"AGE OF THE HOBBITS": Asylum finally sued for making ripoff movies

[Defcon]

^ Quite frankly, if someone is stupid enough to buy the wrong movie they deserve to be separated from their money IMO.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ That doesn't let Asylum off the proverbial hook.

 

[Greg Cox]

^ Quite frankly, if someone is stupid enough to buy the wrong movie they deserve to be separated from their money IMO.

Actually, I suspect that much of the market is clueless parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles.

"Look, there's that HOBBIT thing little Jimmy keeps talking about. I'm sure he'd love to get it for his birthday!"

 

[JD]

^That's always been my thought when I see their movies. I've often wondered how many clueless relatives have thought they were getting someone a movie that they loved, only to find out that they accidently got them the crappy ripoff.

 

[Klaus]

^^Reminds me of the intro to Bored of the Rings where they "realize" you might have bought it thinking it's the real thing... and then ching! goes the cash register.

I guess the lesson is make your ripoffs more subtle [Twilight, etc....]

 

[Enterprise is Great]

^That's always been my thought when I see their movies. I've often wondered how many clueless relatives have thought they were getting someone a movie that they loved, only to find out that they accidently got them the crappy ripoff.

Imagine a relative giving it to you and you open it up and see it's a rip off Asylum movie and the relative is beaming at you..do you have the heart to tell them it's not your beloved movie? I'm not sure how I'd respond to that.

 

[DonIago]

It's bad etiquette to tell someone to their face that you're dissatisfied with a gift, though if they're someone you've got a solid enough foundation with that you can be that level of honest with them...you're lucky to have someone like that.

That said, after last Xmas I dealt with two dissatisfying movies in my own ways.

 

[Aragorn]

^That's always been my thought when I see their movies. I've often wondered how many clueless relatives have thought they were getting someone a movie that they loved, only to find out that they accidently got them the crappy ripoff.

That's actually how it started. They made War of the Worlds and people were buying it and renting it thinking it was the Spielberg movie, even though that movie had just come out in theaters. They also have a lot of movies that are titled with a number at the front so it'll be at the top of On Demand.

 

[Noname Given]

Excerpt from the review of this film that was linked to many posts above (talks about the term 'Hobbit' too):

You might be wondering to yourself right now what exactly does any of this mockbuster have to do with Hobbits or, for that matter, how The Asylum is able to legally get away with using the word in the title. You see, Hobbits weren’t just a figment of Tolkien’s imagination; they’re also the name of an actual pygmy tribe that lived in Indonesia thousands of years ago. Age of the Hobbits is set in Indonesia 12,000 years ago, as an on-screen graphic reveals at the outset. Lest you think this is going to be an historical epic with shades of Apocalypto, apparently 12,000 years ago in Indonesia spiders the size of elephants and flying Komodo dragons also existed.

Lol!

 

[marillion]

Any reviews of this movie yet?

For these kinds of movies, the reviews tend to be much more fun reading than seeing the movie itself!

Yes there is:
http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/age-hobbits-2012

Its actually getting 3-4 stars in some of the reviews I have seen, so it seems its better than their usual "quality". Though that might disappoint the hardcore fans of fans of Asylum, who expect it to be that "so bad its funny" kind of thing.

I might check this out myself, since I am fan of Bai Ling
plus having Christopher Judge in the cast helps, too.

I have not seen almost any of the Asylum films yet..but I am planning to get few in the future. Its very educational stuff for any film buff. Plus it is sometimes so much fun to just watch some really bad films.

Check out Titanic II on Netflix sometime..
I have to say, however, that War of the Worlds and WotW Part II weren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be...

 

[Silvercrest]

Excerpt from the review of this film that was linked to many posts above (talks about the term 'Hobbit' too):

You might be wondering to yourself right now what exactly does any of this mockbuster have to do with Hobbits or, for that matter, how The Asylum is able to legally get away with using the word in the title. You see, Hobbits weren’t just a figment of Tolkien’s imagination; they’re also the name of an actual pygmy tribe that lived in Indonesia thousands of years ago.

Except legally they still can't get away with it. Homo floresiensis isn't actually called "hobbit" anywhere except informally, and Tolkien's estate has squawked about that too.

Good luck, Asylum. With your name, maybe you can try for the insanity defense.

 

[JarodRussell]

It's bad etiquette to tell someone to their face that you're dissatisfied with a gift

Always annoyed me, as the donor. How am I supposed to find a better present next time when nobody tells me they didn't like the last one?

 

[DonIago]

If I'm not sure what someone wants I ask them, or try to go generic. Amazon gift cards work well.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I always get gift cards for everyone on my list. As long as you do ten seconds of homework to find out where they like to shop, you literally can't lose.

 

[JD]

I actually prefer to get gift cards. That way I can get what I want, and don't have to worry about somebody getting me the wrong thing.

 

[Aragorn]

Excerpt from the review of this film that was linked to many posts above (talks about the term 'Hobbit' too):

You might be wondering to yourself right now what exactly does any of this mockbuster have to do with Hobbits or, for that matter, how The Asylum is able to legally get away with using the word in the title. You see, Hobbits weren’t just a figment of Tolkien’s imagination; they’re also the name of an actual pygmy tribe that lived in Indonesia thousands of years ago.

Except legally they still can't get away with it. Homo floresiensis isn't actually called "hobbit" anywhere except informally, and Tolkien's estate has squawked about that too.

Good luck, Asylum. With your name, maybe you can try for the insanity defense.

One review says "hobbit" isn't even mentioned in the movie.

 

[DonIago]

I actually prefer to get gift cards. That way I can get what I want, and don't have to worry about somebody getting me the wrong thing.

I keep a lengthy Amazon wishlist. All the benefits of knowing people will get you something you want while still surprising you to a point. As long as you keep items on it with a healthy range of prices.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The cover text actually explains the "real hobbits" definition before mentioning the dragons.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I just saw my first Asylum movie: Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies. I was curious to see whether it might be better than the movie it was ripping off (not inconceivable in this case).

Well maybe not, but it had two things to recommend it: "A man divided against himself cannot stand" (Abe explaining the usefulness of decapitation when fighting zombies) and an ending that was actually kinda touching.

It was fun seeing the Union and Confederate sides arguing over politics while zombie hordes were rampaging outside but Stonewall Jackson's beard was even worse than Thaddeus Stevens wig in Lincoln.

Speaking of Jackson, he was dead by the time the movie was set (post-Gettysburg) and I was hoping he'd turn out to be a zombie in a clever twist history buffs would get, but no such luck.

Verdict: not as horrible as I expected. Sorta fun, really, and showed more effort than strictly needed in a cheapo ripoff movie.

 

[FalTorPan]

I applaud Asylum for making movies and succeeding at getting people to buy and watch them. If you're not Sony, Universal, Fox or some other major player, this is very tough to accomplish.