Official 'The Hobbit' Thread - Part 17

[Vartha]

the cover I got

 

[Mad Ones]

Even so, Bard in the movie still has a much more developed role and story than he did in the original book.

To me, the point of Bard in the book was to foil Bilbo. Tolkien was exploring what the hero of an epic story can be like. In the Hobbit, the hero is deconstructed away from the classical masculine and physical hero, and subverted by making the hero a little Hobbit who has to rely on wit more than anything. It's why Bard was extremely minor in the Book - It's kind of like taking the "B" story and making it the "A" story, which is why a book about a Hobbit is so appealing. But Peter Jackson didn't acknowledge any of that and just churned out a conventional and boring story about Bard, where his eldest daughter was useless and his son is shoehorned in.

 

[Herolee10]

On another note, Tumblr is a scary place to be when you type in the words Fili and Kili.lol

The traumatizing fan-art that some have created regarding the two dwarf brothers......yikes.

 

[kedrell]

Well looks like as of New Year's day it's just $22.5m shy of MJ1's WW total so it'll definitely be passing it this weekend on the global front. It'll also be kicking TASM2 out of the top 10 DOM films of 2014 today.t:

 

[Herolee10]

So at the end of the day/trilogy, what are aspects about the entire Hobbit Trilogy that you guys feel that Peter Jackson at least got right?

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

By far the best thing in any of the three movies is the Riddles in the Dark scene. That was fantastic.

I thought Martin Freeman was great in general and his scenes were usually good as a result. His conversation with Smaug is another high point.

 

[regwec]

my fave pic out of ALL of the new Empire Mag

She was probably the most intense and persistent celebrity crush of my teenage years. Even now, there is something about her...

To me, the point of Bard in the book was to foil Bilbo. Tolkien was exploring what the hero of an epic story can be like. In the Hobbit, the hero is deconstructed away from the classical masculine and physical hero, and subverted by making the hero a little Hobbit who has to rely on wit more than anything. It's why Bard was extremely minor in the Book - It's kind of like taking the "B" story and making it the "A" story, which is why a book about a Hobbit is so appealing. But Peter Jackson didn't acknowledge any of that and just churned out a conventional and boring story about Bard, where his eldest daughter was useless and his son is shoehorned in.

Yes, I think that's a fair assessment, and a thoughtful one. For the same reason, PJ's more conflicted Aragorn is a mixed blessing.

So at the end of the day/trilogy, what are aspects about the entire Hobbit Trilogy that you guys feel that Peter Jackson at least got right?

Almost all of the scenes in which Bilbo takes the lead are very strong. It may well be because these stray the least from the book, but credit where it is due.

I'm in a charitable mood, because I just rewatched LOTR EE and enjoyed it more than I remembered, but I reluctantly conclude that the rest of The Hobbit trilogy was...well, crap.

 

[Mad Ones]

Smaug was the best thing about the trilogy. That was the best dragon I've ever seen on screen, and I think it will be a long time until we see one as good. I think it's the only thing I really liked.

 

[Quasimod0]

Liv Tyler as Arwen was my very first crush.

 

[Roose Bolton]

So at the end of the day/trilogy, what are aspects about the entire Hobbit Trilogy that you guys feel that Peter Jackson at least got right?

More or less I was very pleased with Thorin as a whole, and I think I liked the film version more than the book character. I think Armitage was great and all of the scenes between him and Martin were brilliant. As a result, his death was one of the best things for me in either trilogy.

 

[Victarion]

The dwarves' arrival and song, Thorin, Balin and Bilbo were the best parts of the trilogy. The aftermath of Smaug's attack felt genuine, too.

 

[Iceman]

Bilbo was perfect. Riddles in the Dark was awesome. Thorin, Smaug, Thranduil.

 

[Brother Jack]

As others have said, Martin Freeman was perfect as Bilbo. I think there was strong acting from many of the leads, particularly Thorin and Thranduil. Out of the other dwarves I was really partial to Balin. Both the Gollum and Smaug sequences with Bilbo were great. Howard Shore's music was always on point, as was expected.

