Unlike the trailer for Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, which was well done, this trailer is below average. It goes on way too long, exposes too much about the story and lays down atmosphere or intrigue for the audience. This is simply a Cliffs Notes version of the film with titleboards tossed in to remind you it's a trailer.

This trailer also downplays the presence of Gollum in the story. He's in the a couple of times, but as one of the major players and one of the more visually striking ones at that, one would expect for him to be a bigger display in the ads.

Labels: Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Daves, Liv Tyler, Lord of the Rings, movie trailer, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen

I find it interesting how much the trailer relies on the heroic archetype to sell the movie. This is a perfect execution of how to sell a story based on the heroic journey. They establish the opening act conflicts

• Open with the normal, fertile world (shown in the opening shot of the trees)
• The conflict (read evil) enters into the clean world - via the ring
• The hero (Frodo) is told of the conflict
• He refuses
• He begins the journey and collects his allies
• End with a montage of conflicts and moments of peril with promises of strange and frightening villains.

Perfect.

Labels: Cate Blanchett, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Daves, Lord of the Rings, movie trailer, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Viggo Mortensen

Peter Jackson personally bought the rights to the novel, so we can assume he made this as a labor of love. I'm mixed on what I'm seeing. While it is certainly pretty but the source work is dark and incredibly devoid of any theology. Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), a teenage girl, is raped and murdered. Her body is dismembered and hidden by her killer. Susie's soul watches the events that follow her death from her "personal heaven". She narrates as her family suffers grief and the long search for her killer continues.

For a tale that centers on a character who is dead and watches from the afterlife THAT AVOIDS THE ISSUE OF GOD is a huge cop out. I understand this isn't a treatise on God but to not even broach the subject? Its like having a story take place in the White House and avoiding the subject of the Presidency.

I'm willing to give Jackson the benefit of the doubt. Although his casting of Mark Wahlberg is puzzling. Weren't there any actors available for the role?







Screenwriters: Fran Walsh (King Kong), Philippa Boyens (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
Director: Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
Actors: Saoirse Ronan (Atonement), Mark Wahlberg (The Happening), Rachel Weisz (The Mummy), Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) and Susan Sarandon (Bull Durham)

Labels: adaptation, film, Mark Wahlberg, movie trailer, Peter Jackson, Rachel Weisz, Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon