Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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It looks very cool on that page, but since you don't own any of their products, let me be the first to caution you...their final product usually doesn't bear much resemblance (other than in form) to the prototype. They are just not very well painted. I don't mean that they are sloppily painted, but rather that they didn't use enough paint. I bought a bunch of their stuff during LOTR mania a few years back, and the paint work was very hit and miss. The Golden Hall was fine, as was the Moria environment (which was I think just molded in the color it was meant to be), but some of their figures were nearly unpainted. The Morgul Lord and the Sauron figures had very little paint on them and looked nothing like the prototype pix, other than that it was from the same mold. I took it upon myself to touch up the paint job on my Morgul Lord statue, in fact! I considered doing Sauron also, but it was a much bigger job and I never got up the nerve to do it. The small Balrog statue, however, was very well done. It was definitely the best of the Sideshow pieces I collected.

Now, if Danbury Mint decides to come out with more LOTR pieces, count me in. Both their Barad-dur and their Minas Tirith pieces were very well done, particularly Minas Tirith--it was superb.

This all seems a bit academic to me as I type this. ALL my LOTR collectibles are boxed away in the basement and have been there for 2+ years, since I moved into this house. Even though this house is bigger than my old one, I ran out of room for the bookcase that held all these things. Eventually I'd like to finish the basement and have a collectibles room adjoining the dedicated home theater I'd want to put in the basement. This will happend shortly after winning the lottery, and almost certainly not a moment before....
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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[quote=""Olorin""]Now, if Danbury Mint decides to come out with more LOTR pieces, count me in.[/quote]
Same here!

The Last Alliance diorama is pretty cool. I almost drooled over my laptop. But, the one i wished Sideshow made (been waiting for it for years) was Sauron vs. Isildur. And i'm guessing with this $300 diorama, the one i hoped for most likely won't be... As a side note, i just recieved my "Mount Doom" diorama, and to be honest, was not as impressed as i thought i would be. I'm not sure if Sideshow's quality has dropped slightly in both the sculpt and paint; or if i'm finding it hard to be amazed when my last Sideshow piece was the "Battle Above Black Gate" diorama, which i believe to be one of the best made by Sideshow. Regardless...the moment of Sam carrying Frodo is one of my favourites in the LOTR, so it is still a great piece...

Anyone planning on purchasing the "Last Alliance" diorama?
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum!"

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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the cape on sauron was broken off. their styrofoam casing isn't protecting anything on these dioramas. if your shows up unbroken, consider yourself blessed. the brittle nature of these dioramas won't stand up to shipping

ringwraiths diorama I got was also broken

I see why the cost of this stuff is high, they have to issue full refunds and offer credits to next purchases just so they attempt to redeem themselves. credit does not replace what you wish too have. shamefull

"due to the limited edition size we are sorry...." blah blah blah = *scowl*

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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What bugs me about this is Sauron's helm. The face shape is not correct, and the spikes curve inward. They should be straight. Maybe it just bugs me so much because I have the UC helm on a shelf in front of me, which is dead on to the prop pix and what I see in the film. Seems like just about every other sculpt of this helm looks wrong, including Sideshow/Weta's mini helm, which was the worst.

The Sauron bust from a few years ago looked ten time more accurate than this.

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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got a new sauron body sculpt from sideshow and it didn't cost me anything so in this instance sideshow has redeemed itself. (bought clash of kings to celebrate). due to space I rotate dioramas for display. this one has been packed away for now. I can't seem to want to remove battle above the black gate (large diorama setting). dual of light and fire is small diorama setting. 'The Wall of Helm's Deep', 'The Treachery of Saruman', 'Shades of Mordor' (3 versions), all waiting on battle above the black gate. 'Dark Counsel' and 'The Clash of Kings' will rotate with dual of light and fire when they get their chance

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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Well i'm glad to see Sideshow is back in your "good books" lol. I really do like their work, but finding it harder to justify the high price tags as time goes on. Last LOTR piece i bought was "Battle Above the Black Gate" and still use it as a centre piece on my coffee table... I still wish they replaced the "Numenorean Army" with Isildur and the Broken Narsil ;)
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum!"

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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You know, the more I like this the more I want it. I'm putting my Battle of the Last Alliance display and now have a place to put this, so I might think about it. I've got to buy a few busts first though.


