Official 'The Hobbit' Thread - Part 17

[Tacit Ronin]

Ridley Scott shoots some gorgeous 3D. Prometheus in 3D was pure eye candy. Him and James Cameron are the only two people in Hollywood who actually make a movie more immersive with 3D imo.

What a diss on Scorsese and Hugo.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Prometheus was good in 3D... probably the only film in recent memory that I've enjoyed in that format. (Avatar, though technically well executed, was a bore in all other departments)

 

[jmc]

Ridley Scott shoots some gorgeous 3D. Prometheus in 3D was pure eye candy. Him and James Cameron are the only two people in Hollywood who actually make a movie more immersive with 3D imo.

Add Scorsese to that list. The thing with these directors is they use 3D as a tool not as a gimmick.

 

[Herolee10]

One plot hole that I don't get is that if Galadriel was strong enough to kill Sauron on her own, why didn't she and why would Saruman join Sauron then?

 

[ares834]

One plot hole that I don't get is that if Galadriel was strong enough to kill Sauron on her own, why didn't she and why would Saruman join Sauron then?

She couldn't kill him but merely force him to retreat.

 

[Herolee10]

She couldn't kill him but merely force him to retreat.

True, though Elrond suggested that they should hunt him down and finish him.

Plus, another thing that I like to add is that Elrond of all people should know that the ring was never destroyed and yet, at the start of the Hobbit films, he's under the impression that Sauron would never be able to come back until Gandalf brought him news of Sauron's recent activities.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Elrond suggested they hunt him down, but Sauruman hand waved the matter away.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

You could take Saruman's words in two different ways. Either he was truly going to hunt him or was already in league with him. Considering the badass fight, I'd like to think that Sauron turned him when Saruman went after him.

 

[Roose Bolton]

I think Christopher Lee has said before that he views Saruman as very much a "good man" during the trilogy, so yeah he might have genuinely meant it.

 

[regwec]

Spoiler

Bollocks were expected of course, but was it even more bollocks than expected?

I think there were 45 minutes of good film.

The battle was PJ stereotyped: a messy, choppy, interminably long sequence constructed almost entirely from unattractive CGI, in which absurd climax follows absurd climax with the result that the whole thing quickly became irredeemably boring.

All the CGI armies look rubbish. They are far too uniform, and it was a lazy and unhelpful decision to make the Dwarf and Orc armies look almost identical. Why does everyone in Middle Earth fight with an eighteen foot pike? It doesn't even make sense for creatures that inhabit caves and tunnels.

Sad to say that Billy Connolly's spoken dialogue was almost as bad as the CGI that enveloped his physical performance. That character fell completely flat.

Beorn and Radagast the parachute troops. Give me strength.

Alfrid...was this kid PJ's nephew or something? Why couldn't he just get off the ducking screen?

Why does it hurt so much?

Because it's real!



On the upside, all of Martin Freeman's moments were fine, and his performance was great. Richard Armitage seemed to do his best.

More to follow as I remember further indignities, with a cold sweat.

 

[craigdbfan]

Did Alfrid have more screen time than Bilbo? Confirm or deny?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Did Alfrid have more screen time than Bilbo? Confirm or deny?

Less, but it is amazing how annoying a character showing up can be. At first it is okay. Not good, but ok. But the longer the film went on the more he randomly showed up to kill the momentum of the film.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I think there were 45 minutes of good film.

The battle was PJ stereotyped: a messy, choppy, interminably long sequence constructed almost entirely from unattractive CGI, in which absurd climax follows absurd climax with the result that the whole thing quickly became irredeemably boring.

All the CGI armies look rubbish. They are far too uniform, and it was a lazy and unhelpful decision to make the Dwarf and Orc armies look almost identical. Why does everyone in Middle Earth fight with an eighteen foot pike? It doesn't even make sense for creatures that inhabit caves and tunnels.

Sad to say that Billy Connolly's spoken dialogue was almost as bad as the CGI that enveloped his physical performance. That character fell completely flat.

Beorn and Radagast the parachute troops. Give me strength.

