I'm seeing "Lord of the Rings" on Tuesday!!!

[JoBlo]

Alright, alright...so I'm not gonna see the WHOLE MOVIE, but I have been invited to a private little press thingie, during which I believe they are going to show us quite a bit of the film (or at least 30 minutes, is my guess). Anyway, as some of you may already know, I don't know DICK about this trilogy (and not afraid to say it either) and have never read the books, so if any one of you would like to give me a quickie run-through of what to look for, what it's about, what you think is important for me to pay attention to, I'd be more than appreciative to you all.

LORD OF THE RINGS fans...talk to me!!

[cutman]

JoBlo,
You are the luckiest man alive. I have been dying to see the Cannes footage since, well, the Cannes festival. I will give you a little run through, though I cannot do the film justice in such a small space.
The Fellowship of the Ring deals with a fellowship of hobbits, men, a dwarf, an elf, and Gandalf, an extremely powerful wizard, who are on a quest to destroy the One Ring. The One Ring is the Dark Lord Sauron's (pronounced S-ow-ron), and is extremely powerful...he lost it years ago. The ring has now been found, and if it gets into the hand of Sauron, evil will cover the land. Therefore, the fellowship, led by Gandalf, set off to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor (which is Sauron's land) with Frodo, a hobbit, carrying the ring.
That is the basic premise to the Fellowship, now I will tell you what to pay attention to in the 30 minutes.
The Nazgul (Sauron's minions) are after the fellowship, and I am interested to know what you think of them. Are they scary?
The thing that you should really pay attention to and look forward to is the whole Mines of Moria scene. The fellowship must travel through the Mines on their way to Mordor, and they are extremely dangerous. Please pay special attention to the special affects in this scene...the Cave Troll...the Orcs...and the Balrog. Trust me, when you see the Balrog, you will know what I'm talking about. It will probably be towards the end of your footage.
Hope this helps.

cutman

[cutman]

Whoops...forgot to say that the fellowship is on its way to Mordor and Mount Doom to destroy the ring.

[The Heart Collector]

The ring's power should not be used by anyone, yet the characters face the temptation of wearing it quite a few times.


Make a coverage of this in the site.

[Ender]

Hey Jo, about how much would you charge to smuggle certain individuals into the event? I'd be willing to make it worth your while...

[EL_PHANTAZMO]

Who did you sleep with to get such a cool job?

[Scorchlord]

Keep an eye out for the Balrog (huge flaming monster thing), Gollum, and any shots of the Last Alliance.

[Tuukka]

If Sauron gets the ring, he will enslave the world. The ring can't be hidden, because his minions are drawn to it and there is always the chance that someone might found it. They can't throw it to the sea, because sea is full of monstrous creatures who could find it. They can't destroy it, because it's undestroyable. They can't use it's power against Sauron, because then they would become him. The power of The One Ring corrupts everything, and the more powerful a person is, the more horrible power the ring can have over him. Only Sauron can control the power of the ring, therefore he is "The Lord Of The Rings".

Frodo is chosen to carry the ring, because like all hobbits, he is child-likely innocent, down to earth person, who doesn't desire power over others. But of course, even the most innocent soul is not safe from the ring's corruptive power. The only way to destroy the ring is to throw it the fires of Mount Doom, where it was originally forged by Sauron.

Since Mount Doom is far in the heart of the enemy territory, it's extremely difficult to reach. They can't attack there with army, because Sauron's army is undefeatable. They organize a fellowship of different races that has to sneak behind the enemy lines to destroy the ring. At the same time the ring starts corrupting the fellowship from the inside.

You are going to see another one of the two major set pieces of the film, mines of Moria, plus some minor scenes from FOTR. Mines of Moria happens about 40-50 minutes before the end, so it's not the climax of the first film, even if it might seem so. I wouldn't be surprised if the Moria scene is the most spectacular scene of the final film, so don't expect everything else to look so spectacular as well... Even if the climax is a lot bigger than it was in the book.

[JoBlo]

Excellent!! Thanks a lot, ya'll...that's exactly the type of stuff that I was looking for...I will be sure to come back with something, hopefully, and as for Ender...handjobs are usually the best for that kind of thang....thanks!!

[Scorchlord]

Whoa. Too...much...information.

[TheRock]

Most the people on here have mentioned most the important stuff but I'd like to add a few things that should be in the footage:

1)The hobbits are considerably smaller than the humans. I'd like to know if the technique they used actually makes them look smaller or if it looks fake.

