LotR RotK Premiere Today In New Zealand

donnz writes "Things are getting a little out of hand in Wellington today. For those of you who have not spent the night sleeping on the sidewalk CityLink have been wiring up webcams all over the place. Keep up with all the news and links on Stuff.co.nz. Just to show we are twice blessed, the sun is shining."

Comments

Re:WHAT!!!

[Pingular]

not fair. why not do a world wide release all at the same time?
Because it's been done.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Now you know how everyone else (non-USian) feel...

Lucky I have SWAT on Xvid DVD-rip, despite a UK release date of Dec 4th.

LOTR ROFK Premier...

[Anonymous Coward]

ROFL.

Re:LOTR ROFK Premier...

[Anonymous Coward]

PotR ZebiE?

GddmN GeeKS.

Re:LOTR ROFK Premier...

[Savatte]

So if today is the premiere, shouldn't a torrent have been posted last week?

Using Linux and KDE

[sultanoslack]

It's also cool to note that they're using Linux and KDE in some of the rendering. See here for more details and screenies.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Raindance]

I believe they used the linux platform as well to orchestrate the battles; in the massive melees they set up a bunch of orc and human models, defined their movement, gave them scripts and defined their objective as 'stay alive, and kill those not of your type', gave them scripts pointing to these objectives, and just *let them do their thing*.

Much of the battle at Helmsdeep, for instance, is AI program vs AI program. Awesome.

*of course, the first time they tried it, the humans broke ranks and just ran away from the orcs. What does that say?

RD

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah, i saw a scene (on Kazaa) where there was a screenshot of them using pkzip on BASH (l33t!), I think it was running in vi bcoz, and hey i don't want to start a holy war here, emacs is a cr4p gui... it took me, like 20 minutes infront of my freelance gig to copy a 17 MB file... and then it corrupted the boot sector so I had to use GRUNT to reinstall the OS... or was it GIMP... dunno.

Linux sucks... analog rules!

w00t!

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Dylan_t_p]

fuzzy logic is a strange beast :) I wonder if by mistake one of the times they tried running the ai, against all odds the orcs won :) I've never really read about the massive engine they used but I've heard a lot of funny stories

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[1984]

"...using Linux and KDE in some of the rendering."

Linux is a pretty popular platform in the industry. Maya seems to be a little slower on Linux than Windows (don't flame me: talk to Alias). And expect to find tens or hundreds of nodes of Linux-based renderfarm all over the place. All our shots for Matrix III were rendered on Athlons running RedHat.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[remou]

> the first time they tried it, the humans broke ranks and just ran away from the orcs. What does that say?

Actually according to TTT extended version DVDs, the AI's in the back just started running away from the battle. The reason being that they had programmed the AIs to start running in random directions if they coudn't see an enemy AI, hoping that like this the AIs would run into an ennemy sooner or later. If your AI is at the back of a 10000 people uruquai army, then this strategy won't really work, so they changed it...

nothing to see here, move on....

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[MikeXpop]

Wow. That's impressive. Although I can't help think that what you just said is just a big metaphor for war in general.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Ryan Amos]

They don't use Windows because it's a lot harder to write programs and you're pretty much locked into MFC if you want to write anything reasonably complex. On Linux, you get easier access to hardware without having to worry if some of the "black boxes" in Windows are going to get fucked up by messing with certain things. I've said this before and I'll say it again: Windows is not better than Linux, nor is Linux better than Windows. If all you're doing is entering stuff into a spreadsheet and surfing the net, Windows is better. If you need to write a lot of custom applications and don't want to spend years doing it, Linux is the way to go. Different uses demand different tools, which is why Linux will probably never seriously crack the desktop market, but will be (is?) a force to be reckoned with in a lot of "middleware" applications.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[u-235-sentinel]

"*of course, the first time they tried it, the humans broke ranks and just ran away from the orcs. What does that say?"

Sounds like that commercial was right "when the courage of men fail"... :-)

Good thing we had Aragorn eh ;-)

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[McAddress]

You should not be allowed to post on slashdot being that you are not a zealot of one OS.

Everybody knows they could have done this faster and cheaper if they were running BSD.

*ducks to avoid flames*

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[advocate_one]

Fuzzy logic is a strange beast :) I wonder if by mistake one of the times they tried running the ai, against all odds the orcs won :) I've never really read about the massive engine they used but I've heard a lot of funny stories"

As much fun as the urban myth about the kangaroos shooting the helicopter down cos they forgot to remove the stinger missiles from the infantry models that were converted to kangaroo figures???

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[RevMike]

As much fun as the urban myth about the kangaroos shooting the helicopter down cos they forgot to remove the stinger missiles from the infantry models that were converted to kangaroo figures???

Acording to snopes, the core of this story actually happened, but the story has been elaborated extensively. The programmers did re-use the "infantry" models in the simulation for kangaroos. As a bit of fun early in the project they intentionally left the ability of the kangaroos the kangaroos to fiure back intact, but the kangaroos did not fire stinger missiles. They fired beach balls at the helicopters.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Anonymous Coward]

...and perl for the pipeline work! :P

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[mormop]

Seems a bit of a shame that they only provide Windows Media Player streaming video of the premier though.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[mAIsE]

hmm...

being a bit of an OSX zealot i disagree, if you want open source and a useable GUI you only have one choice that is OSX. (it is a proprietary GUI but not nearly as bad of a black box as MFC/Windoze.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[funkhauser]

Everybody knows they could have done this faster and cheaper if they were running BSD.

Well, they could... if BSD weren't dead already. :)

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[msevior]

*sigh* why do people who seem to understand things say this sort of thing. Nothing is static. In fact if all you're doing is entering numbers in a spreadsheet Linux is probally a *better* solution for the desktop.

Linux loses to Windows on the desktop in the *range* of apps that is available and in the *range* of hardware that's available.

Linux is not useful to Windows Geeks who inhabit slashdot because it doesn't have all the cool hardware support provided by leading edge hardware supplier. Still there is lots of cool hardware that *does* work well with Linux.

Linux loses on the 20% of corp desktops that need a range of sophisticated apps. It loses in the consumer market because it doesn't come pre-configured and Johnny -down-the-street who maintains Joe-blows Windows box doesn't know Linux yet.

Once a beachhead on corp desktop is established for 80% of machines that just do routine things, other opportunities will become available.

KDE or GNOME are both excellent desktop environments.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[MooCows]

Umm, I really couldn't let did one go.

They don't use Windows because it's a lot harder to write programs and you're pretty much locked into MFC if you want to write anything reasonably complex.

Do you have any clue about what you're talking about?
MFC is just what the name implies "Foundation Classes"
You can just as well use many other libraries, or even ditch libraries alltogether and directly access the API.

You are right about Linux being much more accessible though.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[theparanoidcynic]

What does that say?
That evil will always triumph because good is dumb?

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Wolfrider]

> of course, the first time they tried it, the humans broke ranks and just ran away from the orcs. What does that say?

--They weren't running away, they were executing a "strategic retreat" in order to set up an ambush. Breaking ranks was just to make it look convincing. (whistles innocently)

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[don.g]

Ha! If you'd come to VUW (the university on a hillside overlooking the wellington CBD) earlier this year, you'd have been able to hear Milton Ngan from Weta talking about it.

Yet another excuse to plug Interface, the VUW Computer Club, which ran that event (or more accurately, took it over from the CS department): if you're a CS student at VUW, you really should become a member.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Taos]

Good to hear they moved over to Mental Ray on Linux. When I interviewed with them a year ago they were 100% windows -- even on the farm.

Now that it's over, what are you up to these days? Still working for them or have you moved on? Might have to update my profie so it's not so horribly out of date and we can move this conversation elsewhere.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[raga]

Everybody knows they could have done this faster and cheaper if they were running BSD.

You misspelled OSX again.

cheers- raga

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[don.g]

It works with MPlayer. That's how I'm watching it (too crowded in Courtenay place :-)

The video stream is only available within NZ, however, so if you're overseas you're stuck with the MJPG webcams.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[1984]

I'm guessing you're thinking of ESC? This would not be they, though they're just down the road and I hear that they're still a Windows shop...

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[hardcampa]

Actually you are missing the point. They didn't use KDE for "the rendering" =) They used Maya for that. But what they did do was that they used Shake for about 90 % of the compositioning. Shake now owned by Apple is being developed for Unix and Mac, they dropped the windows line totally awhile back. http://www.apple.com/shake/stories/lotr2/

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Anonymous Coward]

of course, the first time they tried it, the humans broke ranks and just ran away from the orcs. What does that say?

Incorrect. Watch the two bonus DVDs on the new TTT EE.

They weren't ors and humans, but plain unidentified fighters, one side gold and the other side silver.

They showed the sample where some of the AI fighters appear to run away.

In fact what happened was that some of the AI "agents" were too far away from the other fighters, and their search pattern lead them too far away from the battle, so they couldn't "see" it and ended up running off the edge of the "board" and thus appeared to "run for the hills" instead of fight.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[d_i_r_t_y]

You shouldn't be allowed to post on /. either -- everybody knows that BSD is dying dude ;-)

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Anonymous Coward]

The inscription shone piercingly bright, and yet remote, as if out of a great depth:

4F6E65204F5320746F2072756C65207468656D20616C6C2C 20 4F6E65204F5320746F
2066696E64207468656D2C0D0A4F6E 65204F5320746F206272 696E67207468656D20
616C6C20616E6420696E2074686520 6461726B6E6573732062 696E64207468656D
'I cannot read the fiery letters,' I said.
'No,' he said, 'but I can. The letters are Hex, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Microsoft, which I shall not utter here. But in common English this is what it says:'
One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

oldie but a goodie

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[JonasG]

Incorrect. Watch the two bonus DVDs on the new TTT EE.

