Wolf riders

[samrohan]

I think that the scenes covering the attack of the wolf riders from Orthanc is one of the best moments of the movie. PJ twisted impression of wolves is very good, he has also proved himself to be a very good action scenes director not only a fervent LOTR fan.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

But why did Saruman say to the Orc "Send out YOUR warg riders"? That doesn't seem like Saruman to me. After all, he owned everything there.<P>Those wargs were terrifying though.

[Mariska Greenleaf]

Well, it was a cool action scene, but why did this Warg riders look like Hyenas??<BR>They should have been more wolfish. But that's just my humble opinion...<BR>

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

It was so cool when the first wargs come behind the hill and then there's Legolas alone shooting his arrows and then more wargs just appear... Off topic but there is a word 'Varg' in Swedish meaning a wolf. In LotR we have a word 'Warg' meaning those wolves. Is there some connection between those words? Tolkien did after all researching about Scandinavian cultures etc. But that was off topic so never mind... just wondering.

[Shy Hobbit]

I agree that it was a very cool scene But I was a bit disappointed with the wargs at first. I imagined them to look like large wolves when I was reading The Hobbit. Nonetheless I suppose they work for film. My Mom's scared of em

[Phrim]

If I recall correctly, Tolkien (a linguistics expert) was well versed in Scandinavian languages. Many of the names he used in his works came from these tongues.

[The Only Real Estel]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> PJ twisted impression of wolves is very good, he has also proved himself to be a very good action scenes director not only a fervent LOTR fan.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>A decent impression IMO, but I think he could've toned the hyena/warthog look down a bit. They're really just large evil wolves in the book. Oh well, they worked well enough for me, although they were a bit largish perhaps.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>But why did Saruman say to the Orc "Send out YOUR warg riders"? That doesn't seem like Saruman to me. After all, he owned everything there.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>It appeared that that orc was the captain or cheiftan of the group. So I guess Saruman was telling him to send out the warg-riders that were under him.

[samrohan]

I agree that they looked a bit too much like hyenas but it turned out well in the book. The computer graphics designed responsible for the Wargs in the film must have got such a kick from the action lasting so long in the movie.

[The Saucepan Man]

Now don't get me started on those darned Hyena-Lemming hybrids ... <P>Too late!<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> why did this Warg riders look like Hyenas?? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Yes, why on earth did they? And not just hyenas (that would have been marginally acceptable), but rather dopey looking boss-eyed hyenas. They looked more like stuffed toys than the cruel, ferocious beasts that I pictured in my mind when I first read the books.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I imagined them to look like large wolves when I was reading The Hobbit. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Absolutely. In fact, I imagined them as huge wolves with enormous jaws jam-packed with cruel and terrible teeth. But you're right. They should at least have looked like wolves.<P>I got really quite excited when I saw from the trailer for TTT that there would be Warg-riders, but seeing them close up in the film came as a complete disppointment. Indeed, for me, this was perhaps the greatest disappointment of the film. A different Faramir I can live with, but the Wargs really ought to have been done properly. After all, the SFX have been a real strength of these films, and one of their best qualities for me has been the way they look, the way they seem to have conjured up images from my imagination all those years ago when I first read the books. But the Wargs just fell flat as far as I was concerned. <P>I told you not to get me started ...

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

I think the wargs looked like bears. If I saw a creature like that on a walk I would be absolutely horrofied but on screen wargs look like nice teddy bears.

[Maéglin]

Yes and they didnt sound much like wolves either hmmm.. I wonder what gave PJ the idea to make wargs to have an almost feline resemblance.. Seriously giant wolves would have looked so much better on screen.. but maybe they were scared of the RSPCA (animal protection association) cracking down on them for representing wolves as violent beasts

[Daisy Brambleburr]

I agree, they were pretty cool. Does anyone own 'the art of the two towers'? Because there's a really cool picture of a Warg and rider, aparrently it's one of the very early designs. I kind of like it, it's much more wolf-like. But still, the end result was good. They were very well animated.

[kharank]

I for one didnt really like the design of the Wargs. Although the first clash between them and the Rohirrim was awesome!! back to the Wargs though - i didnt think the animation was so good on them. Dont get me wrong - they were beyond anything else seen in any other movies. But Weta, in my opinion concentrated on Helms Deep, and Gollums entrance and exit. For me, it looked like the Wargs, the Fell Beasts, and even Gollum in some mid-film scenes, were slightly below par. <P>Then again, i couldnt have done any better, and what PJ has given us is awesome cinema, so i wont complain too hard!!

[Feared Half-Elf]

I really liked the Wargs, and being a wolf fan I have to admit that I was happy that PJ made them look more like hyenas. I'm writing my own Lotr-based story at home and two wolf packs and a lone traveller feature in it. (Of course I know that lone traveller wolves are quite rare!) I think the Wargs are quite effective as twisted, (Warged!) hyenas.<P>If anyone doesn't get my wierd sense of humour, don't worry, as my friends say, I'm just a freak!