LotR releases for Desolation of Smaug

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

What does Smaug look like - two legs or four?
Is there an existing dragon figure (e.g. Reaper) that looks the part?

[Momotaro]

What does Smaug look like - two legs or four?
Is there an existing dragon figure (e.g. Reaper) that looks the part?

First question - 4 legs, with the wings attached to his forelimbs.

Second question - no idea.  I have a Macfarlane red dragon that's good enough for me (4 legs + 2 separate wings).

[Johnno]

Evangeline Lilly is good as Tauriel, Kili HAS to be for the chop in the last film now that he has a love interest...

Easter egg - Peter Jackson is the first person's face you see on screen.

SPOILER ALERT! He doesn't make it in the books either 

I saw that too!

My main criticism is the elves have too large a part but its hard to argue with the gorgeous Tauriel.

The scenes that show where Gandalf went ( don't want to spoil it) instead of Into Mirkwood was nice to see as that's what was alluded to IIRC.

[weismonsters]

Smaug is just brilliant on his pile of gold (literally a mountain filled with the stuff), although his dialogue wanders off into Action Movie Baddie cliche when the movie goes off-script.  

This is my one real criticism of the Lord of the rings films. I find the dialogue of Tolkien to be very rich, full of subtle humour ("If in doubt young Merriadoc, always follow your nose") and somehow very convincingly oldy worldy.
For example, when Bernard Hill is saying the elogy to his dead son, in the film he ends it with some words of Hollywoodese, which kind of spoils the moment for me. Some times they just seemed to omit things almost for no reaon, like "oaths you have taken, to lord and land" and not mentioning "league of friendship". Maybe they wanted to make the Rohirrim have a more fuedal mentality than Tolkien ascribed too them i dont know.

That being said, I thought they did a good job with capturing the sense of menace of Sauron (the bit where Frodo climbs to the hilltop after escaping Boromir and then sees the eye was just how I remeber picturing it when I first read it as a teenager. Unfortunately that was the only such moment, because the only other things I remembered  clearly from the book were tom Bombadil rescuing them from the barrow, Aragorn telling tales about Gil Galad and Beren and Luthien, Glorfindel confronting the ringwraiths, and Faramir being generally heroic, all of which were omitted. In fact, some time after my first reading of the book I remained with the impression that Gil Galad, Tom Bombadil, Beren and Luthien and Faramir were the main characters, which is obviously not right upon a rereading of the story, but perhaps does reflect the way that Tolkien really was as interested in telling us about people nothing to do with the action as those directly involved.) and some of the characterisations and acting were very nice, and the first bit of film 1 in the Shire, with Bilbo's birthday and so on, was just magical. Most of the stuff which was modified to suit the big screen seemed to work out nicely and the whole thing was a grand spectacle.

Like others, I like the attempts they made in the first Hobbit film to tie it in with unfolding events in, with Gandalf meeting up with the White council and so on. Ties it innicely with the Lord of the Rings films. This approach of inventing stuff to fill in the gaps seems to work well rather than strictly following the book, since it seems Tolkien did not quite have Middle Earth formed so completely worked out when he wrote the Hobbit (or maybe he did but  just left the details aside since it was aimed at a young audience). The king of the Elves did not yet have a name, and the world was referred to more as if it was our world in some fictional past rather than Middle Earth and so on. Although the first Hobbit film didnt have the same magic as the LoTR trilogy, (or the LoTR cartoon or Born of Hope, which I also thought was also excellent) I shall probably go and see the second film.

About the Citadel offerings, not really my cup of tea. The elves seem to be a bit to fancy and excessively dynamic, like they are dancing around and cant stand still to save their lives or something. Generally the citadel LoTR range seems nice and not too OTT, at leasst the metal stuff that i have seen, although my small LoTR collection is mainly Thunderbolt Mountain stuff, which are marvelous and quite cheap too- perhaps a bit small and fragile for gaming, but look nice on the shelf.

[janner]

I'm holding on for a trip with the kiddies to see the film just before Christmas 

On the figures, I'm glad we got the inevitable pricing comments out of the way early, but they look pretty normal for GW (NFGW) 

I like what they've done with the elves, but think Beorn is a missed opportunity.

I'm not sure that I'll buy any though, as we've yet to paint up the box set from last year 

[Momotaro]

SPOILER ALERT! He doesn't make it in the books either 

WHAT!!!!  YOU'VE RUINED IT FOR ME!!!!

 

[nic-e]

Managed to catch the first showing yesterday and loved it.
Sure there are differences from the book, but it was a really enjoyable movie and definitely made up for some of the failings of the first one.

without giving too much away i'll say these things:
(not sure if spoilers so don't blame me if i ruin it for you, i have warned you)
Thrain is pretty much left to the imagination, so i imagine the miniature is for a specific scenario.

