The Hunt for Gollum (2009)

This is a short film written and directed by Chris Bouchard that cost £3,000 to produce which begs the question how does the average Hollywood cost thousands upon thousands of times thus ? Okay it's an amateur film with a run time of 38 minutes but even so if it was three times longer this would mean it would cost £9,000 . There's shockingly good about a bunch of amateurs getting together to make something so impressive or the other school of thought is it's absolutely disgraceful that Hollywood productions are so expensive in comparison and seems to illustrate how over paid a great number of people are over at the LA dream factory . The technical merits of THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM are every bit as impressive as those seen in the Jackson movies Of course there's a serious fly in the ointment and that is if you're having a film with Aragorn and Gandalf , even if it's a fan made non profit film for the internet then it's going to be a major disappointment if you can't get Viggo Mortensen or Ian McKellen in the roles . Aragorn and Gandalf aren't James Bond or the Doctor from DOCTOR WHO and no offence to Adrian Webster or Patrick O'Connor but they're not in the same league and you're fully conscious that Aragorn is played by an entirely different actor from the Jackson movies . Likewise there seems to be a contrived element that the audience don't get to see Gollum fully until the end of the film since he spends much of the story bundled inside a sack and one suspects his one full appearance at the end is courtesy of a clip from Wingnut Films Not to be too scathing and cynical THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM shows what can be achieved on an absolute shoestring budget and the entire look of the film totally convinces it was shot on location in Middle Earth . I'll repeat it again - what have Hollywood producers been spending their money on if a small fan made film like this that puts Hollywood to shame ?

"The Hunt For Gollum" (THFG) is an extraordinary, spectacular fan film. Without a doubt, THFG is one of the top 10 fan films (through the end of 2009). Perhaps if I had paid $10 at a theater to watch this, and knew it cost $40,000,000 to create, I would be less impressed. But I still would have enjoyed watching it, and still would have considered it professional quality cinema... albeit rather short. It certainly leaves us wanting more, that's for sure.I am not a big fan of the "Lord Of The Rings" books or movies, though I did go watch the movies at the theater and enjoyed them. Truth be told, I'm not a fan of the "fantasy" genre - I'm primarily a fan of "realistic sci-fi", followed by "sci-fi", followed by "anything that unexpectedly knocks my socks off".This fan film "vaporized my socks", so I'm a fan of THFG on that score.Oh, and I must admit that I am also a fan of extraordinary fan films, and anything that is extraordinary. I suspect the reason I so appreciate extraordinary fan films is... their creation is almost like "sci-fi becomes real" --- almost like "seeing the impossible happen".To make this flick for $4000 USD is amazing. Frankly, I suspect few pros could make a movie like this for $4,000,000 --- 1000 times more.The casting and acting was excellent, the cinematography was excellent, the story was well conceived and extraordinarily well matched to available assets. For example, we see Gollum 3 times during the film created with very difficult, very time-consuming CGI (computer graphics). Between those 3 views, Gollum is very convincingly carried in a very convincing sack - which any rational human would do in those circumstances. This allows them to interact verbally, and Gollum struggles mightily and craftily to escape the sack by any means he can imagine.I'm fairly sure this fan film is in the top 5 of all fan films through 2009, though one or two other great ones might have escaped my view. Perhaps the best are:#1: Star Trek - "World Enough and Time" by www.StarTrekPhase2.com #2: Star Wars - "Revelations" #3: Lord of the Rings - "The Hunt For Gollum" #4: Star Wars - "Reign of the Fallen" #5: hmmmmmmmm - too many vying for fifth place to decide.Watch www.thehuntforgollum.com and enjoy. Especially if you've ever tried to create even 1 minute of professional cinema, you'll socks will be blown off by what these talented and dedicated artists created for a a mind-boggling, amazingly frugal $4000.

Made by fans for fans - an excellent chapter to slot in the film. Considering the all round high quality, acting, cinematography and special effects there is no way that it could be done for one ten thousandth of the reported $4000 cost ordinarily. I do hope they do more - and that the industry considers the idea of including enthusiastic fans in future 'professional' productions (not that this one isn't, but it is non-profit so non professional only in that sense). The industry desperately needs to reduce costs - this approach can do it with no loss of quality and could revive the whole sector. Maybe they could do the raising of the shire next to conclude the film the way it should have been.

A team of Tolkein fans, with an estimated budget of $3,000, have produced their own addition to Peter Jackson's film series. For such a small budget, it's impressive how close they come at times to reproducing Jackson's big-budget style.The movie takes its inspiration from one of the many appendices to the original novel, events that are hinted at in the first movie. The wizard Gandalf goes to Aragorn with a crucial mission: find Gollum, who knows the location of the One Ring, before Sauron's forces do. Success will allow for more time to plan, failure will result in a forced hand for our heroes, requiring that the ring be moved, with Frodo and the others put in imminent peril. Those who have seen Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring will know how this movie ends, but then that manages to add some more tense elements to the story. If you had some favorite technical element from the movie trilogy, writer/director/producer Chris Bouchard has likely re-created it here on a fraction of the budget. No less than a half- dozen cinematographers were used to evoke the atmosphere and rich, somber colors that helped distinguish the first movie. The score by Adam Langston and Andrew Skrabutenas is less conspicuous and "epic" than the Oscar-winning strings of Howard Shore, but that's perhaps fitting for this small, more personal movie. Gollum is envisioned with creativity, the filmmakers confining him to a burlap sack for most of the movie, yet whoever plays him in the sack, combined with Gareth's Borough's keen impression of Andy Serkis, are a worthy low-budget substitute for Jackson's extensive motion-capture. The appearance of a full-CGI Gollum addressing the camera at the very end was sufficient payoff for me. The acting styles of Adrian Webster and Patrick O'Connor as Aragorn and Gandalf are both quite interesting, surely both were cast in part for their resemblances to Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen respectively. Still, seeing them in their roles on the big screen is not a great stretch of the imagination. Fight choreography was one of the movie's strongest points, Bouchard has a very good eye not only for cat-and-mouse suspense, but complex sword fights. Too often with fan films, (or action/fantasy in general), fight scenes are handled poorly, leading to audience boredom. Far from it here, where the action drew me in a surprising amount. Bouchard and company have created something most impressive, and with a running time of 40 minutes and a price tag of $0, there's really no excuse to not see it. I can only hope that the people behind this movie will have their hard work here recognized, and maybe next time they'll make a movie they can actually profit from. This is likely the best fan film I've seen since Grayson in 2004.