Support NeoGAF

[EatChildren]

It really is amazing how much better Lothlorien is in the EE. It almost feels completely glazed over in the Theatrical Cut.

Agreed, but that's how I feel about everything in the Fellowship EE. I mean, I love the EE's for all three films, but I know both TTT and ROTK EEs have pacing issues and the only reason I like them is because it's 'more' LOTR. But FOTR EE is a wholly superior, meaty film that never skips a beat. Side by side with the theatrical cut, the EE renders the original utterly obsolete.

Agreed, it does an amazing job summarizing a lot of back-story. That, and the beginning of Fellowship with Gandalf coming into The Shire and "Concerning Hobbits" playing, man, that just chokes me up every time. Done just so perfectly.

Sooo goood. The mood is perfect.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Agreed, it does an amazing job summarizing a lot of back-story. That, and the beginning of Fellowship with Gandalf coming into The Shire and "Concerning Hobbits" playing, man, that just chokes me up every time. Done just so perfectly.

That is the biggest loss in the EE. There is a different arrangement played since that melody comes before Frodo in the EE. If I could pick and choose, I would keep Fellowship's theatrical opening up until Sam and Frodo leave Hobbiton and then add all the extended stuff after that.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

It really is amazing how much better Lothlorien is in the EE. It almost feels completely glazed over in the Theatrical Cut.

As it's been mentioned already, one of the best things about the EE is that it fleshes out Boromir's character a bit and makes him more sympathetic. One of those moments occurs in Lothlorien when he is the only one to try and comfort Frodo.

 

[Dead]

I just watched Fellowship EE again. I think it shall soon go beyond being my favourite movie of that decade and simply become my favourite movie.

And the tower guard shall take up the call 'The lords of Gondor have returned.'

Yeah its perfect

 

[JB1981]

I just watched Fellowship EE again. I think it shall soon go beyond being my favourite movie of that decade and simply become my favourite movie.

And the tower guard shall take up the call 'The lords of Gondor have returned.'

It is a fantastic picture but the effects have not aged well at all. I do love the Cave Troll sequence though, even though the effects are kind of shit. Mines of Moria also look shitty. Would love to see PJ release an updated version of the movie actually.

 

[GCX]

It is a fantastic picture but the effects have not aged well at all. I do love the Cave Troll sequence though, even though the effects are kind of shit. Mines of Moria also look shitty. Would love to see PJ release an updated version of the movie actually.

Movies are products of their times so I don't really care if a 10 year old movie is starting to show its age. Even though it might not meet all the modern standards I can still appreciate what they were able to archieve with the tools they had at that time. That's why I'm not really a fan of updating special effects.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

FOTR was easily one of the best movies of the last decade. One of my favorite movies of all time. The other two LOTRs are good, but nowhere near FOTR.

 

[bengraven]

That is the biggest loss in the EE. There is a different arrangement played since that melody comes before Frodo in the EE. If I could pick and choose, I would keep Fellowship's theatrical opening up until Sam and Frodo leave Hobbiton and then add all the extended stuff after that.

My man. Yes, yes.

And the title come up as the camera pans up, instead of on Frodo as he's reading.

FOTR was easily one of the best movies of the last decade. One of my favorite movies of all time. The other two LOTRs are good, but nowhere near FOTR.

I say this all the time, but I truly expected Fellowship to be a decent, but not awesome adaptation of the books. Allegory is: I went in expecting Batman Returns and saw The Dark Knight.

I RAN out of the theater and told everyone I knew about it.

 

[EatChildren]

Fly, you fools!

FOTR EE rewatch it is.

 

[Aaron]

It really is amazing how much better Lothlorien is in the EE. It almost feels completely glazed over in the Theatrical Cut.

It was intentionally so if you listen to the commentaries. Pete Jackson talked about his trouble with that bit, and the urgency to get the Fellowship back on the road and into danger.

 

[bengraven]

Got my first BR player but had a 20 dollar budget to buy movies. I almost bought Fellowship and TT theatrical editions.

Then I lolled and put them back.

 

[Esiquio]

That is the biggest loss in the EE. There is a different arrangement played since that melody comes before Frodo in the EE. If I could pick and choose, I would keep Fellowship's theatrical opening up until Sam and Frodo leave Hobbiton and then add all the extended stuff after that.

I've been wanting to see the EE for a long, long time. I purposefully kept myself in the dark about what they include so I can experience it fresh. Sounds like the change to the beginning of Fellowship is terrible...that scene is one of my favorites in the trilogy!