Exactly where on the DVDs? I think I've watched everything, but nothing about this. I have the four disc version, by the way.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[gfxguy]

I know I'm late to this conversation, but... I've always thought Maya was faster on Linux... When it came to multi-processor boxes, Windows had the edge for rendering... or I should say that it was easier for Maya to use all the processing power, where on Linux (at the time - several years ago), we had to start several renders manually.

I know that XSI runs faster on Linux (according to our representative), but it's missing a few little convenient things.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Ryan Amos]

Well the spreadsheet example is probably a bad one :) What I meant was, it's easier (and cheaper) to sit a business school grad down at a Windows machine and let them be productive than to train them to use Linux and haggle with any problems that come up. On a major project like LotR, they have gobs of money to spend and have an entire staff of sysadmins and programmers to deal with issues like this. They can afford to spend money on customized systems because they know they'll make it back at the box office tenfold. Windows does its job the way it's supposed to on desktop applications, and that's really all that matters.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[msevior]

I see what you mean. Actually in this case, Hollywood uses Linux because all their custom apps had been written for Unix Workstations. It was much easier to port them to Linux on intel, which gives far better Price/Performance than Unix Workstations.

There's nothing inheritantly more difficult for a typical person (in this case the graphic artists) about using a properly configured Linux desktop. My 74 year-old mother copes just fine.

Re:Using Linux and KDE

[Anonymous Coward]

the speed hit is negligible on a fast machine. a LOT of it has to do with poor configuration, or unsupported or poorly supported hardware.

the speed ismostly in the interaction with the program too, not rendering.

the rendering speed is no different in my experience (on identical systems)

the true advantage to linux is when you get into custom code, price, number of processors a system can take, and stability.

really..we're talking under 5% speed difference on most machines. to be honest I think windows just runs faster because they have been tuning their OS for speed in realtime 3d graphics (games). (the expense of this speed is, of course, stability, a disgusting lack of security...and blah blah blah.)

Good for NZers

[NightWulf]

As I understand the people of NZ were more than gracious to the film crew. Also who can deny the lush beautiful landscapes that NZ provided. I think it's only fair they get to see the movie a few weeks before we do. On a side note, with the success of a more than excellent translation of LOTR by Jackson, anyone else hoping that one day he may do a King Arthur tale? Perhaps a Once and Future King trilogy?

Re:Good for NZers

[old_unicorn]

Once and Future King - YES. The only book that always makes me cry, when Arthur stands up and explains to the hedgehog what it's all about. A brilliant book. There was a Walt Disny thing "Sword in the Stone" that was based in part of it, the lessons from merlin in the moat as a fish, etc, but there is so much more to the books.

Re:Good for NZers

[Leme]

I'd kill for him to do a series based on the A Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R Martin.

Really I would.

Re:Good for NZers

[mcpkaaos]

Strange women lyin' in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a movie trilogy!

Re:Good for NZers

[TrippTDF]

Also who can deny the lush beautiful landscapes that NZ provided. Seriously. A friend of mine spent 6 months in Antarctica at a US research base (he only had an internet connection when a communications satellite was overhead... I think 8 hours a day or something) and then spent 6 months in NZ just traveling around... his photos were amazing, and I half expected to see Gandolf riding a horse in the distance. I would LOVE to go there some day, except I hear it's hard to get into the country sometimes.

Re:Good for NZers

[twinpot]

The only thing hard about getting into New Zealand is the 27 hour flight from Europe! It's at least three hours flying from Sydney to Wellington.
If you're from Europe or North America you'll get a tourist visa at point of entry.

Re:Good for NZers

[Coryoth]

As I understand the people of NZ were more than gracious to the film crew.

Yeah, but given that most of the film crew were New Zealanders that's not that surprising. A lot of people dont seem to realise, this is largely a New Zealand film. The production money is from New Line, and that's US, but the director (Jackson
), screenplay writers (Jackson, Walsh, Boyens), casting, film crew, locations, costume design, and even the special effects (Weta Workshops, and Weta Digital) etc. are all New Zealand based. Even a large number of the actors are New Zealand actors - the leads, are, of course, big names from overseas, but many of the minor roles, Haldir, Celeborn, Denethor, Eomer etc. are all New Zealanders.

And what's the easiest way to get a large army of orcs for battle scenes? Yes, that's right, they used the New Zealand Army!

New Zealand provided far more than the landscapes - these films are (except for the money) New Zealand films.

Jedidiah.

Re:Good for NZers

[retneprac]

One problem, the content of the song of ice and fire books would make the movies hard R.

Re:Good for NZers

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing new there. Films will usually use locals for extras and bit parts, especially when massive amounts of people are needed. Did you think they shipped a ton of people out of Hollywood every time a film was shot elsewhere?

Re:Good for NZers

[Henk Postma]

I would really like for Jackson to make a movie about the Once and Future King by T.H. White. If you haven't read it yet, please do. It's a brilliant book, the descriptions are vivid, and the Arthur story is told in a very original way. E.g, Merlin is living backwards in time, and the way it is written up is very intelligent, as well as funny.

He should include the last part of the book though, The book of Merlin which was found in the private collection of White after he died. It makes the story much more complete and ends in the same sprit as the book starts in The Sword in the Stone

Re:Good for NZers

[AyeRoxor!]

And what's the easiest way to get a large army of orcs for battle scenes? Yes, that's right, they used the New Zealand Army!

Primer from the CIA World Factbook:

• New Zealand Military branches
• • New Zealand Army
  • Royal New Zealand Navy
  • Royal New Zealand Air Force
• Military manpower - military age
• • 20 years of age (2003 est.)
• Military manpower - availability
• • males age 15-49: 1,021,770 (2003 est.)
• Military manpower - fit for military service:
• 
  
  • males age 15-49: 859,505 (2003 est.)
• Military manpower - reaching military age annually
• • males: 26,803 (2003 est.)
• Military expenditures - dollar figure
• • $605.7 million (FY02)
• Military expenditures - percent of GDP
• • 1% (FY02)

/partly because thinking of the NZ army is silly, and parly because I love nested <UL>'s :)

Re:Good for NZers

[Yorrike]

Damn straight. And you know as well as I do; everyone in Wellington knows at least 2 people that worked on the film.

The streets here in Wellington are closed for almost two days so we can have a parade of all things. I'll just make sure I take my LOTR DVDs in the hope of getting them signed by someone important (then, EBAY!) and a camera for boasting purposes. This will be, after all, the first and last time this kind of thing happens in Wellington, I'm sure.

Re:Good for NZers

[Coryoth]

Nothing new there. Films will usually use locals for extras and bit parts, especially when massive amounts of people are needed. Did you think they shipped a ton of people out of Hollywood every time a film was shot elsewhere?

Sure, but they normally truck in senior people from overseas for direction, production, cinematography, senior camera techs etc. and have all the set and costume design done back home. They usually ship all the film stock back to wherever their from for post prodiuction, special effects, and editing.

All of these things were done in NZ.

As I said, the only thing not from New Zeland was pretty much the raw cash from New Line.

Stop and think for a moment. People are happily calling Weta Digital's work on par with ILM. Weta Digital is a little wee New Zealand company. That alone is a pretty significant achievement for a country as small as NZ.

At the end of it all, when you watch the opening credits for the film, you'll see "A Wingnut Films presents" - and Wingnut films is Peter Jackson's NZ film company. You'll see the very same words on the intro to "Bad Taste".

Jedidiah

Re:Good for NZers

[Zoshnell]

I mean, If I were to claim I was a movie director just because some watery tart threw a scimitar at me, they'd lock me away!

Re:Good for NZers

[Coryoth]

I would LOVE to go there some day, except I hear it's hard to get into the country sometimes.

Yeah, that 20 minute drive can be a real pain in the ass...

The only hard part is the flight to get there, after that it's pretty easy. The impressive part is that you can go from the beach, to snowcapped mountains, to a rainforest in a day. In fact, if you're a real masochist you can compete in the Speights Coast to Coast, a race from one side of the country, over the Southern Alps, to the other, and see some very impressive scenery on the way. Serious competeors complete the race without stopping. Normal people do the race as a 2 day event.

Jedidiah.

Re:Good for NZers

[MemoryAid]

And what's the easiest way to get a large army of orcs for battle scenes? Yes, that's right, they used the New Zealand Army!

I didn't realize the New Zealand Army was made up of orcs. No wonder they have never been defeated. Any opponents must be terrified. People just aren't used to fighting orcs.

Re:Good for NZers

[sashang]

I'm kinda secretly hoping he'll pick up the Dune trilogy, read it, like it and do a movie on it.

Re:Good for NZers

[darxyde]

At least Jackson was committed, it wasn't just a string of pussy jokes.

Re:Good for NZers

[T9D]

The problem is, the Dune series is actually much too long to easily put into movies. In order to make them into movie form, a lot would need to be cut out. The Sci Fi Network made what I consider to be a very good set of 2 miniseries that told the story of the first three books, but each came in at something like 6 hours total. That's totally unacceptable for a movie, and it's unlikely they would be able to hold the viewer's interest it each book were split into two or three movies.

Re:Good for NZers

[Anonymous Coward]

New Zealand has a great movie history... Just go and rent forgotten silver also directed by Peter Jackson if you have any doubts.

Re:Good for NZers

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah its easy, wrap yourself in a sheep skin drop to all fours and wander straight in.

Re:Good for NZers

[Anonymous Coward]

I would also suggest renting any of Vincent Ward's NZ films, expecially the navigator (though what dream may come had nice paint), and whale rider, i also enjoyed rain.

