I have no clue how The Hunt for Gollum has gotten past New Line Cinemaand the J.R.R. Tolkien estate’s intellectual property lawyers. Nor do I care,because this "by fans, for fans" non-profit 40-minute Lord of the Rings tribute filmlooks awesome. As far as I can tell from the trailers, the plot, adapted from part of Tolkien’s voluminous appendices,is supposed to take place some time between The Hobbit and TheFellowship of the Ring. The filmmakers aren’t kidding around: They’ve cast decent Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellenlookalikes in the starring roles of Aragorn and Gandalf, and they seem tohave nailed a passable low-budget version of Peter Jackson’sbest-epic-movie-ever visuals. Of course, the most recent trailer(below) doesn’t actually show Gollum himself, undoubtedly the hardestpart of Jackson’s technical wizardry to replicate on a shoestring.Whatever! I will still totally spend 40 minutes on this when itdebuts online on May 3. I’m an LotR nerd that way — yes, that is a framed map of Middle-Earth hanging on my living-room wall — and I will take any excuse I can to see that world again during the interminable wait for the real Hobbit films. How about you?
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Comments (1-16) of 16 Add your comment
I love the LOTR saga. Read the books three times and we watch the entire extended version trilogy DVD’s 6 or 7 times a year. But wow, you really have to admire the devotion of these fans. I’ll definately check out, it’ll be something to carry us over until “The Hobbit”. And the Blu-Ray release of the LOTR. Cool.
I love the LOTR saga. Read the books three times and we watch the entire extended version trilogy DVD’s 6 or 7 times a year. But wow, you really have to admire the devotion of these fans. I’ll definately check out, it’ll be something to carry us over until “The Hobbit”. And the Blu-Ray release of the LOTR. Cool.
I’m not a huge fan, but I can appreciate the care that went into this. But I too, am wondering how this got past the lawyers…
Yikes, I usually can’t stand fan made stuff but I’m definately checking this one out. It looks really well made and I like the idea of discovering more about Aragorn (my favorite character) and the RAngers, it’s one are of LOTR that not that much is known
For a second, I thought that was actual footage from the Peter Jackson films. These geeks are good!
Since no one is making any money off this is that how they get around the legal issue? From what I’ve read no one was paid anything for any services rendered and since they are giving it away for free on the internet is there any way to stop them?
Wow, this looks really well made and professional. And it very successfully recreates the style of PJ’s movies. Damn. Good for them. Hope they don’t get sued and shut down.
If the New Line or Tolkein lawyers try to stop this labor of love from being seen, it would be a shameful move — and bad PR. The fans who made this are helping to keep interest in Middle Earth alive and well. More power to them.
That was really impressive!
Ok, how awesome? How about not at all. I mean, yes, it does look exactly like the imagery created for the LotR trilogy, but do they have to copy everything? Do the actors have to keep the exact same tone? How about making the new movie your own, instead of blowing so much money in a giant fan fiction?
I’m personally not interested at all in checking a film that doesn’t bring something new from the table. Would you read a book “written in the style of JR Tolkien”?
Oh, I’m SO IN! ‘Cause I’m a dork like that. I’ll take any excuse to visit Middle Earth, even a low budget one. And it doesn’t look too bad, except for the sword fighting. That looked awful.
i would imagine that in the vein of how Paramount handles Star Trek fan films, that they will wisely allow fan productions as long as no profit is derived and the content remains free. right?
Gandald looks like on of thoughs dwarves
I really want to support this film and will definitely watch it. But I can’t help wishing that they had been brave enough to come up with their own look. The imagery of the Jackson movies, with art direction from John Howe and Alan Lee, the long-term ‘official’ Tolkien artists now seems to have become completely unchallenged in it’s dominance. There have been hundreds of artists who have brought unique and imaginative interpretations to the work, and what we need is for that to continue in filmed adaptations, not to further solidify the New Line monopolisation of the the Tolkien world. I love the Jackson films, and whilst the Hunt for Gollum does indeed look impressive it seems something of a cop out.
For some of you wondering why they stuck to the “Peter Jackson look” it’s because they intended it to fit in with the trilogy, to be viewed as a sort of prequel. I think they did a pretty spectacular job. It looks awesome.
From what I’ve seen in the trailers, excellent work!! I wish I had heard about this sooner, I would have donated!!