ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

wanderinglinton This is a short film which is not designed to stand on its own, referencing direct and indirect (appendices) parts of the Lord of the Rings books by JRRT, and very deliberately mimicking the style of the Peter Jackson's Tolkien works.It is telling a small part of a very large story which heretofore has not and likely would not be told (on screen), so a bunch of talented people have come together for an extraordinarily modest budget and created something very special.The plot-line is relatively thin - but it is not supposed to hold its own in this aspect - but rather be viewed as an adjunct to the story as already told by others.Some have complained that the principal actors do not have the gravitas of Viggo Mortenson or Ian McKellen .. lol - really? For 3000 quid - all up (reportedly) What are you really expecting? .. given the budget that they were working to - they have done a pretty remarkable job.I read a review that suggested that it ran counter to the PJ versions since they had shown the Mordorites torturing Smeagol/Gollum, but here it shows Gandalf and the elves "torturing" him. Tolkien makes it clear that Gollum was tortured in Mordor revealing the name Baggins and Shire - he says nothing about what Gandalf or the elves did to find out what Sauron had found out. It does not seem at odds in any way with the story as told by JRRT.I think the people involved in this endeavor have done an exceptional job on a very limited budget and should be rightly proud of what they have achieved.Another common voice though I hear through these reviews is - if these guys can do this on a shoestring - why can't Hollywood do better with less. To those people I say - have a look through the IMDb resumes of some of the people involved in this. You will see names like Harry Potter (more than once), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Exodus: Gods and Kings.. etc.. Although these people might have worked for free on this title - they also have to make a living. It is one thing to do one project out of love - a whole other thing to have to pay a mortgage and put kids through school.If you want a complete, independent story shot in a unique fashion - this is not it. If you're prepared to give up 40 minutes to watch some talented people add some more to the tapestry of JRRT's works in the style of Peter Jackson - done on a shoestring budget and done pretty *darn* (apparently I'm not allowed to use my normal expression) well - then this is well worth your time. Kudos to the people involved.

Theo Robertson This is a short film written and directed by Chris Bouchard that cost £3,000 to produce which begs the question how does the average Hollywood cost thousands upon thousands of times thus ? Okay it's an amateur film with a run time of 38 minutes but even so if it was three times longer this would mean it would cost £9,000 . There's shockingly good about a bunch of amateurs getting together to make something so impressive or the other school of thought is it's absolutely disgraceful that Hollywood productions are so expensive in comparison and seems to illustrate how over paid a great number of people are over at the LA dream factory . The technical merits of THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM are every bit as impressive as those seen in the Jackson movies Of course there's a serious fly in the ointment and that is if you're having a film with Aragorn and Gandalf , even if it's a fan made non profit film for the internet then it's going to be a major disappointment if you can't get Viggo Mortensen or Ian McKellen in the roles . Aragorn and Gandalf aren't James Bond or the Doctor from DOCTOR WHO and no offence to Adrian Webster or Patrick O'Connor but they're not in the same league and you're fully conscious that Aragorn is played by an entirely different actor from the Jackson movies . Likewise there seems to be a contrived element that the audience don't get to see Gollum fully until the end of the film since he spends much of the story bundled inside a sack and one suspects his one full appearance at the end is courtesy of a clip from Wingnut Films Not to be too scathing and cynical THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM shows what can be achieved on an absolute shoestring budget and the entire look of the film totally convinces it was shot on location in Middle Earth . I'll repeat it again - what have Hollywood producers been spending their money on if a small fan made film like this that puts Hollywood to shame ?

Max-Maxwell-42 A team of Tolkein fans, with an estimated budget of $3,000, have produced their own addition to Peter Jackson's film series. For such a small budget, it's impressive how close they come at times to reproducing Jackson's big-budget style.The movie takes its inspiration from one of the many appendices to the original novel, events that are hinted at in the first movie. The wizard Gandalf goes to Aragorn with a crucial mission: find Gollum, who knows the location of the One Ring, before Sauron's forces do. Success will allow for more time to plan, failure will result in a forced hand for our heroes, requiring that the ring be moved, with Frodo and the others put in imminent peril. Those who have seen Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring will know how this movie ends, but then that manages to add some more tense elements to the story. If you had some favorite technical element from the movie trilogy, writer/director/producer Chris Bouchard has likely re-created it here on a fraction of the budget. No less than a half- dozen cinematographers were used to evoke the atmosphere and rich, somber colors that helped distinguish the first movie. The score by Adam Langston and Andrew Skrabutenas is less conspicuous and "epic" than the Oscar-winning strings of Howard Shore, but that's perhaps fitting for this small, more personal movie. Gollum is envisioned with creativity, the filmmakers confining him to a burlap sack for most of the movie, yet whoever plays him in the sack, combined with Gareth's Borough's keen impression of Andy Serkis, are a worthy low-budget substitute for Jackson's extensive motion-capture. The appearance of a full-CGI Gollum addressing the camera at the very end was sufficient payoff for me. The acting styles of Adrian Webster and Patrick O'Connor as Aragorn and Gandalf are both quite interesting, surely both were cast in part for their resemblances to Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen respectively. Still, seeing them in their roles on the big screen is not a great stretch of the imagination. Fight choreography was one of the movie's strongest points, Bouchard has a very good eye not only for cat-and-mouse suspense, but complex sword fights. Too often with fan films, (or action/fantasy in general), fight scenes are handled poorly, leading to audience boredom. Far from it here, where the action drew me in a surprising amount. Bouchard and company have created something most impressive, and with a running time of 40 minutes and a price tag of $0, there's really no excuse to not see it. I can only hope that the people behind this movie will have their hard work here recognized, and maybe next time they'll make a movie they can actually profit from. This is likely the best fan film I've seen since Grayson in 2004.

santelmo2000s This Aragorn looks more Celtic than the original. Less 'dirty' and less 'savage'. But he shows great acting skills. The female also looks very convincing. And lovely. What a great starting point for their future acting careers!This story could be included as the original first part of the known trilogy pretty well... It matches with most of the visual and historical parts of the three movies.In what money and pros respects, I guess that this shows that fans have always played an important part of these LOTR films.Congratulations! You've made it! Good for all of us!