2)The cave troll(that big creature swinging the club in the third trailer). Wondering how real he looks or if he's too "cgi-ish".

3)Just the overall look of the film, which is huge considering a majority of the movies settings will be outside in the wood, on roads traveling.

4)The Mines of Moria scene will be one of the few action scenes in the first movie since it's mostly introduction to characters. So that scene better be awesome!

[Ender]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JoBlo:
\as for Ender...handjobs are usually the best for that kind of thang....thanks!!</font>


Whoa! Don't take this the wrong way JoBlo, but there are limits to what I'm willing to do for a movie! Unless of course you have some sort of beautiful female assistant you've been keeping to yourself...
http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Tuukka]

I have already read about 10 reviews of the Cannes footage, so I know that the action and SFX rocks, even if some of it is unfinished (I think this is probably the same heavily guarded reel that they have been showing elsewhere).

What interests me is this:

1. How good is acting? And especially how good Elijah Wood is as Frodo?

2. How does the poetic dialogue of Tolkien translate to the movie? Does it sound distracting and pretentious(the Shakespeare effect), or does it flow naturally?

3. Does the film feel like a lightweight adventure film in the tradition of Star Wars, or does it have a more serious, adult and scary feel to it?

...If you can answer those questions, I will be happy.

[The Heart Collector]

closer to the day.


Why were mine and Vlady's bandwidth raping pictures deleted?

Perhaps because of the bandwidth raping....

[This message has been edited by The Heart Collector (edited 10-22-2001).]

[SUPER LOVER MAN]

That is awesome. Too bad I've never read those books...I bet I'd appriciate this a lot more if I had. Anyway, I hope this ends up with more posts than "Girls-long hair or short hair"..... http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Horror whore]

Are you gonna write us a mini-review of what you saw???

[inglourious basterd]

My one question is this: (Its a simple one at that)

Does the 45 minute clip live up at all to the hype of this "epic film"?

[Tuukka]

Actually I think it's going to run around 25 minutes, being the same footage that they showed at Cannes.

Anyway, you are going to give us a review of the footage, are you JoBlo?

[JoBlo]

Just got back and mum's the word.... http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

Actually, I will be writing a piece on it, which should be up on the site by tomorrow. Tuukka, I just sent you an email but it bounced back. Can you please send me a note, I need to ask you a few questions. Thanks, buddy!

[Tuukka]

Actually I did receive your e-mail (just checked). I sent a response to you.

[Tuukka]

BTW, good that you want someone to check it out. The premise and the amount of characters seem a bit complicated to many and it's amazing how many mistakes there often are when journalists write down the basic premise. This is from sfgate.com:

""The Fellowship of the Ring" (Dec. 19): Not to be outdone by all things "Harry Potter," Peter Jackson ("Heavenly Creatures") unleashes the first loop in his already-filmed "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. What else is the J.K. Rowling series if not a less gothic and byzantine dilution of J.R.R. Tolkien's collection? This first installment focuses on Frodo (Elijah Wood), the Hobbit, who embarks on a quest to destroy the One Ring before the evil Gandalf (Ian McKellen) can get his hands on it."

[The Heart Collector]

Who was the asshat that wrote that?

[Narrator]

im just not wettin my pants about this movie!!!!!!!

[ak]

Pardon my non participation in this exciting topic, my computer decided to die for a week. Tuukka has told the story in the most clear fashion within his post, i have nothing to add, i just look forward to your write up Joblo.

Word has been nothing but very positive, it's not far away now, and i truly think it will be an event in film history.

I have one question to the mighty Jo of Blo:

Can you please describe the Balrog!!!???

I know what the beast is/looks like from artist renderings, and descriptions in the book, but not one critic has actually gone into detail of the beast, just merely touching on detail.




[This message has been edited by ak (edited 10-25-2001).]

[Tuukka]

I just e-mailed JoBlo his review back with a couple of small corrections. I guess he will post it in a few hours.

[TheRock]

What a moron the guy from sfgate.com is. How can somebody be so wrong. The evil Gandalf trying to kill Frodo. Note to sfgate.com guy, do a little research into the movie please before you embarass yourself like that or at least have someone who knows about the movie read your stuff before you send it out.

[ak]

I'll look forward to checking that tomorrow. As for now - bed looks very appealing.

