Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Lord of the Rings Theatrical Trailer

Posted by michael on from the one-compressed-video-format-to-bind-them dept.

BadmanX writes: "The brand new Lord of the Rings trailer that ran on several shows tonight (including the season premier of Angel) is available for download from Apple's Quicktime site." Hmmm. Mirrors definitely needed.

26 of 334 comments (clear)

  1. Hopefully it's not all straight from the script by bonoboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not entirely sure if this is still the case, but my buddy working on the FX for this was saying that alot of the stuff in the previous trailers was made specially for them. So the spoilage would be kept to a minimum and guys like me who saw the Phantom Menace trailer and wish we hadn't seen the movie won't be disappointed.

    --
    toeslikefingers.com - because
    1. Re:Hopefully it's not all straight from the script by discogravy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Doesn't everyone wish they hadn't seen Phantom Menace? I remember before it came out, everyone was so stoked about how cool it was going to be. After Jar-Jar...blah.

      --
      FreeBSD for the impatient.
    2. Re:Hopefully it's not all straight from the script by Curien · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They're cutting all the events in the Old Forest. As far as I know, they're going to jump straight from Crickhollow to Bree.

      I don't know if they'll even explain how Merry and Pippin get their Numenorean blades... but my guess is that they will be gifts from Elrond.

      --
      It's always a long day... 86400 doesn't fit into a short.
    3. Re:Hopefully it's not all straight from the script by WNight · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Ok, where in the old-forest section does it tell of, let alone explain, Tom Bombadil's elvish name?

      Uh huh.

      It wasn't until after I read the trilogy and was discussing it with my friends who are serious Tolkein-heads that I discovered all the details about Bombadil. Until then, I thought it was a too-long interlude in a section in desperate need of editing, and it focused on a character who had trouble being coherent. Yawn.

      Now, if you focused on that and spent a while, you might do it justice, but really, talking about the Elvish name of a character, and their place in the cosmos, before you actually meet an elf even, is kinda silly.

      I think Tolkein's books are best read the second time, after you've read everything else he's written at least once. Unfortunately, the movie can't do it.

      But, all hope is not lost, for purists such as yourself... I heard a rumor (said to be fairly accurate) that the movies were ~2 hours for theatre, but the DVD was going to come with that version and a directors cut with an extra hour, all the little snipped bits that they didn't think would play well for the lay-person.

      Now, that's likely going to mostly be 30s bits here and there, that they chopped for pacing, but it might also include some scenes which were shot but later cut. And one of those might be Bombadil.

      I don't think they'd have shot it, if they planned to not use it, but they might have shot it early on and cut it early.

      I didn't see an actor playing Bombadil, so it's not terribly likely, but might be worth paying attention.

  2. Re:mirror by Marcus+Brody · · Score: 3, Informative

    oh sh*t, i lied!

    follow the link and it just takes you to the apple site :-(

    big DOH

    however, it does have a scene by scene account with pictures here:

    http://www.theonering.net/

    Yes, i know its not the same, but it looks pretty cool just from the pics....

  3. I swear... by Raymond+Luxury+Yacht · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... I bet Jobs is sitting at a desk somewhere just watching hits pile up and giggling like a school girl at all the people trying to watch.

    Damn you! Damn you for toying with out hopes and emotions!!! *sob* Don't you think next time it might be a good idea to use something more powerful than an LCIII and an Appletalk cable for a web server, you sadistic bastard!?!?!

    /me bangs head on desk/

    --

    Ceci n'est pas une sig.
  4. Be gentle with me. by RavinDave · · Score: 3, Interesting
    What am I missing here? Why is this generating so much anticipation? Is it merely that they are going into much more detail than the somewhat feeble version that came out several years back? (I don't recall such anticipation for that). Is it the people who are to be in it? Is it the fact that special effects have matured to a suitable stage to handle this subject matter? Is Pauley Shore doing a cameo?

    Honestly -- this isn't a troll. I know we all read the books, but I can't quite grok how much of the anticipatory hype is grass-roots and how much is media manipulation. (I also recall a similar feeling before the release of "Dune", so I don't wanna get my hopes up too much).

  5. Recommended fansite by pointwood · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you are in search for more information - I highly recommend TheOneRing.net. It's a really cool site, updated very often.

