The Hobbit

Roger · Dec 11, 2014

Luuuuved it. Blbo, the dwarves, especially Thorin and Dain were great. I never liked Dain in the books, felt like 11th hour spotlight stealer but here he's just right. Ditto with Bain. Thranduil was perfect as well.

The final fight between Thorin and Azog was worth the build up.

The Legolas fanwank wasn't nearly as bad as the last movie either. I mean it's still pretty bad, it's still Legolas in a Peter Jackson film, you know what to expect. An Tauriel didn't get the same treatment as the last film either, Bolg wrecked her good. Probably because with her we legit didn't know if she'd make it.

I'll agree with Kuroto about the ending. Very abrupt. I presume the Director's cut includes a scene of Thorin being buried with the Arkenstone and Orcrist. This film really does not seem complete without it.

Can't say I liked Thranduil suddenly bringing up Aragorn either. Very leftfield. Maybe we were suppose to infer that Arathorn and Thranduil put down the Witch-King of Angmar together (Because why not screw poor Glorfindel over again :shifty:

) but that was not clear.

Also Saruman should've pretty much had Galadriel's part.

Octo · Dec 11, 2014

MUST. NOT. CLICK. SPOILERS. AGGGHH

X-SOLDIER · Dec 12, 2014

X

Octo · Dec 12, 2014

Gonna be seeing this in like an hour and a half. *flailing*

Octo · Dec 13, 2014

I hath return-ed!

I agree with pretty much everything Minato and Kuroto said

Agg so many thoughts.

I'm not disappointed at all. AT ALL. Yes they handled things differently than I anticipated. In the book Fili and Kili died defending Thorin, and I thought that was what was going to happen (that frigging fanfic I never finished is now defunct!) I had visions of Thorin impaled by spears, powerless to stop Azog and/or Bolg killing them.

Having said that, I found Fili's death particularly hard to watch - and not just because he's my second favourite Dwarf. I didn't think it was going to happen like that, and was waiting for Leggy or Tauriel or someone to fire an arrow or something, so yeah....That was pretty brutal. And having Thorin have to witness it too, wheras afaik Thorin isn't even aware that Kili died. Maybe it's better that way.

Kili and Tauriel: I ship this. Hard. But I don't think there was enough to back it up. I mean, there is a load of headcanon stuff floating about regarding 'One's' and stuff, so I dunno if its some sort of magic OMG TWU WUV then fine - but y'know, bloody say so. Otherwise its a bit bonkers.

On Thorin: The madness was handled pretty fucking well. I like Richard Armitage, but I've never really been able to separate appreciating his acting from wanting to sit on his face :monster:

, but he's definitely proved without a doubt that he's a fucking awesome actor, and it was really unnerving. Especially that little bit when he's talking to Bilbo about the shire and acorns and shit all cheerful and like his old self and then the next second he changes back to madness. Brrrr.

Thranduil: I still think he's a dick, but I've warmed to him a bit. They sort of made it obvious that since he's lost his wife he's kind of become hard hearted, why he wants to just hole up in Mirkwood and forget the outside world. I wasn't crazy about the Aragorn connection, but it didn't really bother me that much.

Legolas: Did a lot of jumping about. He IS Link. He held onto a bat thingy like it was a cucco at one point, Then he was running along a bridge as it collapsed. TBH the battle between Legolas and Bolg went on a bit too fucking long, but that was the only bit that did.

Loved Dain - telling the elves to Sod off :lol:

I dunno why the fuck they had to CGI him so much, it was almost like watching Beowulf in parts but still I loved the character and the design.

Galadriel, Saruman and Elrond kicking ass and taking names was awesome also.

I also loved all the little bits of comic relief - especially with Alfrid.

Things I want to see in an extended edition (wishful thinking):

A bit more to back up Kili/Tauriel

The second wave of Orcs were dealt with by the eagles, Radagast and Beorn. You only see them sweeping in though. Can't help feeling that was a bit rushed too, that the threat gets eliminated so quickly.

Thorin, Fili and Kili's funeral and more of Dain - how Bilbo left Erebor felt a little bit rushed.

Where did Tauriel go afterward? I mean one can assume Thrandual 'unbanished' her but even so I don't know if she would have gone back to Mirkwood.

