One of my absolute favorite lines that our friends from Weta Workshop put out within their The Lord of the Rings statue line is the environment sub-line. As I’ve said in this column before, it allows us to go to places we will never get actually to visit. So today we’re going to take a look at Minas Morgul, and the outstanding job Weta did on this piece. This one is sold out, but if you can track it down and afford it, I think this is absolutely worth it.
The first time I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition, I mistook a hobbit in the marketplace scene for Sean Astin. Upon pausing the film, however, I realized it wasn’t Sean at all but rather an actor who strongly resembled him… holding a baby. I’m certain the filmmakers also noticed this resemblance, which begs the question: is this Gaffer Gamgee and Samwise?!
Remember, Hobbits are a longer-lived race than Men. They come of age at 30, after all. In The Fellowship of the Ring (book), Frodo celebrates his 50th birthday shortly before embarking on the Quest to destroy the One Ring. The events of The Hobbit are said to take place roughly 60 years before Frodo steps out his front door on that fateful day. Sam is stated to be younger than Frodo in the books, but given the altered timeline of the films, Samwise (who looks older than Frodo in FOTR) could be around 60 years old when he joins his friend on the adventure, which could justify this (possible) baby cameo.
Samwise is ready for an adventure!
After all, Jackson’s Middle-earth films are a magical place in more ways than one: that stumbling man in Bree is still eating a carrot 60 years later, unchanged by time!
What do you think? Is this baby Sam Gamgee? Or perhaps baby Hamfast (Gaffer) and his father? At the very least, they must be some Gamgee relation!
Sam and his daughter Eleanor at the end of ROTK
Only one thing is abundantly clear: baby hobbits are adorable.
A couple weekends ago The Hall of Fire followed up a discussion of heroism in The Lord of the Rings with one focusing simply on the aspects of heroism that members of the Fellowship exhibit during the Quest. For those who couldn’t attend, here’s a log.
Also, this coming weekend (Saturday August 17 at 6pm EDT (New York time)) we’ll be focusing on a movie topic — Beorn. That’s right, the shapeshifter of the Vales of the Anduin and hero of the Battle of the Five Armies. What do you think of Mikael Persbrandt, what are your thoughts on Beorn’s demense and hall so far, and what do you think of the spy image that we revealed last Friday? Those are just a few of the questions we’ll touch on, so don’t miss it! Continue reading “Hall of Fire chat log: aspects of heroism in the Fellowship”
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
Last weekend in The Hall of Fire, we discussed sources of heroism in The Lord of the Rings. Who acts heroically, and what is it that makes them heroic anyway? For those who couldn’t attend, here’s a log.
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
As we reported earlier, today is The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit day at Comic-Con 2012 (aka #HobbitCon) and LEGO® was kind enough to send us this exclusive image of a brand new ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ Playset! The set is called ‘An Unexpected Gathering’ and features Bag End with six mini-figures. As you can see in the image above, we have Bofur holding an axe, Bombur with a sausage and knife, Dwalin wielding a really large weapon and knife, Balin with chalice, Gandalf the Grey with walking staff, and Bilbo Baggins. As you can see the set is highly detailed with greenery, vegetables and much more. From the looks of the image we’ll have a nice inside component to play with as well. Stay tuned as we report more from Comic-Con 2012! [Live Coverage]
‘…There are Orcs, very many of them,’ he (Gandalf) said. `And some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor. For the moment they are hanging back, but there is something else there. A great cave-troll, I think, or more than one. There is no hope of escape that way…’
I think back on my relatively young life and can fondly recall a few events that I would consider highlights: My marriage to my beautiful wife; the birth of our daughter; TheOneRing.net Oscar Parties from 2002-2004; Finding my dream job with Sideshow; and that time I got to see 26 minutes of The Fellowship of the Ring at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. As you can read in my original report, I was blown away by the revelation of Peter Jackson’s vision of The Lord of the Rings on the big screen, especially when it came to the infamous Mines of Moria. Sure it was different from the books, but visual execution seemed to transmit my own visions of Middle-earth and put them on the big screen. So many years later, it is now my privilege to relive some of that sequence through the ‘Mines of Moria’ LEGO® Set, now available at most retailers.
As a preface to my review, I need to remind you all that I am not a LEGO® Set expert. My first experience with LEGO® Sets in many years was building the ‘Shelob Attacks‘ set I reviewed last month. So if I get some terminology wrong, please don’t hold it against me :P.
There are a few obvious differences between the ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO® Set and ‘The Mines of Moria.’ First, and most obvious, is that the set is much larger and more complex. Whether it is the ‘action’ elements in the gate and right side piece, or it is adding the detailing stickers just in the right place, you will find this set takes anywhere from 3-4 hours to piece together. Let me say…that is not a bad thing! I’m quickly finding myself addicted to the enjoyment and plain old fun of LEGO® Sets again! (After the break I’ve got 84 pictures of the set!)
A couple weekends ago 
I think back on my relatively young life and can fondly recall a few events that I would consider highlights: My marriage to my beautiful wife; the birth of our daughter; TheOneRing.net Oscar Parties from 2002-2004; Finding my dream job with Sideshow; and that time I got to see 26 minutes of The Fellowship of the Ring at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. As you can read in my