essays in Word. The index site - http://arthedain.netfirms.com/ - is still up though. </i><br /><br />Fear not, I managed to find an archived backup of the site: it doesn't have most of the pictures, sadly, but it has the text mostly intact.<br /><br />http://web.archive.org/web/20090613063540/http://arthedain.netfirms.com/<br /><br />I've saved the essays now, don't want to lose them again.<br /><br /><i>What annoyed me the most was that the movies totally failed to convey any of the main themes of the book, and in many cases the original material and changes served to sabotage those themes completely. That, more than anything else, in my mind speaks to either a lack of understanding or lack of respect for the source material, which was why I found the movies offensive.</i><br /><br />I believe it's a lack of understanding combined with personal biases. Jackson isn't a LotR fan so much as a fantasy fan, and so he had all the preconceptions from Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy fiction colouring his perception. Boyens and Walsh were the Ringers on the project, but even they seemed to have their own issues (mostly in that they seemed to want to change Aragorn and Faramir into more 20th-Century men).<br /><br /><i>I quite enjoyed the 70s hobbit film, and I know from it that Legolas doesn't belong. But the other changes mentioned are news to me: Sauron isn't a floating eyeball? Who knew?</i><br /><br />Gollum reveals that he's seen Sauron, and that he has four fingers on one hand. Which indicates a pretty humanoid physical form. Plus it brought up the movie-centric plot query of just what a giant eyeball would do with a ring...<br /><br /><i>While they are at it, they need a kid in a wheel chair, a Black kid, an Asian kid and before we know it we have the Burger King Kids Club meets Dungeons and Dragons. </i><br /><br />... Dammit, if the Burger King Kids Club was still around, you know that's exactly what they'd do. And now my morbid curiosity's got the better of me...Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-16591221319488573462011-06-03T04:40:09.782+01:002011-06-03T04:40:09.782+01:00LOL! Although i've read The Hobbit and LOTR mu...<i>LOL! Although i've read The Hobbit and LOTR multiple times, i'm absolutely not a JRRT purist, so I have no issue with Legolas (and a host of others) showing up in a Hobbit movie.<br /></i><br /><br />As changes go, Legolas appearing in The Hobbit is one that's really low on my "Blasphemous Mutterings" list: we know he was alive and in the area, after all.<br /><br /><i>So long as they stick to the spirit of the story (rather than blind ahderance to the text) i'm perfectly okay with PJ's changes.</i><br /><br />And there are many Tolkien fans who agree with you: I just don't think Jackson/Walsh/Boyens did adhere to the spirit of the story - or, at least, the spirit of certain characters, events and elements.<br /><br /><i>The Only thing I'm immensely unhappy about is Itaril. It's almost as if Frallippa cannot stand it unless theres sword wielding vagina SOMEWHERE in the movie, they didn't get away with letting Arwen save the day in LOTR, but this time she's got way more clout and can't be so easily stopped.</i><br /><br />Indeed. That link Martin provided below shows some of the crazy things Fralippa had in mind for Arwen, and I thank my lucky stars Arwen's role wasn't even worse than it was.<br /><br /><i>On the other hand, having Legolas, Arwen and adolescent Aragorn kicking about at Rivendell, Gloin mentioning his son Gimli, the parents of Sam, Merry, Pippin and Frodo, Galadrial, Radagast, Who they really need to film a scene of him sending that damn moth to look for Gandalf to use in some eventual ultimate edition, Sauruman, and others.. will actually strengthen the connection between the films in the mind of the casual audience member. </i><br /><br />Indeed. Changes and additions like that are not the sort of things I'm worried about at all, and if you *had* to make two Hobbit films, they're the only sort of changes I'd really be fine with. And definitely agreed on the moth, that scene always bugged me (Hi-YOOO)<br /><br /><i>As long as they don't saddle him with "game-breaking" stunts like slaying oliphaunts on his own, I'm game.</i><br /><br />The thing is, I could buy the idea of Legolas being a one-man killing machine: I just wish they did it in a way that didn't make me feel I was watching someone playing <i>Devil May Cry</i>.Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-53590674021893642022011-05-30T04:18:56.820+01:002011-05-30T04:18:56.820+01:00I consider it as being brutally honest.
They ar...I consider it as being brutally honest. <br /><br />They aren't interested in including a well rounded, female character. They just want a token kick-ass girl power monolog to represent them on screen. <br /><br />While they are at it, they need a kid in a wheel chair, a Black kid, an Asian kid and before we know it we have the Burger King Kids Club meets Dungeons and Dragons.Lagomorph Rexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06385231158384929598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-47202844732265992412011-05-30T00:39:15.555+01:002011-05-30T00:39:15.555+01:00"...sword wielding vagina..."