I decided to wait until they came out on Blu-Ray, but now I can't really afford it. I need to find somebody that I can borrow it from, at least for now. Hmm, well I just calculated the extra time added to each of the movies, according to Amazons page, and it looks like they included 123 minutes across the three movies?! Is that for real, like, another entire movie got cut?!

 

[GCX]

I decided to wait until they came out on Blu-Ray, but now I can't really afford it. I need to find somebody that I can borrow it from, at least for now. Hmm, well I just calculated the extra time added to each of the movies, according to Amazons page, and it looks like they included 123 minutes across the three movies?! Is that for real, like, another entire movie got cut?!

Yeah, there's about 2 hours of added scenes in the EEs.

That doesn't mean those got "cut" from the theatrical releases though. They were always meant for the extended editions and they even did reshoots just for EEs.

 

[Lion Heart]

I need to sell my TT versions. I only paid 18 for the blu ray bundle but I can't watch it knowing the EE exists (haven't see it either). I already rewatched Fellow but I can I watch it again.

Now to look for deals.

 

[Ashitaka]

Fly, you fools!

FOTR EE rewatch it is.

Yeah, just poked my head into this thread and this page has me looking at my copy of Fellowship. It's been a while since I watched it may as well start now.

 

[Jimothy]

Why oh why must the EE set still be $80 on Amazon? (((((

 

[Jarmel]

Is the quality of the EE set good(like PQ and audio quality)?

I would love to do a rewatch.

 

[FeD.nL]

It is a fantastic picture but the effects have not aged well at all. I do love the Cave Troll sequence though, even though the effects are kind of shit. Mines of Moria also look shitty. Would love to see PJ release an updated version of the movie actually.

Normally I would agree but the score of Howard Shore is perfect that I couldn't care less about the effects. When they arrive in the halls.. damn so perfect.

 

[bengraven]

Is there any news of a Blu Ray release of the original Hobbit animated film?

God, it owned so fucking hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXP8VEXWMs

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

Is there any news of a Blu Ray release of the original Hobbit animated film?

God, it owned so fucking hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXP8VEXWMs

We watched this in art class in like fourth grade...scared the shit out of me

 

[bengraven]

We watched this in art class in like fourth grade...scared the shit out of me

For years I remembered this fairy tale story I heard on my neighbor girl's record player. It was about these short people who live in a short village and there's a mountain somewhere nearby and a dragon and there's an invisible creature that eats people. I remember the creature's voice haunting my dreams for months: "sssssss".

Then I forgot.

Fast forward 12 years and I'm 17 and reading the Hobbit when I get to Gollum's chapter and I have the biggest mind blowing experience of my life until that point.

I later went out and got the VHS of it and loved the songs so much. My boss was a 25 year old laid back geek (a proto-hipster) and we would sing "chip the glasses, crack the plates, that's what Bilbo Baggins hates" over and over again while doing dishes as his hot wife rolled her eyes.

 

[forrest]

Is there any news of a Blu Ray release of the original Hobbit animated film?

God, it owned so fucking hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXP8VEXWMs

God I used to, well my parents used to have this on vinyl. Oh man, I hope it's still buried in their attic or storage somewhere. Yeah Gollum used to scare the shit out of me too! My older brother would wait till I was almost asleep, then he would start whispering, "myyy precioussssss" in our pitch black bedroom. I'm gonna sock him one the next time I see him!

 

[bengraven]

God I used to, well my parents used to have this on vinyl. Oh man, I hope it's still buried in their attic or storage somewhere.

It's so awesome. I'm sure we'll all love the PJ versions better, but this will always have a place in my heart. That folk music that plays as the intro credits come up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dQ5c5SIYnc



Also, I played this for my wife one day and she was like "oh, now I get the Lemmiwinks joke on South Park". She's a child of the late 80s.

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

For years I remembered this fairy tale story I heard on my neighbor girl's record player. It was about these short people who live in a short village and there's a mountain somewhere nearby and a dragon and there's an invisible creature that eats people. I remember the creature's voice haunting my dreams for months: "sssssss".

Then I forgot.

Fast forward 12 years and I'm 17 and reading the Hobbit when I get to Gollum's chapter and I have the biggest mind blowing experience of my life until that point.