  6. Lesson In Distribution by shut_up_man · · Score: 5, Informative
    I really wish big companies would GET A CLUE when it comes to distributing popular content on the net. They just keep on screwing it up, over and over, during the WTC attack and every time anything to do with LoTR or Star Wars gets posted.
    • Mirroring is essential. And NOT like having three web servers in the same building, you fools. Scatter them all over the world, and provide links from the official site so people can make choices about where they slurp from.

    • Choose providers who can handle this sort of load balancing, like Akamai. What the hell piddly server is squeeze.sorensen.com? No wonder it exploded a nansecond after it got posted.

    • Allow downloads, instead of streaming-only distribution. Golf claps for doing this for the latest LoTR trailer, but big boos for messing the rest up.

    • Let people mirror the files themselves - in fact, ENCOURAGE it. People want to help, let them. Don't get all caught up in legal crap, in case you haven't realised it, we're making copies for our friends already.

    • Throw files on a P2P service like Kazaa. P2P is PERFECT for this kind of distribution.

    It's all freaking simple, people.

    shut up man
  7. Re:Mirrors - DivX and Real Video as well!! by shut_up_man · · Score: 3, Informative

    Hang on... that trailer is dated September 6th, people. I've seen it before as well. I don't think it's the same as what is being offered on the official site (although it's completely smoked, so I can't make a comparison).

    shut up man

  8. MIRROR: I just put it on Morpheus by BenHmm · · Score: 5, Informative


    search Morpheus for "fellowshipoftherings_fs.mov"

    it's the full screen version, and *hell*yes*it*rocks*

    I've throttled the max uploads to save myself, if you get it, spread it around...

  9. Re:What's the deal with LOTR? by lythari · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Surely, the obvious solution would have been to assign a company of elven cavalry with magic swords, supported by Ents, and accompanied by guides familiar with the terrain. It's clear from the book that the elves could raise a huge military force when they had to -- why not use it for this mission?


    Because any such attempt would have been smashed to pulp by Sauron's own army. Also, the nature of the ring is such that those who possess it for any length of time, however short are unable to destroy it. Sauron, in his lust for the ring was unable to imagine that anyone would want to destroy it. Thus the decision was to try and sneak the ring into Mordor. That means low key, powerful elves with magic swords aren't exactly low key.


    Also there was an element of fate in it. Elrond said as much in the council. I'd give you a quote now but my copy of LOTR is an 8 hour flight away and I can't recall it off the top of my head.


    That's my (in my opinion) pathetic attempt to answer your question. Hope it helped.

  10. general accent giggle - US or what? by fantomas · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yup, the pronunciation is always fun, fits in with that whole thing about reading a book first and having the film shatter your imagined choices on how the characters would look and talk...


    It will be dead funny as per usual for all the heroes to have American accents (though I guess the money came from the USA and they made the film so why not, and it's no more or less valid than any other accent). The best bit though is I hear a lot of the filming was done in New Zealand, for the big scenes they pretty well rounded up anybody who could ride a horse to be in it, some of our pals got jobs. So, imagine the scene from the film:


    A battle, outside the gates of Mordor (or summink)...


    Gandalf (our hero, in a Texas accent): "I will vanquish thee, oh evil spawn of darkness, back to whence thy came!"


    Evil orc dressed in gothicky black wielding dead big axe (in broad Kiwi accent): "No worries mate! Choice!"



    Not sure what the answer is but it always cracks me up...

    1. Re:general accent giggle - US or what? by Grab · · Score: 3, Informative

      By nationality:-

      British
      Sean Bean (Boromir)
      Ian Holm (Bilbo)
      Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
      Billy Boyd (Pippin)
      Dominic Monaghan (Merry)
      Orlando Bloom (Legolas)
      Christopher Lee (Saruman)
      John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)
      Bernard Hill (Theoden)
      The voice of Andy Serkis (Gollum)

      Australian
      Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)
      Miranda Otto (Eowyn)
      Hugo Weaving (Elrond)
      John Noble (Denethor)
      David Wenham (Faramir)

      New Zealand
      Martin Czokas (Celeborn)
      Karl Urban (Eomer)

      American
      Elijah Wood (Frodo)
      Sean Astin (Sam)
      Viggo Mortenson (Aragorn)
      Liv Tyler (Arwen)
      Brad Dourif (Wormtongue)

      As for pronouncing it as Tolkein put in the appendix, the purists have lost that one - the trailers definitely pronounce Gandalf as Gandalf, not Gandolv.

      It's a shame only the Americans will invest in movies. Since half the actors are Brits, the top Hollywood cinematographers are Brits, and the book was written by a Brit, you'd reckon you could drum up some finance in Britain. But no... Silly buggers, money-men.

