Ok, another thread on this one.
1.) Six dwarves are enough. Thorin, Balin, Dori, Gloin, Fili, Bombur.
Reasons: There's honestly not 13 real fleshed out dwarf personalities in
the Book. Also it is less confusing for the "uninitiated" not to have
similar names so I chose the most fleshed out one from every
similarily-named group. Six dwarves makes the Hobbit No. 7, still a
"lucky number". Thorin needs no explanation. Balin and Gloin, because of
the LOTR connections.(And Balin also because of his well defined
personality.) Dori, because he is closest to the Hobbit in several
scenes. Bombur for comic relief -- with full license from the Author
this time. Maybe Kili instead of Fili, I don't remember who of them is
more active and I don't have an e-text to look this up quickly -- but
one of them needs to die defending Thorin. As long as you don't have the
cliché "seven dwarfs", I think reducing their number is perfectly
acceptable.
2.) It would be great if John Rhys-Davis could play Gloin and Orlando
Bloom could play Thranduil. Both are a bit older now, which fits
perfectly. Legolas could be visible in passing once or twice, just use
some bluescreen left over from the LOTR cutting floor. I wouldn't have
Aragorn, Arwen, or Gimli appearing - I think Arwen was in Lothlorien at
the time and the others are too young to just appear without comment;
and I wouldn't like an appearance "with comment" since they are not
important to the story. (don't remember if Gimli was even born at the time).
3.) Hugo Weaving (sp?), the Sackville-Bagginses from the SEE (don't know
the actors' real names), and maybe Ian McKellen should be there -- but
only if they can get McKellen not to look much older than his grey
version looked anyway.
4.) I honestly don't think Elijah Wood would make a good Bilbo. He just
doesn't look tough enough and I think he's still too young. I'd try
getting a new actor. Suggestions? I'm thinking of someone more along the
lines of the Deagol character from the ROTK film prologue.
5.) I'd make the ringwearing effect similar to FOTR, but not
black-and-white, and as a whole much less pronounced and noisy, so the
full power is not revealed.
6.) As for other connections to LOTR, I'd have Balin mention his plan to
conquer Moria from the Orcs in the last scene. There needs to be
something that makes it clear he is identical to the guy whose grave
they find in FOTR. I wouldn't add more artificial connections.
7.) If any major scene has to be left out, I'd say drop Beorn if you
must. I think it is the least filmable chapter (the animals would be
hard to do without getting a caricature) and also doesn't add all that
much to Bilbo's character. You could quickly reprovision the group at
some small settlement of the Beornings or the Woodmen without having an
outstanding character among them. Next thing to drop would be Rivendell,
but that hurts already. Of course there are small thing which could go,
like the boating across the Mirkwood River (just have Bombur step into a
little brook or so).
8.) I don't think you can introduce a love interest into the plot
without totally changing it. Face it, there simply are no women in the
story to any meaningful extent (except for the spiders
. So don't.
9.) I don't yet have a good idea on who should do Smaug's voice. An
actor that has played Mafia patriarchs or some such before could be good.
10.) I'm not sure who would make a good Thorin. But this is really
important to get right. He should not be a caricature so the drama in
the end doesn't lose its power. But he should be over-serious in a fun
way. Maybe somebody who has played a goverment official or a master
craftsman of some sort before.
11.) Other important characters to be filled: The trolls, the Great
Orc(?), Bard, the Mayor.
fup2 rabt.
--
Linards Ticmanis
"Ego Augustus Bonifacius Ambrosius Aurelianus Antonius Pius et
Magnificus, dux, rex, tyrannus et Basileus Mediterranearum Partum,
subscribo." (J. R. R. Tolkien)
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