Re:Good for NZers

[Fractal Dice]

Personally, I'd like to see a verion of the Arthurian Legend done as a distant sequel to LotR. Consider: a sword of kings, an ancient noble bloodline, strange immortal sorrowful lady of the lake hanging out in the woods and a wize wizard of a long-faded order. It would take an extremely good writer to pull it off in a way respectful to both legends, but it would be fun to see.

Re:Good for NZers

[dhammabum]

How about the Paksenarrion series by Elizabeth Moon - you could even have Lucy Lawless as Paks!

Re:Good for NZers

[tunah]

That's perspective - I say it's a 27 hour flight to Europe, that's what's ruining their tourism industry.

It was only 12 + 10 when I did it, you don't have to go through sydney, we went to LA and then Heathrow.

Re:Good for NZers

[fucksl4shd0t]

Stop and think for a moment. People are happily calling Weta Digital's work on par with ILM. Weta Digital is a little wee New Zealand company. That alone is a pretty significant achievement for a country as small as NZ.

Of course, after doing Xena and Hercules, it's not surprise they could tackle something simple like LOTR.

At least now we know why all orcs and other crazy-looking creatures speak with pseudo-Aussie accents; they really are pseudo-Aussies!

Re:Good for NZers

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe John Noble (Denethor) is Australian.

Re:Good for NZers

[ejito]

He meant it was hard to get into the country itself, as in NZ, not nature.

Re:Good for NZers

[pommiekiwifruit]

I hear it's hard to get into the country sometimes

Too right. If you try to fly there (e.g. from Europe) in December the price is three times normal, in the unlikely event that you can find a seat. And the 26 or so hour flight is a bit of a pain.

Re:Good for NZers

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, they tend to lock you in prison without charge... Google for Ahmed Zaoui

Re:Good for NZers

[ghostprovidence]

... i hear its loosely based on some story some guy wrote ... not that anybody's read them.

Re:Good for NZers

[baker_tony]

You are incorrect. You can't go from the beach to snowcapped mountains to a rainforest in a day. We have bush, not rainforest :-) BTW, you can go from a snowcapped mountain to some fantastic beaches in a couple of hours. Especially in Taranaki (the buldge on the west coast of the North Island).

Re:Good for NZers

[squaretorus]

As off topic as it gets - but WTF does New Zealand need an army for? I know Aussies are a pain in the ass, but surely they are too lazy to invade!

Everyone else would get bored just trying to get close to the place!

Re:Good for NZers

[crumley]

The impressive part is that you can go from the beach, to snowcapped mountains, to a rainforest in a day.

Sounds like Hawaii, which is another impressive palce to visit.

Re:Good for NZers

[thud2000]

Ever read "That Hideous Strength" by C.S. Lewis? It's set in what is apparently post-WWII Britain, but it does tie in with both the Arthur legends and Tolkien's stuff (although only briefly - he does mention Numenor a couple of times.) It's very heavy on Christian allegory and symbolism, as one would expect of Lewis. In my opinion it's his best work of "adult" fiction. It's the final part of his "Space Trilogy" of science fiction books that also includes "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra" but is stylistically a huge break from the other two books - it reads much more like a modern novel, with real characters, than the other two in the series (and you don't have to read them to understand what's going on in "Strength."

The book was published long before "The Silmarillion," and what Lewis knew of Numenor he gleaned from some of Tolkien's early manuscripts, as Lewis mentions in his preface to the book. So there are some inconsistencies between Lewis's concept and the more-or-less final version we get in the Silmarillion. But it's still worth a read to see how the two worlds may have originally been intended to intertwine.

Re:Good for NZers

[realkiwi]

The last time I saw a normal New Zealander was... Now when the hell was that!?!

Re:Good for NZers

[avdp]

Not to nitpick, but I believe none of the music was done in NZ. All in London. Composer is also not from NZ.

Other than you're essentially right. Since I consider music to be a major part of a movie, I thought I'd point it out.

Re:Good for NZers

[Slurm-V]

Fiordland is a rainforest, and thus you are disproven. Of course, it's colder than the other side of a /. reader's bed meaning the beaches down there are more the windswept, frozen, sub-antarctic variety - so whether you'd actually want to go beach->mountain->rainforest is another matter.

Re:Good for NZers

[baker_tony]

Bush is a New Zealand term for rainforest (dense rainforest), so I guess we are both right?! ;-)

MOD DOWN PARENT

[Anonymous Coward]

n/t

Re:WHAT!!!

[meffie]

Because Peter is from Wellington, and wants to spotlight Wellington on the world stage as his way of thanking NZ.

Perfect day for it

[marshall_j]

Weather couldn't be nicer for those of us here in Welly. I'm gonna go get me a good seat now, somewhere near the fell beast on top of the Embassy Theatre.

Re:Perfect day for it

[Anonymous Coward]

Stay outside in the sun, then.

Here's a plot summary for what you'll be missing:

Our Heroes travel from one place to another. They throw a ring into a volcano, and do some fighting on the way.

That's it. Move on, please; there's nothing to see here.

Re:Perfect day for it

[spir0]

I'm at panasonic house, so can sit on our roof... pretty good view from there, but the sun hurts my eyes :(

Re:WHAT!!!

[old_unicorn]

Why shouldn't some country other than America get the first viewing, for once? Seems fair to me - it was made in NZ after all.

Premier for the Stars

[AnEmbodiedMind]

No, this is the premier for the stars... the rest of us New Zealanders will still have to wait a couple more weeks before it is released to the public.

Re:Premier for the Stars

[JacobO]

Meanwhile I just feel homesick.

Player?

[meffie]

To view image streams you will need Windows Media Player. To download Windows Media Player click on the Windows Media Player icon.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Get over it. It's just a movie. If you are wrought with anticipation, sate yourself by reading the book.

Wizards by Ralph Bakshi

[handy_vandal]

I just hope someone does a parady of this shitfest soon.

It's been done, kind of: Wizards by Ralph Bakshi.

-kgj

Re:Wizards by Ralph Bakshi

[Anonymous Coward]

handy_vandal wrote:
>
> It's been done, kind of: Wizards by Ralph Bakshi.

Yeah. I liked Wizards. But, if you've seen Peter Jackson's other films (specifically Meet the Feebles, Dead Alive, and Bad Taste) you'll appreciate how completely over the top and far, far, beyond Wizards he could have gone with LoTR. But he didn't. LoTR is trash.

It was a huge mistake (not financially, or in terms of gaining popularity, of course, but artistically) to try to film LoTR as if it were some Masterpiece Theater production. Peter Jackson is just not capable of pulling something like that off. Making it in to a wacky gorefest and pulling out all the stops for creative license would have been a much better use of Peter Jackson's talent. Instead, Jackson tried to be faithful to a dull and shallow book and came up with a dull and shallow film.

Now it's up there with Citizen Kane and Battleship Potempkin in the list of most overhyped trashy films.

Re:Wizards by Ralph Bakshi

[Anonymous Coward]

You're a moron. J.R.R. Tolkien's LOTR was the book of the 20th century, and Peter Jackson's LOTR will be the film of the 21st century.

And in spite of this you'll remain a shallow and clueless bottom feeder.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

That's it. NZ has gone too far. We now be forced to liberate them.

-GWB

Re:This can't end well...

[WasterDave]

I am 2ms ping away from the webserver on a 10Mbit connection, and I can't get it.

I think, and I may well be wrong, that there is no description of multicasting on the server. Certainly most of NZ's Internet infrastructure isn't multicast capable, and I never did see how they were going to manage to stream this.

There was a brief effort to get Akamai involved. But ... well. Oh well.

Dave

Re:WHAT!!!

[darkpurpleblob]

why not do a world wide release all at the same time?

Dude, this is only the premiere. The rest of us here in New Zealand only get to see it from December 18th, like (AFAIK) everywhere else.

Some more webcams

[trystanu]

These don't seem to be /.ed yet, at least, they're working for me (sourced from http://www.wellingtonnz.com/cam/cam/index.html) Downtown Courtenay Place (http://palantir.citylink.co.nz/courtenay/) Uptown Courtenay Place (http://webcam.citylink.co.nz/reading/) The red carpet (live 12noon NZ time) (http://palantir.citylink.co.nz/midland-park/ and http://palantir.citylink.co.nz/traffic/) Unfortunately no cams yet running from *inside* the cinema If you live in NZ, you can get some visit live streaming cams from the link above.

Re:Some more webcams

[b4rB3li7h]

Unfortunately CityLink has restricted viewing of these Cams to the APE and WIX exchanges only. Sorry, but all you people out side NZ won't be able to watch live. Although I could sit and watch on my office PC, The CEO has given everybody the arvo off to go down and watch the parade and join in the street party on the waterfront :oD

Some more webcams

[trystanu]

With some HTML formatting:

These don't seem to be /.ed yet, at least, they're working for me (sourced from here).

• Downtow Courtenay Place
• Uptown Courtenay Palace
• The red carpet (live 12noon NZ time) Camera 1 and Camera 2

Unfortunately there aren't any cams running from *inside* the cinema as yet.

If you live in NZ, you can get some visit live streaming cams from the link above.

Re:WHAT!!!

[the_2nd_coming]

oh, ok then. I don't give a shit if that is all.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

That was really funny.
(IAANZer)

LotR RotK?

[BigJimSlade]

STFU! I was ROTFL when I saw the NZ link on /. was totally FUBAR. I couldn't even RTFA!

Re:LotR RotK?

[Anonymous Coward]

WTF?

Istr, Imho Ianal. Ymmv.

HTH, HAND.

