First Review is Out!

[Fatty]

Check the main page for the scans.

What do you think?

The review is vague and short but very positive..........

[Iarfirithwen]

I am WAY too excited....aaarrrrrrgggg. :hooray:
Yeh, you're right though Fatty, it was vague (actually that can be good;) I was debating whether to read it or not as I didn't want to read something that was very detailed) but it was still really interesting. So were the interviews. I was very pleased to read how well the work of Miranda Otto (fan!), Bernard Hill and Brad Dourif was received -. What Lij and Liv had to say on that. Little bits of interesting information in all that GREAT!
I'm so excited :whoohoo:, guess I wont be going to bed for a little bit. ;) :stomper:
Thanks Fatty :gofatty:

p.s. I think you managed to get the article up first. Well as I could see noone else has scans of it yet ;)

[Fatty]

Hmm well thanks, though I am trying to confirm if these guys have actually seen the movie. Either they got permission to put up a very vague review or its just jumbled together.

Will find out later today. Empire should be out tomorrow or later today and if they have a review then it will help clarify.

[Morgoth The Great]

oh, i have just read the review-thx, fatty, wonderful!

[Bess the Bard]

Very interesting article, but you're kept guessing as to whether the authors actually saw the movie. Though it did say that the cast and crew were shown the movie, including a crew person who has some connection to the magazine. Presumably that was the basis for the review?

[TheRingBearer]

It says that Helm's Deep is 45 minutes long? Is this really true?

[Keverzwijn]

You didn't have had to see the movie to write that kind of review, it has no details or really new things in it, and what they write about 45 minutes of Helm's Deep is probaly not true. I think Peter Jackson confirmed in a interview that it isn't 45 min. What they wrote about the nazgul at Helm's Deep is also kinda weird. What business do they have there, it is Sarumans fight and the ring is somewhere else.

[Iarfirithwen]

I don't really know if the "Review" is for real, but I really liked the scans for the actors comments on the other pages :) It still got me excited! :whoohoo:
Okay I think we would all agree that it has neither the substance nor form of a normal review. And its only 5 short paragraphs long, which a bit brief (and waffley) for a 3 hr movie. The claim as to it being the worlds first review on the front cover is probably there to boost sales. So it might help to not think of it like a "Review" by a professional critic. Okay so next step.
Keverzwijn, I agree that you would'nt have had to seen it to write that. I actually suspect that the 'production-spy' has passed on a few snippets of information and whoever the author is has padded it out. I don't have a problem with length (i.e., short and waffley) as I actually doubt a member of the production staff would really give away a full review - remember what happened to the individual who did that for SW:Episode 2! I think they'd be trying to protect their job if they have any brains. BUT they could probably get away with a few bits some of which are probabaly already known (i.e.,Gollum is amazing).
As for the 45 minutes claim. Firstly, it seems a pretty round number so I doubt they were sitting there with a stop watch. Lets assume its in that ballpark. The Moria section in FOTR (well SEE anyway) went for about 31 minutes and there was much more to cover in FOTR than TTT. I could imagine that from arrival to depature at Helms Deep (not just the battle) it could conceivably go far 40min or so (around a 1/4 - 1/5 of the film might be reasonable).
Yeah Nazgul at Helm's Deep? Considering they seem to have condensed parts of the book maybe they just fly over (on a reccy/reconnaissance so to speak) rather than actually get involved. That way we might get a look at them there.
I had the impression that atleast one of the other sections in the magazine written some time ago. Maybe they wanted to pad it out with all the other sections and big piccys :huh: Let anyone flipping through it at the shop think the magazine really did have a review that went for longer than 5 paragraphs so they'd buy it. :huh: I really don't know. I don't know what the quality of "Hotdog" magazine is like.

In short, do I think it's a "review" - no lol. Do I think the information is accurate - possibly but you can't really tell until you see the movie and even then the information is vague enough like a horoscope to be taken as accurate in retrospect (the fell beasts look like dragons!). They threw everyone off by calling it a review (this is nearly as long and contains nearly as much info!). Regardless, I liked the other little snippets in the other scanned pages like Liv and Lij's comments, Bernard Hills bit etc. They were :cool: And I got to learn a new word - pulchritudinous (so they get a point from me for that ;) )

[Green Man]

It's almost certain that the Hotdog "review" is a fake. Apparently, they've pulled this kind of stuff before. There's nothing in that review that any fan who's been reading Tolkien movie websites for the past month or two couldn't have written.

Plus, PJ has confirmed that the Helm's Deep battle is NOT 45 minutes long, and has said that was nothing more than an internet rumor.

Wait for the real reviews beginning on Sunday.

[Pilgrim Grey]

Well, Harry at AICN has sort of confirmed that the review is a fake, although Hotdog has released a statement saying that they stand by their "insider"...

[Iarfirithwen]

I think 45 min for the battle itself would be a ludicrous call. BUT if you said around 45 odd minutes movie time from when they arrive at Helms Deep to when the leave (including preparing for Battle, Aragorn arriving, fun stuff in the caves etc) then it could be quite longer. BUt then PJ has said Helms Deep is not 45. OK I heard someone else say that elsewhere (ooo rumours off again) and also that PJ said it goes for 30 min (the sequence not just the battle) and that other bits are intercut such as the storming of Isengard (Can anyone confirm this? This is just something someone else said. I haven;t HEARD pj say this firsthand anywhere. So I don't know if its true).
So if the entire Helms Deep sequence goes for 30 min and its intercut with other stuff then maybe someone watching it would say Helms deep (arrival to departure- not just the battle, plus the bits intercut) goes for around 45. I don't know if this is the case. I'm just trying to say there's a possibility there
Sorry, I just to like evaluate various scenarios and possibilities.
I'm also not speaking to the veracity of the "review" here. That's another matter. I'm just speaking to the 45 min Helms Deep bit which can be seperated out.

---
Can someone tell me what sort of magazine Hotdog is (I don't live in the UK?) Like on a 1-5 scale what would its quality rating be? pm me if that can't go to the board.

Im sure they probably would stand by it. We can only wait and see.

[Singe]

I think it's perfectly plausible that everything surrounding Helm's deep be 45 minutes, it being such a plot point and all, not to mention the fact that it leaves 134 minutes of plot leading up to it, and of course the fact that no movie, no matter how good, can support a battle for 45 minutes. You know that we'll see some Frodo/Sam in there and (hopefully) some Merry/Pippin/Ent/Isengardness.

As for the review, It almost seems to me that the only way they got all those interviews and such was that New Line insured that this was definitely going to be a glowing review. I can't imagine all that hyping two towers stuff along with a flaminf review, could you? No, I don't trust this review at all, but on the same token I still expect TTT is going to be a great movie. I know there will be people out there that don't like it as much as FotR, like it more, don't like it at all and think it was a waste, hated both, et cetera, but I think it's inconceivable that PJ will do such a good job on the first go round and then totally blow it in round two. Needless worry my friends! It's impossible to satiate everyone, and I know some of us will groan at these liberties, but there are always reasons for these liberties! I won't say that I'm not worried at ALL, but I'll say that I'm not worried that much.

But what can you expect- Paranoia is in my nature.

They're out to get me!