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

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by L-Rouge

i have not read the book in six years (decided not to re-read) my take on it cinematically

[Show spoiler]He saw the hand switch hiding "something", and it was enough for me at least to see Gandalf had to let that moment pass, so I reckon a suspicion was raised, specifically the "One"? don't think so. I reckon it was cool to at least see that Gandalf observes "much", if only that Bilbo was not entirely forthcoming and/or something was not right with the situation.

That comes up in the LOTR novel - that Bilbo lies about the Ring right from the outset, and Gandalf knew something was up in that moment. He just didn't know what Bilbo was hiding.

I remember how they handled it in the Rankin Bass animated film. Gandalf hears Bilbo's story, and then says something along the lines of, "Your story has the ring of truth about it, yes, it rings true. We best be moving on."

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by Serendipity

I stopped reading Rotten Tomatoes a few years ago. It's almost as if the critics wanted to hate this film. If the movie plays well to the fans and general audiences, it wouldn't matter that some stuffy critic decides it isn't up to par. The biggest issue has been the light nature of it, which seems to stem from the comparison to the tone of LOTR. Oh, and that too much time was spent in The Shire. Honestly, the series has lacked time there and seeing day to day Hobbit life was quite enjoyable to me.

Judging from the fan reviews and general audiences, it was mostly successful and in terms of these type of films that's all that matters. It does boggle the mind that The Avengers, which I adore as well, is rated higher. The Avengers is just three major set pieces - Stark Tower, The Helicarrier, and Downtown NY. The Hobbit didn't have five lead up films and wasn't short of character development the way The Avengers was. We had to get introduced to young Bilbo, Thorin and the other Dwarves. My point is that critics are unpredictable and they change their reasoning when its convenient to boost certain films.

That is certainly how it looked to me. For at least a year now, critics have been rooting for this film to fail, have slanted every piece of news negatively, and basically tried to shoehorn this thing into being the next "Phantom Menace"... hell, some of these guys were blatant about it, and wrote their reviews specifically in the context of comparing it to 'Phantom Menace'.

Jackson saw it coming, a decade away. That's why he originally didn't want to do it, he didn't want to go through the same crap Lucas went through.

[lifepawn]

Setting aside my opinions on the movie, which are mostly negative, I have a question for people here as its been decades since I read the book. Did Hobbits really have mailboxes? I know the Shire is bigger than what we see in the pull-away shots but I didn't think it had mailmen (or mailbits?) delivering packages and stuff.

[Captain Kirk]

Originally Posted by lifepawn

Setting aside my opinions on the movie, which are mostly negative, I have a question for people here as its been decades since I read the book. Did Hobbits really have mailboxes? I know the Shire is bigger than what we see in the pull-away shots but I didn't think it had mailmen (or mailbits?) delivering packages and stuff.

As far as I know, they did. They are featured in some video games too.

[Captain Kirk]

Originally Posted by mjbethancourt

That is certainly how it looked to me. For at least a year now, critics have been rooting for this film to fail, have slanted every piece of news negatively, and basically tried to shoehorn this thing into being the next "Phantom Menace"... hell, some of these guys were blatant about it, and wrote their reviews specifically in the context of comparing it to 'Phantom Menace'.

Jackson saw it coming, a decade away. That's why he originally didn't want to do it, he didn't want to go through the same crap Lucas went through.

I don't see the comparison some of them have had at all. It's not like the film come in and changed the entire mythology that was built in the prior movies. Radagast was not the Jar Jar of the series, he actually had a purpose in the film. I don't get the swift change, but I guess flip flopping is so common nowadays that they went that direction.

[singhcr]

Overall it is an enjoyable movie but the main thing that hurt it for me was the pacing. Fellowship is a very similar type of movie where the group is trying to get to a destination and encounters challenges along the way, but FOTR flowed very well and didn't lag on scenes and I still felt like I got to know the characters.

In the Hobbit, we hardly knew any of the dwarves. There was a bit of a backstory on the main dwarf but I knew nothing about the others so it's hard to identify with their plight. Jackson also had a tendency to spend a lot of time on individual scenes. The movie just came to a halt when

[Show spoiler]they encountered the troll cave, for example.

I also thought the movie had a strange glossy look to it which I don't think fits the tone of the film, but I generally don't care for the look of digital photography anyway so that isn't a huge deal, I suppose. I much preferred the gritty look of FOTR, even though the Hobbit is supposed to be lighter in tone.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by lifepawn

Setting aside my opinions on the movie, which are mostly negative, I have a question for people here as its been decades since I read the book. Did Hobbits really have mailboxes? I know the Shire is bigger than what we see in the pull-away shots but I didn't think it had mailmen (or mailbits?) delivering packages and stuff.

In the books they had mail. The first chapter talks about sending invitations to Bilbo's birthday party and post office being flooded with mail.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by lifepawn

Setting aside my opinions on the movie, which are mostly negative, I have a question for people here as its been decades since I read the book. Did Hobbits really have mailboxes? I know the Shire is bigger than what we see in the pull-away shots but I didn't think it had mailmen (or mailbits?) delivering packages and stuff.

Originally Posted by radagast

In the books they had mail. The first chapter talks about sending invitations to Bilbo's birthday party and post office being flooded with mail.

Apart from a few figureheads (The Mayor of Michel Delving, The Master of Buckland, The Took) the postal service and shiriffs/bounders seem to be the only semblance of government organizations in the Shire. I have always wondered how these were supported, as there is no mention of a tax collection system. The Shire would have been a Tea Party/Libertarian's dream.