(fscking lameness filter).

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

It is paid for by those who go and watch it wherever they are, not by an area of land.

Big deal!

[SexyKellyOsbourne]

Once again, the DVD screener for this movie was leaked days ago onto IRC, and I, along many others, have had it since. Waiting outside the theatre is a waste of time, considering in this day and age, anyone truly dedicated can hop online and find it quickly, and watch it a few hours later in the comfort of their own home.

Don't believe me?

irc://81.223.243.18/DC-Warez

Then type /ctcp xDCC-SK12633M xdcc send #1

and #2 and #3, as well.

Re:Big deal!

[Kenja]

So by "truly dedicated" you must mean unscrupulous little weasels who want to access others work without contributing anything of their own or reimbursing others for their time?

It all ways amazes me that people claiming to be "true fans" do whatever they can to ensure that there wont be any thing for them to pirate in the future.

I'm starting to think that the RIAA may have a point, that's a disturbing thought. Must get drunk now.

Re:Big deal!

[marshall_j]

Most (if not all waiting) are waiting for the parade not the movie. The premiere isn't something you wake up and decide to get some tickets for :P Go you for getting it before everyone else tho.

Re:Big deal!

[Anonymous Coward]

I had pirates of both FOTR ant TTT, saw them at the movies AND bought the DVD's. What possible fucking problem could the movie industry have with that? Of course these are films that I actually want to watch. I was given a bunch of 'blockbusting' VCD's by a friend, I've not watched any of them nor will I be bothering. Perhaps they can add that to their piracy stats, even if you give me the films I have better things to do than watch the garbage.

Re:Big deal!

[Snaller]

The police thank you for your information.

Re:Big deal!

[gl4ss]

the warezed versions are usually available much earlier.. of course you could except the 'true fans' to see it in the movies 20 times instead of getting their hands on some sort of version they can watch at home until the dvd is available(which all who want to show to their friends that they're 'true' lotr fans buy anyways so they're hardly missing any money there either), for many watching it 20 times in the movies is impossible because it costs a shitload as well(they don't have the money, so they couldn't give the money to new line even if they wanted). maybe some deal where you could get the divx legally if you go see it 10 times? that should give them nice margins.

and there's no rotk dvdrip anywhere(doh) currently(the guy was talking shit, as usual), sure the rotk GAMES are spread on irc but that's hardly a surprise to anyone(why copying games hasn't killed off games industry is an another discussion, but let's just say that sizable number of professional game makers have copied fair amounts of games in their youth as well).

dvdrips from net are a problem mainly for crappy movies for markets for which movies are released way too late(so that the dvd is out in the states when it's only getting to theatres at somewhere else). now if it's anticipated to be crap and there's a dvd version out(on the net, that is 'available') it's quite likely that the potential moviegoer will go to see something else and catch the crap(that has been said to be crap by critics and on the net also by shitloads of people) on dvdrip if they even bother to see it at all. lesson here? crap is crap and people don't go to see crap if it costs premium to see it.

really, i'd rather have them release them on dvd and to theatres at the same time and get just over it.. and show more old movies on theatres, around here it's quite rare to catch any older classics in theatre viewings(i got to see bladerunner few years ago though, that was _great_ to see in theatre. yes that's a way to success, produce crap you know is crap and still do it because you think you can't do nothing else than crap without huge budgets).

funnily enough domestic films(here and probably elsewhere as well) are produced usually at fraction of the price of the hollywood blockbusters are but the quality still is the same(percentagewise probably even better since why would you bother to produce something even yourself rate as 'b', even if you had a small budget? yet hollywood does this all the time).

and do you honestly think that lotr trilogy has been barely making any money? so bad it discourages everybody from making a movie ever? hell, jackson himself didn't start doing it just for the money(luckily, somebody doing it just for the profit margin could quite well have been too shortsighted to get it done properly), ever catched some of his earlier flics?

Re:Big deal!

[nagora]

watch it a few hours later in the comfort of their own home.

Why would you want to? These are big-screen, Hi-Fi films. The best home-cinema systems are a pale imatation of the real thing.

You sure as hell wouldn't watch Jackson's version for the story or the characterisation: it's all spectacle.

TWW

Re:Big deal!

[f0rt0r]

Well, I agree and disagree. I agree it is convenient to be able to preview a movie before dropping $10 U.S.D. or more on seeing the movie. But if it's good, wait a week or two after opening day before going to see it, but go see it. Heck, if you find yourself playing the screener a few times because the movie is that good, then buying the VHS/DVD/etc. is highly recommended.

On a side note about the DVD purchase, if the movie is one of the Lord Of the Ring series, wait until the 3rd or 4th DVD release before buying so you can get the super deluxe ultra-extended release. :-)

Jackson Says Best of the Series

[ackthpt]

Follow the link. Not much else, statistics, dollars earned, blah blah blah.

Here's hoping he's right. November's been a bit of a let down. Matrix Revolutions blew chunks (but nice CGI), Cat in the Hat is outright stupid and Timeline was underwhelming. Kill Bill Vol 1, however, was very cool and I'm looking forward to Feb. 20 to see Vol 2. (Did anyone else think of Sergio Leone's work while watching Kill Bill?)

Re:Jackson Says Best of the Series

[Slashamatic]

(Did anyone else think of Sergio Leone's work while watching Kill Bill?)

Not exactly a Clint paen to Sergio, was it but if anything it reminded me of a Python take of of him. I still think it was one of the best so far, but I still have great expectations of ROTK.

Re:Jackson Says Best of the Series

[krb]

Wow. When i first read your post, i thought you said Sergio Aragone, creator of the comic Groo, the tale of a mendicant fool with a samurai sword and a pet dog, Rufferto, who is smarter than he is.

At least the restaurant scene is not far off from a fray involving Groo - many body parts are always severed...

Re:Jackson Says Best of the Series

[ackthpt]

Groo or Usagi Yojimbo, by Stan Sakai. I've got all the Groos up to about 6 years ago, dunno what I'm going to do with them. Did meet Sergio and Stan at a local book signing, both are very cool guys. I'm not much for comic books these days.

My primary reference to Sergio Leone and his "spaghetti westerns" was inspired by the style of the tale of played out, theme music, good use of panaramic views and exploration of the hero/heroine's character.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't worry. I'm sure one of those "webcams" they were setting up will "accidentally" capture the movie. Effectively bringing it to the masses on time. :-)

I'm here...

[deminisma]

Sitting in my living room about 20mins walk from the Embassy where the premiere is taking place. To be honest, I find the excitement the whole city is experiencing a little embarrassing. All four of our free-to-air television stations are doing specials tonight, the Dominion Post newspaper devotes the entire first three pages to it. I mean, really it is just a film premiere.
Nevertheless, some of the buildings around Wellington look fantastic, a few adorned with giant models from Weta. I believe the red carpet is over 400 metres long, spanning the length of Courtenay Place, one of our largest streets.
Should be interesting, but really the hype is almost unbearable.

Just letting Slashdot know not every Wellingtonian is so damn excitable!

Re:I'm here...

[quacking duck]

I dunno, I would think that as a whole NZ would be eager to proclaim to the world that "the greatest film epic ever was filmed HERE!"

Beats being mistaken as part of Australia all the time ;-)

It's even better publicity if you remember the Matrix films were mostly shot in Sydney!

Re:I'm here...

[don.g]

The hype being unbearable? How about the bus timetables being unbearable? Courtenay place / Willis St / etc are on major bus routes; now they have to go around that area of town.

I had to go to a meeting in a building overlooking Courtenay Place earlier this morning: there was some poor girl standing down there with the job of making sure people didn't walk on the red carpet :-)

Re:I'm here...

[Anonymous Coward]

All four of our free-to-air television stations are doing specials tonight, the Dominion Post newspaper devotes the entire first three pages to it. I mean, really it is just a film premiere.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but has anything more exciting than Lord of the Rings filming happened in New Zealand in the last 50 years? I don't mean crazy stuff like Farmer John getting arrested for the mass sheep-raping, but something actually good for the country?

Re:I'm here...

[Foaf]

That embarrassment you feel is called the cultural cringe. Have a drink, for god's sake, and loosen up!

Re:I'm here...

[mt-biker]

I believe the red carpet is over 400 metres long, spanning the length of Courtenay Place, one of our largest streets.

As an australian, I can't pass up an opportunity to poke a bit of fun at the kiwis. So...

Your largest streets are 400 metres long? I honestly though NZ was a bit bigger than that. Or do you just not have all that many cars?

Or does length in New Zealand refer to width? Sort of like that vowel-rotating thing? :)

Re:I'm here...

[Anonymous Coward]

Mate!! You wanna make fun of Kiwis, do it properly.

The streets are short because asphalt his hard on the trotters of the sheep. Can't have too much ashpalt, then, can you?

Re:I'm here...

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on, Xena was filmed there!

In related news... (LOTR onion-style humour)

[stendec]

Islidur dissapointed to find Gladden Fields already littered with corpses, rings.
Dwarven metal-detector only turns up bottlecaps, shattered armor of comrades.

