Maybe, maybe not. But then those who take this point of view should never complain that Hollywood keeps regurgitating the same thing over and over again without trying something different or original.

And for all I know, perhaps Jackson is taking a new stylistic tack. but the trailer is skewed towards engendering familiarity with trailer audiences. For whatever it's worth, what I do like is that -- from the trailer, at least -- the movie seems less heavy and self-important and more whimsical and fun. I do hope that's the case.

Part One should be.

Looks good and will see it. Will reserve judgement until I actually see it.

I thought everyone understood that when Jackson took over for Del Toro, that it was going to feel very similiar?

Definitely agree with your second point. The Hobbit is supposed to be fun. Although I love the Lord of the Rings, it's just too big, too epic, too long, too much backstory and just too much at times. It takes itself WAY too seriously. The Hobbit is much more condensed and has a more "down to earth" storyline. The story only affects relatively few people/dwarves, etc, whereas The Lord of the Rings affects the whole world. It's easier to relate I think. It's kind of like how the tv show 24 was better when Jack Bauer was dealing with relatively small terrorist activities vs nuclear annihilation.

As to your first part, I definitely complain when Hollywood regurgitates the same things over and over, but personally I think some things need to stay the same. To me, personally, it just wouldn't make sense to have the Hobbit be different that the previous 3 Lord of the Rings movies. But to each their own.

Costumes, effects, locations, etc. yes, but I don't think you hire a director like Del Toro if you don't want him to put his stamp on the product.

That's why I'm glad he's gone.

I wholeheartedly agree. The Hobbit just wouldn't be the same if it didn't take place in the same type of world as Lord Of The Rings, it wouldn't seem to fit in with the grand story and become part of it. I'm glad Peter Jackson was given/has taken the reins in the making of this movie. I feel it will embody the otherworldliness of the story behind the book, it will be the perfect prequel to LOTR, it's how I read the books, it's how I'd like to see the grand story unfold. Can't wait to see this movie. -kd5-

I've watched that trailer a few times since it came out and man I'm loving it.

I'm stoked to see this.

More of the same? I certainly hope so. I was stoked and now I'm beyond stoked. And the music shift when it showed the ring? -chills-

I agree. Making it different would have ruined it.

I'm not thrilled with the 2 movie approach however.

I suppose I'll need to read the book again as I don't remember it all too well.

I bet the split is the first part is about Smaug and the second The battle of the Five Armies.

Some of us actually want to be able to watch these movies and The LOTR trilogy back to back one day and actually have them match up, TYVM.

I'm one of the people who likes that it does look like 'more of the same'. Makes it flow better with LOTR movies & it will seem like the same world.

I once read an in depth article about Guillermo Del Toro in the New Yorker magazine and it went into quite a bit of detail about what he wanted to do with The Hobbit. While his vision would have proven quite interesting, I think it's probably for the best he didn't do the movie. His vision included really goth looking battle armor for the dwarves (Thorin was going to have a helmet with thorny branches on it, to play off the "thorn" name), and Smaug being a long, thin, snakelike creature with small legs and big wings. I have no doubt it would have been a visual treat, but it was going to be more of an alternate presentation of Middle Earth, which if the book is being written or read as reported, would kind of make sense as stories look different in the mind of writer/reader than what might have taken place.

That said, the new trailer looks pretty good. I need to see it at home (at work now) with audio. While I am not griping, they really let a lot out of the bag for something that's a whole year away. Almost like a cruel tease...

After spending the last week complaining about the god-awful DARK KNIGHT prologue and trailer, it's refreshing to see a well-done trailer! Looks like Jackson has lived up to expectations.

What does Thorin have to do with thorns? Thunder makes more sense. All the more reason why I'm glad he's not involved anymore. No doubt he would have put eyes all over Smaug.

OK. Now I get you.

What an amazing trailer!

I think it is safe to assume that the tone of the trailer was chosen to show that, while the look and feel of Middle-earth would be consistent with the previous films (which is a very good thing), the light-hearted nature of the book will also be preserved as much as possible.

I also love the new music for the Misty Mountain song, and how it could be a running theme throughout the film.

Big thumbs up for me.

Criticize George Lucas for making the PT look too different from the OT.

Criticize Peter Jackson for making The Hobbit look too similar to the LOTR.

Seemed the same to me......

If anything, the prequel trilogy took entirely too many visual and stylistic cues from the original...

I've posted this before, but the visual style actually makes sense:

Take vehicles from our own history...

a car from the 1930s and a spaceship from the prequels




a war-based vehicle from the mid 1940's and an x-wing from the OT




arguably the older vehicles actually look more advanced and polished, again designs driven by the necessity of war and the economy of raw materials.

The prequel trilogy sucks on so many levels, the story, the acting, the bad CGI, but the truth is, the discrepancy in how the vehicles looked MORE futuristic in the prequels is a fallacy.

I would tend to agree there. The ships in the original trilogy were fighters and warships, the ships especially in TPM/AOTC were built for speed, as the Republic was not at war, and so the ships have a much sleeker design. It transitions beginning at the end of AOTC towards the ships seen in the original trilogy.

Just saw the teaser with audio. Looks like PJ 's still got it, though waiting a year seems even more daunting at this point. Unlike the first teaser for LOTR, we now know what kind of world PJ can create and the awesome feeling of visiting it.