Posted on 07/16/2008 1:35:23 AM PDT by Oyarsa
Christopher Lee offers his voice for Smaug… won’t go back to NZ. July 13th, 2008 by Compa_Mighty
In a bittersweet note, forummer DiveTwin reports this note that appeared in Cinematical:
(Excerpt) Read more at theonering.net ...
Well remember, they wouldn’t let you into their country.
Or at least, they wouldn’t let your freeper name into their country.
So yes, it seems they have a certain insecurity problem :-)
> Or at least, they wouldn’t let your freeper name into their country.
Or nuclear anything, including power stations. It is a stupid policy, one that we pay the price for every winter.
I just got my June power bill: $650 for a MONTH.
> So yes, it seems they have a certain insecurity problem :-)
I’d have thought the opposite: if we felt insecure we’d welcome a few of your subs in our harbor. Indonesia is, after all, just up the road.
Speaking personally, I think it is a crying shame that the ChiComs can send warships into Auckland Harbor and the Yanks can’t. As policies go, it’s a stupid one.
With any luck, our Electricity strategy will get reviewed by the next Government and this foolishness will stop. $650 for a month’s electricity is alot of money in any language.
The following is NOT an insult to New Zealand:
I don’t want to travel to NZ because it’s too far away and I would be gone for too long.
The following is an insult to New Zealand:
I don’t want to travel to NZ because it’s a boring, ugly, stinking rathole full of unpleasant people.
See the difference?
Lee, 84 next month, said he never expected to see Jackson again and would now not be able to make another trip to New Zealand. "I'm too old now. The trip is just too long. It's such a tremendous journey. Sadly, I know I will never visit the Southern Hemisphere again. "Just last week I turned down a role in an Australian film." He added: "I love New Zealand. It's the most beautiful place in the world with the nicest people in the world."
Wow...that is some insult.
You're wrong...you know it...
Just walk away before you hurt yourself further.
Did you actually listen to his interview? I doubt it. Lee spoke with great warmth of the people of New Zealand, said you were the nicest people, and emphasized clearly that yours is the most beautiful country in the world. That’s very good PR for New Zealand, not an insult. At no time in the interview did he use the expression “not interested.”
He also pointed out that Saruman is not in the Hobbit. Since Smaug is not a human character, there would be no reason for him to travel to NZ to do the voiceover work.
At the very end of the interview he speaks of what he will do “if I am still alive” and nearly gasps, “It’s too far. It’s too far. It’s too far.”
There is no insult in any of that and does not discourage anyone from visiting the nation he extols. He is an exhausted and very old man.
> Did you actually listen to his interview? I doubt it.
You’d be right. Audio is blocked here, and I read everything available in print from the links — which included the “not interested” bit.
> Lee spoke with great warmth of the people of New Zealand, said you were the nicest people, and emphasized clearly that yours is the most beautiful country in the world. That’s very good PR for New Zealand, not an insult. At no time in the interview did he use the expression “not interested.”
It’s a shame that didn’t make it into the text because you’re right: it is brilliant PR for New Zealand.
And I should probably know better: the press does not necessarily report what was said.
My mistake: I withdraw my comments on that matter, without reservation.
Not only was he a pilot, he was also in British Special Forces.
When filming Saruman’s Death in The Return of the King (not in the theatre version, only on the DVD), Peter Jackson tried to tell him how to sound when he was stabbed by Wormtounge. He told Jackson that he knew too well how a man sounds when he is stabbed in the back.
I wouldn’t mess with him even in his 80s.
Wow...I can just imagine how bad it must get in the winter then! :-)
Yours is coming across quite clearly.
> Yours is coming across quite clearly.
You’d be most welcome to come visit sometime.
You never know who is a tough guy in real life. Ted Knight, (”Ted Baxter” on the Mary Tyler Moore show) was decorated five times for clearing mines on Normandy.
You do realize that, what with New Zealand being in the southern hemisphere and all, it is the dead of winter down there. Great skiing, I expect.
He’s 86 years old. Let’s see you spend the better part of a day on planes and waiting for planes when you’re 86.
Hell, if it wasn’t for us, you guys would be speaking German right now!
It’s not bad manners to not want to shorten the tail end of your life with an around the world trip. It IS on the other hand HIDEOUSLY bad manners to insult an old guy for not wanting to fly to the other side of the planet. So much for those famous NZ hosts.
That is true but it does seem to affect rumours about the 'second movie', which often include ideas like showing the meeting of the White Council. Saruman was the leader of the White Council, so this may mean that rumour is dead.
You do realize that there is a smiley in the post, don’t you :-)
Don't mind me, I'm one of the biggest pedants on FR.
See #26. The text available to me apparently did not capture the flavor of the audio interview (audio is blocked here).
I have withdrawn my comments without reservation.
1) Changing of the personality/motivations of major characters.
2) Changing of major aspects of the plot
3) Changing of the themes of Lord of the Rings.
While I realize that Jackson is not directing the Hobbit (for which I am very thankful) I do not believe that most directors tend to be rather free with existing plots and characters, and they are moreso when they provide "filler".
If a second movie was produced, I would hope they would limit it to information on the third age taken from the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales.
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