I am not impressed by The Hobbit trailer. at all.

here's my argument:

my first reaction was this -
The Hobbit trailer doesn't impress me. it's got a complete rip off feel from LOTR and the dwarves don't look like dwarves and Bilbo isn't stinking Bilbo. *sigh*

...

first of all, they recast Bilbo. and recasting is never a good thing. anytime a recast happens, it never works and the film tends to drop in popularity.

Rip-off? Uhm, the feel is intentional. It's a set. The majority of fans would hate to have a totally different feel from the previous movies. That was the worry have having Del Toro direct in the first place, given that he has his signature "look".

Ok, fine. You weren't impressed. But being upset at the recasting? Having Ian Holm narrate was all that we could really have hoped for. The actor is simply too old to do the work required for Bilbo. They NEEDED someone younger to play the role. And at least they didn't ignore the change, he's at least narrating- some consistency.

secondly, while I was watching the trailer, it suddenly hit me: when they cast Ian Holm as Bilbo in FotR, they intended him to look like that while he had the ring. in other words, Bilbo, once he got the ring into his possession, from that day forward, he never aged a day. in the first movie Gandalf greets Bilbo, "you haven't aged a day"
...
the guy they cast for Bilbo in the hobbit does not look like Ian Holms... and he doesn't look anything like Ian Holm

I agree here, Ian Holm is what was originally intended to be the proper age for Bilbo at the time he found the ring. Unfortunately, with all the bankruptcy issues involved the movie has been postponed too much, and again... Ian Holm doesn't feel fit to play the role. At least he is narrating it. That Freeman, (new Bilbo), doesn't look like Holms is not a serious issue. As long as he plays the part right I'll be happy- and for that we need to wait until next year.

the only way, IMO, that this movie is going to be awesome, is for peter jackson to treat it as it's own, and not some little attatchment to LOTR. what I mean by that is, yes, the hobbit IS attatched to LOTR, but, it's it's own story, it's own characters. Galadril makes no appearence. the last I looked, the story was about 13 dwarves and a hobbit being led by a wizard in search for gold and the events that happen hearafter.

That would have been excellent if it could be done. But, as it is a set, and LOTR is made for an older audience.... To make The Hobbit as "childish" as the book requires would hurt the movie. At least I think so... Also, Tolkien left the world his Appendices which have more than enough information to properly insert material without ruining the story. It's what was done to Aragorn/Arwen thankfully.

I am not impressed by The Hobbit trailer. at all.

here's my argument:

my first reaction was this -
The Hobbit trailer doesn't impress me. it's got a complete rip off feel from LOTR and the dwarves don't look like dwarves and Bilbo isn't stinking Bilbo. *sigh* when I see this thing next year, it better be better than it's been looking thus far. cuz I'm not really excited. plus, it looks like Gandalf and Galadriel are gonna kiss or something... ? ugh I hope not
the only part I like is the dwarves singing

my second reaction was this -
see, what I mean is that I'm not trying to judge too far ahead, I'm just talking about what I have seen thus far. it looks a bit cool but there is one major mistake that they have made. actually technically there are 2 mistakes:
first of all, they recast Bilbo. and recasting is never a good thing. anytime a recast happens, it never works and the film tends to drop in popularity.
secondly, while I was watching the trailer, it suddenly hit me: when they cast Ian Holm as Bilbo in FotR, they intended him to look like that while he had the ring. in other words, Bilbo, once he got the ring into his possession, from that day forward, he never aged a day. in the first movie Gandalf greets Bilbo, "you haven't aged a day"
so, Ian Holm, in their eyes, was what Bilbo was meant to look like during his possesion of the ring. but then they show Bilbo in Rivendell, looking older already because the ring was not in his posession anymore.
the guy they cast for Bilbo in the hobbit does not look like Ian Holm, nor does he look the way he should if continuity is to be kept. he should look as close to what Ian Holm looked like in the first movie as possible. instead, he looks like a cross between Merry and Pippin (he seems to have Pippin's personality) and he doesn't look anything like Ian Holm
*rant rant rant*

my third reaction was this -
I just want to say this: Peter Jackson is not perfect. just because he aced LOTR to perfection, it doesn't mean the hobbit is going to work out, particularly because
1) it's been 7 years since the last LOTR came to theaters.
2) peter jackson is trying to hang onto LOTR's fame to bring this one to the public. ouch. yes, there are huge LOTR fans still freaking out over the books and movies, but it's been 7 years. the only way, IMO, that this movie is going to be awesome, is for peter jackson to treat it as it's own, and not some little attatchment to LOTR. what I mean by that is, yes, the hobbit IS attatched to LOTR, but, it's it's own story, it's own characters. Galadril makes no appearence. the last I looked, the story was about 13 dwarves and a hobbit being led by a wizard in search for gold and the events that happen hearafter. but this looks like it's lost what the book's simple message shows. ugh. and ya'll know how much of a non-book purist I am

basically, I am baffled and disturbed by this. I still plan on seeing this movie in theaters, but I have not been and I am still not majorly excited. I am more than willing to wait for next year to see this movie

Of course this is going to look like LotR. It's by the same director set in the same film universe using many of the same characters. What were you expecting it to look like?