Alfrid...was this kid PJ's nephew or something? Why couldn't he just get off the ducking screen?

Why does it hurt so much?

Because it's real!



On the upside, all of Martin Freeman's moments were fine, and his performance was great. Richard Armitage seemed to do his best.

More to follow as I remember further indignities, with a cold sweat.

I agree the battle devolved and the film started to lose me outside of the duels. But, I really liked Dain's dialogue.

And come on, you know you loved the fight between the White Council and the Nine.

 

[Roose Bolton]

I for one, loved the fight between Azog and Thorin.


Also, the Morgoth mention

 

[craigdbfan]

Less, but it is amazing how annoying a character showing up can be. At first it is okay. Not good, but ok. But the longer the film went on the more he randomly showed up to kill the momentum of the film.

Haha ok. Saw a lot of people elsewhere thinking that Alfrid may have had an equal amount of screen time as Bilbo. I found that shocking.

I agree the battle devolved and the film started to lose me outside of the duels. But, I really liked Dain's dialogue.

And come on, you know you loved the fight between the White Council and the Nine.

Really looking forward to the battle between the WC and the 9.

I for one, loved the fight between Azog and Thorin.


Also, the Morgoth mention

I may watch this after work tomorrow. It all depends on how I feel I suppose.

 

[regwec]

The battle against the nine was alright, with the qualification that it shouldn't have happened at all. Christopher Lee's stuntman was entertaining. I didn't like the Galadriel-dominated conclusion at all, though. I hated that special effect in FOTR, though it does seem at least justified by context here.

 

[regwec]

An odd realisation dawned on me: Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli fighting a hundred Orcs in the woods of Amon Hen was infinitely more dramatic and exciting than 1,000,000 identical CGI models bouncing off each other like Super Mario in an implausible make-believe landscape.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Haha ok. Saw a lot of people elsewhere thinking that Alfrid may have had an equal amount of screen time as Bilbo. I found that shocking.

I can see why. His scenes feel long, much longer then they are. It doesn't help that we kind of lose Bilbo more then once. But all his scenes are great. Freeman is just so terrific in the role.

Really looking forward to the battle between the WC and the 9.

I feel like I am hyping this up too much, but I honestly lost it in the theater. The sound design is terrific, really getting the blows across.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I for one, loved the fight between Azog and Thorin.


Also, the Morgoth mention

Azog and Thorin was cool.

An odd realisation dawned on me: Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli fighting a hundred Orcs in the woods of Amon Hen was infinitely more dramatic and exciting than 1,000,000 identical CGI models bouncing off each other like Super Mario in an implausible make-believe landscape.

Well yeah, but it is pointless to compare to FotR. The Mines of Moria, Amon Hen, Weathertop. Jackson was never better. Well except for maybe for the clash at Dol Guldur. t:

The battle against the nine was alright, with the qualification that it shouldn't have happened at all. Christopher Lee's stuntman was entertaining. I didn't like the Galadriel-dominated conclusion at all, though. I hated that special effect in FOTR, though it does seem at least justified by context here.

Oh come on. Who cares if it should or should not have happened. That was too awesome to miss out on. I waited 6 movies to see Elrond kick ass, and he did not disappoint. I now wish to see Gandalf and Saruman done in that style.

 

[regwec]

I care, otherwise I wouldn't have said so.

No problem with seeing the rout of Sauron, but having the Nazgul all assembled was very silly indeed.

 

[Eggyman]

I need to go and see this, if for nothing else just to get it over with.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

The Nazgul seemed to go down pretty easy too, guess Saruman swinging around like Star Wars Kid helped with that.

 

[Herolee10]

You could take Saruman's words in two different ways. Either he was truly going to hunt him or was already in league with him. Considering the badass fight, I'd like to think that Sauron turned him when Saruman went after him.

I think Christopher Lee has said before that he views Saruman as very much a "good man" during the trilogy, so yeah he might have genuinely meant it.

Good points.

Plus, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't Sauron trying to tempt/sway Galadriel during their encounter in the film? She was able to resist him in the end, but perhaps Saruman had been attacked by sauron in the same way and didn't come out of it as lucky.