Isildur, eldest son and heir of Elendil, was dissapointed late afternoon last Monday when his attempt to find the ring which slipped off his finger failed. "I was lookining all through the muck, between the reeds and shrubs, and I even wrestled a Gladden Gator to see if it accidentally swallowed it." The King of both Arnor and Gondor then employed his three sons to aid in the search. After much searching amongst the reeds, Elendur, eldest of Isildur's four sons, shouted in the gloom, "I have located it, father!" Unfortunately, upon putting the ring on, Elendur did not dissappear, leaving the red embarrasement on his face plain to the eye. "Must be some other ring," he grumbled. The many corpses strewn across the Gladden Fields did not help the endeavour either. "All of this cracked and broken armor is really throwing off the metal detector. It's like trying to find a needle in a bloody, corpse-strewn haystack. I can only hope my insurance covers this." When pressed for comment, Lloyd's of London only said that "Insurance for rings of power laden with the capability of invisibility is not available, not even for a king of the Numenoreans, largely because "invisible rings" are a huge source of insurance fraud." Later on in the day, the heir of Elendil was slain by an orc. "I can only hope the One Ring is not found by some scheming, hideous halfling-like creature which eminates bubbling-like noises, or else all is lost," he said in his dying words, before another arrow punctured his larynx.

Re:WHAT!!!

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

Well, we may not get to see RotK before anyone else, but there is a free outdoor screening of the Two Towers down near Te Papa (near the hill thing, I think).

That humans are more intelligent than orcs?

[myowntrueself]

"*of course, the first time they tried it, the humans broke ranks and just ran away from the orcs. What does that say?"

Have you read Saruman's Diary?

[ackthpt]

Humorous diary of Saruman

LOTR prequels?

[tepples]

I'm waiting for the prequels: The Hobbit, episode 2, and episode 3, however the Tolkien family and Peter Jackson decide to write them.

Re:LOTR prequels?

[adrianbaugh]

Not to mention at least twenty films covering the Silmarillion :-)

Re:LOTR prequels?

[dspeyer]

Maybe not quite that many, but I still think the Lay of Luthien would make a great movie. It's about the right length; it already has romance, and it rides LotR's coat-tails nicely. Seriously!

Feeling sorry for stuff.co.nz

[Anonymous Coward]

Do note New Zealanders pay a lot for internation bandwidth.

Re:Feeling sorry for stuff.co.nz

[Xybot]

I know, my friend was up till the wee hours working on the stuff articles last night. I guess she was repayed by being able to see the preview release last week. All I managed to get out of her was that it was really good, and better than T2T's. (sigh)

Re:WHAT!!!

[sugar and acid]

Well it's the premiere, so it is an invite only kind of deal.

Kiwis will have the first opportunity to see it when it is officially released to. Comes from being on the right side of the international date line, it's the official date for release a good 12hrs ahead of the US. Also makes for good new years celebration, the first to see in the new year and it's the middle of summer to (so big outdoor parties etc.).

Yes, but...

[FunWithHeadlines]

"Just letting Slashdot know not every Wellingtonian is so damn excitable!"

Yes, but then you did just post to /. about the story, so...

;)

Kill Mike first

[tepples]

Kill Bill Vol 1, however, was very cool and I'm looking forward to Feb. 20 to see Vol 2.

I'm not looking forward to Disney's Kill Bill Vol. 2 by Tarantino, primarily because it's published by The Walt Disney Company, and I don't feel the need to feed the lobbying machine. In case you're wondering, "Mike" in the subject refers to Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who cost the company its credibility.

Re:Kill Mike first

[ackthpt]

Well great gosh almighty. Seems there were a lot of similar sentiments way back when Disney came out with Splash (also staring Darryl Hannah.)

You might be pleased to note Disney Vice Chairman, Roy Disney, has resigned and called for the resignation of Mike.

Re:Retire to NZ?

[Anonymous Coward]

What are the pros and cons?

Windows only web streams?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is there anything on Linux that will play these asx streams? Is MPlayer up to the task? I realise the streams are NZ only but that's not a problem for me :-)

Re:Windows only web streams?

[LightStruk]

Yes, MPlayer will play them. Just make sure you have the latest codec packs installed. Or, on Gentoo,

# emerge mplayer
# emerge win32codecs

Re:MY Slashdot troll post investigation(fp?)

[Neop2Lemus]

Man, posting occasionally on Slashdot takes up enough time. You investigated Trolls!?

Get out Man! Take the dog to the park, have a beer with your friends, get a girlfriend. Anything but studying trolls, I mean, thats gotta be more useless than trolling itself.

Re:WHAT!!!

[ehintz]

Kiwis will have the first opportunity to see it when it is officially released to. Comes from being on the right side of the international date line, it's the official date for release a good 12hrs ahead of the US.

Yeah, except that the turkeys at New Line decided to release it here on the 18th (and in the states on the 17th) so we get our first chance about the time the Cali crowd is finishing up the film. We're 21hrs ahead of CA at the moment due to daylight savings down here, so midnight of the 18th here is 3am of the 17th there. El lamo.

The biggest creche in Wellington

[phobonetik]

Woah - walk to work at 9am along coutenay place, and I'm sure every teen girl is along the red carpet -- heaps of them with sleeping bags ! :P Can't imagine how busy it will be this afternoon - given the 'parade' is what - atleast 5km long?

Re:The biggest creche in Wellington

[phobonetik]

Hah - just found out my (15 yo) sister went down with her friends there at about 2am in the morning :P

Re:The biggest creche in Wellington

[Wolfrider]

August 2004 - Headline New Zealand

"And in today's story, the birth rate here in sunny New Zealand has suddenly and mysteriously shot right through the roof..."

Where do you get the tickertape from?

[phobonetik]

"Every shop" along courtenay place was supposed to issue tickertape to throw on all your friends, foes and celebraties --- anyone know where to get it from? The bookstores (Whitcolls) and StarMarts have no idea...

Re:WHAT!!!

[Coryoth]

not fair. why not do a world wide release all at the same time?

Because it is a New Zealand film, and Peter wants to have the first screening in his home town? Seems pretty fair to me. I remember when this decision was made - it was at the New Zealand Two Towers Premiere with Peter making a speech to the crowd (and there was a huge crowd). He got Mark Ordesky (high level New Line exec) up on the platform with him and put him on the spot with "And the Return of the King world premiere will be here in Wellington, wont it Mark". Ordesky, faced with the possibility of pissing of the 10,000 or so gathered people sheepishly said yes. After that Jackson just used that as New Line, saying on public record, that the premiere was going to be in Wellington so New Line couldn't work their way out of it.

This is a huge thing for New Zealand. Pretty much everyone I know from Wellington (even me) was involved in making the film in one way or another. The whole country collectively got behind the production of this film - they deserve a little something in return.

Jedidiah.

Here's another

[stendec]

Undead Witch King Riding Through Hobbiton Raises Only A Few Eyebrows

Late Thursday evening, local hobbit Ted Sandyman was only mildly surprised to see the Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul, riding down the road leading up and over The Hill. "Aye, sir, I was a-walkin' down the road to go do some fishin' at the Bywater Pool when up comes this surly fellow all in black," the miller's son commented. "He says to me, he says 'Where can I find Bagginsssss' in a real gruff voice, as if he's the Lord of Angmar, much like. I give him the ol' long look and says straight to his face, 'If it's Baggins you want, then go up-on The Hill. But you look mighty famished, sir, as if you didna' eat for a few centuries.' I then offers him to come over to the mill for some biscuits and the like but 'ee says he hasn't 'et anything for a few centuries 'cuz he's been dead for a few centuries. Than he went a-gallopin' up to the Hill, not even bothering to bid me a good day." Another hobbit, Millo Burrow, also saw the forsaken slave of the second dark lord stroll through the town. "It musta been noon-day when I sees him. He was a-ridin' a black horse, and so at first I thought it was old Mr. Butterbur come from Bree on an errand, but no: I look closer and, bless my hide, it's the Lord of Angmar. I shrug my shoulders and go on my way, seein' as it's no business of mine as to what an eternally damned witch king is doin' in town. Prolly buying some fine Hobbiton cheese, no doubt."

Re:Here's another

[Wolfrider]

--I would love to see this animated Wallace-and-Gromit style. ;-)

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Pretty much everyone I know from Wellington (even me) was involved in making the film in one way or another

"See that dismembered Orc, third along after the pile of heads? That's ME!!!"

Here is your chance!

[Snaller]

Take some pictures and upload them to your website!

Don't have a website... get one! Plenty of free!

Don't have a camera? Borrow one!

We are waiting :)

It's the little touches

[robschone]

My cellphone has just started reporting that I am now located in "MiddlEarth" instead of "Wgtn CBD", you can't do anything here (Wellington obviously) today without some Lord of the Rings theme affecting it.

Re:It's the little touches

[devphil]

See if your cellphone is now on the PalantirNet[tm] service plan. If it is, try not to touch it if the LCD screen shows a glowing eye, okay?

Re:It's the little touches

[robschone]

But it's so..... tempting.....

Re:It's the little touches

[oob]

So is mine in the Hutt.

First time I saw this happen was in Turkey; "ANZAC Cove" cellsite becomes a flashing "ANZAC ceremony" between 6am and midday on ANZAC day, visible all over the Gallipoli penisnsula.

A gift from Turkish Telecom to Kiwis and Aussies apparently.

Re:It's the little touches

[holloway]

Same here :)

I took some photos, see Photos from ROTK premiere

Re:It's the little touches

[ykiwi]

modded as funny - but it's true - vodafone renamed their wellington cells to "middle earth"...

Re:It's the little touches

[Faluzeer]

Thanks for the link to the Photo's :-)

Some excellent shots

Re:It's the little touches

[Anonymous Coward]

This is actually a very common trick for large events. Go to any large event in NZ and chances are that the cell information will be changed to reflect the event.

Oh get a grip!

[Snaller]

Everybody decent on the production has been paid for their work. Its only the greedy bastards at newline which expect to keep cashing in again and again on the work of other people. Its fair they make their money back, its fair they make a profit - but its sick amoral greed when that profit ends up being 40000%

Re:Oh get a grip!