      Grab.

  11. Re:What's the deal with LOTR? by Old+Wolf · · Score: 3, Informative

    The forces of Mordor would have crushed the army. The might of Gondor had been waning for decades -- the nations were much much weaker than they were at the battle of the Last Alliance. You will see this at the scene "The Black Gate Opens" (probably near the start of the third film), and perhaps sooner if they play it up.

    The only way to victory lay in sneaking undetected into Orodruin and depositing the ring. The hobbits were chosen because they were hardy and the most likely to overcome the temptation of the ring. Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel etc. declined to take on the ring because they thought they would be unable to resist the temptation to use it.

    Also, the elves had departed from the affairs of men after the Last Alliance (it wasn't call the _Last_ one for no reason). Many of them had already departed Middle-Earth; there were only a few left and they certainly had no plans to engage in a war.

  12. Star Wars for adults by dbowden · · Score: 5, Interesting
    What am I missing here? Why is this generating so much anticipation? Is it merely that they are going into much more detail than the somewhat feeble [imdb.com] version that came out several years back? (I don't recall such anticipation for that). Is it the people who are to be in it? Is it the fact that special effects have matured to a suitable stage to handle this subject matter? Is Pauley Shore doing a cameo?

    Speaking as one who eagerly stood by with the remote last night, waiting to tape the preview as it came on, and watching my wife literally jump up and down in excitement when it did, this is a big thing.

    This is the fantasy story that started a whole genre. Try and find a fantasy novel today that doesn't have _some_ type of resemblance to LOTR. It can be done, but it isn't easy. I started reading the books for the first time when I was 10, and I haven't stopped since. They are that good.

    The reason everyone is so excited by this is that, as far as we've been able to determine, they're doing it right. The casting looks right. The look of the characters, of the land, of the people (elves, dwarves, hobbits, wizards), looks right. It looks like they're finally going to make this story get up, and walk out of the pages of the book, and work on the big screen.

    In regard to casting, I think they made an excellent choice by NOT casting big stars -- this way the audience doesn't have a preconcieved notion of who the actors are, and can see them as only Tolkien's characters. In much the same way that Mark Hamill will always be Luke Skywalker, and Carrie Fisher will always be Princess Leia, I suspect that these actors will be typecast by this movie.

    Another reason people are excited is that the state of special effects has finally arrived to the point where the special effects can be seamlessly integrated into the movie. We can watch Gandalf fighting the Balrog without being impressed by how real the Balrog looks, or by how impressively they were able to model the caverns. We've become used to seeing the impressive effects, and we can now watch them as part of the movie, without wondering how they're done, or being jarred by their unreality.

    With regard to the screenplay, we already know that they've decided to take a bit of license with the story line, and increase Arwen's role (she's a lead character's love interest). They decided to do so because she really doesn't have much of a role in the story -- with the possible exception of Galadrial, no female character does. I personally don't think it'll be a big problem, and if it's the only concession they're making to the "normal" movie going public (as opposed to the geeks & uber geeks that are eagerly watching every move leading up to this production), I'll be happy.

    I also recall a similar feeling before the release of "Dune", so I don't wanna get my hopes up too much.

    Dune wasn't the same - I don't think we'll ever see a really good theatrical interpretation of Dune (the recent Sci-Fi channel series was pretty good, but I still think it missed a lot). The reason for that is that Dune is a very complex story. There is a lot of background, a lot of character development, and a different culture to assimilate. LOTR is essentially a good vs. evil story. The story line is very simple. We won't have to worry about extensive flashbacks, or narratives to explain complex plot points. There are good guys, and bad guys. The bad guys appears stronger, but the good guys eventually win in the end. That means that it will translate a heck of a lot better into a movie medium.

    I'm really looking forward to this movie.

    --
    Help find a cure for Gidget.
  13. the easiest way to get these files is always P2P by Kraft · · Score: 4, Informative

    1. Get Morpheus.
    2. Install and run it.
    3. Select "Video" and search for "Lord of the rings"
    4. then you should be able to get in a few mins. The problem is figuring out what the hell the file is called.

    With apples shit site, I have to upgrade to a new version of quicktime, which took me forever and it still doesn't work. I wanted to get the zip file from the sorensen server... but it's dead.

    ... or you can just view the file here:
    http://homepage.mac.com/johnemdall/.Movies/lotr- tv 240.mov

    --

    -Kraft
    Live and let live
  14. Re:Grrr ... QuackTime by purplemonkeydan · · Score: 3, Informative

    Well, actually.. quicktime is less crappy than windoze mediaplayer.