Also, as others have already pointed out...the CGI for this film was pretty bad at times. At least in George Lucas's case, the over amount of CGI that he had brought within the Prequel Trilogy looked great..but in Jackson's case, he can't really say the same.

And what the hell was up with the artificial lighting/glow/contrast on some of the day time scenes? It made them feel even more fake at times than it already needed to be.

 

[Iceman]

I think there were 45 minutes of good film.

The battle was PJ stereotyped: a messy, choppy, interminably long sequence constructed almost entirely from unattractive CGI, in which absurd climax follows absurd climax with the result that the whole thing quickly became irredeemably boring.

All the CGI armies look rubbish. They are far too uniform, and it was a lazy and unhelpful decision to make the Dwarf and Orc armies look almost identical. Why does everyone in Middle Earth fight with an eighteen foot pike? It doesn't even make sense for creatures that inhabit caves and tunnels.

Sad to say that Billy Connolly's spoken dialogue was almost as bad as the CGI that enveloped his physical performance. That character fell completely flat.

Beorn and Radagast the parachute troops. Give me strength.

Alfrid...was this kid PJ's nephew or something? Why couldn't he just get off the ducking screen?

Why does it hurt so much?

Because it's real!



On the upside, all of Martin Freeman's moments were fine, and his performance was great. Richard Armitage seemed to do his best.

More to follow as I remember further indignities, with a cold sweat.

Haha.

Yeah I didn't think there would be much to convince you otherwise based on the things you were talking about not liking in the other 2 films. This film doesn't fix any of the problems of the earlier entries, just does everything 10 times as hard, which looks awesome to those who don't care about those issues but won't change the mind of anyone who does.

I don't think it's a huge exaggeration to say the film is a Smaug attack, an arguably unnecessary White Council Vs the 9 scene followed by one long CG action sequence to the end. Can imagine that sounding like nightmare viewing to a chunk of the audience but for the likes of me with no expectations or anticipation for any of these 3 films, I just really enjoyed watching this MIddle Earth action (somehow become insensitive to the CGI) with a good tying up between Bilbo & Thorin.

Dain was done for laughs which could be seen as a waste but my audience seemed to find him hilarious, and at least he had a reason to be in the film (unlike Alfrid). Bloody hell, Alfrid got all that time and Beorn got 2 seconds.

It seems everyone is in agreement that Martin Freeman has been the main positive in this trilogy. What a performance!

 

[Iceman]

I for one, loved the fight between Azog and Thorin.

Unlike many here I've loved Azog throughout the trilogy. I haven't really noticed CG problems with him as he's just too awesome for me to think on that for long. Always wanted to see a convincing wild bestial orc champion and Azog is easily superior to Lurtz for me. He also looks beautiful t: unlike Bolg who looks like a geek.

Really looking forward to the battle between the WC and the 9.

You can watch the scene in a bubble and it's awesome viewing whether or not it deserves to exist at all and whether or not the the rest of the film is falling down around it.

The battle against the nine was alright, with the qualification that it shouldn't have happened at all. Christopher Lee's stuntman was entertaining. I didn't like the Galadriel-dominated conclusion at all, though. I hated that special effect in FOTR, though it does seem at least justified by context here.

I think it's fair to contest whether it should have happened at all. Aside from that it's just an amazing scene for me with all the big guns against the Nazgul looking even cooler than normal. But I agree on the Galadriel [BLACKOUT]solo conclusion[/BLACKOUT] and the special effect itself. It's just very obviously adding a dude's voice to her own. It's very easy to pick apart the two voices which makes it sound silly.

Well yeah, but it is pointless to compare to FotR. The Mines of Moria, Amon Hen, Weathertop. Jackson was never better. Well except for maybe for the clash at Dol Guldur. t:

Plus the wraiths chasing Arwen before getting washed away. Love that scene even if Glorfindel was cut.

I feel like I am hyping this up too much, but I honestly lost it in the theater. The sound design is terrific, really getting the blows across.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

This scene is going to be crazy on a high end home cinema system.