Howard Shore’s score for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was, for many of us, a nostalgic trip back to Middle-earth. Regardless of the differences between some of the music on the album and the final film,
the score brought us back comfortably to musical territory that we knew – while also setting up a number of themes that would come back full force in the next films.
A mere two days ahead of the film’s U.S. release, we have, for your viewing, a new The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug TV Spot. This latest spot features several new shots and uses singer Ed Sheeran’s closing credits song “I See Fire”. Check just below to watch it in High Definition, courtesy of Warner Brothers UK Trailers’ YouTube page. Continue reading “New Desolation of Smaug TV Spot featuring Ed Sheeran’s ‘I See Fire’”
Rare and Unique Items from Greg and Tim Hildebrandt Available Now!
Back in the 1970’s Greg and Tim Hildebrandt created 3 Tolkien themed calendars for Ballantine Books, beginning around the time of the 25th anniversary of the publishing of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. During this resurgence of popularity for Tolkien’s collective works, those calendars provided an entire generation’s vision of Middle-earth and all the characters within. Since the release of those calendars, very few alternative versions of those images have been available outside of the calendars and a few art books. Greg and Tim were always very particular about the quality of how their art was showcased. That is all changing, much of this work is now being released in multiple formats that meet with Greg’s exacting standards. Continue reading “Classic Hildebrandt Artwork Exclusively Available in New Formats”
Beginning tomorrow (or in just under 30 minutes, for those of you on the
East Coast in the U.S.), you will be able to purchase Howard Shore’s Original Score for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on CD, either in Regular or Special Edition form. But for those of you who just can’t wait
to get your hands on the music, both albums are now available on iTunes (in the U.S., at least). Continue reading “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Soundtracks now available on iTunes!”
Warner Bros. has just updated their YouTube channel with two new TV Spots, which feature all-new footage (including our first look at a certain Orc), and showcase the critical acclaim the film has been getting over the past couple of days.
A word of warning — we’re now getting to the point where the TV spots will be showing off more and more of the film’s incredible visuals and characters. So if you feel like you’ve seen too much already, consider this your SPOILER warning.
[Editor’s Note: Fear not, dear readers, TORn staffer Quickbeam presents our first official review of DOS *spoiler-free* until loudly noted in the later section (with plenty of buffer space) where inquisitive minds may read further with spoiler-iffic abandon.]
The Great Schism: Splendid Smaug Splits Fandom?
or
Hobbit Version 2.0: Jackson Does it Differently
I know it’s been a long year to wait. Ringer fans are going into ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ with high hopes for another thrilling chapter in the ongoing saga adapted by our fellow fan, Peter Jackson. Indeed it is thrilling. And indeed it bears all the hallmarks of a P.J. film, replete with energetic action set pieces and gorgeously realized creatures and places that only cinema can properly provide to our senses.
Be forewarned Book Fans, because of the extent DOS deviates from J.R.R. Tolkien’s original, you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a very vocal fan reaction, if not an outright scream of frustration from one or two up in the balcony. The filmmakers have certainly delivered the goods; it is a very enjoyable movie that pretty much blows the audience away with well-crafted storytelling. It is by turns breathlessly paced and frightening and funny and gorgeous (Smaug especially has much of his “muchness”). But by the end credits, it no longer resembles the book you read as a kid, not by a long shot.
Which is something I must mention up front because of the laborious efforts towards fidelity in ‘An Unexpected Journey.’ In fact, much of the LOTR Trilogy was a concentrated effort to (mostly) honor the source material. True, there were odd bits that didn’t ring true to Tolkien; like Faramir dragging the hobbits to Osgiliath and Frodo sending Sam home (piffle) but what happens in DOS is just completely off the rails, especially in the third act.
Howard Shore’s score for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was, for many of us, a nostalgic trip back to Middle-earth. Regardless of the differences between some of the music on the album and the final film,