I later went out and got the VHS of it and loved the songs so much. My boss was a 25 year old laid back geek (a proto-hipster) and we would sing "chip the glasses, crack the plates, that's what Bilbo Baggins hates" over and over again while doing dishes as his hot wife rolled her eyes.

That's fuckin awesome. I remember renting it when I was older without realizing I'd seen it before. Must've repressed those memories

 

[bengraven]

That's fuckin awesome. I remember renting it when I was older without realizing I'd seen it before. Must've repressed those memories

I think something about the Hobbit sticks in kids' heads even when they're young and then when they finally read the book it comes out.

Same thing happened with the Last Unicorn. I saw part of it on television in my late teens and realized I had seen the entire thing when I was about five or six.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Is there any news of a Blu Ray release of the original Hobbit animated film?

God, it owned so fucking hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXP8VEXWMs

If the trend is followed, this will be most likely released when the movie hits theaters.

 

[bengraven]

If the trend is followed, this will be most likely released when the movie hits theaters.

That's right - Walmart will get a $10 copy and throw it on their rack somewhere, like they did the Bakshi LOTR. I'm sure no one wants to remaster it though, though maybe they'll throw all the movies on one disc: Hobbit, LOTR, Return of the King.

 

[Lion Heart]

I need to sell my TT versions. I only paid 18 for the blu ray bundle but I can't watch it knowing the EE exists (haven't see it either). I already rewatched Fellow but I can I watch it again.

Now to look for deals.

I did it! Sold that shitty version and now I own the real deal. Next weekend will be glorious.

I paid 45+ tax for this beast.

 

[ZackieChan]

I later went out and got the VHS of it and loved the songs so much. My boss was a 25 year old laid back geek (a proto-hipster) and we would sing "chip the glasses, crack the plates, that's what Bilbo Baggins hates" over and over again while doing dishes as his hot wife rolled her eyes.

Your boss is basically Tom Bombadil!

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Is there any news of a Blu Ray release of the original Hobbit animated film?

God, it owned so fucking hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXP8VEXWMs

Love the depiction of Gollum. Far creepier and more intimidating than Serkis' interpretation.

Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it for ever!"

 

[LegendofJoe]

My man. Yes, yes.

And the title come up as the camera pans up, instead of on Frodo as he's reading.




I say this all the time, but I truly expected Fellowship to be a decent, but not awesome adaptation of the books. Allegory is: I went in expecting Batman Returns and saw The Dark Knight.

I RAN out of the theater and told everyone I knew about it.

Hahaha, that's awesome. If only someone had caught that on camera...

 

[Cheesemeister]

Currently watching LOTR EE Blu-ray with the waifu. We're currently up to the Battle of Helm's Deep. She's learning lots of new English words, and got a big kick out of Gollum's fishing song.

 

[LProtag]

Did a marathon session of all 3 EE with some friends over the weekend, Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. Renewed my interest in The Hobbit again, pretty excited.

 

[bengraven]

Your boss is basically Tom Bombadil!

Imagine Jim Carrey 10 years ago with vampire-like slicked back hair and a pair of dorky glasses, but who is always in a fantastic mood like Tom and you pretty much got him to a T.

Love the depiction of Gollum. Far creepier and more intimidating than Serkis' interpretation.

Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it for ever!"

Completely agree.

The Gollum in the animated movie was slimy and always looked soaked with water like some sort of water demon (like a kelpi or kappa), instead of a naked pale man.

Hahaha, that's awesome. If only someone had caught that on camera...

It was like the end of the original Body Snatchers. Only instead of running down the road screaming "they're already here!" I was running from car to car in the mall parking lot going "it wasn't shit, it wasn't shit!".

 

[jett]

Love the depiction of Gollum. Far creepier and more intimidating than Serkis' interpretation.

Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it for ever!"

Haha at toadgollum I have to see this movie one of these days.

 

[sc0la]

Haha at toadgollum I have to see this movie one of these days.

The Gollum and Smaug from the cartoon are the deffinative versions of those characters to me. My biggest concern of PJs version is Smaug, but only because of how closely I associate with the cartoons version.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

The Gollum and Smaug from the cartoon are the deffinative versions of those characters to me. My biggest concern of PJs version is Smaug, but only because of how closely I associate with the cartoons version.

