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AinurOlorin
Half-elven
May 23 2012, 5:43am
Post #1 of 60
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Smaug: Like and yet Unlike. How The Magnificence will be unique and how he will be similar
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to other filmed Dragons.
I do not think that he will be some bizzarely designed creature with no recognizable resemblance to any other movie dragon (nor would I want him to be). I would think in size and shape he will likely most closely resemble, if we had to choose a modern film dragon, the large male from Reign of Fire.
What I think WILL distinguish Smaug, aside from his awesome personality and conversation, from other dragons will be details like his gemstone waistcoat (I can think of no major film featuring a Dragon ladden with such armour and such bling), his impenetrable, red-golden scales, and his aurate luminesence, i.e. the famous glow of Smaug.
In terms of shape and body size, again, the male dragon in Reign of Fire seems likely, though Smaug may, perhaps, be slightly more sinuous and slightly larger. Under close consideration I give little creedence to the notion that he will not be at least half-again to twice as large as The Winged Beasts of LOTR. A five foot high snout, or anything near it, all but assures a body length at least in the 100 foot area. And the more serpentine he is, the longer he is likely to be. As to flight considerations. . . well, being a dragon who breathes fire hot enough to melt dwarf armour and possibly Great Rings, he could let off a jet stream from his backside to get airborne. . . but I am sure the filmakers will find away to accomodate flight for his enormity, even without resorting to such a vulgar tactic.
"Hear me, hounds of Sauron, Gandalf is here! Fly if you value your foul skins, I will shrivel you from tail to snout if you step within this circle!"
"Do not be to eager to deal out death in judgement. Even the very wise cannot see all ends."
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DanielLB
Immortal
May 23 2012, 7:05am
Post #2 of 60
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One thing you missed, which I'm hoping will be true, is that Smaug will be the most "real" looking to ever appear on film. Weta will be able to pull-off some brilliant CGI for Smaug. It will put all past dragons to shame!
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Night Wolf
Rivendell
May 23 2012, 9:10am
Post #3 of 60
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Sure you don't want to re-hash Wraiths again, fine by me.
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The myth of the creature itself extends from dinosaur bones, most likely.
The Animal Planet special Dragons, was the best effort so far. I liked the pseudo-scientific theories about animals consuming certain elements from the earth, in order to produce it's fire. Not sure if the Bombardier beetle does the same, it's a two gland process too.
The breath weapon has different styles of attack, of course. It can take on a variety of different shapes for the various tactical advantages of the beast, they are extremely smart.
If I had modern warfare equipment in rough terrain under circumstances like Reign of Fire, I'd move in with E-ICBT troops, then use FGM-172 SRAW munitions. Not sure if I buy into the theory, humankind would ever need nuclear weapons in a science-fiction story like that. Now Godzilla, that's a different set of circumstances there. Thermo-nuclear powered mutant animals, that's an entirely different thought process. Leave it up to the Japanese to make those old movies still interesting to this day.
Dragons, yep, vain creatures, due to that near immortal age compared to humanoids, and so forth. Just watched Benedict's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last night. (Always play to the ego, laughter can be the hardest quality to fall into character.)
I liked the cat-like qualities of the animated feature, How to Train Your Dragon, yet bird-like, like a short legged Swift, but butterfly in appearance, meaning the animal had a body with appendages, as well as the wings. The Reign of Fire dragon didn't have that complexity. It just lumbered like a big bat, I'm not sure if it will be the same. That question might get spoiled by somebody like Sir McKellen, if you pay attention.
I doubt PJ or the crew would divulge if the dragon had two or four legs. The Rankin-Bass dragon had catlike features with it's head. I wouldn't bet on that. Most people identify with a Dungeons and Dragons reptile, including me.
Aurate doesn't seem like a correct description to me. It's probably more within the creature's appearance than outside it, like labradoresence behind Australian opal gems, or the Finnish feldspar mineral Spectrolite.
Klaatu... Verata... Necktie. Nectar. Nickel, Noodle...Nikto!
