LotR releases for Desolation of Smaug

[Wilkins]

Quite like that Beorn and Bear from Vendel. Would like to see them next to other minis for some perspective, but pretty impressive anyway

[Doomhippie]

Beorn as a 40+mm model? Way out of proportion in my opinion. Though the model istelf is quite nice. I've never pictured him as a giant though. A very big and tall man.  And an even larger bear maybe. But that's of course a matter of opinion.

[guitarheroandy]

Well, first off...I'm probably in  a minority because I do like the WETA workshop vision of Middle Earth. And I loved the first Hobbit movie!!  Call me weird if you want. You won't be the first persons to do so and you won't be the last 

So, given all that, I also like most of the new models. The Rangers are fabulous - really graceful and the most 'Elven' of all the Elves so far. The Palace guard are not all posed brilliantly and the ratio of shields to warriors in the box is stupid...but I think they'll paint up beautifully. I LOVE the shields... The main disappointment is the dreadful command figure carrying his sword two handed - clumsy sculpt, poor posing.

Legolas and Tauriel are great, although Legolas' face isn't perfect. They are great leaders for the Rangers though and will be a joy to paint.

Beorn...not impressed with him. He's too big and just doesn't look right. The barrels set looks cool, but is useless outside the one scenario in the supplement.

I'm not gonna slag GW off. Too many people do that already. They got me into gaming. Without GW, I'd have missed out on all this cool gaming stuff over the last 25 plus years. I may not like the pricing or their tendency to 'improve' rulesets when they don't need improving, but they still make some of the best Fantasy models out there across their main game systems. These new models fit right in there and they are great representations of the WETA vision of Middle Earth.

I can see me using my birthday and Christmas money to make a 6pt Saga Mirkwood warband with these Elves (to use with the Elven board that is out there on the web at the mo) and I'm sure somebody in the family can be persuaded to buy me the supplement for Christmas...

I have no doubt that this post will cause some people to gasp in disbelief at me actually liking all this new-fangled non-book Hobbit stuff, this stuff, but that's just me. I've never been one to follow the crowd and I'm too old and awkward to change the way I think now...

[Doomhippie]

Sorry to disappoint you, Andy, but I'm mostly with you - at least about the Middle-Earth models. I do like these Elves guite a bit.

Oh, and I like most of the things in the movies. Not all and I have always seen them as PJ interpretation of a book, not as the book itself. Once I made that compromise I was mostly happy with what he did. And the rest I didn't like was - let's say- good enough not spoil anything else.

[Cubs]

Good on you guys for speaking out. Life would be boring if we all agreed on everything.

[guitarheroandy]

Sorry to disappoint you, Andy, but I'm mostly with you - at least about the Middle-Earth models. I do like these Elves guite a bit.

Oh, and I like most of the things in the movies. Not all and I have always seen them as PJ interpretation of a book, not as the book itself. Once I made that compromise I was mostly happy with what he did. And the rest I didn't like was - let's say- good enough not spoil anything else.

Not disappointed at all...nice to see others who also have positive views about it all :-) At least on here there's a balance of views about the movies etc, even if there is the usual plethora of GW bashing (which I do understand, to be fair)

[grant]

Good on you guys for speaking out. Life would be boring if we all agreed on everything.

I disagree!

[Doomsdave]

I disagree!

I see what you did there 

I loved the LoTR movies and enjoyed the 1st Hobbit film...except for turning Radagast into a clown.  That was the only bit that really chafed for me.  I was very disappointed in the GW releases for the 1st film though.

[joroas]

except for turning Radagast into a clown.

Yes, l had that Jar Jar Binks moment too. 

[Laughing Ferret]

I like the movies.  I'm a huge Tolkien fan, and sure, I know there are some significant changes, additions & omissions.  Some of them I understand and agree with (for the sake of adapting to film that needs millions of tickets to be bought), some of them disappoint me, but I figure I only have myself to blame for not becoming a famous director & producer and so have the weight to create the films exactly as I ideally want them. Just one of many things to add to the heap of life's disappointments  

GW seem to be doing a pretty good job of making minis that reflect what is in the films, which they're pretty well limited to.  I don't understand why Jackson decided goblins of the Misty Mountains should be radioactive vat-born mutants, when the very nearby Moria goblins are nothing like them and were sinister and cool (seriously those were awesome goblins).  And I wonder if GW will be faithful to the Hobbit movie and give every dwarf an agility that rivals Legolas... that dinner party proved once and for all that dwarves not only do not have lower agility than men, but elves have serious competition. From now on I want Dwarves to all have Agility 8 or better  and I want Blood Bowl dwarves to have agility 5, sure hands, accurate, nerves of steel and catch.

As for the valu of the movie, I think The Hobbit is a greater challenge than Lord of the Rings was.  The LotR novels are presented as an adult novel of an old epic saga.  The Hobbit novel is presented as a youth-excessable story of an old epic saga.  So the LotR movies had a clearer path laid out: the telling of & the tale are on the same 'level', if anything the movies add comic relief to a degree that isn't present in the novels (there's some, but no allusions to dwarf-tossing & such).  The Hobbit has a tougher decision to make: present the novel 'The Hobbit' or present the epic saga that the Hobbit novel is based on (within the fictional setting). Jackson seems to have decided to opt for the later, predictably enough, since it fits better with the LotR movies, but that means the films are going to be open to a lot more easy criticism because they'll be more different from the novel than the LotR movies were from theirs.  As for details, like Radagast.. no, I never pictured him as a weedbert hippie and didn't think that was the right direction to go, I imagined him having the same feel as the ents: self-absorbed disinterest in the outside world of the free peoples and rather stoic & quiet. But the film Radagast is the kind of comic relief that can't be avoided if the budget is going to be what is required, and really, he does get to be a bit badass for awhile, so maybe not so bad. But if needing comic relief should have relied more on Bombur, not Radagast.

No film version will ever completely satisfy everyone, or even anyone. The animated captured the children story feel well, but the elves looked like frog headed aliens, so I'm glad we're not getting minis of those. Actually, I might want those.. hmm.  So the GW releases are hit & miss for me, bc the film visuals are hit & miss for what I see in my head.  

[Cubs]

I disagree!

No you don't.

[joe5mc]

Well put Laughing Ferret.

Although, in a true case of can't please everyone. I love the Hobbit goblins (movie and figures) and didn't care for the LOTR ones at all.

[Vermis]

Life would be boring if we all agreed on everything.

But it would go a lot smoother if you all just agreed with me.

the very nearby Moria goblins are nothing like them and were sinister and cool (seriously those were awesome goblins).

I'll concede that large chunks of the look of Movie-Earth look quite good; but in the spirit of orneriness I'd be more willing to lay that at the feet of others in the crew, particularly John Howe and Alan Lee.

[H.M.Stanley]

"And I loved the first Hobbit movie!!" You're weird Andy 

Hand on heart i thought it was a dreadful film and will be avoiding the remaining films like the plague.

Still, horses for courses.

J

[guitarheroandy]

"And I loved the first Hobbit movie!!" You're weird Andy 

I keep giving myself a good talking to about it but all that seems to do is reinforce everyone's views about the weirdness!!!!