The Hobbit Trilogy Discussion Thread

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

And then there was poor Alatar and Pallando who were sent to the far East for who knows what for, and never heard from again...
I would LOVE to hear sometime in the future that they find the manuscripts to a separate story involving these two, but realistically that will never happen.

Tolkien (Letters, p. 280):

"I do not know anything clearly about the other two [wizards] - since they do not concern the history of the N.W. I think they went as emissaries to distant regions, East and South, far out of the Numenorean range: missionaries to 'enemy-occupied' lands, as it were. What success they had I do not know; but I fear they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret cults and 'magic' traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron."

[frogmort]

Thanks you guys, I never knew that about those two guys before. I love learning new things about Middle Earth! Are Alatar and Pallando mentioned by name by Tolkien, and if so, in what book?
Thanks!

P.S.- Do you think that they might be mentioned, in passing, in the new movies? I doubt it. (see what I did there, I made it appropriate for this thread, so hopefully, people won't complain.)

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by frogmort

Thanks you guys, I never knew that about those two guys before. I love learning new things about Middle Earth! Are Alatar and Pallando mentioned by name by Tolkien, and if so, in what book?
Thanks!

P.S.- Do you think that they might be mentioned, in passing, in the new movies? I doubt it. (see what I did there, I made it appropriate for this thread, so hopefully, people won't complain.)

Not much has been written concerning the Blue Wizards, and unless Jackson really goes off on a tangent, we won't see them in the new movies. The best summary on the wizards may be found in 'The Istari' chapter in Unfinished Tales.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by frogmort

P.S.- Do you think that they might be mentioned, in passing, in the new movies? I doubt it. (see what I did there, I made it appropriate for this thread, so hopefully, people won't complain.)

Are you kidding!


Knowing Jackson, he probably is already casting actors for those two parts to appear in the films.


But all joking aside, it is slightly possible that they could appear very briefly in some sort of flashback scene similar to the one at the beginning of the FotR movie.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

Not much has been written concerning the Blue Wizards, and unless Jackson really goes off on a tangent, we won't see them in the new movies. The best summary on the wizards may be found in 'The Istari' chapter in Unfinished Tales.

Cool, I have that book and just checked, it's the second chapter in part four. I might have to pause reading RotK tonight to check that out!

Originally Posted by Duffy12

Are you kidding!


Knowing Jackson, he probably is already casting actors for those two parts to appear in the films.


But all joking aside, it is slightly possible that they could appear very briefly in some sort of flashback scene similar to the one at the beginning of the FotR movie.

As much as PJ&co. likes to extrapolate and expound, and completely rework what Tolkien has written, I wouldn't be completely surprised if there was some "wizardy" looking guys at The Council, which is supposedly going to be in the movies, but from what I've read, he can legally only use information from LOTR, and The Hobbit books, other than what he makes up.
Right?

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by frogmort

...but from what I've read, he can legally only use information from LOTR, and The Hobbit books, other than what he makes up.
Right?

I have never been able to keep track of all that legality stuff, however if Jackson decided to add some of the 1st age history as a flashback in an appropriate spot, that most likely would not bother me at all.

I mean...can you imagine watching a brief scene of the 'Fall of Gondolin'?

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

I have never been able to keep track of all that legality stuff, however if Jackson decided to add some of the 1st age history as a flashback in an appropriate spot, that most likely would not bother me at all.

I mean...can you imagine watching a brief scene of the 'Fall of Gondolin'?

Yes sir!
I'll bet there's probably enough mention in LOTR and The Hobbit, of certain things from the first and second age(and before), that they could find ways of hinting to things mentioned in other books, but it would be nice if Christopher Tolkien was even mildly involved.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by frogmort

Yes sir!
I'll bet there's probably enough mention in LOTR and The Hobbit, of certain things from the first and second age(and before), that they could find ways of hinting to things mentioned in other books, but it would be nice if Christopher Tolkien was even mildly involved.

One more trivial tidbit: Gandalf was originally the name of the chief dwarf (later named Thorin) in The Hobbit, and Gandalf the Wizard's original name was Bladorthin. Bladorthin is later named in The Hobbit as a king. I'm glad Tolkien changed his mind about the names.

[Josh]

Interesting stuff about the 5 wizards. I have collected all but one of the "Histories of Middle Earth", and I can't wait to start reading through them.

Originally Posted by frogmort

As much as PJ&co. likes to extrapolate and expound, and completely rework what Tolkien has written, I wouldn't be completely surprised if there was some "wizardy" looking guys at The Council, which is supposedly going to be in the movies, but from what I've read, he can legally only use information from LOTR, and The Hobbit books, other than what he makes up.
Right?

He can only use information from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, however, I do believe he can use anything in the Appendices at the end of LOTR, so there is a wealth of additional inforation there to grab from.

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by frogmort

If I remember correctly, of the five wizards, only three are mentioned; Saruman was into studying ring lore, Radagast was into studying and helping animals, and Gandalf was interested in studying and helping Hobbits, among other humanoids.
I would think they were all rather eccentric.

Touche...

I was just giving Radagast a hard time for defending... Radagast? Man this is getting confusing...

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Josh

Interesting stuff about the 5 wizards. I have collected all but one of the "Histories of Middle Earth", and I can't wait to start reading through them.

I don't know if you have all twelve volumes of History of Middle Earth, you may consider starting (as many others have) with The Return of the Shadow (volume VI), which documents the very beginning of LotR. Literary critics have stated that few novels have undergone as extensive a development period as LotR, and none have been as thoroughly documented to the extent that Christopher Tolkien has presented in Volumes VI through IX in History of Middle Earth. I usually end my yearly LotR adventure by reading the Epilogue contained in Sauron Defeated (volume IX), which is the ending that Tolkien originally wanted to use (not 'The Grey Havens').

