The Hobbit Trailer

tommyt21

:eek: Enjoy http://youtu.be/ZEOM13UyZ0A

deronb1

Awsome trailer! Can't believe we have to wait a whole friggin year though.

tommyt21

Is anyone else confused on why they decided to split it into two parts?

Erik Tracy

tommyt21 wrote: »

Is anyone else confused on why they decided to split it into two parts?

Milk the 'franchise', baby! :-)

Or..from other sources...to add backstory 'filler' cuz the Hobbit storyline is too short.

Tony M

AWSOME.

Same actors and actresses. BRAVO.

I know the younger Bilbo is somebody new and that's fine for the younger years. They even made Gandalf look younger.

The story is short and funny at times and a must first read before somebody reads the trilogy. I loved reading the hobbitt!!

The barrels from the castle is my favorite part. Had me laughing in my chair.

Film-style looks just like Lotr and should be a great fore-runner to the trilogy for future generations.

I'm going to show my wife when she gets home. Many times she heard me laughing from the living room while reading this and since she never did read it, maybe she'll SEE what I laughed about when the movies come out if we live long enough.

codyc1ark

I'm going to go spend a few minutes in the closet after watching that... BRB...

tommyt21

If any of you get a chance please read The Silmarillion It sets the whole backstory for The Hobbit and LOTR. IT's much more serious than the other two stories.

Setting the Scene

The story starts with the creation of the world. The Valar, the Powers of the Earth, were appointed by Iluvatar, the Creator, to prepare the world for the coming of the Children of Iluvatar, who are immortal elves and mortal men. The greatest of the Valar was Melkor (later known as Morgoth), but he rebelled against Iluvatar, wishing the world for himself. He fought with the other Valar, undoing many of their good works, setting himself up as the first Dark Lord.

Most of the story is told from the viewpoint of the elves and in particular, the group of elves known as the Noldor. When the elves awaken for the first time, Middle Earth is in darkness, lit only by the stars. The Valar live in Valinor, a blessed land far across the sea in the west of the world, which is lit by two giant trees, one of gold and the other of silver. Melkor has built a huge fortress in the north of Middle Earth, but the Valar have just fought with him and imprisoned him, so there is peace in the world.

The Great Journey

The Valar decide that the elves should come to Valinor, and most of the elves start on the journey west, but it is a long one and many tarry or stop along the way, so the elves become divided into different groups, some of which never reach Valinor at all.

Those who travel across the sea became known as High Elves. Most of the stories are about a group of High Elves called the Noldor. They are the only High Elves who ever return to Middle Earth. The other important group are the Sindar or Grey Elves, who get as far as Beleriand, the westernmost part of Middle Earth at the time, but don't cross the sea to Valinor. Beleriand lies west of the Shire and the Blue Mountains, in a region which later, in the time of The Lord of the Rings will lie beneath the ocean.

The High Elves become great in mind and body due to contact with the Valar. They are the greatest and cleverest elves, and the greatest of them is F?anor. Although he does not rule the elves, he is the most skillful in craft and his spirit burns with a flame fiercer than any elf before or since. He discovers how to make gems and produces the three most beautiful gems ever, the Silmarils, capturing the light of the two trees in them.

The Exile of the Noldor

Things really start hotting up when Melkor is let out of prison, having served his time. Melkor wants the Silmarils, but F?anor doesn't trust him so he won't let him near them. Melkor starts spreading slander against the Valar and F?anor's heart is turned against them, although he still has no time for Melkor.

Melkor launches an attack on Valinor with the aid of a giant spider creature, Ungoliant. Together they produce a great darkness and destroy the two light-giving trees. He then kills F?anor's father, steals the Silmarils and heads back to Middle Earth.

F?anor is furious. He curses Melkor and makes up the name Morgoth, 'black enemy', for him. He swears a mighty oath, that he will never rest until he gets the Silmarils back, no matter who has them. His seven sons swear along with him. From that moment onward, they are cursed, because they have set themselves against Morgoth. F?anor makes a speech and persuades most of the Noldor to follow him. They decide to leave Valinor, against the advice of the Valar, and go to the harbour, where they ask to borrow the ships of another group of elves, the Teleri. But the Teleri love their ships and won't part with them, so the Noldor fight with them and kill many of them. In this way, the Noldor damn themselves.

