The Hobbit

[Duke Togo]

It's almost over *sigh*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ-stZYAvkQ

Apparently whoever cut this together forgot the dragon was still alive. You know, the major antagonist of the first two films, lol. Edited July 29, 2014 by Duke Togo

[TangledThorns]

If you ever get a chance to visit New Zealand go to the WETA Cave in Wellington. It's probably grown since my last visit in 2011 but it was still awesome.

Check out the photos we took.

On the left is a human sized Sting and on the right is a Hobbit sized version.

[Kanedas Bike]

Apparently whoever cut this together forgot the dragon was still alive. You know, the major antagonist of the first two films, lol.

Except for the fact that he appears 20 seconds into the trailer.

-b.

[Duke Togo]

Oh, come on now. It's one brief shot, lol. I'm sure we'll see a lot more of him in future trailers, but you have to admit that's kinda strange.

[azrael]

Oh, come on now. It's one brief shot, lol. I'm sure we'll see a lot more of him in future trailers, but you have to admit that's kinda strange.

Considering where they left off, Samug's role in the story is coming to an end so there's not much left to see of him.

[azrael]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDO0kgexX-k

[DarrinG]

Just recently saw the last one, the Smaug movie. Did not like it much at all.

This one looks better . . .

[myk]

Just recently saw the last one, the Smaug movie. Did not like it much at all.

This one looks better . . .

I hear ya. The first two movies never made it to my blu ray collection...

[Marzan]

Looking massively forward to this. It’s hard to believe it’s all coming to an end.

On second thought you never know. Jackson and WETA might get the itch again in some years and might adapt parts of The Silmarillion. Feanor makes for a pretty appealing MC.

[renegadeleader1]

I'm sorry, but the more I think about it the more I feel this should have been a single 3 1/2 hour film, and not stretched out the way it was.

[Hoptimus]

Looking massively forward to this. It’s hard to believe it’s all coming to an end.

On second thought you never know. Jackson and WETA might get the itch again in some years and might adapt parts of The Silmarillion. Feanor makes for a pretty appealing MC.

Highly doubt that.

The Tolkien estate is not happy with the current movie option and won't be doing any others. That is why the Hobbit got turned into 3 movies so that Jackson could sneak stuff from the LOTR appendix that happened during the timeline of the Hobbit.

This is it. Unless Christopher Tolkien renegotiates or allows for another movie deal.

[TangledThorns]

The reviews are coming in for Battle of The Five Armies. The battle scenes get praise but not so much for everything else

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/12/01/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-review

[Duke Togo]

The reviews are coming in for Battle of The Five Armies. The battle scenes get praise but not so much for everything else

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/12/01/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-review

Let's be honest, that pretty much describes every movie Peter Jackson has made for the past 15 years.

[DarrinG]

Let's be honest, that pretty much describes every movie Peter Jackson has made for the past 15 years.

Agree . . .

[Einherjar]

[Roy Focker]

I'll do what I did for the last movie - wait for it to come out on blu-ray.

Maybe I'm old but I can no long deal with a 3 hour movie experience.

[derex3592]

Amen to that

[Dynaman]

"I feel stretched Gandalf, like too little plot spread over too much running time"

That said I plan on watching this at the Imax theater nearby.

[TangledThorns]

I'll be seeing it in 3D at my local theater. I'm not expecting anything great which is a shame as its Tolkien. Hollywood needs to stop stretching out books into two or more movies, they fill them with such boring crap to make them feature length.

[areaseven]

[myk]

I'll do what I did for the last movie - wait for it to come out on blu-ray.

Maybe I'm old but I can no long deal with a 3 hour movie experience.

I can handle a 3 hour movie as long as it's an adventure like Interstellar for example. Instead, the Hobbit is a 3 hour ORDEAL IMO...

[TangledThorns]

After seeing the Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1 last weekend I've come to the realization that Hollywood must stop this fad of breaking films into two parters or in The Hobbit's case, a trilogy. They end being filled with boring filler. I didn't read The Hobbit or the final Hunger Games and Harry Potter books and the first part is always lame. A longer film would be more ideal than one broken up into separate parts.

[myk]

I felt the same way coming out of Mockingjay. Since it's obviously a money-grab, I suggest that we be allowed to pay DOUBLE or TRIPLE the price of the film in one sitting. This way, the movie industry gets their money double/triple dip and I don't throw away hours of my life watching ridiculously stretched and filled snore pieces like the Hobbit...

[EXO]

This movie was horrendously awful.

5 minutes of Smaug after a year wait. And he just kept flying by the same wooden tower without knocking it down? Not to mention the over conspicuous target on his chest that practically had a sign that said "arrow goes here".
I've not read the book but, wow... a war between 5 armies that last one afternoon? All it is is a bunch of goons shouting at each other at a distance and then cartoony battles where small people can cut down huge, muscle bound creatures bred for war like butter. Hopefully someone else got something out of this. It's so far away from the very first film that promised so much goodness. And it looked like crap. Great sets but shot with TV game show cameras.Yuck.

[azrael]

This movie was horrendously awful.

