Reply To: The Taproom

I don’t know, I think del Toro’s style may work very well for the Hobbit. It’s a risky, but intriguing, choice of director.
Comments he made about not liking fantasy films, per se, don’t matter much to me. I don’t know what context they were made in, if he was asked questions relating his movies to LOTR etc…. It would only be natural to try and set apart one’s own “art-house” (Pan’s Labyrinth) work form the Hollywood blockbuster LOTR movies.
With the Hobbit’s linear story and fairy tale/fantasy elements, I think del Toro can make a fantastic movie.

The debates over casting and story choices are going to be furious and interesting! You should see some of the comments on theonering.net about who should do the voice of Smaug. One guy actually said he would leave the theatre during Smaug scenes if Alan Rickman does the voice. Silly!

I remember the trepidation and unease I had about the LOTR movies being done at all. It’s difficult to reconcile our own visions of Tolkien’s world with what’s presented on the screen. They could have been a colossal flop. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Although I don’t like every aspect of the films, by and large they enjoyable, if not outstanding.

However, locked in my head is my own unalterable vision of Middle-Earth that created itself there almost 30 years ago!