"The Hunt for Gollum" Review
I've been trying for three days to watch the new forty-minute fan film, The Hunt for Gollum (available online here). Tonight I finally succeeded! I kept a window open to type comments as it played, so here are my reactions in "real time."
- Nice music. The atmosphere it summons up seems right, and reminds me (grudgingly) of the things I did like about the movies.
- Wow, the scenery looks pretty epic. Is this stock footage? Did they borrow it from the movies?
- The narrator's voice has suitable gravity. (Is it Gandalf?)
- Suitable exterior for the Prancing Pony. The interior, however, is clearly following the movieverse, with all these cackling, slightly sinister-looking peasanty types. Is anyone ever going to give us the cheerful Pony of the book? (Also, the wild-haired, bad-teethed peasant woman seems to have come out of Generic Fantasy World #57 rather than Middle-Earth specifically.)
- What are a bunch of Rohirrim doing in Bree? (I know, they're just peasanty types, but all those blond bearded guys did give me a sudden moment of disorientation.)
- I'd like to see a clean-shaven Aragorn, to signify more of a break with the movie. Not that the book is clear about Aragorn's beard or lack thereof; it would just be nice to have something that wasn't the same as PJ did it. I have the feeling that if we saw Boromir in this movie, he'd be blond.
- The guy playing him has a good face, though.
- I rather like their Gandalf. I like the way he admits to "making a grave error."
- It's hardly fair to call Bilbo "foolish" for revealing his name! How was he supposed to know at the time he mentioned it that he was going to end the encounter in possession of the single most dangerous artefact in Middle-Earth?
- "I will go"--ack, made me flash onto one of my least favorite scenes in TTT for a moment there.
- How is "the foresight of his people" going to help Aragorn find Gollum? And even if it does, it belongs to "his people," so presumably any Ranger of the North should be able to do equally well. (But yeah, I'm probably thinking too hard about this.)
- Nice statue of Elendil. Somebody on the team here is good with the CGI.
- Whoah, was that Arwen? Very different! (Love her cloak.)
- Is that Legolas? If so, hey, dark(ish) hair! There's one small break with the movie. Unless it's supposed to be one of the twins, maybe.
- Nice disappearing act behind the tree!
- Arathir's wig is reeeeeally bad.
- Ithilien?! No, sorry, Ithilien is deserted by now. Leave Ithilien out of this! It's a northern story; there's no reason to drag Gondor in for a cameo.
- Okay, I've got to admit, this thing has awesome scenery.
- Dabgash and Goblok sound like properly orc-y names.
- Trail of fish guts! I love it!
- Whoever got to do the thrashing around inside the bag must have had a lot of fun!
- Why does Aragorn put his hood up before going off to confront the unknown "company"? You'd think he'd want all his peripheral vision.
- Yeah, yeah, twenty orcs at once, whatever! (Okay, I admit it's a fun swordfight, though.)
- Convenient that the guy with the big club waited for him to dispatch the rank and file before moving in, instead of, say, bashing him over the head from behind while he was busy with some of the others. (Stuff like that only happens to hapless elves who barge into battles they're not supposed be in--yes, I'm looking at you, movie!Haldir!)
- Where'd that poison spike come from? I don't think it's an arrow--did the last orc have it on him? Anyway, better find some athelas, quick...
- Flash of white, ethereal music...oh, tell me Arwen is not going to heal him from afar somehow. Or Galadriel, for that matter.
- I get a welcome sense of age and gravity from this Arwen. Liv Tyler managed that in the first movie, but dropped it for the rest of the series.
- Okay, so I'm going to assume the poison just wore off while he had a nice dream.
- Not sure using a torch is the smartest idea at night. It might help you spot the trail better, but it also lets you be seen.
- Strider the Park Ranger says, "Only you can prevent forest fires!"
- You know, if nazgûl are supposed to be impressive, it would be nice not to have Strider taking them on so casually. Yes, I know he did it in the first movie, but that could be fanwanked with them being weakened by being far from Mordor. I'm glad he does seem to be somewhat affected by the screams, at least, and I suppose he could self-medicate if he wound up with Black Breath. Still, the ringwraith comes out seeming like a menace that any real hero should be able to deal with, given a little determination. I would have preferred to have all those those Elves show up about thirty seconds earlier and help drive it off.
- Can't see the arches too clearly at this video size, and I don't dare try to make it larger just now, but did they actually remember that Thranduil's palace is underground? If so, props to them (but all the more reason to boo the Ithilien gaffe).
- Definitely watch the credits! There are some quite funny outtakes and behind-the-scenes moments.