[phantumstranger]

its sick amoral greed when that profit ends up being 40000%

No, it's people BUYING products that drive profits up. I'm tired of people blaming companies for trying to make money instead of treating all these customers like the lemmings they are for buying into whatever is out there.

Re:Oh get a grip!

[Blublu]

So, beause people have been paid for their work, you think they should give the stuff away for free?

Re:Oh get a grip!

[bonch]

Yes, it's wrong to make a profit. And the more profit you make, the more "sick" and "amoral" you are.

I'll be sure to make sure my operating expenses are large enough to drown out the amorality of my income to appease the amateur economist Slashdotter who told me so.

Re:Oh get a grip!

[RogerWilco]

Hey, they took a BIG risk having some rather unknown NZ people make a LOTR movie voor A LOT of money. This gamble just payed off.
Remember the Peter Jackson first had a contract with some other studio (can't remember) but they wanted to do the film in 2 episodes, and did not want to go though with it alter, so PJ ended up with New Line, and they took the gamble.
Having this gamble pay off big time, might have opened options for other projects, that previously would not have been considered.

Re:Oh get a grip!

[Snaller]

Yes, it's wrong to make a profit.

You are entitled to your opnion of course.

And the more profit you make, the more "sick" and "amoral" you are.


That on the other hand is true, glad you see it. It is the ultimate abuse of other people.

I'll be sure to make sure my operating expenses are large enough to drown out the amorality of my income to appease the amateur economist Slashdotter who told me so.


A "professional" economist is simply someone who has devoted their life to rationalize their inhumanity. Their creed is constant growth - you know what the doctors call it when it happens in the body, don't you? It's called cancer. Its the same thing in society.

Re:Oh get a grip!

[Snaller]

Hey, they took a BIG risk

Taking a big risk is admirable when they are trying to save someones life. But when its just tryign to make odles of money on a basically corrupt system, its not so admirable.

Re:Oh get a grip!

[Snaller]

No,

Yes. The companies are not obsolved of guilt even if a lot of people don't realise they are being swindled.

Re:Oh get a grip!

[Anonymous Coward]

Everybody decent on the production has been paid for their work.

Ahh, but this being free enterprise and not a project of the "people" (read socialist state) the investors expect to make some money. They'll make a good bit but at this point they haven't.

Sure we could outlaw profit. We'd end up with exciting PBS type fare (the non fund raising week stuff).

Re:Oh get a grip!

[John Miles]

That on the other hand is true, glad you see it. It is the ultimate abuse of other people.

Methinks you need to do a little more reading before you issue such sweeping pronouncements from the sunless warren beneath your parents' garage.

Re:Oh get a grip!

[Snaller]

Yet another twit who thinks everybody who disagrees with him must be a child *rolls eyes*

Re:Oh get a grip!

[RogerWilco]

You would have prefered that they did not make the movies?
I like that they took the risk, a now we have 3 very nice films.
And when someone makes a lot of money from it, I hope Peter Jackson is one of them.
The EE versions were one of the few DVD's I thought were not overpriced for what they offered. Apperently a lot of people tought the same and bought them also, making PJ and New Line and some other people a lot of money.
Talk to me about the spiderman DVD, with almost no added value compared to the VHS, I think that was overpriced, even though the movie was o.k.

SPOILER!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

The hobbits destroy the ring, Sauron is overthrown, the King returns to Gondor.

Of course, you could read the books like I did 20 years ago...

Re:SPOILER!!!

[syrinx]

the King returns to Gondor.

Of course, you could read the books like I did 20 years ago...

Actually, I think you could just read the title, there.

It's also interesting

[Snaller]

that Peter Jackson supposedly finished the last cuts, this wednesday - would be awfully fast to make a DVD screener.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Snoopy77]

They do have kangaroos in New Zealand, don't they?

Only in the zoo.

Despite the fact that our countries (Australia and NZ) are geographically close we have vastly different flora and fauna. Additionally our indigenous people only share the same skin colour.

Review that's not really a review...

[A Fortiori]

...by nz herald reviewer not allowed to spill the beans until after the premiere.

Re:WHAT!!!

[tonyr60]

There is also the small matter of a different approach to colonisation from Britain ;=)

Sooo .... Are the Saruman Scenes In?

[Helmholtz]

After all the hubbub about the Saruman scenes, I'm surprised there's noone blurping about whether they're in or out.

I was a petition signer, and hope that the scenes made it back into the theatrical release. Of course I'm still undecided if that is a big enough issue to not see the film in the theatre. (Perhaps the number of small children in the lobby will be the stronger deciding factor)

Re:Sooo .... Are the Saruman Scenes In?

[Brandybuck]

No, the Saruman scenes will not be in there. You wasted your signature on a petulant protest. So stay home on opening day. That way the line will be just a bit shorter for the rest of us.

Re:Sooo .... Are the Saruman Scenes In?

[JFMulder]

Unless you're already in front of him. ;)

Re:Sooo .... Are the Saruman Scenes In?

[jfengel]

I just can't find myself too bothered about the Saruman scenes. They'd already cut the original ending of Saruman's storyline, so why should I care whether or not they've kept Jackson's version of it?

Re:Sooo .... Are the Saruman Scenes In?

[nagora]

You wasted your signature on a petulant protest.

And you're wasting your money on a pathetic adaptation by a third-rate hack director.

TWW

Re:Sooo .... Are the Saruman Scenes In?

[bill_mcgonigle]

Haven't you learned yet? The theatrical releases are big, impressive, and rather confusing and disappointing. The Special Edition DVD has the real movie. Don't be fooled by the late-summer DVD, wait for the Special Edition.

I know I'm not going to the theater this time around. Of course, the new munchkin has something to do with that too. ;)

Re:Sooo .... Are the Saruman Scenes In?

[Slurm-V]

Good ghod - you're right. I'll be saving my money for the next Matrix sequel then. Thanks for the heads up.

New respect for TTT

[devphil]

If Jackson says it's the best, I'm willing to take his word for it. (Until I see it for myself, and even then I'll probably agree with him, because I have done so in the past.)

I've been watching the making-of interviews and listening to the commentary tracks on the Extended Two Towers DVD With Extra Ass-Kicking And Shiny Bits. Jackson and Walsh explain their reasoning behind the "controversial" decisions (Elves at Helm's Deep, no Shelob, Faramir's initially a jerk, side trip to Osgiliath, etc). The decisions are actually all chained together. And now that I've heard the screenwriter's/director's side of the story, instead of just /. ravings, I have to admit that they probably made the right decisions.

(Okay, maybe not about the Elves showing up. I'm still on deciding that one. The lack of Shelob (leading to the trip to Osgiliath) makes more sense now.)

There's a great comment by Bernard Hill, who played Theoden. (Background: Many of the desired accents changed during the course of filming, and of course there's script rewrites and background noise and whatnot, so almost every actor had to go into a soundbooth at the end and record some overdubs of his/her previous lines.) Anyhow, Hill was recording the lines where the Elves walk into the fortress and he comes running down the stairs. As a joke on Peter Jackson, instead of "How is this possible?", he recorded:

"Who the fucking hell let you lot in the gate?"

Re:New respect for TTT

[Blublu]

Wow, and I thought I was the only one without a life enough to watch the film with comments!

Re:New respect for TTT

[Maigus]

I came to the exact same conclusion upon watching the appendicies. I've still got issues with a couple things but the explanation made the changes, in general, ok and allowed me to simply enjoy a different interpetation of the story.

Re:New respect for TTT

[nagora]

And now that I've heard the screenwriter's/director's side of the story, instead of just /. ravings, I have to admit that they probably made the right decisions.

Err, the screenwriter's/directors side of the story was on the screen. If their reasons have to be clarified by a commentary then they were the wrong reasons. This is a movie, not a seminar.

TWW

Re:New respect for TTT

[mwillis]

I found two particular bits on the extras discs interesting: The discussion of Arwen at Helm's Deep, as it pertains to 'net fans. (Liv Tyler cried about the "Xena" debate). The other was the bit where Faramir sees Frodo turn into a Gollum-like monster, deformed by the ring.

Re:New respect for TTT

[blancolioni]

Answer 1: The movies were based on the book. The movies did certain things differently. It was interesting to find out why.

Answer 2: The movies were not seminars, but the commentary tracks sort of were. Hence, a seminar-like approach was appropriate.

Answer 3: Making a movie requires thousands of individual decisions, each of which can be individually justified (or not) without crossing the line from movie to seminar.

Re:New respect for TTT

[nagora]

Hence, a seminar-like approach was appropriate.

Obviously in a commentary they are but I meant that if the commentary is needed to show why decisions such as the (really, really badly done) side-trip to Osgiliath were made then something went badly wrong. I like a commentary track as much as anyone but they should never be needed. Just as deleted scenes should never be needed, as they were with FotR, to make sense of the version you paid to see in the cinema. They should be bonuses, not requirements.

TWW

Re:New respect for TTT

[blancolioni]

Apart from the fact that it didn't happen in the book, what was wrong with the side trip to Osgiliath? The commentary track did not need to (and in fact, didn't) explain this trip, except in reference to the departure from the book.

Re:New respect for TTT

[nagora]

The main problems with Osgiliath were that Frodo shows the ring to a nazgul who doesn't then have the entire contents of Mordor emptied onto their heads (the ring being much more important than an attack some little city) and then, having seen Frodo almost throw the whole world away, Faramir decides that he was wrong not to let Frodo and Sam wander into the heart of Sauron's territory.

Osgiliath is idiot-plotting at its worst: it only works if you assume that everyone involved, Faramir, Frodo, the Nazgul, are idiots.