(This post was edited by Night Wolf on May 23 2012, 9:16am)
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Xanaseb
Tol Eressea
May 23 2012, 2:03pm
Post #4 of 60
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hmmm see, I think he'll be bigger thatn the one in reign of fire. I know your description would be more book-accurate.... but nevertheless, I think he'll be bigger.
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we'll see.
Catch it, catch it, catch it! Dropped it... ...
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 23 2012, 2:17pm
Post #5 of 60
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If people hated Sauron the Lighthouse...
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...I don't think they're going to be happy with Smaug the Night Light:
"It is almost dark so that its vastness can only be dimly guessed, but rising from the near side of the rocky floor there is a great glow. The glow of Smaug!"
Not to mention his headlight eyes:
"'Revenge!' he snorted, and the light of his eyes lit the the hall from floor to ceiling like scarlet lightning."
Of course just about everybody's eyes glowed in the dark, from Gollum to the Dwarves.
Anyway. I'm hoping something like Vermithrax Pejorative. Now there was a dragon!
******************************************
The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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Lusitano
Tol Eressea
May 23 2012, 3:35pm
Post #6 of 60
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Also, the dragon from Reign of Fire just looks....vulgarly dragonesque...its just a dragon.
Smaug, on the other hand, has to be SUPERLATIVE! The Lord of the Dragons  ...
A creature that will look and talk and behave so sinisterly and real and fantastic at the same time...Behave to leave the theatre and say : UAU! That dragon was ....speecheless XD...and not just kids or teenagers , but pretty much every member of the audience has to be rocked off their socks with Smaug!
It's also why i dont think we will see him till the movie comes out...
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rings7
Rohan
May 23 2012, 3:39pm
Post #7 of 60
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but i don't think bigger than Maleficient. She is supposed to be a gigantic mega dragon. I don't know if Smaug will be bigger than her.
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 23 2012, 3:44pm
Post #8 of 60
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He's got to be big enough to squish a whole town. /
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******************************************
The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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rings7
Rohan
May 23 2012, 3:52pm
Post #9 of 60
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Maybe i base my guess on the fact that Smaug didn't scare me as much as Maleficent did when i was little. 
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 23 2012, 3:55pm
Post #10 of 60
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As far as Maleficent goes, I wasn't scared so much as enamoured. (Yes, I was a strange kid.)
******************************************
The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
May 23 2012, 6:29pm
Post #11 of 60
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Welll, the MERP estimate of Smaug's size seems reasonable
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From the MERP Sourcebook Creatures of Middle-earth (I.C.E.; 1995; boldface mine):
Smaug is greatest and most cunning of the Grey Mountain Dragons. He was slow to anger exceptionally pitiless, spiteful, wrathful, and proud. Although red, his scales have a golden undertone which reflects light like metal. In the sunlight or bright moonlight, Smaug appears to be gold in color; thus his name. He is ninety feet long and has a wingspan of one hundred and fifty feet, which is unusually large for a Fire-drake of the Third Age. Smaug originally resided in the Barl Syrnac, but he moved to Anvilmount, northwest of the Withered Heath, when he discovered that Dwarves had uncovered mineral weath in the region.
This is certainly large enough to be both book-accurate and cinematically satisfying.
"Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house." - Aragorn
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 23 2012, 6:31pm
Post #12 of 60
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Laketown must be awfully small. /
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******************************************
The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
May 23 2012, 6:37pm
Post #13 of 60
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Don't underestimate the power of Smaug's death-throws
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I'm sure his thrashing and flames do a great deal of damage to the town built upon wooden pilings before the Dragon breathes his last.
"Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house." - Aragorn
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 23 2012, 6:53pm
Post #14 of 60
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"KHAAAAAANNN!!"
Er, I mean, "BAAAAARRDD!!"
