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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
 Posted - 12/20/2007 : 2:28:24 PM
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The good news is The Hobbit is finally set to go forward. The bad news is Peter Jackson will not be involved, at least as director.
[url]http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2007-12-19#1[/url]
Even if Jackson did decide to return, the odds of capturing lightning in a bottle twice would be slim at best. Let's face it, the LOTR trilogy is a tough act to follow for anyone to follow, whether your name is Peter Jackson or Sergei Eisenstein. Secondly, outside of LOTR, Jackson's film career thus far can be charitably described as spotty. Early efforts like Dead Alive and The Frighteners revealed the younger Jackson to be less the distinguished auteur than the enthusiastic hack.
Now that Jackson has signaled that he will not return to direct The Hobbit (nor has he evinced any interest in writing the screenplay, though he has offered to produce), one has to wonder whether the effort is worth doing at all. Another Hollywood quickie cash-in is something we don't need right now. The fact that the LOTR trilogy was fueled by something more than a simple desire to chase dollar signs was precisely what set it apart from the usual Lucas-Spielberg flotsam in the first place.
Also worthy of scratching one's head: The Hobbit will be released as a two-parter. Though Tolkien's literary classic is my favorite of all his Middle Earth tales, I somehow doubt his single novel can be stretched into two separate movies. The original work is a sweeter, simpler adventure tale lacking the sweep and spectacle of the LOTR trilogy. And if Jackson plans to add "new" material to pad the two films' running time, that's not such a good idea either. History has demonstrated Jackson to be far more effective in adapting other people's material than he is at developing his own. |
Edited by - zombiewhacker on 12/20/2007 2:29:37 PM
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Citizen Carrier
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
322 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2007 : 3:30:30 PM
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| I'm sure they could do The Hobbit justice in one three hour movie. |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2007 : 4:04:40 PM
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Or even in a 2 hour one. They sure want to milk the Tolkien cow as much as they can.
The good news is that a while ago Sam Raimi was being mentioned as a possible director. That would be great. |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2007 : 4:24:33 PM
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Sam Raimi would be an interesting choice. But the two movie deal is definitely going to be bloated. That, along with Jackson not directing, seems a possible recipe for disaster.
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://www.henrybrennan.com/
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nshumate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
464 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2007 : 06:35:32 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by zombiewhacker
Early efforts like Dead Alive and The Frighteners revealed the younger Jackson to be less the distinguished auteur than the enthusiastic hack.
I find your lack of respect for Dead Alive... disturbing.
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2007 : 08:53:56 AM
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The Hobbit is a nice, lean little adventure. Turning it into a multi-film epic is ridiculous.
"I reserve the right to look as well as be boring." - Robert Fripp |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2007 : 10:07:18 AM
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Nonsense. Tolkien was just getting into the process of writing when he began The Hobbit. Even over the course of the book it evolves from an innocuous children's tale to having the tone and weight that LOTR would further develop. The Hobbit and its world had no context for the reader on publication but Tolkien knew even then that it was setting the stage for the greater story of LOTR. Well in the movie world LOTR has come fist. The Hobbit has its context in the greater story of Middle-earth already clearly established and there's no reason not to take advantage of it. Middle-earth history, through the LOTR appendices, Silmarillion and Lost Tales, is so rich and detailed that no event occurs in a vacuum and I think that filming The Hobbit with the benefit of such hindsight, IF DONE WELL, will provide a terrific experience for the true fan to see the dramatization of events heretofore only hinted at in the printed canon. So you people who are looking for a happy little "There and Back Again" kiddie tale, get over it *g* *g*
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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Cannon Fodder
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
Australia
176 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2007 : 11:16:35 PM
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| You mean if we want an adaptation that is faithful to the tone and content of the work it is adapted from forget it? I really can't see how shoehorning in events included in the more or less archival works by Tolkien, which weren't really written with the inent of being stories moreso histories as part of Tolkien's work building project, in with the events of The Hobbit will work. Anything beyond the marterial included within the book of The Hobbit will not gel with the meat of the story and will seem like what it is, extraneous material shoved in to pad out the story in order to get more bums on seats over two movies instead of one. The Hobbit is not Lord of the Rings and any attempt to make it more so is going to spoil what could otherwise be an entertaining movie. |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2007 : 11:46:38 AM
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| I would rather they left The Hobbit as is. If they really want to produce another Tolkien-esque multi-film epic they'd be better off filming The Silmarillion as a standalone. |
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Altair IV
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
Japan
110 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2007 : 1:23:03 PM
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| The way Jackson & co. minced up the characters and storyline in the LOTR, I'd be happier if he had nothing to do with writing it. Let him direct, fine, but keep his mitts (and those of the other two hacks who helped him) off of the script. |
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