The Last March of the Ents

October 1, 2011 9:01 PM

The Battle of Isengard from Lord of the Rings, depicted in 22,000 LEGO bricks.
posted by joannemerriam (37 comments total)

I love these complex LEGO scenes that people create - but the amount of detail in this one is just insane!
posted by polywomp at 9:16 PM on October 1, 2011

"White! " he sneered. "It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken."
posted by Chrysostom at 9:22 PM on October 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

This orc is playing the pig skin with fish sticks. Rock on, little orc.
posted by troll at 9:30 PM on October 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

Wow.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:32 PM on October 1, 2011

.....I think I have a minecraft related insecurity issue now.
posted by The Whelk at 10:01 PM on October 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I believe you meant to say "22,000 legos."

Description! Not prescription! Hey! Ho!
posted by 1adam12 at 10:52 PM on October 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

The visualization of 22,000 wasted seconds.
posted by Cerulean at 11:36 PM on October 1, 2011

What the fuck. This is without a doubt the coolest thing I have ever seen made from Lego. And that is saying a lot.
posted by chemoboy at 11:55 PM on October 1, 2011

Not to knock this, because it is super awesome, but the water probably increases the total number of bricks by a couple of thousand, but it's just a pile of 1x1s. I understand counting it towards the total, but it still kinda feels like cheating.
posted by BurnChao at 12:05 AM on October 2, 2011

In the UK nobody I know calls them Legos : the plural is Lego bricks. Legos is a US thing I think.
posted by pharm at 12:50 AM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

Since it seems to be modeled after the movie, it'd be nice to see the underground sections as well.

Still, an amazing feat. Cool stuff.
posted by jiawen at 12:54 AM on October 2, 2011

That's funny, BurnChao, I came to say that the water was my favourite part!
posted by Tarumba at 1:13 AM on October 2, 2011

Cerulean: "The visualization of 22,000 wasted seconds."

Says the person writing a comment on Metafilter.

To my dying day I will never understand the human urge to devalue the chosen leisure time activities of everyone but themselves. Because you see, surfing the internet is useful! Whereas these nerds have too much time on their hands. Riiiiiight.

But yeah, very cool. Someone should send this to Weta Workshop, bet the model builders there would get a kick out of it.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:14 AM on October 2, 2011 [20 favorites]

I'm with you like crazy, Happy Dave. Usually "Ugh, (s)he has a lot of time to waste" sounds to me like "I feel insecure and threatened because someone else is doing cool shit, while I'm just here watching Chicago for the tenth time".

That's the kind of thing I do on my least productive days, anyway.
posted by Tarumba at 1:43 AM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

That... is seriously awesome.
posted by Defying Gravity at 3:01 AM on October 2, 2011

I should add, the part of The Two Towers movie where the Ent on fire rushes to the water to put himself out never fails to make me giggle.
posted by Defying Gravity at 3:09 AM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

I like the background noise in this video which implies that not only can these guys build some serious legos, but they also apparently possess a FLYING BABY.
posted by gwint at 5:15 AM on October 2, 2011

They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!
posted by blue_beetle at 5:19 AM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

I love this in all ways but one. This isn't just the battle of Isengard, is the battle of Isengard as depicted in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Films.
I miss the pre-movie days when the look of LOTR wasn't so set.

but still, very cool.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 6:19 AM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

The lack of underground caverns betrays a disturbing lack of true obsession. I'm not sure how seriously I can take this.
posted by OmieWise at 7:11 AM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

Also: Very cool!
posted by OmieWise at 7:11 AM on October 2, 2011

Defying Gravity: Peter Jackson is a master of slapstick death. When I first heard he was doing Lord of the Rings, I was actually a little concerned because of that, but it works really well in his battle scenes, I think.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:23 AM on October 2, 2011

To my dying day I will never understand the human urge to devalue the chosen leisure time activities of everyone but themselves. Because you see, surfing the internet is useful! Whereas these nerds have too much time on their hands. Riiiiiight.

