Many are going to be irritated at the very thought of this idea, but seeing these films in 3D should be worth it. After all, can you just imagine how amazing the Battle of Helms Deep will look in 3D? Or how about the Battle for Pelennor Fields will look? One of the many great things about Jackson’s trilogy is the amazing visuals, and a 3D conversion would be nothing short of amazing. However, it’s unknown when this would happen (if it even does), but one could assume it would be soon with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Part 1 being released next year.

Brad Dourif took a few minutes away from his busy schedule to briefly talk with Killer Film about Fading of the Cries, which opens soon, and that persistent Halloween 3D.

Jon: While fans know and love your genre work, I’ve enjoyed seeing you in stuff like Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Do you ever tire of genre work?

Brad Dourif: Oh, well thank you. No. Work is work, you know. I mean there’s differences in the way you approach things, and every film is an event in a way. There’s different styles that provide new ways of doing things. I like genre stuff.

Jon: When did Fading of the Cries come to you and what got you excited about doing it?

Brad Dourif: Well, it was a couple of years ago actually, and it was just a job really. They were putting together some people at the agency and my schedule was open. The script was neat and there was some real anger in it, some good dialogue, so I did it.

Jon: Director Brian Metcalf was heavy influenced by other fantasy films and your character of Mathias feels like a homage to Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Talk about your approach to Mathias.

Brad Dourif: You know, he’s simpler than Wormtongue. He’s angrier because he lost his wife and he’s looking for revenge. That’s as clear as it is for Mathias, were as Wormtongue was way more complex. Everything is very direct with Mathias. So, I guess, it’s the fighting that was different between the two (laughs).

Jon: How was director Brian Metcalf on his first feature film?

Brad Dourif: He was good. We had to work quickly and I think that was a difficult adjustment for him. We got through it and he got better and better as time went on. He had some ideas on how he was going to do it, and it didn’t work. Everything was smooth sailing, actually considering how difficult it was to film it all.

Jon: Can you explain some of these difficulties? The film is interesting since it’s an indie with over 1000 visual effects…

Brad Dourif: Yeah, well, he decided the best way to do it, was to block it straight through in his head from the beginning. When we were shooting it was apparent that wasn’t going to work that way.

Jon: Did he allow any improvisation or due to the time crunch it just wouldn’t work?

Brad Dourif: No, no. I knew all my lines before coming to the set, and we just shot the script the way it was. Now, we did have some blocking changes and what not, whatever made it work best, like the fighting choreography.

Jon: With films like Lord of the Rings and Priest 3D, does it get any easier working in heavy FX films, or is this just a great opportunity to give a PSA for kids to join the theater?

Brad Dourif: No, potentially, some things are easy and if they are just let them be easy. The longer you work, the more you know. There’s things no matter how easy or difficult, you should work hard on. Visual effects-driven films aren’t always easy.

Jon: Finally, Dimension Films has announced Halloween 3D (here) and you’re credited on IMDb to return as Sheriff Brackett. Any word if this is true or not?

Brad Dourif: No I don’t. They called me a long time ago and that was it. They canceled the version the originally were going to do for Halloween 3 because they just didn’t like its direction. And Zombie isn’t coming back, so I don’t know anything on it.

Fading of the Cries opens July 8th in LA and NYC.

The Fellowship of the Ring

• Commentaries:
  • Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens
  • Design team
  • Production/post-production team
  • Ten actors, including Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen
• Easter egg: MTV Movie Award Spoof (The Council of Elrod)
• Costa Botes Documentary: The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind the Scenes (on DVD)
• The Appendices (on DVD)
  • Part 1: From Book to Vision
    • Peter Jackson introduction
    • J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of Middle Earth
    • From Book to Script
    • Visualizing the Story
    • Designing and Building Middle Earth
    • Middle Earth atlas interactive
  • Part 2: From Vision to Reality
    • Elijah Wood introduction
    • Filming The Fellowship of the Ring
    • Visual effects
    • Post-production: Putting it all together
    • Digital Grading
    • Sound and music
    • The Road Goes Ever On…

The Two Towers

• Commentaries:
  • Writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
  • Design team
  • Production/post-production team
• Sixteen cast members, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, and Miranda Otto
• Easter Egg: MTV Movie Awards clip (Gollum accepting award)
• Costa Botes documentary: The Two Towers: Behind the Scenes (on DVD)
• The Appendices (on DVD)
  • Part 3: The Journey Continues
    • Peter Jackson introduction
    • J.R.R. Tolkien: Origin of Middle Earth
    • From Book to Script: Finding a Story
    • Designing and Building Middle-Earth
    • Gollum
    • Middle-Earth Atlas interactive
    • New Zealand as Middle Earth (map with video location)
  • Part 4: The Battle for Middle Earth
    • Elijah Wood introduction
    • Filming The Two Towers
    • Visual effects
    • Editorial: Refining the Story
    • Music and Sound
    • The Battle for Helm’s Deep is Over

