The Hobbit (the Jackson films)

[Carol the Dabbler]

... I started fast forwarding every time an orc appeared.

Sounds like a marvelous idea!  :popcorn:

 

... Smaug's appearance doesn't have quite the impact I think it should ....

Try watching just the scene between him and Bilbo.  I thought that was really wonderful (even though they did some far less wonderful things with him later on).

 

Legolas is just a silly action man in this, ugh.

Agreed.  I liked his character-development scenes in LotR, but even in those movies, I didn't care for his acrobatics.

 

Bilbo is still wonderful (if increasingly underused)....

Amen and Amen. Maybe someday they'll make a movie that's actually about Bilbo -- hopefully with Martin Freeman in the role.

 

I'm really impressed with what they did with Thorin.

I'm torn on that. I thought Richard Armitage did a very nice job with the role, but I still think they went a bit overboard on the whole "dragon sickness" thing.

 

I'd give a lot to have the time and equipment to edit this movie .... double sigh.....

Other people have said similar things, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are actually willing and able to do it.  I'd love to see an abridged version that focuses mainly on things that were actually in the book.

 

[Arcadia]

 

I'm really impressed with what they did with Thorin.

I'm torn on that. I thought Richard Armitage did a very nice job with the role, but I still think they went a bit overboard on the whole "dragon sickness" thing.

I'm well into the 3rd DVD now (unlike most movies, I find these ones are easier to watch in bits rather than one fell swoop) ... and alas, I can't disagree.

[T.o.b.y]

The only scene I can still remember from the Hobbit films is

Thorin's death

. The rest has just faded into a diffuse memory of "they did these movies based on the Hobbit and they weren't half as good as Lord of the Rings". :( I think I liked the last one best. I know I cried when the credits rolled.

 

I've been wanting to rewatch Lord of the Rings this winter, but right now I'm too busy being geeky over Star Wars. :lol:

[J.P.]

Oh, I loved the scenes at Bilbo's at the beginning. The unexpected guests.  :D

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, I loved the scenes at Bilbo's at the beginning. The unexpected guests.  :D

 

I loved that too.  And "Riddles in the Dark."  And Bilbo's meeting with Smaug.  I think those three scenes were closest to what was in the book.  I also liked the scenes at Beorn's house, even though they had (mercifully!) changed a few things -- I thought they caught the spirit of the book (perhaps better than did the book itself).

 

Many of the other scenes felt to me like "Now how quickly can we get this pesky hobbit out of the way, to make room for the really good stuff, like Orcs and Wargs and acrobatic Elves!"

 

[Arcadia]

I noticed a lot of critics knocked the Bag End segments of the first movie, but those were my favorite parts. And the riddles. Gollum was great.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I just came across one of those "n things you didn't know" blogs for the Hobbit films, and this one actually answers something I'd been wondering about.  Tolkien said that hobbits don't have beards, and it sounds to me like he means they simply could not grow one even if they tried.  Same with elves.  So what did the the makeup people do -- wax the actors' chins?  :o

 

Turns out (in "thing" #14) that they didn't do any such thing:  "In order to stay true to Tolkien's profile of the Middle Earth races, Martin Freeman and the Elvish actors had to have orange make-up applied to their five o'clock shadows -- which would otherwise appear blue on film."

 

[Arcadia]

It never occurs to me to think of things like that. I guess I just assumed Mr. Freeman turned into a hobbit for the occasion.

 

[sfmpco]

This video has just surfaced... there is some stuff in here of BC... starts around 21 minutes in.  Behind the scenes stuff.

 

[J.P.]

I've read some opinions about the extended version. Sadly none of them were positive. It seems that we get even more battle scenes and stunts, and bits that improve the storyline are rare. I do want the DVD set for the additions though, but I might wait until disappointed folks start to sell them on Ebay.

[Caya]

Meanwhile, in a tavern:

 

 

Note, this is an ad for a game that I've never played (because I heard less than favourable opinions about) so follow any links at your own discretion.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've read some opinions about the extended version. Sadly none of them were positive. It seems that we get even more battle scenes and stunts, and bits that improve the storyline are rare. I do want the DVD set for the additions though, but I might wait until disappointed folks start to sell them on Ebay.

 

 Oh, good heavens, the release date is today (at least here in the US) -- that really snuck up on me!  I assume our copy will be in tomorrow's mail.  I would have been surprised if there were not more battle scenes (and especially more elves, orcs, and wargs), but hopefully there will also be at least a few more Bilbo scenes (like first two extended editions)!

[Arcadia]

Meanwhile, in a tavern:

 

 

Note, this is an ad for a game that I've never played (because I heard less than favourable opinions about) so follow any links at your own discretion.

 

Hokey smoke, it took me a minute, but isn't that Sean Astin?

 

[Caya]

Yep, took me a bit to recognize him as well but credits say it's indeed him.