So far I think that all of the CGI creatures they've created at Weta have been fantastic. I trust them to do a great job with Smaug. It is hard to know exactly how though considering we don't really know much about the tone of the movies yet, but certainly by the end it will dovetail with Lotr. To what extent it will be whimsical has yet to be clearly seen. I think that will have a greater effect on Smaug than any shortcomings or artistic differences in comparison to the animation.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

http://collider.com/luke-evans-the-hobbit-interview/160241/

While I’ll have the full interview with Evans online next week, I wanted to share what he said about The Hobbit today. As most of you know, Jackson is shooting the films digitally on the RED EPIC in 3D and he’s pushing the boundaries of cinema forward by filming 48fps (frames per second) instead of the normal 24fps. What that means is, you’ll see very little motion blur when the camera moves or during the action scenes. I’ve seen 48fps and 60fps first hand and it’s like you’re looking through a window without any glass. It’s incredible. For more on 48fps, here’s Jackson’s recent video blog. Anyway, Evans talks about his reaction to this new way of filming and what it means to be involved in the films

I’m going to ask you a nerdy question: One of the thing I’m so excited about is that Peter Jackson is shooting The Hobbit movies on the Red Epic, with the 48 frames a second, rather then the 24.

Evans: Yeah.

I’m not sure if you’re a film nerd like me.

Evans: It’s the first time it’s ever been done. Even if you’re not a nerd you can absolutely see the difference, it’s extraordinary.

Have you been looking at any of the playback on any of the monitors? Because one of the things I think casual fans will not realize what 48 frames a second does is reduces the motion blur. Have you seen any of the action without the motion blur and what does it look like through your eyes?

Evans: Yeah, I’ve seen myself in action and it’s incredible. It really is. It’s the closest to your own eye speed that we’ve ever seen on screen. And it takes a while, when you first put the glasses on, to just appreciate what it actually is that’s going on. Because you’re eyes are not deceiving you, there is no blur, it’s absolutely so effective. Especially for the lack of blur, which is something that we’ve always had to deal with in shooting in 3D, and now we don’t. So, yeah, we’re making history with technology as well as with film.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

So far I think that all of the CGI creatures they've created at Weta have been fantastic. I trust them to do a great job with Smaug. It is hard to know exactly how though considering we don't really know much about the tone of the movies yet, but certainly by the end it will dovetail with Lotr. To what extent it will be whimsical has yet to be clearly seen. I think that will have a greater effect on Smaug than any shortcomings or artistic differences in comparison to the animation.

The closer WETA get to Alan Lee's Smaug the better.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eO6PAECsSOA/TkHXc1BgKlI/AAAAAAAAACw/rvkuNRF-PAk/s1600/Smaug2AlanLee.jpg

http://fantasy.mrugala.net/Alan Lee - The Hobbit/Alan Lee - The Hobbit - 20 - Smaug's fury.jpg

Not to take anything away from John Howe though as his Smaug depictions are quite lovely.

http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/data/media/1/Smaug.jpg

http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/images/John Howe/Middle-Earth/john_howe_middle-earth_smaug2_med.jpg



It's massive shame that Ted Nasmith isn't collaborating with The Hobbit production after issues prevented him working on LOTR. He's the best Silmarillion artist out there and his Hobbit/ LOTR related stuff is fantastic.

Simarillion and LOTR examples:

 

[JonnyBrad]

The closer WETA get to Alan Lee's Smaug the better.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eO6PAECsSOA/TkHXc1BgKlI/AAAAAAAAACw/rvkuNRF-PAk/s1600/Smaug2AlanLee.jpg

http://fantasy.mrugala.net/Alan Lee - The Hobbit/Alan Lee - The Hobbit - 20 - Smaug's fury.jpg

Not to take anything away from John Howe though as his Smaug depictions are quite lovely.

http://www.drachenserver.de/wordpre...-howe/John_Howe_-_Smaug_destroys_laketown.jpg

http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/data/media/1/Smaug.jpg


It's massive shame that Ted Nasmith isn't collaborating with The Hobbit production after issues prevented him working on LOTR. He's the best Silmarillion artist out there and his Hobbit/ LOTR related stuff is fantastic.

