Born Of Hope: prequel to LOTR

[baragund]

Elgee hit the nail on the head way back at her post of Nov. 7 where she said "We actually know very little of the life styles of the Northern Dunedian. That is one place I've always been interested in, how a hunted race managed to keep enough of a breeding population to maintain a pure line, without intermixing with "lesser folks."

In the right hands, it could be a well-done story that nicely fills in one of those barely glimpsed "vistas" that Tolkien described when commenting on his Appendices. It would complement rather than override the general outline that the Professor created.

In the wrong hands, it could be all of the bad things that Illuin and Yay have been talking about and more.

I say let's give the filmakers a fair chance and see what they come up with. We may be pleasantly surprised or we may regret wasting 60 minutes of our lives on a load of drivel.

 

[Prince of Cats]

I think it could be great

As Yay questioned on the first page, isn't it possible these people are doing it for the love of the movies? They are releasing it on the internet, not the best money-making medium Maybe they couldn't get published on a hard medium or maybe they don't care. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are Tolkien-a-holics till I see more

 

[Illuin]

by Firawyn
Sap is plastered all over Tolkien's work

Um…Huh? Fir, you're not making much sense here. As a fan of the most disturbing horror movie writers and directors (Clive Barker, Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter etc.), J.R.R. Tolkien is far darker, and far more disturbing than any of them, and absolutely the furthest thing from “sappy”. Don’t understand where your coming from here Fir. Doesn't sound like the Fir I know. Sap plastered all over Tolkien's work? I think not. Just not seeing it!

 

[Firawyn]

Sap, being defined as both "sad" and "happy"...just to clear up that were are on the same page as far as definition.

It was "sappy" that Frodo destroyed the Ring, but lost so much of himself doing so.

It was "sappy" when Boromir tried to take the Ring, though he gave Frodo the motive he needed to leave, and showed Boromir himself that he was not above the influence of the Ring.

It was "sappy" that the Hobbits returned to the Shire to find it under the control of Saruman, but it gave them a chance to show what they'd gained in their time with the Fellowship.


There are moments and instances all over! Not the Fir you know...humm, perhaps you should get to know me better, my friend. I am a lady of many faces.

 

[HLGStrider]

To me sappy means emotionally intense in a way that is either A. so sweet your fingers stick to the pages or B. more poetic/dramatic than what people experience in normal life.

Definitely not sappy by the first definition but there are a few moments where B. takes over, such as when they are singing the farewell to Boromir, a couple of Frodo/Sam friendship moments, and the general "love at first sight because the girl is posed so beautifully." Some of the speeches are also "Come on, people don't talk that way. . ." but more accurately it is "People don't talk that way anymore." As a lover of Ivanhoe and other period pieces, I think that we've come to expect a curt, very basic style in our dialogue. We expect our women to be sharped tongued and sassy. We expect sarcasm rather than sincerity. We expect shallowness from good and believe that people can only show character depth in their flaws. In Tolkien's universe sincerity and goodness are lauded.

By modern standards a little bit sappy, but not really by classic standards.

 

[Prince of Cats]

Well said, Elgee

 

[Illuin]

By HLGStrider
By modern standards a little bit sappy, but not really by classic standards.

I can live with that . Very good insight.

 

[baragund]

Ditto.

Meanwhile, back to the film at hand. I took a look in their web site and noticed that nobody involved with the film is being paid and this thing will be web cast for free.

Clearly, we can rule out the "making a quick buck" idea as their motivation. Seems to me the filmakers are doing this as a labor of love.

That said, I remain optimistic this will be an enjoyable piece of storytelling. It won't blow our doors off like the Peter Jackson movies but it can be something us Tolkienologists can appreciate.

 

[RangerStryder]

If you like the upcoming prequel to LOTR: Born of Hope.....then I know you guys would love this 2nd prequel to LOTR, The Hunt for Gollum.
http://thehuntforgollum.com/

Its all based on Tolkien's work by Tolkien's fans for all Tolkien's fans. Just be gracious....youre not being forced to watch all these.

 

[Mike]

I think the question here is, why do works like this and not:

From the Creator of the Lord of the Rings...
A tale of dragons, lost treasure, and magic...

FARMER GILES OF HAM

Coming 2009

Now THAT would be a fan project I'd get behind!

 

[Prince of Cats]

I think the question here is, why do works like this and not:



Now THAT would be a fan project I'd get behind!

Let me fetch my blunderbuss!!

I'd love a movie with that Giant and the conversation between the giant and the dragon and all, the whole story really I love. It's got the wonderful haunt of Tolkien but with different taste buds than LOTR

I wonder how much talking Garm would have in the movie

 

[Illuin]

Yes, I’ve always said (not to you folks here at TTF) that FARMER GILES OF HAM should be a high budget full blown feature film given the same equal TLC as the Trilogy, or the upcoming Hobbit film. It would be incredible! That’s always been one of my favorites. Hopefully after the Hobbit’s immeasurable success (and yes, we all know it’s going to be a gem), more of Tolkien’s works will be considered for the big screen; The Silmarillion and Farmer Giles being the obvious choices for guaranteed success. Come on! "We have the technology; we can rebuild him; we can make him better; stronger; faster!!! "

 

[Barliman Butterbur]

And there's another Tolkien film coming out much earlier than The Hobbit, story revolves on Aragorn's people....the Dunedain.

British made, low budget, internet release by next year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...-Lord-of-the-Rings-inspired-Born-of-Hope.html

Huh! Well, according to the photo, they're already behind in makeup and prosthetics! Competing with Weta is harder than it seems! And how good will everything be? Good actors, believable plot, good directing, good cameras, good music? If you have those, it could even be done on the cheap. And how close will they come to recreating the Tolkien ambiance? They have a tough audience to please.

Barley

 

[RangerStryder]

Huh! Well, according to the photo, they're already behind in makeup and prosthetics! Competing with Weta is harder than it seems! And how good will everything be? Good actors, believable plot, good directing, good cameras, good music? If you have those, it could even be done on the cheap. And how close will they come to recreating the Tolkien ambiance? They have a tough audience to please.

Barley

I'm sure of that.

In this economy and youre trying to make a film with several actors in tow that accept the work for free because they love the story and doing it for the love of being in Tolkien's fantasy world - that screw up their schedules and life. A working script that nobody in here got a look but easy for us to judge, comparing a small start-up movie company to major ones and the expectation that they can re-create what PJ and New Line done to LOTR and questioning their intelligence why they showing it online instead.
Yup...tough audience indeed, as if we are being force to watch them huh.

 

[YayGollum]

I don't know if these are being done by the same people. It doesn't sound like it. Either way, they are of the same genre: Fans making free movies just for this internet place. This one looks way more fun than the other one. ---> http://www.hunt4gollum.com/

 

[Ithrynluin]

Wow, now that's what I call devotion!

 

[RangerStryder]

Here's the 1st trailer:

http://www.hunt4gollum.com/

Give us your opinion.

 

[Mike]

Looks pretty good, actually. I'd be willing to waste half an hour watching this, though I hope they do come out with a DVD in the future. I'm still baffled by the choice of plot.