[JoBlo]

I'll have it up in a few minutes for those who want an early peak...

[The Heart Collector]

DEAR GOD YES.

[JoBlo]

It's up, baby...it's up: http://www.joblo.com/lotr-preview.htm

[The Heart Collector]

You're my hero.

[TheRock]

Great review and pretty darn funny too. "They jump on the big ogre, as Legolas sets up a shot right through the monster's mouth and through his brain. Ten-four...that's it for him...he's down for the count." Classic!

[Ender]

Just read the review, stellar work Jo, you are one lucky bastard. Too bad they didn't release any shots of the Balrog, but what else did you expect? All I can say is that December cannot possibly come soon enough for me!

[Tuukka]

It was a very good review, and it was refreshing to read a review from someone who actually thrives to be objective. So I much rather believe this review than many of overly praising fanboy reviews.

What makes me happy is the fact that you liked the drama scenes, because people have generally paid attention only to sets, SFX and action in their Cannes reviews. The film will succeed or fail based on it's drama, not on it's SFX.

If you have time, it would be nice to hear answers to a couple of questions, that still bother me:

1. How the slightly poetic dialogue of Tolkien translates to the movie? Is it distracting or does it feel natural?

2. How serious, dark and adult the film feels? Can you draw a comparison to some other film? Does it feel like a family film or a horror film? Closer to Star Wars or Seven?

3. Did the film has signs of over-acting and over-directing, in other words is it so stylished occasionally that it becomes distracting? PJ sometimes has a tendency to over-do things.


[This message has been edited by Tuukka (edited 10-24-2001).]

[Tuukka]

I have to comment on the SFX criticism in the review. It could be that the SFX will be exactly the same in the final film, but this 25 minute footage was ready already at the beginning of the May. After that WETA has had 5-6 months of time to finish all the effects, so I think some of them have probably been updated.

[This message has been edited by Tuukka (edited 10-24-2001).]

[Spidey]

Man o man,this movie is coming out the same day as my birthday.Can you imagine a better birthday present ??

[joblo2]

Do you think I care ?
You're just pissing us off and I guess you think you're cool for this.
I've some news for you: YOU'RE NOT.

No offense.

[The Heart Collector]

Calm down, for fuck's sake. He's only making an innocent comment.

[JoBlo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by joblo2:
Do you think I care ?
You're just pissing us off and I guess you think you're cool for this.
I've some news for you: YOU'RE NOT.

No offense.</font>

For a guy who's using my namesake, you sure don't know how to follow the ONE RULE we have on this board, do you?? Joblo2, this is your first official WARNING from our board for DISRESPECTING another member. One more warning and you will be banned. We thrive on running a board that is filled with movie fans who love movies and can RESPECT one another at all times. If you can't handle that, then our board is not for you.

[ak]

I agree that it's great to read a review from a person who had no great interest or knowledge in the area prior.
Whilst reading Harry Knowles review i just kept thinking the guy was over-reacting, every other sentence was "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD", but it was indeed refreshing to read a focused report on the footage from you, and i admire the criticism of the special effects, something, (i get the impression from fan critics) they were afraid to comment on.

I would also like the question Tuukka asked answered - was the cinematography, the visual approach over-done? - From what you saw of course. I've heard that the Moria sequence, especially the Cave Troll section is quite "Saving Private Ryan-ish", with a use of raw camera work and fast motion.

Thanks for the review Joblo.

P.S - The soundtrack will be released on November 20th, i was wondering, due to the classical film theme fan that i am, if you would like a review of it done. (I understand if you don't like the idea).

[JoBlo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by TheRock:
1)The hobbits are considerably smaller than the humans. I'd like to know if the technique they used actually makes them look smaller or if it looks fake.</font>

It looked pretty good overall, but it took some getting used to.

2)The cave troll(that big creature swinging the club in the third trailer). Wondering how real he looks or if he's too "cgi-ish".

The cave troll was obviously one of the biggest highlights of that entire sequence. Not CGI-ish at all, although when some of the others jumped on him, it was a little cgi, although everything was moving so fast that it was hard to really pick up on it. Oh yeah...I forgot to mention one cool thing from that scene where the archer guy uses this chain that's wrapped around the cave troll's head, to tight-rope walk across it and onto his back. It's a pretty cool thing to see.

3)Just the overall look of the film, which is huge considering a majority of the movies settings will be outside in the wood, on roads traveling.

