The Hobbit: first trailer

[Mike Pothier]

Fantastic. Two great trailers in just a few days. They certainly are making the coming year slow.

[thwhtGuardian]

I read the four books all back-to-back and Hobbit's definitely got a more lighthearted tone than LotR. Not to say there aren't a lot of serious bits (Kids books from that era are much more gruesome than today's children's lit), but you can definitely feel a major thematic shift from the Hobbit to Fellowship of the Ring.

In regards to Over the Mist Mountains Cold, in particular, I get the feeling I misinterpreted the intended tone back in the day anyway. Half of the poem is basically about Smaug destroying their home, portraying it in a somber tone is far from a stretch.

Indeed that was my meaning, there is a difference between LoTR and the Hobbit; both tonally and thematically but still it was rather somber so the tone of the trailer seemed right.

[Brock]

It was impressive to see how much has been shot and rendered at this stage. The score is coming along very nicely too.

There looks to be a sharp division between the dwarves with exaggerated features for comic relief and the dwarves that are allowed to look handsome (filling the Aragorn/Legolas gap no-doubt)

Just to think. They haven't even begun shooting any of the Smaug scenes yet. That footage will make a great trailer #2, for sometime next year.

[AdamYJ]

I read the four books all back-to-back and Hobbit's definitely got a more lighthearted tone than LotR. Not to say there aren't a lot of serious bits (Kids books from that era are much more gruesome than today's children's lit), but you can definitely feel a major thematic shift from the Hobbit to Fellowship of the Ring.

In regards to Over the Mist Mountains Cold, in particular, I get the feeling I misinterpreted the intended tone back in the day anyway. Half of the poem is basically about Smaug destroying their home, portraying it in a somber tone is far from a stretch.

Well, The Hobbit is mostly a journey/adventure story. The Lord of the Rings is largely a war story as I see it. So, I think the difference in tone is definitely intentional. It's one of the reasons I prefer The Hobbit over LotR actually. No offense to any LotR uber-fans, but I never cared for war stories even when draped in fantasy trappings. It's why I stopped reading epic fantasy in general a while back.

[FanboyStranger]

If I had to guess, I'd say the film will end with their escape from Murkwood.

That seems to be the natural cut-off point for me. You show the barrels floating off down to Laketown with some narration like "Even after all that, our adventure was just beginning." That way you can really give the Battle of Five Armies its due in the second movie.

Start the second movie with Gandalf in Dol Guildor.

[artiepants]

That seems to be the natural cut-off point for me. You show the barrels floating off down to Laketown with some narration like "Even after all that, our adventure was just beginning." That way you can really give the Battle of Five Armies its due in the second movie.

Start the second movie with Gandalf in Dol Guildor.

I was thinking after the Elves take the Dwarves prisoner and Bilbo sets off to rescue them, which to me fits nicely with the cliffhangers in both FotR and TTT, but either those 2 point seems the most likely to me.

[Cleric of Hell's Brigade]

Fantastic!

This will be something wicked awesome to look forward to.

[Nate Grey]

I cannot wait, AND they're keeping some of the cues from the score of the LOTR trilogy? Yay!

[0bsessions]

It was impressive to see how much has been shot and rendered at this stage. The score is coming along very nicely too.

Oh god, the score. The music for this trailer was just phenomenal. This trailer was pretty much the absolute ideal for what a trailer should be and, as folks who've read the books (Presumably for the most part), we all know this isn't one of those "everything but the last ten minutes" trailers, it just scratches the surface.

Well, The Hobbit is mostly a journey/adventure story. The Lord of the Rings is largely a war story as I see it. So, I think the difference in tone is definitely intentional. It's one of the reasons I prefer The Hobbit over LotR actually. No offense to any LotR uber-fans, but I never cared for war stories even when draped in fantasy trappings. It's why I stopped reading epic fantasy in general a while back.

My belief is that the big difference is the intended audience. As I recall reading, the Hobbit was by and large conceived as stories he told his son, who was under ten around when Tolkien started writing the book in the early thirties. The trailer triggered an urge to reread the book and it really does just read like a guy telling his kid a bedtime story. LotR, however, was written, by and large, during World War II once Christopher was grown up (So many obvious parallels can be drawn to, one menace close to home and another in the far East, the Ents unwilling to get involved until provoked by an overzealous enemy) which would obviously lead to more of a war story.

I can't say I love one more than the other, though. As you say, they're two vastly different works.

[Phil Clark]

Makes me want to re-read the Hobbit, and re-watch the old Rankin-Bass Animated film.

[DeadXMan]

this needs a ballad

[Phil Clark]

Apparently there are some people on Twitter and FaceBook that are reaming this trailer. They are calling it an overt and blatant ripoff of Lord of the Rings, down to casting the same actor for the old wizard. And that Peter Jackson isn't nearly as talented a director as the guy who directed the Lord of the Rings.

Don't you just love blazing ignorance?

[Inkthinker]

That seems to be the natural cut-off point for me. You show the barrels floating off down to Laketown with some narration like "Even after all that, our adventure was just beginning." That way you can really give the Battle of Five Armies its due in the second movie.

Start the second movie with Gandalf in Dol Guildor.

Close, but a better point is right after that, when the Lake-Men fish 'em out, and Thorin proclaims "I am King Under the Mountain. I have returned", and then he passes out from exhaustion/starvation/12 hours in a barrel. Pan up to the Lonely Mountain, huge as hell.

But yeah, basically the same point. Then you start the next film with them being healed up and helped by the Lake-Men, them going up the side of the mountain, finding their way in, the whole Smaug affair, Bilbo's betrayal, the Battle of Five Armies and the inevitable half-hour or more denoument. Add in the additional Gandalf material and whatever other threads tie it closer to LotR, and that's a second 3-hour movie easily.

I was thinking after the Elves take the Dwarves prisoner and Bilbo sets off to rescue them, which to me fits nicely with the cliffhangers in both FotR and TTT, but either those 2 point seems the most likely to me.

If they were drawing this out into a trilogy, then I'd think you were right. Thankfully, they're not.

At least... not yet. -_-

[Inkthinker]

Apparently there are some people on Twitter and FaceBook that are reaming this trailer. They are calling it an overt and blatant ripoff of Lord of the Rings, down to casting the same actor for the old wizard. And that Peter Jackson isn't nearly as talented a director as the guy who directed the Lord of the Rings.

Don't you just love blazing ignorance?

Aw, c'mon Phil... don't you reckon half of that is people purposefully trolling for teh lulz?

Unless... unless you're hooking me by seriously suggesting that any substantial number of people are actually that dumb.

In which case, bravo sir. You gots me.

:D

[Phil Clark]

Uhm... yeah. That's exactly what I was doing... yeah... heheh, gotcha.