Official 'The Hobbit' Thread - Part 17

[InCali]

Out of sheer curiosity, why would you go see the final part in a trilogy when you haven't seen the previous two films first?

Most of those would indeed be answered by seeing those first two parts. (#2 isn't explained though, I can't remember if Dragons being able to 'talk' is the case for all great dragons in Middle Earth or just some of the more impressive ones, someone more knowledgeable than me would probably be able to answer that)

Dragons were probably bred and perverted by Morgoth (since it's said that the Valar can't "create" life....although Aule created the dwarves, they were given life by Eru). Dragons can talk or, at least, some for sure can and it's never stated that they can't. They are very cunning, some can fly, and they can cast spells over weaker minds. The capabilities of ALL dragons is not, from what I can recall, explicitly stated. So there might be (probably are) differences from dragon to dragon. Glaurung, who was killed by Turin, was clearly one of the most powerful and cunning of the dragons. He sired the Uruloki (wingless fire breathing dragons).

 

[Marvolo]

I know someone who watched Matrix Revolutions in theaters without having watched the first two films. Needless to say he was confused as **** and hated it. I don't know how people do that. Just seems like a waste of money.

 

[InCali]

I know someone who watched Matrix Revolutions in theaters without having watched the first two films. Needless to say he was confused as **** and hated it. I don't know how people do that. Just seems like a waste of money.

I hated it anyway..... t:

 

[InCali]

Just picked this up at Barnes n Noble. All metal and VERY Weighty!

That's kind of cool. The runes spell "Durin Heir"; referencing, I suppose, the idea that the key was passed down from Thror to Thrain to Thorin (via Gandalf).

I thought the "H" had two sort of diagonal lines instead of one. I know that's sort of nerdy, but does anyone know for sure???

 

[Vartha]

That's kind of cool. The runes spell "Durin Heir"; referencing, I suppose, the idea that the key was passed down from Thror to Thrain to Thorin (via Gandalf).

I thought the "H" had two sort of diagonal lines instead of one. I know that's sort of nerdy, but does anyone know for sure???

yeah the "H" has both actually, single and double. I'm not sure if it's the placement in a word that makes a difference or not. Some of the runes are that way where a final R and a beginning or centrally placed R can have different sounds, so they can be different

 

[Vartha]

My kids hadn't seen the first two and saw the final one. They didn't have time, and when they had the time they had no cash while they were in the theaters. lol They DID finally just rent the first two because the last one was "SO AWESOME" lol

Out of sheer curiosity, why would you go see the final part in a trilogy when you haven't seen the previous two films first?

Most of those would indeed be answered by seeing those first two parts. (#2 isn't explained though, I can't remember if Dragons being able to 'talk' is the case for all great dragons in Middle Earth or just some of the more impressive ones, someone more knowledgeable than me would probably be able to answer that)

 

[InCali]

yeah the "H" has both actually, single and double. I'm not sure if it's the placement in a word that makes a difference or not. Some of the runes are that way where a final R and a beginning or centrally placed R can have different sounds, so they can be different

Odd. This got me to remembering how I first got interested in deciphering these runes. I (once) had a green (faux) leather bound copy of The Hobbit which had the following written in gold runes around the perimeter of the front cover "Being the record of a years journey of Bilbo Baggins campiled from his memoirs The Hobbit or There and Back Again". If you think I misspelled "compiled", you are wrong. It was a misprint on the cover. Man, I wish I had that book. The "H" in "The Hobbit" has the two diagonal lines. "th" is a completely different rune.

I had to go back and look at the cover of my current copy of "The Hobbit" to remember the exact wording, but never forgot "campiled". I gave that copy to my ex-girl friend many years ago because she was way more responsible than I was and promised to keep it safe. So much for being responsible. By coincidence we're going to meet up for dinner tomorrow night as I'm flying up to NorCal.

Weird coincidence. I'm thinking she owes me dinner.

Please don't tell me that book is worth a gazillion dollars.

 

[MrMaooz]

I know someone who watched Matrix Revolutions in theaters without having watched the first two films. Needless to say he was confused as **** and hated it. I don't know how people do that. Just seems like a waste of money.

...A lot of people hated that movie regardless of knowledge pertaining to the previous Matrix films.

 

[LostSon88]

My dad once told me that he wasn't a fan of Star Wars. I asked him why and he said that he saw "Empire Strikes Back" in the theaters back in the day and he didn't like it.

Then I asked him if he had seen 'Star Wars' first, he said no.

I just never understood that either, why would you watch a sequel to a movie if you've never seen the first one? Of course the chances are likely that you're not going to like it as you have no idea what's going on...

 

[Snow Queen]

I saw this the other day and unfortunately really did not like it. I enjoyed the first two, though I didn't think they were great and hated how much CGI there was and how bloated they were. But this was just bad to me. Really disappointing.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

Been reading The Hobbit for the last week, god it's a huge reminder how much they dropped the ball with these films.

 

[Octoberist]

Who else thought that the actors (when they're not digital) never looked like they were 'outside' during the big battle scenes?