Great...just great....beautiful...

4)The Mines of Moria scene will be one of the few action scenes in the first movie since it's mostly introduction to characters. So that scene better be awesome!

It was, my friend....oh, yes it was!

[JoBlo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Tuukka:
1. How good is acting? And especially how good Elijah Wood is as Frodo?</font>

The acting was rock solid across the board. Mind you, we didn't REALLY get to see much of it, since the action scene (the Mines) took up most of the footage (and the rest were just quick clips), but the one scene which did showcase it pretty well was the first 5 minutes or so with Gandalf in the hobbit's house. Everything looked and felt very genuine in that scene...especially Gandalf.

Frodo was also very good in his later scenes...he's another dude who "stood out" for me...lots of interesting characters in here...

2. How does the poetic dialogue of Tolkien translate to the movie? Does it sound distracting and pretentious(the Shakespeare effect), or does it flow naturally?

I'm one of those people who really hates that Shakespeare-speak because...well, I don't understand it, dammit! http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif (that's what 5 years of French high school will do to ya)

Anyway, the same answer goes for this question, and that is that we just didn't get enough "dialogue-heavy" scenes to get a real feel of this, but on the whole, I was easily able to follow everything that happened through what I saw....especially with all of your help beforehand, of course...

3. Does the film feel like a lightweight adventure film in the tradition of Star Wars, or does it have a more serious, adult and scary feel to it?

Wow, another tough question considering the choppidy look that we got at it. It actually felt like a good balance of both, to be honest with you. Like I said in my coverage, I was especially surprised at the number of "light" moments that were in the footage, but at the same time, there was an obvious EPIC feel to it all, and some damn serious things going on as well...and scary, man...

A good mix...

[JoBlo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ak:
Can you please describe the Balrog!!!???
</font>

Hmmmmm, I'd love to, but to be honest, we barely saw it for more than 3 seconds or so. He basically showed us his ugly mug just at the end of the footage as Gandalf slammed his cane to the ground and yelled that thang....

He was DAMN UGLY though, and kinda reminded me of the PREDATOR head...I will admit that the "thought" of this thing following them through the last few minutes was scary enough...everything was shaking, things were breaking off....scary shite!

[JoBlo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Tuukka:
It was a very good review, and it was refreshing to read a review from someone who actually thrives to be objective. So I much rather believe this review than many of overly praising fanboy reviews.</font>

Thanks dude, that's nice to hear. Mind you, I won't take TOO much credit for being "objective" here, since I really had no choice (with the little background I had on the topic). I do understand what you mean though, because I read some other accounts of the same footage afterwards on some other sites and was REALLY surprised to find that they were praising it like it was "the next coming" or something. I didn't read ONE FLAW in any other review...huh?? Listen, it looks REALLY GOOD, I'll tell you that, but that doesn't mean that we should look past the few small hiccups that it DID have, right?

I mean, if NOBODY brings them up now...maybe they'll just think everything is hunky-dory (because the major fanboys love it) and not fix any of the small tid-bits...

3. Did the film has signs of over-acting and over-directing, in other words is it so stylished occasionally that it becomes distracting? PJ sometimes has a tendency to over-do things.

Over-directing...Peter Jackson...c'mon!! http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

Seriously though, it was a PERFECT MIX! Most of the time, there was not much style to get in the way, but during the fight sequence in the Mines, there was some pretty neat shots, especially the one which followed the arrow from Legolas' bow all the way through the air and right into the forehead of one of those crazy green-eyed beasts!! A little reminiscent of ROBIN HOOD, but much scarier and cooler, of course.

No BIG faux-pas here...just a solid-looking fantasy/horror/adventure. No over-acting either...at least, from the little that I did see (pun intended to the hobbits...sorry, just had to!).

[JoBlo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Tuukka:
I have to comment on the SFX criticism in the review. It could be that the SFX will be exactly the same in the final film, but this 25 minute footage was ready already at the beginning of the May. After that WETA has had 5-6 months of time to finish all the effects, so I think some of them have probably been updated.</font>

You're absolutely right, Tuukka, in fact, here's a cool email that I received today from a guy who called himself "punk-ass" (good one!), that pretty much explains the SFX issues, especially the one which I had the biggest issue with, the "mountain" shot:

"This footage that you watched was put together prior to the Cannes film festival this past spring... In May. The actual shooting of the film was only just then finished. I thought PJ mentions this in the little Gandalf/Cart entrance he makes before the footage. Maybe, previously, Osbourne or a studio exec stated it. ???

