h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Fellowship of the Ring comes out in December. Can it possibly live up to the book? I've seen previews, and I'm optimistic so far.
What do you think?

I sure hope so. Those were some of the best books I have ever read. What I have seen so far makes me optimistic.

I'm looking foward to the Rings trilogy on film too! I wish they would release them all at once, and not a year at a time. The atmosphere of the previews seems to capture the books very well. I hope the movies live up to the promise of the previews. I hear the movies were filmed in New Zealand. I am also looking foward to it because Cate Blanchett, my favorite actress, is in it.

They did bring out a Lord of the Rings film about ten years ago. It covered the first book, I believe. It was absolutely horrendously awful!

Hopefully this new version will be good, it sounds as if they're trying to do it properly this time!

Peta

I think that version was the animated one -they were going to make the sequel with the profits from it, but of course it didn't make any..

I think I've seen most of the previews for the new films so far.. they look fantastic, I think they've recreated Middle Earth from a lot of the original Lee illustrations,

That was the one Swiv. It was kind of photographically animated. They'd filmed shots and converted them to a couple of colours, red and black as I recall. The overall effect was appalling!

Technology has moved on so much, they should be able to do it well this time around!

I'll definitely go and see it, I love the book.

the original Lee illustrations ?

There are so many artists who've done illustrations to Lord of the Rings, but I don't know which you mean here. Don't all the original (and many of the subsequent) prints of the book come with Tolkein's own illustrations?

I may be wrong

PD (need to learn some smileys - a confused/worried one would do here)

Try

(erm)

I've heard they are re-jigging *small* sections of the three novels to make the film of LOTR more coherent:

Out goes Tom Bombadill for being tedious
but in comes Arwyn a whole book early.
Plus some of the opening scenes from The Two Towers will form the closing scenes of The Fellowship...

This aside the new films will probably be about a faithful translation of the books as you could hope for, personally, I can't wait!

Clive

Myyyy Pressssscioussssss....

ok, I mean Alan Lee's illustrations....

Have you seen the new (in the UK anyways) trailer?

I like Ian McKellans' Gandalf, very "Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now" when he grabs Frodo and shouts "Is it Secret?! Is it safe?!"

The Dark Riders look brilliant, really ethereal, I think we get a glimpse of them as ring-wraiths too

The atmosphere looks spot on, as well.

And Moria looks fantastic!

Yes. New line have released a new trailer "In the lands of Middle-Earth [gandalf riding over a bridge] .....YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!!" look closely and you'll spot Gollum in the there - he passes by the bottom left of the screen when you see Frodo and Sam dressed as orcs over-looking a reddish scene of marching armies.

I read somehwere that the 'is it secret is it safe' scene from the earlier trailer is Frodo dreaming about the ring after Bilbo's birthday.

I saw the trailer in the theater and it made me quiver with excitement. The television commercial with the shots of the cave troll, Aragorn chopping up orcs, and Legolas drawing his bow is just so mmmm!
Counting days until December 18th!

I've seen 3 trailers: the original short one; the second, longer one, which was released in cinemas with Pearl Harbour (and was the only reason I didn't want my money back...) with Gollum's voice - perfect IMO - in it...; and the new 3rd one, that just came out on US TV with Angel, and is the one that ends with "You Shall Not Pass..."

all fantastic

They have action figures. Gollum looks like something halfway between and . Not how I imagined him at all. Well, that's the risk with any movie made from a book. Anyway, the problem is that there is no way Lord of the Rings should have action figures based on it, movie or otherwise. I'm worried that people who have never read the books will go watch the movie, decide to read the books afterwards, and be disappointed. The thing is, movies simply can't have as much depth as books, which means that movies based on books will keep the plot and nothing else. (And leave after-movie readers disappointed by all the detail extraneous to the plot.) I have the same concerns about the Harry Potter movie. But then again, I'm in somewhat of a pessimistic mood right now, so nothing looks like it will turn out well at the moment. I'll probably change my mind soon and flame myself out of the thread.

As far as the "Lee illustrations" are concerned it does indeed look as if the film's designers have looked long and hard at the illustrations Lee has done. He is I believe the Tolkien Estate's favourite illustrator.

Lee did the illustrations for the Centenary Editions of the books and has also done fabolous editions of The Trojan War and The Odyssey.

The October 2001 edition of Wired has an interesting article on the whole movie and how fan response has been very important to the director while filming and everything. I would suggest going and finding it if it sounds interesting.

I'm in two minds whether or not to see the film of "The Lord of the Rings", as wonderful as it sounds, because it could over ride the images of Middle Earth and its characters that my own imagination has created for me.

Oops! I also forgot to ask whether anyone has heard BBC Radio 4's dramatisation of "The Lord of the Rings", which was brilliant, although they also to omitted Tom Bombadil?

I have, they're fantastic

'twill be interesting to see Ian Holm as Bilbo not Frodo....