- Overall: thumbs up. Not flawless, and I wish they hadn't followed the look of PJ's version quite so closely, but still quite enjoyable. I'm sure I'll watch it again, because I want to show it to friends.
- Nice music. The atmosphere it summons up seems right, and reminds me (grudgingly) of the things I did like about the movies.
- Wow, the scenery looks pretty epic. Is this stock footage? Did they borrow it from the movies?
- The narrator's voice has suitable gravity. (Is it Gandalf?)
- Suitable exterior for the Prancing Pony. The interior, however, is clearly following the movieverse, with all these cackling, slightly sinister-looking peasanty types. Is anyone ever going to give us the cheerful Pony of the book? (Also, the wild-haired, bad-teethed peasant woman seems to have come out of Generic Fantasy World #57 rather than Middle-Earth specifically.)
- What are a bunch of Rohirrim doing in Bree? (I know, they're just peasanty types, but all those blond bearded guys did give me a sudden moment of disorientation.)
- I'd like to see a clean-shaven Aragorn, to signify more of a break with the movie. Not that the book is clear about Aragorn's beard or lack thereof; it would just be nice to have something that wasn't the same as PJ did it. I have the feeling that if we saw Boromir in this movie, he'd be blond.
- The guy playing him has a good face, though.
- I rather like their Gandalf. I like the way he admits to "making a grave error."
- It's hardly fair to call Bilbo "foolish" for revealing his name! How was he supposed to know at the time he mentioned it that he was going to end the encounter in possession of the single most dangerous artefact in Middle-Earth?
- "I will go"--ack, made me flash onto one of my least favorite scenes in TTT for a moment there.
- How is "the foresight of his people" going to help Aragorn find Gollum? And even if it does, it belongs to "his people," so presumably any Ranger of the North should be able to do equally well. (But yeah, I'm probably thinking too hard about this.)
- Nice statue of Elendil. Somebody on the team here is good with the CGI.
- Whoah, was that Arwen? Very different! (Love her cloak.)
- Is that Legolas? If so, hey, dark(ish) hair! There's one small break with the movie. Unless it's supposed to be one of the twins, maybe.
- Nice disappearing act behind the tree!
- Arathir's wig is reeeeeally bad.
- Ithilien?! No, sorry, Ithilien is deserted by now. Leave Ithilien out of this! It's a northern story; there's no reason to drag Gondor in for a cameo.
- Okay, I've got to admit, this thing has awesome scenery.
- Dabgash and Goblok sound like properly orc-y names.
- Trail of fish guts! I love it!
- Whoever got to do the thrashing around inside the bag must have had a lot of fun!
- Why does Aragorn put his hood up before going off to confront the unknown "company"? You'd think he'd want all his peripheral vision.
- Yeah, yeah, twenty orcs at once, whatever! (Okay, I admit it's a fun swordfight, though.)
- Convenient that the guy with the big club waited for him to dispatch the rank and file before moving in, instead of, say, bashing him over the head from behind while he was busy with some of the others. (Stuff like that only happens to hapless elves who barge into battles they're not supposed be in--yes, I'm looking at you, movie!Haldir!)
- Where'd that poison spike come from? I don't think it's an arrow--did the last orc have it on him? Anyway, better find some athelas, quick...
- Flash of white, ethereal music...oh, tell me Arwen is not going to heal him from afar somehow. Or Galadriel, for that matter.
- I get a welcome sense of age and gravity from this Arwen. Liv Tyler managed that in the first movie, but dropped it for the rest of the series.
- Okay, so I'm going to assume the poison just wore off while he had a nice dream.
- Not sure using a torch is the smartest idea at night. It might help you spot the trail better, but it also lets you be seen.
- Strider the Park Ranger says, "Only you can prevent forest fires!"
- You know, if nazgûl are supposed to be impressive, it would be nice not to have Strider taking them on so casually. Yes, I know he did it in the first movie, but that could be fanwanked with them being weakened by being far from Mordor. I'm glad he does seem to be somewhat affected by the screams, at least, and I suppose he could self-medicate if he wound up with Black Breath. Still, the ringwraith comes out seeming like a menace that any real hero should be able to deal with, given a little determination. I would have preferred to have all those those Elves show up about thirty seconds earlier and help drive it off.
- Can't see the arches too clearly at this video size, and I don't dare try to make it larger just now, but did they actually remember that Thranduil's palace is underground? If so, props to them (but all the more reason to boo the Ithilien gaffe).
- Definitely watch the credits! There are some quite funny outtakes and behind-the-scenes moments.
- Overall: thumbs up. Not flawless, and I wish they hadn't followed the look of PJ's version quite so closely, but still quite enjoyable. I'm sure I'll watch it again, because I want to show it to friends.