The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Review Thread (Spoilers)

[Mandalorian]

Originally Posted by Beast

*Chuckles* I like the new style of review. "How long I can hold it is in direct proportion to how much I enjoyed it."

Not sure if you're mocking, or laughing with me, but I thought that was a funny sign of my enjoyment. I pretty much never get up during movies, but I rarely consciously hold it.

[Beast]

No. I'm totally laughing with you. Cause I hated to leave the theater to use the restroom as well.

I just wish I knew the Rivendell sequences were coming up. I had to slip out right before that when the Wargs were closing in on the group.

Rivendell is the natural bathroom break moment, as the film really grinds to a halt there for a bit. And knowing is half the battle.

[Mandalorian]

Originally Posted by Beast

No. I'm totally laughing with you. Cause I hated to leave the theater to use the restroom as well.

I just wish I knew the Rivendell sequences were coming up. I had to slip out right before that when the Wargs were closing in on the group.

Rivendell is the natural bathroom break moment, as the film really grinds to a halt there for a bit. And knowing is half the battle.

Ok cool. Ha, yeah, it hit me like a half hour in and I said nope, not missing a minute. Toughed it out for the rest of the movie.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by Angel Eyes

Maybe because it's not that great? It was "ok" but nothing to write home about in my IMHO. After seeing it I can say that no way does it deserve to be nominated for Best Picture.

Well, its the chasm between the two. It's very close to being rotten instead of fresh. I don't know, maybe everybody from the Tolkien fan clubs are flooding the polls.

Originally Posted by Snicket

And again if you liked it why bother concerning yourself with what critics thought?

Because this is a movie discussion board and it is interesting to bring this up. Specially with a wide margin such as this. Now if I kept on harping about it, you might have a point.

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[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

.

Rotten To-ma-toes rating is NUTS!

Critics have it at 65% while fans have it at 81%

Whats up with dem critics?!


http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_...ected_journey/

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they are all

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by RJ Smoove

I loved it. 4/5 from me. I held it for at least two hours, it was so fun.

Man! I remember during RotK I had to leave right after the Battle of Pelennor fields.

For this one I dehydrated myself a bit before the show and made sure to visit the restroom right before shoooowtime.

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[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by Beast

No. I'm totally laughing with you. Cause I hated to leave the theater to use the restroom as well.

I just wish I knew the Rivendell sequences were coming up. I had to slip out right before that when the Wargs were closing in on the group.

Ahhh man!

You then missed the 'Benny Hill' part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

Ahhh man!

You then missed the 'Benny Hill' part.

I saw most of it. I saw Radagast on his Bunny Sled..., which if they make a toy of I am so buying,... and up to the part a lil while after the Orcs realized where the group was due to the sounds of the Dwarves killing the Warg and it's rider. Then got back in right as they got to Rivendell.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by Beast

I saw most of it. I saw Radagast on his Bunny Sled..., which if they make a toy of I am so buying,...

Just hike out to your local woods and make one. Should only take you about half an hour if you take a roll of duct tape with you.

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[spanky87]

A little disappointed that the shots of Bilbo finding the ring are completely different in Hobbit and FOTR (not including the different actors). It'll stick out when doing a Middle Earth marathon.

[Beast]

By the way.... shame on you for not using this for the Benny Hill comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cFucXYlw94

Sure it's sped-up here. But some of the running scenes in Hobbit looked just like this.

[doctorD]

Watched this morning in IMAX 3D HFR and thought it looked fantastic. I really enjoyed the movie and watching it the way Jackson intended. No regrets. Here's hoping Jackson films 2 and 3 the same way. 4.5/5

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by Beast

By the way.... shame on you for not using this for the Benny Hill comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cFucXYlw94

Sure it's sped-up here. But some of the running scenes in Hobbit looked just like this.

LOL

I can't wait for the Radagast version of that.

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[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by spanky87

A little disappointed that the shots of Bilbo finding the ring are completely different in Hobbit and FOTR (not including the different actors). It'll stick out when doing a Middle Earth marathon.