Plus, it achieved nothing else other than undermining Faramir's nobility and Frodo's intelligence. If Jackson wanted a scene in Osgiliath there's no reason he couldn't have simply had the camera/audience follow Faramir after the hobbits leave him. Why bother diverging from the book here? It didn't save screen time or budget and did nothing for the story, so why do it at all?

TWW

Need books first

[mrgeometry]

A lot of people would kill just to have the books written already...

CityLink's webcams: Anycast

[don.g]

It's interesting to note (on a site supposedly containing "News for Nerds", anyway) the preparations CityLink have made to avoid running up a massive internet traffic bill with traffic to their webcams: they're using anycast to distribute content from the server nearest the viewer (thus reducing load on NZ's less than amazingly cheap undersea cables).

They've got servers in Wellington and Auckland, plugged into both of the (CityLink-run) peering exchanges there, and they've got a box in the US advertising the same prefix (202.7.4.0/24) - so if you're in NZ, and your ISP isn't crap, you'll get the local servers: everyone else will get the box(es?) in the US.

There are more details here.

Anycast is also used for other stuff: the F (IIRC) DNS root server is anycasted for redundancy, and one of the IPv4 to IPv6 transition mechanisms uses anycast to locate a nearby hop-on point to the IPv6 network.

Re:CityLink's webcams: Anycast

[nzgeek]

Hrrrm... it's totally utterly slashdotted for me.

I'm in Auckland. Does that mean ihug is crap? Or are there seriously enough /. readers in NZ to munch the NZ servers?

Re:CityLink's webcams: Anycast

[don.g]

The Windows Media stream (which works with MPlayer) is fine for me: the webcams are pretty terrible, though, even in Wellington on TelstraSaturnClearParadiseNetlinkEtc cable, four hops away from the citylink webcam box.

First LotR Priemier not in Small Canadian Town

[9mm Censor]

This is the first priemire of the Trilogy that hasn't been in the small town of Peterborough, Ontario Canada. http://www.canoe.ca/JamLordOfTheRings/dec9_preview -sun.html I went to the second one, and am unhappy it isn't here again.

Re:WHAT!!!

[vortex_nz]

ummmm. There are no indigenous people in NZ, the only native mammal is a bat.

The Maori which on occasion claim to be indigenous came down on cannoes from the pacific islands.

Re:WHAT!!!

[G-funk]

Don't worry, all the starwars films open here (au,nz) before you guys too since they open on the same date and we're like 18hrs ahead :)

Hobbit?

[RayBender]

Somewhat offtopic, I know, but I've been wondering: does anyone know if they have plans to make "The Hobbit"? They have most of the operation all set up, and they must be sitting on a mountain of cash... It'd be fun - I'd go see it.

Re:Hobbit?

[tuffy]

Somewhat offtopic, I know, but I've been wondering: does anyone know if they have plans to make "The Hobbit"? They have most of the operation all set up, and they must be sitting on a mountain of cash... It'd be fun - I'd go see it.

New Line would love it. People would flock to see it in droves. But Peter Jackson is all LotR'ed out after writing, directing, filming and post-producing for years on end. So one should expect that he'll move on to other projects at least for the near future.

Re:Hobbit?

[Anonymous Coward]

They'd better make it soon. Ian Holm isn't getting any younger...

Re:Hobbit?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Rankin/Bass version of the Hobbit is pretty good. Just stay away from their version of RoTK!

Re:Hobbit?

[beowulfcluster]

I think his next project will be a remake of King Kong, of all things. Unless that was a joke.

Re:Hobbit?

[bill_mcgonigle]

Let's hope they wait a while for the CG to improve. The Hobbit has many interesting characters that are essential to the story, whereas LoTR has mainly various-sized humans with prosthetic ears or not.

I enjoyed the voicing of Golum and the real-world choreograpy (splashing in the streams, etc.) but his actual body still looked quite fake, in a disappointing jar-jar fashion. I wouldn't want to see the bear-man, the spiders, the eagles, the wolves, the dragon (yeah, so I'm bad with proper nouns) in that style. Maybe in 5 years they can do it right.

Not that close!

[grantm]

Despite the fact that our countries (Australia and NZ) are geographically close

Geographically close? The distance between Auckland and Sydney is considerably more than say London to Rome, or New York to Miami. And there is nothing between the two countries except water. It'd be a hell of a long swim.

Oh and in response to the earlier " They do have kangaroos in New Zealand, don't they?", no we don't, but Wallabies are a somewhat similar species (albeit smaller) that was introduced here a long time ago.

Re:Not that close!

[the_2nd_coming]

that pesky mercator projection of the globe!!!

Re:Not that close!

[Steve Franklin]

OK already! Make that exploding wallabies....

I am not a troll! I am a vertically challenged bridge dweller. Damn bigots!

If you don't understand this joke...

[sheetsda]

you probably just need to hear this.

Except

[CrystalFalcon]

Except that those 3 CDs are released by Fairlight, who distribute games and never movies.

Odd also that most people appear to have a file named "Return of the King - Crack" in the same directory as the three CD images. If I remember correctly, media files don't need cracks. Yet, at least.

For those of you unfamiliar with the scene: This is not a DVD screener, it's some game based on whatever people wanting to make money off the franchise decided. Save your bandwidth.

Re:Except

[fucksl4shd0t]

Odd also that most people appear to have a file named "Return of the King - Crack" in the same directory as the three CD images. If I remember correctly, media files don't need cracks. Yet, at least.

Worst yet, every file named ROTK is actually either the Two Towers or Fellowship of the Ring. Can't wait till the dvd screeners actually go out and we have some random chance of picking the right movie...

That is not the movie...

[dark-br]

it's the game.

Re:WHAT!!!

[ElderKorean]

why not do a world wide release all at the same time?

Dude, this is only the premiere. The rest of us here in New Zealand only get to see it from December 18th, like (AFAIK) everywhere else.

Except for us poor souls in the small country next to New Zealand.

Australia, we don't get to see the movie until Dec 27.

Re:WHAT!!!

[LadyLucky]

Man did you get Mad Karma from this topic.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

But SWAT sucked, storywise.

Re:WHAT!!!

[laura20]

By that logic, there aren't any indigenous people in the world, except for in Kenya. They are indigenous by the same standards as the aborigines: they were the first to get to a place and stay there.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Scrameustache]

That's it. NZ has gone too far. We now be forced to liberate them.

Well, intelligence indicates that the new zealanders posses an elvish weapon of mass destruction code named the one true ring...

Good for you guys!

[Anonymous Coward]

Next, you might try and get a life - there is more to it than the the silly Lord of the Rings fairy tale.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Tuxinatorium]

Oh home on, nobody ever sneaks a cam into the premiere, that's ridiculous.

Re:WHAT!!!

[ppanon]

Well, if you're going to take that attitude, the only indiginous people in the world are those who live in the neighborhood of Olduvai Gorge.

Everybody else seems to agree that being the first people in an area and predating everybody else by a few hundreds or thousands of years is enough to get you classified as "indigenous".

Re:WHAT!!!

[sugar and acid]

That truly sucks.

I'm Australian, and I remember it worked in our favour for the Starwars Attack of the Clones atleast. Special screenings just after the stroke of midnight on the day of release, 12 hours before the yanks.

Ahh well, new years in the Australia or New Zealand still rocks. Nothing quite like watching the sun rise over the ocean (say around byron bay somewhere) after a long night partying to end the celebration of a new year.

Re:This can't end well...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's even better than atkamai, its ANYcasted. If you can't get it, then its probably because you are not peered with the the NZ anycast servers and are probably trying to goto the international.

LOTR Saturation

[nzgeek]

Oh my gods.
I just turned on TV One - New Zealand's main TV channel, and they have a LOTR backdrop in the news studio.
Paul Holmes, our equivalent of Larry King, is reporting live from the red carpet.

Is it just me, or is New Zealand going a bit over the top here?

I wonder if it's because of our inherent insecurity about being a small and ignorable country. Whenever we get some vaguely worldwide event (America's Cup, Y2K) we go totally over the top. Does anyone not in NZ really care?

Re:LOTR Saturation

[MtViewGuy]

New Zealand has all the right to be very proud of Peter Jackson's magnum opus.

After all, we are talking perhaps the most expensive and complex project in the history of motion pictures, one that would have cost 70 to 100 percent more if it had been done in the USA or the UK. The fact just the box office revenues from The Fellowship of the Ring more than covered the cost of the entire project (and then some! =) ) means New Zealand should be proud to be the place where one of the most profitable movie projects in history was made.

Re:LOTR Saturation

[Anonymous Coward]

Holmes == Larry king? That's a bit of a stretch!

Almost a bit of a *CHEEKY POSTING*... Holmes is s a short, overpaid, obnoxious and infuriating interviewer... can't even get a entire sentance out! I look forward to his retirement! ( Rant )

Re:LOTR Saturation

[Anonymous Coward]

It's monday night. What else should they get excited about? ;)

Nah, I think it's the biggest movie in the world right now, and something like this hasn't happened before.

It's fun time!

Re:LOTR Saturation

[baker_tony]

Sky news in UK is showing the whole hype pretty much as headline news. That's fantastic for NZ.

Nicely stated

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for being a (knowledgeable) voice of reason!

The right tool for the right job is my motto -- Why do we geeks spend so much time arguing over which OS (right tool) is best when we should be debating proper strategy (right job)?

LotR RotK == Klingon ?

[Danny Rathjens]

My first thought upon seeing "LotR RotK" was that it looked like Klingon, :)

What's wrong with excitement

[_Sexy_Pants_]

I, personally, think it's great that New Zealand is going bonkers over the Premier. I actually wish that such things as unnecessary as a film could have a huge impact over here. It would be like a holiday, only there's no squabble about the moral stance on wether to celebrate or not (unless you want to argue that it sucks, or if you're too snobby for Hollywood).

