Amph One Thread To Rule Them All: The Rings of Power + The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings Trilogies

Which reminds me, I still haven't finished the Unfinished Tales. I wonder if the name has a double meaning. (Nah, I just can't seem to find the time and the right mood...)

And I really, really should re-read the Silmarillion and LOTR... it's been ages since I last read them...

 

Oh I almost forgot my favorite line today:

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."

 

There are some parts I keep putting off reading, like the ones having to do with Rohan.

 

From another thread:

"All I desire for visuals is the same TLC given to the T-rex scene in the 1st JP. Even the other dino effects in the first film were not super. But that initial scene where the T-rex gets out is perfection."

This is what I want for Smaug. When the T-Rex first gets on screen it looks like a friggin T-Rex on screen, not an animated/cgi/cartoony thingy. I relize aforementioned dragon has to talk, but that's no excuse.

Don't you wish sometimes as a fan you could stand over the shoulder of the special effects artists and director and say, "Hey, you know cool the T-Rex first looked in JP, and how cool the Vermithrax scenes looked in Dragonslayer? Yeah do that."

 

Given Smaug will be partly be mo-cap Benedict Cumberbatch and how good Gollum & Kong were when done that way, I don't think it will be a big problem

 

I was happy with the Kong effects but the battle Kong had with the two T-rex's was not good. Nor was the brachiosaur stampede. I did like the oliphant effects for the most part in ROTK.

 

I think you mean V-Rex.

ILM can do good visuals, but some stuff in recent years has looked cheap and shabby (Numderous parts of the PT for example).
Weta have done Avatar and King Kong and LOTR so they can deliver.

 

As long as Smaug doesn't resemble a cat again, I think I'll be pretty satisfied with what Weta comes up with.

 

Anyone thinking of questioning Weta needs to shut their ***** mouth.

 

Wait... how are they going to use mo-cap for a dragon? Is Benedict going to get on all fours in a cigi suit and pretend he's a dragon or something?

 

probably

 

This reminds me of how... interesting Elrond's life could have been for those thousand years between Arnor's fall and War of the Rings. Every couple of decades another one of his brother's descendants is brought to his house.

Boy's father, current leader of the Dúnedain: This is my son and he shall one day lead our people and reunite the kingdom!
Elrond (reading a poem book): Yeah yeah, close the door when you go. And don't get killed on your way out.
*Orc shoots the leader*
Elrond (turning a page): Sigh. They never listen. Well, time for Arwen to go visit her grandma again.

 

But yeah, he's going to mo-cap Smaug (I think he even spoke of the challenges doing a non-humanoid, serpent-like character). I'm sure Weta Digital will be perfectly capable of translating his movements to those of a dragon (perhaps tweaking here and there when necessary, to give him a wholly serpentish movement - just like they did with Gollum whenever he was performing inhuman acrobatics).

 

Speaking of Smaug... I recall something from my latest EMPIRE magazine. There's a few quotes from Benedict Cumberbatch. He said that he was not in the same room as Freeman when he delivered his lines. Disappointing. I can see that Smaug doesn't engage with Bilbo in the same way that Gollum does, but still...

Here's the quote:

"We weren't in the same room together. If Martin had been there, I would've wanted to play off him, but there are size issues. Smaug is bigger than the hobbit... I think I can say that! ... This isn't the Riddles scene. It's slightly different, it's intricate. Smaug doesn't engage with the Hobbit the same way Sméagol does. Sméagol gets drawn in, whereas Smaug is on much more of an ego trip. He likes to feel dominant at all times, and often because of what he's capable of, he is."

 

We'll see how it is. I'm actually kind of confident that they know what they're doing, which is odd for me, but Riddles in the Dark was great and the first movie really worked best in the smaller, quieter moments.

 

Don't get me wrong. I think it'll be great. I just loved the idea of Cumberbatch and Freeman playing the scene together.

 

That is worrying, kind of. Like I said, we'll see.

 

Found this on TORn:

 

I was just about to post that!

 

Now you know how it feels.

 

Ehh, it didn't hurt The Wrath of Khan...

 

WETA- only those which I have seen of course:

Contact. I love this movie, not a big special effects movie but the entire wormhole journey was incredible.

All the LOTR movies. I have no complaints; the balrog scene is still my favorite scene.

I, Robot. Insert flaws, but no biggy.

King Kong. Like I said Kong's effects were great but the battle with the V-rex and the stumbling stampede were dumb. Oh, but that icky insect rampage scene was so well done I wanted to look away from the icky bugs.

Van Helsing. The flying of the vampire women made me want to slap someone. Otherwise though the movie basically sucks the visuals in and of themselves are good.

District 9. Are you kidding me? This is one of the best scifi films ever made, with one of the best endings ever made, and the effects are incredible.

Avatar. The basic love story plot is mehor cliche or predictable or whatever, the overall plot is good, the special effects are outstanding. I accidentally bought a 2d viewing first. Then saw it again in 3d and was blown away.

Predators. I went on a Predator kick after this. The effects are truthfully not that big a deal from a cgi standpoint but there is nothing to compalin about at all.

X-Men First Class. Is it silly to admit I got a lil choked up during this? Not a flaw.

The Avengers, Prometheus, The Hobbit; yes yes yes.

They get the other 2 Hobbit films, Iron Man 3 and Man Of Steel.

So yeah, I can nitpick. But otherwise I am happy.