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Sauron's military machine reduced to motley mob - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

November 01, 2000 at 16:39:32

E! Online's Force of Hobbit November 1 update indicates that the Orcs of Mordor may be less efficiently organized than Tolkien portrayed them to be.

But is the disarrayed state of Mordor's finest troops due to an intentional deviation from the book or the fact that they ran out of costumes while filming the Battle of the Pelennor Fields?

Wardrobe coordinator Janis MacEwan says there aren't enough Orc outfits to go around, so crew members improvise. Fortunately, Orcs are easily attired.

"They're foot soldiers--they scavenge through the bodies of their victims and steal bits of clothing," she explains. "So, we can borrow from other costumes we've got."

Well, who cares how well-dressed an Orc is in the midst of battle anyway?

Unfortunately, it looks like E! oft-derided "insider" has picked up on a bit of Kiwi nomenclature:

The Orcs are lined into widely spaced rows across a grassy field. Some 300 meters north is a similar row of horses. The Rohan will charge toward the Orcs, riding between the rows, as the Orcs simulate battle on the spot.

"The Rohan". If people don't say "the Rohirrim" in the movies, many Tolkien fans are going to have a field day at Peter Jackson's expense. Even the most lightly read fans on the Internet know it's "Rohirrim".

But then, there are other points where fans may strike up a note of protest:

The Orcs get their cue first. Growling and crying like wild animals, they whirl around their weapons, winding themselves up like WWF gladiators.

Why should Orcs growl and cry like animals? They speak very well in the book. Well, if it's a battle scene, people aren't likely (hopefully) to notice the discrepancy anyway.

One bit of reassuring news is the description of King Theoden as he rides into battle:

King Theoden of Rohan (actually, his riding double) leads the throng. He wears armor embossed with a horse insignia over a chain-mail vest, an embroidered emerald green tunic and a massive, Viking-like helmet, also with a horse insignia.

Forde brings us up to date on who's still filming, who has wrapped, and what artist Alan Lee thinks is important to emphasize in his work.