They already suck.

Nuts, Poe. LotR was very good. If the Hobbit achieves the same quality, they'll be lovely films.

The Fellowship... was good. The other two were absolute shit. I rank ROTK right next to Temple of Doom on my all-time worst films ever made list.

But that's (obviously) subjective. As you were.

Bradley, I just lost whatever infinetessimal amount of respect I had for you. Poe, well, I never even had that for you, so no great loss. Am looking forward to both these movies, if New Line can get around the royalty issues with The Tolkien Trust, which hasn't even been paid for the LOTR movies yet, and is just a wee tad bit pissed off about uhat.

Oh Tom Bombadil
Wither dost thou goest?

Up the hill and down the dale
Where the wind it blowest

To the fair garden where my dear lady weeps
Neath the fair willow which she tenderly keeps

...

my toes are twitching in anticipation!

Fuck yeah! This is good news.

The LOTR films were abominations in nearly every respect. The only things well-done were the art direction, costumes, and cinematography. The acting was hammy, the effects cheesy, the music grating, and to top if off, Peter Fucking Jackson totally changed the dialogue, pacing, and plot to convert Tolkien's painstakingly crafted myth into yet another shitty Hollywood blockbuster.

How the hell do you get TWO movies out of that book?

two movies out of the hobit? i can't take it anymore! somebody stop him. or at least hire a decent editor. at least jordan had the decency to stop writing those books before the series dragged on too long...

let it go. its for kids. maybe some of them will learn to read after seeing all 5 of these movies.

2 movies out of The Hobbit?

How? Its a short-ass fucking book.

am i the only one who thought the characters in lotr were two- dimensional and the cgi was so thick and obvious you felt like the whole thing might as well have been animated? yes, 11, it should have been for the kids, but the disturbing fact is that full grown adults ate it up with uncritical gusto.

Adults can appreciate films like LOTR if they don't have their panties up their asses. Not every film lover is a pretentious self-serious snob.

As a huge Tolkien fan (and proportionally huge geek [with even-more proportionally-huge geek equipment]) I revile and loathe the LOTR movies. However, if Labyrinth is any tell, del Toro can have his fine way with The Hobbit and I'll happily watch. Imagine the sinister creep factor he can bring to the first meeting with Gollum in that cave/lake...

i'm not sure i'm a snob. i love the cartoon lord of the rings. and every time i think about it, i get that one song stuck in my head...

where's there's a whip...
...there's a way.
where's there's a whip...
...there's a way.

it helps to have two people when singing it.

oh, i started singing and lost my train of thought. the point was...

these LOTR movies weren't that great. despite being overly-long, the movies ended up feeling rushed, disjointed, and slim on character development. when the focus turned to the characters, it felt as sincere as the too obvious cgi. and there was way too much time spent on helicopter shots of the forest used to imply "a long journey".

i think when you have to make choices, you try not to cram too much in. you cut fill out. if done right, you tell the story the way it needs to be told. you might fail, but a three-hour failure is better than a six-hour failure.

The movies would totally rule if they each had at least one song performed by the Lords of the Rhymes.

The books had the following major themes, in order of importance:

1. The growing of the four hobbits into adulthood. They were sneaky shits in the beginning, self-actualized at the end.
2. The inability of desire to lead to happiness, in the form of the ring.
3. Coming to terms with the fact that the world will never be as good as it used to be (a direct result of Tolkein's catholicism.)

The three movies totally nailed all three of these themes. Suck it, haters.

ok, jay. needing some depth of character (golum not withstanding) and credible 'suspension of disbelief' makes me a self-serious snob" (self-serious?), whatever. just hope del toro can do a better job of it. and maybe he can. see, i have an open mind about these things. btw, i love ALL of jackson's other films.

I am rather pissed that they left out Bombadil in the trilogy, so I'm excited that they're breaking up the Hobbit into 2 movies. He was always my favorite.

I heard they're doing the same thing with the 7th Harry Potter movie, which might actually make it worth watching unlike any of the other ones.