Beorn is done well despite not being in it for very long, but long enough that we understand him and set him up for the third movie.(did make me wonder why tom bombadil couldn't be put into the LoTr extended edition tho.)

the elf king (i wont bother trying to spell the name) is genuinely quite creepy and full of character.

legolas and the elves were important, but not fundamental to the plot and so they didn't feel too shoehorned in, and the scenes with the elves were pretty fun.they move like i imagine elves would, and even tho there were a few moments where i thought "that's just silly" it didn't detract from the experience.

the movie is a bit darker in tone than the first one which for me is a big plus, but it still manages to be funny in parts.

The necromancer is done AMAZINGLY. you really get that he isn't just a man or a wizard but is something MUCH more.much better than the way sauron was handled in LoTr.

Smaug is great.chews the scenery alot (sometimes literally) but really well done.

The ending will piss you off big time.you'll know why when you see it, but you'll also know that the third one will be an amazing experience when you consider how it has to start and end.

[Mosstrooper]

Saw it today and loved it - great action movie !

[Argonor]

... with Gandalf meeting up with the White council and so on. Ties it innicely with the Lord of the Rings films. This approach of inventing stuff to fill in the gaps seems to work well rather than strictly following the book, ...

'
Ah, but it's not 'invented'; the whole sideshow with the White Council and the Necromancer of Dol Guldur is described in the appendices of LotR, and I actually expected some of the material therein to be used when The Hobbit was turned into  a film. It's just so logical to do so.

I haven't watched either of the films, yet, actually I think I'm going to wait until I have all 3 of them in the Extended Version 

[Wilkins]

I re-watched the first one this weekend and, maybe it was the fact I was in a better mood, maybe it was the amount I'd had to drink BUT I actually liked it a lot more than I did initially. To the extent that I am willing to give number two a go. I also have a massive urge to paint some Dwarf rangers now too. Next 28mm project may have just sourced itself. Fingers crossed for some Christmas money 

[nic-e]

I re-watched the first one this weekend and, maybe it was the fact I was in a better mood, maybe it was the amount I'd had to drink BUT I actually liked it a lot more than I did initially. To the extent that I am willing to give number two a go. I also have a massive urge to paint some Dwarf rangers now too. Next 28mm project may have just sourced itself. Fingers crossed for some Christmas money 

If you didn't like the first one you should see the second one anyway.it's much better.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I saw the second film last night - absolutely brilliant

The story does not follow the book exactly, rather embellishes it with extra detail and action.

I think I will have to go out and buy some new Hunter Orcs and Mirkwood Rangers now.

The model for Smaug is going to be a meter long...
(goodness knows what that will cost from GW)

Mick

[guitarheroandy]

I saw the movie this evening, having caved in and bought a bunch of new Elves with my birthday money a week or so ago...

It's been years and years since I read the book, but clearly lots was added. Without spoiling anything for anyone, the following bits stood out:

Big scrap between Orcs and Mirkwood Rangers - kick-ass!!!!!
Spiders...as an arachnophobe, that bit was creepy!!!
Thranduil...very good! Typically aloof Elven king! His palace is beautifully rendered.
Dol Guldur...very good!!!
Smaug...he's...er...rather a little on the large side!!!!! I shudder to think what it'll cost to buy a model of him when/if GW make one the right size!!

Overall, 2hrs 40mins flew by! Great stuff, in my humble opinion! However, if you thought the first film was overdone on the 'extra bits' and the 'gung-ho' action, and hated it for those reasons, then don't bother going to see this one!!! 

[nic-e]

I saw the second film last night - absolutely brilliant

The story does not follow the book exactly, rather embellishes it with extra detail and action.

I think I will have to go out and buy some new Hunter Orcs and Mirkwood Rangers now.

The model for Smaug is going to be a meter long...
(goodness knows what that will cost from GW)

Mick

Which is why i think theyll make him as a head/claws/tails with no body, like the watcher in the water model.

[Doomhippie]

Just came back from watching the movie. That is an awesome dragon, no doubt. I guess they are going to make the model a lot smaller than it should be because.... wow, he is so huge (and I mean the dragon).

I liked the Legolas Story line but PJ has one thing I don't particularly care about: special effects. As usual he just has to overdo it. I'm okay with most of the changes as the characters are really gaining from some of the changes. But I had hoped that he would then concentrate just a little more on real character play rather than have this huge number of one more Special effect and one more chase scene. My wife asked in one scene "Why are they chasing this guy now?" and all I can think of was "so they can have another chase scene". Apart from that a nice movie to watch. Definetely worth seeing again.

And I want those elven ranger. They were just so cool.