Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Wow, they must be really adding a lot of stuff to the story. I guess they're going to explore Gandalf's little side mission from the later part of the book in detail. The book didn't cover that very much, but I wouldn't mind seeing it get some more focus in the films.

I wonder what they're going to name the third movie, though. An Unexpected Journey and There and Back Again made sense within context, but what to call another installment...

Maybe : "the journey is still on" or "the journey continues" ?

A new trailer is out for the upcoming movie "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey":

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-trai ... d608f9dd5/

So, what do you "Hobbit" fans think of this so far??

It has been a long time since I read the book, so I can't comment too much on how accurate those scenes were, beyond a few, but I really like that trailer. It leaves me wanting to see the movie right now, which any great trailer should.

Maybe I'll try to re read the book, and this time in english ! I've read all the Harruy Potter's books in JK Rowling's language but not the hobbit nor the Lord of the rings (and I've bought an UK edition some years ago !!).

Well, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" movie seems to be doing very well in theaters so far with a terrific opening:

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.as ... d=ansent11

Has it really been nine years since the last "LOTR" movie?? Sure doesn't seem that long to me!!

Good news ! I'll see the movie in 3 days, on thursday morning

Be sure to let us know what you think of it, Myau. I look forward to seeing it myself, but I'll have to wait for the DVD release.

Silver_Surfer1 wrote:Has it really been nine years since the last "LOTR" movie?? Sure doesn't seem that long to me!!

It doesn't feel like it, but yep, it has been nearly a decade. Those movies were such a big event and spread out over so many years that it feels like they were new just yesterday. Maybe that's a sign that they will be timeless classics?

As always I'm a bit in a hurry ! lol But in the evening I'll complete this message !
Sorry for the delay !
i've seen the Hobbit with my parents and my older brother : and that was WOW ! excellent movie !
I'm a big fan of the LOTR universe for a very long time and I've loved the three first movies so I'm a fan of it too and I'll telle about it more later
To be continued !

My own personal opinion: (No spoilers).

I'm a huge, huge fan of Tolkien AND of the movie adaptations. I have no problem seeing them as two completely different entities, both with their flaws and merits. When Jackson announced he was to make three movies with only one book that by itself was even shorter than a LOTR book, many people screamed "all you want is more money!" I was among those who answered "This man can turn anything to awesome, therefore all I see is thrice the potential for fun. 9 hours of entertainment for what... 30$? Take my money please!"

I was wrong. This movie is a very decent fantasy flick but a poor Tolkien adaptation (based on what Jackson already delivered).

The Hobbit: an unexpected journey, to me, felt long, silly and sometimes even tedious. It's basically LOTR for kids, which is not to be unexpected (oh the wit) because the book WAS Tolkien's attempt to write a book for children. That said, this is not where my gripe lies.

There are many small things that annoyed me. I did not like the numerous combat scenes. In the LOTR movies, Jackson directed the battles and they felt clean, short and epic. You can remember every arrow shot by Legolas or every blow dealt by Aragorn, Eomer and such. In this movie, the battles were directed by Andy Serkis. Basically: 13 dwarves in a chaotic melee against 100+ orcs/goblins. It was... hard to follow.

None of the characters impressed me. In LOTR, among many extremely loveable or unforgettable characters, there was only one dwarf: Gimli. John Rhys Davies depicted him wonderfully, although a tad too far on the comic-relief for my tastes. In Bilbo's movie, you have 13 of them. I personally really love the dwarven race. Their lore fascinates me. I love how they fight, their resilience, their stubbornness, their axes and ales. They're like short, fuzzy Canadians! I did not care that much for Bilbo's dwarves. Thorin, Kili and Fili are basically short dudes with some facial hair. Really. They don't look like dwarves. They look like... well, short humans. The ten others which you will promptly forget for their role is next to nil, are worthy of Snow White's entourage. Huge noses, floppy ears and other ridiculous facial features. It's as if Gimli came from a completely different race.

Bilbo? Well, Martin Freeman did a good job making him... Hobbitesque. While I always understood that they were vital to the story, I didn't care for Hobbits much in the LOTR trilogy. I didn't care for Bilbo much either so, he was faithful to the job.

I really love wizards. In my D&D years, everything I played or did was wizardesque. Gandalf was almost true to his self. In the LOTR movie, he is wall depicted as an adviser, a sage and a mentor. In Bilbo... well... I think he was used as a Deux Ex Machina a few times too many. He also feels younger and more immature, which is a bit silly considering that 60 years of difference in a lifespan of several thousand should be inconsequential. Saruman was boring, borderline pointless. Radagast annoyed me in general. I know that Tolkien wrote that Radagast was a tad "simple-minded" but what Jackson did was... too much. Can't say more without spoilers.


Gollum was brilliant. Serkis is an awesome, awesome actor. Seriously. The highlight of the movie: the riddle game, all because of Gollum.

The scenery as usual was breath-taking and the music wass right up there.

The dwarven city was absolutely brilliantly done.

Aaaaaand I guess that's that. When it came out, so long ago, I did not care one bit for "The Fellowship of the Ring" the first time I saw it and now I love it so, I'm not too worried. The extended edition usually patches it up by adding story-based info. As long as it's not drawn out because, as I said, my main gripe remains: the movie feels long ans sluggish.

Go see it, most people love it.

As you no doubt have seen in this post, my mistake was to expect another LOTR movie, which is why I constantly bring it on the table for comparison. If you can keep in mind that it's something ELSE than LOTR, you should be just fine.