The Return of the King

• Commentaries:
  • Writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
  • Design team
  • Production/post-production team
• Costa Botes documentary: The Return of the King: Behind the Scenes (on DVD)
• The Appendices (on DVD)
  • Part 5: The War of the Ring
    • Peter Jackson Intro
    • J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth
    • From Book to Script
    • Designing and Building Middle-earth
    • Home of the Horse Lords
    • Middle-earth Atlas: Tracing the Journeys of the Fellowship: interactive map
    • New Zealand as Middle-earth: interactive map with on-location footage
  • Part 6: The Passing of an Age
    • Elijah Wood/Sean Astin/Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan intro
    • Filming The Return of the King
    • Visual Effects
    • Post Production: Journey’s End
    • The Passing of an Age
    • Cameron Duncan

The set is said to feature 15 discs total, and now we can see why.

You can also check out a teaser trailer for the release here.

Source: THR

Down below are three new images from the set of The Hobbit where many are hurrying up to piece back together every hobbit’s little home in The Shire (via Cinema Blend). Now the only question remains as to who will end up directing. Currently the studios are busy trying to woo Peter Jackson back into taking the director’s chair, but he’s expressed before that he holds no interest investing said amount of years once more in the J.R.R. Tolkien world.:

“In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life”, says Guillermo. “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran andPhilippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wlsh the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director”.

Of course we get a peek on how Peter Jackson feels about it all. Along with that, he gives us a scoop as to whether or not Del Toro will be completely attached to the production.:

“We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave the Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control – has compromised his commitment to other long term projects”, says Executive Producer Peter Jackson. “The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn’t feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years…”

“Guillermo is co-writing the Hobbit screenplays with Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and myself, and happily our writing partnership will continue for several more months, until the scripts are fine tuned and polished” says Jackson. “New Line and Warner Bros will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for the Hobbit. We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work”.

Despite this speed bump for Warner Bros, Peter Jackson and company, The Hobbit is still on track for December 2012 and 2013 releases. Now the hunt is on to bring someone in to replace Del Toro. Who would you like for that to be?

10 – Dardo Bartoli (Burt Lancaster) in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)

Although, director Jacques Tourneur gave us some of the more atmospheric horror films in the 1940′s with Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie, he also gave us a slightly notable swashbuckler in this film. The film shares similar ideas from WB’s own Adventures of Robin Hood 20 years prior, as Lancaster must rescue his son from tyranny in his land. Lancaster is not Flynn, but arrows fly all the same: with grace.

9 -Turok from Turok: Son of Stone (2008)

This character is more notable in comics, but he’s been the subject of many rumors for a live action film. An animated film was finally made, and while it isn’t entirely successful, seeing Turok shoot his bow and arrow towards dinosaurs should get any action fan excited. This is more of a tease for a real film, so where’s the real film?

8 -Neyriti (Zoe Saldana) from Avatar (2009)

The Na’vi might be alien and blue, but their skills in archery, especially Neyriti’s, should be commended. Plus, would Cameron be talking about a sequel, if it wasn’t for her archery skills at the end of the film, that saves Sam Worthington from certain death? Nope. Neyriti is one of the rare females on this list that can shoot an arrow with the best of them.

7 – Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) from Hard Target (1993)

JCVD is known for his action and martial art skills, but in this film-John Woo’s American debut-he proves he is equally as good with the bow and arrow. A poor New Orleans boy decides to hunt the hunters, in a reverse Most Dangerous Game theme, with great results. Surely one of Van Damme’s better films, even if Woo temporarily replaces bullets with arrows. Just look at the poster art.

6 -Guinevere (Keira Knightley) from King Arthur (2004)

Oddly, Ms. Knightley isn’t a stranger to the bow. Before this film, she was cast in a made-for-TV Disney film called Princess of Thieves, where she plays the daughter of Robin Hood. That film honed her archery skills for her bad ass take on Guinevere in this updated King Arthur film that took the legend out, and added facts to the famous story. Archery never looked so hot.

5 -Chewbacca in the Star Wars films (1977-1983)

While Chewie might not be the typical archer, whatever fancy futuristic weapon thing he carries in these films, it all does the same thing. While he never fully showcased his archery skills a whole lot, one assumes his forest world of Kashyyyk demands a Wookie to be quite skilled at the bow.

4 -Guo Jing (Alexander Fu) from The Brave Archer (1977)

The great Chang Cheng gaves us this start to a four films series based on legend (aren’t they all?) about rebels and soldiers, mixed with revenge, all done beautifully by the Shaw Brothers studio. Out of all of the martial art films, this one, while typical in approach from the studio, feels different because of the archery aspect. Fans should seek this out.

