[quote="Eldorion":1mu9fa4d][url=http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/12/07/41135-torn-exclusive-cate-blanchett-ken-stott-sylvester-mccoy-mikael-persbrandt-join-cast-of-peter-jackson%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cthe-hobbit%E2%80%9D/:1mu9fa4d]TheOneRing.net[/url:1mu9fa4d] [list][*] [*]Beorn: Mikael Persbrandt [/quote:1mu9fa4d] Fantastic, I hope he is good.

I'm still a bit perplexed as to the casting of Drogo. Why is he in it? Frodo is 33 when Bilbo is 111 so Bilbo is 78 when Frodo is born and he's in his 50's when TH takes place. That's a big gap to bridge [i:klo2g8io]if[/i:klo2g8io] they somehow plan to include Frodo's birth and his parents death. And if they aren't doing that why include Drogo in TH at all? It's not like he got a mention in PJ's LotR's. For me the telling thing about that list is it contains 7 characters, out of which 3 do not feature at all in TH book.

Other than McCoy and Blanchett I don't know of any of those actors (and only with regards to [i:3i9cr52u]The Hobbit[/i:3i9cr52u] for McCoy). I'm as puzzled by the Drogo bit as everyone else. I'm holding out hope that they'll just include him in a few brief scenes as a framing sequence, but I'd still prefer he wasn't there to begin with. If they mess up the timeline to try to shoehorn Drogo into the main tale I'll be even more annoyed, though.

I agree, Petty, I would have loved some distinction as well. There's a Norwegian translation of LotR that handles the difference in speech between different regions and peoples incredibly well, it's a shame you don't understand Norwegian because it really is a great translation

Mmmm I wonder how long it would take to learn Norwegian?

[quote="pettytyrant101":3fnis5wx]Mmmm I wonder how long it would take to learn Norwegian?[/quote:3fnis5wx] You'll be speaking it fluently in no time, a cheerful guy like you Still very puzzled about this Drogo stuff though Other than that, the actors look their parts I think (so does Drogo), very happy with these actors. I only hope they'll do their characters justice in terms of acting!

I don't because PJ and Coven showed in LotR they can't write in Tolkien's style (grammatically or storytelling) if their life depended on it. The worst parts of the LotR films are the bits they made up. TH is going to be at least 50% made up- that doesn't bode well. It also misses the point that TH is a book with a particular feel and charm which will be stomped mercilessly into the ground by turning it into a full blown segue into LotR's. But it is good news Beorn is in. A small crumb of comfort.

I can't say I'm surprised about Drogo being in the movie, I'm expecting that since they're making 2 films they've created some wiggle room. And they have plenty of information from Unfinished Tales to use and warp like they did in LOTR. I have a feeling its not going to be like Harry Potter 7 where they really explained everything from the BOOK in the first part as much as they could. But I have this dark feeling that's just beginning to emerge that TH is going to bomb because PJ is trying to live up to LOTR.

Even if they do use all the available outside material huge chunks of important stuff is still very, very vague. All we know of the WC and the Necromancer largely boils down to a few variations on the line "The Necromancer was driven from Mirkwood." Given the only time we've really seen members of the WC act aggressively was Gandalf fighting Saruman (a scene in which PJ typically turned some of Tolkien's best most dramatic cut and thrust dialogue into two old men fighting with sticks! And this when the actors in question are Christopher Lee and Ian Mckellen stalwarts of the stage that's a disgracful misuse of talent and source material) what 'treats' will he give us for 'driving out the Necromancer'? Flying wizards? Matrix meets LotR's? Fireballs from fingertips? Someone dangling off a ledge? No they proved unremittingly in LotR that when they take a small line like that and 'fill it out' it is a disaster. At least half of this film is shaping up to be such a disaster. PJ has no restraint and I state again the Coven cannot write in Tolkiens style and the stuff they make up jars terribly with the genuine article. As it does in LotR when Frodo picks Gollum over Sam. I fear we can expect far more of this 'dramatizing' ie making up stuff that doesn't fit or make sense outside of its own context of unrealistic heightened drama. Where in all this is the simple tale of a hobbit going on a big adventure and encountering the beautiful and the terrible, opening his eyes and mind to what's around him and demonstrating the innate courage that resides in all people of good heart?

I have a problem with showing the WC driving the Necromancer from Mirkwood. Galadriel for example in LotR seems to be able to keep the darkness still about Dol Guldur at bay by using the power of the elven ring and her ethereal elvishess- what Sam calls elf magic. Its intangible, its the power of her will competing with the will of Sauron. But its not exactly filmable that. And as Odo says best left to the imagination. So I cannot see how it will not descend into farce if they try to film it. Galadriel fighting with a sword? Or firing magic about? How are they going to do it? More I think about it worse it gets.

It's a shame, then, that the book they claim to be adapting isn't an epic. [quote="Ringdrotten":2970dd43]We already have the book with its great story that can never be touched by anyone, why not experiment a little when making a movie of it?[/quote:2970dd43] A couple of reasons. First, because PJ and Co. are claiming to adapt [i:2970dd43]The Hobbit[/i:2970dd43], so if they're to be honest about it they should do that instead of trying to make a prequel to PJ's films. Second, because, book on the shelf or otherwise, PJ's films will be the primary version of Middle-earth for millions of people around the world. His changes to LOTR have already resulted in a muddled vision once, so I see no reason to encourage that even further. That said, at the end of the day it's just a movie, so it doesn't really matter. I'd get over being annoyed.

Do you want salt with that?

[quote="Eldorion":7g44n31p]It's a shame, then, that the book they claim to be adapting isn't an epic.[/quote:7g44n31p] [quote="Ringdrotten":7g44n31p] it'll probably be epic cinema, [b:7g44n31p]regardless of what's in the book or not[/b:7g44n31p]. [/quote:7g44n31p] What's in the book, what the book is = I see no difference