LOTR Prequel Movie: Numenor

[Zarathustra]

For those who have read the Silmarillion, you know there is a vast untapped wealth of stories in Tolkien's universe for potential movies. But this one never occurred to me: a story about the Second Age, the Fall of Numenor, when Sauron was defeated and taken back to the island kingdom, and then slowly corrupted it . . . leading to the third age (when the LOTR takes place). It never occurred to me because there's scant information on this time. But actually, that could be its strong point in terms of adapting it to a movie. More room for creative liberties. Anyway, check it out. This is from Norwegian philologist, not some AICN fanboy.

The first link is the guy's reasons why this would make a fantastic, epic movie--a much more worthy prequel than the Hobbit. The next two links are his actual script ideas. Warning: it is rather lengthy.
But if you've got some time, they're worth the read.


www.uib.no/People/hnohf/num-intro.htm

www.uib.no/People/hnohf/numenor1.htm

www.uib.no/People/hnohf/numenor1.htm

[Tulizar]

I read the first link. I agree that there is just enough in those pages that could translate into an exciting movie--elves, corruption, Sauron, battles, wizards. Of course the filmmakers could potentially destroy things by inserting hobbits, dwarves and gollum to make some sort of connection with LOTR.

I haven't checked out the other two links yet. You're right, they are very lengthy!

[Zarathustra]

Wow, someone else read it! If I hadn't had a night job at the time, with lots of free hours at the computer, I'm not sure I would have ever made it through all of this either. This guy has put a LOT of work into it. I like his screenplay ideas.

I think he is right that the story itself would translate to the screen better than the Silmarillion. It is one story: Sauron being captured and then corrupting Numenor. The fall of man. Pretty weighty themes there. Also, it has enough of a connection to LOTR--Sauron, Elendil, Isildur, Elrond--to be at least vaguely recognizable by the movie going public. Not so much with the Silmarillion.

While I'd love to see the Hobbit, I just don't think there's enough there to make a full two hour movie (and now I hear they're thinking of making it into TWO movies!!).

[High Lord Tolkien]

I haven't read it yet either.

But just so long as there are no Hobbits and Ar-Pharazon isn't portrayed as George Bush I'll give it a shot.

[Tulizar]

I haven't read it yet either.

But just so long as there are no Hobbits and Ar-Pharazon isn't portrayed as George Bush I'll give it a shot.

Gulp...I missed that reference. And I call myself a Tolkien fan! Time to wipe the dust of my ol' Silmarillion and get to work!!

[Trapper]

I'd just love to see the scene where Sauron, at the height of his power, relinquishes Middle-Earth to Ar-Pharazon because he knows he can't win.

Ar-Pharazon would be an interesting casting choice, to say the least.

[A Gunslinger]

I listened to the Silmarillion on tape one year travelling up north to a Thanksgiving holiday. It was very tragic in a classic sense. Worth a read if you like Tolkien's writing.

[Ramen]

I always thought. the fall of Numenor would make a great film, besser even than Turin Turambar (which is also a complexe story full of betrayal, grief, dragons, fights, love) because it´s concerning men, not a strange kind of not-so-easy-comprehensive elves.
Even if there ist only a sceleton of story in the Silmarillion, you have a good discription of the isle of Numenor. And there is another story (timely before Sauron was captured) in the "News of middle-Earth", which could give perhaps an interesting background.

[Elfgirl]

I want to see them film the whole quest for the Silmarils - what with feisty Feanor & his lads ripping shit out of everyone! Prove that the Elfboys are no namby-pambys!

[Zarathustra]

I wish they had used very subtle computer graphics on all the Elves to make them look other-worldly. (At the very least, they should have erased Haldir's 5 o'clock shadow.) I don't think Elves should have looked like tall, pretty humans. They should have looked slightly alien. Slightly stretching their faces vertically (which they did in a couple shots with Arwen in ROTK), and altering their eyes to look more "Asian" would have gone a far way toward making them look more like Elves. Make it subtle enough so that people give them a double-take, and say to themselves, "There's something strange about them. . . can't put my finger on it."

