Tolkien Fan Films

Fiction written by the fans of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings has been around for decades (for example, see the Henneth Annûn Story Archive), but since the Peter Jackson movies, a new development is Tolkien fan films. I don’t know how many of these there are, but two I’m aware of are The Hunt for Gollum and Born of Hope.

The Hunt for Gollum covers Aragorn’s search for Gollum, which, in the book, Aragorn recounts in brief at the Council of Elrond. This movie is a slavish imitation of the Jackson movies, with similar graphics, music, costumes, special effects, and scenery. Unfortunately, the actors are less convincing in their roles, and in my opinion, there is nothing new or original in this movie.

Born of Hope, the better of the two movies, is also imitative of the Jackson movies, but it captured my interest because it covers a gap in history between the main stories in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It tells the early story of Aragorn, beginning with how his parents, Arathorn and Gilraen, meet. (This is based on material presented in the Appendices to the Lord of the Rings.)

Peter Jackson is producing two movies based on The Hobbit. Early rumors suggested that the movies will cover the story line of The Hobbit as well as additional background story, such as the history of Aragorn before he encountered Frodo Baggins and friends in Bree. (The germ of this background story is also contained in the Appendices.)

So we might have been in the curious position of being able to watch a Tolkien fan film, Born of Hope, that has a plot line that anticipates the plot line of the movies yet to be made by the producer/director being imitated. If the imitation is too good, Jackson’s new movies might not seem original because “they’re like that fan film, Born of Hope.”

More recent rumors available at derhobbit-film.de suggest that Jackson has now abandoned this approach, and the films will now be expanded (or padded, depending on your point of view) to include the expulsion of Sauron from Dol Guldur, Sauron’s stronghold in Southern Mirkwood, by Gandalf the Grey and the other members of the White Council.

January 01 2010 | Movies | No Comments »