Sam Raimi to do The Hobbit?

[J-Proof]

Was the Hobbit book necessary? Is ANY movie necessary? No, but gimmie more. :^) Also, how do you get to be too old to play GANDALF?

Hehe -- as much as I LOVE the novels AND the movies, the entire LOTR series is LOADED with the unecessary.... For example:

The smartest way to dispose of the ring --> Gandalf summons a horde of eagles who fly them directly to the mountain of doom and they drop the ring in. that's it. the end....

So I agree with Pak -- the unecessary is more fun!

[BBQ Platypus]

Was the Hobbit book necessary? Is ANY movie necessary? No, but gimmie more. :^) Also, how do you get to be too old to play GANDALF?

Heh.  Probably could've phrased that better.  What I mean is:

Does this really contribute anything to Tolkien's legacy?  Is it worth making (from an artistic standpoint)?  Not that the whole artistic aspect of it matters, but, well...IS it?

Hmm...maybe it is, on the same grounds that Peter Jackson's trilogy was - we have yet to see a decent live-action film made out of it.  So, hell, why not go for it?

And as for your last question, I believe the answer is "DEATH."

[Pak-Man]

I actually find The Hobbit to be a better tale than the LOTR trilogy. It's relatively succinct and nicely self-contained. It tells a simple story and tells it well. It's not epic, and non-epic stories are cool now and then. :^)

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

i actually like bilbo and thorin more than i like almost anyone in LOTR due to how they were written.  Thorin and bilbo just seem more real.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

I just really hope they get Thorin and Co. right. Jackson shat all over Gimli, made him some kind of weird clownish Klingon-clone, when he was great in the books.

I loved the movies but i really didnt like what they did with gimli, he had his moments in the movies but he was so different from the books, that it was my greatest dissapointment. 

[gbeenie]

Now, back on topic...I'd love to see someone other than Jackson/Walsh do the Hobbit, as they changed too many things that were fundamental to the characters for my liking, and I find Jackson's filmmaking style to be a bit over-pompous and needlessly melodramatic.

Now, see... that's a reasonable criticism of Jackson's LOTR movies. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's a lot more useful than, "well, Peter Jackson just sucks, and all his movies are poopy."

[SmilinJackRoss]

The smartest way to dispose of the ring --> Gandalf summons a horde of eagles who fly them directly to the mountain of doom and they drop the ring in. that's it. the end....

Also, and this is definitely pulled from the books (and maybe even the Hobbit), the eagles are a sort of the Switzerland of middle earth, they are neutral, and stay out of the affairs of what's going on most of the time.  They are friends with Gandalf, and will give him a hand once in a while, but only at the very end, when it looks like Sauron will win the war, do they sweep in and lend a hand.

Now, back on topic...I'd love to see someone other than Jackson/Walsh do the Hobbit, as they changed too many things that were fundamental to the characters for my liking, and I find Jackson's filmmaking style to be a bit over-pompous and needlessly melodramatic.

I agree.  I don't think Jackson is a great director, and I had some problems with some of the things inLotR from a technical standpoint...he over-uses slow-mo, the use of Gimli for comic relief in Two Towers was a failure, and the plotting was at times a bit hazy.  But what he was brilliant at was pulling off the trilogy at all.  He's more of an army general, think about all the planning and execution that went into getting these movies put together in a competent, exciting manner, all the crew and actors and cgi and YEARS of production involved.  That's the most impressive thing to me, the movies are good, but not great.

[J-Proof]

No--remember, Sauron's too powerful. He'd zap them down or sic Nazgul on them or something. The point in Frodo's quest is that Sauron will fail to notice the "little feet approaching in the shadows," and that it's the secrecy of it that works.

Okay okay -- arguably so..... But who's to say a bunch of eagles flying high over head aren't secretive? I mean, the ring is being hunted by Nazgul on horesback for the duration of the first book, and an eagle was able to slip Gandalf right out from under Saruman's nose! I'd say a bunch of creatures that can soar high above the ground, in an age where dragons are already greatly disposed of, is safer AND more elusive than wandering around on the ground where orcs, balrogs, watchers, trolls, goblins, and untrustworthy Gondorian stewards are always getting in the way! Also, the eagles did a thoroughly good job of detaining the armies of the enemy in the midst of an incredibly outnumbered fight.

If Frodo and co. jumped on the backs of a bunch of eagles, and somehow managed to get an army of men outside the black gates to distract the Eye, the ring could have been disposed of in a couple months after being identified. Just my theory

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Now, back on topic...I'd love to see someone other than Jackson/Walsh do the Hobbit, as they changed too many things that were fundamental to the characters for my liking, and I find Jackson's filmmaking style to be a bit over-pompous and needlessly melodramatic.

Now, see... that's a reasonable criticism of Jackson's LOTR movies. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's a lot more useful than, "well, Peter Jackson just sucks, and all his movies are poopy."

No one's ever said that.

I've been saying the exact same thing as Imrahil for the longest time.

[ScottotD]

yawn.


Who would you suggest Imrahil?

[J-Proof]

My number one choice is still Alfonso Cuaron

[J-Proof]

(If Ridley doesn't get it )

[mrbasehart]

My number one choice is still Alfonso Cuaron

That's a good choice.  Perhaps someone like Guillermo del Toro would also be neat.

[Petey Wheatstraw]

yawn.

I like that you think that everyone should bow down to your opinions of Peter Jackson, but that it's wrong to tell others what to like and not like when it comes to horror movies. There's a word for this, it's...oh, can't remember...it has a "hip" sound to it..."hippopotamus"? No? Oh, well, maybe I'll figure it out later...

So, what's the next thread you plan to waste space in with your "yawn" posts?

[ScottotD]

yawn

That's a good choice.  Perhaps someone like Guillermo del Toro would also be neat.

oooh, good call.  Although I think he should direct most movies.