[wayfriend]

They should all have been given a barely perceptible glow, as Tolkien sometimes described, and as they achieved in a few of the Arwen scenes.

[Zarathustra]

They should all have been given a barely perceptible glow, as Tolkien sometimes described, and as they achieved in a few of the Arwen scenes.

Yes, exactly! I forgot to add that. They could have also smoothed out Elrond's skin. I know he's severl thousand years old, but did he have to look like a man in his 40s? 50s? Tolkien described Elves as looking both young and old. I never quite knew how to imagine this (except maybe how Burt Reynolds is starting to look now after multiple face-lifts )

And my "Asian eye" comment wasn't quite right, either. Then they'd just look like Asian humans.

Hell, I drew a picture once of what I think Elves should look like. I'll post it.

[A Gunslinger]

I think PJ did a good job...maybe more could have been done...but all in all his elevs did not detract from my enjoyment of the movies.

[I'm Murrin]

Pointy ears. Pointy ears.

[Zarathustra]

You're right, Guns. I just remember seeing some test pictures of people treated with this subtle computer effect. Actually, it was a picture of Keanu Reeves slightly altered. It looked cool! That made me very excited that they were going to get this right. But apparently, it didn't pan out, or was too expensive, or they didn't have enough time. Whatever the cause, they decided not to go that route. I think it was a mistake. But perhaps we're talking about this in the wrong thread now. I was just reacting to Elfgirl's comment. (It's her fault!)

[High Lord Tolkien]

They should all have been given a barely perceptible glow, as Tolkien sometimes described, and as they achieved in a few of the Arwen scenes.

I thought only those Elves that lived under the light of the Trees (not literally "under" but those that went to Valinor and lived under their light) had the "glow".

[Caer Bombadil]

Someone wrote a deservedly devastating critique of Ralph Bakshi's ill-fated 1970's attempt at LOTR, now posted at the "Flying Moose of Nargothrond" site. Among many other cogent points, they observed that Bakshi's Elves were all distinguished by being drawn considerably brighter, by several f-stops. It just didn't work.

One of the biggest sfx flubs by PJ IMO was the treatment of the temptation of Galadriel. In the book, she's supposed to grow unbearably bright and beautiful so that "all will love her and despair." movie-Galadriel starts turning weird colors and altering her voice like a cross between The Exorcist and a really cheesy 1980's music video effect. "All will back away from her, and barf."

In the essay "Quendi & Eldar" in The War of the Jewels (HoME v.11) this passage appears: "... for the eyes of all the Elves that had dwelt in Aman impressed those of Middle-Earth by their piercing brightness. For which reason the Sindar often called them Lachend...'flame-eyed'."

I agree many of PJ's Elves in the LOTR movies failed to look "ageless." Hugo Weaving as Elrond in particular seemed aging, haggard, & IMO acted sort of peevish. ( I kept imagining him flubbing his lines & conflating his Agent Smith sermon to Morpheus from The Matrix with movie-Elrond's "men are weak" soliloquy to Gandalf.) The younger Elrond in the flashbacks to the War of the Last Alliance better fitted my impression of Elrond.

Somehow, I keep picturing the Silmarillion done in anime! The typical 'tude and 'dos of anime male heroes seems perfect for the Elves. Instead of Dragonballz, Silmarils!

I agree Akallabeth ( the fall of Numenor) could make a great movie with the right treatment. Continuity problems with LOTR or Hobbit or a hypothetical Sil would be minimal since it originated as a separate conception from the early Sil. The only problem might be the ending. You couldn't end with Numenor being drowned, or even Elendil & Sons arriving in Middle-Earth. You'd have to run on into "Of the Rings of Power & the Third Age" territory for a bit, perhaps up to the point fair Sauron has persuaded the hapless Mirdain of Eregion to start making these way-cool magic rings.

[A Gunslinger]

Really, though all this talk of a prequel is all VERY premature. The hobbit is the movie the masses want to see. We all have memories of the Rankin Bass deal. Whereas, I'll bet less than 5% of the population will have any sort of thought on the Simarils.