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

Apart from a few figureheads (The Mayor of Michel Delving, The Master of Buckland, The Took) the postal service and shiriffs/bounders seem to be the only semblance of government organizations in the Shire. I have always wondered how these were supported, as there is no mention of a tax collection system. The Shire would have been a Tea Party/Libertarian's dream.

I always took the Shire to be a cashless society of bartering farmers, so civil-servants would just be paid amish-style, with community efforts to build them a house, and consumable-goods vendors and other services basically giving them a free line of credit, like diners and five-and-tens used to do with cops back in the days.

Maybe more of a hippie's dream... or maybe that's just a paradigm imposed by the social climate of the times in which Tolkien's writing achieved popularity.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by mjbethancourt

I always took the Shire to be a cashless society of bartering farmers, so civil-servants would just be paid amish-style, with community efforts to build them a house, and consumable-goods vendors and other services basically giving them a free line of credit, like diners and five-and-tens used to do with cops back in the days.

I imagine shirriffs and postmen would have been frequent guests of The Green Dragon.

[blakeyamc]

This made me laugh and addresses some of the issues being discussed.

How The Hobbit Should Have Ended - YouTube

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

I imagine shirriffs and postmen would have been frequent guests of The Green Dragon.

Beats the hell out of a doughnut shop.

[Witch King of Angmar]

Originally Posted by blakeyamc

This made me laugh and addresses some of the issues being discussed.

How The Hobbit Should Have Ended - YouTube

hahaha one of the best How it should have ended videos.

[Rudeboy2025]

Originally Posted by blakeyamc

This made me laugh and addresses some of the issues being discussed.

How The Hobbit Should Have Ended - YouTube

But...but...no LOTR then?

Hilarious vid!

[L-Rouge]

Originally Posted by blakeyamc

This made me laugh and addresses some of the issues being discussed.

How The Hobbit Should Have Ended - YouTube

whats that ring you put in your pocket bilbo?.!

[Show spoiler]
actually that was beautifully illustrated

[radagast]

Originally Posted by LordCrumb

Ahhh what?

[Show spoiler]Radagast ran away from a ring wraith.. he didn't fight it at all.

Nope.

[Show spoiler] At about 1:14 into the movie, Radagast is telling Gandalf about visiting Dol Guldur. He says "A dark power dwells there, like I've never felt before. It is the shadow of an ancient horror. One that can summon the spirits of the dead." Right then a wraith rises from the stone walls or a statue. The wraith CLEARLY has a CROWN. I think it looks like The Witch-King. The ringwraith has a sword and tries to strike Radagast 3 times. Each time Radagast blocks the strike with his staff. After the third time, something happens to the ringwraith and you hear a shriek and the ringwraith's sword falls to the ground.

Radagast then says, "I saw him Gandalf. From out of the darkness, The Necromancer has come." THEN Radagast flees.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by ashedmaniac

If you want to get technical, it sounds like the ringwraith fought him.

[Show spoiler]The point is Radagast didn't run from the Ringwraith. They both fought each other. There is nothing in what I said that implies who attacked first. Your getting technical about nothing.

I am convinced that it was the Witch King that attacked Radagast. After blowing smoke out of his ears, Radagast gives the sword to Gandalf and says "That is not...from the world...of the living". Then at about 1:37, Galadriel talks telepathically to Gandalf and tells him to show the sword. After Elrond pulls the cloth back to reveal the blade, Elrond says "A Morgol Blade." Galadriel then says "...made for the Witch-King of Angmar".

The only logical conclusion is that it was The Witch-king that Radagast defended himself against. The same Witch-king that easily knocked Gandalf The White of his horse in ROTK. RUBBISH!!!

[Bageara]

Originally Posted by radagast

[Show spoiler]The point is Radagast didn't run from the Ringwraith. They both fought each other. There is nothing in what I said that implies who attacked first. Your getting technical about nothing.

I am convinced that it was the Witch King that attacked Radagast. After blowing smoke out of his ears, Radagast gives the sword to Gandalf and says "That is not...from the world...of the living". Then at about 1:37, Galadriel talks telepathically to Gandalf and tells him to show the sword. After Elrond pulls the cloth back to reveal the blade, Elrond says "A Morgol Blade." Galadriel then says "...made for the Witch-King of Angmar".

The only logical conclusion is that it was The Witch-king that Radagast defended himself against. The same Witch-king that easily knocked Gandalf The White of his horse in ROTK. RUBBISH!!!

The Witch King is at full strength when he fights Gandalf the White. Radagast only fights the spirit of the Witch King summoned by the Necromancer, probably how Radagast was able to fend him off quite easily

[Beast]

Are you guys really debating the definition of "fought"? What's next... "is"?

[Show spoiler]Yes it was the Witch-King of Angmar that Radagast faced off with. The design of the specter and Galadrial both confirm that. And given he manages to acquire it's sword before he flees to find Gandalf to warn him of the evil that's rising in Dol Guldur, I would say he certainly came off as the winner in that fight.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by Bageara

The Witch King is at full strength when he fights Gandalf the White. Radagast only fights the spirit of the Witch King summoned by the Necromancer, probably how Radagast was able to fend him off quite easily

Gandalf was also "The White". He was more powerful than he was before. He is also a Maia, and the Witch-King was a man. Gandalf the Grey defeated and killed a Balrog. Gandalf the White also drove away several Ringwraiths who were attacking Faramir as he was trying to get back to Minas Tirith. My point remains: it is a contradiction.