Yea it was mentioned earlier.

But since in FotR you hear Gollum going nuts that his ring is missing right when Bilbo finds it, it was an inevitable continuity issue anyway.

I am hoping that during filming of the Hobbit that Jackson had Ian Holm reshoot that scene for the re-release of FotR EE without the green tint and }}}black crush{{{.

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[Beast]

The differences between how things happened shown in Fellowship and Hobbit don't really bug me.

The Fellowship version was just a quick recap of the events. And often recaps will tell a slightly different version. Happens all the time in TV Shows when they do a continuing storyline. Sometimes even shooting new scenes or using alternate takes to do something different.

It's just whatever works best to recap the necessary information without showing every moment of the story.

Besides that's one part of the original book that was rewritten by Tolkien anyway. Just assume Bilbo rewrote it also.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by Beast

The differences between how things happened shown in Fellowship and Hobbit don't really bug me.

The Fellowship version was just a quick recap of the events. And often recaps will tell a slightly different version. Happens all the time in TV Shows when they do a continuing storyline.

That is a VERY good point!

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[Becca87]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Where I’m coming from: I read The Hobbit when I was little and liked it. I love Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy; particularly Fellowship. I saw this in 24fps and in 2D (the way I wanted to.) I was skeptical about turning the book into two films and confused about them making it three. Still, I went in with relatively high hopes.

Down to business: It was a pleasure to go back to Middle Earth and we should be thanking our lucky stars that Peter Jackson got to complete his vision too. The cameos from the other films were awesome and Howard Shore’s music is as breathtaking as ever. The production value is amazing; probably as amazing as any movie ever made. That goes a long way…but how far you ask?

A lot of people are saying that it starts out so slow and that it’s long as heck but I didn’t feel that way. I wanted a nice long movie and I thought the pacing was great. Put it this way, when the end credits came up, I was still game to continue. I also think the opening few minutes about the fall of the dwarven city was wonderful.

The movie looks so beautiful…really it’s amazing and shouldn’t be discredited. There are a couple of CG moments where I was conscious that I was watching fake CG, and a couple of times where the dwarves makeup looked fake, but when you consider the size of this undertaking, I’m not casting stones over a few little things like that. Did it make me buy into this fantasy world? Sure. And I can’t ask for more than that.

The thing that I liked least about the movie was the complete disregard for believability in the action scenes. They go to such great lengths to create a believable fantasy world that it’s a shame. When I lose the suspension of disbelief, movies tend to take a nosedive. These characters were all invincible in a cartoony way. It took me right out of it. How could I care about these characters when I know they aren’t in a bit of danger? You can put 1,000 goblins, no 100,000 goblins on the screen, but that doesn’t make it more exciting. I zoned out a couple of times in the last two Lord of the Rings films too during the insane CG battles. It’s too much. I think a lot of the fights with the goblins underground looked very video-gamey. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

I guess I’m the only one who didn’t like the Riddles in the Dark scene but for one simple reason: I couldn’t understand them very well. Especially Gollum; I just didn’t hear all the words in the riddles or his answers. I like the scene in theory and I remember it from the book, but I didn’t think it played too well. I guess the reason is that I don’t really like Gollum. Not in the LOTR trilogy, not here. I’ve never been a fan of the multiple personality stuff and even though his facial expressions are nice and all, I don’t believe him as a real living creature. That’s neither here or there I suppose. I did however love some of his creeping around in this one. When he first comes on screen, it’s pretty exciting. I really liked the “mercy” scene where Bilbo spares Gollum too. I thought that was more emotionally stimulating than any of the fighting.

[Show spoiler]The dragon is only teased in this installment and I’m fine with that. Instead we get an Orc leader and a Goblin King. The concept of the Goblin King is fine but that whole scene was pretty insane. The leader Orc guy was ok I guess. I liked the leader Orc from Fellowship more but I’m not sure why. I guess it has to do with being more emotionally invested in the first film.