The dwarves aren't all going to look identically like Gimli. If you've looked at any of the promotional images, you would see that they each have a distinct look. As long as they all have beards and are short, I fail to see the problem.

Small problem with the recasting complaints, Ian Holm was de-aged for the scene in LotR where he finds the Ring. So no, he's not meant to look like an old man in The Hobbit. He's only in his 50s if I recall, which is not quite middle-aged for a Hobbit. Using Ian Holm would be ridiculous since he's ten years older than he was when they filmed LotR. Also, he's 80 years old. There's pretty much no possibility that he would be able to pull off the amount of physical activity required for the role. Opinions about whether Freeman looks like a younger Ian Holm are pretty subjective; nevertheless the consensus amongst the people I know is that he looks about as close to a young Ian Holm as you could get.

Judging by the reaction to the Hobbit trailer on the internet, I think it's safe to say that it doesn't matter how long it has been since LotR was in theatres. The Hobbit was a trending topic on Twitter for hours in multiple languages. Pretty much every film site on the Internet was jumping for joy over the trailer release. Add in the fact that LotR has one of the oldest and most devoted fanbases of any fantasy franchise and I think it's safe to say that The Hobbit will do just fine in theatres. This isn't like Narnia, where the fandom is tiny and most of the general public has never heard of the individual books.

Galadriel is in the movie because we're getting the White Council's assault on Dol Guldur to drive out the Necromancer. This is in the book and Jackson is using material from the LotR appendices to expand upon the storyline. That's been well-known for ages, so her presence in the trailer shouldn't be a shock.

As for the Galadriel/Gandalf scene, I rather doubt Jackson is going to pull an Adamson and pop a ridiculous romance in the story because the actors are both hawt.

The Hobbit trailer doesn't impress me. it's got a complete rip off feel from LOTR and the dwarves don't look like dwarves and Bilbo isn't stinking Bilbo. *sigh* when I see this thing next year, it better be better than it's been looking thus far. cuz I'm not really excited.

I think it looks enough like LOTR to let people feel like they're "coming back home" (which is necessary since both stories take place in the same world), but also different enough to stand on it's own. It definitely has it's own unique feel to it -- a more homey feel, which is what we want.

Also, Martin Freeman just screams Bilbo to me. Or at least, the way I pictured his looks and personality when I read the books.

plus, it looks like Gandalf and Galadriel are gonna kiss or something... ? ugh I hope not

I doubt they're going to kiss. It did look a little romance-y in the trailer, but I think the trailer is just deceiving. (Or maybe we're all just conditioned to expect something romantic whenever we see a man and woman together in a trailer, since it happens so much in movies. ) I think, in context, Galadriel is just being her affectionate, caring self toward Gandalf, who she loves as a friend.

see, what I mean is that I'm not trying to judge too far ahead, I'm just talking about what I have seen thus far. it looks a bit cool but there is one major mistake that they have made. actually technically there are 2 mistakes:
first of all, they recast Bilbo. and recasting is never a good thing. anytime a recast happens, it never works and the film tends to drop in popularity.
secondly, while I was watching the trailer, it suddenly hit me: when they cast Ian Holm as Bilbo in FotR, they intended him to look like that while he had the ring. in other words, Bilbo, once he got the ring into his possession, from that day forward, he never aged a day. in the first movie Gandalf greets Bilbo, "you haven't aged a day"
so, Ian Holm, in their eyes, was what Bilbo was meant to look like during his possesion of the ring. but then they show Bilbo in Rivendell, looking older already because the ring was not in his posession anymore.

The "You haven't aged a day" line in LOTR always confused me, because they did show him age, even in FOTR. During the Riddles in the Dark scene of LOTR, they used the make-up to make him look much younger than they did in the rest of the film.

Plus, whether re-casting was good for the movie or not, it was necessary. Ian Holm is too old to do the part now. If it was a matter of Ian Holm or nothing, we would have gotten nothing, and that's no good. Besides, I have a feeling that people are going to fall in love with Martin Freeman's portrayal. In fact, I've seen a lot of people who already have.

the guy they cast for Bilbo in the hobbit does not look like Ian Holm, nor does he look the way he should if continuity is to be kept. he should look as close to what Ian Holm looked like in the first movie as possible. instead, he looks like a cross between Merry and Pippin (he seems to have Pippin's personality) and he doesn't look anything like Ian Holm

I think he looks a lot like Ian Holm, in both facial features and the way they did hair and make-up. But as others have said, this may be a matter of opinion.

I don't see anything in his personality that's anything like Pippin. Pippin was very energetic, ridiculous. From what I've seen so far of Martin's performance, he seems very cautious, reluctant to leave his Hobbit hole, but still with a glimmer of desire for adventure hidden inside him. Which is the way Tolkien portrayed the character in the book.