Lagomorph..."...sword wielding vagina..."<br /><br />Lagomorph, that choice of phrase, apart from being somewhat sexist (well, pretty much completely sexist, actually), brings an image to my mind that hardly bears thinking about.<br /><br />I would draw a picture of it (don't think I wouldn't) but I wouldn't dare post it anywhere.M. D. Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13820831338678743992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-25853698880456913852011-05-29T17:57:49.992+01:002011-05-29T17:57:49.992+01:00I must be exactly the sort of 'purist' the...I must be exactly the sort of 'purist' they're referring to: I've seen the movies but never read the books.<br /><br />I quite enjoyed the 70s hobbit film, and I know from it that Legolas doesn't belong. But the other changes mentioned are news to me: Sauron isn't a floating eyeball? Who knew?<br /><br />So they're officially starting to change things that even a very casual fan would notice and object to.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-91911082305556562192011-05-29T17:12:37.967+01:002011-05-29T17:12:37.967+01:00I truly don't foresee The Hobbit films being s...<i>I truly don't foresee The Hobbit films being substantially different from the trilogy.</i><br /><br />For what it's worth, I don't see why anyone would. If anything, Jackson et al will be so drunk on the success of the LotR movies that they'll take even more liberties with the story, so the Hobbit films will be even worse.<br /><br /><i>But in my experience most so-called purists had "integrity" of the original story in mind rather than little details. Stuff like Théoden flip-flopping over helping Gondor - that hurt integrity.</i><br /><br />Integrity was one thing, and for me, Treebeard's flip-flopping was even worse, while blatant character assassination (Faramir) was even more horrible. What annoyed me the most was that the movies totally failed to convey any of the main themes of the book, and in many cases the original material and changes served to sabotage those themes completely. That, more than anything else, in my mind speaks to either a lack of understanding or lack of respect for the source material, which was why I found the movies offensive.<br /><br /><i>Deal with it.</i><br /><br />I do, by not watching the Hobbit movies.Michael Halilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813965292738048095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-11204334145289404262011-05-29T07:59:23.842+01:002011-05-29T07:59:23.842+01:00Adding Legolas is the one change not worth complai...Adding Legolas is the one change not worth complaining about - it's well supported by canon, even if one only reads The Hobbit and LotR and skips all the rest. The story concerns his father's kingdom. Legolas is old enough in Man years to call Aragorn (87) and Gimli (139) "you children". He has seen acorns grow into oaks many times over. He most probably would have been of age to fight and even lead troops in the Battle of Five Armies. <br /><br />As long as they don't saddle him with "game-breaking" stunts like slaying oliphaunts on his own, I'm game. That, coupled with the inclusion of Oathbreakers (turned into insta-death), made the movie version of the Battle of Pellinor Fields really anticlimactic. They had better keep away from immersion-breaking stunts like shield-surfing also. But you just <i>know</i> that's the sort of stunt filmmakers on a "nostalgia" project may rework... like camel punching. <br /><br />However, I fear that retrofitting The Hobbit into a "proper" prequel for LOTR (focusing a while on the White Council vs. Sauron in Dol Guldur) might be too much spice for a simple dish. The Hobbit's not "The Lord of the Rings: The Phantom Menace".<br /><br />"Inventing their own targets" brings to mind the image of Tolkien purists who would blow their stacks over the slightest deviations from the text. Well, there's some truth to it, since apparently <a href="http://www.theonering.com/landing_pages/35,3.html" rel="nofollow">some people objected</a> to Frodo putting <a href="http://www.theonering.com/images/medialibrary/trailerplintha.jpg" rel="nofollow">the One Ring on a plinth.</a> But in my experience most so-called purists had "integrity" of the original story in mind rather than little details. Stuff like Théoden flip-flopping over helping Gondor - that hurt integrity.<br /><br />On that note, my favorite site of LOTR film criticism back in the day - <a href="http://oddlots.flyingship.net/arthedain/" rel="nofollow">http://oddlots.flyingship.net/arthedain/</a> - is offline. WHYYYYYY? I even saved those essays in Word. The index site - <a href="http://arthedain.netfirms.com/" rel="nofollow">http://arthedain.netfirms.com/</a> - is still up though.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05315348028756856231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-36491849949426089112011-05-29T05:47:58.506+01:002011-05-29T05:47:58.506+01:00I thought the peppy elf warriorette quit.
And tru...I thought the peppy elf warriorette quit.<br /><br />And truthfully, a cameo by Legolas is one of the <i>least</i> damaging things that could be done to tie the Hobbit film to <i>Lord of the Rings</i> - as long as it stays a cameo, and not *shudder* replacing a certain plot-relevant archer of Daleish origin. I have no idea whether that concept is anything more than a worse-case what-if being tossed about by the fans; and frankly until I'm sitting in the theater I don't want to know.T. Everetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792175853139507757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-62220871631970964352011-05-28T22:41:49.215+01:002011-05-28T22:41:49.215+01:00The Only thing I'm immensely unhappy about is ...The Only thing I'm immensely unhappy about is Itaril. It's almost as if Frallippa cannot stand it unless theres sword wielding vagina SOMEWHERE in the movie, they didn't get away with letting Arwen save the day in LOTR, but this time she's got way more clout and can't be so easily stopped. <br /><br />On the other hand, having Legolas, Arwen and adolescent Aragorn kicking about at Rivendell, Gloin mentioning his son Gimli, the parents of Sam, Merry, Pippin and Frodo, Galadrial, Radagast, Who they really need to film a scene of him sending that damn moth to look for Gandalf to use in some eventual ultimate edition, Sauruman, and others.. will actually strengthen the connection between the films in the mind of the casual audience member.Lagomorph Rexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06385231158384929598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-44228417797287889572011-05-28T22:24:19.277+01:002011-05-28T22:24:19.277+01:00LOL! Although i've read The Hobbit and LOTR m...LOL! Although i've read The Hobbit and LOTR multiple times, i'm absolutely not a JRRT purist, so I have no issue with Legolas (and a host of others) showing up in a Hobbit movie.<br /><br />So long as they stick to the spirit of the story (rather than blind ahderance to the text) i'm perfectly okay with PJ's changes.<br /><br />Movies are a different medium that text, and I was okay with almost all of the LOTR changes. And if I hadn't been? It's not like PJ is ringing me at 3 am demanding an endorsement of his artistic vision.<br /><br />Deal with it.Aaron E. Steelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789462075611254929noreply@blogger.com