I attended the Witching Hour at my Barnes and Noble for Harry Potter. I didn't really buy the book, I just went people-watching. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed. All the fun-and-games were done by one magician, and I think that was completely freelance. Instead they were all big huge lines.

I guess it's just me. Admittedly, not many other people dressed up as pirates to go see Pirates of the Caribbean, but I think it would only be fun.

Good job Kiwis. My grandmother lives there, and I eagerly await visiting. Especially beacause I want some Hokey Pokey or Tip Top ice cream!

Re:What's wrong with excitement

[Arco0]

geez hmmm let me see, after being frog marched down the massed streets of me quiet little town to see the wonderful view..... of a lot of heads.... tall ones..... and an ambulence driving past... well. Lots. whats the point of going to see the premier? its just people watching other people go to the movies. i mean really people, are we so backward here in NZ that a bunch of stars turning up.... who have been here for the past what 3 years? can have us holding signs such as "marry me elijah" and from some wierd she-male thing "I AM the lord of the ring".... well. the awnser is yes. were a sad boring little nation with nothing but sheep to hold our excitment. damn, i gotta move :P

Re:What's wrong with excitement

[Anonymous Coward]

New zealand, as a nation, came pretty close to betting its economy on this movie. It used its army which is almost all of its defence force (Australia bought its airforce, and the navy is small and scattered). It used almost all of the new Zealand talent that was avalible, it wasn't a movie created by a company, it was created by a nation. It also directly and indirectly sunk alot of money into the project and made alot of incentives avalible.

If the LOTR movies had flopped, it wouldn't have just been alot of red ink on a film companies balance sheet, it would have had serious impact on the N.Z economy.

New Zealand is in the big picture, a very small player, something injecting 100's of million US $, or billions of NZ $ into the economy, as well as employing thousands, as well etc is going to have a impact, the fact that its on a peice of art, means its going to have a fairly large cultural impact as well.

Plus you lost the footy, and one of wellingtons longest streets is apparently just over 400m. That and your CBD can survive with out power for 2 weeks..

Re:What's wrong with excitement

[baker_tony]

I'm a Kiwi living in the UK and I think you're missing the point. Having all those people giving the premier a huge buzz is exactly what is needed for people looking at HEADLINE news over here. I feel really proud watching NZ on Sky News (one of the leading news channels over here). This is fantastic for NZ.

Re:What's wrong with excitement

[Anonymous Coward]

yep, a piece o something... definatly, i do agree that the movie is..... passable..
damn, o.k, i love the movie sure, i love NZ, but to be frank, or james, or henry.... it fucks me off walking into fast food joints and seeing Mc ring burgers, with elf fries..... its markeing section has already got me starting to think off all those other movies with huge marketable value... things which you see over and over again i.e harry potter, starwars 1&2 and it depresses me that this piece of art has been reduced to peddling to a lobotimised public.
kinda like watching De Vinci sitting dishevelled on the side of the footpath with a sign that says "will invent for food"
and as for footy, is that that sport where 30 grown men run around a paddock chasing a ball and grope each other in that pack thing?

japan doesn't get it till spring

[Anonymous Coward]

of course 'difficulties of translation' are cited, but korea and china both get it first. i just figure it's because piracy isn't widespread in japan and they don't want to lose money over new year's when everyone in japan leaves the city to visit their ancestral homes. and it's easier to sell films in japan when you can say 'number one for X weeks in america'

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Christ, you're dumb.

Re:WHAT!!!

[the_2nd_coming]

only difference is that no one cares about that crappy franchise any more...we have the matrix and LOTR to ponder.

Paul Holmes is a national embarassment...

[Yahnz]

Just in case they show the footage of this asswipe anywhere else on the planet - we're sorry. No, really, we are.

People in the crowd were cringing watching this idiot...

Jan

Sergio Aragones

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, thank god I'm not the only one!
Paella cooked by Sergio Aragones
Groo

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I generally agree, but Maori are a little different in that they only arrived about 700 years ago.

It's all about control.

[Channard]

What possible fucking problem could the movie industry have with that?

Well, apart from the fact that screeners do violate copyright, it also takes away control over a movie from the hands of the industry. Movie studios like to have complete control over the distribution of their movie - hence region coding on DVDs.

Re:WHAT!!!

[SimianOverlord]

What? There's books about the Lord of the Rings too??

Re:pathetic waste of time

[nagora]

Instead he chose to make LoTR in to a faithful adaptation

You either haven't read the book or haven't seen the films.

TWW

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I've just come from watching this. Had to leave before it ended, but thought it was a very cool way to watch such a great film. The 'crowd-effect' is just so much better when there's 7,500 (my estimate) watching these movies on a big outdoor screen, vs 1,000 in a theatre.

Can't compete with the embassy on sound quality though - tonight's outdoor screening was a fairly amateur setup in that regard.

OHOH

[pommiekiwifruit]

The imperial stormtroopers are all NZers (Temuera Morrison) and they had less of an easy time against the Jedi.

Re:Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't mind if I do!

Think of the marathon showing

[jefu]

Since each of the SOIF books is about as long as the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy, even right now that would make for a 24 hour marathon showing.

Not that I'd lot like to see it. But first I'd like the next volume. And then the end of the series.

Re:WHAT!!!

[Coryoth]

Yeah, it's kind of embarassing actually. Mostly I was just trying for a little shameless self promotion of my home country.

Jedidiah.

and a warm STFU to you too, sir

[phorm]

I you go to the movie, honestly enjoy it, and walk out having benefitted from the experience, I think that New Line (or any movie company) deserves your $8.

However, if the average person/fan went to the movie after it was hyped up, found it sucked, and wanted not only his money but the 3 hours back... I'd support him.

There's nothing wrong with making a profit on a movie. Not even a gross profit, if the end product is worth the money I paid for it. Releasing a "Terminator 3" or another cash-out is BS, but from all I've heard ROTK should live up to the hype.

If you made a piece of software that 90-95% of users found excellent and found the cost/value ratio just fine, would you like me to call you sick and amoral if you profited hugely from the success of the product? No? Didn't think so.

Re:WHAT!!!

[bill_mcgonigle]

You guys deserve something for taking Y2K square on the shoulders, however much of a whimper it turned out to be.

Re:and a warm **** to you too, sir

[Snaller]

I you go to the movie, honestly enjoy it, and walk out having benefitted from the experience, I think that New Line (or any movie company) deserves your $8.

More like $14 - and deserve is a different ballgame.

However, if the average person/fan went to the movie after it was hyped up, found it sucked, and wanted not only his money but the 3 hours back... I'd support him.

Not even a gross profit

Evidently we are do not agree.

Ah, but of course it doesn't work that way.
ROTK should live up to the hype

Undoubtedly, which is likely to make people forget the basic problem with the underlying system. Don't beat the slaves oneday and they think its christmas.
If you made a piece of software that 90-95% of users found excellent and found the cost/value ratio just fine, would you like me to call you sick and amoral if you profited hugely from the success of the product? No? Didn't think so.

Nobody likes to hear nasty things. I probably wouldn't like to hear it - even when it was true.

Re:pathetic waste of time

[Anonymous Coward]

does anyone else think the LOTR team could possibly do good remakes of the chronicles of narnia written by tolkiens pal CS Lewis ??

Re:WHAT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah - And I'm trapped here till Dec 24th - I don't get home to NZ until after every one of my friends has gloated to me about how they've seen it.

Not only did I have to endure the All Blacks/Wallabies RWC match here in AU, but now I miss the premeire of RoTK in NZ.

Bah! Humbug! It's a difficult life, being an NZer in Oz.

Re:pathetic waste of time

[nagora]

does anyone else think the LOTR team could possibly do good remakes of the chronicles of narnia written by tolkiens pal CS Lewis ??

Given the hatchet job they did on LotR, no.

A deeper problem is that the Narnia books are for children and are almost unreadable as an adult due to the sickening amount of christian propaganda they contain. As a child you miss this but as an adult I was bitterly disapointed on re-reading them.

JRRT did a much better job of getting the same values and virtues across without ramming it down the reader's throat.

I can't see Narnia working in the modern, cynical world. At least, not in any form that CSL would recognise.

TWW

Re:and a warm **** to you too, sir

[phorm]

Don't beat the slaves oneday and they think its christmas.

In this case the "slaves" are lining up for the beating though. If you don't want to catch a stinker, don't go to opening night. Check the reviews on the 'net first... listen to what people coming out of the show are saying.

The movie theatres are claiming that text-messaging etc are damaging to them (mainly from people warning others of stinkers) - so why not use it?

Personally, I'd rather warn everyone else who might pay for a shit movie that it was shit than whine over my $8 (around here it is $8-10, and that's Canadian $$$ even)

I think the best weapon we have is informing others. Start your own reviews webpage, post to the ones that exist... when you exit a stinker be sure to complain vocally about how much it such balls so anyone else thinking of going in can hear (anyone who goes in after hearing a movie sucks pretty much deserves what they get).

Re:and a warm **** to you too, sir

[Snaller]

Personally, I'd rather warn everyone else who might pay for a shit movie that it was shit than whine over my $8 (around here it is $8-10, and that's Canadian $$$ even)

Holy shit! Canadian dollars! That's even worse - then its 21$

Re:MY Slashdot troll post investigation(fp?)

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, that post has been around for at least 2 years. Further, trolling on slashdot is not what it once was. It used to be a lot of fun...

Re:WHAT!!!

[LadyLucky]

No problem, I'm in Auckland :-)