i haven't read them, but the premise is cool enough.

I'm on Book 3 of that Termeraire/His Majesty's Dragon series, I know Peter Jackson bought the rights to it, it's like MASTER & COMMANDER crossed with LORD OF THE RINGS with a touch of PIRATES OF CARIBBEAN in it's fun and lighter moments

Would love to see a Dragonlance movie, but I doubt they'll do it right.

Of course the "winning" dragon so far is Vermithrax from DRAGONSLAYER.

But a big budget live action version...it has everything. Dragons all over the place, good and bad, bad ass motherfuckers with big ass swords, a real tangible villain unlike LOTR and Raistlin would be this generation's Darth Vader.

And it has an actual story and much more interesting characters than LOTR. But it won't happen. Unless I, a lowly editor get enough clout in the industry to make it happen. Yeah, right.

I thought the Dragonslayer dragon was great as well as the biggie in Reign of Fire. Of course, Smaug will rule all when it comes out. Bow down before the Greatest And Chiefest of Calamities!

do it.

"turn the page, when you hear the chimes ring, like this..."

I realize there would be no Drganlance if it wasn't for LOTR.

Back to the recent Dragonlance animation. Yeah, the art was sucktastic. I can't believe how bad it was in this day of animation. And Sturm didn't have freaking horns on his helmet! That defined that bastart! How can you not have the horns!?

Raistlin and Lord Soth.....coolest/scariest onscreen villains/anti-heroes of the fantasy realm.

It was already mentioned on this board that all of these other fantasy stories would most likely not be around if Tolkein hadn't written his, but to say that Tolkeins books are the upmost, absolute best is ridiculous. Some of that stuff is so complicated to read. The way the Dragonlance stories are setup up is in another world, with another story, and other characters.

To say that they both can't be great is absurd, because (imo) the Dragonlance trilogies were written better than the LOTR trilogy. It's not delusional. It's great authoring.

And yes, Dragonslayer still holds up well today. Although the young ladyfolk of that village would be shagging like minx if they had any brains. And MacNichol rocks the perm fro.

'The Forgotten Beasts of Eld' by Patricia McKillip might make a decent flick... The 'Dragonbone Chair' has one 'live' dragon in it. Also would be a great live-action trilogy. It's Tolkien-esque, but different enough to set it apart from the Jackson films (WETA either consciously or inadvertently copied the Asian-inspired aesthetic for it's Elves from Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn's Elf analogue the Sithi). Eustace turns into a dragon in the third Narnia book, if they make another one of those crappy movies... Oh, and Falkor was modeled after Chinese dragons -- Leung, by he way.

...That means you spent TWO HUNDERED MILLION DOLLARS to come in behind a crappy import Korean movie! Nice going, Fox!

And if you think the Hickman's are better authors than Tolkein, fine, that IS your opinion, after all. However, if you want to debate that subject then be prepared to do it on grounds other than personal taste. What is your argument that their works are superior, in a literary sense, to Tolkien's? “Great authoring” is still just your opinion and, surely, you recognize there are many, many books published on that very subject concerning Tolkien’s works? How many books can you name that argue for the Hickman’s in that sense?

Now, what you see as "complicated" I see as rich depth entirely worthy of my time to delve into and comprehend. How else can one get the whole mythology of Arda without understanding the Silmarillion, for example? Is the entire beginning and thousands of years of a planet and its people complicated? Are there lots and lots of names? Yes, how wonderful! On the surface, of course, it requires a bit of patience but it's worth it in the end. I can assure you I'm not the brightest jewel in the crown and if I can get it anyone can.

The Hobbit, on the other hand, is easily understood and can be appreciated by many age levels. After all, Tolkien re-wrote much of it for the 1966 edition to bring it in line with his “Hobbit sequel” and respond to his children chastising him for talking down to his audience.

Finally (yay!), I hope a Dragonlance movie turns out well and is a huge financial success to boot. Though for me, they are pale shadows of Tolkiens works and I put ‘em down after the first book, I still want them to succeed and please their fan base. I certainly plan to see it.

You have your opinions, I have mine but don't call me a troll because I have an opinion you disagree with.

Partial answers, anyway, to your "question": Yes, what Dingbatty said. It would've been too risky. More pointedly, they were forbidden by Manwe (Uh-oh, there’s that Silmarillion stuff again!) to directly interfere. You’ll notice in all of Tolkien’s stories, the eagle’s only help after the fact. Yes, they directly intervened in the Battle of Five Armies but you’ll please notice that was also to settle a score with the Goblins of the Misty Mountains.

Why don’t you also ask why they didn’t help Gandalf defeat the Balrog atop Zirak-zigil? Notice one only carried Gandalf back to Lorien after his spirit was sent back into his body (Manwe once more) where, again, we see an eagle only helping indirectly. It’s not like the eagles were subordinates of Gandalf and he could just order them around at will. Yes, they would provide help in desperate situations, if asked. They were always, like Gandalf, acting under the direction of Manwe.

Now, to be objective about it, yes, I think they could’ve done it if we only consider the physical act itself. The eagles were definitely speedier than the Nazgul’s fell beasties and Sauron was obviously distracted by the attack on the Black Gate. However, there’s much more to it than that one-dimensional viewpoint. Please consider all the other factors before you conjure up the notion of some glaring plot hole. Hey, Google the question if you want answers from people a heck of a lot smarter than me.

Short answer: Tolkien realized there was no way Gollum would've willingly handed over the Ring to Bilbo after he won the Riddle Game in the first printing of the Hobbit.