“The Brown” Indeed

CRUISE FUNDRAISER: 88/100 prints are sold and it would be great to sell that last few remaining prints before the end of the year. I am also going to leave up the additional prints and print packs for sale until probably February in case you want to get in on that action.

I’m just sayin’… that wizard HAD some bird poop on his damn face. 

COMMENTERS: Hobbit viewing Fancy Bastards, how did you feel about Radagast’s portrayal in the movie? Too silly?  Too covered in animal excrement? Or just silly enough and covered with the exact right amount of excrement? What about the other changes from the book? I liked that Gandalf tells everyone he believes The Nectromancer is “The Enemy.” The casual movie going audience probably wouldn’t make the connection since it isn’t explicitly stated in the book.

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25 Comments

  1. I actually really loved Radagast. He wasn't in the book (rightly so), but he fit into the movie very nicely and was one of the few additions I really rather liked. I was also extremely pleased with his portrayal in general. He's eccentric and absent-minded and a bit of a hippie, but they didn't let us forget that he's also a freaking Maia. I got the vibe that underneath the silliness (and the bird poo), there's some serious power and badassery. As Gandalf said, "he's a very great wizard, in his own way."

    • Yes, this, exactly. Radagast was always my favorite and I loved that he got more screen time. But maybe less poop. My husband got stuck on the fact that he had poop on him and couldn't get past that.

  2. I liked him, because I believe he's one of the things they integrated from some of the other works? I agree with Lynne.

    I also liked the scene with Gandalf and the others talking in Rivendale, which I don't believe was in the actual book either. I liked the Necromancer too… I need to read more of that.

  3. and the cool thing, for Doctor Who fans, is that he's played by none other than Sylvester McCoy (the 7th Doctor). Another reason why the BBC should greenlight an episode to be filmed in New Zealand and directed by Peter Jackson.

  4. I'm confused. The Shit-Stained One didn't exist at all in the book? Was there even a slight precedent? #NeverFinishedTheHobbitWoes

    • He was mentioned once in The Hobbit, I believe, but only in passing and not at all as an active character. He's also referred to during the Council of Elrond.

    • Yeah, he shows up in Lord of the Rings and Unfinished Tales, he's only mentioned in passing in The Hobbit. I was glad to see him get some face time, though.

  5. I thought it was lichen growing on his face? That's what it looked like to me, and kind of showed that he was, like, one with the forest and stuff.

    • That's a kinder interpretation. But I think, given the birds' nest in his head, it's probably guano.

      Also I loooooved Radagast. I thought he was just perfect and I am so damn glad he was in the film. I'm ready to drink Peter Jackson's Kool-Aid for this trilogy, so help me. The Hobbit is a very different beast from LOTR, but I feel like he's setting up a good balance between the tone of the book and the continuity with LOTR that *should* be there but wasn't when Tolkien originally wrote it.

    • To my embarrassment, I did too. In fact, I didn't even NOTICE it until after seeing people talking about it, then I cast my memory back and thought, well, wasn't that lichen, though? I remember it looking like lichen.

      And I liked his inclusion and portrayal very much, too. I'm glad to see others do. Getting tired of all the kvetching.

  6. Also: how do people feel in general about the theory that the Arkenstone is actually a lost Silmaril? Do you think the movie might be leaning in favor of this idea?

  7. I thought it was tree resin, it seemed more like it..

    come to think of it: in some thousand years this will be amber and used to clone an island of magical creatures from middle earth… who then go on a rampage!

  8. Actually, that the Necromancer is the Enemy *is* mentioned in the book, capital e and all. I remember it clearly because it greatly confused me when I was young, since there was no other mention of any such Enemy.

    • I think it really just depends on which edition of the book you have. Tolkien was almost as much of a bit fiddler as Lucas. But with less aliens.

  9. Liked Radagast a lot. His mode of conveyance was just so fun.
    Changes made to the timeline i/r/t Azog the Defiler are ok, I guess. That part about Dain Ironfoot looking into the future and seeing that a return to Moria is impossible was weird, so I don't mind losing it. Wonder if they'll just decide to have him lead the goblins in the Battle of Five Armies, or if he will still meet his demise before then so that Bolg can be in that part as per the book.
    I didn't catch the rock creatures in my leaf throw of the book, but I guess they were in there. Frankly I didn't see the point of it to the story progression (as opposed to just being an action sequence). I feel like that could have been left out to try to trim a 2 1/2 hour movie.
    Changes made to the encounter with the stone-trolls, in which Bilbo seems to responsible for the delay rather than Gandalf, probably make sense. Gives a chance for him to prove some value to the party early on. And surely Gandalf could have dispatched the trolls in a quicker way than he did in the book; they can't be anywhere near the level of a balrog.

  10. So he leaves Tom Bombadill out of LOTR but then puts Radagast in the Hobbit? Sometimes PJ makes me SO angry…

    • Because Radagast was awesome in the books (instead of a stoned dementia patient), and I hope Tom Bombadil dies a slow, painful death and is never spoken of again.

  11. Disliked. He and his bird poop and his rabbits seemed to come from another, stupider movie. From the books I always pictured him as a Francis of Assisi sort.

  12. Yeah, seemed a little too close to stoner humor, which doesn't even make me chuckle. He should have been more "powerful wizard"-ly.

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