3 -Legolas (Orlando Bloom) from The Lord of the Rings trilogy

After 9 hours, I think we can safely assume the archery skills of this character. Whether it’s a light touch or in an epic battle, Legolas was always on point. Bloom’s career seems to be off now, but this role will be fondly remembered for a slew of reasons, many non-archery based, but the elf could wield a mean bow and arrow.

2 – John Rambo from Rambo: First Blood Part II (1984)

The war still wasn’t over for John Rambo, and while he trades away his bullets for so sick bow and arrow action, this film is perhaps the definitive action film. There’s intensity and grace behind each violent arrow Rambo shoots. Like Rambo needed to be even more bad ass, he was in this film. His near-perfect skills could only be match arrow-by-arrow by our number one…

1 – Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) from Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

So what if this is a cliched answer. While there’s been a slew of movies based on this character, nobody did it with more grace, spunk, and fun than the immortal Errol Flynn. Always with a smile, his Robin Hood, like most characters from this period became the ideal version of what we expect from a Robin Hood (think Bela Lugosi’s performance in Dracula for a comparison). What’s not to love? Sorry, Costner and Elwes, nobody touches Mr. Flynn. Nobody.

What are your favorite archers? Did we miss a character? Tell us in a comment below!

What’s Playing (via Collider) spits out some quotations from Ian McKellen on what’s taking so long, and the plain fact that the film indeed is getting the push back.:

“That should have started in April but they didn’t contact me about a contract until a few weeks ago and we’re in negotiation”, the actor, who’d be reprising his Lord of the Rings‘ role Gandalf for the film, said. “I shall see (director) Guillermo del Toro and (executive producer) Peter Jackson when I’m in New Zealand after we’ve been to Australia and well find out more then.”

Continues McKellen, “I’ve read the script, or as much as had been written, they sent it to me, which was very accomplished and good, I thought, and a wonderful part, Gandalf. But I don’t have a contract and I don’t have a start date, so there we are. We’re in a bit of limbo at the moment”.

The feature, which once appeared like it was going to start filming as soon as this summer, could be stuck in this predicament for awhile especially if everyone is dragging their feet. Could it be happening due to financial issues? Schedule conflicts? Well, if they want us to go back to Middle Earth they better try to do it sooner than later.

“We’ve just delivered the script. Literally last week, we delivered the second of the two screenplays — the first draft. So the studio’s got both scripts now, which is a milestone; and if anything was holding it up, it was us doing the screenplays, because we’d just been writing as fast as we can, but it took us this long to get them finished. So we take whatever responsibility there is for the speed. And we’re now in the process of budgeting the films, and then hopefully we’ll get to a budget the studio [people] are happy with, and they’ll greenlight the movies and we’ll announce the shooting dates. I’d be pretty optimistic that we’ll be shooting before the end of the year. I would imagine October, November, we’d be shooting by. I’m not announcing it, though.”

One hopes the films will feel apart of his trilogy since so much time has passed and PJ isn’t directing them.

Source: Coming Soon

The Collector

It was a once Blockbuster exclusive, but now it out for all to buy. The film is brutal; it doesn’t hide the fact that it’s a creation from Saw writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, it embraces that and one-up’s Saw. Read Jon’s DVD review here. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)   Jon says: Buy   Donny says: Buy

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Herzog’s remake of the cult film is an odd bird, but if you can vibe with it’s satirical elements and humor, it’s a blast. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)   Jon says: Buy    Donny says: Rent

Dirt!: The Movie

Here’s another great release from DocuRama, a good company that handles unique and equally as good documentaries. More on this title soon. (Formats: DVD only)  Jon says: Rent   Donny says: Buy

New to Blu

Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy

Dreamscape

The Protector: Dragon Dynasty

The Relic

Flight of the Intruder

The Heroic Ones

Cocoon

Pretty strong week for Blu-rays. Keep it here for reviews and news on these discs and more, only on Killer Film!

Early word is coming in that this April’s Blu-ray releases of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is rather unspectacular. Killer Film hasn’t had an early chance to see them, but sources we trust, say Fellowship of the Ring‘s video presentation is subpar for a Blu-ray release in 2010.

Regardless, rumor now has it that the Extended editions of each film, according to this French film site. Speculation had it that WB/New Line Home Video wanted to see how sells and opinions were on the Theatrical Version releasing soon in April before going ahead with the Extended Cuts. Common sense would tell us they would also wait for The Hobbit (but now that film might be delayed).

Either way, despite it being a rumor, fans should be excited.

Source: Blu-ray.com

Source: /Film