Simarillion and LOTR examples:

[/img]http://angband.oook.cz/gfx/artwork/Password_into_Moria.jpg[/img]
[/img]http://angband.oook.cz/gfx/artwork/Tuor_Reaches_the_Hidden_City_of_Gondolin.jpg[/img]
[/img]http://angband.oook.cz/gfx/artwork/The_Shores_of_Valinor.jpg[/img]
[/img]http://img-fan.theonering.net/~rolozo/images/nasmith/sil-melkor.jpg[/img]
[/img]http://www.danamad.ru/gal/images/Ted%20Nasmith/The%20Silmarillion/ted%20nasmith_the%20silmarillion_2_quenta%20silmarillion_3_of%20the%20coming%20of%20the%20elves%20and%20the%20captivity%20of%20melkor.jpg[/img]

He was uncredited on LOTR but they definitely used his stuff imo.

http://tednasmith.narod.ru/

Some of the stuff there is practically 1 to 1 from his pics.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

He was uncredited on LOTR but they definitely used his stuff imo.

http://tednasmith.narod.ru/

Some of the stuff there is practically 1 to 1 from his pics.

I was blown away by the similarities and near identical scenes when I first saw that site. I still am.

Peter and co owe many thanks to Mr Nasmith.

 

[fallengorn]

The Gollum and Smaug from the cartoon are the deffinative versions of those characters to me. My biggest concern of PJs version is Smaug, but only because of how closely I associate with the cartoons version.

I really love all the design work done for the Rankin Bass adaptations (actually most Rankin Bass animated movies). Love the lupine/canin features they gave Smaug.

If Smaug in The Hobbit is more or less a "regular" dragon I'd be disappointed. I'm hoping they keep some of the influences from Del Toro.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

I really love all the design work done for the Rankin Bass adaptations (actually most Rankin Bass animated movies). Love the lupine/canin features they gave Smaug.

If Smaug in The Hobbit is more or less a "regular" dragon I'd be disappointed. I'm hoping they keep some of the influences from Del Toro.

The initial concept was a dragon whose colour would be constantly changing. A bit like the Saruman of Many Colours depiction in the LOTR novel. From I've heard recently
they may have gone with a more traditional dragon with golden scales.

 

[Cheebo]

I love the animated Gollum. I agree he is the definitive on screen Gollum.

Andy Serkis performance is nothing short of brilliant but it was just so...comical and lovable. For what it was it was a great pitch perfect performance but is isn't really how Gollum is shown in the book. He is extremely scary in the book. The prolouge to ROTK got that creepy off-putting aspect of him well but the movies just didn't show that like how the animated film and the books did.

Riddles in the Dark is one of the most iconic and important chapters in all of Tolkien's Middle Earth books. I really hope PJ pulls it off. That is essential. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is built around what happens in that chapter of the book.

 

[Chuckie]

The initial concept was a dragon whose colour would be constantly changing. A bit like the Saruman of Many Colours depiction in the LOTR novel. From I've heard recently
they may have gone with a more traditional dragon with golden scales.

I've always been a bit sad they didn't do that in the movies to be honest. I was waiting for Saruman of Many Colours, but never got him hehe.

 

[Cheebo]

I've always been a bit sad they didn't do that in the movies to be honest. I was waiting for Saruman of Many Colours, but never got him hehe.

Saurman's colorful robes would have looked really weird on screen for a villian.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

I love the animated Gollum. I agree he is the definitive on screen Gollum.

Andy Serkis performance is nothing short of brilliant but it was just so...comical and lovable. For what it was it was a great pitch perfect performance but is isn't really how Gollum is shown in the book. He is extremely scary in the book. The prolouge to ROTK got that creepy off-putting aspect of him well but the movies just didn't show that like how the animated film and the books did.

Riddles in the Dark is one of the most iconic and important chapters in all of Tolkien's Middle Earth books. I really hope PJ pulls it off. That is essential. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is built around what happens in that chapter of the book.

Yes, indeed.

But there are still many people who prefer the original chapter which they feel is the definitive version of Riddles in the Dark. Tolkien's original vision of Gollum before he retroactively changed him to suit the tone and story of LOTR, which Tolkien did not originally plan to write.

Gollum was very

Spoiler

passive

and

Spoiler

was very willing to give his 'present' to Bilbo.

A stark contrast to the Gollum in the revised edition.

 

[Man]

Didn't know Stephen Fry was in this. Excellent!

 

[Cheebo]

I really wish Tolkien finished his massive overhaul of The Hobbit he started in the 60's but never completed. Would have been interesting to read. I wonder if he would have included all the White Council and Necromancer material PJ is including. I believe he never got that far in his re-write, just a few chapters in.

 

[Wiggum2007]

Del Toro was going to keep the talking animals.

If Peter doesn't keep the talking animals I'll be pissed!