In any event, my point is that the cgi was in no way finished. Post-production was only just beginning when this footage was first released. Also, that one blue screen shot you were worrying about... That shot was in the original Lord of the Rings trailer for all 3 films, released online back in January. Yes, I too, thought it was very fakey looking. But, since it was a shot put together so early in production, I'm assuming it will be well touched up by release. Anyway, I hope this might put to rest some of your worries and reservations about what you saw. Again, very nice, very detailed article. Keep up the good work."

Nice!

[JoBlo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ak:
I would also like the question Tuukka asked answered - was the cinematography, the visual approach over-done? - From what you saw of course. I've heard that the Moria sequence, especially the Cave Troll section is quite "Saving Private Ryan-ish", with a use of raw camera work and fast motion.</font>

Hmmmmm, not from what I saw. I mean, there were definitely a lot of cuts, and the whole thing moved real fast, but no slo-mo, no fast-motion and no "Saving Private Ryan" type camera work.

P.S - The soundtrack will be released on November 20th, i was wondering, due to the classical film theme fan that i am, if you would like a review of it done. (I understand if you don't like the idea).

Probably not, since I ain't exactly a "connaisseur" of the classical genre either, but that reminds me of something I read on another site, which mentioned that the score used in the Cannes footage might not have been the final score, and was actually just the score from BRAVEHEART and other films. Not sure about this, but either way, all I have to say about the score was that the theater that I saw it in was PLAYING IT WAY TOO LOUD!! "Okay, we get it...it's an "epic" picture people, but I actually want to hear the DIALOGUE too!!"

[dicaprio_travolta_man]

OK I DONT IF THIS REALLY MEANS ANYTHING OR YOU GUYS DONT CARE BUT I AM GOIN TO BE SEEING THE MOVIE ON A TUESDAY YES THE WHOLE MOVIE BEGINNING TO END YOU SEE I WORK AT A MOVIE THEATRE AND A DAY BEFORE THE MOVIE OPENS I AM ONE OF THE GUYS WHO HAS TO WATCH IT TO MAKE SURE THERES NOTHING WRONG WITH THE FILM NOT THE MOVIE ITSELF BUT THE FILM LIKE SCRATCHES AND SOUND PROBLEMS STUFF LIKE THAT YOU KNOW.....TO WHOM IT MAY CONSERN I HAVE 3 LORD OF THE RINGS POSTERS ONE IS THE TEASER AND THE OTHER TWO ARE THE ACTUALL POSTER ITSELF.........

[Vega]

Sounds kinda cool (but honey, please don't write in all caps, it makes my head hurt.)

[Zed]

Well, I read JoBlo's review about Lord of the Rings preview and was pretty good...for some one who hasn't read it...the part I liked the most was the Expert Comments of Tukka (just a joke).

Now, seriously, it seems pretty exiting, and at least for me I have heard enough already. I will believe JoBlo that the movie seems good this far and I will go to the theaters on the openning day.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

I too, am very excited to hear that someone who is not a fan of the books (because he has not yet read them, thought you should)and was not very excited about this film to have such a positive review. And the even better thing is the fact that all the problems he had with this film are either because he does not know the entire story so does not understand what is going on, or the early effect shots were used, and those will be improved. I have a question though, how much has your opinion of the film actually changed after the footage??

[Tuukka]

"the part I liked the most was the Expert Comments of Tukka (just a joke)."

RE: The "expert notes" were only part of the stuff I wrote as corrections, or the stuff I wrote to clarify scenes if I felt Joblo was confused. So they might come off as a bit nitpicky... http://www.joblo.com/ubb/tongue.gif

[This message has been edited by Tuukka (edited 10-27-2001).]

[AncalagonTheBlack]

I've read a lot of review of the "Cannes footage" but JoBlo's review was certainly among the most detailed and thoughtful. Good stuff!


Visit The Complete List of Film Changes (http://www1.tolkienonline.com/movies/changes_index.cfm) for LOTR Spoilers

[This message has been edited by AncalagonTheBlack (edited 10-25-2001).]

[Shirefolk]

Question: For a nonTolkien fan, will the movie be hard to follow? Would you have found the movie appealing if you had not been briefed on the story?

[The Heart Collector]

How was Sean Bean? There's no mention at all in your review of his character.