At this stage, the Valar announce that the Noldor must return to be judged for their crime. The Noldor disregard this, continue on and eventually reach Middle Earth, but are exiled, banned from ever returning to Valinor. Enchantments are set in the sea around Valinor to prevent anyone from reaching it.

The Valar are conscious that they are guardians of the whole world, and don't want to abandon Middle Earth entirely to Morgoth, particularly since they know that men, the second Children of Iluvatar, are about to awaken somewhere there. So they construct the sun and the moon and set them in the sky. Morgoth's creatures have always loved darkness, so this is a major blow against them.

The War against Morgoth

Once in Middle Earth, the Noldor find that they can't immediately capture Morgoth, because he has returned to his fortress of Angband to the north of Beleriand. They set up kingdoms for themselves in the areas not already ruled by Thingol, the King of the Grey Elves, and set about a long and hopeless war against Morgoth. This starts out well, but gradually goes downhill. Morgoth breeds orcs, werewolves and dragons to assist him. He has balrogs, spirits which he has persuaded to join him and has turned into demons of fire and terror; and he has Sauron, who is mighty in Earth lore and as evil as his master. With this lot of monsters and fell beasties, he is invincible. In battle after battle, the elves lose ground until Morgoth's forces hold the whole of Beleriand.

'The Great Tales'

Men arrive late to Beleriand, after the war with Morgoth has begun. Many of them fit into the society set up by the elves and become their friends. But other men become subjects of the Dark Lord and fight on the side of evil. The great tales all involve men as well as elves. Three tales stand out from the rest as worthy of mention:

The Tale of Luthien and Beren

Beren, a man and a great hero, wanders into the woods of Doriath and meets Luthien, an elf maiden and daughter of the King of the Grey Elves. They fall in love, but the King will not give his blessing on the union, setting Beren an impossible task: he must go into the fortress of Angband and bring back a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth. Beren and Luthien set out on what appears to be a hopeless quest, but after many adventures, they confront the Dark Lord and succeed in getting the jewel.

On the return journey, they encounter an enormous wolf who takes the Silmaril. Eventually, the wolf is slain and the jewel presented to the King, but Beren is mortally wounded. Luthien travels in spirit to Valinor and sings a song of sadness to the Valar. They grant Beren some extra life, but Luthien must give up her immortality. The couple return to Middle Earth, live together for the rest of a normal human life, but never speak to anyone again.

The Tale of Turin Turambar

Turin is a young man whose family has been cursed by Morgoth. Being a Vala, Morgoth's curse carries considerable power. Turin grows up a strong and handsome young man who wields a mean sword and constantly fights against the forces of evil. But everything goes wrong for him.

Things start going amiss when Turin kills his best friend in a mistaken ambush and becomes an outlaw. He eventually arrives at the elvish kingdom of Nargothrond and becomes important there due to his skill with the sword and knowledge of strategy, but his plans for Nargothrond leave it open to the enemy.

Morgoth sends armies led by Glaurung the dragon and they conquer Nargothrond, killing most of the inhabitants or leading them off to slavery. In the confusion, Turin's sister Nienor, whom he has never met, is mesmerised by the dragon so that she doesn't know who she is. Turin finds her and befriends her, falls in love with her and eventually marries her. Finally Turin confronts and kills the dragon, but the foul creature reveals that Turin's most wicked act was to marry his own sister. In despair, Turin kills himself.

The Downfall of Gondolin

Turgon, one of the greatest of the Noldor, decides that the only way to avoid being beaten by Morgoth is to hide, so he builds the city of Gondolin in a secret valley in the mountains. He brings all his people to the city and seals the way so that they are cut off from the outside world. For hundreds of years, they successfully hide from Morgoth.

As time progresses, Turgon's daughter Idril grows to be one of the most beautiful creatures that ever walked the earth. Turgon's nephew, Maeglin, falls in love with her, but tells no one, because elves are not permitted to marry their cousins. He is torn apart inside by this illicit love. Meanwhile, Tuor, a man and the cousin of Turin, is guided by the Valar to Gondolin, where he is accepted by the King and eventually marries Idril.

Maeglin takes to wandering far into the mountains on mining expeditions and is captured by the enemy. Under torture, he quickly cracks and reveals the location of the hidden city. Morgoth launches a huge attack on Gondolin and destroys it, although a few including Tuor and Idril escape.