    Well, that's a matter of taste, really. I don't think either of them are particularly great. Same with RealWhatever. Roll on DiVX and MPEG!

    Second, believe it or not but the official MPEG4 standard is based on.... quicktime!!!

    IIRC, they didn't use the codec, just the data format. Most QT movie trailers use the Sorenson codec.

    Personally, I think they should release trailers in as many format as possible. MPEG1, MPEG4, WinMedia, Real and QT. Cover all the bases, and you get some form of inherent mirroring as well (MSN would host the WM on their site, Apple would host the QT, and so on)

  15. 9/6 Trailer is not 9/24 Trailer by Gregoyle · · Score: 5, Informative

    Thanks to all those posting links to tolkien-movies.com and Ain't it Cool News, but the trailers they have from Sept 6th are not the same as the one from last night, Sept. 24th.

    To my knowledge none of the mirror sites have it yet (although that could change). TheOneRing.Net just posts a link to the broken Apple/Sorenson server. They may be available on the Morpheous/Kazaa network; I'm at work and haven't been able to check. I'd post a mirror, too, except I haven't been able to get the latest trailer myself :-).

    --

    "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."

  16. They ARE using Akamai!! by CaseyB · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Choose providers who can handle this sort of load balancing, like Akamai."

    Here's the HTML of the link to the file:

    <a href="http://squeeze.sorenson.com/video/fellowship ofthering_fs.zip"><IMG SRC="http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/51/a8a1a3fc413 633/www.apple.com/trailers/newline/fellowship_of_t he_ring/images/index_18.gif" WIDTH=99 HEIGHT=23 border="0"></a>

    Note that they ARE using Akamai -- for the 449 byte image used for the link. It's only the 30 Meg movie that's on the dial-up iMac.

  17. I've set up a mirror... by infernix · · Score: 5, Informative

    I mirrored the Large version (480x204), it's 18MB. If I find the fullscreen version I'll put it up there too. Grab it here:

    http://lotr.infernix.net/

    Note: PLEASE SATURATE THIS LINK.

    I repeat: PLEASE SATURATE THIS LINK.

    It's our (yet) unused new uplink and I'd like to stress-test it.

    Thanks ;)

    infernix

    1. Re:I've set up a mirror... by psychos · · Score: 5, Informative
      Fullscreen .mov file

      This is a fast mirror (the one in the parent message is horribly saturated).

  18. Got it from Gnutella in 5 minutes by fils · · Score: 3, Informative

    Use Limewire, what I think is the best and now open source gnutella client.

    http://www.limewire.com
    http://www.limewire.org

    Search on fellowshipofthering

    several t3 speed sites have it....

  19. Something has to give by Sloppy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You can't cut Bombadil.

    Then what do you cut?

    Art is about constraints. Moviemakers have different contraints than book writers. Peter Jackson gets to use CGI, but Tolkein didn't. Tolkein got to use hundreds of pages for whatever he wanted, but Jackson has time limits carved in stone. Something has to give, and whoever is doing it, has hard choices to make. I guess Jackson's choices were different than yours. Probably after I see the movie, I'll decide his choices were different than mine too. But it's really a no-win situation; no matter what he cuts, it's going to make someone unhappy.

    Maybe it is theoretically possible to make a 30 hour LOTR movie that has everything from Tolkein's story and is all things to all fans. But that wouldn't fit the patterns and traditions (as arbitrary as they may be) for theatrical movies, which means that even then it won't be all things to all people: it won't serve the people who are funding it.

    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  20. Umm... don't we know the plot already? by L-Train8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I know there are some minor changes (Sorry Tom Bombadil), but I believe the movie follows the book's plot pretty closely.

    Phantom Menace was a different deal. The trailer showed the fabulous visuals, but didn't clue you in to the fact that the plot sucked and the dialog was lame. With FOTR, we know the story is great. The trailer sure shows that the visuals are great, too.

    --

    Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
  21. Re:Spoilage? by Tetsujin28 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honestly, I am so disappointed that the story is altered. I don't want to go see what some hollywood producer wants to say -- I want to see what the author has to say.


    You can -- by reading the originals. Tolkein didn't make movies, he wrote books, and thus there is no way that a movie could possibly be "what the author had to say." The movie is a different work of art, created by different people.

    --
    - - - -
    The real Tetsujin 28 is a giant robot.