Really am shocked that no one else posted these yet, but we have our first looks at the company of Dwarves from the Hobbit:

Dori, Nori, and Ori:



Oin and Gloin:



Fili and Kili:



And Bombur, Bifir, and Bofur:



Side note, since the movie's an official go, I think it should have its own thread section, just like the LotR Books and LotR Movies sections respectively.

Cheers,
Fenrir

Not too keen on these designs, other than Oin and Gloin. What's up with Dori's (I'm assuming it's Dori - it could be Nori or Ori) hair? And what's up with the short beards?

Could just be me, but Kili looks like he should be a half-elf or summat in a D&D game

Not keen on the weapons either - they look overly stylistic to me.

Fili and kili look like hight chalageed elves.

Gloin looks how i expected and oin looks good but not that keen on the others.....but i will have to wait so see the film it's self.

And now we have Balin and Dwalin:



And a teaser of Thorin himself, with Orcist:

Not too keen on these either - a bit disapointed so far

I don't know what you guys don't like about them. I think they look brilliant! I'm glad they look different, because I'd probably walk out of the theater if they were a bunch of Gimli clones.

The problem for me is that other than Oin, Gloin and Bofur they don't look like Dwarves to me. Dori looks wierd; Nori looks inbread; Ori looks a bit like Mr Tom; dunno what Fili looks like, but it's not a Dwarf; Kili looks Elvish rather than Dwarvish; bombur looks like a fatter ginger Barliman Butterbur; Bifur looks like he should be felling trees on the US/Canadian border; Balin looks more like a Gnome -all he needs is a red cap, a fishing rod and a toadstool; Dwalin looks like a fantasy Viking/berserker; and Thorin looks like a generic fantasy action hero.

Balin looks ok but not that keen on most of them. but we will see when the we see more from the movie.

I still am failing to see what's so wrong with them? I think they look fairly consistent with the imagery presented in the trilogy. Are some things kinda strange? Yes, but so were many of the designs in the trilogy.

I personally am glad they don't resemble the Dwarves from the trilogy, because we have to remember that the Dwarves from the trilogy were from Khazad-dum and Erebor, two kingdoms that are, in the time that the Hobbit takes place, are unpopulated by Dwarves. These guys look like they have been scavenged from the corners of Middle-earth, and that's the image I took away from the book.

We have to remember that the movie is made to appeal to a broader audience than just the pure Tolkien fans. If all the Dwarves looked dirty, grimy, and what we believe is "Dwarf-like", it's not as appealing to the larger audience. Whether you like it or not, sex appeal is a huge selling point for a movie, and the ladies will be more willing to see the Hobbit if several of the main Dwarf characters are "sexy" (and frankly, I would rather see a movie in a theatre full of ladies than the "traditional" nerdy Tolkien fans).

Let's face it. If they made a literal transition ad made 13 Dwarves who looked rather identical aside from their ridiculous rainbow hoods and cloaks, they may get 10,000 Tolkien fans to see it, but by making things look sexy and cool, they may get 10,000,000 movie fans to see it.

Plus, the folks at WETA know just a little bit more about designing this stuff than any of us do. Just saying.

That's a fair point, but that has no bearing on my opinion of them. To me they don't work. Does that mean they are totally bad and completely worthless? Not at all. It is purely my opinon, not a definative statement on the quality of the design. Just because I don't like something doesn't automatically make it bad; on the contrary, my opinion is worthless in the grand scheme of things, but it is still my opinion and I have a right to express it.

And another thing to note - I was expressing my opinion on the overall look and feel of the dwarves to me, and that doesn't mean the design is totally worthless. To be honest, costumewise for the most part they are pretty decent designs. The main changes I would make to the costumes is get rid of Bifur's hat, Balin's shoes and Dwalin's glove things.


As for where the Dwarves come from, remember the Moria Dwarves uprooted and went To Erebor when the Balrog came, and then the Erebor Dwarves uprooted and scattered when Smaug attacked, so it's not unfeasable for them to have taken their fasions with them to the Blue Mountains and Iron Hills. Even more so, if I recall correctly, both Thorin and Balin were at Erebor when Smaug attacked, so them wearing designs associsted with Erebor isn't too unfeasable. Further, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Fili and Kili were all of the House of Durin - i.e. the ruling family of both Erebor and Khazad-Dum - and Bifur, Bofur and Bombur were all themselves descended from the Dwarves of Moria. While it is possible for them to adopt other fasions (and I'm not against that), saying that it is impossible for them to dress like the Dwarves in the Trilogy is complete b*****ks.



As for 'sex apeal', so what? Pandering to Joe Public (or Joesephine Public as the case may be) does not automatically improove the design as assessed by a person's personal views. Perhaps these designs will draw bigger crowds than if they'd used more traditional designs, but that's not the issue here - I was evaluating the designs as interpretations of characters from a book; I was not evaluating them as if I was a studio executive looking to make as much cash as possible.


As for WETA knowing more than us - yes they do, but I don't see how that automatically disqualifies us from commenting on their work. It also doesn't mean that they are infalable.



It's also worth baring in mind that regarless of what design they'd have come up with, some people would be disapointed. Everyone has their own image from reading the books and each interpretation is almost cirtainly unique. Perhaps these designs resemble what you imagined. If so, good for you. They do not, however, mesh with mine, and that was all that I was saying. Will this prevent me from going to see the film at the cinema/make me unable to enjoy the film? Not at all - I dislike the look of the Gondorians in the TTT and RotK films, but that didn't stop me enjoying them as films; and not liking these designs wont stop me enjoying The Hobbit when it is released.

Personally I quite like them and enjoy the individual character of them. They're not all just stereotypical dwarves but have personalities and differences as you'd expect with a race of people. I look forward to seeing their acting though