 

[craigdbfan]

I feel Ian McKellen doesn't get much love in The Hobbit series as he deserves. He has also been great.

I just rewatched AUJ EE and really enjoyed it (granted that's my favorite so far of the series). I'll be watching DoS EE tomorrow as I have yet to see it, the extended edition that is. I went to Best Buy today and decided to get it.

I'll be watching Battle of the Five Armies on Sunday and then watch all the LOTR EE on Monday. I'm having a Middle Earthathon.

 

[LostSon88]

I think the reason Ian McKellen has a tendency to get overlooked is because everyone knows what he brings to the table that the point is practically moot.

He is absolute quality. Always has been.

 

[Roose Bolton]

From a soundtrack point of view, I love the small piece that serves as Gandalf's theme. It's charming and good natured in a way that warms my small and bitter heart.

 

[Vartha]

I can't remember EXACTLY who my FIRST Star crush was, I'm pretty sure it was Farrah Fawcett tho.

She was probably the most intense and persistent celebrity crush of my teenage years. Even now, there is something about her...



Yes, I think that's a fair assessment, and a thoughtful one. For the same reason, PJ's more conflicted Aragorn is a mixed blessing.



Almost all of the scenes in which Bilbo takes the lead are very strong. It may well be because these stray the least from the book, but credit where it is due.

I'm in a charitable mood, because I just rewatched LOTR EE and enjoyed it more than I remembered, but I reluctantly conclude that the rest of The Hobbit trilogy was...well, crap.

Liv Tyler as Arwen was my very first crush.

 

[Vartha]

From a soundtrack point of view, I love the small piece that serves as Gandalf's theme. It's charming and good natured in a way that warms my small and bitter heart.

I really want to make a playlist, from Unexpected Journey through Return of the king

 

[Drizzle]

So at the end of the day/trilogy, what are aspects about the entire Hobbit Trilogy that you guys feel that Peter Jackson at least got right?

It may yet be a bit early to really go into it since for all we know the extended edition for The Battle of the Five Armies could be outstanding, but as to what we have now, when all's said and done, here's what The Hobbit trilogy got right:

1. The cast
A lot of people compare The Hobbit trilogy to the Star Wars prequels. I find that unfair. They do share some similarities, like a few bloated plotlines and overuse of CGI, but save for two or three performances, the acting in the Star Wars prequels was wooden and emotionless. I can't say the same for the Hobbit films. Even with all the green screen environments, Peter Jackson was able to get solid performances from his actors. Martin Freeman was the perfect Bilbo. He really sold me as a young Ian Holm. He was given a lot of time to shine in each film. Ian McKellen IS Gandalf, but we've already known that for 13 years now. The man doesn't know how to turn in a bad performance. Richard Armitage was brilliant as Thorin and was one of the standout performances of the trilogy along with Freeman and McKellen. There wasn't really a bad performance among the company of dwarves. Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili and Bofur were given the most to do, and Ken Stott and James Nesbitt were especially good. Cumberbatch was a pitch perfect Smaug, as was Andy Serkis as Gollum (as always). Everyone else, from Lee Pace to Evangeline Lilly to Orlando Bloom to Luke Evans all did a fine job playing their parts. I can't really pinpoint any bad acting in the trilogy.

2. Smaug
That dragon was probably my favorite part of the whole trilogy. Bilbo meeting Smaug was always my favorite part of the book, so I was really anticipating that ever since it was a possibility that a Hobbit film was happening. It didn't disappoint. I can ignore the fact that the scene is intercut near the end with the needless orc attack at Lake Town because Benedict Cumberbatch is so electrifying as Smaug. The performance just exudes ancient evil, and the design of the dragon just hammers it home. The ending where he was tricked by the dwarves came off as uninspired, but it did give way to this awesome delivery:

[YT]IcDRaRwAAOA[/YT]

3. Riddles in the Dark
This was my second favorite part from the book, and it didn't disappoint. The dialogue was lifted more or less verbatim and Freeman and Serkis did a brilliant job of playing off each other. It's part of the reason why I feel An Unexpected Journey is stronger than the following two films.

