A blog for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, from complete beginners to avid enthusiasts, exploring the author's imaginary world, influential writing and cinematic adaptations.
Last week I was contacted by Invaluable: an online auction site that specialises in authentic movie props.
I was asked to share my own thoughts on a favourite prop in the form of a blog post. Naturally, my mind hovered over the Middle-earth films and after looking deep into the recesses of thought, I’ve come up with a thing or two.
The result of that thinking process can be seen below … Continue reading “Favourite Middle-earth Prop”
I have been a Peter Jackson apologist for a number of years: attempting to understand and explain to others certain decisions done by the filmmaker when adapting the Middle-earth stories tothe silver screen.
Never being a narrow-minded “Jacksonphile”, I tried – as much as possible – to understand his reasonings; but not always found myself in full agreement with the outcome of specific choices. However, I always accepted Jackson’s own thoughts behind the alterations he employed.
However, after viewing The Battle of the Five Armies, I have come to the conclusion that Peter Jackson has probably done some shocking errors of judgement in its third act; something I will undoubtedly find extremely difficult to accept why he made the choices that eventually ended up on the screen.
I can most certainly understand why, but I don’t think I’ll be able to agree or sympathise with those decisions.
Continue reading “The Problematic Climax of ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’”
Having just seen the last film for a third time, I think I am prepared to tackle the pleasurable, if arduous, task of writing an in-depth review.
I have roughly followed the soundtrack listing of each scene to keep a consistent and chronological structure to the writing.
Suffice to say, this is quite a lengthy review …
If you enjoyed The Battle of the Five Armies but, like me, were not fully satisfied due to certain omissions, the content of next year’s Extended Edition seems to be extremely promising; a definitive director’s cut to be shelved along with the other 5 equally-stupendous Middle-earth films.
During the World Premier in London, Peter Jackson already stated that there will be 30 minutes of new material.
Continue reading “The Battle of the Five Armies: Extended Edition (… speculation)”
The big plus of the final Hobbit film is its urgency. The big minus, is also its urgency.
It may sound contradicting, but that really is how I felt, after seeing the final installment of The Hobbit.
To those who thought that the previous two films dragged along in pacing, Peter Jackson seems to have responded with his most fervent Middle-earth film yet.
In just over two hours, Jackson pulls off the immense task of bringing the story’s major (and most complicated) sequences remarkably well.
As a theatrical release, The Desolation of Smaug was a significant improvement from the occasionally slow-moving sequences (which I personally find no objection to) in An Unexpected Journey.
But whilst the first Extended Edition release (with a total of 13 minutes of extra footage) felt more like a financial (as well as traditional) move for fans (though I find the Hobbiton sequences the most appropriate), The Desolation of Smaug’s 25 minutes of new scenes marks a massive improvement in the scope of the two Extended Editions.
I can here formally extend my gratitude to Peter Jackson for re-recognizing the meaning of an Extended Edition – following the success of the format with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Continue reading “The Desolation of Smaug: Extended Edition Review”
The Hobbit marketing machine seems to be gearing up and making a final push before The Battle of the Five Armies hits our screens in just over 2 months.
With a hail of new updates, we take a quick look at what has been going on in the past few weeks – and what we can expect in the very near future. Continue reading “News from Middle-Earth”
– You’ve probably heard it in passing, like a glimmer of hope beyond reach. You may have craved for it, but were left empty-handed. Continue reading “The Middle-earth Box Set: Ultimate Edition *speculations*”
(It’s the return of the Stick Figures! – and yes, that’s me hard at work typing these responses – see the tongue sticking out? Intense!)
Many thanks to all of you who – in some way or other – commented to this post: Who am I?
There were some very interesting questions, as well as intriguing Middle-earth topics I shall be dealing with in the near future.
In the meantime, I’ve gathered people’s query’s from WordPress and Twitter and gave my best (and honest) response to each 😉
A Tolkienist's Perspective 