J.W. Braun: There’s Hadhafang, the same sword Arwen uses at the Ford in The Fellowship of the Ring.
Kelvarhin: I love the look of Elrond here, his armour is beautiful.
grammaboodawg: Elrond at his finest. I can’t wait to see him as a warrior leader of his people against great evil. This whole account of the White Council is a dream come true… and so incredible!
Garfeimao: Action Elrond has his battle face on, or rather, he’s got his Agent Smith face on, and it works.
greendragon: Action Elrond! I love seeing his warrior side. It’s also kind of cool that the three Elvish rings are gathered together in this scene…
Elessar: Elrond in armor. I’m looking forward to seeing him and the other members of the White Council do battle. Another moment that should be pretty sweet to see come to life.
Aragorn the Elfstone: “Time for my close-up, Mr. Anderson.”
Ainu Laire: “Scuse me while I whip this out…” Movie quotes aside, that looks pretty cool.
Quickbeam: YES, exactly. Precisely. Gimme more of that.
Sarumann: Over a decade later, Hugo Weaving can still rock the Elvish armor like nobody else.
Kelvarhin: This just gave me chills. Christopher Lee delivers this line brilliantly!
Garfeimao: Saruman is ready to take on Sauron himself, a duel at High Noon? I just can’t figure out what’s going on with Galadriel behind him. Her being on the ground to help Gandalf makes sense, but here, she’s on the ground holding on to Elrond’s leg, as though she does not have the power to get up herself. Not sure I like this image of Galadriel weakened, having to be saved by Elrond.
greendragon: As everyone has been saying, Christopher Lee totally steals the scene. Brilliant. And I love the hint that he is already plotting to collaborate with Sauron. But again, why do the others do nothing about Sauron for the next sixty years? Does Saruman just say, ‘Oh I dealt with him’ and they all go, ‘Fine’?
MrCere: I am also pleased as red punch on a white dress to think Christopher Lee’s Saruman will get some power action in this film. He is powerful. There needs to be a reason Gandalf defers to him in Fellowship. I want power, nobility and bad assery from him and rarely do I feel like Jackson doesn’t go far enough, this might be one of the times. I want to SEE why he is one of the most powerful beings in Middle-earth. The roots of his treachery will likely be made super obvious too.
Elessar: Saruman’s start towards being the bad guy we see in FOTR?
Aragorn the Elfstone: Sir Christopher Lee steals the entire trailer in one shot – with one line. Many have speculated that we may see Saruman’s turn begin here, but I actually hope this is not the case. I like the thought that, in this moment, he is genuinely the wise Saruman the White that we have long heard of – and he is preparing to take down his enemy.
Ainu Laire: Dear Galadriel, going to battle in a dress is not very wise.
Quickbeam: YESYESYESYES, holy cow there can’t be anything more satisfying than to see more of the legendary Christopher Lee, still got some acting chops even at his advanced age. I adore this portrayal of Curunir and the suggestions of what “Leave Sauron to me” might possibly yield…..
Demosthenes: I would just like to request two hours and twenty minutes of Chris Lee. I’d be totes fine with that. Speculation #1: this is the beginning of the fall Saruman (canon aside) and he and Sauron will end up making a pact on the sly here. Speculation #2: Gandalf has already left the building. No, really. He’s not in frame at all. Maybe that’s why Galadriel has collapsed (Celeborn will be pleased) — all that effort spent just for him to ditch her again. Regardless, I think it lends some credence to Galadriel bears the brunt of the Nine’s assault theory (see above). Saruman and Elrond are wimpy freeloaders.
Calisuri: Obviously the best line in the trailer. What exactly will happen between the two remains to be seen. I’m not sure whether Saruman will negotiate with Sauron, or Saruman will be defeated by Sauron and both barely survive the encounter.
Sarumann: “Leave Sauron to me.” Maybe it’s the fact that it says he has ulterior motives in ‘The Silmarillion’ or the fact that Christopher Lee is simply incapable of NOT sounding sinister, but I don’t trust Saruman to fully be a good guy here.
Garfeimao: Quick flash to of the Eye ends with an image of a flaming Sauron figure, which is interesting. More interesting is where he’s standing, atop a tower with stairs, but when you look at the shape of the landing he is standing on it is very similar to the top of Barad Dur, silhouette wise anyhow.