Jash - yuck! No Sauron and Isildur diorama! That was horrible. I would buy it, rip Isildur off, and stand him up to my Elendil and Gil-galad busts as they pretended to fight the way it was supposed to go down. Why Peter Jackson did it that way I don't know. It's pretty obivous he liked to emphasize the action, what could be better than an epic showdown of Huge Dark Lord with Giant Mace against super tall High King of the Numenoreans with Giant Sword and High King of the Noldor with Giant Spear? Instead we get epic king being smashed in one whack of magic black stick and then Sauron promptly steps on the sword and sticks his finger out. "Here bud, it's the only way to kill me. I'll stick my ring finger out extra far for you. There you go- AAHH! Good one! Excuse me while I...blow up?"
"Remember, the force will be with you, always."

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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I think if Sauron had been defeated in lengthy physical combat by our three guys like in the books, it'd not have had the same impact that one guy with a lucky strike of a broken sword did. Might've also messed up the pacing. I got the feeling from the prologue that it was meant to get the audience up to speed in the fastest way possible, and having something slow in there would've required a new way of doing the prologue.

Sauron blowing up when the Ring was cut off his finger very importantly set up the Ring's bond to Sauron (and its importance in keeping the Dark Lord in one piece in the films, of course), in addition to Sauron's near-unstoppability with it. Having Isildur cut it off after Sauron got defeated... Again I think it would've not been the best e xp osition for the audience.

EDIT: Although I do completely understand where you're coming from, and if the audience was more informed, I think the way things happened in the book would've worked as well.
Last edited by Jamanticus on Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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Thanks for understanding, Jaman. They wouldn't have to make it a huge battle, just like the Aragorn vs. Lurtz showdown. You know, Gil-galad gets a few hacks in, stabs Sauron through the shoulder blade and he goes ape-poop, grabbing him and making him "burn to death because of his fury" as is written somewhere. Rather than a graphic burn he could've just shouted in pain and then have Sauron smash him like he did in the film with Elendil. Then Elendil goes all battle-crazy and Sauron eventually kills him in about one minute of screen-time and dies of fatigue and wounds, slamming down like his helm did dramatically in the film. Isildur cuts the ring off, Sauron's body e xp lodes, game over. That's how I would've done it. Well maybe not have his remains e xp lode, but something along those lines. It just seemed so cheesy for one king to get almost no screen time, the other to only have enough to get smashed, and then have the one who just threw a bunch of soldiers 20 yards with his massive mace blow up because of a stupid hand gesture and a lucky stab in the dark. Seemed anti-climactic after those sweet battle shots in the prologue. Plus the way they showed it made Elrond look like the king or commander which he was not, and it gave a reason for why Sauron was supposedly a giant flaming eyeball, which he was not.
"Remember, the force will be with you, always."

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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While some decisions are artistic license, most book to movie decisions are copy write infringement laws. Verbatim is illegal.

PJ and crew did have to keep in mind that they weren't just catering to fans of the books but also to people who hadn't read them. Everything can be knit picked to death, and yes, some decisions were dumb, but all in all I still think they did an overall excellent job.

Lets face it, they could have butchered it totally. It would have been a flop. The after market items would never have come to be, this forum may not have been started, we would not know each other, etc.
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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[quote=""Fingolfin""]Oh they're good, I just don't like the way that Lord of the Rings is now widely known for "all the cool action scenes and how awesome Legolas is!" *pukes*[/quote]
Holds Fin's forehead over toilet.
Yeah well, they did over-do Leggy, but it was to emphasize the superiority of the elves over humans.
And let's not forget what Gimli said, "That still only counts as ONE!"
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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Ha, you know I didn't mind the mumakil scene. I think it wouldve been a LOT better if they hadn't already overdone it. I mean really, stabbing with arrows and using your bow for hand to hand? Seriously? I think one cool thing a movie would have been more approriate. The arrow stab at amon hen, shieldboard, and mumakil. The rest of his superhuman skills were too much.
"Remember, the force will be with you, always."

Re: Battle of the Last Alliance - Sauron vs The Numenorean Army

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[quote=""Fingolfin""]Ha, you know I didn't mind the mumakil scene. I think it wouldve been a LOT better if they hadn't already overdone it. I mean really, stabbing with arrows and using your bow for hand to hand? Seriously? I think one cool thing a movie would have been more approriate. The arrow stab at amon hen, shieldboard, and mumakil. The rest of his superhuman skills were too much.[/quote]
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but stabbing with an arrow was totally good in my mind; shows how fast an elf thinks an how innovative he can be. Same goes for using your bow for hand to hand, a bow is useless up close. For me, the mumakil was where I rolled my eyes, I didn't mind too much, but I really liked the subtle things; walking on the snow (in the book) saving Gandalf from the avalanche, saving Boromir on the stairs, and jumping off the top stairs so he could get in front the whole fellowship because he knew he could jump the gap and show the rest it was a do-able thing. Those things said it all to me.
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"
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