What Do You Get...

[the_gneech]

...if you combine footage from Fellowship of the Ring, Dragonslayer, and wishful thinking?

A trailer for The Hobbit.

Just to be clear: this trailer is a big fat lie. But one we all WISH were true. ;)

That's Vermithrax, folks, not Smaug, but damn if he hasn't held up well over the past 20+ years. :D

-The Gneech

Comments

[sanity-cheque.livejournal.com]

Damn straight, Vermithrax for the win! Pretty well put together fanart there :)

[softpaw.livejournal.com]

niicceeeee

Its been so long since I've seen Dragonslayer. And I wager a lot of younger LOTR fans havent even heard of it. Dragonheart is the dragonmovie of choice in this house. Hubs second fav flick in fact.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Weellll ... I kinda like my dragons to have a nose. ;) But other than that, Dragonheart was pretty spiffy. :)

-TG

[satyrblade.livejournal.com]

The years make Dragonslayer look even better than it did when it first came out. Only Reign of Fire featured dragons that rivaled Vermithrax (even his name is cool!), and that wasn't anywhere near as good a film.

So - I wonder when Jackson really is doing The hobbit? Any word yet? It's been almost six whole months since he took that post-Kong break, the lazy bugger! :)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, they're waiting for rights to revert back to the primary owner from the company who owns them at the moment. So my guess would be 2008-ish.

Dragonslayer as a film ain't exactly great either, sadly ... but thanks to the joy of DVD, you can fast forward over all the parts that don't have the dragon or the wizard in them, making it a MUCH better movie! ;)

-The Gneech

[jakebe.livejournal.com]

Dude, theme for Requiem for a Dream!! Where'd that version come from?!? I must have!

I'm one of those younger fans who hadn't even heard of Dragonslayer, I'm afraid. I've never even read The Hobbit...but promises of a pretty neat dragon has raised the book a few notches on my list. :)

-J

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I can't answer you re: the music, I just happened upon the video and yoinked it.

Dragonslayer was made by Lucasfilm between Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back and is a thoroughly depressing movie that just happens to have the coolest dragon ever put to screen (as evidenced by the clips in the faux Hobbit trailer). It was in many ways a "proof of concept" film for the new (at the time) Go-Motion Animation technology, which they later used for the tauntauns and similar beasties in Empire Strikes Back and onward. It's worth watching, but take your happy pills first. ;)

The Hobbit is (IMO) Tolkien's best work. He originally wrote it as a children's story, which means it's sooooo much more readable than Lord of the Rings is. But it's never simplistic or patronizing ... it's a good story!

Reading it makes a lot of LotR much more poignant -- Bilbo is the hero of The Hobbit, and in my opinion he's much more of a mensch than Frodo. ;) Balin (as in Balin's Tomb) is also an important character, as is Gloin (Gimli's father), and of course Gandalf is all over the place, actually casting spells for a change! The great eagles, Legolas' father Thranduil, Rivendell and Elrond, evil talking giant spiders, Sting, Gollum, and of course "Mister Bilbo's trolls" are all in there too.

The basic premise is that a dwarven stronghold has been taken over by a dragon, and a party of dwarves intend to reclaim it. On the advice of Gandalf the Grey, they go and find themselves a burglar (in the unwilling form of Bilbo Baggins) and head off to it, little knowing what they're getting themselves into.

Rankin/Bass made a reasonably decent animated version back in 1977 that is notable largely for having John Huston provide the voice for Gandalf. You can see some footage from it in a fan-made trailer here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_JMOPCo31M&search=1977%20hobbit) if you're so inclined.

So, yeah ... I dig The Hobbit. ;)

-The Gneech

[laurie-robey.livejournal.com]

And the ring is far less important, as I recall. It's where Bilbo first finds it, but it's nowhere near the plot point that it is in the trilogy.

I wish I could remember what movie that music's from. It's bugging the hell out of me.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

The ring is sorta "dormant" in The Hobbit, yes ... there's certainly no indication that Bilbo ever went into the twilight realm or Sauron's eye going "Peekyboo!" at him. But Bilbo does make quite a lot of use of it, particularly near the end.

-The Gneech

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

I just found out, the late, great, Thurl Ravenscroft leant his voice to some of the characters in "The Hobbit." I knew there was a reason I liked it.

Have teh best

-=TK

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Go directly to the library. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Do not leave the library without The Hobbit in your hand.

Have teh best

-=TK

[willowanderer.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna have to agree with you- after all that time, that's still a farging good dragon. Maybe the best that ever was.
I can't think of a better one. Dragonheart, the Dragon was seamless, but not -real-

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

This was before he changed his species to fox and started calling himself Vermyfox.

...

Well, that _coulda_ been how it happened.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Umm... yes please.

Have teh best

-=TK

[tehrasha.livejournal.com]

Bilbo's taunting of Smaug... that alone will make The Hobbit worth seeing. :)

Agreed, Vermithrax Pejorative was da'bomb. Near the end when he is flying around in the clouds.. masterpiece.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

"Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamaties," replied Bilbo.

"You have nice manners for a thief and a liar," said the dragon.

"You seem familiar with my name, but I don't seem to remember smelling you before. Who are you and where do you come from, may I ask?"

"You may indeed! I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen."

"So I can well believe," said Smaug, "but that is hardly your usual name."

"I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number."

"Lovely titles!" sneered the dragon. "But lucky numbers don't always come off."

-The Gneech

[mooncat.livejournal.com]

Squee, Dragonslayer! I loved that movie when I was younger.