Comments on: “Will PJ’s Tolkien Tinkering Make Or Break The Hobbit?”

By: Janine Duval

Janine Duval — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:53:00 +0000

All this pondering about how “faithful” the films will be to the Hobbit is rather superficial. Everyone who has some brains figured that the Hobbit film would be embedded in a framework story, with Frodo or Sam reading from the Red Book, which actually is the book that people know as the tale of “the Hobbit”. The whole thing will be a tale told by Frodo to some small hobbits, one big backflash so to speak.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist that this makes sense, is totally faithful to the “canon” and actually a wonderful way to make a bridge from the end of the LOTR to the new films. If you just freaked like “nooo waaaay, Frodo wasn’t even born during the timeline of the Hobbit” chances are that you’re not that smart as you thougt. Same goes for the Legolas freak out that you had… he is practically ageless, his father Thranduil of Mirkwood fought at the battle of the five armies in the Hobbit, so it would actually be odd if Thranduil’s son Legolas was *not* present at that battle.

By the way, expanding the story line with some of this stuff is what Prof. Tolkien would have done had he come to do a new revision of the Hobbit after writing the much more rich back stories and materials to the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion. The Hobbit was just way earlier a piece than the other two, however it is part of the same world that he fleshed out later in his life with the other books. If you look at the Hobbit now and do *not* consider all of this rich back story, then *you* are the one who doesn’t get it.

So pull your head out of your butt and let PJ do what he does best. It’ll be way better than everything you could even dream up in your head with your small, underdeveloped imagination.

By: open mind

open mind — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:34:00 +0000

Wait & see & stop speculating We have been told the film will not just be a telling of the tale of the Hobbit but will include material that will link it to LOTR & material from the Silmarillion. Stop bleating that this or that character was not in the Hobbit as the film is not just restricted to the book. We must wait & see if the interweaving of all the various threads of Tolkiens histories work together in this film. It may well be that it fills in gaps in the knowledge of people who have ony seen the films of LOTR or haven’t read any other Tolkein than LOTR & the Hobbit.

By: Quanah

Quanah — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 03:28:00 +0000

Very well said. My hope is that in liken to LOTR, they will observe the dailies of these additions and realize they may or may not add to the story.

By: Caleb

Caleb — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 23:42:00 +0000

I love the books and I think ‘The Hobbit’ is just perfect as it already is. They should just stay as faithful as they can to the book. But, I know it will be good no matter what.

By: Galadhrimgal

Galadhrimgal — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:45:00 +0000

I’m really tired of the Tolkien purists who are already shaking their heads, assuming that 1) PJ & crew have no respect for the original material and 2) whatever changes they make must by definition be bad. Both assumptions are incorrect, as PJ’s previous LOTR films have proven. In many cases I feel PJ’s changes improved (oh dear, not possible!) the story (I’m thinking of Boromir in particular). It’s time to stop comparing book to film, especially since the film hasn’t even been made yet! I know people who absolutely hated what PJ did with LOTR…yet they went to see the films – several times, I believe! And, I believe that the films brought many new readers to the books. I’m looking forward to the films of The Hobbit, changes and all!

By: Karl Keene

Karl Keene — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:30:00 +0000

I trust that Peter Jackson will give us a memorable and entertaining rendering of Tolkien’s vision of the Hobbit, just as his other Tolkien films have become all-time masterpieces and classics.

By: Puggdogg Illustrator

Puggdogg Illustrator — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:32:00 +0000

I have zero concerns over the direction this adaptation will take. It’s great that we’re getting to see The Hobbit come to life. The story from the book will be there. And all the extra scenes not from the book is like adding icing to the cake. Extra goodness. I’d rather see more added to it then just what’s in the book. Otherwise there wouldn’t be many surprises. I already know the story. I want more.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Cannot be worse than the cartoon…

By: Willillustration

Willillustration — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:29:00 +0000

I honestly have to say that the additions to the Hobbit concern me. I love Peter Jackson and his collaborators, I followed him through all his low budget horror efforts and as a life long Tolkien fan, I was delighted when he made Middle Earth a real place for the rest of the world. But I am nervous about the direction they’re taking here. There were a lot of bad ideas that were conceived or even shot for LOTR, like Arwen at Helms Deep or Sauron returning in physical form to sword fight Aragorn that were mercifully removed from the final films. Many of the changes that are being hinted at fill me with apprehension more than anything else. I realize the Hobbit doesn’t get the luxury of being it’s own movie. The Hobbit film has to continue a profitable franchise. My only hope is that it gets treated with the respect it deserves. There are Tolkien fans out there that hold the Hobbit more dearly to our hearts than the Lord of the Rings after all. So yes, I’m nervous about some of the potential changes and I hope that these amazing and talented filmmakers are mindful not to disservice the Hobbit by transforming it from a brilliant story into just the Lord of the Rings “prequel”. If anyone deserves the benefit of trust and reserved judgment, it’s these wonderful people.