******************************************
The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
(This post was edited by Darkstone on May 23 2012, 7:01pm)
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Silverlode
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
May 23 2012, 7:32pm
Post #15 of 60
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I hear he's a real scenery chewer. //
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Silverlode
"Of all faces those of our familiares are the ones both most difficult to play fantastic tricks with, and most difficult really to see with fresh attention. They have become like the things which once attracted us by their glitter, or their colour, or their shape, and we laid hands on them, and then locked them in our hoard, acquired them, and acquiring ceased to look at them.
Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else [make something new], may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds. The gems all turn into flowers or flames, and you will be warned that all you had (or knew) was dangerous and potent, not really effectively chained, free and wild; no more yours than they were you." -On Fairy Stories
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 23 2012, 8:09pm
Post #16 of 60
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That's one way to take out Laketown. /
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******************************************
The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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R11
Lorien
May 23 2012, 8:26pm
Post #17 of 60
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Originally I would have thought this
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But now I'm no longer so sure. I'm really starting to think he may quite possibly be more fantastical than real looking. For one thing, how do you make a real looking dragon that sports a jewel encrusted belly? The two things are just kind of contradictory. The more I've thought about it, the more I've seen the designs of the dwarfs, and in rereading the book and revisiting the way Smaug acts and talks, I just find myself thinking the great worm might end up being a more fanciful creature.
ron
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DanielLB
Immortal
May 23 2012, 8:31pm
Post #18 of 60
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Sorry! I meant "real" in terms of the quality of CGI, not real-life.
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R11
Lorien
May 23 2012, 8:35pm
Post #19 of 60
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I also expect that the animation/cgi should be top level.
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DanielLB
Immortal
May 23 2012, 8:44pm
Post #20 of 60
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I agree with your comment about Smaug being "fantastical" though :-) /
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Undome
Bree
May 23 2012, 10:36pm
Post #21 of 60
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Ah, but appearance is only half of it....
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....I'm just as interested in how he sounds. Remind me again, who is doing the voice?
"It is gone forever, and now all is dark and empty."
- Frodo Baggins
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DanielLB
Immortal
May 23 2012, 10:41pm
Post #22 of 60
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Benedict Cumberbatch is mo-capping and voicing Smaug. He is also playing the Necromancer 
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Longbottom Leaf
Lorien
May 23 2012, 11:53pm
Post #23 of 60
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When he was first announced to be voicing Smaug I admit I had no idea who he was but based on the extremely high vote of confidence from those of you here I just assumed that he was pretty awesome. Now after seeing just 15 minutes of Sherlock about a week ago ( unfortunately I had to be somewhere so I couldn't watch the whole episode) I am going to start calling him J.J...cause he is Dy-No-Mite! I can't wait for his Smaug and anything he does thereafter since I am sure we will be seeing quite a bit of him in the future. His whole presence just seemed powerful to me.His voice,his look,his movements,just everything seemed captivating. Like I said,I only saw a brief clip but my instincts tell me that this guy is a natural! I would love to see him as Edmund Dantes if anyone will ever have the huevos to make a REAL movie version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Not that I didn't like the version with Caviziel but it was way too short and too many things were changed or omitted as a result....This would need to be at least two films....Sorry to stray so far off topic. It's the leaf...it makes me ramble sometimes
The best weed in the southfarthing!
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
May 24 2012, 12:10am
Post #24 of 60
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What do you mean 'was', Darkstone?
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Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
May 24 2012, 12:16am
Post #25 of 60
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to repost Mr Cere's excellent essay on The Dragon Problem.
"...the dragon also needs to step out of the mishmash of dragons that have popped up everywhere in film and in books. Smaug must be Smaug The Magnificent, not Smaug The Third Dragon I’ve Seen This Year. And besides his conversation with Bilbo, he needs to swoop down on an entire town of hardy humans and incinerate their town built on a lake. Here again, he must be fearsome and ruthless and intelligent and not feel like the same creature that was in “Beowulf” and must feel as real as anything in life."
(Crikey, MrC wrote this four years ago! How long have we been anticipating these films?)
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Cumberbatch..
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