MrCere: Are we really going to need to watch the birth of the great eye? There should be no great eye in The Hobbit unless its the final shot of the film. This sounds like I am being hyper critical. Let me be clear that I love the process of these films, the people who made these films and I enjoy the films. I don’t like all of the choices and I reserve the right to say so without hating anything or anybody. So, the eye? The shadow figure that sounded like Benedict Cumberbatch was much cooler for these movies.
Aragorn the Elfstone: One wonders if we will indeed see the manifestation of the Eye in the film, or merely just a quick flash, as in The Desolation of Smaug – when Bilbo takes the Ring off inside Erebor.
Ainu Laire: I love the film’s interpretation of the Eye. It looks scary as all else. At least, when it’s not on top of a tower. But elsewhere, awesome.
Quickbeam: Still no Smaug. Our villain clearly is being marketed to us as “LOTR” fans and building the relationship with an abstract villain who creeped us all out 15 years ago.
J.W. Braun: They’ve done a great job of visualizing the Necromancer in an abstract way in these films, and this is just another example. I love this image.
Kelvarhin: I prefer this image for Sauron/the Necromancer over the flaming eye, it just seems more effective in it’s simplicity to me.
grammaboodawg: And there he is. Sauron holding his fiery shape.
Justin: I fully expect a secret handshake to take place. S-bros 4 lyfe.
greendragon: This is a great shot.
Aragorn the Elfstone: I’ve found it interesting that they’ve actually chosen to visualize Sauron in these films given that they ultimately decided to pull back on that in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (and leave him as the Eye). I’m not sure if I like that or not. It works quite well for these films, but I think it lessens his mystery in the later trilogy.
Ainu Laire: Helloooo Benedict Cumb– I mean, Sauron. Nice to see you. This sort of kills the scariness (what little it had) of your presence on the tower by the LOTR films, though, seeing you like this. What scariness a lighthouse had. Pity.
Quickbeam: too bad they didn’t use our friend Sala Baker to reprise his role just for this shot. It is a great shot, though, I gotta admit. Even though it strikes me as slightly cliche that a classic movie-villain pose must somehow always include himself perched in some busted out stairway that leads to nowhere. Why was it built that way except to give our boy a grand, dramatic entrance as he walks down it slowly, menacingly….
Demosthenes: He’s gonna be easy to spot fleeing across the Brown Lands unless one of the Nine tips a bucket of water over him.
Calisuri: Love how the ‘eye’ becomes Sauron. pretty cool. Along with the whole structure implying the eye.
Sarumann: A standoff between Sauron and Saruman. Will they fight….or will they hug?
Kelvarhin: In case we’ve all forgotten.
Justin: at least its better than “from the best-selling book”
greendragon: OH! Is THAT who this director is? I thought these movies looked familiar!!
Aragorn the Elfstone: I really don’t think any potential audience member for this film needs to be told that. 😉
Sarumann: Wait, PETER JACKSON directed this??!! I guess I hadn’t been paying attention the last 2 movies. (This is a joke, people! Please don’t shame me in the comments!)
Kelvarhin: Really glad they’ve left in Bilbo sneaking out of of Erebor.
grammaboodawg: Bilbo looks so small. This perspective is one of those genius moments that reminds us of how small and fragile our Hobbit really is in all this enormous danger.
Garfeimao: Bilbo, climbing out of Erebor in the middle of night, the one bit of burglarizing that the Dwarves could never have anticipated, and the one time Bilbo’s courage is tested in a very different manner.
greendragon: Bilbo sneaks away from Erebor.
Aragorn the Elfstone: Whether you agree with his actions or not, this is without a doubt the bravest thing Bilbo ever did.
Ainu Laire: If Bilbo is not going to give the Arkenstone to Bard and Thranduil after this scene I will cry. A lot. Book canon is good canon.
Quickbeam: A Thief In The Night is true to the book and true to our sense of Bilbo pushing his “good luck” just a little further each time, revealing that true Tookish side of him.
Demosthenes: The Dwarf, the Thief, his Ring and an Arkenstone. A new film by Peter Greenaway.
