The Hobbit Trilogy Discussion Thread

[The Fallen Deity]

I went to watch the movie last night and here's my thoughts on it:

I'm not sure what to think of it.

I liked it but it feels like a really long third act.

I still stand by my opinion that The Hobbit should've only been split into 2 movies and not 3.

3 Movies for The Lord Of The Rings works because the book was split into 3 different parts but The Hobbit is one long story without any parts so splitting it into 3 movies is overkill imo.

Not to mention that the book is over half the length of The Lord Of The Rings.

Whilst I'm on the topic of streching the story out I want to briefly touch upon the whole Extended Editions scenario.

The Theatrical Cuts of The Lord Of The Rings movies had loads of really
important footage cut out of them.

Thankfully all of that footage was added back into the movies for the Extended Editions releases, thus making them the definitive versions of the movies imo.

With The Hobbit though I feel that the story has already been stretched out too much already that adding even more footage to later home video releases is ridiculous.

All in all I liked it but I think it's the worst of the 6 Peter Jackson Middle-Earth movies.

[Pizzamorg]

Put this on my "worst of the year list". It's far too artificial and far too monotonous to really expect much investment in Jackson's cardboard world. I dunno, this film clearly wasn't made for me and perhaps that is the problem here. Maybe if you love these characters, if you cherish your extended box sets of the five films before this then maybe such an unrelenting and grandiose epilogue is gonna give you the horn. Otherwise the film is overwhelming and personally I think it's well and truly time to move on.

[L-Rouge]

Originally Posted by bluearth

I really hate that the "anti soap opera look" people are allowed to train wreck the advancement of film

who would that be?, people on here?. I know I like what HFR does in certain circumstances, but not what happens with the actors.

i've detailed my experiences ad nauseum.

but i am against judging product before seeing it!. hahah

[nerdy916]

I just got back from a employee screening. I loved it. I found Thorian's descent into madness fun to watch. The lead up to the battle was almost as fun to watch as the battle its self. I found the CGI to be fine. Azog looks much better from the first one. There are bit's where the motion capture really shines through with some facial twitches when he is angered. Everybody complains Dain's CGI looks terrible but he looked completely fine except a few "dead eye" shots. My main complaint is Alfrid is played too much for comedy and Legolas is once again Super Elf. Over all 8.5/10

[levcore]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

Put this on my "worst of the year list". It's far too artificial and far too monotonous to really expect much investment in Jackson's cardboard world. I dunno, this film clearly wasn't made for me and perhaps that is the problem here. Maybe if you love these characters, if you cherish your extended box sets of the five films before this then maybe such an unrelenting and grandiose epilogue is gonna give you the horn. Otherwise the film is overwhelming and personally I think it's well and truly time to move on.

But you didn't even watch the second film, to fully understand and enjoy this trilogy, you have to see all three installments.

[Foggy]

I'll check this out either today or tomorrow.

[KOQ24]

saw it yesterday
the script is atrocious

worst one of the tolkien series

-the battles were downright comical
orcs didnt even seem to be a challenge anymore
wb introduced a played out hollywood trope that wasnt in the book
the fact that they finished the smaug battle in part 3 is an absolute ripoff.
the humor was bad
i saw it in 48fps which added to my frustration,it made the cgi really obvious for some reason and it looked like a ****ing tv show
theres a really embarassing character a la jar jar binks in this

the leadup to the battle was good.
theres a nice sequence with galadriel and the nazgul


this proved that the hobbit shoulve never been made into 3 movies.
the writing is embarassing

4/10

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by KOQ24

orcs didnt even seem to be a challenge anymore

While I won't argue with the rest of your points (I haven't even seen the movie myself yet), hasn't this always been the case? This was a problem I had even with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the orcs pose little threat most of the time. Just think back to the Uruk-hai, how they're built up as this new breed of super orcs, then the heroes plow through them; killing some by literally punching them in the face or kicking them in the crotch.