 

[Snow Queen]

Who else thought that the actors (when they're not digital) never looked like they were 'outside' during the big battle scenes?

Oh absolutely. It never feels real, it looks horribly fake.

Also the battles, as a review I watched put it, often looked like a medieval "Where's Waldo?" They were so cluttered.

 

[regwec]

And the Orc and Dwarf armies were given very similar arms and armour, which was stupid.

This battle was one of the least exciting that I have seen in movies. Just dozens of identical rows of identical crude CGI tin soldiers bouncing off each other without gravity or consequences, and all of principle characters away playing hide and seek on a distant rock.

It really shows how convolution can lead to a sequence becoming very boring.

 

[InCali]

Been reading The Hobbit for the last week, god it's a huge reminder how much they dropped the ball with these films.

Yes. PJ and his "interpretations" drove me over the edge. I tried to watch it and pretend it wasn't really The Hobbit. And you know what? I was right. There is plenty of room for interpretation (attack of Dol Guldur for example) without doing crazy stuff (Tauriel Kili or Fili or whoever the hell it was??? Really??? Who the frell is Tauriel anyway? That has NOTHING to do with interpretation.).

Who else thought that the actors (when they're not digital) never looked like they were 'outside' during the big battle scenes?

I noted that and wondered how much of it was due to the use of High Frame Rate (HFR). In my own mind, the jury is still out on that. It really gives the film a different texture. I don't think it works for everything, but I think it could be put to good use in some situations. Just not sure about that.......

 

[InCali]

And the Orc and Dwarf armies were given very similar arms and armour, which was stupid.

Yeah, well, everyone knows the dwarves weren't very good when it came to smithcraft. Maybe just marginally better than orcs. That would explain why their armour looked similar.....

Just be thankful that the Dragon-helm of Dor-lomin didn't magically appear in the hoard of Erebor and get used against Smaug......

 

[<(o_o)>]

If you like Bard he will be on the Target Bluray Exclusive for Hobbit Battle Of The Five Armies. http://www.target.com/p/hobbit-batt...um_1_11&term=Hobbit+Battle+Of+The+Five+Armies

 

[Venomfan]

The Last Goodbye should have been nominated (and win imo) for Best Original Song. I have a feeling the movies mixed to bad reviews took aways its chance though.

 

[Enriquespy]

Yeah, well, everyone knows the dwarves weren't very good when it came to smithcraft. Maybe just marginally better than orcs. That would explain why their armour looked similar.....

We could have had mechanical dwarf armors with Del Toro...

 

[Silvermoon]

The Last Goodbye should have been nominated (and win imo) for Best Original Song. I have a feeling the movies mixed to bad reviews took aways its chance though.

Yeah, I mean, I'm fine and not very surprised with the movie not getting any noms for the bigger categories like acting or best movie, and just a technical nom here or there mainly because I know it was such a divisive and mixed reception on the films. But I agree that the song should've been nominated. It's a beautiful song, up there with Into the West and May It Be for me. Billy sounds great in it and IMO it's a fitting song not just for the end of the Hobbit trilogy but I think both trilogies combined.

 

[chamber-music]

Ricky C saved the day

 

[DKDetective]

Been reading The Hobbit for the last week, god it's a huge reminder how much they dropped the ball with these films.

I have no doubt there. I've been wanting to re-read The Hobbit, LOTR, and The Silmarillion lately, but haven't had the time, but the girlfriend and I were re-watching FOTR Extended Edition on the weekend, and good god, the difference in quality between even just the LOTR films and The Hobbit ones is just astounding. As much of a Tolkien purist as I am and get annoyed with certain alterations Jackson and company did with the LOTR films, they did a hell of a lot right, which can be forgotten in this thread at times.

It is particularly annoying how much more beautiful of a film FOTR is, effects and all. The extensive use of bigatures, huge sets, and mass numbers of extras really goes a long way to selling the world they created and making it all look and feel real. Barad-dur, Minas Tirth, Isengard, Minas Morgul, Edoras, the Mines of Moria, etc. all look wonderfully real. Weta should be incredibly ashamed of the work they put out on these Hobbit films. It falls way short of work they were doing a decade ago!

 

[DCW]

Harsh. But true, lol.

 

[Grabes30]

I'm glad this thread popped up... I just bought the extended LOTR last week (half price at Best Buy!) and have spent a lot of the last several nights watching the "Appendices" DVDs. The amount of work that went into concept drawing, models (big-atures), and all the stuff that had to be made was just.....amazing. The miniature stuff just blew my mind. I draw/paint myself, so maybe that appeals to me more, but the Hobbit films just seem like a big, fancy, bloated video game. I have yet to read any of the books, which I realize is a crime, so....I need to get on that. Although, after watching all the extras, I have such a hard time being mad at Peter Jackson.. he seems like such a nice guy, haha.

 

[AnneFan]

I still haven't seen Battle of the Five Armies, and probably won't. I'm seeing Birdman on the weekend instead.