The Hunt for Gollum

I just watched this film and I'm totally blown away by the quality and production value by a non-professional crew. I had a smile on my face through the whole thing thinking that these guys (and girls) had the audacity to try this and then actually pull it off...

For me the best thing was the cinematography. The shots and locations were amazing! There was a lot of variety in scenes which hinted at the different locations Aragorn was traveling through in his search.

The music and sound effects was another highlight for me. I found it seemed to borrow some elements from Howard Shore's soundtrack, so that I could still remember being in that world but it was still original. Really awesome job on the effects and 3d sound, especially with the orcs and the fight scenes...

Such a tough job to follow up on Viggo and esp. Ian Mackellan and I think the lead actors can hold their heads high.

For some constructive criticism I would really like to see a 'directors cut' (please?) with more time given to the outdoor scenes, especially in the first half of the film. It seemed like the director/editor wanted to cut them short so that the movie wasn't boring, but I think if you are a fan of the book, then this shouldn't be an issue. There are many parts of the book that are slow and really descriptive, but it's part of the mood to take time and establish the scenes. The photography is so gorgeous and there must have been a lot of video taken that's not in the final cut so why not see more of it?? I think it would also help the viewer get into the story more by drawing you more into middle earth.

Thanks for the inspiring and well made film!

I am in awe. "The Hunt for Gollum," made by Lord of the Rings fans for £3000, is a resounding success! It is adapted from material gleaned from the appendices of the world-renowned trilogy, and it covers a short period of time between "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" in which Aragorn searches for Gollum before Sauron's forces can find him.

At 38 minutes, this moody piece is short enough for non-fans to commit to, yet long enough to really linger in your memory. All areas of the film succeed. The cinematography is bleak and beautiful, exquisitely capturing the Middle Earth that we have come to know and love. The costumes are appropriate and elegant. The special effects are convincing, as is even the digital effects work, despite the limited budget. The fight scenes, while not on the level of the trilogy (that would be nigh impossible), are still better than most fight scenes in normal movies. And even the acting, which is often the scourge of all amateur productions, works wonderfully.

Tolkien himself would be proud. This may seem like hyperbole, but I'm being serious. Tolkien always longed to create the great English mythology that his country never got, and with Middle Earth, he did. But the greatest part of a mythology is that others carry it on. Kudos to everyone on this production for doing just that.

This is a great film. Not just for being an amateur production, but for being a film in general. Nobody can match Peter Jackson, but next to some of the tripe that finds wide release in this country, "The Hunt for Gollum" is magnificent. I hope to see everyone involved with this production (and I mean everyone) break out into the film industry in a big way.

Go to the film's official website and watch it now. Being fanmade, you get to see it for free. And it'll only take 40 minutes of your time. Worth it? Definitely!

This movie was made for $3,000 and is being offered for FREE! around the internet. Simply it has unbelievable production values for a budget of only three grand.

It tells the brief story of Strider as he treks across Middle Earth to find Gollum and unveil the mysteries behind the ring of power.

Story aside the movie was very professional, cinematography, fight choreography, editing, sound, and the acting all have giant check marks by their side. The whole movie I was thinking, "no way this was made for $3,000, no way." The volunteers who worked on this movie must have worked very hard to get the finished product as polished as it is.

Many technical elements of the film are borrowed from other films (mostly Lord of the Rings but there was also some music borrowed from Clint Mansell's Requiem for a Dream score,) but don't let that turn you away, after all it's for fans, by fans.

An absolute must see for anyone who wants to be entertained, 40 minutes and it's free. Watch the first few minutes or the trailer and you'll be hooked.

Kudos to these guys, lots and lots of kudos. I hope we see more films produced like this.

This film was made on a budget of about 4000$ contributed by fans. Despite that, the cinematography and action sequences do not feel like a low-budget fan-film but come very close to multi-million-dollar Hollywood productions. If you consider the cinematic value versus the budget ... that makes it the best movie ever. Do not watch this movie unless you are a "lord of the rings"-fan though. The story is very basic and needs you to have viewed the 3 "lord of the rings" movies and preferably even read all the books since this story is in fact the prequel to those. It can hardly be called a story on it's own and will probably leave many people who don't know the characters with a lot of questions ... A new milestone nevertheless for fan-made films!!

I have watched the LOTR films, and read The Hobbit. I have not even read the LOTR books, although I do have them in a pile of waiting to be read books...I read quite a bit, but...eh to be honest I never got into LOTR. I'm sorry. I like the fantasy genre, I like the story, I've read so many series within this type of genre. But I've just never gotten deep into LOTR. I will say I did enjoy the movie series and the original book that started it all.

Why do I say this? Because I want people to know I'm not just some die-hard fan of the genre period. I don't really follow it except as a media thing.

My point? This short movie was damned impressive. I hear it was done on a shoe-string budget by honest fans of the film, and damn it...this thing looks legit. This is seriously talent being played out here. I enjoyed the camera work, I enjoyed the acting, I enjoyed the scenery, the story, the casting...well I couldn't find something wrong with it.

Look at my past reviews and comments on movies. I am not an avid reviewer or commenter on this genre...and lets be honest, a lot of my reviews plain out suck. But I caught this short, and I was impressed. I honestly would not mind seeing fans like this be allowed to write and direct an entire shot-by-shot series, or movie franchise. They just flat out did it well.

I give this two-thumbs up, if you are a fan of LOTR, then this is a must see. If you're like me, just a casual fan...this is still a super fun thing to watch.

Like I've said...I'm impressed. I've seen so many indie films that have been such garbage, with much larger budgets than this. This is just properly done.

Nuff sed.