The Hunt for Gollum

[Pitchwife]

Very well done, great fun to watch, and very little that struck me outright as contradicting the book, at least at the first viewing. Nice job!

I was kind of reluctant to nitpick on premiere night, but as Kuru started it before me, I might as well go on:

* s*p*o*i*l*e*r*s *

Gandalf was sure in the film, years prior to when he was in the books, that Bilbo's ring was the One Ring.

This bothered me, too, so I checked the chronology in the Tale of Years:

3001 Bilbo's farewell feast. Gandalf suspects his ring to be the One Ring. The guard on the Shire is doubled. Gandalf seeks for news of Gollum and calls on the help of Aragorn. [...]
3009 Gandalf and Aragorn renew their hunt for Gollum at intervals during the next eight years [...]
3017 Gollum is released from Mordor. He is taken by Aragorn in the Dead Marshes, and brought to Thranduil in Mirkwood.

So the makers of the Hunt actually condensed 16 years into 40 minutes (much like Peter Jackson did with the time between Bilbo's party and Frodo's departure, and maybe with the intention to make their chronology match Jackson's?). According to the book, Gandalf may not have been sure about the Ring when he first talked to Aragorn, but he had a strong hunch. Altogether, I think the film's treatment of the matter is defendable.

It seemed a little odd that the other ranger didn't know who Aragorn was.

Agreed - that whole scene was a little odd indeed. The other Ranger introduces himself as Arithir, son of Ar-whatsoever (btw, should they have the royal prefix in their names?). Aragorn introduces himself with "I'm Strider" - using his Bree nickname, not his Dúnedain name. Arithir says "I've heard of you" - now, is this the way the Dúnedain greet their chieftain, the Heir of Isildur???
Or did the makers assume that Aragorn used 'Strider' as a sort of incognito, and the fact that 'Strider' = Aragorn, the Heir of Isildur was known only to the top ranks of Dúnedain hierarchy?

Another point: Is it just me, or does anybody else also think that those Mirkwood Elves might have showed up a few seconds earlier? I almost expected them to applaud coolly and say something like, "Nice swordsmanship." (Aragorn smiles happily and collapses from exhaustion.)
And of course Aragorn looked even younger than Viggo, who looked way too young for my taste.

Good moments:
- Orc dialogue: exactly the right tone (cf Ugluk and Grishnakh, Gorbat and Shagrat);
- How Aragorn discovered the use of fire against the Nazgûl;
- That flower Aragorn reached for when he was poisoned - was that supposed to be Athelas? (I like to think it was.)

And the bag was a clever solution, as Legate already said. "Bagses! Bagses! We hates it, my preciousss!"