When I have displayed my LEGO creations for the public, I occasionally get the "You sure have a lot of time on your hands!" comment. My reply is usually "It's amazing how much time you have if you don't sit in front of the TV." I don't say it in a confrontational way, but with a smile. I go on to explain that I didn't sit down and build in one long marathon session, but a few hours here and there, on evenings and weekends. It helps people get past the mom's-basement-loser-nerd stereotype in their head and see that most of us LEGO fans are regular folks, too, and we just have a geeky hobby.

If any of you are in the Seattle area, Isengard is on display right NOW, at Brickcon.

The io9 article mentions Brickcon, but I didn't want anyone to miss it.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:23 AM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

The visualization of 22,000 wasted seconds.

The battle cry of non-contributing zeroes. Show us what you make in your spare time, or STFU.
posted by Scoo at 7:56 AM on October 2, 2011 [5 favorites]

Who's the guy in the tie?
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 8:41 AM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

As to the debate b/w 22,000 wasted seconds vs. non-contributing, Metafilter reading zeroes:

Honestly, I do feel differently about someone spending all this time with Legos, recreating a movie scene, and someone engaged in more original expression or helping the homeless. But I also recognize that others' tastes differ, and that it's not feasible to divert another person's energies anyway.

At the same time, I also think there is a difference in scale b/w reading Metafilter and doing this, and also a difference in that the person reading Metafilter isn't holding himself out as proud for that.

So I can disagree with the force of Cerulean's comment, but not be inclined to counter-bash him. I doubt there's a person among us who genuinely, uncritically appreciates every other person's obsession, and I don't begrudge the critical comment, even if it is likely to be overwhelmed by the audience for this particular creation.

I favor Fleebnork's approach.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 8:54 AM on October 2, 2011

What baffles me is how anybody can think it only takes one second a brick to build something like this. Even basic sets take longer on a seconds/brick basis. So clearly Cerulean saw some inefficiency in how the set was built, an inefficiency that accounts for exactly 22,000 seconds, and that's what they were critiquing.
posted by kmz at 9:01 AM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

Saruman's last words
posted by homunculus at 1:01 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

The real horror of this battle is that they are all stepping on lego.
posted by srboisvert at 3:33 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

In the UK nobody I know calls them Legos : the plural is Lego bricks. Legos is a US thing I think.

Not all legos are bricks. Stick that in your pants!
posted by srboisvert at 3:35 PM on October 2, 2011

I love this in all ways but one. This isn't just the battle of Isengard, is the battle of Isengard as depicted in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Films. I miss the pre-movie days when the look of LOTR wasn't so set.


Yeah, that's kind of how I feel, too. This looks pretty awesome, though.
posted by pemberkins at 4:14 PM on October 2, 2011

I should add, the part of The Two Towers movie where the Ent on fire rushes to the water to put himself out never fails to make me giggle.

Really? I always feel so relieved when he dunks his head in the cool river to put out the fire! I hate seeing him on fire.
posted by misha at 4:35 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

The Ents were used!!
posted by dreyfusfinucane at 6:18 PM on October 2, 2011

Well, as the chap who masterminded the re-creation of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in candy and frosting a few Christmases back put it:

I figured I’d remark on the most common comment from last year: “You guys have way too much time on your hands.” Not really, but we certainly found the time. All told this year’s project took about seven days of off and on work. I guess we’re just better at turning off the TV than most. Oh, and also, if you’re not using your free time to do stuff like this, what the hell else are you doing with it?

Word on that. His team also did a fantastic Mines of Moria.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:11 PM on October 2, 2011

if you’re not using your free time to do stuff like this, what the hell else are you doing with it?

Agghh. I guess I should block metafilter from the router again, then. sigh.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 7:35 PM on October 2, 2011

Really? I always feel so relieved when he dunks his head in the cool river to put out the fire! I hate seeing him on fire.


Hehe, don't get me wrong, I'm glad he puts the fire out; I just find the way he rushes to the water and ducks his head into it hilarious.
posted by Defying Gravity at 8:25 PM on October 2, 2011

Not all legos are bricks. Stick that in your pants!

In the UK the collective term is just "Lego" as in "Go play with your Lego." There is no singular "Lego" vs. plural "Legos", all is Lego. Grammatically it's like "sheep".
posted by pharm at 5:30 AM on October 3, 2011