I just want to say this: Peter Jackson is not perfect. just because he aced LOTR to perfection, it doesn't mean the hobbit is going to work out

I think most people would argue about Peter Jackson acing LOTR to perfection. The trilogy was amazing, but it did have its faults. We all know Jackson isn't perfect. We're all expecting to see at least something we don't like. But from what I've seen so far, it looks like he's keeping with the spirit of things.

1) it's been 7 years since the last LOTR came to theaters.
2) peter jackson is trying to hang onto LOTR's fame to bring this one to the public. ouch. yes, there are huge LOTR fans still freaking out over the books and movies, but it's been 7 years. the only way, IMO, that this movie is going to be awesome, is for peter jackson to treat it as it's own, and not some little attatchment to LOTR. what I mean by that is, yes, the hobbit IS attatched to LOTR, but, it's it's own story, it's own characters. Galadril makes no appearence. the last I looked, the story was about 13 dwarves and a hobbit being led by a wizard in search for gold and the events that happen hearafter. but this looks like it's lost what the book's simple message shows. ugh. and ya'll know how much of a non-book purist I am

As others have said, these parts were not in The Hobbit, but they did take place during the time of The Hobbit and were written in other works by Tolkien. I think it will be interesting to see it on screen; and also, for once, see all the things that were going on in Middle Earth during that time all taking place in the same story, instead of having to read them separately in different accounts.

As for the Galadriel/Gandalf scene, I rather doubt Jackson is going to pull an Adamson and pop a ridiculous romance in the story because the actors are both hawt.

Gandalf is hawt?

~Riella

Bookwyrm, Narnia's fandom isn't tiny, it just hasn't been read by as many people (or sold as many copies) as LotR. Amen to everything else you said.

Bookwyrm, Narnia's fandom isn't tiny, it just hasn't been read by as many people (or sold as many copies) as LotR. Amen to everything else you said.

When it comes to movie fandom, though, the LOTR fan base is much larger than the one for the Narnia films. LOTR movie madness borders on ridiculous sometimes, whereas the line to get into a Narnia film on it's first day is surprisingly and sadly small.

Plus, even among readers, LWW is often the only book read, while others tend to be forgotten.

~Riella

Not to be overly picky or anything, but we currently have two threads talking about the exact same thing... The Hobbit trailer. So if we could direct any further discussion of the Hobbit to the Tolkien thread so as to leave this thread open for all the other movies, that would be greatly appreciated.

On a different note and the reason I came into this thread in the first place, I finally saw the Dark Knight Rises trailer today (I'm a little behind on that one.) I'm not quite sure what to think of it. The trailer itself was really good. I'm sure the people who liked The Dark Knight will probably love this one, but I actually hated that movie. It was too dark for me (no pun intended) to be able to enjoy. This one looks much the same so I'll probably pass.

I'm glad to see this thread pick up some steam. I know the trailer you're all talking about, I saw it yesterday too. That's right...the Expendables 2 trailer! It has Van Damme! It has Chuck Norris! It has Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Jet Li, and all the rest! It has the Governator: Ahnuld in it!

Also there was this trailer that had a bunch of short people carrying battle axes. But that's neither here nor there.

I figured you'd come in here talking about the Prometheus trailer SL.

I don't know who else in here is an Ender's Game fan, but the vast majority of the casting announcements are out now and quite a few of them I'm very excited about. Comingsoon.net has the list here...
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=85413

Aside from Asa Butterfield as Ender (which is perfect imho), I'm REALLY excited about Hailee Steinfeld as Petra.

Ender's Game is being made into a movie?! No way!!! I'm really excited! And I'm pretty pleased with the casting (Now I have an excuse to read the book again )

now I'm going to have to read Ender's Game my friend has been begging me to for months now and I think I have finally gotten the push I need the cast looks good

So we've got some casting news for the next Star Trek (I don't care how often people call it Star Trek 2, I refuse to use that name). Noel Clarke, whom my fellow Whovians will remember well, is joining the cast as a "family man" whatever that means. Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as a villain, the role Benicio Del Toro turned down previously. There's been lots of speculation that this role is none other than Khan, but I really can't see them being so foolish as trying to pass off Cumberbatch as an Indian. Quite frankly, I don't want to see them remaking anything so iconic as Kirk's encounter with Khan. Stick to doing new things, please.

Oh, and Les Mis fans? Taylor Swift is going to be Eponine.

Taylor Swift? My! They're reaching for the buckets of acting talent there, aren't they?

I think with Les Mis they're doing their best to get actors who can actually sing, as opposed to singers who can act or actors who can't sing at all. So I don't really mind Taylor Swift being Eponine. I actually like her a lot (if not really her music). She does have a nice voice.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Anyone else interested in seeing Wrath of the Titans?
I Love Greek Mythology (especially the creatures)!!!

Here is the trailer (Warning: Violence):

I'm thrilled that the Chimera is in it (now if Cerberus is in it or the Hydra as well, that would be the Cherry on top! )

I really, really wish someone would make a really good The Odyssey movie!!! That would be amazing if done right!!!

I'm not at all upset with Taylor Swift as Eponine - I really like her, and I think she has a good voice. We'll see how she acts. And if I can forget that she's T. Swift while I'm watching.