BJNBPRGIHRFGKMF

I'm really tired now. I didn't cry though - but I hardly ever cry at stuff, I had a wobble when Bilbo is leaving Erebor 'Tea is at 4' bit.

Tetsujin · Dec 14, 2014

Gonna see it in seven hours.

Octo · Dec 14, 2014

Good good good double plus good. Then come back here so we can nerd all over each other k? :monster:

Tetsujin · Dec 14, 2014

I have returned and I am underwhelmed. :monster:

Octo · Dec 14, 2014

Whaddya trying to do to me Tets? you better get whelmed mister! :lol:

Tetsujin · Dec 14, 2014

Dunno, it was okay but it did feel like a third act. Not as in a third act in a trilogy but the third act of a movie. Like it was mostly the final battle and then it was kind of over abruptly.
Kinda reenforces the belief it might have been better as two movies after all.

Nevertheless I am gonna buy all three extended editions in a set because I am part of the problem. :treemonster:

Octo · Dec 14, 2014

I agree that

it did kind of end a bit abruptly, there was stuff that needed to happen after the battle, funerals - Dain's 'coronation' or something. I don't really think they'd have been able to do it over 2 films, I think it would have felt rushed. *shrug*

Kuroto · Dec 14, 2014

Like I said before I also think the end was a bit rushed. I just think that it's really a shame. The movie wasn't even that long, only 2 hours and 30 minutes. They could have easily made it at least 10-15min longer. I just think that it's silly that they had to make the book into three films and still they had to rush the ending. Especially when the films had some pointless fighting scenes in them. And if you compare it to lotr, where the films were pretty much perfect with nothing too much and missing only a few things, even though the book was so much longer, it is weird that so many questions were left unanswered. The last Hobbit movie just makes you wonder whether they thought it through. Or maybe Peter Jackson was tired of hearing how the ending of the Return of the King was so long that he decided to make the ending of the Hobbit really short. :monster:

Don't get me wrong here. I might be critical of the film, but I still loved it. ^_^

Tetsujin · Dec 15, 2014

I'd say for me it was the weakest Middle-Earth movie. I feel it's probably gonna be a better experience when I have the Blu-rays and don't have to wait a year to see the conclusion to DOS.
It did feel a bit like DLC that was cut out of the main content to make people pay more. :awesome:

I don't really think they'd have been able to do it over 2 films, I think it would have felt rushed.

C'mon now. Lord of the Rings books were longer and were one film each and had a decent amount of content and good pacing.
The Hobbit being stretched into three movies, even with the additional appendices stuff with the White Council etc, was a bit excessive.

Movie had good aspects too though :monster:

Smaug devastating Laketown. (although negative: He sees what Bard is doing and just keeps walking towards him. I thought Smaug was supposed to be smart?)

Thorin being a cunt and him being back to normal with Bilbo

White Council kicking ass (although I would have wished for less spinning and wizard kung fu)

"WOULD YOU CONSIDER JUST SODDING OFF" or whatever the dwarven guy said :monster:

In the end I wasn't too invested in the whole battle though, probably because it's not really for any heroic cause but just people squabbling over a mountain of gold. =P

Roger · Dec 15, 2014

I agree it would've been better as two movie but I liked this one more then Desolation of Smaug. In that movie pretty much all the Tauriel, Legolas, Kili and like half the dwarves staying in Dale felt like padding, here I only really feel like Thorin's hallucination went on for a bit too long.

Also, I wanna complain about their presence but I realise that I'm not 100% sure that big earthworms aren't a thing in Middle-Earth, are they?

Obsidian Fire · Dec 15, 2014

^^I'll have to check the book. Although Smaug himself is called a worm in the book, just one that breaths fire and files... so... hm... Middle Earth has a lot more weird stuff in it then people give it credit for...

Octo · Dec 15, 2014

I just checked - it only mentions the orcs/goblins using tunnels. I kinda liked the big worm things, I think they're like the orc's equivalent of the eagles - they help out, but they don't really give a shit, they dug some holes and then buggered off again :monster:

imo the LOTR films were too short, even the extended editions - they still changed stuff and/or left things out.