I thought the inclusion of the Necromancer and even Radagast didn’t really need to be here. I mean, for the sake of THIS film, they didn’t matter. Maybe they will in the next movies, but their inclusion may have hurt this particular film as a standalone experience. I’ve seen people calling Radagast the Jar-Jar Binx of this movie. I’m not here to defend his inclusion because as I said, I don’t think he really mattered in this movie at all. But I had no problem with him. He likes CG animals, seems like a nut and is more like a character out of Narnia, but I don’t think he was eye-roll inducing or anything. I was more worried that the wolves or eagles would talk because I believe they do in the book from what I remember. I just don’t love the idea of animals with English accents in the middle of this live-action adventure. Call me crazy.

There aren’t any women in this movie. Cate Blanchett is beautiful and in it for like three minutes but that’s it! This is a boys being boys story. That’s okay, I’m fine with that. I was kind of hoping to see Evangeline Lilly as an elf but I guess that will have to wait. The acting is pretty good all around. The main dwarf guy who is played by Richard Armitage is pretty fantastic. That guy has it going on. I think Martin Freeman was a pretty good Bilbo too. He does at times feel like a supporting character though. Then again, maybe he is supposed to be.

[Show spoiler]I thought the three trolls scene would have been better if it was just Bilbo caught and he should have tried to stall them until morning came. I didn’t think Gandolf coming and breaking a rock mattered. The sun would have come up in ten minutes anyway. Whatever.

Anyway, I liked the experience of watching this film for the spectacle; even though it might be easier to point out things that I didn’t like. I thought it fell a little flat in the emotional investment and logic department. Really the only thing that made me emotional was the music. I also really view this film as the first three hours of a ten hour movie. It’s hard to judge the movie because I haven’t seen it yet.

3/4 stars

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by Becca87

[Show spoiler]The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

*possible spoilers*

Where I’m coming from: I read The Hobbit when I was little and liked it. I love Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy; particularly Fellowship. I saw this in 24fps and in 2D (the way I wanted to.) I was skeptical about turning the book into two films and confused about them making it three. Still, I went in with relatively high hopes.

Down to business: It was a pleasure to go back to Middle Earth and we should be thanking our lucky stars that Peter Jackson got to complete his vision too. The cameos from the other films were awesome and Howard Shore’s music is as breathtaking as ever. The production value is amazing; probably as amazing as any movie ever made. That goes a long way…but how far you ask?

A lot of people are saying that it starts out so slow and that it’s long as heck but I didn’t feel that way. I wanted a nice long movie and I thought the pacing was great. Put it this way, when the end credits came up, I was still game to continue. I also think the opening few minutes about the fall of the dwarven city was wonderful.

The movie looks so beautiful…really it’s amazing and shouldn’t be discredited. There are a couple of CG moments where I was conscious that I was watching fake CG, and a couple of times where the dwarves makeup looked fake, but when you consider the size of this undertaking, I’m not casting stones over a few little things like that. Did it make me buy into this fantasy world? Sure. And I can’t ask for more than that.

The thing that I liked least about the movie was the complete disregard for believability in the action scenes. They go to such great lengths to create a believable fantasy world that it’s a shame. When I lose the suspension of disbelief, movies tend to take a nosedive. These characters were all invincible in a cartoony way. It took me right out of it. How could I care about these characters when I know they aren’t in a bit of danger? You can put 1,000 goblins, no 100,000 goblins on the screen, but that doesn’t make it more exciting. I zoned out a couple of times in the last two Lord of the Rings films too during the insane CG battles. It’s too much. I think a lot of the fights with the goblins underground looked very video-gamey. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

I guess I’m the only one who didn’t like the Riddles in the Dark scene but for one simple reason: I couldn’t understand them very well. Especially Gollum; I just didn’t hear all the words in the riddles or his answers. I like the scene in theory and I remember it from the book, but I didn’t think it played too well. I guess the reason is that I don’t really like Gollum. Not in the LOTR trilogy, not here. I’ve never been a fan of the multiple personality stuff and even though his facial expressions are nice and all, I don’t believe him as a real living creature. That’s neither here or there I suppose. I did however love some of his creeping around in this one. When he first comes on screen, it’s pretty exciting. I really liked the “mercy” scene where Bilbo spares Gollum too. I thought that was more emotionally stimulating than any of the fighting.

