First Hobbit Trailer (with SPOILERS)

[Anduril]

Yes, The Hobbit itself changed its tone, but still...

Flashbacks of Gandalf in Dol Guldur happen in the book (finding Thrain and the key) so they could expand on that. Matching the tone to LOTR is nothing new either, see "The Quest of Erebor". But do we really need to see the White Council fighting Sauron?

We all know the business with Gandalf coming and going from time to time is originally just a plot device, as well as alluding to myths and legends about sages and guides, like Merlin for instance. The Necromancer, the White Council and Dol Guldur are tangential or peripheral to the actual plot of The Hobbit even if we know their true significance. Our inner geek might rejoice to see them in more detail, but is such added detail really needed in what is still titled "The Hobbit"?

Let me take Tolkien out of context:

We must be satisfied with the soup that is set before us, and not desire to see the bones of the ox out of which it has been boiled.

Though I am most peeved and saddened by Frodo and Narsil. Again, Frodo has no place in The Hobbit and is only there because LOTR was filmed first. Narsil I'd have saved for the movie itself as a subtle Easter Egg. When it's given the spotlight in the trailer, it's not an Easter Egg (because you have to look for those). It feels gratuitous.

Thing is, the trailer got so much right or acceptable, but the parts it doesn't get sour the whole thing for me. Just as the two finished movies probably will, and just as the trilogy has.

(originally from TORC.)

[yovargas]

Opinions will vary but, personally, I'd far rather see a "prequel" to the LOTR trilogy than the book Hobbit on film and I'm glad that looks to be the direction they're going.

[Lalaith]

I'd have to agree with you, yovi. Of course, I couldn't get into The Hobbit when I was a kid (tried twice) and didn't read it till after I'd read LotR (when I was an adult). Perhaps because I read it after LotR and as an adult, I still wasn't taken in by it in the same way as I was by LotR or the Sil. All of that to say, that I don't have much loyalty to the book in its pure form. Of course, I'd like them to stick to it as much as possible, but I really probably won't care if they deviate the same amount as they did in LotR (which did bother me a bit after I'd read the books).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I loved The Hobbit as a kid, soured on it when I got older, and now that I am older still, I love it more than ever. There is so much more there than meets the eye.

I must say that seeing this trailer has made me feel much less worried about including the White Council/Dol Guldur stuff. Can't quite put me finger on why, but it just feels more right than it did before.

And that is an encouraging thought!

[yovargas]

I always liked The Hobbit and still do, I just think the story is way more interesting in the broader context of what Middle-earth is.

[River]

Flashbacks of Gandalf in Dol Guldur happen in the book (finding Thrain and the key) so they could expand on that. Matching the tone to LOTR is nothing new either, see "The Quest of Erebor". But do we really need to see the White Council fighting Sauron?

Need? No. Nothing about movies is ever needed. They are, after all, simply entertainment. But wanted? Yes. The Hobbit, like LOTR, is a protrusion of a larger world Tolkien created. Part of what makes it what it is is that feeling that's it's a story within a larger one (part of the same old tale, to paraphrase Samwise Gamgee). Including the White Council helps with that. It also gives Gandalf some respectability as a fleshed-out character rather than some roving "now I need him, now I don't" plot device.

I think Narsil was included in the trailer to help orient viewers. I know, it's already obvious that this movie is set in Middle Earth and the events occur before those of LOTR, but it never hurts to reinforce that. Never, ever underestimate the ability of people to get confused - I once saw a Nobel laureate get completely befuddled by a coaster (and yes, he was sober).

[Primula Baggins]

...... I don't know what I'll do when we get our first clear view of the Shire. . . .

Be overcome by guilt for what you did to poor poor Drogo?

Boating accident? This was no boating accident.

On the advice of several attorneys (this place is crawling with them!), I am not responding to questions on this matter.

[Holbytla]

I hope at least one person caught the vague reference to Jaws.

And btw, it is possible I could be seeing Tintin in the very near future.
And with that the teaser trailer on the big screen.

As far as the teaser trailer goes, I like what I saw visually, pretty much like I did with LOTR, but I also espied certain hints that PJ will be annoying me once again. And of course at the same time enthralling me.

Love to hate him.

[Elentári]

As far as the teaser trailer goes, I like what I saw visually, pretty much like I did with LOTR, but I also espied certain hints that PJ will be annoying me once again. And of course at the same time enthralling me.

I'm sure that is going to be the way most of us will be feeling about the films, but at this stage I'm quite relaxed about the end result, and just glad that we will be getting a cohesive set of movie adaptations of our beloved books, rather than the hodge-podge of animated versions.

[kzer_za]

Well, I really like it and I see plenty of Hobbity whimsy in there. The trailer does play up the gravitas more than the humor, but I think it's clear the movie will still ahve plenty of thelatter. I love the song, both the dwarf singing and the instrumental version. It really makes the trailer.

I'm still slightly apprehensive about the White Council/Dol Guldur storyline (even while some people more critical of PJ than me have come around to it), but I'll reserve judgment.

I do cringe a little every time I see Galadriel touching Gandalf's hair, because a little part of me is terrified PJ could actually go for the romantic angle - but most of me knows that's irrational, like the worries that Legolas would replace Bard. :p

[axordil]

The 3d in the theatrical version is surprisingly low-key. I know the big in-your-face moments are likely to be done later, but still, I liked how it didn't slap me around with forced depth.

OTOH the moment with G & G at Rivendell was really, really nicely done. The rivulet waterfall in the FG was clear and imminent, the figures comfortably in the midground, the rest of the valley BG. The shot was composed for 3D, obviously, but in a way that pulled me in, instead of pushing me back. We'll see how much of that happens.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That's very encouraging, Ax.

[axordil]

Same with Bilbo pulling Sting from its scabbard for the first time. The blade itself is pushed toward you just a bit from Martin, with the dwarves behind. It focuses a little more attention on it, without waving it around in your face and eyes.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Even more encouraging! That's just the kind of thing that can be overdone in 3D. I was really hoping that they would use 3D to help immerse you in the world, rather than immerse the world in you, so to speak.

[axordil]

If anything it was almost TOO understated. I had to take off the 3D glasses once to make sure the image was fuzzy without them to convince myself it was, in fact, a 3D trailer.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'll take too understated.

[Teremia]

I went with the kids to Tintin in order (hee hee) to see the Hobbit trailer, and I really, really liked it. (The trailer, not so much Tintin.) The 3D did not get in your face the way it might. Martin Freeman is just a brilliant, brilliant choice for Bilbo. Howard Shore is the main star, as before. That's enough to make me happy!

Here's another thought about that Gandalf/Galadriel encounter: maybe she's commenting on the different way time affects elves and wizards -- her perpetual youth versus his long, long years as a graybeard.

(But in the pretty shot of Galadriel later, she actually looks distinctly older than she did in FOTR, human time being what it is.)

Anyway, my sister-in-law and I agreed that December 14, 2012, can't get here too fast!

[River]

Well, what's the real world like? Does stuff coming rushing at you or is it just sort of an understated presence?

[Frelga]

It depends. Sometimes stuff comes rushing at you. Like basketballs. No matter how many times you tell your kid to take it outside.

[axordil]

Frelga has a point: the world is subtle except when a basketball smacks you in the head.