LEGO has long done the Ultimate Collector’s Series for Star Wars, and the Modular series of city buildings, but Lord of the Rings hasn’t gotten anything quite so elaborate – until now. The Tower of Orthanc will be the largest LEGO Lord of the Rings model to date, featuring Saruman’s imposing dwelling as well as an eagle and an Ent! I appreciate that the Ent is made out of bricks and not a pre-molded piece. This massive set will run you $200 and is arriving in July of this year. It’s just over 28 inches high and contains 2,359 pieces. Check out more images below! Read more…
With The Hobbit still fresh in everyone’s minds, there’s still plenty of time for fan parodies. In the vein of Epic Rap Battles of History, we see Smeagol taking on Gollum in a battle of words. If only things were this simple in all of Middle-Earth. While I won’t spoil who wins, they both receive a little help from a famous pop singer (not really). Read more…
Brotherhood Workshop is back to their old tricks again, creating excellent LEGO stop-animations featuring Lord of the Rings characters duking it out or engaging in other silliness. Their latest work is recreating the battle of Helm’s Deep for the Machinima Interactive Film Festival – except there might be a few little changes along the way. Legolas certainly does his best to help out Gimli so he can see over the wall, that’s for sure. Also keep an eye out for Chewbacca… he’s hiding in a few places in there! Read more…
The amount of work that goes into feature-length films these days is really incredible – you only need to look at all the names in the credits to realize that. The series of videos that the documentary team has been putting together following the making of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey have been a great look into the whole creative process. This latest one focuses on post-production, and how the concept artists, audio tech, CGI artists, and all the other crew composite everything into the finished product. While it looks stressful (only 8 weeks left in the video) they also seem to be enjoying themselves. Watch the video below. Read more…
“I’m going on an adventure!” The new trailer for The Hobbit hit all the right notes for me: excitement, some epic scenery, fantasy characters, and a solid dose of humor and light-heartedness. I’m sure most of you have seen it by now, but what you might’ve missed is that this new trailer had 4 other endings different from the one featuring the dwarves in the main release. Appropriately called Gandalf, Bilbo, String, and Gollum, all of these alternate ends are quite funny, especially the clip with Gollum conversing with Bilbo. Watch them below! Read more…
I’m still quite wary of Peter Jackson’s decision to split The Hobbit into not just two, but three films. It seems like the pacing might move as fast as a glacier, with tons of details expanded upon that don’t need the additional exploration on film. However, I can’t deny that every other bit of PR is getting me really excited. This whole week is being called “Tolkien Week,” in honor of not only the book’s 75th anniversary on Friday, but both Bilbo and Frodo’s birthdays on September 22. First up on the celebration: new pictures! Read more…
Two bits of movie news popping up this weekend: first off, J.J. Abrams’ second Star Trek film is slowly coming together, and now we’ve got a solid idea of the title. Multiple sources have rumored that the film will be called Star Trek Into Darkness. No colon? What a bold prospect! With a teaser trailer on the horizon, we should find out for sure soon. On the other side of things – The Hobbit! New pictures of all the characters, mainly the dwarves. I’ve got to say, the costume design is outstanding. Read more…
You’ve probably heard that Warner Bros. loves money – er, I mean, Peter Jackson wanted to film more and expand the two Hobbit films into three. Well, they did, but that’s old news. What’s the new news? They’re moving thing around a bit in regards to naming the films: the second film will now be called The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and the third will take the old name, There And Back Again. Confusing? Probably, but it’ll be old hat by the time December rolls around. Also, after the break, take a first peek at Thranduil and the White Council! Read more…
Of all the amazing props Weta helped to create for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I’m sure this ring has been the most requested. It’s no surprise, really. Setting aside the lore, and the fact the entire series centered around the ring itself, it’s one of the few props you can wear in public without drawing too much attention. Until now, Weta only offered a solid gold version which retailed for ~$3,300.
The video game we all knew was coming has now got a trailer, thanks to the massive E3 week about to roll through. Plastic Gandalf faces off against the Balrog, Frodo carries the hilariously-oversized One Ring, and Boromir once again laments the presence of a cave troll. The use of voice clips from the movie works for a trailer, but I wonder how the characters will be voiced in-game, if they’re voiced at all? Anyway, the LEGO games have been solid so far (if a bit too numerous to count), so I’m sure this will be another great addition to the collection. LEGO Lord of the Rings will arrive in October this year, just in time for the Hobbit marketing blitz.