4. The music
Just like with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Howard Shore did a fantastic job with the score. Kili and Tauriel's theme is a beautiful piece of music. I even appreciated that they kept most of the songs from the book in there. I even liked the Goblin King's song from the extended version of An Unexpected Journey. My only regret is that Shore didn't keep the Misty Mountains theme for the following two movies. I did like the Erebor theme, but it didn't seem as strong as the previous theme. I just wish there was that consistency. Lastly, the three credit songs (Song of the Lonely Mountain, I See Fire, The Last Goodbye) were great. I loved all three of them.

5. Thorin's arc in The Battle of the Five Armies
As I said, Richard Armitage's performance was one of the standouts of the trilogy, and that really showed in the third film. Thorin's suffering and eventual overcome of the dragon sickness was a highlight of the movie, and his redemption made his death scene that much more emotional. When Richard Armitage was cast, I was a bit skeptical due to him being much younger than the character is supposed to be. I was even more skeptical when the first images of Thorin were released and he basically looked like a dwarf Aragorn. Thankfully, Armitage's performance brought so much emotional weight to the character that I was able to overlook the fact that they de-aged Thorin. I particularly loved the scene with Dwalin in the throne room where he starts to break down and he says, "Do not speak to me as if I were still Thorin.....Oakenshield." That was one of the most powerful moments of the trilogy for me, pretty much on par with some of the most emotional moments of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

 

[craigdbfan]

Just finished watching DoS EE and I really enjoyed the movie once again. I mean I completely get why some don't like this Hobbit adaptation but I kind of love both of these Hobbit films and if that's any indication I'm probably going to be left as a crying baby by the end of BofA.

Like Drizzle mentioned I loved the score by Shore in this, especially his new themes. They really are catchy (loved the Mirkwood/Thranduil theme) and as memorable as the ones from the LOTR if you ask me. Granted some won't think so as they have a bone to pick with the films themselves thus rendering any good musical cue meaningless (to some at least) to them.

I have enjoyed the addition as I love Jackson's Middle Earth and the more time I get to see of it the more I appreciate his work. The inclusion of Tauriel amongst other additions were done well for me at least. Does it meander in parts? Yes but like I said I love to linger in this world personally.

Many have found the inclusion of appendices/Sauron to be detrimental to the overall story of the Hobbit (mainly taking away the focus from Bilbo) but I enjoyed that it gave the story more scope (I'm a sucker for grandiose plotting even if it's somewhat clunky) to Sauron's plan that was initially thought of by audiences if they had only watched the LOTR.

Bilbo being dropped into a much larger and nefarious backdrop gives the whole story a level of importance that The Hobbit as great as it may be never could dream of.

Again I don't blame anyone for thinking this isn't a great adaptation of The Hobbit specifically but I do think it's a great adaptation as an over encompassing tale of this large era of Middle Earth lore by blending scenery and moments Tolkien thought of after writing the Hobbit. It makes for an overall more cohesive tale as far as the Sauron story goes and that's one of the big draws for me when it comes to these stories. Had this been a straight adaptation of the Hobbit it would have honestly felt disjointed.

 

[Herolee10]

Out of curiosity, where Theoden and Denathor even alive during the events of the Hobbit Trilogy?

 

[craigdbfan]

Also touching on the Kili and Tauriel romance I actually feel more for these two than I ever felt anything for Aragorn and Arwen. The latter felt distant and detached while Kili and Tauriel's feels far more sympathetic and genuinely tender. It could just be that the actors have better chemistry or something. That's not to say I disliked Viggo or Liv's respective performances as they were great but there's something unfortunate and sad about Kili and Tauriel's even moreso than Aragorn and Arwen's.

 

[titansupes]

Out of curiosity, where Theoden and Denathor even alive during the events of the Hobbit Trilogy?

Apparently Aragorn was in his 20's during this, so yeah.

 

[regwec]

Aragorn was in his 80s during LOTR, however, and I don't think Theoden at least was that old.

 

[titansupes]

Ah, I always forget that Aragorn's lifespan isn't the average for Men.