[KOQ24]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

While I won't argue with the rest of your points (I haven't even seen the movie myself yet), hasn't this always been the case? This was a problem I had even with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the orcs pose little threat most of the time. Just think back to the Uruk-hai, how they're built up as this new breed of super orcs, then the heroes plow through them; killing some by literally punching them in the face or kicking them in the crotch.

sure
but its become increasingly worse during the hobbit trilogy

you never saw a hobbit cut through monstrous orcs in the lotr trilogy.
just watch what bilbo does in this and youll ask yourself: " what does he even need a magic ring for?"

i also have to mention that evangeline lilly has some of the cheesiest lines of movie history in this.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by BaerGriggs

Great information here. For those who have ever read The Silmarillion or Children of Hurin, the first fire-breathing dragon named Glaurung was able to cause one to freeze and forget who they are just by looking at them. So I don't see it being that far-fetched that Smaug would have some similar abilities.

This is true, but of course the situation in the Silmarillion was somewhat more complicated by the fact that Glaurung was involved as part of a curse placed by Morgoth upon Hurin and his descendants. In The Hobbit book, it states that Bilbo was in danger of coming under the dragon spell but never fully succumbed to it. My take on the situation is that if Bilbo had actually removed the Ring and therefore became visible, in a matter seconds he would have been a pile of ashes. Similarly, had Frodo shown the Ring to the Nazgul at Osgiliath as Jackson depicted in The Two Towers, there would have been no reason for Sauron to attack Minas Tirith. Instead, he would have emptied his armies out of Mordor and quickly captured the Ring, thus dooming civilization. As Ernest Rister pointed out, these counter-intuitive scenes were added for drama.

[Pizzamorg]

Originally Posted by levcore

But you didn't even watch the second film, to fully understand and enjoy this trilogy, you have to see all three installments.

Maybe hence my point. Not seen much good regarding this film though or the previous instalment though so it doesn't seem like it gets any better if you watch it in order.

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

Maybe hence my point. Not seen much good regarding this film though or the previous instalment though so it doesn't seem like it gets any better if you watch it in order.

Of course it would play better if you watch the 2 hr. 30 min. to 3 hr. (depending on version) film that precedes it.

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by BaerGriggs

So on the Colbert Report last night, Stephen Colbert interviewed Smaug. Pretty hilarious stuff!

That actually sounded like Benedict Cumberbatch doing the voice-work. I guess that must have been fun to do rather just just giving another normal interview (as I imagine all of them are doing a lot o promotional rounds).

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by GenPion

That actually sounded like Benedict Cumberbatch doing the voice-work. I guess that must have been fun to do rather just just giving another normal interview (as I imagine all of them are doing a lot o promotional rounds).

Yeah, unlike the to-do with the Star Wars teaser, that's definitely Cabbagepatch doing the voice. Great skit, loved the Orlando Bloom quip and the 'photo' of Smaug in the mo-cap studio.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

Maybe hence my point. Not seen much good regarding this film though or the previous instalment though so it doesn't seem like it gets any better if you watch it in order.

This is not the kind of trilogy that you can skip an installment on

[Mahatma]

Originally Posted by levcore

This is not the kind of trilogy that you can skip an installment on

I think this is a particularly good kind of trilogy one can skip an installment or two on

[Pizzamorg]

Originally Posted by levcore

This is not the kind of trilogy that you can skip an installment on

I've heard loads of people say nothing happened in the second film, it was just lots of fighting.

[tob]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

I've heard loads of people say nothing happened in the second film, it was just lots of fighting.

The people who said that are not really fans of this series you should watch the first two hobbit movies before you see the third.

[Pizzamorg]

Originally Posted by tob

The people who said that are not really fans of this series you should watch the first two hobbit movies before you see the third.

I saw the first Hobbit film, I found it really really boring.

[Falaskan]

Getting tickets tonight for Wednesday night!!