Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"The Hunt for Gollum" is a 35-minute (without credits) short film from 6 years ago. It was written and directed by Chris Bouchard and many people think this is the best "Lord of the Rings" film made by fans of the franchise. I can see why. I have to say it did not look too different from the real films for the most part. Good settings, nice makeup, all in all a solid job. I myself am not the greatest fan of fantasy films à la "Lord of the Rings", so bias is probably the reason why I did not enjoy this as much as I hoped I would. However, if you like or even love the Tolkien franchise, you can give this one a watch, unless you have a problem with the famous characters played by other (obviously fairly unknown) actors than in the movies. Then this one is certainly not worth your time, even if the actors did a fine job for the most part and I wonder if they maybe could also have played in the movies. Or if Bouchard could have directed these.
carl_patten
I was immediately surprised by the quality of the production in this film. The detail in the finished production on such a miniscule budget is fantastic and an inspiration to amateur film makers out there. The sets and location choices are extremely well selected, and the top notch costumes does this film a lot of favours. The 3D digital visualisations were on the whole well composed and complimented the scenes well. I found there to be a good balance between digital and on-site shots as its easy to make the digital aspect too adventurous or severely underwhelming.The acting on the whole was largely very good despite the obvious comparisons that are going to be made against the trilogy's actors. Strider's portrayal was strong, and reflected the quieter, withdrawn Aragorn from The Fellowship of the Ring almost perfectly (I just wish he didn't have Elijah/Frodos eyes).The choreography of the fight scenes was one thing that really made me smile in this film. At the build up to the fights I thought this may be an area that would let the film down but I couldn't have been any more wrong. I truly felt the choreography was up there with that of Peter Jackson's productions and the acting of some of the orcs may even surpass some of those in the trilogy.One area i do feel that did let the film down was the plot. Having been so strong in every other aspect of the film, the film did not really take off. I had expected some sort of twist or glimpse of originality in the story but none came which was a shame as the quality of the film continuously raised my expectations with the passing of scenes but was very predictable throughout. Had as much thought gone into the plot as the rest of the film this would be a definite 10/10. I would however recommend watching this film for its production quality and shows that low budget films can be produced to outstanding levels with sufficient thought and care.Tolkien would be proud.
the_hitman-614-405126
I believe in America the meaning of the English phrase 'pound for pound' translates. It basically means how good something is for how much it is, the term was coined for boxers, whom may have not been the biggest, may have been 'pound for pound' better than their adversaries. I think this is what you have here. The two main criticisms for this film is the Directing style, and lack of plot. In response to this, there are two points: firstly it is my belief that the film was intended to be in the time of the lord of the rings, and was made to show a chunk of the books that was left out. This chunk out of the many left out was more than likely chosen as it was cheap to do, and fairly simple. One cannot argue that there is no plot, because frankly, the plot is in the films as a whole, this is a very very small section of them, and you cannot judge it in isolation.Secondly, the directing style? This is obvious, It was shot the same way to avoid people attempting to choose which method is better, and because frankly, the Lord of the Rings did not have a huge budget itself for the size of the operation and Peter Jackson has some shiny Golden Figurines in his Cabinet to the contrary of what some peoples opinions are.I think this is a very very good film for what it is, its made considerably better than most television shows, the acting is good, the feel is very Lord of the Rings, and I think Tolkien himself would be proud the way that amateurs are giving life to his work very accurate to his writings.And for the less learned, the film had a budget of £3000, which is just under $5000.
white_phoenix-2
This was awesome. I've seen movies with a budget of millions of dollars and they are many many levels under this production. This was made for 3k dollars! Just imagine what can do these enthusiasts with a budget of 300k dollars or 3 000,000,000 :). I really hope someone to invest money in project like this ( lord of the rings ) with these "fans" who are in my opinion on professional level. It would be awesome! I am sure that all fans of Lord of the rings expect a new movie of J.R.R. Talking's books and I wonder why it is not made already 6 years :).I really hope that soon we 'll watch the next full movie with these guys and a bigger budget , with more CG and actors. P.S. Sorry for my bad English
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