"The Hunt for Gollum" -- Best amatuer fan made film I've ever seen

[JacksonArcher]

I'm not that big of a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or the three film adaptations by Peter Jackson, but today I stumbled upon what I think is unequivocally the best amateur fan made film I have ever seen: The Hunt for Gollum.

Made as a prequel to Lord of the Rings, and I am assuming as some bridge between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring (however since I am unfamiliar with the chronology I'm not sure if the events of this film are before or after The Hobbit), The Hunt for Gollum is a 40 minute fan made production wholly independently produced with no affiliation to New Line Cinema, the Tolkien estate or Peter Jackson.

I emphasis that because this is just an incredible piece of work. It is not only incredibly polished and entertaining by fan film standards, but even with its short running time it sucks you into the proceedings from the first few gorgeous frames and keeps you invested in the story until the very end. The special effects, which are extraordinary, are also very eloquently handled. Gollum, for instance, is always in the background for a majority of the story.

I don't want to spoil the film. For anyone who is a fan of The Lord of the Rings, I highly recommend you check out The Hunt for Gollum. It turned even an outsider and non-fan of the series into someone far more interested in becoming more invested.

http://www.thehuntforgollum.com/updates.htm

 

[Kibbin]

I enjoyed it but thought the end seemed a bit silly, it was well written but they clearly didn't have the budget for it but seemed to go ahead with it anyway. I don't want to spoil it but I'm on about the final fight.
Other than that I loved the movie

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Today I stumbled upon what I think is unequivocally the best amateur fan made film I have ever seen: The Hunt for Gollum.

I have to admit. If it were for sale, I would buy it.

however since I am unfamiliar with the chronology I'm not sure if the events of this film are before or after The Hobbit

They actually take place during Fellowship. Specifically, between Bilbo's "long-expected party" and Gandalf's return to Hobbiton after he's realized that Bilbo's ring is the One Ring. (In the film, it doesn't seem like that's a long period of time. In the book, it's seventeen years.) Gandalf, after the party and Bilbo's departure, still isn't sure what the Ring is. But he knows who Bilbo got the Ring from, and thus he turns to Aragorn to find the creature Gollum to confirm suspicions and learn more.

Within the film's chronology... Gandalf rides out of Hobbiton, finds Aragorn in Bree and sends him on the quest to find Gollum, then rides for Minas Tirith to investigate the old documents from the Isildur's era, and then, once Aragorn had captured Gollum, rides north for his conversation with Aragorn, which leads to Gandalf riding back to Hobbiton to tell Frodo the tale of the One Ring.

The special effects, which are extraordinary, are also very eloquently handled. Gollum, for instance, is always in the background for a majority of the story.

They handled Gollum very well.

It's a nice piece of work. I should watch Born of Hope sometime.

 

[AJBryant]

Both this and "Born of Hope" are GREAT examples of what can be done even with a small budget if one has a sense of style and a love of the material.

I wish more Hollywood people would realize this.

 

[Gaith]

(spoilers)

Finally watched it... and now, my long-awaited thoughts!

- First, the audio: I watched the highest-quality mp4 ripped from youtube, and boy could the audio use some serious equalization. I had to crank my headphones way up to catch the mumbled dialogue, than turn 'em way down for the ear-splitting fights. Not cool.

- The score was excellent - I loved how the theme hinted at Shore's Gollum's Theme.

- Some, but not all, of the scenes could use some serious contrast-boosting. Let's have some deeper blacks, people, they don't cost extra!

- Artistic quality was pretty good overall, and the Aragorn guy looked great, though his acting was too subdued - especially when he killed the orc and said "these aren't your lands", far from being outraged at the corruption of his presence, he almost yawned!

Overall, there were bits I enjoyed and bits I didn't... a tighter edit would I think, be ideal:

- The Aragorn-sees-all montage at the beginning, right after the statue, didn't work for me - such grandiose flourishes should stay in the main trilogy, imho. I loved the epic landscape shots, but this was too much; the film would have been stronger had it been a bit more restrained.

- The first fight against the two orcs didn't work for me either - it served no story purpose, made Aragorn look too powerful, and had me feeling sorry for the poor guy he just knifed in cold blood.

- The big orc fight went on too long and could be trimmed by a half to a third.

- The Arwen scene was too much a copy of those from the trilogy, and the actress, while doubtless a fine-looking gal in real life, is just too...unique and emo-looking to match up to the naturally radiant Liv Tyler. Definitely cut this scene.

- The final Gollum money shot is very well-done, and I wholly understand why they put it in, but since this is really an Aragorn story, it'd be more haunting to fade out on the long shot of the creature, letting Gandalf's line about it being beyond saving linger. Sometimes it's better to end with a whimper than a bang... especially when you're doing a direct prologue to the most massive film trilogy ever.

 

[Skywalker]

You should check out Born of Hope. I believe it was made by a different group of people, but the two productions shared some resources. It's another very impressive example of amateur filmmaking fueled by a passion for the material.

I'd like to see another film from one or both of these groups; both of them working together on it would be even better. My initial thought is another film focusing on young Aragorn, during his days as the Gondorian captain Thorongil, the alias he assumed while in the service of Steward Ecthelion, Denethor's father. He led an assault on the Corsairs of Umbar during that time, and there was a bit of rivalry between he and Denethor for Ecthelion's favor, which could be put to good use in a movie.

 

[McCoy]

Best amatuer fan made film I've ever seen

Have you seen the Half-Life 2 one? I would watch that movie.