posted
I just miss the Galadriel-stuff before the fellowship departed for Gondor. But it was such an emotional and personal meeting (esp for poor Gimli) so it would perhaps not win over the big crowd who just wants the action...
I was thinking, the swords of the movie, particulary Sting, of which we got a good look, seems to be actual tempered-steel quality swords. A very celtic, flowing design, Sting was.
Are there any sword-buffs here? I occasionally check out the big swordmakers on the web, like the remade Conan-collection and such. The pieces in LOTR looks very high-class, especially Narsil, Aragorn's to-be. Very cool hilt-solution, leaving a stretch of the handle without leather-grip.
I haven't checked the places but I'm sure the big swordmakers will pretty soon make a special LOTR-section on their websites.
-------------------- "I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!" Mel Gibson, X-Men
Registered: Aug 1999
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I understand that they did hire very high class swordsmiths and armourers for this movie, even the extras armour was well done. I'm going to search for the armourer and if I find anything I'll let you know.
-------------------- "and none of your usual boobery." M. Burns
Registered: Oct 2001
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At this site there is an interview with Peter Jackson and he says that John Howe oversaw the weaponry and battle screens. He is somesort of expert in medieval re-enactments.
-------------------- "and none of your usual boobery." M. Burns
Registered: Oct 2001
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I have heard that, uh, Smeagol's finding of the ring was given more time in one cut of the intro, which may be restored for the DVD. Though, frankly, I thought the introduction was getting near the limits timewise as it was.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Thanks a bunch, Grokca! That site got a lot of questions answered even aside from the armour and weapons.
I found out a big swordmaker's guild are getting a contract from New Line Cinema to make functional steel replicas of the unique gear from LOTR to paying customers.
So far they got Sting (Frodo's), Glamdring (Gandalf's) and the sword of the witchking, the mightiest of the nine ringwraiths. I'm looking forward to Narsil/And�ril, it looked detailed...
Minor Nitpick: According to the books and the Encyclopedia of Arda, Gandalf's Glamdring, which he found in a troll-stash in "The Hobbit", together with Bilbo, was originally an elven sword just like Sting and had runes in a central line throughout the blade. These haven't been depicted in either the cartoon 1977 movie-version nor the new ones, so they probably won't incorporate it at all. No big D, just a note.
Also, Sting was only meant to glow pale blue on the "edges" of the blade, whereas the entire blade of Glamdring was to shine white in a pinch. This was modified (entire sting-blade glows in movie, no Glamdring-glow whatsoevah") so that the audience will "get a fuc*ing clue". I'm all for it, better not take any chances with people's attention spans. :-)
[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: G.K Nimrod ]
-------------------- "I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!" Mel Gibson, X-Men
Registered: Aug 1999
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Really liked the swords, I don't suppose that the inlay on the hilt of Sting is mithril? I also liked the mountings of each of the swords, they seem to convey the essence of the swords. I also liked the way the Witchking's sword has that old, tarnished, pitted look, seems fitting for the badguy's sword. Thanks for the site, but I don't think I can talk my wife into letting me buy one, at $199 american for the cheapest one my wife would have a fit.
-------------------- "and none of your usual boobery." M. Burns
Registered: Oct 2001
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As for the ACTUAL props - they were all crafted by blacksmiths in New Zealand...
In a doco I was watching it had a close up of Arwen and Legolas' swords... they indeed had runes running along the blade... we never got a good enough view - up close of Glamdring to see if it did indeed have the runes... and maybe if you're going by a site that sells replicas - maybe they just don't include the runes due to the time involved??
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
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Andrew, you may just be right, and so you have renewed my hopes! I would've liked to've seen Legolas' swords up-close, they were so awesome, like viking-ninjatos, and with the sloped handles like on the indian gurkha/khukuri-knife, IYKWIM?
-------------------- "I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!" Mel Gibson, X-Men
Registered: Aug 1999
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Finally saw it today. It was in my opinion far superior to the books (if only because Tolkein's near obsessive-compulsive attention to detail translates pretty well visually). That and they left out all those songs and poems. THANK GOD, those damn things showed up constantly in the books and you knew you had to read them, even though they slowed the plot. but then, that's just my opinion.
Of course the best part has to be NO AEROSMITH POWER BALLADS just because Liv Tyler's in it.
Registered: May 1999
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You don't have to read the songs. When I reread Fellowship a couple months ago, I skipped over them. Granted, I read them when I first read the book, but that was years ago, and I've long forgotten them...
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by G.K Nimrod: I found out a big swordmaker's guild are getting a contract from New Line Cinema to make functional steel replicas of the unique gear from LOTR to paying customers.
I hate to disappoint you guys, but the replica LOTR swords that are being produced are far from being “functional.”
The blades are crafted from mere stainless steel and are being constructed with rat-tail tangs. I doubt the swords come sharpened and I shudder to think of how much these replicas weigh.
Granted, the swords look pretty cool, and the replicas would certainly make nice wall hangers, but for historically actuate and functional swords, I’ll stick with Del Tin or Angus Trim.
I can’t speak intelligently about John Howe or the props that were used, but the sword choreography as seen in the movie was so-so. Lots of obscure angles were used so you cannot quite see what is going on (which is good, in a way), but I did notice some of the usual “edge on edge” blocking and “aim for the sword” combat that is so typical of Hollywood.
All that being said, I really enjoyed the movie and I am certainly looking forward to the future films. Probably the best film I saw in 2001!
-------------------- “My experience with Rick Berman is, you know, he does not understand what he's doing, he does not understand science fiction.” -- Andrew Probert
Registered: Apr 2001
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Simon: Well, the songs really contribute little to the story, overall. I mean, some of the shorter ones are written in Elvish! Surely reading something like that won't help the story at all, since one wouldn't even understand it...
Registered: Mar 1999
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