The Hobbit movies for me succeed because I actually give a shit about what happens, where the book was a bit 'meh' - especially when it comes to character development. Obviously the LOTR are the superior films, but the Hobbit - even if they'd done a 1 or 2 film thing that was 100% faithful to the book, I think it was always going to feel like a lesser story.

edit: Quick rant that I can't do on tumblr

apparently some fangirls are throwing shitfits becuase Kili and Fili didn't die in each others arms or some shit. How fucking far removed from reality are these people, they've been feeding themselves on dwarf incest for 3 fucking years to the point where they expect some sort of homoerotic weirdness in the actual fucking film? Retards.

The other retarded argument is that Thorin and Kili didn't react to Fili's death the way they wanted - I think it was handled pretty realisticly and their grief and rage was apparent, though I would have prefered to see Fili put up more of a fight on-screen, but obviously the fangirls wont be happy until Thorin and Kili break down and have a crywank over Fili's dead body.

Can you tell I'm annoyed? :monster:

Tetsujin · Dec 15, 2014

Octo said:
imo the LOTR films were too short, even the extended editions

You crazy, woman! :lol:

X-SOLDIER · Dec 17, 2014

FINALLY!!!!!

I saw this just a couple hours ago, and I just loved it.

I'm hoping that the additional 30 mins covers some little things like:

• Why does Gandalf leave with (and keep) Radagast's staff?
• More Beorn & Radagast with the Eagles.
• Bilbo's return to the troll horde to get the treasure chest.
• The fate of the Arkenstone & Thranduil's diamonds.
• Dain & the Dwarves' kingdom post battle.
• Balin deciding to head to Moria

I really like that they addressed the kingdom of Angmar, which will clearly get a little more with the extended edition, and the Witch-King and all. I think that they did a good job of building up his character as a threat for those films leading into LotR. I was kinda wondering if they'd make any connection between the Bats and the Winged beasts that the Nazgul eventually ride.

The White Council was just fantastic. I like that Saruman is 100% heroic and you'll be seeing him in a positive light leading into Fellowship, like I'd hoped. Also, I fucking LOVED getting to see Galadriel absolutely decimate everything in her path, and the fact that it was significantly draining her. Getting to see her directly confront Sauron gives a bunch of weight to Frodo's eventual offer of giving her the One Ring. Also, we got to see the Light of Eärendil before it's given as a gift to give it a little more presence, which was amazing.

The changes to the battle were handled well, and I'm assuming that the Legolas/Bolg fight will seem a bit less drawn out when the rest is filled in around it. (although I couldn't stop about thinking about the old "Don't Break the Ice" game while they were fighting). I did actually like that it gave a reason for Legolas to show up without the other woodland elves and also for him knowing and being so loyal to Aragorn. It gives the eventual Aragorn, Legolas, & Gimli team up more build up like some of the others received.

I really liked the portrayal of Thorin's madness and how his and Smaug's dialog overlapped, and how his hesitance with the ring jumped forward to the start of Fellowship. I was also really pleased to see how he couldn't say Thorin was his friend until he returned back home, because he was clearly still torn up about it. The return home was just lovely all around.

Watching all the movies straight through at some point is gonna be totally amazing.

X

Flintlock · Dec 17, 2014

I'm sorry to be a spoilsport, but I saw it yesterday and was somewhat unimpressed. The story was great as ever but the film was just too full of the same old tropes and clichés for me.

For example:

Orcs who have killed hundreds of men/elves/dwarves suddenly pausing before they kill an "important" character, allowing someone off-screen to stick an arrow in their head / a sword in their chest. Also applies to Smaug with Bard.
Related: Orcs who have killed hundreds of men/elves/dwarves being taken down by "important" characters with ease. Bilbo taking down orcs by throwing small rocks at them was the worst example.
Legolas's ridiculous moves. I was literally laughing out loud at some of the stuff he did.
*Conversation between characters A and B* - *B walks off* - *A asks one last question* - *B stops, turns around* - *camera zooms in* - *dramatic pause* - *B delivers final line* - *scene change*. Repeat ad nauseum.
Overly long action sequences, especially when the outcome was already obvious. That's the problem with prequels. "Oh no, Bilbo's in danger! Wait a minute, he's in the Lord of the Rings, nothing to worry about".
Too much CGI, some of it completely unnecessary. Like the goats skipping up the side of the mountain, which looked ridiculous.

The Hobbit

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