The dragon is only teased in this installment and I’m fine with that. Instead we get an Orc leader and a Goblin King. The concept of the Goblin King is fine but that whole scene was pretty insane. The leader Orc guy was ok I guess. I liked the leader Orc from Fellowship more but I’m not sure why. I guess it has to do with being more emotionally invested in the first film.

I thought the inclusion of the Necromancer and even Radagast didn’t really need to be here. I mean, for the sake of THIS film, they didn’t matter. Maybe they will in the next movies, but their inclusion may have hurt this particular film as a standalone experience. I’ve seen people calling Radagast the Jar-Jar Binx of this movie. I’m not here to defend his inclusion because as I said, I don’t think he really mattered in this movie at all. But I had no problem with him. He likes CG animals, seems like a nut and is more like a character out of Narnia, but I don’t think he was eye-roll inducing or anything. I was more worried that the wolves or eagles would talk because I believe they do in the book from what I remember. I just don’t love the idea of animals with English accents in the middle of this live-action adventure. Call me crazy.

There aren’t any women in this movie. Cate Blanchett is beautiful and in it for like three minutes but that’s it! This is a boys being boys story. That’s okay, I’m fine with that. I was kind of hoping to see Evangeline Lilly as an elf but I guess that will have to wait. The acting is pretty good all around. The main dwarf guy who is played by Richard Armitage is pretty fantastic. That guy has it going on. I think Martin Freeman was a pretty good Bilbo too. He does at times feel like a supporting character though. Then again, maybe he is supposed to be.

I thought the three trolls scene would have been better if it was just Bilbo caught and he should have tried to stall them until morning came. I didn’t think Gandolf coming and breaking a rock mattered. The sun would have come up in ten minutes anyway. Whatever.

Anyway, I liked the experience of watching this film for the spectacle; even though it might be easier to point out things that I didn’t like. I thought it fell a little flat in the emotional investment and logic department. Really the only thing that made me emotional was the music. I also really view this film as the first three hours of a ten hour movie. It’s hard to judge the movie because I haven’t seen it yet.

3/4 stars

Great review and welcome aboard Becca.

[Show spoiler]
Yea I agree with quite a bit that you said. When everybody was dangling off of the cliff near the end I thought that was overdone because we all knew that no one was going to fall off of it. And Jackson just kept adding and adding and adding to it.

I also somewhat agree with your riddles in the dark scene also, as I could not understand some of Gollums lines either. Plus I feel that scene should have been much darker. There was way too much light coming from different sources that kinda ruined the Gollum cave creepiness for me. But...Gollum looked fantastic though.

Also I agree about Gandalfs troll rescue scene too. One of them mentions that they need to hurry and cook them before sunrise, and then a minute later Gandalf shows up and breaks the rock and destroys them. - LOL -

BTW, to use the spoiler tags, just highlight the text and click that blindfolded smilie at the top of the edit bar.

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[42041]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

I also somewhat agree with your riddles in the dark scene also, as I could not understand some of Gollums lines either. Plus I feel that scene should have been much darker. There was way too much light coming from different sources that kinda ruined the Gollum cave creepiness for me. But...Gollum looked fantastic though.

I think that was one of my biggest issues with the cinematography. Maybe they felt shooting 3D required bright imagery, but Gollum's cave looked like a studio set with a bunch of fluorescent lights hanging right off camera...

[Duffy12]

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Oh man!

I just remembered one of my favorite new characters from the film.

[Show spoiler]The Goblin Kings messenger doing dictation that was on that zip line.

Was he not AWESOME! I LOVED the little guy.

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