New Trailer

[anduin]

Almost a gripe? What's that? Come on man, spill it!

[Darth Tater]

I can tell ya what my problem with him is: he's too damn skinny!

[anduin]

LOL!! He has great eyes though.

Know who I really like...just based on the most recent trailer? Pippin. I just love the look on his face when he disturbs that skeleton and it falls.

[Gerbil]

I'm still trying to work out why everyone seems to think Arwen's line is so good.
Personally it makes me cringe every time I hear it (which is a lot since the rest of the trailer is so good .
Of course, I'm dead set against her jumped up role anyway, but reckon the line is standard 'hollywood' tat with a word changed for the more olde worlde feel. Change 'claim' to 'get' and you'll see what I mean.
I've seen some pretty outrageous claims of this so far - one scene-by-scene breakdown of the trailer reckons it'll become one of movie history's most famous lines. It'll become nothing of the sort. If the script sticks even remotely close to the book dialogue, there are many many better opportunities for classic lines

[Gerbil]

Another thing notable in the trailer - Gollum's absence, which was obviously intentional.

My guess is they'll try to keep him out of sight for as much of the first film as possible - he doesn't really figure much in FotR other than as part of the background story.
So he can quite easily feature as smeagol, then when they do flashbacks to Bilbo finding the ring it'll be easy to show him as nothing other than a shadowy menace with glowing eyes (let's not forget the whole riddles and rings episode takes place in pitch black!) and he never ventures into the light even of the back door from the Orc caves because he's afraid of the light.

Sooo........ plenty of opportunity to have him as a shadowy menacing figure.

Off hand I can't think of anywhere in FotR that he explicitly appears. He's following through Moria (not hard to hide him) and follows them through (well, he goes around) Lothlorien - again only referenced at night. At this stage he's merely a hidden threat to the ring.

Also, it gives us something to look forward to in the later films, since many of the most important characters are well developed by the end of the first film (certainly in their 'average' incarnations, such as Gandalf and Aragorn).

Comments?

[Darth Tater]

Half of what makes a line special is the delivery. Take that god awefull storm line about toads and lightning for an example. It was penned by one of the most brilliant screen writers in Hollywood, Joss Whedon. The way he wrote it the line was meant to be delivered flat, similarly to the "How do I know it's really you?" "You're a (blank)" exchange in another part of the film. Delivered properly, it sounds amusing, but you really don't care about it, and just move on. However, the line was given to one of the worst actresses the world has ever known, who decided to make it her characters crowning moment.

The opposite has happened with the Arwen line. Liv Tyler is given a piece of material that is typical Hollywood rubbish, but instead of delivering it the way everyone expects, she assumes a sweet, innocent voice, that throws us all off guard, and changes what could be something we all make fun of into a crowning moment for the film.

[Gerbil]

If that's one of the crowning glories then the films will die a death
I think the line and it's delivery are as standard as can be.

What I don't want to do is come across as someone who hates the movies already based on 2 seconds-worth of footage that even if I loathed, would not doubt be able to forget about because so much else of the trailer looks awesome

[IronParrot]

You know, out of all the "changes" in the upcoming films, there's some particularly evident in the trailers (including this last one) that I really like.

Specifically, the portion of the novel generally regarded as the slowest - Book I chapters 2-8 (Gandalf meeting Frodo -> Barrow-downs) is being tensed up a little bit. As in, we no longer have a somewhat relaxed pace of everyone taking their time... no longer just spotting a dark shape at the other end of the Ferry, but having the Black Rider pursue them so closely... you know what I mean?

Even with the most dramatic part of this change - cutting Bombadil - I think from a film perspective, the significant shortening of Book I will prove to be successful.

Remember that with film, pacing is done completely differently than in a novel. In prose, it is far easier to make some days pass in paragraphs while some hours pass in chapters. I think these changes are going to keep the suspense level up quite a fair bit.

[Gerbil]

True, and very good points.
However, I see a slight problem because of how the films are being made - IE with a rather large timescale between them.
Each film has to be able to stand alone. This means, for example, that the end of FotR, which while in LotR books is quite anti-climactic, or from another perspective is all part of the build-up in the overall scheme of things, would not work from a filmic point of view - it needs a more definite 'end' to the film.
So the breaking of the fellowship is changed into a larger set piece, and how the breaking comes about is re-jigged.

Personally I know the first time I read LotR I did indeed find the first book slow, but having finished the story as a whole I realise how important the build-up is, and how to start with the fear that persues them is more an imagined fear with little real 'action' (of course, if they'd have been caught this would not be true!).
It's a build up of suspence and plot-setting that the films could never get away with. In fact how Tolkien got away with it bearing in mind the large time difference between original releases of his books I don't know, other than the fact that he simply was only interested in the story as a WHOLE - which the movies simply cannot do.

Of all the things I've read that change so much, the two that stand out in my mind as causing most problems is the breaking of the fellowship (how it breaks up and the results follow the characters throughout the rest of the story) and the death of Saruman - assuming there is any 'scouring' left to be done at the end. It simply won't be the same - I always thought one of the most powerful moments of the Return of the King was when the great victorious host head towards Rivendell and pass the bedraggled Saruman and his pitifull Grima. To see one so mighty brought so low, and for Gandalf and the others to show such pity on one who planned to kill them all is one of the strongest images in the book.

Oh well, I'm sure it'll be good nonetheless.

Have just read a load of reviews of the Cannes teaser, and I have to say I was getting really excited just reading about it!

[Darth Tater]

I've had a theory brewing for quite some time that the wizard-kebob pic is not from Isengard, as most ppl assumed, but is in fact in the Shire. If this is true then the wheel would be that of the old mill, which, though not as literarily interesting a death as Grima stabbing him, could prove very interesting, especially if Grima were to throw him out of a window or something like that.

[Gerbil]

I'd love to believe that
I'd even be prepared to ignore the fact that no machinery of their 'age' would look like that - after all, there's no knowing what evil stuff Sharkey has placed in the Shire!

I'd think it's not like this because I really can't believe that the scouring of the shire will be a big deal, if it's in at all.

What's the rumours say about the scouring, is it in, out or 'simply' drastically changed?

Personally I reckon Saruman having his throat slit by a slave was one of the most ignoble ways to die - certianly one of the most worthy of a man of his 'stature'.

[Captain Stern]

I agree with you Gerbil, the part with Arwen in the trailer almost made me gag which is a shame because the rest of it looked amazing.

[Gerbil]

*phew*
I thought I was on my own there against a rampaging horde of Liv Tyler fans

[Sakata]

I think the actress is okay, but I dont like the expanded role of Arwen, I meen they have to mention her sometime, but I dont think they should portray her a kind of heroine, thats Eowyns role!

[Comic Book Guy]

I think for a high profile actor such as Liv Tyler, PJ has to use her as much as they possibly can to attract movie viewers who have never read Tolkien.

I used to be against Arwens role at the Fords, but after hearing her saying that line, it really made me almost want to see her at the fords. The same can't be said for the rest of her expanded roles though, like fighting at the Pellenor fields and helping Aragorn face Sauron.