I have tremendous sympathy for Peter Jackson and the situation he was faced with making the Hobbit. They have some prequel trilogy vibes for sure but were made in very different circumstances. Unlike Lucas who managed to maintain creative control over his films, Jackson was answering to suits who were the reason why rubbish like an elf/dwarf love triangle were added. Because of the success of LOTR and the expectations set, he may have ended up with less control than when he was an unknown. I don't think he even wanted to make them either. He was on board for Del Toro to do his thing, and ended up the center of a New Zealand actors' union dispute, so might have stepped in just to preserve everybody's jobs.
The Hobbit could be done in one film, but it's a lean book with a lot of stuff in it, so it would be a squeeze. It makes sense to make it in 2 films, especially when you factor in costs. I also think it's understandable to want to make the most of Ian McKellen and explore what Gandalf was doing while he was away from the company. I get why you'd massively expand the battle for the sake of cinema. Other stuff is more questionable.
They never should have been two movies. The Hobbit wasn't a LotR type story, but the studio got dollar signs in its eyes and PJ either couldn't or wouldn't say no. It's a nice small story that was turned into a bloated, ugly, CGI mess.
I especially despised the added nonsense with the Master of Laketown. I found all of that to be just dumb.
You should definitely check out the M4 Hobbit edit. I think it might really satisfy, it's remarkable what careful curation has done for the film's tone..
I didn't know that about where it ended. The tackling isn't a good creative choice but at least it culminates. I'm not saying it's good, but there's something to it where there's a sense of completion to it. But this is all a result of the bigger issue of a three film decision like you said.
I guess that's just where we differ then with the BOTFA. I see your perspective, and maybe I could be convinced if I was shown, that's just where I'm at.
I feel the usual doubt I feel when I've asserted new information, but yeah I believe the original 2-film plan was to split the story at the end of the company's escape from the elves. Once the plan was changed, the warg attack/eagle rescue was tweaked to act as the finale. As you said, it works well enough, but ripples out and causes problems down the line.
I can definitely see how the battle itself is largely superfluous, Bilbo is knocked out for the duration in the book afterall, but I think there is enough meat in the build up to justify its presence. It's a lot about Thorin and his decline of course, but Bilbo himself plays a significant part, fulfilling his job as burglar and stealing the Arkenstone to try to bargain his friends out of a war.
A
lot of what's in the film BOTFA can go regardless.
