Just a couple of hours ago, the Hobbit Production Video #14 popped up on Peter Jackson’s Facebook page. This final video blog covers the recording of Howard Shore’s magnificent musical score for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The score was recorded by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by renowned orchestrator/composer Conrad Pope. We’ve got the video for you just below in HD, courtesy of Peter Jackson’s YouTube page. Enjoy! Continue reading “Peter Jackson releases final Production Video of 2013!”
Category: Hobbit Movie
Have you finished all of your Christmas shopping yet? If you’re like us, you have a few more things on your list and what better way to complete the task than buying some Hobbity presents. TORns staffers Mithril and Altaira scoured the internet to find the perfect Hobbit-related presents to celebrate the holidays and the release of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” and we were astounded by how many wonderful choices there are. So, without further ado, here (in no particular order) are our top 10 gift suggestions for your favorite Hobbit fan (even if that happens to be you). All amounts are in U.S. dollars.
1) The musical score special editions: Amazon (DOS $19.29; AUJ $21.15)
Journey from the Carrock through Mirkwood to Laketown and on to Erebor, swept up in the intricate and thrilling soundscapes of Middle-earth created by Academy Award-Winning Howard Shore. The special edition features twelve extended tracks, a bonus track, expanded liner notes and interactive sheet music packaged in a hardcover DigiBook.
[Desolation of Smaug] [An Unexpected Journey]
Continue reading “Our 10 Favorite Hobbit-related Gifts Mostly under $100”
Additional characters aside, as they were all known before going in so they can’t be a surprise anyhow, here is a list of things that have surprised audiences in ‘The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug’ this past week since the film’s release.
1) Legolas got a bloody nose, which seemed to surprise him almost as much as it surprised the audience. He’s never been wobbly in a battle before, not sure if that is going to make him more cautious or not as he chases after Bolg, the one who inflicted the injury.
2) Smaug seems surprisingly well informed. He knew that Thorin had earned the nickname of Oakenshield while out in Middle-earth after the fall of Erebor. Smaug also seems fully aware that a Dark Power is rising and that there is an impending war coming. Now if we can just figure out who is feeding him this intel.
3) A Wind Lance, really? Not a standard Long Bow? How disappointing, although it is wicked cool looking and realistically makes more sense, it is not the image most fans were expecting from Bard the Bowman.
4) So Kili gets injured and is left behind in Lake-town, along with 3 other Dwarves. Wow! the Breaking of the Company. The fact he was injured by a Morgul bladed arrow was also a surprise.
5) The Orcs were chasing the Dwarves down the river and fighting the Elves in full sunlight? What’s up with that?
6) The other surprising bit with Smaug is that he could sense the Ring’s presence and by force of will convince Bilbo to take the Ring off. Yipes! It’s a power similar to that of the Nazgul.
7) Back to Bree we go, and this time the guy sitting in the corner is actually dangerous, and that dude munching on a carrot is back.
8) The Spiders did speak, but only Bilbo can hear them when he wears the Ring. Well, except for when he took the Ring off and stabbed that one spider, who then says “it stings” before dying, giving Sting it’s name. So the Spider’s speaking was a surprise, and the way it was handled was a surprise, but there is at least one inconsistency to this plot device. Does anyone care about that? Probably not, cause the spiders were creepy as all heck.
9) Gandalf entering Dol Guldur alone, first facing Azog and having to resort to trickery to get away, and then the big face off with the Necromancer, who reveals himself fully to Gandalf. The endless emptiness that is Sauron is epic.
10) While not surprised that the molten hot gold did not seem to injure Smaug, the most surprising bit in that whole sequence was just how transfixed Smaug was when the Golden Dwarf statue was revealed. He looked like an animal caught in a Cobra’s stare, which is probably the reverse of what Smaug normally encounters.
Continue reading “The Tolkien nerd’s guide to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
Rhett Allain from Wired examines the physics of the dwarves in barrels as they escape down the Forest River. If you like numbers, this will be right up your alley.
Surely you have read The Hobbit (the book). It’s a classic novel and the basis of the upcoming movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The book is old enough that I don’t think I need to give any spoiler warnings. I want to consider the part where the dwarves escape from the elves by floating down a river in barrels. Continue reading “Should Dwarves stand up in floating barrels?”