10 responses so far ↓

• 1 revgeorge // Apr 30, 2008 at 1:46 pm

  Well, I do agree with Del Toro’s closing comments in his MTV interview. If you disliked Jackson’s LOTR, then you’ll probably dislike Del Toro’s version, too. Amen, preach it, Del Toro! After reading other comments from him & seeing that the sequel will essentially be made up by Jackson, Del Toro et al, yes, I can guarantee I will dislike it.

  Especially coming from a guy who admits he never finished reading Tolkien’s LOTR & that he dislikes heroic fantasy. What a guy to pick to direct The Hobbit!

• 2 Scott // Apr 30, 2008 at 6:52 pm

  Shades of Michael Gambon. Next we’ll hear that Del Toro doesn’t really direct the movie, he just puts all the props and actors in front of the camera and turns everything on and lets it run, then puts that single first take in the movie. Didn’t Gambon say something in an interview about how he never really acts, he just reads his lines as Michael Gambon talking to the camera? What a joke.
  I personally loved PJ’s take on LOTR. I was constantly amazed at how he seemed to reproduce on film what my mind imagined the first time I read the books years ago. It’s my opinion that if PJ can’t direct the Hobbit, they shouldn’t do it. Period. And I really don’t think they should bother with a Hobbit “sequel”. There may be a lot of implied story there, but without Tolkien’s language and imagination, you have nothing. One of the reasons the movies worked so well was because they used SO MUCH of Tolkien’s actual language and text. If you don’t have that, you just have someone making up another script for Hollywood, and I would rather they didn’t desecrate Tolkien for that particular buck.

• 3 reyhan // Apr 30, 2008 at 10:53 pm

  I am not a devotee of Peter Jackson’s work - I found that the LOTR movies dragged somewhat ( a lot), and all the bits with Arwen rushing around on horses to save various people were totally gratituitous, not to mention not in the spirit of Tolkien, who’d otherwise cast the role of brave female warrior. I was also not too struck by the endless mooning about in each other’s arms that Sam and Frodo engaged in post Mt. Doom, when they should have been running away from the volcano as fast as their hairy little feet would take them.

  Having said which, I feel the need to spring to Jackson’s defense. He definitely got “it”, “it” being the overall spirit of Tolkien: the epic grandeur, the heroism and the ethereal magic (a bit too much of that, but let that pass). Those who have complained that the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie was lacking in spirituality and reverential tone would have been better served had Jackson taken on that particular bit of moviemaking.

  So I say to you, Scott, we are all free to exercise our right to go see, or to refrain from going to see, the movies. But to say that the movies should not be made seems a little unreasonable. My understanding and appreciation of a book can not at all be damaged by a film version which I do not see.

  revgeorge, I am curious: is there any director whose work you know whom you would support to direct the Hobbit and its unnamed twin?

• 4 revgeorge // Apr 30, 2008 at 11:47 pm

  James Cameron.

  No, just kidding!

  I can’ t think of any director off hand, still living that is, that I’d prefer. But what I would prefer is a director who actually has read the material at hand & is familiar with the genre. Del Toro is a master at what he does, but he admits heroic fantasy is not his big thing. Better to get a guy who is good at that. Even as much as I despised Jackson’s LOTR, still he would be better perhaps since he’s got the background. As for the sequel, I’d prefer no one direct it, since it would rely too much on hollywood writers to draw together disparate accounts from Tolkien.

  I guess we won’t know how Del Toro does until he actually makes the movie. But my expectations are low. Personal opinion, you know.

• 5 Travis Prinzi // May 1, 2008 at 7:28 am

  I’ll take the dissenting role on this one. I think reyhan’s right re: Jackson. And I’m actually optimistic about Del Toro. I think Del Toro’s talent doing a Tolkien story in the spirit of Jackson’s trilogy is cause for hope.

  It just struck me, though - if Del Toro’s going to NZ for 4 years to film these two movies, there’s no way we’re getting At the Mountains of Madness in 2010.

• 6 revgeorge // May 1, 2008 at 9:06 am

  No, I don’t think you’re going to get that movie quite yet. Which is disappointing because that is Del Toro’s acknowledged speciality.

• 7 Johnny // May 1, 2008 at 12:35 pm

  Terrence Howard made a very convincing rapper in Hustle & Flow, and in real life, he’s not into Hip Hop/Rap. What’s to say that Del Toro can’t do a good job as director of The Hobbit just because heroic fantasy is not his thing.

• 8 reyhan // May 1, 2008 at 12:45 pm

  And in fact, he may do a better job of it because he won’t bring the reverence of the work which might interfere with some decisions which might be necessary to make the story work on film.

  I’m thinking, for example, that it’s not really advisable to make the dwarves shorter than the other characters. Watching LOTR I’m always distracted by the camera angles they had to use to make the hobbits and the dwarf appear shorter.

• 9 Scott // May 1, 2008 at 9:09 pm

  Reyhan, perhaps I didn’t communicate my thoughts correctly. I wasn’t in any way suggesting that we should block the making of the Hobbit. I want to see it made. I will see it no matter who makes it. Whether I see it multiple times or buy multiple versions on DVD will certainly depend on who makes it and how well they do.
  Regarding the sequel, I was just saying that I PREFER they don’t try to make that. It is my opinion that no one, with the possible exception of Christopher Tolkien, can duplicate JRRT’s magical prose. I think the reason the LOTR movies worked so well was because Jackson did use so much of Tolkien’s language and text. So to come up with a story that Tolkien did not flesh out significantly will necessarily involve too much of the screenwriter’s writing. I just don’t think it will be very good. And it’s my opinion that they shouldn’t do it. That being said, I certainly have no right to try to stop them from making it. I can only vote with my wallet.
  As far as Del Toro’s directing, I have to admit I have never seen a single movie of his. He may be a fabulous director. I am just very put off by the fact that he isn’t all that familiar with the material, and doesn’t seem to want to change that.
  As always, just my opinion.

• 10 reyhan // May 1, 2008 at 9:36 pm

  Scott,

  I think that the story is there. It needs to be filled in a bit. And they don’t need to re-create Tolkien’s prose (which would take a major miracle). They just need to provide the dialogue. Which I believe is doable.

  It would take a very good writer. Someone who could capture the vocabulary, the sentence structure and the character specific phrases of the original.

  I am reminded of the Joe Wright version of Pride and Prejudice. There were lines there that weren’t in the original, but they worked. They were contributed by Emma Thompson, who also did the screenplay for Sense and Sensibility and Nanny McPhee.

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