The Conclusion

The end of the History of the Silmarils is one of those sections which is written in abbreviated style - it was provided only to round the tale off, but a lot more work was required to make a well-spun tale. E?rendil and Elwing are 'half-elven', each having both human and elvish parents or grandparents. Taking the Silmaril which Beren and Luthien wrested from Morgoth, they sail into the West and somehow manage to reach Valinor, despite the enchantments around it. They plead their case before the Valar. Because they represent both elves and men, the Valar listen and relent, lifting their ban and deciding to deal with Morgoth once and for all. The War of Wrath takes place, in which Morgoth is defeated and cast out into the void outside the world, from where he can never escape.

But Middle Earth has suffered badly as a result of the wars. Most of Beleriand has sunk beneath the sea. Very few of the original Noldor or Sindar are left.

Erik Tracy

tommyt21 wrote: »

If any of you get a chance please read The Silmarillion It sets the whole backstory for The Hobbit and LOTR. IT's much more serious than the other two stories.

Setting the Scene...[stuff edited]

You're a nut....:cheesygrin: (from one nut to another, and fellow ex-Albuquerque dweller)

I would agree that the Silmarillion is a must read, but it is a tough read and many who try fail to plod their way thru. I certainly wouldn't recommend the Silmarillion as the first book to read, but for those, like us, who thirst for the backstory - will be rewarded with some stories that are compelling by themselves.

Shameless opportunity to plug my dusty old website....
http://erikt.cts.com/tolkien/me_lore.htm

tommyt21

Where in ABQ did you live? LOL yep Nut fits me just right.. I wish there were some local polkies round here.

Erik Tracy

tommyt21 wrote: »

Where in ABQ did you live? LOL yep Nut fits me just right.. I wish there were some local polkies round here.

NE off of Osuna and Wyoming....back in 1972

tommyt21

Erik Tracy wrote: »

NE off of Osuna and Wyoming....back in 1972

Oh dang that was a long time ago, lol the city has changed alot since then....

evhudsons

Silmarillion, it is a hard to start book because of the who is who, but once you get going it's freaking amazing. He basically created a world, a language, and a bible, then wrote such a great series of books.

civilian

deronb1 wrote: »

Awsome trailer! Can't believe we have to wait a whole friggin year though.

I agree it will be a long wait, should I start a line now?

Erik Tracy wrote: »

Milk the 'franchise', baby! :-)

I'm fine with that, hope they use some stuff from the Silmarillion

tony millard wrote: »

The barrels from the castle is my favorite part. Had me laughing in my chair.

That and Smaug, can't wait to see him!

Erik Tracy wrote: »

I would agree that the Silmarillion is a must read, but it is a tough read and many who try fail to plod their way thru.

Thats an understatement.

HHStuart

Thanks for the link. I'm looking forward to it. I read LOTR every couple of years. The rumor is that Smaug will be great. Although we won't see him until the second movie.

Tony M

The Balrog in Lotrs was awsome to and I wanted the figurine but it sold out fast and tripled in price. Bilbo on the barrel went from 100.00 to 900.00 after his release. But that was a long time ago. I think I'll go on ebay and check the prices again.

Sam's pony Bill ? also went through the roof right after it was sold out. The ones I wanted of course became every one elses most desired figurines too.

yep, 425.00 now 4 min. to go;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAM-and-BILL-PONY-Statue-Sideshow-NEW-LORD-RINGS-LOTR-/180776342722?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a171c14c2

Tony M

I looked through 10 pages of Ebay(that's all there is from Sideshow figurines) and right at the last few listings I find this.If anybody even cares.

I didn't see the Balrog figurine. That one was seldom listed just like Bilbo's.

Here's the listing and sure enough, The economy has knocked a hundred+ off the old prices people were asking AND getting.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lord-Rings-Sideshow-Weta-BILBO-BAGGINS-Statue-/140557816567?pt=UK_Collectables_SciFi_fantasyCollectables_EH&hash=item20b9e612f7

I can still buy it but my common sense still tells me I'm not that wealthy and besides, my wife WOULD go get a lawyer and start proceedings if I bought it and she found out..LOL

Erik Tracy

HHStuart wrote: »

Thanks for the link. I'm looking forward to it. I read LOTR every couple of years. The rumor is that Smaug will be great. Although we won't see him until the second movie.

