The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies / The Hobbit Trilogy - March 24, 2015

[BaerGriggs]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

Better question is why the Eagles couldn't have just dropped them off at the steps of Erebor at the end of the first movie instead of leaving them at the top of that weird stone pillar... talk about inconvenient (I know it's explained in the book why the Eagles didn't take them all the way, but the movies never bothered).

Just from using the books as a reference in which the Eagles could actually speak, I believe they told Gandalf and the Dwarves something along the lines of they wouldn't be welcome in the area of Lake-Town and the Lonely Mountain because of Eagles' tendency to steal the livestock of the local population.

Obviously not that great of an explanation but basically although Tolkien used them several times in his writing, he at least tried to not have them be the sole reason a quest was successful. In the mythology of the books, they were literally deus ex machina.

[Jbug]

Originally Posted by rickah88

As I've done 5 times, previously, I'll be getting this and the EE!
Take my damn money Tolkien and Jackson!!

I always buy both too but also always sell the non EE version and use the money on the EE.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Jbug

I always buy both too but also always sell the non EE version and use the money on the EE.

Haha, I always plan on doing that very same thing...alas I've failed to do it 5/6 times!
I don't mind, as both LotR and The Hobbit releases(even going back to dvd) have been done so well...they have won me over, each and every time. I don't mind supporting the effort that, clearly, goes into all these releases.

[Zillamon51]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

Hmm, I preferred the Barrel Riders one myself, but I do agree with you--anything for a Smaug statue (what an obvious missed opportunity the last go-around).

I was livid when the Barrel Riders statue was unveiled. My rant on that got me suspended for a couple weeks. I initially passed on the Dwarves of Erebor set because I was so sure Smaug was coming. I've had a time tracking it down since.

[gregmasciola]

Originally Posted by BaerGriggs

Just from using the books as a reference in which the Eagles could actually speak, I believe they told Gandalf and the Dwarves something along the lines of they wouldn't be welcome in the area of Lake-Town and the Lonely Mountain because of Eagles' tendency to steal the livestock of the local population.

Obviously not that great of an explanation but basically although Tolkien used them several times in his writing, he at least tried to not have them be the sole reason a quest was successful. In the mythology of the books, they were literally deus ex machina.

Yeah, if I were Gandalf, I would have just said, "then why the f*** don't you just fly around Lake-Town? It's a small town, so I don't think it would take you too far out of your way. You eagles are just f***ing lazy!"

[Zillamon51]

I haven't read the book, but the movie clearly shows a small bird whacking a nut against the mountain gets Smaug stirring. So a flock of giant eagles landing on the doorstep is probably not a good idea. There is also dialogue early on saying that birds returning to the mountain is a good thing, like maybe the dragon departed or died. So maybe birds just have a thing against dragons and avoid them. Good enough for me.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by BaerGriggs

Just from using the books as a reference in which the Eagles could actually speak, I believe they told Gandalf and the Dwarves something along the lines of they wouldn't be welcome in the area of Lake-Town and the Lonely Mountain because of Eagles' tendency to steal the livestock of the local population.

Obviously not that great of an explanation but basically although Tolkien used them several times in his writing, he at least tried to not have them be the sole reason a quest was successful. In the mythology of the books, they were literally deus ex machina.

From what I remember, there was also some explanation about how the Eagles are not beasts of burden, and are just basically doing Gandalf a solid by getting them out of a tough situation (which ends up becoming more and more frequent as Hobbit/LOTR goes on haha). I don't remember the thing you're saying about them not being welcome due to stealing livestock but I'm sure they could've found a way to get to the steps of Erebor without flying near Dale and scaring the good Laketown folks. Like you said, not a great explanation, but Jackson should've at least tried to address it rather than ignore it altogether. In LOTR it made sense for the Eagles not to fly all the way into Mordor because the giant friggin eye would've seen them coming from miles away; there's no such reason here.

Originally Posted by gregmasciola

I was thinking the same thing! It didn't look like it would be that much of a longer journey for the Eagles.
I think they're mainly there to help the characters out of tough situations, not to be a taxi service.

Yup, basically. But given how they're literally always available to help out, I don't think the Eagles have super busy lives anyway that they couldn't help out for a couple more hours and save the quest some badly needed time and energy

[poke smot]

Originally Posted by xcghhg

Gee whiz, wonder why the 3D version has way worse cover art?

Just keeping the pattern of the other 3d releases: one of the main characters on the front.

[Jbug]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Haha, I always plan on doing that very same thing...alas I've failed to do it 5/6 times!
I don't mind, as both LotR and The Hobbit releases(even going back to dvd) have been done so well...they have won me over, each and every time. I don't mind supporting the effort that, clearly, goes into all these releases.

How do you sell yours? I sell mine on Amazon using my seller account. I've never had a problem selling movies there.

[Chaotic]

Atleast the 3D cover actually looks like a 3D cover with the sword sticking out unlike the other 2 movies.

[ElDuderino2112]

I look forward to skipping both of these and getting the extended cut later.

[Falaskan]

Originally Posted by ElDuderino2112

I look forward to skipping both of these and getting the extended cut later.

What if it's 30 extra minutes of Alfred running around in a dress?

One can only hope they don't extend the "Thorin fights going insane" scene, because that would be even worse.

[gregmasciola]

Originally Posted by Falaskan

What if it's 30 extra minutes of Alfred running around in a dress?

One can only hope they don't extend the "Thorin fights going insane" scene, because that would be even worse.

Yeah, after awhile, I was hoping Bard would just say he'd had enough and kill Alfrid off!

[K1NG J0RDAN]

So we can expect the extended trilogy around November?

[BaerGriggs]

Originally Posted by K1NG J0RDAN

So we can expect the extended trilogy around November?

Yeah I'd say that's the best estimate. Technically the Extended Edition DVD of Return of the King came out during the month of December but I'd still say we'll see this release in November.

[Gremal]

The Hobbit was a short book and while I haven't seen any of the Jackson Hobbit films to date, from what I've read he has basically expanded the action sequences and given short shrift to the rest of it. Extended versions of the three films will be as much of a time commitment as reading the actual book. Is there really any benefit to the extended editions? I sure didn't think so with LotR.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Gremal

The Hobbit was a short book and while I haven't seen any of the Jackson Hobbit films to date, from what I've read he has basically expanded the action sequences and given short shrift to the rest of it. Extended versions of the three films will be as much of a time commitment as reading the actual book. Is there really any benefit to the extended editions? I sure didn't think so with LotR.

There's not much difference in An Unexpected Journey as it's mainly just snippets of added dialogue here and there. Now, The Desolation of Smaug is a different animal as there are several restored missing scenes that add much needed clarity to the overall story.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

There's not much difference in An Unexpected Journey as it's mainly just snippets of added dialogue here and there. Now, The Desolation of Smaug is a different animal as there are several restored missing scenes that add much needed clarity to the overall story.

Agreed. Out of all the LOTR/Hobbit EEs so far, Desolation of Smaug is the only one where most (if not all) of the added material is actually pretty vital. All the other ones just added back nonessential filler (especially LOTR's... all those EEs did was destroy the perfect pacing of the theatrical cuts).

[Gremal]

Ok, thanks for the feedback. I've waited this long without seeing any of this stuff so I can just wait another year until the extended edition box is available and priced decently. Good excuse to avoid all the interim releases.

[wormraper]

has a press release been released from WB yet that I missed? I'm just surprised we haven't seen once considering it's only 1.5 months away from the supposed release date and I usually receive them a couple months before street