>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

I have the opposite reaction in that the tone seems too much like LOTR. The Hobbit was a fairly cartoony book - much more of a classic kids adventure than a sprawling epic like LOTR. It should be lighter, funnier and more whimsical than its sequel. I'm guessing Jackson feels a need to unite these two books that take place in the same universe, even though the writing style varies so greatly between them. Either way, he can bank on my $24.


I've always thought of The Hobbit as being a book based on someone "finding There and Back Again" (in a fictional sense) and then making a book from *that*. Sort of a book within a book premise. So though The Hobbit takes place in Middle Earth, just like Lord of the Rings, it's narrative is based on Bilbo's writting (perspective).

This irons out all the kinks in my mind, as clearly the two stories *do* take place in the same universe otherwise. And anywhere there's a difference in tone, or what not can be attributed to Bilbo's perspective on how the tale is told.

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>> ^ChaosEngine:

>> ^ponceleon:
OMG Yes... I definitely hear where Dystopian is coming from, but frankly I loved the way that Jackson and crew improved upon the original books for the LOTR. Feel free to flame me, but I actually enjoyed the movies MORE than the books on a lot of levels. There are exchanges in the book that just aren't as natural or tight as they are in the movie and I know this is likely heresy, but I feel like there are some which were even improved. The perfect example is the exchange between Bilbo and Gandalf towards the beginning of the FOTR, particularly after the party when they are discussing Bilbo's departure and the leaving of the ring behind...

If you're going to be flamed, then let me get my asbestos jacket, 'cos I agree with you. LOTR is an undisputed classic, but it wasn't without it's problems. Tolkiens pacing was terrible and some of the characters (looking at you, Tom Bombadil) add nothing to the story. The first half of book 6 is essentially "Sam and Frodo keep walking to mount doom", but it really drags.
Jackson and Walsh's story is better structured.

I'll go even farther...Tolkien was a top-notch world-builder, but he was a crappy storyteller. His stories were dry, boring, and flat-out hard to read (e.g. three names for every individual, all sounding so similar as to be virtually impossible to differentiate). Now, the world was so amazing that it took me nearly two decades of annual re-readings to come to this conclusion. But in the end, I see no other way to describe his work.

Jackson and Co. did a remarkable job of making it better while keeping the world mostly intact.

In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
You know, you have a much clearer understanding of fantasy than reality.

In reply to this comment by Winstonfield_Pennypacker


Au contraire. I have a perfect understanding of both.

You know, you have a much clearer understanding of fantasy than reality.

In reply to this comment by Winstonfield_Pennypacker

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>> ^ponceleon:

OMG Yes... I definitely hear where Dystopian is coming from, but frankly I loved the way that Jackson and crew improved upon the original books for the LOTR. Feel free to flame me, but I actually enjoyed the movies MORE than the books on a lot of levels. There are exchanges in the book that just aren't as natural or tight as they are in the movie and I know this is likely heresy, but I feel like there are some which were even improved. The perfect example is the exchange between Bilbo and Gandalf towards the beginning of the FOTR, particularly after the party when they are discussing Bilbo's departure and the leaving of the ring behind...


If you're going to be flamed, then let me get my asbestos jacket, 'cos I agree with you. LOTR is an undisputed classic, but it wasn't without it's problems. Tolkiens pacing was terrible and some of the characters (looking at you, Tom Bombadil) add nothing to the story. The first half of book 6 is essentially "Sam and Frodo keep walking to mount doom", but it really drags.

Jackson and Walsh's story is better structured.

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>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

... It should be lighter, funnier and more whimsical than its sequel. . .


***SPOILER ALERT***


While on one hand I agree, I also disagree. I recently re-read this, and the standoff between Balin and locals after Smaug destroys their town and is killed, as well as Bilbo's deception (donning the ring, sneaking off to make a deal to end the standoff etc...) and the ensuing Battle of the Five Armies... these things have a very epic and grownup quality to them.

Instead of Peter Jackson? It might as well be George Lucas if someone other than Jackson were to take it on. Because if you're going to make a mistake, why not go full-retard?
>> ^Ferazel:

I really wish that Guillermo Del Toro would have directed this instead of Peter Jackson. I really think he could have done a better job than PJ.

I think it will be to an extent especially at the beginning but... at the same time, the majority of people who will see this movie (as was the case with LOTR) will never, ever read a book (I'm looking at YOU americans!). So, they would not understand why The Hobbit is so ridiculous and childish as compared to LOTR. I for one would be disappointed if the movie were done in exactly the same spirit/tone as the novel (the book was for kids after all).

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat; it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.



I'd feel like I was watching teletubbies if the movie were presented in such a way

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

It should be lighter, funnier and more whimsical than its sequel.

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