And you wonder why they wanted this as a 2-movie option. The movie covers the last 6 chapters and, IIRC, it really picks up the pace.

[EXO]

It really felt like a little kid was telling the story...

"and then these guys came down and they were like... RAAAAWR! And these other guys came down and they were even more RAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWR!!!"

The fallen tower/bridge scene with Legolas fighting the Orc was just ridiculous. Raiders of the Lost Ark was really already at the precipice of acceptability when it came to action that was fantastic but still felt like it was on a believable moviemaking level. I know the comic movies today, like Guardians, all depend on the fact that each character is enhanced or has special abilities. But the sustainability of that tower with all those sections that have already fallen just felt too unreal. Legolas being nimble enough to jump from brick to brick was just on this side of OK, but one ridiculous thing stacked on top of the other just lost any sort of feeling of danger. And you can feel it in the room when no one is gasping or cheering. When I watched Winter soldier, there were so many people gasping, screaming and applauding because the gravity of each situation had their attentions locked down... It's a shame because a movie with wizards and dragons with this type of budget really don't come that often... and no Harry Potter doesn't count.

I just read this interview with Viggo that just made so much sense... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10826867/Viggo-Mortensen-interview-Peter-Jackson-sacrificed-subtlety-for-CGI.html

Officially, he could say that he was finished in December 2000 – he’d shot all three films in the trilogy – but really the second and third ones were a mess. It was very sloppy – it just wasn’t done at all. It needed massive reshoots, which we did, year after year. But he would have never been given the extra money to do those if the first one hadn’t been a huge success. The second and third ones would have been straight to video.”

In the first movie, yes, there’s Rivendell, and Mordor, but there’s sort of an organic quality to it, actors acting with each other, and real landscapes; it’s grittier. The second movie already started ballooning, for my taste, and then by the third one, there were a lot of special effects. It was grandiose, and all that, but whatever was subtle, in the first movie, gradually got lost in the second and third. Now with The Hobbit, one and two, it’s like that to the power of 10.

The special effects thing, the genie, was out of the bottle, and it has him. And he’s happy, I think…”

[areaseven]

[Dobber]

It really felt like a little kid was telling the story...

"and then these guys came down and they were like... RAAAAWR! And these other guys came down and they were even more RAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWR!!!"

The fallen tower/bridge scene with Legolas fighting the Orc was just ridiculous. Raiders of the Lost Ark was really already at the precipice of acceptability when it came to action that was fantastic but still felt like it was on a believable moviemaking level. I know the comic movies today, like Guardians, all depend on the fact that each character is enhanced or has special abilities. But the sustainability of that tower with all those sections that have already fallen just felt too unreal. Legolas being nimble enough to jump from brick to brick was just on this side of OK, but one ridiculous thing stacked on top of the other just lost any sort of feeling of danger. And you can feel it in the room when no one is gasping or cheering. When I watched Winter soldier, there were so many people gasping, screaming and applauding because the gravity of each situation had their attentions locked down... It's a shame because a movie with wizards and dragons with this type of budget really don't come that often... and no Harry Potter doesn't count.

I just read this interview with Viggo that just made so much sense... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10826867/Viggo-Mortensen-interview-Peter-Jackson-sacrificed-subtlety-for-CGI.html

And that is why Fellowship was by far my favorite of the Saga. It just felt more intimate and real compared to any of the others, TLOTR or The Hobbit.

Chris

[EXO]

He's gone full Lucas.

[Duke Togo]

He's gone full Lucas.

He went full Lucas a long time ago. I think he and James Cameron have both been replaced by pod people.

[TangledThorns]

I saw it today and it was the weakest of all three but that doesn't mean its bad. Also, I agree that Peter Jackson has gone full Lucas as well.

[eriku]

Saw it today and loved every minute of it. The all CG Dain was a bit weird, but whatever.

Galadriel overpowering Sauron was my personal favorite scene.

Can't wait for the extended edition.

[EXO]

I think he went full Lucas on Two Towers but there was still remnants of the original intent from the first movie.

Anyway. I overstated my self imposed three posts if I didn't like it rule. Don't want to ruin it the thread for everyone else. I'm out!

[TangledThorns]

I think he went full Lucas on Two Towers but there was still remnants of the original intent from the first movie.

Anyway. I overstated my self imposed three posts if I didn't like it rule. Don't want to ruin it the thread for everyone else. I'm out!

Heh, I thought the extended edition of Two Towers was his best film.

[derex3592]

I went to see Fellowship in the theater not knowing what to expect. I was blown away. I think it's still my pers. favorite. Two Towers was good, a little slow in places, but the battles at the end were epic. Return of the King was kind of a nice wrap up, a little heavy on the CGI at the end, but it was supposed to be an epic battle, so I can look past that given the technology of the day. Let's not forget how many Acadamy Awards it walked off with that year! I enjoy the extended editions of all 3 of the LOTR movies on blu-ray once a year or so. That being said...The first Hobbit movie nearly put me to sleep. The second one was good but got a little to crazy with some CGI parts. Smaug was very cool though. So I'm not sure whether I want to go for number 3 in the theater or not....maybe next week when I'm on vacation I'll go to an early weekday showing or something.