He can only use information from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, however, I do believe he can use anything in the Appendices at the end of LOTR, so there is a wealth of additional inforation there to grab from.

Given the latitude of having the extra time offered by two films for the relatively short Hobbit novel, I think the million dollar question is "How much of the information in the Appendices will Jackson and Boyens use?" Although the Appendices offer the option of incorporating just about anything from the beginning of the Second Age, will they instead go off on tangents with characters like "Itaril", just as they did with Aragorn being saved by his horse Brego in The Two Towers? The fact that

[Show spoiler]Gondolin (the greatest Elvish city in Middle-earth during the First Age) is mentioned in The Hobbit as the source of Thorin and Gandalf's swords, gives me hope that we could see some actual footage from that period. Perhaps we could at least get a glimpse of the battle that destroyed the city - which was far greater than the Battle of Minas Tirith in Return of the King - and incorporated not just orcs, but many Balrogs, dragons, and Morgoth, who was the equivalent of Satan.

. But my guess would be that we are more likely to see Itaril.

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

I don't know if you have all twelve volumes of History of Middle Earth, you may consider starting (as many others have) with The Return of the Shadow (volume VI), which documents the very beginning of LotR. Literary critics have stated that few novels have undergone as extensive a development period as LotR, and none have been as thoroughly documented to the extent that Christopher Tolkien has presented in Volumes VI through IX in History of Middle Earth. I usually end my yearly LotR adventure by reading the Epilogue contained in Sauron Defeated (volume IX), which is the ending that Tolkien originally wanted to use (not 'The Grey Havens').



Given the latitude of having the extra time offered by two films for the relatively short Hobbit novel, I think the million dollar question is "How much of the information in the Appendices will Jackson and Boyens use?" Although the Appendices offer the option of incorporating just about anything from the beginning of the Second Age, will they instead go off on tangents with characters like "Itaril", just as they did with Aragorn being saved by his horse Brego in The Two Towers? The fact that

[Show spoiler]Gondolin (the greatest Elvish city in Middle-earth during the First Age) is mentioned in The Hobbit as the source of Thorin and Gandalf's swords, gives me hope that we could see some actual footage from that period. Perhaps we could at least get a glimpse of the battle that destroyed the city - which was far greater than the Battle of Minas Tirith in Return of the King - and incorporated not just orcs, but many Balrogs, dragons, and Morgoth, who was the equivalent of Satan.

. But my guess would be that we are more likely to see Itaril.

Or maybe a 2 hour long battle of 5 armies!!!!!

[Show spoiler]

[Member-115369]

I'm guessing most of the extra stuff will be fleshing out the white council expelling the Necromancer (Sauron) from Mirkwook. That takes place off page during the Hobbit and that's the thing they could flesh out more that would most help tie the Hobbit movies to the LOTR trilogy.

[vegeta88]

See? 3D is Cool. Gandalf Says So!

No real news here, but when else are you going to see Gandalf (Ian McKellen) in 3D glasses? Here is he on the set of The Hobbit--presumably checking out footage they've shot--in a photo taken by Peter Jackson in Wellington.

Read more: See? 3D is Cool. Gandalf Says So! - ComingSoon.net http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movie...#ixzz1M9jVyZlF

Pretty cool if you ask me.

[Witch King of Angmar]

Ian Mckellen looks badass.

[frogmort]

He kinda reminds me of The Dude, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by frogmort

He kinda reminds me of The Dude, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

Kinda reminds me of-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_HlTGzkKeE

.

[frogmort]

You shall like, not pass, or, whatever, man.

[Ray_Rogers]

My apologies to be a late poster but I'm in agreement with the poster who mentioned PJ & Co. could do a Theatrical and Extended Edition release for home media.
Can't wait for this and dammit, I'm already impatiently wanting to buy The Art of books for these films. Already own the ones for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Here's to hoping all the dwarves look great and visually dissimilar enough to distinguish them individually. Also for a great design for Smaug would be nice.
Speaking of Smaug, did Tolkien write anymore about the other dragons including the named ones in both The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales? Includes the multi-volume thing of which I have the hardcover for The War of the Ring. Forgot which Volume number that is. For The Hobbit I own the 1960's hardcover reprinting.
Here's to hoping the video game will be great and I have the feeling it'll be far superior in aspect compared to the Sierra one from 2003.

Sylvester McCoy I know best from his tenure as The Sixth Doctor and haven't seen him in hardly anything else. Same for Martin Freeman albiet I'm unsure if I've watched him in anything though he does look familiar. Was he in a series before Sherlock Holmes?
Perhaps Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright could be Hobbits. Only speculating.
Glad the majority of the actors from the Film Trilogy are returning to make this precursor film, no it isn't a prequel, to fit more in line with the rest of them. Would even be nice if there were a big boxset of them. Probable it's what Peter was mentioned when he was talking about a big Ultimate Boxset down the line.

The Silmarillion would be great, with incorporations from The Unfinished Tales, as an over-all TV series but self-contained mini-series for bulk stories. I'd love to watch them. Especially the battle with Morgoth, Sauron, the hoards of Balrogs and Dragons. Someone could tell me which battle it was as it was mentioned a few or several pages prior. I'll look it up in The Atlas of Middle-Earth.
Here's to hoping War in the North will be great! For the Extended Edition Blu-rays, I'll be swapping the film discs from the Blu in place of the SDVDs in the set and adding the Coasta Boates documentaries in paper sleeves to be placed in the booklet thing.
Anyone else eagerly already wanting to watch the extras for The Hobbits per LotR Trilogy's Extended Editions Appendices?
This is one of my most anticipated films for both 2012 and 2013.

[Blu-Benny]

just awesome to see gandalf again!!