Just so long as Smaug doesn't have fur....:rolleyes:

Tour2ma

Sweet... but that clip raised so many gaps that I'm going to have to reread the Hobbit in 2012. It's only been 30 years.

evhudsons wrote: »

Silmarillion...

That's the material J.R. wrote, but was pulled together and published by his son after JR's passing... yes? Bought it decades ago, but never picked it up.

Erik Tracy

Tour2ma wrote: »

Sweet... but that clip raised so many gaps that I'm going to have to reread the Hobbit in 2012. It's only been 30 years.

That's the material J.R. wrote, but was pulled together and published by his son after JR's passing... yes? Bought it decades ago, but never picked it up.

Pretty much.

If memory serves me, TS came out 1977 or so.

But during Tolkien's lifetime, he desparately wanted TS published since it was this body of work he first started to write waaay back during WWI but never really 'completed' to be in a form to be published.

After the success of The Hobbit and his publisher asking for 'more Hobbit stuff', Tolkien tried to work a deal where The Silmarillion would be published with the newer works (later to become LoTR).

But, his Publisher, after trying a crack at the Silmarillion, declined :sad:

It's a wierd twist of fate had the Silmarillion come out first, there would have been very few interested and it would have languished and died. But because of the success of The Hobbit and LotR, there was a keen interest by many to know more of the earlier stories hinted at in TH and LoTR.

sorry....ramble mode off.....

Tony M

I bought and tried reading TS and what an assualt of strange names for beings and strange names of places that seemed like I was thown into a world that spoke a different language that I had no knowlege of. If he used a similar slang of French or Spanish names instead, I think it would've been alot easier to read and catch on. I don't think I made it though the first chapter BUT I think I tried twice or three times to see why the other books were so great and this was so different. Like Star Wars. 1,2,3 which were 4,5, and 6. Fine. But then eveh Lucas failed somewhat with trying to create a pre-quil of indepth broad story line.



Maybe I need to to try just once more to read The Similarion (sp) before I die.

Erik Tracy

tony millard wrote: »

I bought and tried reading TS and what an assualt of strange names for beings and strange names of places that seemed like I was thown into a world that spoke a different language that I had no knowlege of. If he used a similar slang of French or Spanish names instead, I think it would've been alot easier to read and catch on. I don't think I made it though the first chapter BUT I think I tried twice or three times to see why the other books were so great and this was so different. Like Star Wars. 1,2,3 which were 4,5, and 6. Fine. But then eveh Lucas failed somewhat with trying to create a pre-quil of indepth broad story line.



Maybe I need to to try just once more to read The Similarion (sp) before I die.

Don't feel like you are forced to read the Silmarillion to be a true 'fan' - if you don't like it, no biggy.

It is a tough read because of all the names and the first section does read like a cross of 'the bible' and some Greek mythology thrown in.

And there is no central 'storyline' in the classic sense - more disjointed 'segments' with some crossover elements that loosely weave the book together from a chronological standpoint.

If your passion lies more with LotR, then have a try at just reading the story of Beren and Luthien as that has a close relation to the story of Aragorn and Arwen. Read just that, then read LotR over again - and I assure you when you get to the part in the Marshes where Aragorn recounts the tale of Luthien to the hobbits - you won't have a dry eye...knowing the backdrop history adds tremendous impact to later readings of LotR.

[tell me when to stop...cuz I can go on and on about this....:cheesygrin: ]

Tony M

I'll do that. Thanks. I'm writing that story reference down now.

I would be considered a true fan anyway. Went to the theater to see all three movies and have some nice Lotr stuff. I would love to have Gandalf standing on one speaker and Bilbo on the other. Well I have bookend set where Gandalf is knocking on Bilbo's door and the other has Bilbo getting ready to open it from inside. Those would be ok I think even with the distance of 8' between them. Maybe not.

I just didn't get how wierd his other book TS started off. But I'll look into it some more and who knows, Peter Jackson might make some other three part movie out of it and we'll see it explained on the big screen.


