Yes, that did happen at Helms Deep in the film (I forgot about that). It also happened in Moria when the Balrog appeared.

NEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDSSSSSSSS! Just kidding, I like it too.

I got the hubs LOTR extended edition on blueray. So far we have watched the first one and I made him promise he couldn't start the second until I could sit and watch it too.

I read the Hobbit and I am almost done with the Fellowship. The Hobbit was pretty easy to read. It is taking forever to finish the Fellowship but part of that is becuase I stopped reading to study for the CRCM.

I think what made LOTR so good is what makes a lot of movies so bad. Movies have a tendancy to rely on special effects rather than humans to make action. While LOTR had a lot of special effects they rarely had anything rediculous. I think that is where George Lucas went wrong in Episodes I, II and III. Not every moment has to be all out excitement. Sometimes its the way the scene is set up, or the way the wind blows.

I think I'll have to read the Hobbit before the movie hits theatres. (I should be able to accomplish this task, since I've got a whole year!) I've never read the others...

I loved The Hobbit (the book) and I can't wait to see what they do with the movies. I also loved reading LOTR and was in love with the movies, even though many things were different in the end. Such as the heroic arrival of the Rohirrim at the end of the battle for Helm's Deep. But I digress.... Yes, I'm a Tolkien nerd!

Speaking of being a nerd, I am totally giving my next dog a LOTR-inspired name. I want to get a Great Dane, in which case the name will be Balrog or Nazgul. Or, if I get a Basset Hound or bulldog, his name will be Bilbo Baggins.

I don't know if I agree about nothing ridiculous in Jackson's LOTR.

- The dwarf tossing comment comes to mind.
- The portrayal of Farimir wanting the ring is just plain stupid. In the books, he never wanted it.
- The scene where the other Hobbits come to visit Frodo after he is saved from Mordor is cheesy beyond belief.
- And finally, Legolas shooting Sauraman with an arrow was horrible.

Faramir was very noble in the book. Jackson made him look a bit buffoonish

Yes, Farimir was the opposite of Borimir.

I agree about Saruman's death in the movie - terrible. In a lot of ways, the whole journey of the hobbits in LOTR was to prepare them to deal with Saruman and his takeover of the Shire at the end of the book. The movie completely missed that point.

As for these new Hobbit movies, I'm very excited about them. A lot of the material in the book's appendixes, and some of the things that were alluded to by Gandalf and others will actually be shown in the movie to better bridge the Hobbit to the Lord of the Rings. I am realy hoping for big things!!

It'll be cool to see the White Council, the defeat of the Necromancer in the Mirkwood, and Radagast the Brown!

Radaghast the Brown, whom Tolkein alluded to in one of his commentaries becomes Merlin the Magician and aid to King Arthur, since he never leaft Middle Earth witht he rest of the White Council. He stuck around and eventually aided Arthur during the establishment of Camelot.

I thought he became Warren Buffet....

Jackson didn't put Radagast in LOTR, why would he put him in The Hobbit? I still think it was a bad idea to omit Tom Bombadil and the Scourging of the Shire.

With regard to Bombadil, the episode explains how Merry was able to stab the Witch King because of the sword they found in the tomb from which Bombadil rescued them.

There were two theories on why Merry could injure the Witch King:

1. The Barrow Sword was forged specifically to hurt the Nazgul, and

2. The prophecy of the Witch King was that no "Man" could harm him. Merry is a hobbit, and technically not a man, and one of the appendices said that may be the reason he was able to hurt the Witch King.

I was definitely bummed they didn't include Tom Bombadil, but I understand why it was excluded - it needlessly complicates the story from a movie point of view. The Shire part definitely should have been shot!

Scored IMAX 3-D tickets for the Desolation of the Smog, or however his name is pronounced.

pronounced smog, spelled Smaug

LOVE Benedict Cumberbatch (the voice of Smaug).

I have not heard anyone pronounce it smog.....just sayin'....all pronunciations have been as if the word contained a "w" sound...

Yep, in the trailers it's said "Smawg". They way it's said annoys me, right or wrong.

Was supposed to see it this weekend, that's fallen through. Maybe next. Too many holiday obligations starting to fill up all the free time!

That drives me crazy! It's not sm-ow-g. The cartoon version of The Hobbit from the 80's said smog. I need to watch the first Hobbit that came out a couple of years ago but the spider scenes are making it hard for me to commit.

1977 Sci.

I didn't even know that existed!

Phew! At least it was out before I was born so I don't feel so bad for getting it wrong.

It might be spelled differently, but it is Smaug according to the movie. Heck if I know.

So if this is the initial trailer, would it be a first stage Smaug alert? (people who were in California in the 70s and 80s will know)

.... or China today.... but they signed the Kyoto protocol



#THEUNFAILSAGAIN