[J.P.]

Of course it's him. He haven't changed at all or it's CGI too.

[J.P.]

The reasons why The Hobbit su... doesn't fulfill the expectations.

[Arcadia]

The reasons why The Hobbit su... doesn't fulfill the expectations.

Somehow this doesn't surprise me. It's really too bad.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Yeah.  Damn it.  With that cast and Weta Workshop, et al. (to say nothing of the New Zealand scenery), they could have done a really stupendous job.  But now it's been done (stupendous or not), so who's going to bother to do it again for another 20 years.  (The only upside to that is, Martin Freeman will then be the right age to play Bilbo in the LotR remake.)

 

[Arcadia]

He'll be eleventy-one in 20 years? Somehow I thought he was only in his 40's now ... :p

 

I still think the answer is editing software. Trim out all the orcs, and you'd have a darn good movie. Only one movie, but it'd be good!

[T.o.b.y]

Oh, I'd miss the orcs if they were gone completely. They sort of belong to those films. But I must say in the Lord of the Rings, I found them much more scary and loathsome. Perhaps because I was younger when I saw those movies, I don't know. But I couldn't take the orcs in The Hobbit entirely seriously. Also, the white orc was too handsome in my opinion. The friends whom I went to see The Battle of the Five Armies with were all cheering for him and I couldn't really blame them. :D

 

That was one of the many things I admired about Lord of the Rings: The bad guys were really bad and unlikeable. It wasn't like it is for me in many films, where I find the antagonists more compelling than the heroes. I really felt no ounce of sympathy for any of the evil creatures and characters, they scared the shit out of me and I was honestly glad when they were gone. Not that I think this is the best way to tell a story, far from it, but if you decide you're going to do good and evil, it isn't easy to get the sides right in the eyes of the audience, and Lord of the Rings really did a fantastic job there in my opinion.

 

But the hobbit movies weren't all bad. In fact, I think I would have liked them just fine if I hadn't seen Lord of the Rings. It's just by comparison that they suffer.

[Arcadia]

Oh, I'd miss the orcs if they were gone completely. They sort of belong to those films. But I must say in the Lord of the Rings, I found them much more scary and loathsome. Perhaps because I was younger when I saw those movies, I don't know. But I couldn't take the orcs in The Hobbit entirely seriously. Also, the white orc was too handsome in my opinion. The friends whom I went to see The Battle of the Five Armies with were all cheering for him and I couldn't really blame them. :D

Agreed. He was almost noble in his way. An orc! But really, rooting for him over Thorin?

 

My college buddies informed me that they thought the orc Aragorn fought at the end of Fellowship was really hot.

 

But the hobbit movies weren't all bad. In fact, I think I would have liked them just fine if I hadn't seen Lord of the Rings. It's just by comparison that they suffer.

That's a good point ... it might have seemed all fresh and imaginative if we'd never seen LOTR....

[Amber§]

I've seen the three films of the Lord of Rings many years ago so I don't remember them very well, but I really appreciated The Hobbit, in my opinion it's a very beautiful story and the actors are very good (especially Martin Freeman, of course). Special effects are fantastic and also the setting is very beautiful. I think that the difference between The Hobbit and The Lord of Rings is that the first is easier to follow and more suitable for everyone (children can watch it), while the second is more violent (maybe it's an hard adjective), also for the presence of a sort of psycological stress and violence (the ring, the battle between bad and good, betrayal, ...).

[T.o.b.y]

Lord of the Rings is tougher, yeah. But it's the same with the books. So maybe they got things right, after all.

[Arcadia]

I have to admit I would prefer if they had toned down the violence a bit in the Hobbit, simply because it is a beloved children's book as well as a book beloved by adults. I'd hate for my small nephew to see the beheadings and certain deaths, for example. Ah well, it is what it is, and it's far from the worst movie I've ever seen. Mostly I'm annoyed that they pushed Bilbo further and further off the stage as the story progressed. It's called "The Hobbit" for a reason!

[Carol the Dabbler]

He'll be eleventy-one in 20 years? Somehow I thought he was only in his 40's now ... :P

 

I still think the answer is editing software. Trim out all the orcs, and you'd have a darn good movie. Only one movie, but it'd be good!

 

Most of the orcs and most of the elves.  :D

 

True, Bilbo was eleventy-one in LotR.  But he didn't look eleventy-one till after he gave up the Ring (or maybe even till it was destroyed).  So you need an actor who can play both fifty-ish and really, really old, which I assume is why they cast Ian Holm (when he was actually a well-preserved 70-ish).

 

Mostly I'm annoyed that they pushed Bilbo further and further off the stage as the story progressed. It's called "The Hobbit" for a reason!

 

For me, "annoyed" is an understatement!  Why did they jump through hoops to cast Martin Freeman, and then hardly use him?