I'm sooooo glad The Hobbitt has Jackson involved somehow.

tommyt21

[QUOTE=
[tell me when to stop...cuz I can go on and on about this....:cheesygrin: ][/QUOTE]

Dude I love it keep going, it's nice to talk to other Tolkien junkies

Tony M

When I was reading the trilogy, I had guys at work that wouls ask what had happened since last time I told them about the story line. Great reading and story telling for sure. Good times..

EndersShadow

Watching that trailer last night gave me goosebumps.

The wife and I have LOTR marathons which take all weekend since we normally use the extended editions on DVD. However I now have the blu-ray extended collectors edition :eek: and we havent watched them yet..

tommyt21

EndersShadow wrote: »

Watching that trailer last night gave me goosebumps.

The wife and I have LOTR marathons which take all weekend since we normally use the extended editions on DVD. However I now have the blu-ray extended collectors edition :eek: and we havent watched them yet..

The bluray box extended ed is freaking awsome!!

Erik Tracy

tommyt21 wrote: »

Dude I love it keep going, it's nice to talk to other Tolkien junkies

Well, it sounds like you've read The Silmarillion...at least once...

What other books by/about Tolkien have you read - and what is your interest in 'peeking behind the curtain'?

Tour2ma

Erik Tracy wrote: »

But during Tolkien's lifetime, he desparately wanted TS published since it was this body of work he first started to write waaay back during WWI but never really 'completed' to be in a form to be published.

sorry....ramble mode off.....

As others have said feel free to ramble on... :cheesygrin:

As I'm only a casual Tolkien-o-phile I can's assert any of the following, but...

I swear that I read an account years ago (prolly when I was considering buying TS) that JRT never intended the material that became TS to be published... that it was his "rambling" (see, he did it, too) construction of the history of Middle Earth meant to facilitate his writing The Hobbit and the trilogy.

Also remember reading that JRT's son (with the help of a writer) pulled together TS to cash in on the LotR revival that followed Daddy's death... which is when I first read all four books.

Erik Tracy

Tour2ma wrote: »

As others have said feel free to ramble on... :cheesygrin:

As I'm only a casual Tolkien-o-phile I can's assert any of the following, but...

I swear that I read an account years ago (prolly when I was considering buying TS) that JRT never intended the material that became TS to be published... that it was his "rambling" (see, he did it, too) construction of the history of Middle Earth meant to facilitate his writing The Hobbit and the trilogy.

Also remember reading that JRT's son (with the help of a writer) pulled together TS to cash in on the LotR revival that followed Daddy's death... which is when I first read all four books.

It would be interesting if you could recall where you did read that Tolkien did not want TS published.

I have a book that is a compendium of Tolkien's "Letters" - compiled from various sources - Letters to his own family, relatives, readers, publisher, etc. In those Letters, there are many where Tolkien truly/deeply wanted to have TS published, but there were no takers for a such a curious and odd tome of mythology. So he continued his work as professor, until that fateful day as he sat grading exams and on a blank space...."In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit."

As Tolkien wrote the Hobbit, he drew on elements from his grand mythos of Middle-earth, so you hear about Gondolin and the Goblin Wars (where Sting and Glamdring came from), and Elrond, and many other 'hints' drawn from TS, because they were conveniently at hand - and unused/unpublished.

What could be said about Tolkien and any real effort to publish TS was that is was, at the time, still a jumble - he even admitted in his Letters that he was great at starting a task, but bad at finishing them.

You can sense that in reading TS, and it is further 'clarified' by his son in the foreward - that it was a hard task to pick up the pieces together and patch it to be presentable for publication. Thank goodness he did! :biggrin:

[very odd coincidence - have the stereo playing - and "pick up the pieces" just started playing....I swear!:eek:]

Tour2ma

Erik Tracy wrote: »

It would be interesting if you could recall where you did read that Tolkien did not want TS published.
[very odd coincidence - have the stereo playing - and "pick up the pieces" just started playing....I swear!:eek:]

Per my memory it wasn't so much "never wanted" as it was "did not intend". Since I can't recall doing any real research before buying TS, my best guess was that I read that in one of the book's reviews on Amazon... obviously an unimpeachable source. :redface:

Ah, a toe-tapper from an "Average White Band" from Scotland...

dpowell

Nice to see other Tolkien fans out there. I think as long as we don't start discussing the politics of Middle Earth, the thread won't get banned...